Pedro Fernandes de Queirós

Pedro Fernandes de Queirós (1563–1614) was a Portuguese navigator who worked for Spain. He is remembered for leading important sea journeys across the Pacific Ocean. One of his most famous trips was in 1595–1596, when he sailed with Álvaro de Mendaña y Neira.

In 1605–1606, Queirós led another big voyage across the Pacific. He was searching for a huge southern land called Terra Australis. These journeys helped people learn more about the wide, open waters and the lands they could find there.

Early life

Pedro Fernandes de Queirós was born in Évora, Portugal in 1563. During this time, Portugal and Spain were ruled by the same king, so Queirós began working for Spain. He became a skilled sailor and navigator.

In 1595, he joined Álvaro de Mendaña y Neira on a trip to the Solomon Islands. After Mendaña passed away that same year, Queirós took charge and helped save the last ship of the group. They reached the Philippines in February 1596. Isabel Barreto, Mendaña’s wife, who was also on the trip, was said to have made the crew unhappy with her strict rules.

The search for Terra Australis

Pedro Fernandes de Queirós returned to Spain in 1598 after spending time in the Philippines. He asked King Philip III for support to explore the Pacific Ocean and find a large southern land for Spain. He also gained support from Pope Clement VIII during a visit to Rome.

In 1605, Queirós led an expedition with 160 men on three ships. They traveled across the Pacific and discovered several islands, including Henderson Island, Ducie Island, Rakahanga, and islands in Kiribati. They also came close to Tahiti and the Tuamotu islands but missed them.

The expedition reached islands now known as Vanuatu in 1606. Queirós believed he had found part of a huge southern continent and named one island _Australia del Espíritu Santo. He planned to start a new colony there but had to abandon the idea because of problems with the local people and his crew.

Later life

Pedro Fernandes de Quirós returned to Madrid in 1607. People thought his ideas were strange, and he lived in poverty for seven years. During this time, he wrote many stories about his travels and asked King Philip III for money to lead another voyage. He sent the king more than 65 letters, but the king did not really plan to pay for new discoveries because Spain could not afford them. Quirós was sent to Peru with letters of support, but he died on the way in Panama in 1614. He had married Doña Ana Chacón de Miranda in 1589, and they had a son and a daughter. His son Lucas de Quirós joined the 1605 expedition and later became a respected cosmographer in Lima.

Accounts of Queirós's voyage

There are many documents that describe the voyages led by Pedro Fernandes de Queirós. Important ones include letters and reports that Queirós sent to the King, as well as narratives by other people who were on the trips.

In 1625, an English writer named Samuel Purchas wrote about Queirós’s discoveries in a big book. Later, in the 1700s, British explorers saw some of these old writings and used them to help plan new journeys.

Theory that Queirós discovered Australia

In the 1800s, some people in Australia believed that Pedro Fernandes de Queirós had actually found Australia before other famous explorers like Willem Janszoon, Abel Tasman, and James Cook. Patrick Francis Moran, who was the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney from 1884 to 1911, said this was true and it was even taught in some Australian Catholic schools. He thought Queirós found land near Gladstone in Queensland, based on Queirós' descriptions of the place he discovered.

Queirós in modern literature

The Australian poet James McAuley wrote an epic poem called Captain Quiros in 1964, describing the expeditions of Queirós in his search for the Great South Land. It is considered an important work in Australian literature.

The Australian writer John Toohey published a novel, Quiros, in 2002. The British writer Robert Graves also described the 1595 expedition in his historical novel, The Islands of Unwisdom, published in 1949.

Namesake

A Spanish Navy ship called Quirós was named after Pedro Fernandes de Queirós in 1896. Later, when the ship was sold to the United States, it kept the same name and served as USS Quiros from 1900 to 1923.

In popular culture

Pedro Fernandes de Queirós appeared in several creative works. In 1982, an Australian composer named Peter Sculthorpe created a television opera called Quiros about him. Later, in 2013, Sculthorpe turned this into an oratorio named The Great South Land, which had its first showing at the Canberra International Music Festival.

Queirós was also mentioned in the 1976 movie King Kong. In the film, he is said to have found Skull Island and met Kong after his ship blew south from Tematagi in 1605. Additionally, in the 2014 video game Elite Dangerous, many space stations are named after Queirós.