BRITISH COLUMBIA 31 

Travellers' tales have proverbially borne an unenviable re-
pute, and the cynic might well speculate whether after all truth is
not an acquired rather than an instinctive quality in human nature
— a quality grudgingly conceded to the necessity of conforming with
the opinions of society at large, and that when a man is freed from
the shackles of convention, and disappears from the horizon of his
ffellows, the desire to excite wonder dominates over the desire to
(recount fact, and almost instinctively imagination, as if shocked by
Ithe nakedness of truth, proceeds to clothe and adorn her in all the
fashions which taste and fancy may prescribe. And mankind, de-
fined by Carlyle as "mostly fools," prone to credulity, and to whom
omne ignotum pro magnijico, greedily swallow any new and fancy
.viands which may be set before them to devour. It is only when
'an age of criticism is evolved from an age of superstition that fiction
becomes indigestible, and fact is found to be the only useful food
for the community at large. 

I 

/'''^ 

o 

r> 

C AHTA F. Sl< KHU A 

!)K A.MS''. HH 

'- •- '^fe, 

EARLY MAP OF VANC('L\'ER ISLAND AND ENTRANCE TO THL STRALr Oi' 

JUAN DE FUCA 

BRITISH COLUMBIA 29 

by the Spaniards Agua Segura, and found good store of fresh water: 

|we lay oft & on off this cape untill the fourth of Nouember, on 

iwhich day in the morning wee espied the goodly shippe comming 

jfrom the Philippinas called Saint Anna the great, being of seuen 

hundreth tunnes : we chased her untill noone, so fetching her up, 

we gave theni fight to the losse of twelve or fourteene of their men, 

land the spoyle and hurt of many more of them, whereupon at last 

they yeelded unto us: in this conflict we lost onely two of our men. 

So on the sixt of the sayde Nouember we went into the Port of Agua 

Segura, where wee ankered and put nine score prisoners on land: 

and ransacking the great shippe, wee laded our owne two shippes 

with fourtie tunnes of the chiefest marchandise, and burnt all the 

rest as well shippe as goods, to the quantitie of sixe hundred tunnes 

of rich marchandise, because we were not able to bring it away: 

This was one of the richest vessels that euer sayled on the Seas, and 

was able to haue made many hundreds wealthie, if we had had meanes 

to haue brought it home." 

Later authorities, amongst whom may be mentioned the late Pro-
fessor George Davidson, for many years employed on the Pacific sea-
board in the service of the Coast and Geodetic Survey of the United
States, and a geographer of international repute, does not hesitate
to affirm that Michael Lok's account of de Fuca was a mere tissue of
untruths. Without going quite as far as that, it may at least be said
that it is in a high degree probable that Juan de Fuca's account of
his discoveries should be placed in the list of apocryphal voyages.
It is unlikely that further evidence. will throw fresh light on that
much disputed point. There will always be some who are content
to abide by the Lok document, while others will as firmly maintain
that it yields far from satisfactory evidence that the Greek pilot
was the first European to visit the Strait that bears his name. 

This brief notice of Juan de Fuca's reputed voyage may well be
concluded with the clear-cut statement of the learned Dr. J. G.
Kohl, who in his "History of Discovery and Exploration on the
Coasts of the United States" remarks that Navarette asserts "that
no navigator of the name of Juan de Fuca or Apostolos Valerianos
was ever at any time known in Spain or mentioned by contemporary
Spanish writers; nor is there extant any record of the visit of such
a person to the King of Spain or to the Vice Roy of Mexico. In
,none of the papers relating to the expeditions of Vizcaino, written 

30 BRITISH COLUMBIA 

only a few years after 1592 (the time of de Fuca's supposed voyage),
can be found any allusion to him; nor is any document bearing on
his history in the archives of Sevillia or New Spain. It seems prob-
able that Juan de Fuca never made a voyage in the service of the
Vice Roy of Spain nor discovered a strait in the latitude indicated,
and it may be considered as a mere accident that in the beginning
of the 17th Century a strait in that region was described in a man-
ner coinciding so nearly with the reality as was ascertained at a
much later date." 

