Malaspina Expedition
Encyclopedia
The Malaspina Expedition (1789-1794) was a scientific exploration that took place during a five-year voyage around the globe, commanded by Alessandro Malaspina
and José de Bustamante y Guerra
. Although the expedition receives its name from Malaspina, he always insisted on giving Bustamante an equal share of command. Bustamante however acknowledged Malaspina as the "head of the expedition" since the beginning.
The expedition was funded by the Spanish government and originally pursued strictly scientific goals, in the same fashion as the voyages of James Cook
and Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse
. Some of the leading scientists at the time collected an impressive amount of scientific data that even surpassed what was collected during Cook's expedition, but due to Malaspina's involvement in a conspiracy to overthrow the government, he was jailed shortly upon return. Most of the expedition's reports and collections were put away unpublished, and didn't see the light until the late 19th century.
's possessions in America and Asia. The Spanish government of the time devoted a large share of its budget to scientific development, that was incomparably superior to that of other European nations. In the last four decades of the eighteenth century, a staggering amount of scientific expeditions crossed the Spanish Empire
, such as the botanical expeditions to New Granada
, Mexico
, Peru
and Chile
, that collected a very complete sample of the American flora. The New World
was a vast laboratory for experimentation and an unending source of samples.
The Spanish king at the time, Charles III
was also known for having a penchant for just about everything related to science, and had already procured funds to further develop science and technology in several areas. He promptly approved the expedition, although he could never see its results, as he died exactly two months later.
Additionally, the Spanish government had a vested interest on all issues concerning the Pacific Ocean because a large number of her colonies were in that area, including most of the American Pacific coast, the Philippines
in Asia, and several islands, such as Guam
.
Two frigate
s were specially designed and built for the expedition by the shipbuilder Tómas Muñoz at the La Carraca shipyard, under Malaspina's direction. They were both 306 tons burden and 36 metres long, with a normal load displacement of 4.2 metres. They were launched together on April 8, 1789 and were baptized in honor of former James Cook
's ships Resolution
and Discovery
as Descubierta and Atrevida
(a liberal translation in Spanish). Malaspina commanded Descubierta and Bustamante Atrevida.
The expedition carried on board the elite of astronomers and surveyors of the Spanish Navy, headed by Juan Gutiérrez de la Concha. Also on board were many scientists and artists, such as painting master José del Pozo, artists José Guío and Fernando Brambila, cartoonist and columnist Tomás de Suria
, botanists Luis Née
, Antonio Pineda
and Thaddäus Haenke
, and many others.
on July 30, 1789, and after anchoring for a few days off the Canary Islands
, proceeded to sail across the Atlantic Ocean
, to the coasts of South America. Once there, they sailed down to Río de la Plata
, and stopped in Montevideo
and Buenos Aires
, in order to prepare a report on the political situation of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
. Then they sailed over to the Islas Malvinas
, and from there they headed towards Cape Horn
, crossing to the Pacific Ocean
on November 13, and stopping at Talcahuano
, the port of Concepción
in present-day Chile
, and again at Valparaíso
, the port of Santiago
.
Continuing north, Bustamante mapped the coast while Malaspina sailed to Juan Fernández Islands
in order to resolve conflicting data on their location. The two ships reunited at Callao
, the port of Lima
, in Peru
, where they carried out investigations about the political situation of the Viceroyalty of Peru
. The expedition then continued north, mapping the coast, to Acapulco
, Mexico
. A team of officers was then sent to Mexico City
to investigate the archives and political situation of the Viceroyalty of New Spain.
Being in Mexico, the expedition received an order from the new king of Spain Charles IV
, to search for a Northwest Passage
recently rumored to have been discovered, which forced Malaspina to abandon his plans to sail to Hawaii
, Kamchatka, and the Pacific Northwest
. Instead, he sailed from Acapulco directly to Yakutat Bay
, Alaska (then known as Port Mulgrave), where the rumored passage was said to exist. Finding only an inlet, he carefully surveyed the Alaska
n coast west to Prince William Sound
.
