Page:Scented isles and coral gardens- Torres Straits, German New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies, by C.D. Mackellar, 1912.pdf/162

122 Peruvians were “a strange Scotch people”? There I leave it.

They beached their ship at a Nicaraguan port for repairs, but got no help; on 14th May reached Santa Elena in Peru, and on the 26th Don Fernando Enriquez left for Lima, with the news of the discovery of land and islands. Laus Deo!

So ended this wonderful voyage, a marvel of courage and endurance. They were extraordinary people these old Spaniards.

But, strange to say, the isles they had discovered were lost for two hundred years.

Mendana had named them the “Isles of Saloman,” thought they were full of gold, and was dying to get it. The Spaniards considered them to be the Ophir of Solomon, from which he brought the gold to build the temple at Jerusalem. When Drake appeared on the scene and went “lookseeing” about, the Spaniards concealed all knowledge they had, so that the English would not benefit by their experiences.

In 1595 Mendana, an old man, accompanied by his wife, Donna Isabella Baretto, sailed again from Peru with four ships and four hundred sailors, soldiers, and emigrants. Fernando de Quiros, who had been with him before, was his chief pilot, and San Christoval was their goal. Half-way across the Pacific they came to the Marquesas de Mendoza (now called the Marquesas), but another month went by ere they sighted more land. The Capitana signalled to the other ships, but only two replied. The gallant Almiranta did not answer; she never has answered, and her fate is a mystery. She had one hundred men, women, and children on board. Who knows but some day yet some trace of her may be found in those unknown isles.

At Santa Cruz they tried to establish a colony,