One other name is worthy of notice in this connection. The cel-
ebrated Friar Andres de Urdaneta, the discoverer of the trade routes
of the Pacific from east to west, had the honour of discovering the
mythical passage thrust upon him. Sir Humphrey Gilbert, in "A
Discourse to Prove a Passage by the North-West to Cathaia and the
East Indies," states that "one Salvatierra, a gentleman of Victoria,
in Spain, that came by chance out of the West Indies into Ireland
in 1568," there assured him that Urdaneta had come from Mar del
Sur (the Pacific) into Germany through the northern passage."
Sir Humphrey adds that Urdaneta had shown Salvatierra "a sea-
card, made by his own experience and travel in that voyage, wherein
was plainly set down and described the north-west passage." Ap-
parently, however, this was an amplification on the part of Salva-
tierra to induce Sir Humphrey to employ him in the exploration of
the strait, the discovery of which he had naively attributed to Ur-
daneta. It is scarcely necessary to add that although there are many
original papers by the Friar in the archives of the Council of the
Indies there is nothing of the nature of Salvatierra's assertion. The
nearest approach to anything of the sort is the Friar's report that
some Frenchman had sailed through the strait from the Atlantic to
the Pacific and thence to China. 

As to the extravagant story of Martin Chake (or Chaque), a
Portuguese, who is alleged to have sailed in 1555 from the Atlantic
to a point on the Pacific coast north of California, in latitude 59°.
and as to the pretensions of the Spaniard, Juan Fernandez de Ladril-
lero, who professed that he had certain knowledge of a passage
north of New Spain, critical enquiry seems superfluous. These leg-
ends carry their own condemnation on their face: they are indeed of
more interest to the psychologist than to the historian. 

26 BRITISH COLUMBIA 

perfectly of the North-west passage into the South Sea, and woula
put his life into her Maiesties hands to performe the same, if shcc
would furnish him with onely one ship of fortie tunnes burden and
a Pinnasse, and that he would performe it in thirtie dayes time, from
one end to the other of the Streights. And he willed me to write
into England. 

"And vpon this conference had twise with the said Greeke Pilot,
I did write thereof accordingly into England vnto the right honour-
able the old Lord Treasurer Cecill, and to Sir Walter Raleigh and
to Master Richard Hakluyt that famous Cosmographer, certifying
them hereof by my Letters. And in the behalfe of the said Greeke
Pilot, I prayed them to disburse one hundred pounds of money, to
bring him into England with my selfe, for that my owne purse would
not stretch so wide at that time. And I had answere here >f by Leti
ters of friends, that this action was very well liked, and greatly de-
sired in England to bee effected; but the money was not readie, and
therefore this action dyed at that time, though the said Greeke Pilot
perchance liueth still this day at home in his owne Countrie in Cefa-
lonia, towards the which place he went from me within a fortnight
after this conference had at Venice. 

"And in the meantime, while I followed my owne businesse in
Venice, being in Law suit against the Companie of Merchants of
Turkic, and Sir John Spencer their Gouernour in London, to re-
couer my pension due for my office of being their Consull at Aleppo
in Turkie, which they held from me wrongfully. And when I was
(as I thought) in a readinesse to returne home into England, for
that it pleased the Lords of her Maiesties honourable Priuie Coun-
sell in England, to looke unto this Cause of my Law suit for my
reliefe; I thought that I should be able of my owne purse to take
with me into England the said Greeke Pilot. And therefore I wrote
unto him from Venice a letter, dated in July, 1596, which is copied
here-under." 

