Note 9 — A MEMORIAL ADDRESSED TO HIS CATHOLIC MAJESTY PHILIP THE THIRD, KING OF SPAIN, BY DR. JUAN LUIS ARIAS, RESPECTING THE EXPLORATION, COLONIZATION, AND CONVERSION OF THE SOUTHERN LAND.

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”.