The Australis Terra begins at two or three
degrees from the equator, and is maintained by some to be of so great
an extent that if it were thoroughly explored it would be regarded as
a fifth part of the world."
The above is so vague and suppositious that it would scarcely be worth
quoting, were it not for the singular mention of the narrow strait
separating Australis Terra from New Guinea; for at this time Torres had
not sailed through the straits, nor was the fact of his having done so
known to the world until the end of the eighteenth century, when
Dalrymple discovered his report amongst the archives of Manila, and did
justice to his memory.
In 1605, Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, having for his second in command Luis
Vaez de Torres, sailed from Callao with two well-armed vessels and a
corvette. After the discovery of several islands, they came to a land
which Quiros supposed to be the continent he was in search of, and
therefore named it Australia del Espiritu Santo. "At one hour past
midnight," says Torres, in his account of the voyage, "the CAPITANA"
(Quiros' vessel) "departed without any notice given to us, and without
making any signal.
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