Reyes_, which I take to be the whole Distance between the Entrance
of _Los Reyes_ to _Conosset_ in Lake _Belle_; and if we transpose
the above Words, 'arrived at _Parmentiers_ the eleventh of _August_,
and was on the South Side Lake _Belle_ eighty-six Leagues on board
our Ships the sixteenth of _August_,' then we have the Distances
respecting every Part of _de Fonte_'s Course thro' Land, from _Los
Reyes_ to _Conosset_ sixty Leagues, from _Conosset_ to Lake _de
Fonte_ _eighty-six Leagues_, from the Entrance of Lake _de Fonte_ to
the Streight of _Ronquillo_ one Hundred and sixty Leagues, from the
Entrance of the Streight of _Ronquillo_ to the Sea thirty-six Leagues.
The Time that _de Fonte_ was passing down the River of _Parmentiers_,
and the Time he took to return, are equal, which is plainly owing to
his being obliged to wait the Tides for getting over the Falls both
Ways. The sixth of _July_ they had entered the Lake _de Fonte_, and by
the fifteenth were through the Streights of _Ronquillo_, and at the
_Indian_ Town the seventeenth, so they were eleven Days from their
Entrance into the Lake _de Fonte_; but in their return the same Way
only five, favoured by a strong Current which the Wind occasioned to
set into the Lake, and having as much Wind as they could fly before,
and now came directly back; whereas in their Passage out they had
made some Delays. The Course to _Conosset_ being nearest North-east,
I compute it to be in Lat. 56 Deg. Long. 118° 2´ from _London_.
The Entrance of Lake _de Fonte_ (supposing the Course of the River
_Parmentiers_ and from _Conosset_ East North East) in Lat. 59° 4´.
Long. 113°. The Entrance of the Streights of _Ronquillo_ East North
East, in Lat. 61 Deg. 8 Min. Long. 98 Deg. 48 Min. the Course through
the Streights to enter the Sea North by East, such Entrance to be
in Lat. 62 Deg. 48 Min. Long. 98 Deg. 2 Min. which Course must be
consistent with _de Fonte_'s Account that a strong Current set in,
as by this Course such Current must be accelerated, if it set to the
Southward, by the Wind from the Northward, or if it was from the
Southward, would be opposed in going to the Northward.
_De Fonte_ proceeds to give an Account of the good Estate in which
he found all Things on his Return; mentions the Honesty and Humanity
of the Natives, and the prudent Conduct of Captain _Ronquillo_, who
answered their Civility and Justice. For they had, during the Time of
_de Fonte_'s Absence, procured, by dealing with the Natives, Store of
good Provisions to salt, Venison, Fish; also one Hundred Hogsheads of
_Indian_ Maiz; besides the Service this would be of on their Return,
procured pursuant to _de Fonte_'s Order, it employed the People, with
the other necessary Work about the Ships after so long a Run, and kept
them from brangling with the Natives. The Natives were also employed to
their Interest, which preserved them in good Humour; and a Justice in
dealing preserved their Friendship.
'The 20th of _August_ an _Indian_ brought me a Letter to _Conosset_, on
the Lake _Belle_, from Captain _Bernarda_, dated the 11th of _August_,
where he sent me Word he was returned from his cold Expedition, and
did assure me there was no Communication out of the _Spanish_ or
_Atlantick_ Sea, by _Davis_ Streight; for the Natives had conducted one
of his Seamen to the Head of _Davis_ Streight, which terminated in a
fresh Lake, of about 30 Mile in Circumference, in the 80th Degree of
North Latitude; and that there was prodigious Mountains North of it,
besides the North-west from that Lake the Ice was so fixed, that from
the Shore to 100 Fathom of Water, for ought he knew from the Creation;
for Mankind knew little of the wonderful Works of God, near the North
and South Poles: He writ further, that he had sailed from _Basset_
Island North East, and East North East, and North East and by East, to
the 79th Degree of Latitude, and the Land trended North, and the Ice
rested on the Land.'
