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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (June 1, 1884)
176 THE WEST SHORE. PdHnni'0 into tlin Pacific was now crvstahzed into a een- erol belief. Magellan hod simply passed through the . . m 11 1 -AMI straits and whs unaware or we open sea lying sun f urtlier to the south, and it wns many years before Dutch freebooters discovered the passage uround Cape Horn. It was supjxwed that lie liad simply traversed a danger ouh passageway leading through a narrow portion of the great South American Continent Just such a waterway the Straits of Aniiin were then supposed to be, piercing the continent from the Atlantic to the South Sea. To Hi id it England, Spain, France and Russia vied with each other for nearly three centuries before all belief in its existence was finally abandoned. The kingdom of Ferdinand and Isabella was then approaching the zenith of its power. Wealth flowed iu a golden stream from the New World to fill the coffers of their successors upon the throne of Aragon and Castile, the K)werful Charles and haughty Philip. The ancient throne of the Montezuinas was overturned in blood and the kingdom of the Incas plundered of its hoarded treasure. The South Soa was crossed, the Philippine Islands wore subdued, and Spaiu gained a foothold in the Indies, whose long sought treasures of porcelain, silk and spices wore conveyed to Europe to aid in upholding the power and magnificence of the Castilian throne. No Hag but that of Spain waved over Pacifio waters. Spanish galloons loadod with rich cargoes from the Indies reuched the western coast of Central America, where the precious freight was landed and transported across to ships wait ing on the other side to convey it to the mother coun try. In vain England, eager to share this rich harvest with her rival, sought for some entrance into the South Sea other than the dangorous one by the Straits of Magellan. To use this involved a voyage too long and too full of dangers to render it practicable for the pur ines of commerce in those days. England and Spain wore frequently at war, and the discovery of a means by which English ships of war could easily enter the Pacific and prey ukii the commerce of Spain was as much doHirod by tho one nation as it was feared by the other. Even were this passage not discovered, exemption from interference with her Pacific commerce Spain could not hope to enjoy forever. The monarch of that power ful nation was tho Bonification of arrogance. Over all lands evou technically discovered by his subjects he chimed dominion and the exclusive right of trade even if no settlement of any kind had been attempted. I'oreignors of all nations were prohibited, under pain of death, from having any intercourse whatever with such territories, or from navigating tho adjacent waters. The result of such presumption was most disastrous to Spain English, Dutch and French "free trailers" made sad havoc with tho Simuish shipping on the Atlantic Coast of America; and though these ravages were continued in times of ioaoo, they were winked at by the rival aover eigiis, who often directly, and always indirectly, received Uieir share of the booty, and one of these robbers, Cap. Urn 1-rancw Drake, was knighted by his queen for beinV th most daring and successful of tbein alL And why not? Many a peer of England has been created for less florvices to his country than were rendered by Sir Francis Drake in leading the assault upon the great avenue of wealth through which came the means of putting afloat that wonderful Spanish Armada, from whose power Eng land was saved only by the valor of her seamen and the winds of Heaven. These roving marauders made great exertions to dis cover a northern route into the Pacific, urged on by reports of the wonderful richness of the East Indian commerce of Spain. Unsuccessful in this, they finally invaded the South Sea by the passage of Magellan's tem pestuous straits. The pioneer of these was Drake. In 1578 he thus passed into the South Sea, and Bpread terror and devastation along the coast He captured the East Indian galleon, levied contributions on the Spanish ports, and finally," with his only remaining vessel freighted with plunder, sailed north with the purpose of reaching the Atlantic through the Straits of Anian. In this he was thwarted, and to avoid the Spanish fleet awaiting him at the Straits of Magellan, he returned to England by way of the Cape of Good Hope. Other English free booters, encouraged by the dazzling success of Drake, followed his example, and for years Spain's commerce in the Patfific suffered many ravages at their hands. Meanwhile navigators continued their search for the Northwest Passage, while the Spanish government was in a constant state of alarm lest their efforts should be crowned with success. Humors that the Straits of Anian had been discovered were spread from time to time, cre ating great consternation in Spain, Spanish America and the Philippines. Several navigators claimed to have passed through these mythical straits, either for the pur pose of giving themselves importance in the nautical world, or to secure Bome employment in their profession or emolument for the services they thus claimed to have rendered. Those were the halcyon days Of the romancer. "Sailor's yarns" were in great demand. A man who had visited foreign lands in Europe was a rarity, while one who had extended his travels to these new and won derful regions, or been one of the very few who had encompassed the world, was as much of a curiosity as would be Lieutenant Greely to-day were he to return from the Arctio with the report that he had actually entered " Bynames' Hole" and visited that land of won derful phenomena in the interior of the earth. What else could be expected when three-fourths of the globe were an unexplored wilderness of land and water, about which new and totally unexpected revelations were con stantly being made? The most wonderful fabrication, cleverly contrived, could contain nothing more unhar- monious with prevailinc eeoimmhical theories than were the reports of actual expeditions of whose correctness there could be no doubt Of the many stories thus set afloat, the one the most plausible, and which took tho deepest hold upon the people, receiving, in fact, universal credence for many years, was that of Captain Lorenzo k errer ae Maldonado. a PortnrrnAnn Tt wna related by him to the Spanish Council of the Indies, to whom he