Michael Lok's various efforts to communicate with Juan de Fuca
were of no avail, as is shown by the last paragraph of his narrative,
which reads : 

"And yet lastly, when I my selfe was at Zante, in the moneth of
June 1602. minding to passe from thence for Englatid by Sea, for
that I had then recovered a little money from the Companie of Turkie,
by an order of the Lords of the Privie Counsell of England, I wrote 

BRITISH COLUMBIA 27 

another Letter to this Greeke Pilot to Cefalonia, and required hirq
to come to me to Zanie, and goe with mee into England, but I had
none answere thereof from him, for that as I heard afterward at
Zante, he was then dead, or very likely to die of great sicknesse." 

Here ends the story of Juan de Fuca, as related by Michael Lok.
It will at once occur to the critic as being suspicious that Lok should
have kept this information to himself for so many years, particu-
larly when the efforts of all the seafaring nations had been directed
towards the discovery of the Northwest Passage. If a discovery of
such importance had been made in 1592, and knowledge of it had
been gained in 1596, it may well be asked why it was that Michael
; Lok did not give his account to the world until 1625. ^^ the facts
related it is worthy of notice that an opening does exist on the north-
west coast near the latitude assigned to it by de Fuca, and that off the
Cape Flattery of Captain Cook there is a pinnacle or spiral rock;
also that that opening does lead to an archipelago and to sheets of
water which stretch southward, eastward and northward; and the
j writers who have taken up the cudgels on behalf of de Fuca point to
these and other correlated statements as conclusive evidence that the
voyage belongs to the region of fact, rather than to the realm of
fancy. It is impossible, they claim, that any man should have so
accurately described a region without some personal knowledge of it. 

On the other hand, it may be pointed out that de Fuca's narra-
tive does not differ greatly from the accounts of other mariners of
that age. The fact should not be overlooked that de Fuca accord-
ing to his own statement was hoping to obtain command of an expe-
dition to explore the coast of northwestern America, and it was to
his advantage to colour his story with extravagant descriptions of
the lands he claimed to have discovered. It should also be borne
in mind that the belief in the existence of the Strait of Anian was
then general throughout the world. 

Strangely enough, however, in the very quarter where one should
expect to find confirmation of de Fuca's explorations, one finds in-
stead absolute disbelief in his pretensions. In all the great mass of
material gathered in the Archives of the Indies at Seville, not one
1 1 word is to be found with regard to de Fuca, and the same remark
applies to the archives of Mexico. Seeing that the Greek claimed
that he had been sent by the Viceroy of that country upon an im-
; portant mission, and that upon his return he had reported to that 

28 BRITISH COLUMBIA 

official the results of his voyage, there should be at least some docu-
ment relating thereto in the Spanish Archives. But the records of
New^ Spain are silent upon the subject. Navarette, the Spanish his-
torian, to whom was confided the task of preparing the official ver-
sion of Spanish explorations on the Northwest coast, claims in his
account of the voyage of the S uti I a.nd Mexicana that there is no
information in the Spanish Archives respecting the "ancient pilot
of ships." This is an important point, because de Fuca averred that
he had spent some time at the court of Spain seeking a dispensation
from the King to pursue his explorations to the north of California.
Therefore, de Fuca's story rests wholly and solely upon the narra-
tive of the Englishman, Michael Lok. Lok claims that he laid the
matter before Burleigh, Queen Elizabeth's great minister. Sir Walter
Raleigh and Richard Hakluyt "that famous Cosmographer," but
vi^ithout result. And yet the English records are as dumb with regard
to that transaction as are those of Spain and Mexico. Moreover, as de
Fuca himself remarks, Spain had long given up the search for the
Strait of Anian, because she regarded such a discovery as being
inimical to her own interests. She dreaded it for the simple reason
that it would encourage the operations of the European buccaneers
in the Pacific, which she had long looked upon as her own peculiar
preserve. So secure had Spain been in the possession of that great
ocean (always excepting the forays of Drake, Cavendish and the
Dutch free-booters) , that she left her ships, which plied that ocean,
almost unprotected. The galleons sailing from the Philippines to
Panama were not armed to resist attack, and that explains why they
fell so easy a prey to the buccaneers of other nations. 