The Orders _Bernarda_ received were to sail up a River North and North
East, North and North West, which River I suppose to have emptied
itself near to _Los Reyes_ into the South-east Part of the _South
Sea_; and it is not uncommon, in _America_, that two great Rivers
should have their Entrances contiguous to each other; and I suppose
_Conabasset_, afterwards called _Basset_, to be in Lat. 58 Deg. 10 Min.
to the Westward of _Los Reyes_ in Long. 122 Deg. 9 Min. from _London_.
The Course up the River _Haro_ North 14 Deg. West; and as _Conosset_
is laid down in Lat. 56 Deg. Long. 118 Deg. 2 Min. the Distance from
_Basset_ to _Conosset_ is one Hundred and seventy-seven Miles; the
Course North 46 Deg. West. The Letter by the first Messenger was dated
the 27th of _June_, and is received the fourth Day, as he could not
come a direct Course, we may suppose he travelled fifty Miles a Day,
which is an extraordinary Allowance, the greatest Part by Water, and
Light most of the Night. We know he would go Part by Water in Lake
_Belle_, and Lake _Belle_ issuing its Waters both by _Los Reyes_ and
the River _Parmentiers_, must receive some considerable Influx of
Waters by which it is formed, as well as to give a constant Supply of
the Waters that issue from it, and which must be principally or only
from the Northward, for it cannot be supposed to receive its Waters
from the Southward, and discharge them there again, and which the
Messenger would make Use of as soon as possible, and come down Stream.
The second Messenger, who is expresly mentioned to be an _Indian_, is
nine Days a coming. But _Bernarda_ mentions nothing as to his Ship
or People in this Account, only says he is returned from his cold
Expedition, therefore probably he sent away the _Indian_ as soon as he
could after he entered the River, which ran into the _Tartarian_ Sea,
in Lat. 61. If this was the Case, we may suppose that the Waters which
came into the Lake _Belle_ head a great Way up in the Country.
_Bernarda_ had Directions, after he left Lake _Valasco_, to sail one
Hundred and forty Leagues West, and then four Hundred and thirty
Leagues North East by East to seventy-seven Degrees of Latitude.
_Bernarda_, in his Letter of the 27th of _June_ observes, there was a
River eighty Leagues in Length, not comprehended in his Instructions
or Orders, and emptied itself in the _Tartarian_ Sea; and says, in
his Letter of the 11th of _August_, that he sailed from the Island
_Basset_ North-east; with that Course, when he entered the _Tartarian_
Sea, in Latitude 61, his Longitude would be 116 Deg. he then begins
the Course _de Fonte_ directed him, one Hundred and forty Leagues East
North East; and he mentions on his Return he had steered that Course,
keeping the Land aboard. So that _West_ and the Land trending _North
East_, are Mistakes in the Publication in _April_; but the mentioning
how the Land trended, shews he was then entering the Sea; for to talk
of Land, with respect to a River, is absurd; and with the Course and
Distance he steered would be in Lat. 63 Deg. 39 Min. and Long. 110 Deg.
