Luis Váez de Torres

Luis Váez de Torres (born c. 1565; fl. 1607) was a 16th-17th century Spanish maritime explorer serving the Spanish Crown, noted for the first recorded navigation of the strait which separates the continent of Australia from the island of New Guinea, and which now bears his name (Torres Strait).

Origins and Early Life

The year and place of his birth are unknown; assuming him to have been in his late thirties or forties in 1606, a birth year of around 1565 is considered likely. Accounts attribute his nationality as Spanish, though Don Diego de Prado y Tovar, a Spanish nobleman who accompanied Torres, refers to him in his account as a “Breton”. Recently, it has been pointed out that at the time, anyone of Celtic blood was called a Breton in which case it is most likely that he originated from Spain's northwest province of Galicia. [Estensen, M. (2006) "Terra Australis Incognita: The Spanish Quest for the mysterious Great South Land", p. 115. Allen & Unwin, Australia. ISBN 978 174175 0546]

Nothing is known of Torres's early life, but at some point he entered the naval service of the Spanish Crown and found his way to its South American possessions. By late 1605 he first entered the historical record as the nominated commander of the second ship in an expedition to the Pacific proposed by Pedro Fernández de Quirós, searching for Terra Australis.

The Quirós Voyage

Pedro Fernández de Quirós [ Sometimes referred to as Queiros, which is the original Portuguese spelling of his patronym; Quirós, however, was the Castilian spelling that he used during all of his adult life ] was a Portuguese navigator who commanded a party of three ships, "San Pedro y San Pablo" (150 tons), "San Pedro" (120 tons) and the tender ("patache") "Los Tres Reyes". The three ships left Callao in Spanish Peru, on 21 December 1605, with Torres in command of the "San Pedro." In May 1606 they reached the islands which Quirós named "La Austrialia (sic) [ No, not a typo! See accounts of the voyage cited, e.g. Estensen, M (2006) ] del Espiritu Santo" (now Vanuatu); "Austrialia" being a compliment to the House of Austria, to which the king of Spain belonged. [ Hilder, B.(1980) "The Voyage of Torres". p.17. University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia. ISBN 07022 1275x ]

After six weeks Quirós’ ships put to sea again to explore the coastline. On the night of June 11, 1606 Quirós in the "San Pedro y San Pablo" became separated from the other ships in bad weather and was unable (or so he later said) to return to safe anchorage at Espiritu Santo. He then sailed to Acapulco in Mexico, where he arrived in November 1606. In the account by Prado, which is highly critical of Quirós, mutiny and poor leadership are given as the reason for Quirós’ disappearance Prado's account can be read online [http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/discover_collections/history_nation/voyages/voya_spanishQuest.html] ] . Torres remained silent on the subject other than to write his “condition was different to that of Captain Quiros.” Translation of Torres’ report to the king in Collingridge, G. (1895) "Discovery of Australia" p.229-237. Golden Press Edition 1983, Gradesville, NSW. ISBN 0 855589566 ] [ Brett Hilder notes that there are “at least a dozen (letters in Spanish archives) from various officers denouncing Quirós (as) an incompetent leader.” Hilder, B. (1980) p.175 ]

Torres assumes command

Torres remained at Espritu Santo for 15 days before opening sealed orders he had been given by the Viceroy of Peru. These contained instructions on what course to follow if the ships became separated and who would be in command in the event of the loss of Quirós. The orders appear to have listed Prado as successor to Quirós, as he was "capitan-entretenido" (spare captain) on the voyage. [ The claim he assumed command, made by Prado himself, was accepted by some writers in the 1930s, including Stevens, H.N. (Ed) "New Light on the Discovery of Australia as Revealed by the Journal of Captain Don Diego de Prado y Tovar". Hakluyt Society, London, 1930 ] However, there is overwhelming evidence Torres remained in command, including Prado’s own account. [ Hilder, B. (1980) p.17+ ] [ Estensen, M. (2006) p186-189 ]

The south coast of New Guinea and Torres Strait

In 26 June 1606 the "San Pedro" and "Los Tres Reyes" under Torres command set sail for Manila. Contrary winds prevented the ships taking the more direct route along the north coast of New Guinea. Prado’s account notes that they sighted land on 14 July 1606, which was probably the island of Tagula in the Louisiade Archipelago, south east of New Guinea. The voyage continued over the next two months, a number of landfalls being made to replenish the ships’ food and water and take possession of the land for Spain ] . This brought the Spanish in close and sometimes violent contact with local indigenous people. Prado and Torres both record the capture of twenty people, including a pregnant woman who gave birth several weeks later ] . Prado drew a number of sketch charts of anchorages in the Gulf of Papua, several of which survive [For colour photos of the charts, see Hilder, B.(1980). Also see Collingridge’s The "First Discovery of Australia", 1895, which includes Collingridge’s own copies of three of the charts [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17022/17022-h/17022-h.htm#ch-12] . The charts are the coloured maps 5,6 and 9.Map 9 is incorrectly titled “Moresby's Map of the Islands at the South-east end of New Guinea” . It is in fact based on Prado’s Mappa III - showing Orangerie Bay, New Guinea.] .

