Francisco Muñoz y San Clemente and his - British Library

FRANCISCO MUNOZ Y SAN CLEMENTE AND HIS
'REFLECTIONS ON THE ENGLISH
SETTLEMENTS OF NEW HOLLAND'
ROBERT J.KING
THE significance of Francisco Munoz y San Clemente's 'Reflexiones sobre Ios
establecimientos Ingleses de la Nueva-Holanda' lies in the influence it had in causing the
politico-scientific expedition to the Pacific led by Alexandro Malaspina to include in its
itinerary a visit to the new English colony in New South Wales (see figs, i, 2).
The 'Refiexiones' presented irrefutable reasons for Spain to send her own observers
to obtain first-hand knowledge of the Botany Bay colony.
Munoz came from a distinguished family. sHis father was Gonzalo Munoz de Torres,
a native of Ecija, in Andalusia, who had held the appointments of Regent of the Council
of Navarre and interim Viceroy of the Kingdom of Navarre. His mother was Joaquina
de San Clemente y Montera, a native of Alfaro, in Navarre. His brother, Gonzalo,
an officer of the ehte Real Compafiia de Guardias Marinas, died in January 1780 of
wounds received during the Battle of Cape St Vincent with the British fleet commanded
by Sir George Rodney.
Francisco began his career in 1760, as a graduate of the Colegio Militar de Segovia,
where he had studied mathematics, algebra, geometry and physics, civil engineering,
fortification and artillery. He was admitted as sub-lieutenant to the Real Cuerpo de
Artilleri'a, and from there transferred to the Royal Navy with the rank of alferez de
fregata (midshipman). He first saw service in the Oriente in the expedition against
Algiers in 1775. He subsequently served on board the frigate Margarita in the squadron
under the command of Antonio de Arce, and during the summer of 1776 on the Velasco.
He was then appointed to the Guardias Marinas at Cartagena, where the commander put
him in charge of teaching cosmography, navigation and naval tactics. In 1778 he was
appointed to the Real Compania de Guardias Marinas de Cadiz where, if he had not
already done so, he would have made the acquaintance of Alexandro Malaspina. In June
1779 Spain joined with France against Britain in supporting the Americans in their War
of Independence. Munoz served in the war against Britain on the Rayo, which formed
part of the squadron under the command of Luis de Cordoba. In 1782 he was promoted
to the rank of capitdn de fregata. From 1782 to 1786 he was interim officer commanding
the Compafiia de Guardias Marinas de Cadiz. In August 1784 he was appointed second
55

in command of the Santa Lucia which, under the command of Vicente Tofino,
undertook a hydrographical survey which contributed to the compilation of the Atlas
Maritimo de Espana, published in 1789.
On 12 April 1785, the re-establishment of the Royal Philippines Company (which had
been first set up in the reign of Philip V) was publicly announced in Madrid:
The King has at last consented to the re-establishment of the Manilla Company (at the request
of the merchants) which has been abolished for near 90 years; and the Prince of Asturias, heir
to the Crown, is to be the patron of it. A very valuable branch of commerce will be regained by
this means, to which there is no other natural impediment than the extreme distance of these
islands from Europe.^
To explore the best direct route to the Philippines from Spain (as opposed to the
traditional Acapulco-Manila galleon route), it was determined to send two ships under
charter to the Royal Philippines Company by the alternative Cape Horn and Cape of
Good Hope routes. Munoz was appointed to command of the frigate Aguila Imperial in
August 1785; Alexandro Malaspina was nominated to command of the Placeres at the
same time, but could not take up his command on account of illness.^ The Aguila
Imperial was to go by the Cape of Good Hope route, and the Placeres by Cape Horn.
Malaspina, having recovered, was nominated to command of the Astrea in June 1786
(instead of the Placeres), and undertook the voyage to the Philippines for the Company,
going out by the Cape Horn route and returning to Spain by the Cape of Good Hope
(without, however, stopping at Cape Town), arriving at Cadiz in May 1788.^
The Aguila Imperial sailed for the Philippines under the command of Munoz,
departing Cadiz in January 1786 and arriving at Manila on 8 August of that year. She
sailed on the return voyage to Spain from Manila on 12 January 1787 and arrived at
Cadiz on 17 March 1788. Both the outward and return voyages were by the Cape of
Good Hope.'^
Shortly after his return he was given leave to go to Madrid to attend to family affairs
(his mother had died just after the Aguila Imperial had sailed from Cadiz).^ His presence
in Madrid, and his friendship with Malaspina, were referred to in a letter which
Malaspina wrote to an English friend from Cadiz on 13 July 1789: 'Munoz and the
amiable Greppi are yet in Madrid.'^ It was during this period that he wrote and
submitted his 'Reflexiones sobre Ios establecimientos Ingleses de la Nueva-Holanda': it
is dated San Ildefonso, 20 September 1788.
In it, he wrote: 'The grave dangers which in time our commerce will experience
because of their proximity to South America and the Philippines oblige us to consider
the [English] settlements' (f. iv). In other words, he wrote it on his own initiative, and
not in response to an order or invitation. The treatise considered the advantages which
New Holland offered for settlements to the English, the sea lines of communication
between the new colony and India, China, the Philippines and South America; and
indicated the dangers which it posed to the Spanish possessions both in peace time from
the development of a contraband commerce, and in war time as a base for British naval
56

fig. I. 'Vista de la Colonia Ynglesa de Sydney en la Nueva Gales Meridional', by Fernando
Brambila, the artist on Malaspina's expedition: Madrid, Museo Naval, MS. 1724-15. By courtesy
of the Museo Naval, Madrid
2. A variant by Brambila of Fig. i: BL, K. Top. CXXIV (supplement) 45
57

operations. He referred (f. 5r) to the newspaper accounts which *have frequently
announced to us new shipments of Colonists' to Botany Bay.'
Comment on the Botany Bay project in the British press, and in pamphlets and books
pubhshed in Britain, could not but have aroused Spanish curiosity and suspicions. The
Daily Universal Register for 12 October 1786 observed:
After all that has been said, either in ridicule or animadversion on the measure of sending the
convicts to Botany Bay, it is a serious truth, that in case of a future war with Spain or Holland,
a settlement there must be attended with very important advantages. The spice islands, the
possessions which the Dutch regard with a very jealous eye, and the envied Spanish territory of
Mexico and Peru, would each be exposed from [them to] successful incursion.
An article in the General Advertiser of the same date said:
The central situation which new South Wales, in which Botany Bay is situated, holds in the globe,
cannot fail of giving it a very commanding influence in the policy of Europe. It extends from 44
to 10 South lat. and from no to 154 long. - a month's sail from the Cape of Good Hope; five
weeks from Madras; the same from Canton in China; very near the Moluccas; less than a month's
run from Batavia; and lastly within a fortnight's sail of New Zealand, which place is covered with
timber, even to the water edge, of such an enormous size and height, that a single tree would be
much too large for a mast of a first rate man of war. When this colony from England is established,
if we should ever be at war with Holland or Spain we might very powerfully annoy either State
from the new settlement. We might, with equal safety and expedition, make naval incursions into
Java, and the other Dutch settlements, or invade the coast of Spanish America, and intercept the
Manilla ships. Thus this check would, in time of war, make it a very important object, when we
view it in the chart of the world with a political eye.
This report was an unacknowledged quote from the memorial to the British Government
by James Matra, who had proposed since 1783 the formation of a colony at Botany Bay.
The same extracts from Matra's proposal appeared in The General Evening Post of 10-12
October, and in other London newspapers on 13 October 1786: The London Chronicle;
The Morning Chronicle; The Whitehall Evening Post; The Mormng Post; and in The
Daily Universal Register on 14 October 1786. The Spanish Ambassador to London,
Bernardo del Campo, immediately forwarded a translation of this passage, and others
drawn from Matra's memorial referring to the advantages of a settlement in New South
Wales, to Prime Minister Florida Blanca in Madrid.^
An indication of the wide interest the Botany Bay scheme attracted throughout Europe
is the quoting of this passage and other newspaper reports by Pierre Edouard Lemontey
in his prize-winning 'Eloge de Jacques Cook', given in Marseilles on 29 August 1789.^
The Gaceta de Madrid of 13 and 20 October, and 14 November 1786 carried reports from
the English press on the projected colony.
Matra's patron and co-sponsor (together with Sir Joseph Banks) of the Botany Bay
project. Captain Sir George Young, had had his own memorial published as a pamphlet
in April 1785, at a time when the House of Commons Select Committee on the
58