from _London_: Then he steers four Hundred and thirty-six Leagues North
East and by East, and that brings him into Latitude 79 Deg. Long. 87
Deg. from _London_. But the Land trending North, and with Ice, which
would be dangerous for the _Periagos_; and as the Land trended North,
where he was appearing to him to be the nearest Part he could attain
to to go to the Head of _Davis_ Streight; and as to the Distance over
Land, and the Propriety of sending a Messenger, the _Indians_ would
inform him; he sends a Seaman over with an _Indian_ to take a Survey
of the Head of such Streights, by us called _Baffin_'s Bay; which Name
was not at that Time generally received. Which Seaman reports, that
it terminated in the eightieth Degree of Latitude, in a Lake of about
thirty Miles in Circumference, with prodigious Mountains North of it,
which indeed formed that Lake, or is a Sound, as that of Sir _James
Lancaster_ and of _Alderman Jones_; and along the Shore, from the
Lake North-west, the Ice was fixed, lying a great Distance out, which
was very consistent with there being no Inlets there, the Waters from
which would have set it off. The Distance that the _Indian_ and Sailor
travelled would not exceed fifty Miles; and their mentioning the high
Mountains to Northward imply, that they were in a more level Country
where they were to take this View. Light all Night, the Snow off the
Ground, and the Heighth of Summer there. It is no vain Conjecture to
suppose that the Journey was practicable, even if performed all the
Way by Land, and much easier, which is not the least improbable, if
they had an Opportunity of making Part of it by Water. _Bernarda_
proceeding thus far in the _Tartarian_ Sea, and entering in Latitude
61, is no Way contradictory to the _Russian_ Discoveries; and by the
_Tartarian_ Sea is meant, the Sea which washes the Northern Coasts of
_Tartary_, and is supposed to extend round the Pole. Those Discoveries
are agreeable to the _Japanese_ Map, as to the North-east Parts of
_Asia_, and North-west Parts of _America_, brought over by _Kemper_,
and in which Map there is expressed a Branch of the _Tartarian_ Sea or
Gulph, extending to the Southward, agreeable to this Account of _de
Fonte_. Who calls it, with respect to _Asia_, the North and East Part
of the _Tartarian_ Sea. Which compared with what _de Fonte_ says, as
to sailing down the River to the North-east Part of the _South Sea_,
these Expressions cast a mutual Light on each other, and that the
_Archipelagus of Saint Lazarus_ is a Gulph or Branch of the Sea, in the
like Manner.
Places which are in one and the same Latitude, have not an equal Degree
of Heat or Cold, or are equally fertile or barren, the Difference in
these Respects chiefly consists in their Situation. The Country of
_Labrador_, which is to Eastward of _Hudson_'s _Bay_, in Latitude 56,
almost as high a Latitude as Port _Nelson_, is a Country capable of
being improved by Agriculture, and would supply all the Necessaries of
Life, though intermixed with rugged and craggy Mountains. The Winter's
not so severe as in the more Southern Parts of _Hudson_'s _Bay_, as
the Earth is not froze there, as it is in the same and lower Latitudes
about that Bay: Also People have wintered in the _Labrador_, wearing
only their usual Cloathing: Therefore drawing a Parallel between Port
_Nelson_ and _Conosset_, as to the Infertility of one, therefore the
other being in the same Latitude, could not produce Maiz to supply
_Ronquillo_, is an Objection which hath no Foundation in it. The higher
the Latitude the quicker is the Vegetation; and as _Indian Corn_ or
_Maiz_ may be planted and gathered in three Months in lower Latitudes,
it may be in an equal or less Time in higher Latitudes, in a good Soil.
As to Port _Nelson_, or _York Fort_, in _Hudson_'s _Bay_, it is a low
Country through which two large Rivers pass, with the Bay in Front, and
nothing is certainly known of the more inland Parts.
The physical Obstacles that are produced against our giving Credit
to this Account of _de Fonte_, from the Depth of the Falls at the
Entrance of Lake _Belle_ in the River _Parmentiers_, and from the River
_Bernarda_ passed up, are, from not understanding what is expressed by
the Word Falls amongst the _Americans_. They mean by a Fall wherever
there is the least Declivity of the Water; and the Fall of thirty-two
Feet in the River _Parmentiers_, doth not mean a perpendicular Fall, as
the Objector would have it understood, however ridiculous to suppose
it, but eight gradual Descents, from the Beginning of which to the
Extremity of the last there was a Difference of thirty-two Feet, and
which became level or even at the Time of high Water.