At Yakutat Bay, the expedition made contact with the Tlingit. Spanish scholars made a study of the tribe, recording information on social mores, language, economy, warfare methods, and burial practices. Artists with the expedition, Tomas de Suria
and José Cardero
, produced portraits of tribal members and scenes of Tlingit daily life. A glacier between Yakutat Bay and Icy Bay was subsequently named Malaspina Glacier
. Botanist Luis Née
collected and described numerous new plants during that time.
Knowing that Cook had previously surveyed the coast west of Prince William Sound and found no passage, Malaspina ceased his search at that point and sailed to the Spanish outpost at Nootka Sound
on Vancouver Island
. Malaspina's expedition spent a month at Nootka Sound. While at Nootka, the expedition's scientists made a study of the Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka peoples). The relationship between the Spanish and the Nootkas was at its lowest point when Malaspina arrived. Malaspina and his crew were able to greatly improve the relationship, which was one of their objectives and reasons for stopping in the first place. Due in part to Malaspina's ability to bequeath generous gifts from his well-supplied ships about to return to Mexico, the friendship between the Spanish and the Nootkas was strengthened. The gaining of the Nootka chief Maquinna's
trust was particularly significant, as he was one of the most powerful chiefs of the region and had been very wary of the Spanish when Malaspina arrived. His friendship strengthened the Spanish claim to Nootka Sound, which was in question after the Nootka Crisis
and resolved in the subsequent Nootka Convention
s. The Spanish government was eager for the Nootka to formally agree that the land upon which the Spanish outpost stood had been ceded freely and legally. This desire had to do with Spain's negotiations with Britain than over Nootka Sound and the Pacific Northwest. Malaspina was able to acquire exactly what the government wanted. After weeks of negotiations the principal Nootka chief, Maquinna, agreed that the Spanish would always remain owners of the land they then occupied, and that they had acquired it with all due properness. The outcome of the Nootka Convention depended in part on this pact.
In addition to the expedition's work with the Nootkas, astronomical observations were made to fix the location of Nootka Sound and calibrate the expedition's chronometers. Nootka Sound was surveyed and mapped with an accuracy far greater than had previously been available. Unexplored channels were investigated. The maps were also linked to the baseline established by Captain Cook, allowing calibration between Spanish and British charts. Botanical studies were carried out, including an attempt to make a type of beer out of conifer needles that was hoped to have anti-scorbutic properties for combating scurvy
. The expedition ships took on water and wood, and provided the Spanish outpost with many useful goods, including medicines, food, various tools and utensils, and a Réaumur scale thermometer.
After departing Nootka Sound the two ships sailed south, stopping at the Spanish settlement and mission at Monterey, California
, before returning to Mexico.
In 1792, back in Mexico, Malaspina dispatched two schooner
s (or "goletas") to conduct more detailed explorations of the Strait of Juan de Fuca
and the Strait of Georgia
. These were Sutíl, commanded by Dionisio Alcalá Galiano
, and Mexicana
, under Cayetano Valdés y Flores
. Both were officers of Malaspina's. The ships were to have been commanded by two pilots of San Blas, Mexico, but Malaspina arranged for his own officers to replace them.
In 1792, Malaspina's expedition sailed from Mexico across the Pacific Ocean. They stopped briefly at Guam before arriving at the Philippines, where they spent several months, mostly at Manila
. During this period Malaspina sent Bustamante in the Atrevida to Macau
, China.
After Bustamante's return the expedition left the Philippines and sailed to New Zealand
. They explored Doubtful Sound
at the southern end of New Zealand's South Island, mapping its entrance and lower reaches but failing because of adverse weather to carry out the gravity experiments which were the reason for going there. Although the expedition stayed for only a day. it left behind a unique cluster of Spanish place names, such as Febrero Point (from the month of his visit – February), Bauza Island (after his cartographer) and Marcaciones Point (Observation Point).
