The Spanish were especially worried that the British would find a passage to the Northwest, or that the Russians would speed their advance from Siberia. As a result, Spanish expeditions often left even without records of their own previous visits to the same region, and as a result "rediscovered" and often renamed their previous finds. It was thus a real scoop in England to find a description of a Spanish voyage of discovery, especially one that seemed to prove that a Northwest passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific did in fact exist.
According to the story, and certain Admiral Bartolome de Fuentes (or de Fonte) sailed north from Lima in 1640. At 53°N he discovered a archipelago which he called the islands of St Lazarus, and followed the River of the Kings (Rio de los Reyes) inland to the east. After sailing for some time through various channels, rivers and lakes, he met a ship from Boston who had come from the other direction via Hudson Bay, proving the link between the two oceans.
French geographer Joseph de l'Isle (I have maps by his even more famous brother Guillaume) returned to Paris after 21 years in St Petersburg. After reading two academic papers on the de Fuentes letter, in 1753 he published a map that incorporated recent findings of the Russians with a speculation of the northwest coast based on the De Fuentes story. As early as 1757 Spain officially stated that de Fuentes never existed. But cartographers incorporated parts or all of the de Fuentes story (as shown by de l'Isle) in their maps until the voyages of Vancouver finally proved that they did not exist. On this map, Vaugondy puts it on the map, but points out that proof is still forthcoming.
There was of course also the tale of the strait between 47° and 48° leading to an inland "western sea' full of islands, told by a Greek pilot who sailed north for Spain in 1592. Historically there was a Greek pilot named Juan de Fuca living in New Spain in the 16th century. But there was no more proof that the strait existed any more than there was proof that the de Fuentes story was false. Of course a large strait leading to an inland sea was discovered finally in 1787 by Charles Barkley, which could mean that the Juan de Fuca story was true. Interestingly enough Bellin chose to show the Juan de Fuca entrance on his map of 1758, but writes that "it is in this part that some geographers have placed the claimed discoveries of Admiral Fuente, but I find this too doubtful and inexact to be used." |