What _Bernarda_ says as to his cold Expedition, a Person used to the
Climate of _Peru_ might justly say so, of the Nights and Evenings and
Mornings, at that Time of the Year, in the Latitude of seventy-nine,
though temperate in Latitude fifty-six; and the whole Disposition of
the Country, the immense high Lands, their barren and desert Aspect,
in Places their Summits covered with perpetual Snow, the Ice fixed
to the Shores, Sheets of floating Ice in the Waters, the immense
Islands, frequently seeing Whales, Sea-horse, and a great Variety of
the Inhabitants of those Waters, which do not frequent the Southern
Parts: The Whole a Scene so different from the Verdure and Delights
of the Plains about _Lima_, and from the pleasing Views that present
themselves on running along the Coasts of _Peru_, _Bernarda_ might well
be affected with such Scene as to express himself, that Mankind knew
little of the wonderful Works of God, especially near the North and
the South Poles. But he was not so ignorant as to report, that he saw
Mountains of Ice on the Land, as well as in the Sea, though he might
see them forming between Points of Land, which jetted out into the
Sea; and such a Column of Ice would appear to him as something very
curious.
That these Parts were inhabited does not appear, for it was a Native
of _Conibasset_ that conducted the Seaman over the Land; and, at that
Season of the Year, the fresh Waters are thawed, no Snow on the low and
level Lands, only on the extreme Summits of the Hills.
What is objected as to the Affability of the Inhabitants, that it is
not consistent with the Character of the _Indians_. Hospitality is the
Characteristick of the _Indians_ towards Strangers, until such Time as
they are prejudiced from some ill Treatment; and by the Account given
by Sir _Francis Drake_, as to the _Indians_ of _California_, and by the
_Spaniards_ who surveyed the Western Coasts, and the Islands lying off,
they are represented in general as a kind, tractable People, and of a
docile Temper.
As to the Dispatch used by _Indians_ in carrying Expresses, or their
Runners as they term them, to carry Messages from one Nation to
another, they will gird themselves up with the Rhind of Trees, and keep
going incessantly great Distances with a surprising Agility Night and
Day, taking little either of Sleep or other Refreshments, and keep a
direct Course, and in the Night steer either by the Moon or Stars. Nor
is there any Thing miraculous in these Journeys, which the Expresses
performed, either as to Distance or as to Time, especially as they
passed through a Country abounding with Waters, and which Country being
inhabited they could be supplied with Canoes, or they would find Floats
at the Places where they usually pass the Waters.
_Bernarda_ meeting _de Fonte_ at a Port up the River _Rio los Reyes_,
shews he had Persons aboard who could direct him there, therefore
must have been previously there; and they can be supposed to be no
other than the Jesuits, which is a further Proof of the Jesuits having
been before in these Parts. It was consistent that the Ships should
join and return home together. From where _Bernarda_ came to with
his Ship was one Hundred and twenty Miles to _Conosset_: His Letter
from thence was dated the 29th of _August_, and _de Fonte_ sailed the
second of _September_: It may be supposed the Letter came to Hand the
first of _September_, which is four Days, and the Express had now
all the Way by Water, and mostly against Stream. _De Fonte_, to shew
that he had preserved the Affection of the Natives, mentions that he
was accompanied with them; and they were of Assistance to him in the
Pilotage down the River. _De Fonte_ adds, he had sent a Chart with the
Letter, which is misunderstood, as if such Chart had come to the Hands
of the Editors; _which will make this much more demonstrative_, were
Words added by them; but it was usual in all the Naval Expeditions to
have Persons aboard whom they called _Cosmographers_, to take Draughts
of Places, and compose their Charts, and at that Time a very reputable
Employment.
_Miguel Venegas_, a _Mexican_ Jesuit, published at _Madrid_ in 1758,
a Natural and Civil History of _California_; a Translation of which
was published in _London_ in 1759, in two Volumes; and Vol. i. P. 185,
says, 'To this Æra (the last Voyage he mentions was in 1636) belongs
the Contents of a Paper published at _London_, under the Title of the
Narrative of _Bartholomew de Fuentes_, Commander in Chief of the Navy
in _New Spain_ and _Peru_, and President of _Chili_, giving an Account
of the most remarkable Transactions and Adventures in this Voyage,
for the Discovery of a Passage from the _South Sea_, to that of the
North in the Northern Hemisphere, by Order of the Viceroy of _Peru_
in the Year 1640. This Writing contains several Accounts relating to
_California_; but without entering into long Disputes, let it suffice
to say, that little Credit is to be given to this Narrative. For the
same Reason we have before omitted the Accounts of Voyages made from
the _South Sea_ to the North round beyond _California_, and those of a
contrary Direction, of which an Account is given by Captain _Seixas_
and _Lobero_, in _Theatro Naval_, in _Spanish_ and _French_; and
particularly of that _Spaniard_ who is supposed, in three Months, to
have come from _Puerto de Navidad_ and _Cabo Corientes_ to _Lisbon_.