Then Malaspina sailed to Port Jackson
(Sydney
). on the coast of New South Wales
Australia, which had been established by the British in 1788. During the expedition’s stay at Sydney Cove, New South Wales, in March–April 1793, Thaddäus Haenke carried out observations and made collections relating to the natural history of the place, as he reported to the colony’s patron, Sir Joseph Banks, saying: "I here express the public testimony of a grateful soul for the very extraordinary humanity and kindness with which the English in their new Colony welcomed us wandering vagabonds, Ulysses' companions. A Nation renowned throughout the world, which has left nothing untried, will also overcome with the happiest omens, by the most assiduous labour and by its own determined spirit the great obstacles opposing it in the foundation of what may one day become another Rome".
During its visit to Port Jackson, twelve drawings were done by members of the expedition, which are a valuable record of the settlement in its early years, especially as among them are the only depictions of the convict settlers from this period.
The recently founded English colony had been included in the expedition’s itinerary in response to a memorandum drawn up in September 1788 by one of Malaspina’s fellow naval officers, Francisco Muñoz y San Clemente, who warned of the dangers it posed to the Spanish possessions in the Pacific in peace time from the development of a contraband commerce and in war time as a base for British naval operations. Muñoz said: “The colonists will be able to fit out lucrative privateers so as to cut all communication between the Philippines and both Americas.... These possessions will have a navy of their own, obtaining from the Southern region whatever is necessary to establish it, and when they have it ready formed they will be able to invade our nearby possessions...” In the confidential report he wrote following his visit, Malaspina echoed the warning from Muñoz, writing of the “terrible” future danger for Spain from the English colony at Port Jackson,
While recognizing the strategic threat it posed to Spain's Pacific possessions in time of war, Malaspina wrote: “It is not the concern of these paragraphs to demonstrate in detail the many schemes for these projected plunderings, so much as the easiest ways of preventing them”. He preferred the peaceable approach of drawing attention to the commercial opportunity the new colony offered for a trade in food and livestock from Chile and the development of a viable trade route linking that country with the Philippines. Having seen carts and even ploughs being drawn by convicts for want of draught animals in the colony, and having eaten meals with the colonists at which beef and mutton were regarded as rare luxuries, Malaspina saw the trade in Chilean livestock as the key to a profitable commerce. He proposed that an agreement be signed with London for an Association of Traders, and for an agent of the colony to be resident in Chile. Conscious that the policy he was proposing was a bold and imaginative one in the face of Spain's traditional insistence on a national monopoly of trade and other relations within her empire, Malaspina declared that "this affair is exceedingly favourable to the commercial balance of our Colonies", and it would have the advantage of calming and tranquilizing "a lively, turbulent and even insolent neighbour....not with sacrifices on our part but rather with many and very considerable profits".
Returning east across the Pacific Ocean the expedition spent a month at Vava'u
, the northern archipelago of Tonga
. From there they sailed to Callao, Peru, then Talcahuanco, Chile. The fjords of southern Chile were carefully mapped before the expedition rounded Cape Horn. Then they surveyed the Malvinas Islands ("Falkland Islands," in English) and the coast of Patagonia before stopping at Montevideo again.
From Montevideo Malaspina took a long route through the central Atlantic Ocean to Spain, reaching Cádiz on September 21, 1794. He had spent 62 months at sea.