Transportation of Felons was holding hearings on suitable locations for a convict colony.
As one of the principal advantages of the proposed colony, he wrote:
Its great extent and relative situation with respect to the Eastern and Southern parts of the Globe,
is a material Consideration; Botany Bay, or its Vicinity, the part that is proposed to be first settled,
is not more than Sixteen hundred Leagues from Lima and Baldivia, with a fair open Navigation,
and there is no doubt but that a lucrative Trade would soon be opened with the Creole Spaniards
for English Manufactures. Or suppose We were again Involved in a War with Spain, Here are
Ports of Shelter, and refreshment for our Ships, should it be necessary to send any into the South
The Directors of the East India Company asked their Inspector of Sea Journals,
Alexander Dalrymple, for an opinion on the proposed colony in July 1785. Dalrymple
attacked the proposal as a subterfuge for getting around the Company's charter of
exclusive trade in the Pacific: 'the true prospects of the Undertakers' were 'to carry on
an iHicit Trade under pretext of a Colony '. In detailing his opposition to the proposal,
Dalrymple Hsted aH the reasons given by Matra and Young to support its advantages,
including, 'a check upon the Spaniards at Manila; and their Acapulco Trade'. After the
Government announced in September 1786 that it would proceed with the colony,
Dalrymple's opinion was pubHshed under the title, A Serious Admonition to the Publick
on the Intended Thief Colony at Botany Bay}^
In November 1786, the London publisher (and friend of Banks) John Stockdale
pubHshed An Historical Narrative of the Discovery of New Holland and New South Wales,,
to explain the reasons for the Government's decision to settle Botany Bay. The
conclusion of this book stated (p. 53), in summarizing the advantages of a settlement at
Botany Bay: 'Should a war break out with the Court of Spain, cruizers from Botany Bay
might much interrupt, if not destroy, their lucrative commerce from the PhiHppine
islands to Aquapuico, besides alarming and distressing their settlements on the west
coast of South America.' Although the book was published anonymously, Stockdale was
habituaHy used by the Home Office and Sir Joseph Banks.^^ Stockdale also pubHshed
what was in effect a revised edition of this book, under the title of The History of New
Holland,, in April 1787. The preface of this book (p. 16) said that the Spanish:
...finding their overswoln empire so weakened as to be no longer in a condition to turn the
discoveries of [Torres, Mendana and Quiros] to national profit, and foreseeing that, if they should
estabHsh themselves in two or three of the South-Sea islands, their success would not but serve
to encourage other powers to dispossess them, and thereby not only to gain the settlements from
which they might be driven, but fix themselves perhaps in a situation commodious for annoying
either their American dominions, or the Philippine islands, in the most effectual manner, they
prudently chose to forego present advantage, rather than run the risque of such a future
inconvenience.^^
It is instructive to compare the views of Sir N. WilHam Wraxall, expressed in his A
Short Review of the Political State of Great Britain at the Commencement of the Year 1787:
59

The vast and unexplor'd Continent of New-Holland, nearly equal in magnitude to that part of
the earth denominated Europe, affords ample scope to the most daring and ferocious spirits; and
may, in the year five thousand from Christ, be peopled by the descendants of British malefactors.
It is, however, far more probable, that, like the Buccaneers, so famous, and so dreaded by Spain
in the last century, they will soon emancipate themselves from the feeble restraint impos'd upon
them; and that they may, in succeeding times, fill the Chinese and Indian seas, with slaughter
and depredation, notwithstanding the prodigious distance, at which even these parts of the earth
are removed from New-Holland.^"^
This passage echoed an article based on Dalrymple's Admonition pubHshed in the
London press in December 1786:
But the serious argument against [the Botany Bay settlement], and which Mr. [Alexander]
Dalrymple has taken much pains to urge to the [East-India Company] Court of Directors, is, that
it would necessarily become a harbour of pirates, and that our China trade must fall a sacrifice
to their depredations. When we consider that there is a coast longer than that of America, and
which would in fact require the navy of all Europe to guard - that it is full of harbours, bays,
creeks, and firths, some estimate may be formed of its danger to our East-India trade.^^
In the Admonition^ Dalrymple had actuaHy said:
the probable consequence of a Colony on New-Holland, would be their addicting themselves to
Piratical excursions amongst the Islands, and on the Coast of China... The regular Trade at
Canton would have demands made for indemnification, which the whole property there would
not compensate; and the lives of the fair trader and the total loss of the Trade to China might
be forfeit for the transgressions of these Pirates; who would be beyond reach, if divided, and too
formidable for punishment if united.
All of the above-quoted British comment on the Botany Bay project could have been
available to alert Spanish observers. As well as forwarding relevant extracts from the
daily press as part of its normal activity, the Spanish Embassy in London paid close
attention to public discussion in Britain of the Botany Bay project, as shown by the
report sent to Madrid by Campo of a book by the Scottish historian and judge, Sir John
Dalrymple.
The 'Account of an intended expedition into the South Seas by private persons in the
late war', published in May 1788 by Sir John Dalrymple as Appendix II of his Memoirs
of Great Britain and Ireland, bore upon the strategic significance of New Holland.
Dalrymple's book was pubHshed in anticipation that war was imminent between Britain
and the Bourbon monarchies, France and Spain, arising from civil war in the
Netherlands. His 'Account' related to a proposal he had made to the administration of
Lord North for an expedition against the Spanish empire in the South Seas upon the
outbreak of war with Spain in June 1779. Dalrymple said that the Spanish war had
broken out so late in the summer that there was little chance of getting an expedition
ready to pass Cape Horn in the proper months of December or January, and that there
60