These and other Accounts dispersed in different Books, we designedly
omit, as they want the necessary Authenticity.'
This Work was published with a Design to induce the Court of _Spain_ to
a further Conquest of, an intire Reduction of, and the full settling
of _California_, as of the utmost Importance to Religion and the
State; and one of the Arguments is, for their immediate putting what
he recommends in Execution, the repeated Attempts of the _English_ to
find a Passage into the _South Sea_. And observes, 'Should they one
Day succeed in this, why may not the _English_ come down through their
Conquests, and even make themselves Masters of _New Mexico_, _&c._'
which implies, that he did not look on such an Attempt as void of all
Hopes of Success; and he again says, 'Whoever is acquainted with the
present Disposition of the _English_ Nation, and has heard with what
Zeal and Ardour the Project for a North-west Passage has been espoused
by many considerable Persons, will be convinced that the Scheme is
not romantick, and it would not be surprizing if the Execution of it
should one Day come under Deliberation.' Thus artfully hints, should
the Scheme come under Deliberation, the Event would be to be feared;
and though he ascribes his Opinion of its not being romantick, is, to
many considerable Persons having espoused the Scheme, yet he tacitly
applies to their own Knowledge, to what the Court of _Spain_ knows
as to this Passage. He then proceeds, 'If this should ever happen,'
the Deliberation, 'what would be the Condition of our Possessions?'
The Deliberation would, from Consequences that would follow on such a
Deliberation, endanger our Possessions.
_Don Cortez_ informed the King, by a Letter of the 15th of _October_
1524, that he was building two Ships, to get a Knowledge of the Coast
yet undiscovered between the River of _Panaco_ and _Florida_, and from
thence to the Northern Coast of the said Country of _Florida_, as far
as the _Baccaloo_, 'It being certain, as he expresses himself, that on
that Coast is a Streight running into the _South Sea_'--'God grant that
the Squadron may compass the End for which it is designed, namely, to
discover the Streight, which I am fully persuaded they will do, because
in the Royal Concerns of your Majesty nothing can be concealed; and no
Diligence or Necessaries shall be wanting in me to effect it.' Again,
'I hereby inform your Majesty, that by the Intelligence I have received
of the Countries on the upper Coast of the sending the Ships along,
it will be attended with great Advantage to me, and no less to your
Majesty. But acquainted as I am with your Majesty's Desire of knowing
this Streight, and likewise of the great Service it would be to your
Royal Crown.' Vol. i. P. 130.
Agreeable to this Letter several Attempts were made by Sea to discover
whether _Florida_ was Part of the Continent, or separated by a
Streight; but whether _Cortez_ pursued his Design by searching between
_Florida_ along the Coast of _Baccaloos_, _Newfoundland_, and the
_Terra de Labrador_, for a Streight, by which there was a Passage from
the _North_ to the _South Sea_ is uncertain. _Florida_ comprehended
the Country from the Cape of _Labrador_ to the Cape _de los Martires_,
or of _Martyrs_, opposite to the Island of _Cuba_. From thence to the
Streights of _Magellan_ was called _Peruan Part_.
The King of _Portugal_, with a View of finding a shorter Passage to
those Parts of the _Indies_, which he had discovered, than by the Cape
of _Good Hope_, sent, in the Year fifteen Hundred, _Gasper de Corte
Real_ to the North of _America_, who landed on the _Terra de Labrador_;
also gave his Name to a Promontory on that Coast which he called
_Promonterium Corteriale_. The Name of _Labrador_ implies a fertile
Country, and given in Distinction from the high barren mountainous
Country to Northward, which _Gasper_ discovered in Latitude sixty, and
to the Southward of it. But this Distinction seems to have been soon
lost, and the Name of _Labrador_ is now given to the whole Coast.