It would certainly seem a priori unlikely that in view of these
facts Spain should have fitted out an expedition for the examination
of that very passage the discovery of which she so much feared. 

It has been seen that de Fuca claimed that he was upon the Santa
Anna when that vessel was captured by Cavendish ofif Cape San Lucas
in I ^88 and that he lost sixty thousand ducats on that occasion. Now,
in Cavendish's own account of that incident, which was published
by Hakluyt in 1589, no such person is mentioned. In terse Eliza-
bethan English Cavendish relates: "wee came into a Bay called Mas-
saclan, where we had fruite and fish, but were in great danger of our
enemies: We trauersed from thence unto the Southermost cape of
California, where beating up and downe we discouered a Port called

24 BRITISH COLUMBIA 

"First he said, that he had bin in the West Indies of Spaine by
the space of fortie yeeres, and had sailed to and from many places
thereof, as Mariner and Pilot, in the seruice of the Spaniards. 

"Also he said, that he was in the Spanish Shippe, which in re-
turning from the Hands, Philippinas and China, toward Noua
Spania, was robbed and taken at the Cape California, by Captaine
Candish Englishman, whereby he lost sixtie thousand Duckets, of
his owne goods. 

"Also he said, that he was Pilot of three small Ships which the
Vizeroy of Mexico sent from Mexico, armed with one hundred men,
Souldiers, vnder a Captain, Spaniards, to discouer the Straits of
Anian, along the coast of the South-Sea, and to fortifie in that Strait,
to resist the passage and proceedings of the English Nation, which
were feared to passe through those Straits into the South Sea. And
that by reason of a mutinie which happened among the Souldiers,
for the Sodomie of their Captaine, that voyage was overthrowne,
and the Ships returned backe from California coast to Nova Spania,
without any effect of things done in that Voyage. And that after
their returne, the Captaine was at Mexico punished by justice. 

"Also he said, that shortly after the said Voyage was so ill ended,
the said Viceroy of Mexico sent him out againe Anno 1592, with
a small Carauela and a Pinnace, armed with Mariners onely, to
tollow the said Voyage, for discovery of the same Straits of Anian,
and the passage thereof, into the Sea which they call the North Sea,
which is our North-west Sea. And that he followed his course in
that Voyage West and North-west in the South Sea, all alongst the
coast of Nova Spania, and California, and the Indies, now called
North America (all which Voyage hee signified to me in a great
Map, and a Sea-card of mine owne, which I laied before him) vntill
hee came to the Latitude of fortie seuen degrees, and that there find-
ing that the Land trended North and North-east, with a broad inlet
of Sea, between 47. and 48. degrees of Latitude: hee entred there-
into, sayling therein more than twentie dayes, and found that Land
trending still sometime North-west and North-east, and North, and
also East and South-eastward, and very much broader Sea then was
at the said entrance, and that hee passed by diners Hands in that say-
ling. And that at the entrance of this said Strait, there is on the
North-west coast thereof, a great Hedland or Hand, with an exceed-
ing high Pinacle, or spired Rocke, like a piller thereupon. 

BRITISH COLUMBIA 25 

"Also he said, that he went on Land in diuers places, and that he
saw some people on Land, clad in Beasts skins: and that the Land is
very fruitful, and rich of gold, Siluer, Pearle, and other things, like
Nova Spania. 

"And also he said, that he being entred thus farre into the said
Strait, and being come into the North Sea already, and finding the
Sea wide enough everywhere, and to be about thirtie or fortie leagues
wide in the mouth of the Straits, where hee entred; hee thought he
had now well discharged his office, and done the thing which he
was sent to doe: and that hee not being armed to resist the force of
the Saluage people that might happen, hee therefore set sayle and
returned homewards againe towards Nova Spania, where hee ar-
riued at Acapulco, Anno 1592, hoping to be rewarded greatly of
the Viceroy, for this seruice done in this said Voyage. 