During the five years of this expedition Malaspina fixed the measurements of America's western coast with a precision never before achieved. He measured the height of Mount Saint Elias
in Alaska and explored gigantic glaciers, including Malaspina Glacier
, later named after him. He demonstrated the feasibility of a possible Panama Canal
and outlined plans for its construction. In addition, Malaspina's expedition was the first major long distance sea voyage that experienced virtually no scurvy
. Malaspina's medical officer, Pedro González, was convinced that fresh oranges and lemons were essential for preventing scurvy. Only one outbreak occurred, during a 56-day trip across the open sea. Five sailors came down with symptoms, one seriously. After three days at Guam all five were healthy again. James Cook had made great progress against the disease, but other British captains, such as George Vancouver
, found his accomplishment difficult to replicate. It had been known since the mid-18th century that citrus fruit was effective, but for decades it was impractical to store fruit or fruit juice for long periods on ships without losing the necessary ascorbic acid. Spain's large empire and many ports of call made it easier to acquire fresh fruit.The City Gazette and Daily Advertiser (Charleston, South Carolina), 19 July 1797, carried a report of the expedition:
As a result, his seven-volume account of the Expedition was suppressed and remained unpublished until the late 19th century. A large portion of the documents meant to be used as source material for the publication of Malaspina's expedition remained scattered in archives to the present day. A significant number of documents are lost, and those that survive are often in a rough, semi-edited form. Alexander von Humboldt
, an admirer of Malaspina, wrote, "this able navigator is more famous for his misfortunes than for his discoveries." There was some contemporary publication, but it took two hundred years for the bulk of the records of the expedition to be published. The notes made by the expedition’s botanist, Luis Neé, while he was at Port Jackson in 1793 were published in 1800. Dionisio Alcalá Galiano’s journal of his survey of the straits between Vancouver Island and the mainland, carried out as part of the Malaspina expedition, was published in 1802 with all mention of Malaspina’s name excised. In 1809, José Espinosa y Tello published the astronomical and geodesic observations made during the expedition in a two-volume work that also contained an abbreviated narrative of the voyage. This narrative was translated into Russian and published by Admiral Adam von Krusenstern St. Petersburg in 1815. The journal of Malaspina’s voyage was first published in Russian translation by Krusenstern in successive issues of the official journal of the Russian Admiralty between 1824 and 1827 (a copy of the manuscript had been obtained by the Russian ambassador in Madrid in 1806). The journal of Francisco Xavier de Viana, second-in-command of the Atrevida was published in Montevideo in 1849. Bustamante’s journal was published in 1868 in the official journal of the Directorate of Hydrography. An abbreviated account of the Malaspina expedition, consisting mostly of his journal, "Diario de Viaje", was published in Madrid in 1885 by Pedro de Novo y Colson. Malaspina’s journal was published in another edition in Madrid in 1984. The definitive version of the expedition was finally published in Spain by the Museo Naval and Ministerio de Defensa in nine volumes from 1987 to 1999. The second volume of this series, Malaspina's journal, was published in an annotated English translation by the Hakluyt Society in association with the Museo Naval between 2001 and 2005.
The drawings and paintings done by members of the expedition were described by Carmen Sotos Serrano in 1982. The 4,000-odd manuscripts relating to the expedition were catalogued by Maria Dolores Higueras Rodriguez between 1989 and 1994.
is an interdisciplinary research project whose overall goals were to assess the impact of global change
on the oceans and explore their biodiversity
.
250 scientists were on board the oceanographic research vessels Hespérides and Sarmiento de Gamboa, embarking on a nine-month expedition between December 2010 and July 2011. Following the spirit of the original Malaspina Expedition, it combined pioneering scientific research with training for young researchers, while advancing marine science and fostering the public understanding of science. The voyage covered a combined 42,000 nautical miles, with calls at Miami, Rio de Janeiro, Punta Arenas, Ushuaia, Cape Town, Perth, Sydney, Honolulu, Panama, Cartagena de Indias and Cartagena, before returning to Cadiz.
The project was promoted under the umbrella of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation's Consolider – Ingenio 2010 programme and is led by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) with the support of the Spanish Navy
.
Alessandro Malaspina
Alessandro Malaspina was an Italian nobleman who spent most of his life as a Spanish naval officer and explorer...
and José de Bustamante y Guerra
José de Bustamante y Guerra
José de Bustamante y Guerra , sometimes referred to simply as Bustamante, was a Spanish naval officer, explorer, and politician. He was a native of Corvera de Toranzo in Cantabria, Spain.-Early life:In 1770 Bustamante became a midshipman at the Academy of the Guardiamarinas in Cádiz...
