American Geographical Society

New Light on Torres' VoyageNew Light on the Discovery of Australia as Revealed by the Journal of Captain Don Diego dePrado y Tovar by Henry N. Stevens; Don Diego de Prado; Tovar de PradoGeographical Review, Vol. 21, No. 1 (Jan., 1931), p. 176Published by: American Geographical SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/208965 .

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THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

CAMEL TRANSPORT IN THE UNITED STATES

LEWIS BURT LESLEY, edit. Uncle Sam's Camels: The Journal of May Humphreys Stacey, Supplemented by the Report of Edward Fitzgerald Beale (1857-1858). 298 pp.; map, ills., bibliogr., index. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1929. $4.00. 10 x 7 inches.

As a step in the opening up of the Southwest the story of the introduction of camels as a means of transportation and for military purposes to combat the Indians is not without interest. During the late fifties of the last century a number of these animals were purchased by the United States Government and brought to Texas. They were tried out by Edward F. Beale on his expedition to survey a wagon road from Fort Defiance to the Colorado River in 1857-1858. His journal, together with the previously unpublished journal of May Humphreys Stacey who accompanied him, are here brought together and issued with additional chapters by the editor. Together they give a vivid account of a journey through Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona to California in I857-I858. Beale, finding the camels very satisfactory and admirably suited to the country, writes that he looks "forward to the day when every mail route across the continent will be conducted and worked altogether with this economical and noble brute." However, they proved unpopular and in 1864 were sold at auction by the Government. The editor has also written on "The Purchase and Importation of Camels by the United States Government, I855- I857" (Southwestern Hist. Quart., Vol. 33, 1929, pp. I8-33), and William S. Lewis has told the story of "The Camel Pack Trains in the Mining Camps of the West" (Washington Hist. Quart., Vol. 19, I928, pp. 27I-284).

NEW LIGHT ON TORRES' VOYAGE

HENRY N. STEVENS, edit. New Light on the Discovery of Australia as Revealed by the Journal of Captain Don Diego de Prado y Tovar. xii and 26I pp.; maps, MS facsimiles, index. London, Henry Stevens, Son & Stiles, 1930. I8s. 9 x 6 inches.

In 1605 Quiros sailed from Callao on a voyage of discovery in the South Seas in search for the fabulous Southern Continent. The island of Espiritu Santo (in the New Hebrides) was finally reached, whence two of Quiros' lieutenants, Torres and Prado, were sent on to Manila, Quiros himself returning to South America. Torres and Prado proceeded to the Philippines around the south side of New Guinea, discovering and passing through the strait that now bears Torres' name, although they could hardly have been aware of its true character.

Prior to the publication of the volume under review what little had been known of Torres' voyage was based on a brief letter of Torres to Philip III of Spain. Mr. Stevens has had the great good fortune of discovering a holograph account by Prado which sheds new light on the work of Quiros and the subsequent voyage to Manila. The Spanish texts of Prado's narrative, or "Relacion," and of Torres' "Letter" are here printed with English translations by Mr. G. F. Barwick of the British Museum and with an extended introduction by the editor.

Prado's narrative gives an entertaining account of shoals, storms, and tidal currents encountered, of skirmishes with the "Indians," and of strange animals, birds, and plants. The topographical details are confusing. In the Introduction Mr. Stevens tries to reconstruct the route through the straits and to show that the Australian mainland was sighted. He argues that Prado, not Torres, was in supreme command and that to the former, therefore, belongs the credit for the " discovery" of Australia. Students of this voyage, however, would do well to consider a critical review of the volume in the London Times Literary Supplement for May 22, I930, in which these points are controverted.

CAMEL TRANSPORT IN THE UNITED STATES

LEWIS BURT LESLEY, edit. Uncle Sam's Camels: The Journal of May Humphreys Stacey, Supplemented by the Report of Edward Fitzgerald Beale (1857-1858). 298 pp.; map, ills., bibliogr., index. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1929. $4.00. 10 x 7 inches.

As a step in the opening up of the Southwest the story of the introduction of camels as a means of transportation and for military purposes to combat the Indians is not without interest. During the late fifties of the last century a number of these animals were purchased by the United States Government and brought to Texas. They were tried out by Edward F. Beale on his expedition to survey a wagon road from Fort Defiance to the Colorado River in 1857-1858. His journal, together with the previously unpublished journal of May Humphreys Stacey who accompanied him, are here brought together and issued with additional chapters by the editor. Together they give a vivid account of a journey through Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona to California in I857-I858. Beale, finding the camels very satisfactory and admirably suited to the country, writes that he looks "forward to the day when every mail route across the continent will be conducted and worked altogether with this economical and noble brute." However, they proved unpopular and in 1864 were sold at auction by the Government. The editor has also written on "The Purchase and Importation of Camels by the United States Government, I855- I857" (Southwestern Hist. Quart., Vol. 33, 1929, pp. I8-33), and William S. Lewis has told the story of "The Camel Pack Trains in the Mining Camps of the West" (Washington Hist. Quart., Vol. 19, I928, pp. 27I-284).

NEW LIGHT ON TORRES' VOYAGE

HENRY N. STEVENS, edit. New Light on the Discovery of Australia as Revealed by the Journal of Captain Don Diego de Prado y Tovar. xii and 26I pp.; maps, MS facsimiles, index. London, Henry Stevens, Son & Stiles, 1930. I8s. 9 x 6 inches.

In 1605 Quiros sailed from Callao on a voyage of discovery in the South Seas in search for the fabulous Southern Continent. The island of Espiritu Santo (in the New Hebrides) was finally reached, whence two of Quiros' lieutenants, Torres and Prado, were sent on to Manila, Quiros himself returning to South America. Torres and Prado proceeded to the Philippines around the south side of New Guinea, discovering and passing through the strait that now bears Torres' name, although they could hardly have been aware of its true character.

Prior to the publication of the volume under review what little had been known of Torres' voyage was based on a brief letter of Torres to Philip III of Spain. Mr. Stevens has had the great good fortune of discovering a holograph account by Prado which sheds new light on the work of Quiros and the subsequent voyage to Manila. The Spanish texts of Prado's narrative, or "Relacion," and of Torres' "Letter" are here printed with English translations by Mr. G. F. Barwick of the British Museum and with an extended introduction by the editor.

Prado's narrative gives an entertaining account of shoals, storms, and tidal currents encountered, of skirmishes with the "Indians," and of strange animals, birds, and plants. The topographical details are confusing. In the Introduction Mr. Stevens tries to reconstruct the route through the straits and to show that the Australian mainland was sighted. He argues that Prado, not Torres, was in supreme command and that to the former, therefore, belongs the credit for the " discovery" of Australia. Students of this voyage, however, would do well to consider a critical review of the volume in the London Times Literary Supplement for May 22, I930, in which these points are controverted.

I76 I76

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