which lies in the Pacific Ocean, between the longitude of the coast of Peru, as far as the Baia de San Felipe y Santiago and the longitude which remains up to Bachan and Ternate, in which longitude the following most remarkable discoveries have already been made. The adelantado Alvaro Mendaña de Meyra first discovered New Guadalcanal, which is a very large island very near New Guinea; and some have imagined that what Mendaña called New Guadalcanal was part of New Guinea, but this is of no consequence whatever. New Guinea belongs also to the southern hemisphere, and was discovered some time before; and almost all of it has been since discovered on the outside [the northern side]. It is a country encompassed with water,[1] and, according to the greater number of those who have seen it, it is seven hundred leagues in circuit: others make it much more: we do not give a close calculation here, because what has been said is sufficient for the intention of this discourse. The rest will be said in its proper place. The middle of those great islands are in from thirteen to fourteen degrees of south latitude. The adelantado Mendaña afterwards discovered the archipelago of islands which he called the Islands of Solomon, whereof, great and small, he saw thirty-three of very fine appearance, the middle of which was, according to his account, in eleven degrees south latitude. After this he discovered, in the year 1565, the island of San Christobal, not far from the said archipelago, the middle of which was in from seven
- ↑ Dalrymple, in quoting this passage, thinks that the word "Aislada", here translated according to its general meaning, "encompassed with water", in this place rather signifies "separated into islands". This suggestion is, however, entirely arbitrary, and even in contradiction to the context, which states the supposed circuit of the island. Even in maps anterior to the voyage of Torres, as, for example, Hondius's Mappemonde, showing Drake's track round the world, published in the Hakluyt Society's edition of Drake's World Encompassed, New Guinea is laid down as an island, although it is true that in much later maps the point is spoken of as doubtful. Meanwhile, the editor sees no reason to deviate from the recognized rendering of the word "Aislada".