. Although the expedition receives its name from Malaspina, he always insisted on giving Bustamante an equal share of command. Bustamante however acknowledged Malaspina as the "head of the expedition" since the beginning.
The expedition was funded by the Spanish government and originally pursued strictly scientific goals, in the same fashion as the voyages of James Cook
James Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
and Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse
Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse
Jean François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse was a French Navy officer and explorer whose expedition vanished in Oceania.-Early career:...
. Some of the leading scientists at the time collected an impressive amount of scientific data that even surpassed what was collected during Cook's expedition, but due to Malaspina's involvement in a conspiracy to overthrow the government, he was jailed shortly upon return. Most of the expedition's reports and collections were put away unpublished, and didn't see the light until the late 19th century.
Background and preparation
In September of 1788 Alessandro Malaspina and José de Bustamante y Guerra approached the Spanish government together with a project for a scientific-political expedition that would visit nearly all of the Spanish EmpireSpanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
's possessions in America and Asia. The Spanish government of the time devoted a large share of its budget to scientific development, that was incomparably superior to that of other European nations. In the last four decades of the eighteenth century, a staggering amount of scientific expeditions crossed the Spanish Empire
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
, such as the botanical expeditions to New Granada
New Granada
New Granada may refer to various former national denominations for the present-day country of Colombia.*New Kingdom of Granada, from 1538 to 1717*Viceroyalty of New Granada, from 1717 to 1810, re-established from 1816 to 1819...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
and Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, that collected a very complete sample of the American flora. The New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
was a vast laboratory for experimentation and an unending source of samples.
The Spanish king at the time, Charles III
Charles III of Spain
Charles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese...
was also known for having a penchant for just about everything related to science, and had already procured funds to further develop science and technology in several areas. He promptly approved the expedition, although he could never see its results, as he died exactly two months later.
Additionally, the Spanish government had a vested interest on all issues concerning the Pacific Ocean because a large number of her colonies were in that area, including most of the American Pacific coast, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
in Asia, and several islands, such as Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
.
Two frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
s were specially designed and built for the expedition by the shipbuilder Tómas Muñoz at the La Carraca shipyard, under Malaspina's direction. They were both 306 tons burden and 36 metres long, with a normal load displacement of 4.2 metres. They were launched together on April 8, 1789 and were baptized in honor of former James Cook
James Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
's ships Resolution
HMS Resolution (Cook)
HMS Resolution was a sloop of the Royal Navy, and the ship in which Captain James Cook made his second and third voyages of exploration in the Pacific...
and Discovery
HMS Discovery (1774)
HMS Discovery was the consort ship of James Cook's third expedition to the Pacific Ocean in 1776 - 1780. Like Cook's other ships, Discovery was a Whitby-built collier of 298 tons, originally named Diligence when she was built in 1774. Originally a brig, Cook had her changed to a full rigged ship...
as Descubierta and Atrevida
Descubierta and Atrevida
The Descubierta and Atrevida were twin corvettes of the Spanish Navy, custom-designed as identical special exploration and scientific research vessels . Both ships were built at the same time for the Malaspina Expedition...
(a liberal translation in Spanish). Malaspina commanded Descubierta and Bustamante Atrevida.
The expedition carried on board the elite of astronomers and surveyors of the Spanish Navy, headed by Juan Gutiérrez de la Concha. Also on board were many scientists and artists, such as painting master José del Pozo, artists José Guío and Fernando Brambila, cartoonist and columnist Tomás de Suria
Tomás de Suria
Tomás de Suría was a Spanish artist and explorer. He accompanied Alessandro Malaspina during his expedition to the Pacific States of the United States from 1789 to 1795.-Early life:...