"Also he said, that after his coming to Mexico, hee was greatly
welcommed by the Viceroy, and had great promises of great re-
ward, but that having sued there two yeares time, and obtaining noth-
ing to his content, the Viceroy told him, that he should be rewarded
in Spaine of the King himself very greatly, and willed him there-
fore to goe into Spaine, which Voyage hee did performe. 

"Also he said, that when he was come into Spaine, he was greatly
welcomed there at the Kings Court, in wordes after the Spanish
manner, but after long time of suite there also, hee could not get
any reward there neither to his content. And that therefore at the
length he stole away out of Spaine, and came into Italic, to goe home
againe and Hue among his owne Kindred and Countrimen, he being
very old. 

"Also he said, that hee thought the cause of his ill reward had of
the Spaniards, to bee for that they did vnderstand very well, that the
English Nation had now giuen ouer all their voyages for discouerie
of the North-west passage, wherefore they need not feare them any
more to come that way into the South Sea, and therefore they needed
not his seruice therein any more. 

"Also he said, that in regard of this ill reward had of the Span-
iards, and vnderstanding of the noble minde of the Queene of
England, and of her warres maintayned so valiantly against the Span-
iards, and hoping that her Maiestie would doe him justice for his
goods lost by Captaine Candish, he would bee content to goe into
^England, and serue her Maiestie in that voyage for the discouerie 

The two stories of Maldonado and of de Fonte have of course
r ^ long since been exploded. That the events recorded took place at 

22 BRITISH COLUMBIA 

all is a clear impossibility. That the tales were believed, however,
proves how little was known of the northwestern part of North Amer-
ica, even as late as the last quarter of the eighteenth century. It is
strange that Thomas Jefiferys, geographer to the King, should have
prepared a monograph in which it is gravely taken for granted that
the account of these voyages was accurate in all its details as re-
ported. Jefferys' work was published in 1768 and with it appeared
his "General map of the discoveries of de Fonte," which shows the
chain of rivers and lakes stretching across the continent in an easterly
direction from the Pacific to the North Atlantic. But it was not
the first time in history that men of learning have been hypnotized
by impostors. 

There is the celebrated defence of Maldonado by the French
scientist, Buache, the publication of which created a stir among the
learned societies of Europe. Buache laboured to prove that Mal-
donado was not an impostor but a much maligned explorer, whose
discoveries would yet redound to his credit. All this, because some
historian or litterateur in groping amongst musty archives, had un-
earthed a copy of Maldonado's manuscript. In Spain it had been
long known that he was a man of no character. Yet, in spite of
expostulations, the spirited defence of Buache was in some quarters
received with deference. Just at that time the unfortunate Malas-
pina was being despatched by the Spanish Government upon a sci-
entific expedition to the North Pacific, and so great was the influence
of the French geographer that he was particularly instructed to search
for the supposed Strait of Maldonado. His examination, of course,
revealed the fact that there was no strait such as that which had been
described so minutely. 

In William Goldson's "Observations on the Passage between the
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans," which appeared in 1793 the historian
finds yet another learned defence of Maldonado and de Fonte, and
a most extravagant map purporting to show their discoveries. That
Jefiferys, Buache, Amoretti, Goldson, and other learned men, should
have been so easily misled, is indeed an ironical comment on the
adage that "knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers." It would be
almost impossible to believe that they had been so beguiled if their
own maps and Avritings did not prove it. 

A third voyage must now be considered, which, while not to be
placed in the same class as the fictions already mentioned, yet may 

THE TITLE PAGE OF PURCHAS. HIS PILGRIMES
From the Copy in the Legislative Library, Victoria 

BRITISH COLUMBIA 23 

at least be maintained to be apocryphal. The account of Juan de
Fuca's voyage by Michael Lok created a stir in the world of ad-
venture. Indeed, from the time of its publication by Samuel Pur-
chas in "His Pilgrimes" in the year 1625, until the present time, there
have not been wanting those who have stoutly averred their belief
in the authenticity of the narrative. The voyage was said to have
taken place in the year 1592, exactly one hundred years after Colum-
i bus had discovered the West Indies. 