For many years it was assumed that Torres took a route close to the New Guinea coast to navigate the 150 kilometre strait that now bears his name, but in 1980 the Queensland historian Captain Brett Hilder demonstrated that it was much more likely that Torres took a southerly route through the channel now called Endeavour Strait. [Hilder, B.(1980) p.89-101 ] From this position he would certainly have seen Cape York, the northernmost extremity of Australia. Whether or not he did so, the ever pragmatic and calm Torres never claimed that he had sighted the southern continent and simply noted he had passed through a strait. The expedition proved that New Guinea was not part of the sought after continent.

On 27 October Torres reached the western extremity of New Guinea and made his way north of Ceram and Misool toward the Halmahera Sea. At the beginning of January 1607 he reached Ternate, part of the Spice Islands. He sailed on 1 May for Manila arriving on 22 May.

Results of the Voyage

Torres intended to personally present the captives, weapons and a detailed account to the king on his return to Spain. His short written account of the voyage indicates this. ] However, it appears there was no interest in Manila in outfitting his voyage back to Spain, and he was told his ships and men were required locally for the king’s service. [ Hilder, B. (1980). p.130 ]

On 1 June 1607, two ships arrived in Manila from South America, one being Queirós former flagship "San Pedro y San Pablo", now under another name, but with some of her former crewmen still aboard. Learning that Quirós had survived, Torres immediately wrote a report of his voyage to Quirós. Although that account no longer survives, Quirós himself referred to it in some of his many memorials to the king, agitating for another voyage.

Torres, his crew and his captives disappear entirely from the historical record at this point, and their subsequent fate is unknown. Prado returned to Spain, possibly taking one of the captive New Guineans with him. [ Hilder, B (1980) p132-133. Prado wrote letters from Goa in December 1613, indicating he had taken the Portuguese route home. Sometime afterwards he is described as “ a monk of our father Saint Basil the Great of Madrid.” Estensen, M. (2006) p.219 ] Most documents of Torres's discoveries were not published, but on reaching Spain, filed away in Spanish archives, including Prado’s lengthy account and the accompanying charts.

Some time between 1762 and 1765, written accounts of the Torres expedition were seen by British Admiralty Hydrographer Alexander Dalrymple. Dalrymple provided a sketch map which included the Quirós -Torres voyages to Joseph Banks, who undoubtedly passed this information to James Cook [ Hilder, B (1980) p.31 ] [Estensen, M. (2006) p.222 ]

Accounts of the voyage

There are a number of documents describing the Quirós – Torres voyages still in existence. Most significant are
* Quirós’ many subsequent Memorials to the King Philip III regarding the voyage and further exploration, A copy at the Library of Congress can be read online [http://memory.loc.gov/service/rbc/rbdk/d0404/02951422.jpg] ]
* Torres brief account to the king (written July 1607), ]
* Prado’s narrative "Relacion Sumaria" (first written in 1608) and 4 charts of New Guinea [ For colour photos of the charts, see Hilder, B. (1980). Also see Collingridge’s The "First Discovery of Australia", 1895, which includes Collingridge’s own copies of three of the charts [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17022/17022-h/17022-h.htm#ch-12] The charts are the coloured maps 5,6 and 9.(Map 9 is incorrectly titled “Moresby's Map of the Islands at the South-east end of New Guinea” . It is in fact based on Prado’s Mappa III - showing Orangerie Bay, New Guinea.) ]
* Juan Luis Arias de Loyola’s memorial to King Philip IV (written about 1630 and based on discussions between Quirós and Loyola) [Hilder, B (1980) p.175-176 ]

1617 may be the date of the first English translation of one of Quirós’ memorials, as "Terra Australis Incognita", or "A New Southerne Discoverie". [ The La Trobe Library of Victoria lists a copy of this as one of its rare books [http://calisto.slv.vic.gov.au/latrobejournal/issue/latrobe-47-48/t1-g-t7.html] ] A short account of Quirós’ voyage and discoveries was published in English by Samuel Purchas in 1625 in "Haklvytvs posthumus", or, "Pvrchas his Pilgrimes", vol. iv, p. 1422-1432. This account also appears to be based on a letter by Quirós to the King in 1610, the eighth on the matter. ]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/discover_collections/history_nation/voyages/voya_spanishQuest.html Prado’s account of the Quirós and Torres voyage, with English translation, at the State Library of New South Wales]
* [http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600641h.html "Discovery of Australia by de Queirós in the Year 1606" by Patrick F. Cardinal Moran, Archbishop of Sydney]
* [http://www.win.tue.nl/~engels/discovery/index.html Discoverer’s Website project]
* [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=rbdk&fileName=d0404//rbdkd0404.db&recNum=304&itemLink=r%3Fintldl%2Frbdkbib%3A@field%28NUMBER%2B@od1%28rbdk%2Bd0404%29%29&linkText=0 "Hakluytus Posthumus - Purchas his Pilgrimes Vol 4" by Samuel Purchas, Page 1432]
* [http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks05/0501051h.html "The First Discovery of Australia and New Guinea" by George Collingridge, Chapter XI]