Pedro Fernandes de Queirós

Pedro Fernandes de Queirós (1563–1614) was a Portuguese navigator who worked for Spain. He is known for leading important sea trips across the Pacific Ocean.

One of his most famous trips was in 1595–1596. He sailed with Álvaro de Mendaña y Neira.

In 1605–1606, Queirós led another big trip across the Pacific. He was looking for a large southern land called Terra Australis. These trips helped people learn more about the ocean and the lands they could discover there.

Early life

Pedro Fernandes de Queirós was born in Évora, Portugal in 1563. At that time, Portugal and Spain had the same king, so Queirós started working for Spain. He became a good sailor and navigator.

In 1595, he joined Álvaro de Mendaña y Neira on a trip to the Solomon Islands. After Mendaña died that year, Queirós took control and helped save the last ship. They arrived in the Philippines in February 1596. Isabel Barreto, Mendaña’s wife, who was also on the trip, had strict rules that made the crew unhappy.

The search for Terra Australis

Pedro Fernandes de Queirós returned to Spain in 1598 after time in the Philippines. He asked King Philip III for help to explore the Pacific Ocean and find a big southern land for Spain. He also got support from Pope Clement VIII when he visited Rome.

In 1605, Queirós led an expedition with 160 men on three ships. They sailed across the Pacific and found several islands, including Henderson Island, Ducie Island, Rakahanga, and islands in Kiribati. They almost reached Tahiti and the Tuamotu islands but did not find them.

The expedition reached islands now called Vanuatu in 1606. Queirós thought he had found part of a huge southern continent and named one island _Australia del Espíritu Santo. He wanted to start a new colony there but had to stop 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 unusual, and he lived in poverty for seven years. During this time, he wrote stories about his travels and asked King Philip III for money to lead another voyage. He sent the king many letters, but the king did not plan 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 about the voyages led by Pedro Fernandes de Queirós. Important ones include letters and reports that Queirós sent to the King. Other people who were on the trips also wrote about them.

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

Theory that Queirós discovered Australia

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

Queirós in modern literature

The Australian poet James McAuley wrote an epic poem called Captain Quiros in 1964 about Queirós's journeys to find the Great South Land. This poem is important in Australian literature.

The Australian writer John Toohey wrote a novel named Quiros in 2002. The British writer Robert Graves also wrote about the 1595 expedition in his historical novel, The Islands of Unwisdom, which came out in 1949.

Namesake

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

In popular culture

Pedro Fernandes de Queirós appeared in several creative works. In 1982, a composer named Peter Sculthorpe made a television opera called Quiros. In 2013, he turned this into an oratorio named The Great South Land. It was first shown 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. In the 2014 video game Elite Dangerous, many space stations are named after Queirós.