, botanists Luis Née
Luis Née
Luis Née was a Franco-Spanish botanist, who accompanied the Malaspina expedition to the Pacific Ocean coasts of North America and Australia.He described many new plants, including the Coast Live Oak, which he discovered in California....
, Antonio Pineda
Antonio Pineda
Antonio Pineda was a Guatemalan botanist born to Spanish parents. He was coordinator of the biologists, including Thaddäus Haenke and Luis Née, aboard the expedition of Alessandro Malaspina in the Pacific....
and Thaddäus Haenke
Thaddäus Haenke
Thaddäus Xaverius Peregrinus Haenke was a geographer and explorer in South America.-Biography:Thaddaeus Haenke was born of ethnic German extraction in the Bohemian village of Kreibnitz , near the Sudeten Mountains in 1761...
, and many others.
The Expedition
The Atrevida and Descubierta sailed from CádizCádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
on July 30, 1789, and after anchoring for a few days off the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
, proceeded to sail across the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
, to the coasts of South America. Once there, they sailed down to Río de la Plata
Río de la Plata
The Río de la Plata —sometimes rendered River Plate in British English and the Commonwealth, and occasionally rendered [La] Plata River in other English-speaking countries—is the river and estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River on the border between Argentina and...
, and stopped in Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
and Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, in order to prepare a report on the political situation of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, , was the last and most short-lived Viceroyalty of the Spanish Empire in America.The Viceroyalty was established in 1776 out of several former Viceroyalty of Perú dependencies that mainly extended over the Río de la Plata basin, roughly the present day...
. Then they sailed over to the Islas Malvinas
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
, and from there they headed towards Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
, crossing to the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
on November 13, and stopping at Talcahuano
Talcahuano
Talcahuano is a port city and commune in the Biobío Region of Chile. It is part of the Greater Concepción conurbation. Talcahuano is located in the south of the Central Zone of Chile.-Geography:...
, the port of Concepción
Concepción, Chile
Concepción is a city in Chile, capital of Concepción Province and of the Biobío Region or Region VIII. Greater Concepción is the second-largest conurbation in the country, with 889,725 inhabitants...
in present-day Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, and again at Valparaíso
Valparaíso
Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...
, the port of Santiago
Santiago, Chile
Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...
.
Continuing north, Bustamante mapped the coast while Malaspina sailed to Juan Fernández Islands
Juan Fernández Islands
The Juan Fernández Islands are a sparsely inhabited island group reliant on tourism and fishing in the South Pacific Ocean, situated about off the coast of Chile, and is composed of three main volcanic islands; Robinson Crusoe Island, Alejandro Selkirk Island and Santa Clara Island, the first...
in order to resolve conflicting data on their location. The two ships reunited at Callao
Callao
Callao is the largest and most important port in Peru. The city is coterminous with the Constitutional Province of Callao, the only province of the Callao Region. Callao is located west of Lima, the country's capital, and is part of the Lima Metropolitan Area, a large metropolis that holds almost...
, the port of Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
, in Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, where they carried out investigations about the political situation of the Viceroyalty of Peru
Viceroyalty of Peru
Created in 1542, the Viceroyalty of Peru was a Spanish colonial administrative district that originally contained most of Spanish-ruled South America, governed from the capital of Lima...
. The expedition then continued north, mapping the coast, to Acapulco
Acapulco
Acapulco is a city, municipality and major sea port in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast of Mexico, southwest from Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semi-circular bay and has been a port since the early colonial period of Mexico’s history...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. A team of officers was then sent to Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
to investigate the archives and political situation of the Viceroyalty of New Spain.
Being in Mexico, the expedition received an order from the new king of Spain Charles IV
Charles IV of Spain
Charles IV was King of Spain from 14 December 1788 until his abdication on 19 March 1808.-Early life:...