The arguments for and against the veracity of de Fuca's account
may be briefly summarized thus: As in all the apocryphal voy-
ages, the first fact to be noted is that nothing was known or said of
de Fuca until many years after the reputed date of the voyage. The
story rests entirely upon the testimony of Michael Lok, who was a
reputable merchant trading in the Levant. It is worthy of notice
in this connection that Purchas does not say where or how he got
Lok's narrative. Perhaps he found it among the papers of Hak-
luyt, whose literary executor he was. Lok's statement that he had
sent an account of the voyage to Hakluyt lends colour to this theory.
In that event, it is only fair to add, the stories may have been re-
ported some time before Purchas "His Pilgrimes" appeared in
1625. 

Lok's Memoir, if such it may be called, is entitled "A Note made
by me Michael Lok the elder, touching the Strait of Sea, com-
monly called Fretum Anian, in the South Sea, through the North-
west passage of Meta incognita." 

He begins: — "When I was at Venice, in April, 1596, happily
arriued there an old man, about threescore yeares of age, called com-
monly Juan de Fuca, but named properly Apostolos Valerianos, of
Nation a Greeke, borne in the Hand Cefalonia, of Profession a Mari-
ner, and an ancient Pilot of Shippes. This man being come lately out
of Spaine, arriued first at Ligorno, and went thence to Florence in
Italic, where he found one John Dowglas, an Englishman, a famous
Mariner, ready comming for Venice, to be Pilot of a Venetian Ship,
named Ragasona, for England, in whose company they came both
together to Venice. And John Dowglas being well acquainted with
me before, he gaue me knowledge of this Greeke Pilot, and brought
him to my speech : and in long talke and conference between vs, in
presence of John Dowglas: this Greeke Pilot declared in the Italian
and Spanish languages, thus much in eflfect as followeth.

CHAPTER II
APOCRYPHAL VOYAGES 

It is the inveterate tendency of the human mind to presume that
the great inventions which have enriched human life issue full grown
from the brain of the inventors, like Minerva from the head of the
Father of the Gods. As a matter of fact and of history this has never
been the case. Months and years of unsuccessful experiments have
always preceded the birth of an idea, and genius, which has been de-
fined as a transcendant capacity for taking pains brings forth its prod-
ucts only after 

"long days of labour and nights devoid of ease." 

And as it has been with great inventions, the offspring of Sci-
ence, so has it been with the origin of the great discoveries on land
and sea. The Earth feels many a blow before she yields up the
riches concealed in her bowels, and the lonely keel of the navigator
has ploughed many a barren sea before finding the passage or the
harbourage, which has been the quest of the world of his time, and
it has always remained a problem to the historian of an after-age to
declare with precision how far premature claims to discoveries of
unknown waters and countries have been founded on conscious or
unconscious imposture. 

The story of the discovery of the Northwest Passage has formed
no exception to this apparently universal rule — that the era of his-
torical fact has always been preceded by a mythical age. But there
were other and political causes which made the exploration of the
northwest coast of America so long in coming. The Spaniard, who
dominated the southern seas for centuries, was continually haunted
by the fear of his Dutch and English rivals. Obstacles therefore,
of which there are authentic records, were placed in the way of for-
eign adventurers. 

19 

20 BRITISH COLUMBIA 

Lack of space renders it impossible to deal with all the accounts
of the voyages through the Strait of Anian which were feigned in
the prehistoric age. Three stories, however, stand out with such
prominence that they cannot be overlooked by a faithful chronicler,
specially since they have obtained a certain amount of credence
among men of sobriety and common sense. On the other hand it
must be conceded at once, that the fact that the accounts of these
voyages were without exception published many years after the dates
at which the voyages themselves were declared to have been under-
taken, begets an element of suspicion as to the genuineness of the
narratives. 