was therefore a prospect that the most vulnerable parts of Spain's empire, her South
Seas, would be safe from attack for twenty months. It occurred to Dalrymple, that since
the voyages and discoveries of Captain Cook, there were two easy ways of getting mto
the South Seas at any time of the year, one from Britain by way of the Cape of Good
Hope; the other from India, either by the Philippines and the North Pacific (the Manila
Galleon route), or by New Holland and the South Pacific:
The other route from the East Indies is by the south, to get into the latitude of 40° south in New
Holland; and from thence to take advantage of the great west wind, which about that latitude
blows ten months of the year, in order to reach Chili, where the south land wind will be found.
The facility of this last route was not known till the late discoveries, which will make the memory
of Sir Joseph Banks, of Captain Cook, of Lord Sandwich, and of his present Majesty, immortal
in history... The very circumstance of the consciousness of Spain of her security for twenty
months gave an advantage to those who should attempt to make her feel her mistake. The proper
mode of conducting an expedition from Britain in the South Seas, was to run by the Cape of Good
Hope and New Zealand to the coast of Chili, from thence along that coast by the south land wind
into the gulf of Panama, from thence upon the trade wind with the prizes and such of their goods
as were fit for the eastern markets, to the eastern islands, China or India.
Dalrymple's 'Account' was pubHshed in The Scots Magazine of August and September
1788^^ and it was fully described in The London Review for August 1788.^^
Immediately upon publication of Dalrymple's book. Ambassador Campo sent a
translation of these passages to Florida Blanca, with a discussion of the strategy it
described. 'Fortunately,' he said, the British Government had not given the proposal
'the confidence and attention it merited,' and peace had supervened to remove for a time
such expectations. He continued:
But after having read it with the most serious attention, and having compared it with the kinds
indicated in the voyages of Anson, Bougainville, Cook and others, I formed the judgement that
the enterprise would have been successful, with very considerable losses on our part, and that in
any other succeeding war it would be equally so.^^
Campo further commented:
... if until now we have seen as the greatest security of our South Sea possessions the circumstance
that, having once passed Cape Horn, the enemy would have neither port nor shelter in such a vast
extent of coasts... today I do not believe we should flatter ourselves with such obstacles, for in
the many islands which the EngHsh have frequented they have found at all times provisions,
firewood and all kinds of assistance; they can leave their sick to be cured; form magazines for as
much as they require; they will have shelters not only to careen and repair their vessels, but also
to construct others.^^
The warnings from London were reinforced from another quarter: on the furthest
south-western frontier of the Spanish empire, the military governor at Concepcion, in
Chile, the Irish-born Ambrose Higgins, voiced alarm at the entry of foreign ships into
61

the Pacific, where Spain had hitherto enjoyed exclusive rights of navigation and
settlement. Following the visit of the French expedition led by Jean-Fran9ois Galaup de
Laperouse to Concepcion, Higgins reported in a despatch dated 25 March 1786 to
Teodoro de Croix, Viceroy of Peru, and Jose de Galvez, Minister for the Marine and the
Indies:
... none of the members of the present expedition exhibit any thought but enthusiasm for
research, for the improvement of navigation, for the extension of geographical knowledge, the
exploration of seas and islands, and for determining with the greatest exactitude the configuration
of the Globe and all it contains of use to its inhabitants. That, as it would seem, is the philosophy
of these admirable men; but still it is not to be supposed that they will set aside their national
interests by neglecting to keep an eye, as chances offer, on the places best adapted for settlement;
nor, likewise, to appropriate for colonization at an opportune time (though, for the nonce, it would
only be in their mind's eye) some island of suitable resources out of the many they must surely
visit in crossing the Pacific Ocean, and in pursuing their course afterwards from the coast of
California to the outposts planted in the Western sea by the Russians... to investigate those
localities with a view to adopting corresponding measures later on ... I have noticed that they say
nothing about occupying themselves with any search for a Southern Continent, nor with
penetrating the seas towards that Pole, nor about visiting New Zealand either... It may well be
that they will not care to lose the time that is so necessary to them for gaining those high latitudes
on the other side of the equator where, as I said before, they have much before them, especially
in that hemisphere, which Cook perforce left unfinished by reason of his unfortunate deatb.^^
Laperouse had sailed from Brest on i August 1785 in command of the Boussole and
Astrolabe with a Spanish passport, and so was able to call at the Spanish ports of
Concepcion, Monterrey and Manila. His detailed and comprehensive instructions had
been drawn up with the active participation of Louis XVI. The voyage had been planned
in conscious emulation of those of Cook, and a milHon livres had been spent on its..
preparation. 'PoHtical and Commercial Objects' came first in the instructions, followed
by investigations into the China trade and the North Pacific fur trade. Reports were to
be made on all European commerce and possessions, 'which may be interesting... m a
military point of view,' and likely places for French settlement were to be noted.^^ One
of the factors which counted in the selection of Laperouse as commander of the
expedition (and of Paul-Antoine de Langle as his lieutenant in command of the Boussole)
had been their action in 1782 during the American War in capturing the Hudson's Bay
Company's Fort York and Fort Churchill in the northern New South Wales on the
shores of Hudson's Bay. There was stiH thought to be a possibility that a passage might
be found from the North Pacific or Arctic Oceans to Hudson's Bay, and in any case the
sailing experience would be useful in navigating the cold, foggy waters of the North
Pacific. The French Government had obviously learned, presumably from the heanngs
of the House of Commons Select Committee on Transportation of Felons, of the
proposals for an EngHsh colony in the South Seas, and he had been mstructed to
ascertain ' the nature, condition and object' of the colony, which the French Government
62

then expected would be estabHshed at Cook's favourite calling place of Queen Charlotte
Sound in New Zealand.^^ He was careful not to disclose these objectives to Higgins when
he called at Concepcion:
he has not told me what places he is bound to next, and, as it is said he was very reticent on this
subject before my arrival, I have not cared to push inquiries unavailingly in the face of an express
order not to disclose the scheme of his voyage which no doubt he will have.
Higgins correctly guessed, however, that he was bound for the North West coast of
America, and thence to Petropavlovsk in Kamchatka, with the aim of completing the
work left uncompleted by James Cook of exploring the seas between China and Japan
(as James King had recommended in the 1784 account of Cook's last voyage). When
Laperouse arrived at Petropavlovsk in September 1787, he received despatches from
Paris informing him that Botany Bay was the location of the new English colony, and
redirected his course thither, arriving on 27 January 1788.
On 20 July 1786, Higgins wrote again to Galvez, calling attention to the important
benefits brought to their respective nations by the expeditions led by Laperouse and
Cook, and strongly recommending that Spain organize a similar expedition to the
Pacific:
... because of what may be understood of the Thoughts of the Russians or English of establishing
Colonies (although they could not do so without.directly offending the Court of Spain) in the
aforementioned Sandwich Islands or in those which Cook called the Friendly Isles, and others
which he visited in those Seas, it appears to me that it would not be excessively diligent to order
that they be surveyed by a pair of Spanish frigates, equipped in Spain, provided with everything
for a prolonged voyage, similar to this Expedition by the Count of La Perouse...^*
Higgins emphasized, however, that 'the new expedition under a Spanish commander
should concern itself with more immediate objectives, of interest to the State'. He said
the proposed expedition should visit the isles of Quiros (present day Vanuatu), Tahiti,
and the Sandwich Islands, with a view to preparing the way for their colonization by
Spain. A settlement in the Sandwich Islands would promote development of the fur
trade on the coasts of CaHfornia, from Nootka up to Cook's Inlet. The furs could be sold
to China, either directly at Canton or through Manila. Another advantage would be the
ability to exploit the timber resources of the North West coast. The strengthening of
Spanish naval and merchant marines in the Pacific would be another benefit. Like those
of Laperouse and Cook, the Spanish expedition would contribute to a great improvement
in navigation. Knowledge would be gained of the languages of the native peoples of New .
Zealand, New Holland, the Friendly Islands, New Caledonia, the isles of Quiros, the
Sandwich and many other islands of the Pacific, as also of the American continent from
Nootka to the Arctic Ocean.
He drew attention to the fact that, although the expeditions of Cook and those of his
fellow countrymen who preceded him as circumnavigators - Byron, WalHs and Carteret
- had been promoted by the English under the specious pretext of perfecting geography,
63