From the Knowledge we have of these Parts we may conclude, that the
_Promonterium Corteriale_ was what we at present name _Cape Chidley_,
and the Islands _de Demonios_, where _Gasper_ lost a Vessel, those
Islands now named _Button_'s Islands; and it was _Hudson_'s Streights
to which he gave the Name of the River of the _Three Brothers_, though
the Reason of his giving that Name is not known to us.
We may perceive from this Account of _Gasper_'s Voyage, who did not
proceed to Westward to make a Passage, but coasted down the main
Land, the Accounts of their being a _Portuguese_ who made a Voyage
through the Streights of _Anian_, calling a Promontory after his Name
_Promonterium Corteriale_, hath had some Foundation in Truth; and
in what is said by _Frisius_, an antient Geographer, calling it the
Streights of _Three Brothers_, or _Anian_ (which that Word imports)
because three Brothers had passed through a Streight from the _North_
to the _South Sea_. It is also apparent that the Name of _Anian_ was
first given by _Gasper Corterialis_ (for some particular Reason
unknown to us) to that Part, which is now _Hudson_'s Streights. Though
in Time this became a proper Name to express a Streight by which there
is a Passage from the _North_ to the _South Sea_, and is contended
for to be the proper Name of the Streight that divides _Asia_ from
_America_, by which there is a Communication with the _Tartarian_ and
_Southern Ocean_. After a Discovery of these Coasts had been made to
Northward, the following Year the King of _Portugal_ sent _Americus
Vespusino_ to Southward, to discover the Land there.
_Cortez_'s Designs seem to have their Foundation in these Expeditions
of the _Portuguese_; but it was not until after the Year 1513, that
the _South Sea_ was discovered, and the _Portugueze_ had discovered
the _Moluccas_, that the finding a Streight to the Northward, by
which a Passage might be made to the _South Sea_, became a Matter
of particular Attention, and was the first and principal Object of
_Cortez_'s Attention after he had become Master of the Capital of
_Mexico_ in 1521; and this Opinion of a Passage to Northward continued
during the Reign of _Charles_ the Fifth. Who in the Year 1524 sent from
_Old Spain_ to discover a Passage to the _Moluccas_ by the North of
_America_, without Success; but _Esteven Gomez_, who was sent on that
Expedition, brought some _Indians_ home with him. Then in the Year 1526
_Charles_ the Fifth wrote to _Cortez_, in Answer to his Letters, and
orders him to send the Ships at _Zacapila_ to discover a Passage from
_New Spain_ to the _Moluccas_.
From this Time, the Year 1526, the Opinion of there being a Streight
was generally received, though on what Foundation does not appear.
It was certainly on some better Reason than _Gasper_'s Discoveries;
and a Consideration of the Importance such a Passage would be of to
the King of _Spain_ with respect to the _Spice_ Islands. It is not
consistent with the Characters of the Emperor _Charles_ the Fifth, and
of _Cortez_, when there were so many other solid Projects to pursue and
this was preferred, to suppose that they should go, at that Time, on a
meer visionary Scheme.
The same Opinion of a Passage to Northward prevailed in the Time
of _Philip_ the Second, and in the Year 1596 he sent Orders to the
Viceroy of _Mexico_ for discovering and making Settlements in proper
Parts of _California_, and one Reason assigned was, 'There was much
Talk about the Streight of _Anian_, through which the _South Sea_ was
said to communicate with that of the _North_, near _Newfoundland_; and
should the _English_ find out a practicable Passage on that Side, our
Dominions, which then included all _Portuguese India_, would be no
longer secure, all the Coast from _Acapulco_ to _Culiacan_ being quite
defenceless, and from _Culiacan_ Northward, not one single Settlement
was made on the whole Coast.' Hist. Cal. V. i. P. 163. That now not
only the Opinion of there being a Streight prevailed, but it was also
fixed as to the Part, and had the Name of _Anian_.