Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1898-07-27
Did Spanish Navigators Discover
the Hawaiian Islands?

covered the group of islands consti-
tuting the Hawaiian Kingdom. The
solution of this point is full of doubt
and difficulty, but as it is of general
interest the following translation from
an address delivered by Sr. Don
Ricardo Beltran y Rozpide, before
the Royal Geographical Society of
Madrid, and published by that So
ciety in their Bulletin" " of 1881,
will be appreciated by all who have
given attention to this question.
"ln the 10Th century and the
earlier years of the f7th, the Span
iSh flag dominated, without rival,
in the waters of the two oceans.
Spain continued the work of Colon,
sought for and found a new route to
Oriental India, and the fearless
navigators, desiring to extend the
dominions of their country, and by
so doing gain honor and renown,
fitted out numerous expeditions by
sea, which resulted in the discovery
of the Philippine Archipelago, the
Ladrone, the Marquesas, Solomon,
Santa Cruz and Caroline Islands, as
well as many other smaller ones in
the Pacific Ocean. In the ports of
Peru and New Spain (Chile) were
anchored the renowned galleons of
that epoch, whose course was d.
rected towards the coasts and archi-
pelagos of Oriental Asia, and to
reopen with their keels the broad
ocean which was first divided by
Vasco Nunez de Balboa.
"The sailors and soldiers of Car
los |. and Philip II. first saw the
major part of the innumerable
islands that constitute the maritime
world in this ocean. Faith in God
or in destiny, ventureSome, dsre-
garding dangers, and with the cour-
age of true Spaniards, they led the
way in these heretofore undiscovered
seas, carrying the proud name of
their country, and the emblems of
their religion, not forgetting in their
search the baSer metals. One of
the most important expeditions was
that of General Lopes Villalobos in
I542, which sailed from New Spain
(Chile) for the MolucaS, and who
was accompanied by Juan de Gay
tan in the capacity of pilot or navi-
gator.
"ln his report of the voyage,
Gaytan mentions las iSlaS del Rey,'
the Kings islands, about 600 leagues
from the coast of Mexico Ca little
over 1000 miles,, and as the expe-
dition of VillaloboS followed the ap-
proXimate latitude of 'the Archi-
pelago of Hawaii or the Kings
Islands, it is reasonable to suppose,
in fact there can be no doubt, that
the Kings islands are the very
same which Captain Cook discov-
cred 300 years later, and named
Sandwich And this supposition
is not gratuitouS. 1t is founded on
dates and documents, charts and
maps, eminently worthy of belief
and credit, and which demonstrate
conclusively that the Spaniards were
the original discoveries of this archi-
pelago, and that in the 18th or 10th
century.
"ln many of the letters, charts
and MSS. of that period, numerous
islands are mentioned with Spanish
names. In the approximate latitude
and longitude of these islands, or
telius' Map of the World of 1887
mentions that Situated between I8
and 20 degrees N. latitude and 2o2
and 2I4 degrees of longitude of Hi
erro, equivalent to I55 and 100 de-
grees Greenwich, lying S. E. and
N. w. are the Islands Desgraciada
(unfortunate), Vezina, Monges, La