e might say, "here is Mala."

The curious mistake alluded to on page 63 is this:

In most of the old maps that were made prior to the identification of
Sarmiento's and Mendana's discoveries, the Solomon Islands were placed
much too close to New Guinea, occupying, in fact, the position of New
Britain and New Ireland. This was owing to the belief on the part of the
Spaniards, that they had reached the region where their predecessors,
Saavedra, Retez and Gaspar Rico, had made their discoveries: so that, New
Britain, New Ireland, and all the other islands, of the Bismark
Archipelago were once believed to be the Solomon and Guadalcanal the
extreme east end of New Guinea.

CHAPTER XI.

QUEIROZ'S VOYAGE.

We come now to the most important expedition that ever set out in search
of Australia. We have reached the year 1605, in the month of December, of
which Queiroz, this time the commander of another Spanish fleet, set sail
from the coast of Peru with the object of renewing the attempt at
settlement in the island of Santa Cruz, and from thence to search, for
the "continent towards the south," which he believed to be "spacious,
populous and fertile."

The intentions of navigators and the instructions given to them are
seldom thoroughly carried out. We shall see, in this case, that Queiroz
failed to reach Santa Cruz in the same way as Mendana had failed to reach
the Solomans; although they both sailed almost within sight of the
islands they were looking for.

THE VOYAGE.

According to Gonzales de Leza, the pilot of the expedition, the name of
the _Capitana_, or Queiroz's ship, was the _San Pedro y San Pablo_; the
_Almiranta_, named the _San Pedro_ was commanded by Luis Vaes de Torres;
the brigantine or Zabra, was named the _Tres Reyes_, and was commanded by
Pedro Bernal Cermeno.

With variable winds, the three ships that composed the fleet sailed
towards the west till the 26th of January, 1606, when, in the afternoon,
they sighted a small island. No anchorage could be found and it was
thought that it could not be inhabited, so they passed it. Continuing on
a westerly course three days later, they came in sight of another island
of larger dimensions; here, also, finding no convenient landing place,
they passed on.

The sky now became obscured, and, as they proceeded, rain set in,
followed by thunder and lightning; then a fearful tempest threatened
their destruction.

Presently, however, the storm abated, and thro