navigation and knowledge of the globe, no one could have remained ignorant of the
involvement of other ideas which necessarily formed their principal objective, of
establishing and possessing colonies in these regions. Nor could the Russians disguise
that they were doing the same to increase their commerce in the seas and coasts
intermediate between Muscovite Asia and the neighbouring part of Spanish North
America.
He concluded by saying that, although during the age of Magellan, Quiros, Mendana
and other Spanish explorers of immortal memory, it was not possible for Spain to reduce
to subjection and colonize the many islands of the Pacific, it was now unavoidable in
order to prevent foreign powers - English, French and Russian - from realizing their
own schemes for estabHshing colonies in those islands to the detriment of Spanish
dominion in the Pacific. A maritime inspection such as he proposed was therefore
indispensable. Consequently, he had considered it his duty to present his conclusions on
these matters, which he had come to after reflecting upon the stay at Concepcion of
Laperouse, and having subsequently (after Laperouse's departure) read the Voyages
of Captain Cook.
Just six months after Higgins wrote this despatch from Concepcion, and while he was
still there as governor in February 1787, the port was visited by Malaspina in command
of the frigate Astrea, sailing on her voyage under charter to the Royal Philippines
Company. ^^ Presumably Higgins and Malaspina discussed the concept which led in
September 1788, following the Astrea's return to Spain in May of that year, to
Malaspina's proposal for an expedition along the Hnes set out in Higgins's despatch.
Upon his promotion to Captain General of Chile, Higgins sent a despatch dated 2
August 1788 to Ga'lvez's successor, Antonio Valdez, in which he reiterated the points he
made in his letter of 20 July 1786.^^
The plan presented in September 1788 by Malaspina and his colleague, Jose de
Bustamante y Guerra, to Minister for the Marine and the Indies, Antonio Valdez, for
a scientific and political voyage around the world referred to the recent French and
English voyages of exploration, and even stated that the scientific part of the proposed
voyage would have as its objectives the fulfilment of the designs of those of Cook and
Laperouse. However, echoing Higgins's insistence that a voyage undertaken by a
Spanish commander should also have more immediate objectives, of interest to the state,
the Malaspina/Bustamante plan stated that 'a voyage made by Spanish navigators
should necessarily involve two other objects: one, the construction of hydrographic
charts ... and the other, the investigation of the political state of America in relation to
Spain and foreign nations.'^'
The coincidence is striking between the scope and objectives defined in Higgins's
despatch and those set out in the Malaspina/Bustamante plan, and followed in the actual
voyage. In particular, Higgins's concern to prevent encroachment on Spanish dominion
in the Pacific is paralleled in the Malaspina/Bustamante plan by the proposal to
investigate and prepare confidential political reports on the Russian settlements in the
North Pacific, and of the EngHsh at Botany ^^
64

On 14 October 1788, Valdez wrote to Malaspina informing him of the Government's
acceptance of his plan: its acceptance within such a short space of time indicates that the
plan had met prepared minds. Confirmation of the influence of Higgins's memorandum
on the Government comes from Jose de Espinoza y Tello, the hydrographer with the
Malaspina expedition. In a memorandum he prepared in 1791 on Spanish voyages to the
North West coast of America, Espinoza stressed the importance of the information sent
by Higgins in stimulating the Government to initiate an extensive programme of
exploration in the Pacific. ^^ The expression of appreciation in a letter to Higgins signed
by the Prime Minister, the Duke of Alcudia, on 18 April 1793, was an indication that
the Government gave weight to his views: Alcudia said that His Majesty had valued the
reflections in Higgins's letter to Galvez of 26 March 1786.^**
Malaspina and Bustamante were in Madrid to prepare and present their plan at the
same time Mufioz was there. Added weight and definition of the need for an
investigation of the new EngHsh colony was given by Mufioz's 'Reflexiones'. In the
'Axiomas sobre la America', which he wrote in January/February 1789 as part of the
preparation for his expedition, Malaspina echoed Munoz by saying in relation to the new
English colony in the Pacific:
Nor is subsistence difficult for an enemy squadron in the Pacific. Even less is it so for corsairs,
whose existence was so fatal for our coasts in the last century. What, then, may not be feared
from the Botany Bay settlement if, a stock of stores being laid in there and, assisted by a climate
so well provided with the grains and beasts of Europe, the voyager who departs from India
finds there a comfortable station from whence, with a crossing of three or four months,
without the least risk or concern, our colonies present themselves to view, to be terrorized
and at the very least, sacked.'^^
If one of Munoz's motives in writing the ' Reflexiones' was the aspiration to serve in
the proposed expedition to New Holland, this was not to be. On 12 October 1788, he was
appointed to the position of Teniente de Rey and deputy governor of the Philippines,
with the naval rank of capitdn de navio. Before proceeding there to take up his
appointment, he requested permission to travel by way of Mexico (New Spain) in order
to undertake a series of astronomical observations, cartographical work and other
scientific research, but this was refused in view of the urgent need for his presence in the
Philippines. He left Cadiz on board the Astrea on 25 February 1790 accompanied by his
wife, Josefa Gallego, and five-year-old daughter, Francisca, and arrived at Manila on 2
August.^^ Before he left Cadiz he passed on to Malaspina a map of the coast of California
for use during his expedition's intended survey of that region.^"^
He remained in tbe PhiHppines until at least 1803, several requests to return to Spain
earHer on grounds of ill health having been refused. In August 1790 the post of
Commandant of the Cavite Arsenal was added to his responsibilities, a post that was to
cause him considerable difficulties and embarrassments arising from allegations of
misuse and theft of public funds by subordinates and contractors engaged in the
shipyards.^^ During the visit of the Descubierta and Atrevida from April to November
65

1792 he again encountered Malaspina, who recorded in his journal his appreciation of the
assistance he provided to the expedition.=^^ There survives a treatise Munoz wrote on
PhiHppines commerce, 'Reflexiones sobre el comercio de las Islas Filipinas'.^*'
The Descubierta and Atrevida, commanded by Malaspina and Bustamante, visited
Port Jackson in New South Wales from ii April to 12 March 1793. Malaspina
subsequently prepared his confidential report on the EngHsh colony, 'Examen Politico
de las Colonias Inglesas en el Mar Pacifico'.^^ Although Munoz is not mentioned in it,
Malaspina's 'Examen' addresses the concerns regarding the colony he raised in the
'Reflexiones' in 1788.
Malaspina's 'Examen' and Muiioz's 'Reflexiones' were both transcribed by Felipe
Bauza y Canas, who had served as Director of Cartography during the Malaspina
expedition. In 1797, Bauza was appointed Sub-Director of the Direccidn de Hidrografi'a
in Madrid, where he commenced assembling a collection of maps and papers relevant to
his ambition to compile a set of definitive atlases of the territories of the Spanish
Monarchy in Europe and America. From 1815 he was Director of the Direccidn de
Hidrografia, but in 1823 was forced by political turmoil in Spain to flee to England,
where he died in 1834. A large part of his collection, including Munoz's 'Reflexiones'
and Malaspina's 'Examen', was acquired from his estate by the British Museum in
88^^
Reflections on the English Settlements of New Holland
[F. ir] Until the celebrated Cook extended the limits of the ancient discoveries, and the British
Government pursued with all determination those begun by our forefathers, we were ignorant of
a considerable portion of our Globe. The endeavours of that active navigator, his perseverance
and labours, as well as enriching Geography and Hydrography with new knowledge, placed his
Nation in a position to compensate itself for the loss of North America with the acquisition of a
Country almost as vast, able because of its possibilities to become one of the most flourishing, and
because of its situation one of the most prosperous. The success of the English in choosing a place
so suitable appears to be the fruit of profound meditation and of having [f. iv] wisely considered
all the circumstances that make New Holland by its climate, situation, productions, excellent
Ports and other conveniences suitable for establishing Colonies advantageous to the interests of
their Mother country.
The grave dangers which in time our commerce will experience because of their proximity
to South America and the Philippines oblige us to consider these settlements, and in desiring the
greatest clarity and method we have divided its treatment into three sections. In the first we shall
treat of the advantages which New Holland offers for substantial settlements. In the second, of
the routes of communication with the English Colonies in India and China, and with ours in
South America and the Philippines; and lastly in the third we shall indicate the dangers which
will result to our commerce from these recent settlements.
66

