Note 18 — Introduction.

After waiting for some days for the Capitana, Torres continued the voyage by rounding the northern end of Espiritu Santo, and steering a course to the S.W., until he reached a latitude of 21° S.18 He then altered course to the N., and discovered the bay and islands at the east end of New Guinea. In 1613 Diego de Prado y Tovar sent home four maps from Goa, which throw considerable light on the course of Torres’s ship. The first map is a very interesting one of the bay of St. Philip and St. James, in Espiritu Santo. The next is a map of a land named “Buenaventura,” with many islands. Torres arrived at this land on July 18th, having sailed from the bay of St. Philip and St. James on the 26th of June. “Buenaventura” is Basilisk Island, so named by Captain Moresby, after his ship, in 1873. The bay of San Millan, accurately delineated by Torres, is Jenkins Bay of Moresby. The port of Santo Toribio of Torres is the China Strait of Moresby.