, to search for a Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
recently rumored to have been discovered, which forced Malaspina to abandon his plans to sail to Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, Kamchatka, and the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
. Instead, he sailed from Acapulco directly to Yakutat Bay
Yakutat Bay
Yakutat Bay is a 29-km-wide bay in the U.S. state of Alaska, extending southwest from Disenchantment Bay to the Gulf of Alaska. "Yakutat" is a Tlingit name reported as "Jacootat" and "Yacootat" by Yuri Lisianski in 1805....
, Alaska (then known as Port Mulgrave), where the rumored passage was said to exist. Finding only an inlet, he carefully surveyed the Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
n coast west to Prince William Sound
Prince William Sound
Prince William Sound is a sound off the Gulf of Alaska on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located on the east side of the Kenai Peninsula. Its largest port is Valdez, at the southern terminus of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System...
.
Tomás de Suria
Tomás de Suría was a Spanish artist and explorer. He accompanied Alessandro Malaspina during his expedition to the Pacific States of the United States from 1789 to 1795.-Early life:...
and José Cardero
José Cardero
José Cardero was a Spanish draughtsman and artist. He was born in 1766 in Écija, Spain. He is most remembered for his work on the expedition of Alessandro Malaspina and the related expedition of Dionisio Alcalá Galiano. During the Galiano voyage Cordero Channel was named in his honor...
, produced portraits of tribal members and scenes of Tlingit daily life. A glacier between Yakutat Bay and Icy Bay was subsequently named Malaspina Glacier
Malaspina Glacier
The Malaspina Glacier in southeastern Alaska is the largest piedmont glacier the world. Situated at the head of the Alaska Panhandle, it is about wide and long, with an area of some . It is named in honor of Alessandro Malaspina, an Italian explorer in the service of the Spanish Navy, who visited...
. Botanist Luis Née
Luis Née
Luis Née was a Franco-Spanish botanist, who accompanied the Malaspina expedition to the Pacific Ocean coasts of North America and Australia.He described many new plants, including the Coast Live Oak, which he discovered in California....
collected and described numerous new plants during that time.
Knowing that Cook had previously surveyed the coast west of Prince William Sound and found no passage, Malaspina ceased his search at that point and sailed to the Spanish outpost at Nootka Sound
Nootka Sound
Nootka Sound is a complex inlet or sound of the Pacific Ocean on the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Historically also known as King George's Sound, as a strait it separates Vancouver Island and Nootka Island.-History:The inlet is part of the...
on Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
. Malaspina's expedition spent a month at Nootka Sound. While at Nootka, the expedition's scientists made a study of the Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka peoples). The relationship between the Spanish and the Nootkas was at its lowest point when Malaspina arrived. Malaspina and his crew were able to greatly improve the relationship, which was one of their objectives and reasons for stopping in the first place. Due in part to Malaspina's ability to bequeath generous gifts from his well-supplied ships about to return to Mexico, the friendship between the Spanish and the Nootkas was strengthened. The gaining of the Nootka chief Maquinna's
Maquinna
Maquinna was the chief of the Nuu-chah-nulth people of Nootka Sound, during the heyday of the maritime fur trade in the 1780s and 1790s on the Pacific Northwest Coast...
trust was particularly significant, as he was one of the most powerful chiefs of the region and had been very wary of the Spanish when Malaspina arrived. His friendship strengthened the Spanish claim to Nootka Sound, which was in question after the Nootka Crisis
Nootka Crisis
The Nootka Crisis was an international incident and political dispute between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Spain, triggered by a series of events that took place during the summer of 1789 at Nootka Sound...
and resolved in the subsequent Nootka Convention
Nootka Convention
The Nootka Conventions were a series of three agreements between the Kingdom of Spain and the Kingdom of Great Britain, signed in the 1790s which averted a war between the two empires over overlapping claims to portions of the Pacific Northwest coast of North America.The claims of Spain dated back...
s. The Spanish government was eager for the Nootka to formally agree that the land upon which the Spanish outpost stood had been ceded freely and legally. This desire had to do with Spain's negotiations with Britain than over Nootka Sound and the Pacific Northwest. Malaspina was able to acquire exactly what the government wanted. After weeks of negotiations the principal Nootka chief, Maquinna, agreed that the Spanish would always remain owners of the land they then occupied, and that they had acquired it with all due properness. The outcome of the Nootka Convention depended in part on this pact.