First Section
Advantages which New Holland offers for substantial Settlements
New Holland, recognized [f. 2r] today as the largest Island on earth, was believed a few years since
to form part of a great continent. Its coasts having been examined in parts since the year 1618,
we had to await the perfection of the science of navigation to acquire knowledge of its magnitude
and shape. The voyages of Captain Cook have left not the least doubt that this Island occupies
a great space between io°4o' and 44^15' of Latitude South (which is to say, this great Island is
six hundred and seventy-one leagues at its greatest length, five hundred and forty-four in its
greatest breadth, and two hundred and forty-three thousand, three hundred and forty-nine
square leagues in area, correction being made for the empty spaces which the great gulfs in the
Southern and Northern parts occasion) embracing 32°3o' of longitude.
An Island of this size situated in such favoured latitudes necessarily encloses a portion of
climates most favourable to vegetation. Almost two-thirds is in the Temperate Zone and the rest
in the Torrid. As a result, all the fruits and products of Europe and America will be assembled,
and its soil will give every kind of raw material from which [f 2v] industrious and active Colonists
will reap benefits.
That part of the Island which falls within the Temperate Zone therefore offers the advantage
to Europeans of being able to be devoted to Agriculture. A milder climate than that of England
will not impair their health if they engage in this useful occupation, and its inhabitants will not
be under the necessity of employing Slaves for the cultivation of the land. That part of the Island
which must have a climate just as temperate as that of Spain offers to the EngHsh products
analogous to our own. Its yet virgin mountains will provide the timber required for the
construction of their ships, buildings and furniture. Its fields and meadows will feed numerous
flocks, which will give raw materials for manufacturing in the country itself and provide clothing
for the inhabitants in the colder part of the Island, [f. 3r] Its well cultivated soil will yield
abundant harvests of every kind of grain, wine and oil and, in fact, the Colonists of these new
possessions will meet with all that is necessary to procure for themselves a life as comfortable as
in the Mother country, without requiring anything from her, if they choose to take advantage of
the fine endowments which Nature has lavished on tbis vast Island.
Its more northerly part will produce all the fruits of America, and some of Asia and as, because
of Its different climate, it cannot have the same productions as the more southerly part, the mutual
needs of the inhabitants of both parts will form an active internal trade, which will open a market
for the produce of the different areas of the Island, greatly stimulating agriculture. The mountains
which are found in the part situated within the Tropics most probably contain in their bowels
the precious metals which are met with in all those of similar situation, [f. 3v] As well, it is most
likely that its fertile soil will produce spice trees. If the trials made in the Isles of France and
Bourbon promise these precious fruits to their inhabitants, despite their being so distant from the
Equator, with much more reason the English may flatter themselves with having in time trees of
such acknowledged utility in the Northern part of New Holland, which is closer to the Moluccas,
and is in a cHmate more analogous to them than the aforementioned French possessions.
For the cultivation of this part of the Island, whose excessive heat will not permit Europeans
to devote themselves to Agriculture, its proximity to New Guinea presents a means of
67

obtaining at small cost the Negroes necessary for its cultivation. The points where both Islands
approach each other are scarcely more distant than fifty leagues, and because of this it will be easy
to conceive that there will be small difficulty in being supplied with Negroes and establishing an
active trade in them, on account of its vicinity [f. 4r] and the opportunity for repeating the passage
at every monsoon.
Another of the advantages which New Holland offers to the English is that of being a Country
already inhabited. Its inhabitants are savages, idolaters, without fixed abode. No matter. The
Nation wbich will conquer them is one of the most enlightened, and without tbe prejudices born
of ignorance. It does not come to propagate its Religion but to extend its dominion. Its purpose
is to settle and prosper among these savages, and it will know how to yield to circumstances,
trusting to time for the moderation of their character and customs. It will meet men whom it will
know how to make useful, who will be made to learn all the sciences and arts, and by them the
means of procuring a more comfortable and peaceful life. Once civilized, they will be found to
form a number of Colonists who, far from groaning under the heavy weight of oppression, will
bless those who have brought to their country an endless number of inventions useful to society.
The comforts of life will fix them in one place, without being troubled by the cold of winter
[f. 4v] or being obliged by it to abandon the more Southern parts to seek refuge from it in a more
temperate region. They will no longer wander, because everywhere they will find the means of
subsistence without the labour to which their stupidity and ignorance has subjected them; and
in sum in a few years their character will be formed, they will have Religion, and they will have
improved their customs and even their race.
He who has seen the settlement on the Isle of Saint Helena will admire the power of the
industry, application and perseverance of the English. A barren, desert island which presents
itself to the view as a mound of ruins has arrived at such a state that lately the English [East India]
Company has forbidden its Ships to touch at the Cape of Good Hope on their return from India,
obliging them to anchor in the road of Saint Helena, where they can meet their requirements, to
the profit of the Colony. By forming artificial fields to feed the cattle which have been brought
from the West coast of Africa, and by cultivating the mountain ravines, at the cost of much labour^
and with untiring patience [f. 5r] they are making useful and fertile all the soil of the Island. If
the English have succeeded in obtaining advantage from an Island so barren, what will they not
do in one so rich as New Holland?
Their intentions in deciding to settle there should and can be inferred from their determination
and the efficacious measures which they are taking to consolidate those settlements, and from the
place which has been chosen for their Capital. The public papers have frequently announced to
us new shipments of Colonists, proof of tbe importance and of the advantages which they promise
themselves from these settlements. If their object were merely to extend tbeir possessions, why
was not one of the Ports on the Western coast chosen for their Capital? They would have been
most useful as ports of call for the ships employed in the Trade with China, and in the same
Vessels new Colonists could have been sent out and the wants of those already settled been
provided, with less expense to the State. They have chosen the East coast, and to sustain their
settlements have spent considerable [f. 5v] sums on expeditions which had no other object, in
voyages of much greater length, and in expenses which a Nation which calculates its interests so
nicely would never do without a weighty motive. Therefore we should infer that policy
68

