Luís Vaz de Torres

Luís Vaz de Torres (Galician-Portuguese), also Luis Váez de Torres in the Castilian Spanish spelling, (born c. 1565; fl. 1607) was a 16th-17th century 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

Nothing is known of Torres' origins.^[1] 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.

Long after the event he has been presented as being Portuguese.^[2][3][4] However, all his writings, which all relate to serving the Spanish Crown, were in Castilian Spanish and no records ever referred to him as Portuguese. He had been called a "Breton" which was recently interpreted as meaning of "Celtic blood", pointing to an origin from Gallaecia which comprises present day north-west Spain (Galician-speaking) and north Portugal.^[5][6][7]

Torres, at some point, 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 the Portuguese born navigator Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, searching for Terra Australis.

The Queirós Voyage

Pedro Fernandes de Queirós was a Portuguese born navigator who commanded a party of three Spanish 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 Queirós named La Austrialia (sic)^[8] del Espiritu Santo (now Vanuatu); Austrialia being a compliment to the House of Austria, to which the king of Spain belonged.^[9]

After six weeks Queirós’ ships put to sea again to explore the coastline. On the night of June 11, 1606 Queirós 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 Queirós, mutiny and poor leadership are given as the reason for Queirós’ disappearance ^[10]. Torres remained silent on the subject other than to write his “condition was different to that of Captain Queirós.” ^[11][12]

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 Queirós. The orders appear to have listed Prado as successor to Queirós, as he was capitan-entretenido (spare captain) on the voyage. ^[13] However, there is overwhelming evidence Torres remained in command, including Prado’s own account. ^[14][15]

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^[11]. 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 ^[10]. Prado drew a number of sketch charts of anchorages in the Gulf of Papua, several of which survive ^[16].

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. ^[17] 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. ^[11] 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. ^[18]

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 Queirós had survived, Torres immediately wrote a report of his voyage to Queirós. Although that account no longer survives, Queirós 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. ^[19] 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 Queirós -Torres voyages to Joseph Banks, who undoubtedly passed this information to James Cook ^[20][21]

Accounts of the voyage

There are a number of documents describing the Queirós – Torres voyages still in existence. Most significant are

• Queirós’ many subsequent Memorials to the King Philip III regarding the voyage and further exploration, ^[22]
• Torres brief account to the king (written July 1607),^[11]
• Prado’s narrative Relacion Sumaria (first written in 1608) and 4 charts of New Guinea ^[23]
• Juan Luis Arias de Loyola’s memorial to King Philip IV (written about 1630 and based on discussions between Queirós and Loyola) ^[24]

1617 may be the date of the first English translation of one of Queirós’ memorials, as Terra Australis Incognita, or A New Southerne Discoverie. ^[25] A short account of Queirós’ 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 Queirós to the King in 1610, the eighth on the matter. ^[22]

Notes

External links

• Prado’s account of the Queirós and Torres voyage, with English translation, at the State Library of New South Wales
• Discovery of Australia by de Queirós in the Year 1606 by Patrick F. Cardinal Moran, Archbishop of Sydney
• Discoverer’s Website project
• Hakluytus Posthumus - Purchas his Pilgrimes Vol 4 by Samuel Purchas, Page 1432
• The First Discovery of Australia and New Guinea by George Collingridge, Chapter XI
• "New Light on the Discovery of Australia" edited by H Stevens, at Project Gutenberg Australia