Luis Váez de Torres
Luis Váez de Torres (c. 1565-?) made the first recorded navigation of the strait separating Australia from New Guinea on an expedition in search of the supposed southern continent led by Pedro Fernandes de Quirós.
Apart from that achievement, we know almost nothing of the man himself. While Torres may have been Portuguese or a Breton, he was most likely a native of Galicia, where the population has a significant Celtic element. One assumes he was an experienced navigator, but there are no concrete details of his career before he joined the Quirós expedition, which set out from Callao on 21 December 1605, as commander of the San Pedrico.
The expedition sought to rediscover the southern continent supposedly sighted by Álvaro de Mendaña y Neira in 1567. Quirós piloted the survivors of Mendaña's second expedition to Manila in February 1596 after the leader died at the expedition's malaria-ridden settlement on Santa Cruz.
Quiros was supposed to revive the Santa Cruz settlement and use it as a base for further exploration but landed on Espiritu Santo on 1 May 1606. By the end of the month, Quiros had decided to abandon Espiritu Santo and sail on, but it seems his flagship's crew had other ideas. Around midnight on 11 June 1606, Quiros' flagship disappeared, leaving the expedition's other two vessels to complete the mission.
When the flagship failed to reappear, sealed orders nominated Don Diego de Prado y Tovar to assume command and search for land as far as 20°S. Prado seems to have been happy for Torres to take de facto leadership. Torres tracked south to 21° without finding land, then steered for Manila. When they could not weather New Guinea's eastern extremity, the two vessels followed the island's south coast, passing through Torres Strait and proving that New Guinea was not the northern extremity of a southern continent.
After Torres reached Manila on 22 May 1607, the voyage was forgotten until Alexander Dalrymple acquired accounts by Torres and de Prado. Information Dalrymple provided to Joseph Banks subsequently pointed James Cook towards the passage now known as Torres Strait.
Links to add:
Álvaro de Mendaña y Neira
Diego de Prado y Tovar
Espiritu Santo
Santa Cruz