accompanied the choice of Botany Bay, and that the English, as well as proposing to extend their
Dominions, also thought to give a great extension to their commerce, to the detriment of ours.
To make more plain that this is their object, in the following section we will treat of the
communication routes with their Asiatic settlements, and will discover their real motive for
having chosen the Eastern coast of New Holland for founding their settlements, disregarding the
Western, which would appear more convenient to the actual state of their Commerce.
Second Section
Routes of communication between the English settlements of Asia and New Holland;
and between the latter and South America and the Philippines.
[f 6r] If the English had no means to sustain their new colonies except at the cost of continuous
succours from the Mother country, not only would much more considerable expense be entailed,
but also the dangers which will result to us from these Colonies would be delayed; but having
the facility of sustaining them through the medium of those already established on the coasts of
Malabar, Coromandel and Bengal, these settlements will progress greatly, they will be completed
in a few years, and they will soon be in a state to make us feel the effects which they have set before
themselves in taking possession of New Holland.
Nature has placed this Island between two continents. From one the English will draw the
means of sustaining their new Colonies, and from the other they will be given the means of greatly
extending their commerce. Separated from the East coast of Africa by the Indian Ocean, this sea
presents an easy means of communicating with all the English settlements of Gujerat, the
Carnatic, Golconda and Bengal. The new Colonies can be sustained from these without relying
on tardy supplies from the Mother country.
The other Continent, which is to the East of New Holland, [f 6v] is separated from it by the
South Pacific Ocean, which in time will be well-furrowed, and the theatre of scarce thought of
operations. This Ocean will serve for communication with our South American possessions, and
with China and the Philippines, in those seasons when they will not be able to make their voyage
by the Indian Ocean.
Let us proceed now to treat of the routes of communication with the first-mentioned
settlements, supposing that voyages will be undertaken at the favourable monsoon - even though
it might be quite possible to make them against the monsoon, the English will not avail themselves
of this expedient except in cases of grave necessity, because the voyages are much longer and more
expensive.
If they should propose to supply the new Colonies from Bombay, the navigation is easy and
simple, departing in the months of the North East monsoon. When the wind comes over from
the Malabar coast, [f. 7r] the Ships going out from the above-mentioned Port can proceed
coasting along the land at a middling distance until sighting Cape Comorin or land close to it, if
the wind permits. Doubling the Cape, they will hold in as much as much as possible, with the
object of crossing the Line as far East as they can, being careful of the Island of Ceylon, which
they will be able to see if the wind blows between the North and North East, as frequently
happens in the first months of this monsoon. As soon as the Ships arrive in the Region of the
South West monsoon, which reigns to the South of the Equinoctial, they will run alono- the
69

parallel between three and four degrees South until meeting with the Island of Sumatra, and not
only coast along all of it, but also along Java, up to a point where the most Westerly part of New
Holland lies to the South West, so that with the South East winds they can sight the Western
part and follow it, going round the whole Island with the favour of [f 7v] the Westerly winds
which are commonly encountered from 28 or 30 degrees, until they arrive at Botany Bay or one
of the other settlements which may suit them.
The voyage from Madras or the coast of Bengal is shor'ter, because steering to cross the Eine
at ninety degrees East of the Meridian of London saves much in the voyage. The rest of the
voyage after passing over the Equinoctial is carried out in the same way as has already been
described above.
The routes from the settlements between Bombay and Calcutta along all the length of the
Malabar and Coromandel coasts and the Bay of Bengal, may be reduced to the two indicated, the
first serving for those of the Malabar Coast, and the second for that of Coromandel and Bengal,
with no further difference except for joining, more or less quickly by the most direct way, the
routes referred to. [f 8r] To treat of these in detail would contribute nothing except taking up
time uselessly and to making this treatise more wearisome.
The communication with China offers two different sailing routes by which it is possible to
voyage in any monsoon from Canton to New Holland, and both merit analysis with a Httle care,
because the greater portion of both of them is common to the voyage from New Holland to the
Philippines. While the monsoon blows from the East, which is the most common in the China
Seas, the Ships will direct their courses, taking soundings on the Macclesfield Bank, so as to
approach the island of Pulo Zapata with more care. Without being detained on sighting Pulo
Condor, they will proceed until they sight Pulo Aur, and then cross the Line in the vicinity of
Pulo Lingga to enter the Strait of Billiton in preference to that of Banka, [f 8v] as it is deeper
and its direction more convenient according to the winds prevailing in those parts, thence
directing their course to the Strait of Sunda. In this region they will still meet with the full force
of the winds of the West monsoon, with which they can coast along the Island of Java up to the
point determined for continuing the navigation, going around the South of New Holland to
Botany Bay or one of the other settlements in its vicinity.
During the Western monsoon, the voyage is more critical and requires great care in order to
navigate in little known waters; but this is not an obstacle which should deter a navigator who
knows how to conduct himself with the necessary precautions when he must turn to navigatmg
in places not well examined or explored. Leaving the Boca Tigris [the Bogue, at Canton], and
clearing the islands near [f gr] its outflow, the Ship will direct its course to pass to the South of
the Planta Shoal, continuing in the direction of Cape Engano, being careful of the Babuyan
Islands which will be encountered. Having come within ken of the said Cape, it will continue
along the eastern coast of the Island of Luzon up as close as the winds permit to the parallel of
fifteen degrees North, where the winds will probably let him keep off just so as conveniently to
pass to the East of the Island of Samar. If they blow between the South and South East, as is
often experienced in the neighbourhood of the Southern Islands of the Philippine Archipelago,
it will see the necessity of passing either among the Carolines, or closer to them without being
able to sight Cape San Augustin on the Island of Mindanao. If the state of the weather should
allow [f 9v] sighting this Cape, the navigation will be simpler, and the Ship will be able to gain
70

southing as much as it can so as to get as quickly as possible into the region of variable wmds close
to the Line, which is before that of the East monsoon. With these winds the effort can be made
to pass between New Guinea and the Isles of Gilolo and then through one of the channels formed
by the Moluccas, continuing to take advantage of the variations in the wind so as to pass to the
east of the Island of Timor and sight some part of the Northern coast of New Holland, where
the stable Southeasterlies will be met with. With the favour of these it can continue to coast along
the Island up to the region of the variable winds, which also favour navigation to Botany Bay, or
one of the other neighbouring settlements.
[f. I or] Up to this point, we have treated only of the communication from the English settlements
of Asia and factory in China, by means of which the new Colonies in the Southern Wales
can be sustained and assisted. We will now proceed to examine the routes from New Holland
to the Philippines and South America, which will be the way by which they can give greater
extension to their commerce, to the detriment of our own.
The Ships which direct their courses from Botany Bay to the Philippines will stand out twenty
to thirty leagues from the coast of New Holland, and then steer to the North so as to go into the
Region of the South East trade winds, in which they will direct their course to pass to the West
of the Islands [f iov] of New Caledonia and between New Guinea and the Queen Charlottes;
they will cross the Line at i6o° East of the Meridian of London, and then, meeting with the
Northeasterly winds, they will sail to sight the Mariannas, and from them, according to their
destination, to one of the Philippines. If their object is to go to Manila, they will enter by the San
Bernardino Strait. It is assumed that, in order to be able to perform this navigation, it is necessary
to do so in the season when the East monsoon reigns in the China Seas. For that to the West the
following route will serve.
Instead of passing between New Guinea and the Queen Charlotte Islands, they will proceed
(after leaving behind the islands of New Caledonia) to enter the Endeavour Strait; from there they
will enter [f. iir] that of BaH, and by that of Macassar, they will sight the South West point of
Mindanao, and from there they will sail to Manila with the favour of the winds of the West
monsoon. If the winds last longer, they will enter by the Sunda Strait, and will continue from
there to Manila, which is a well-known navigation.
As for South America there is no obstacle from the monsoons, the voyages will be more
straightforward in all seasons, with the sole difference of being somewhat shorter in the winter
because of the greater constancy and strength of the Westerly winds. For those wishing to go to
Lima, departing from Botany Bay in the months of June, July, August and even September, it
will be most suitable for them to follow the [f. iiv] 34tb parallel until doubling New Zealand,
then they may ascend to the 35th or 36th and continue their navigation to the East until Lima
bears North East, so that with the South East winds they can approach its coasts.
If the voyages are undertaken in the remaining months of the year, the Ships will ascend to
the latitude of Queen Charlotte Sound. They may continue their navigation through it and after
going out from it follow the 40th parallel, until Lima bears on the rhumb line indicated in the
previous paragraph, so as to follow their route with the favour of the Southeasterlies.
For the coast of Chile, they need only follow the parallel [f. i2r] most suitable according to the
place to which they wish to direct themselves, as those possessions are found in the same latitudes
as New Holland.