Foremost among these stands the story of Lorenzo Ferrer de Mal-
donado, a narrative at one time regarded as authentic by men whose
knowledge and attainments would, it might be supposed, have pre-
vented their being carried away by the impostures of an inventive
quack. A manuscript is preserved to this day, written by Maldonado,
verbosely entitled, "A Relation of the discovery of the Strait of
Anian, made by me. Captain Lorenzo Ferrer de Maldonado, in
1588, in which is described the course of the navigation, the situa-
tion of the place, and the manner of fortifying it." Briefly, it re-
cites that the writer^ — 2. Portuguese — crossed the North Atlantic to
Davis Strait, and moving on, entered the Northwest Passage, or, as
he called it, the Strait of Anian. With wind abeam he sailed to the
North East, to the North-North-East, and again to the North, and
at last reached Tartary, or Cathaia, not far from the coast, where,
it was surmised, must be the metropolis of Tartary. Sailing on for
fifteen days he reached the open sea. "This we knew to be the South
Sea," — so runs the chronicle, — "where are situated Japan, China,
the Moluccas, India, New Guinea and the land discovered by Cap-
tain Quirus, with all the coast of New Spain and Peru." A fairly
full description of the Strait is given and the coast of Asia described,
while probability is lent to the tale by a description of the harbour at
the entiance of the Strait, where a large vessel of eight hundred tons
burden was encountered. 

The cargo of this vessel, it is solemnly recorded, consisted of
"Brocades, silks, porcelain, feathers, precious stones and gold." The
crew were said to be Hanseatics from Archangel, so that, in order
to understand each other, the voyagers were obliged to converse in
Latin. Possibly this account of the meeting with the strange mer-
chantman is the origin of de Fonte's story of his encounter with the 

BRITISH COLUMBIA 21 

Boston ship at the South Sea entrance to the mythical passage. The
paper concludes with plans for the occupation and defence of the
Strait. It is significant that nothing is said as to the circumstances
which induced the navigator to return to Europe by the passage
which he claimed to have discovered, instead of proceeding to the
Philippine Islands or to a Mexican port. 

The record of the so-called discoveries of Bartholomew de Fontc
is beset with discrepancies somewhat analogous to the tale of Mal-
donado. De Fonte's narrative, setting forth those discoveries, was
not published until April, 1708, although the voyage itself was said
to have taken place in 1640. In a letter to a monthly publication,
entitled "Memoirs for the Curious," are contained remarkable state-
ments respecting the adventure. Astonishing as the story is, it was
yet believed by many sailors of that credulous age, although there
was no information with regard to de Fonte that could be called in
any sense authentic. All that is now known is that an officer of that
name was employed in the Pacific by the Spaniards, all else is out-
side the region of fact. 

According, however, to the story as printed, de Fonte sailed on
the 3rd of April, 1640, from Lima, in the ship San Spiritus, ac-
companied by Don Diego Pennelossa, in the San Lucia, Pedro de
Barnardo in the Rosario, and Philip de Ronquillo in the King
Philip (i). Arriving at the entrance of an archipelago which he
named San Lazarus, he sailed in an easterly direction into a large
inlet, which by means of a chain of rivers and lakes opened into the
Sea of Ronquillo, that in turn communicated directly with the North
Sea, or Atlantic Ocean, between Baffin and Hudson Bays. It is of
course quite natural that de Fonte's narrative should at first have ex-
cited the curiosity of seamen and geographers. But it soon came
to be looked upon as a hoax, rather than as an authentic record.
However, there are always men, not only among mariners but also
among men of scienc^, ready to give credence to any strange story
of discovery, and an echo of Maldonado and de Fonte's fabrication
is found in the instructions given to navigators of a later age, that
great care should be taken in examining that portion of the North-
west Coast where these navigators had placed the openings leading
to their waterways.