Australian History: Spanish Explorers
In the early 17th century one Spanish captain came very close to landing in Australia. Around this time Spain had established colonies in parts of South America and in 1605 a small fleet of three Spanish shies under the command of Pedro Fernandez de Quiros set out from the port of Callao in Peru specifically in search of the unknown south land. The expedition reached one of the islands that now make up Vanuatu, which de Quiros mistakenly thought was part of a great southern continent. He named it Tierra Australia del Espiritu Santo, which means ‘the south land of the Holy Spirit; the island today is still known as Espiritu Santo.
De Quiros stayed three weeks on the island, during which time he tried unsuccessfully to convert the hostile inhabitants to Christianity. When they finally left to explore further, the three ships ran into rough weather and de Quiros’ ship, the Capitana became separated from the other two and headed eastwards back to Peru. The other two ships were then commanded by Luis Vaez de Torres in the Almiranta and Zabra, which continued to sail west. Late in 1606, they passed through the strait that separates Cape York from New Guinea, now called Torres Strait and some months later reached the port of Manila in the Philippines which was then controlled by Spain. It is uncertain if Torres himself actually saw the northern tip of Cape York.