In order not to make this section any longer, the return routes are otnitted. The explanation
of those already treated of is enough to form an idea of the advantages which the fine situation
of New Holland offers to the English for communicating with the two Continents between which
Nature has located so beautiful and grand an Island.
Third Section
Dangers which we will experience in time as a result of the English settlements
in New Holland
The dangers which we will experience from the English settlements [f. i2v] on the East coast of
New Holland can be reduced to two classes, some proximate and others more remote. For the
former, it is not necessary that those Colonies arrive at the ultimate stage of development. It is
enough for them to be substantial, that Towns be formed and land cleared to allow the Colonists
to subsist on the products of the soil.
The first expedition transported not only a large number of families of an age able to increase
their numbers within a few years, but artisans and craftsmen for all the useful employments of
civil life, and even ready-built houses capable of lodging all the Colonists when put up, so that
within a very short time of their arrival [f. i3r] their first settlements could be formed. In the
Country they found an abundance of timber and all the other resources for allowing them greater
expansion, and for constructing public buildings, which promises that within a few years these
important Colonies will be well established.
After they finish the first essential works, the new inhabitants will begin to devote themselves
to Agriculture and Commerce. As for this they will need ships, the Governor of the settlements
was authorized to retain all or part of the nine which composed the first expedition. These ships
will be employed in bringing from India and China, by the routes indicated [f. 13V] above, the
commodities and articles needed for the consumption of the Colonists, who in the first years can
have neither raw materials produced in the Country nor factories in which to manufacture them;
but in proportion as the new Colonies become established their wants will diminish, and a
storehouse of merchandise will be formed to be employed in a commerce which will enrich the
Colonists, give life to the settlements and facilitate the means of giving them greater expansion,
as the new inhabitants multiply and the Natives are civilized.
But what could the nature of this commerce be ? Smuggling with tbe whole of South America.
The [f. i4r] merchandise of India and China introduced into that continent can be sold at much
more agreeable prices than those imported by our commerce, and this will occasion a contraband
trade detrimental to our interests.
To convince ourselves of the truth of this it will be well to compare the operations of our
commerce with that which will be carried on by the inhabitants of New Holland, and we can
deduce therefrom the advantages they will have over our merchants.
Of the commodities which our Americas consume, scarce one part in twenty is a production
of our factories, the others being from those of foreigners. The new Colonists will trade with
goods of their own [f. 14V] manufactured in a Country where the work force is very cheap, where
raw materials are most abundant, need very little refinement, and wages are moderate, the goods
72

going out from the factories at so little cost that those manufactured in India could be set at less
than a third of the value of those of equal and corresponding quality from European factories.
Besides trading with these, our commerce has the disadvantage of our merchants receiving them
already loaded with the costs of freightage, commissions and dues which greatly augment their
prices in comparison with the Indian goods, which will bear no cost other than those of transport
from the Asian factories [f. I5r] to New Holland, and thence to Peru.
The voyage from Cadiz to Lima takes five months, the fitting out costs are very high, the
freightages large and the excise duties not small. Since Asiatic goods going from the Malabar
coast, Coromandel or Bengal to their arrival on any part of the coast of South America average
scarcely five months, their fitting out costs are more economical, the freightages much more
moderate, and do not bear the weight of excises, it is clear that the new Colonists will be able to
sell the Asiatic goods which are imported into South America at prices much more accommodating
than those from European factories [f. 15V] brought in by our Commerce.
The purchasers will little concern themselves with the way in which the goods necessary for
their consumption or for trade with the interior are introduced into their Country, which will be
the more advantageous to them the less it costs them, as they will always choose those of the same
quality which are cheaper.
Preventing the clandestine introduction of Asiatic commodities will be almost impossible. An
immense coastline with a multitude of Ports and inlets is most difficult to guard. The great costs
of extensive patrols are very onerous for the State. The diminution of dues on those goods with
which our commerce trades will not be [f i6r] enough to cut out contraband, since Indian goods
are less expensive for the reasons already indicated. Lastly, the difficulty of remedying the ills
which we foresee makes plainly visible the plans of the English in determining to settle themselves
in New Holland, and it is much to be feared that within a space of five years we will begin to suffer
the ill effects of these new Colonies.
If the immediate ill effects which we may experience from the new English settlements are of
such importance, no less so are those more remote. It is true that they will be more delayed
because they require a greater degree of development of the said Colonies, but if [f. i6v] we agree
with what has already been said in the first section of this treatise, and combine it with the means
of communication which they have to support them from the Asiatic settlements described in the
second section, and strike up a free trade which will open channels, clear land, drain swamps,
build towns, and bring together, clothe and civilize the natives, we will agree that within a short
time we will see repeated the same prodigies of industry which our forefathers saw when the
English settled North America, which they have recently lost. At that time, the sciences and arts
were as if in their cradle, very distant from their present state of perfection, [f. i7r] Consequently,
we should expect the New Holland settlements to prosper in less time, and if by merely making
in them a storehouse of merchandise to trade with our possessions they can do us so much injury,
what will happen when they have raw materials, established factories and manufactured goods in
a country so close to South America and the Philippines ? Let us again compare their freedom
with our shackles, their lack of regulations with the large number on ours, their economical
running costs and, finally, their constitution with ours, and we will acknowledge in good faith the
advantages they have over us, by which they may see their Commerce flourishing, [f. 17V] and
ours destroyed or diminished.
73

These ills are serious, but even more so those in time of war. The Colonists will be able to fit
out cruisers useful for cutting all communication between the Philippines and both Americas;
they will think perhaps of extending their possessions, or they may influence some revolution
which will diminish our own.
The English have seen very well that it is of primary importance to form their settlements in
such a way that they can flourish with entire independence of the Motherland, drawing from the
country itself the means to support and preserve themselves, to defend themselves [f r8r] and
even expand. The great distance at which they find themselves will not permit of their being
maintained in any precarious manner, without leaving them in an inevitable state of weakness if
they were to rely on the tardy and expensive succours from the Mother country, remaining
exposed to an invasion or to losing in a few days the fruit of many years and the considerable sums
which they do and will cost.
These possessions will have a Navy of their own, obtaining from the Southern region whatever
is necessary to create it, and when they have it ready formed they will be able to invade our
neighbouring possessions with expeditions less costly and surer than from the Ports of England,
and it will not be difficult to foretell even now which will be their first [f i8v] conquests.
In sum, it all announces to us future ill consequences, worthy of occupying all the attention
of our Government in order to forestall them in good time.
Francisco Munoz y San Clemente
[San Ildefonso, 20 September
Reported in the London General Evening Post, translation) in Sydney, Mitchell Library,
21 23 ^pr- 1785.
2 Expediente de Alexandro Malaspina, Archivo
Naval de Bazan; cited in La Expedicion Malaspina,
ij8g-ijg4 (Barcelona, 1987-96), vol. i,
ed. by R. Cerezo Martinez, Circunstancia
historica del viaje., p. 96.
3 Jose de Galvez to Antonio Valdes, 23 Aug. 1785,
Archivo Naval de Bazan; cited in Dario Man-
Bonwick Transcripts, series i, box 55, item 17,
cited in Alan Frost, 'The Antipodean Exchange',
David Miller and Peter Reill (eds.).
Visions of Empire (Cambridge, 1996), pp. 58-79.
8 Campo to Florida Bianca, 13 Oct. 1786, Madrid,
Archivo Historico Nacional, Estado, legajo
4250/1. This document was drawn to my
attention by Dr Eric Beerman.
fredi, // viaggio attorno al mondo di Malaspina con 9 Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1792.
la Fregata dt S.M.C. 'Astrea' 1786-178S, 10 Printed in Alan Frost, Dreams of a Pacific Empire
Memorie della Accademia Lunigianese di (Sydney, 1980).
Scienze (La Spezia, 1988), p. 26.
11 London: Sewell, October 1786.
4 Maria Lourdes Diaz-Trechuelo Spinola, La Real 12 Harold B. Carter, Sir Joseph Banks, 1743-1820
Compania de Filipinas, Publicaciones de la (London, 1988), p. 234.
Escuela de Estudios Hispano-Americanos de 13 Malaspina used The History of New Holland in
Sevilla, no. 158 (Seville, 1965), pp. 184-6, 343. preparing his report on the New South Wales
5 Expediente de Francisco Mufioz y San Cle- colony.
mente, Archivo Naval de Bazan.
r4 Pp. 82-3.
6 Malaspina to William Parsons, 13 July 1789; in 15 The Whitehall Evening Post, 30 N0V.-2 Dec;
private possession; drawn to the attention of the The Daily Universal Register, 4 Dec. 1786.
author by Mr Robin Inglis.
16 Edinburgh and London, vol. ii (1788).
7 Copy (by Felipe Bauza) in British Library, Add. 17 Pp. 384-8, 438-42-
MS. 1^264; another copy in Madrid, Biblioteca 18 Pp. 107-10. When the second edition of the
de Palacio, Misceldnea de Ayala, Tomo XLII Memoirs was published in 1790 (when war with
(Sig. 2860), ff. 259-275; and (in English Spain again appeared imminent), the Appendix
74

was published in The Gazetteer of 6, lo and 24
Aug. 1790.
19 Campo to Florida Bianca, 4 June 1788, Archivo
General de Simancas, Estado, legajo 8145; also at
Madrid, Museo Naval, MS. 475, ff. 280-304;
quoted in Juan Pimentel, En el Pandptico del
Mar del Sur: Ortgenes y desarrollo de la visit a
australiana de la expedicion Malaspina (i7g3)
(Madrid, 1992), pp. 50-1.
20 Campo to Florida Bianca, 4 June 1788; quoted
in Pimentel, op. cit., p. 51.
21 Copy dated 12 March 1786 enclosed with
Teodoro de Croix (Viceroy of Peru) to Jose de
Galvez, 5 July 1786, Archivo General de Indias,
Audiencia de Lima, estante no, cajon 3; quoted
in Bolton Corney, The Quest and Occupation of
Tahiti by Emissaries of Spain in 1772—1776
(Cambridge, 1914), pp. 416-20.
22 O. H. K. Spate, Paradise Found and Lost
(Sydney, 1988), pp. 155-7.
23 Voyage of La Perouse (London, 1798), p. 27. See
also J. Dunmore and M. de Brossard, Le Voyage
de Laperouse, 1785-1788 (Paris, 1985).
24 Madrid, Archivo Historico Nacional, Estado,
legajo 4289. Also at Archivo Nacional de Chile,
Fondo Vicuna Mackenna, vol. 304, D, ff. 5-26.
Published in Revista Chilena de Historia y
Geografi'a, cvii (1946), pp. 387-401.
25 Dario Manfredi, // viaggio attorno al mondo di
Malaspina con la Fregata di S. M. C. ^Astrea\
p. 71.
26 Archivo Nacional de Chile, Fondo Toribio
Medina, vol. 204; cited in Ricardo Donoso, El
Marque's de Osorno: Don Ambrosio Higgins
(Santiago, 1942), p. 122.
27 'Plan de un Viage Cientifico y Poh'tico alrededor
del Mundo, remitido al Excmo. Senor Baili'o
Don Antonio Valdes, Ministro de Marina, por
Ios Capitanes de fragata Don Alexandro Malaspina
y Don Jose Bustamante, Madrid, 10
Septiembre 1788', Madrid, Museo Naval, MS.
316; quoted in Pedro de Novo y Colson, Viaje
politico-cientifico alrededor del Mundo por las
corbetas Descubierta j/ Atrevida (Madrid, 1885);
and in R. Cerezo Martinez, Circunstancia historica
del vtaje, pp. 138-9.
28 Public Record Office, CO 201/1, ff. 57-61; BL,
Add. MS. 47568, ff. 240-246.
29 'Noticia de las principales expediciones hechas
por nuestros pilotos del Departamento de San
Bias al reconocimiento de la costa noroeste de
America, desde el aiio de 1774 hasta el 1791,
75
extractada de Ios diarios originales de aquellos
navegantes', Novo y Colson, Viaje, p. 428; cited
in Warren L. Cook, Flood Tide of Empire (New
Haven and London, 1973), p. 115- Diego Barros
Arana first called attention in 1902 to the
influence Higgins's letter had on the preparation
of the Malaspina expedition in his Historia
general de Chtle (Santiago, 1884-1902), vol. vii, p.
139. See also Robin Inghs, 'The Effect of
Laperouse on Spanish Thinking about the
Northwest Coast', in idem (ed.), Spain and the
North Pacific Coast (Vancouver, 1992), pp.
46-52. Dario Manfredi said in 1988: 'probably,
the idea of realizing such an undertaking must
have germinated and taken shape in tbe mind of
our navigator during the voyage of the Astrea'
(op. cit., p. 104).
30 Archivo Nacional de Chile, Fondo de la
Capitama-General, vol. 793, ff. 230—233; vol.
742, num. 59; quoted in Donoso, El Marques de
Osorno: Don Ambrosio Higgins, p. 262.
31 Alexandro Malaspina, 'Axiomas Politicos sobre
la America', [1789], Manuel Lucena Giraldo y
Juan Pimentel Igea, Los ' Axiomas Politicos sobre
la America' de Alejandro Malaspina (Aranjuez,
1991), pp. 200-2.
32 Archivo de Simancas, Secretaria de Guerra,
legajo 6902, expediente 41. Information provided
by Dr Diaz-Trechuelo.
33 Luis de Cordoba to Valdez, 5 Mar. 1790;
Expediente de Francisco Munoz y San Clemente,
Archivo Naval de Bazan.
34 Munoz to [Secretary of State], 10 July 1802;
Expediente de Francisco Munoz y San Clemente,
Archivo Naval de Bazan. Vicente Barrantes,
Guerras pirdticas de Filipinas contra
Mindanaos y Joloanos (Madrid, 1878), pp.
M9-53> 262-3, 407-8.
35 La Expedicion Malaspina, I78g-i7g4, vol. ii, ed.
by R. Cerezo Martinez, Diarw general del viaje,
vol. ii, p. 47.
36 Madrid, Biblioteca de Palacio, Misceldnea de
Ayala, XLII, ff. 79-rio.
37 Madrid, Museo Naval, MSS. 329, ff. 57-88V;
318, ff 11-37V (copy by Bauza); BL, Add. Ms!
17624 (also Bauza's copy); La Expedicion Malaspina,
I78g-i7g4, Museo Naval y Ministerio
de Defensa (Barcelona, 1987-96), vol. vii, ed.
by Juan Pimentel, Descrtpciones y Refiextones
Polittcas, pp. 217-36; also in Juan Pimentel, En
el Pandpttco del Mar del Sur- English translation

y Robert J. King, The Secret History of the Topographical Collections, 1789-1848', British
Convict Colony: Alexandro Malaspina's Report Library Journal, xii (1986), pp. 28-57.
on the British Settlement of New South Wales 39 Place and date given in Madrid, Biblioteca de
(Sydney, 1990). Palacio, Miscelanea de Ayala, Tomo XLII (Sig.
38 Peter Barber, '"Riches for the Geography of 2860), ff. 259-275, but not in BL, Add. MS.
America and Spain": Felipe Bauza and his 19264.