In addition to the expedition's work with the Nootkas, astronomical observations were made to fix the location of Nootka Sound and calibrate the expedition's chronometers. Nootka Sound was surveyed and mapped with an accuracy far greater than had previously been available. Unexplored channels were investigated. The maps were also linked to the baseline established by Captain Cook, allowing calibration between Spanish and British charts. Botanical studies were carried out, including an attempt to make a type of beer out of conifer needles that was hoped to have anti-scorbutic properties for combating scurvy
Scurvy
Scurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of collagen in humans. The chemical name for vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, scorbutus, which also provides the adjective scorbutic...
. The expedition ships took on water and wood, and provided the Spanish outpost with many useful goods, including medicines, food, various tools and utensils, and a Réaumur scale thermometer.
After departing Nootka Sound the two ships sailed south, stopping at the Spanish settlement and mission at Monterey, California
Monterey, California
The City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...
, before returning to Mexico.
In 1792, back in Mexico, Malaspina dispatched two schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
s (or "goletas") to conduct more detailed explorations of the Strait of Juan de Fuca
Strait of Juan de Fuca
The Strait of Juan de Fuca is a large body of water about long that is the Salish Sea outlet to the Pacific Ocean...
and the Strait of Georgia
Strait of Georgia
The Strait of Georgia or the Georgia Strait is a strait between Vancouver Island and the mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is approximately long and varies in width from...
. These were Sutíl, commanded by Dionisio Alcalá Galiano
Dionisio Alcalá Galiano
Dionisio Alcalá Galiano was a Spanish naval officer, cartographer, and explorer. He mapped various coastlines in Europe and the Americas with unprecedented accuracy, using new technology such as chronometers...
, and Mexicana
Mexicana (ship)
The Mexicana was a topsail schooner built in 1791 by the Spanish Navy at San Blas, New Spain. It was nearly identical to the Sutil, also built at San Blas later in 1791...
, under Cayetano Valdés y Flores
Cayetano Valdés y Flores
Cayetano Valdés y Flores Bazán was a commander of the Spanish Navy, explorer, and captain general who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, fighting for both sides at different times due to the changing fortunes of Spain in the conflict...
. Both were officers of Malaspina's. The ships were to have been commanded by two pilots of San Blas, Mexico, but Malaspina arranged for his own officers to replace them.
In 1792, Malaspina's expedition sailed from Mexico across the Pacific Ocean. They stopped briefly at Guam before arriving at the Philippines, where they spent several months, mostly at Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
. During this period Malaspina sent Bustamante in the Atrevida to Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...
, China.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. They explored Doubtful Sound
Doubtful Sound
Doubtful Sound is a very large and naturally imposing fjord in Fiordland, in the far south west of New Zealand. It is located in the same region as the smaller but more famous and accessible Milford Sound...
at the southern end of New Zealand's South Island, mapping its entrance and lower reaches but failing because of adverse weather to carry out the gravity experiments which were the reason for going there. Although the expedition stayed for only a day. it left behind a unique cluster of Spanish place names, such as Febrero Point (from the month of his visit – February), Bauza Island (after his cartographer) and Marcaciones Point (Observation Point).
Then Malaspina sailed to Port Jackson
Port Jackson
Port Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...
(Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
). on the coast of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
Australia, which had been established by the British in 1788. During the expedition’s stay at Sydney Cove, New South Wales, in March–April 1793, Thaddäus Haenke carried out observations and made collections relating to the natural history of the place, as he reported to the colony’s patron, Sir Joseph Banks, saying: "I here express the public testimony of a grateful soul for the very extraordinary humanity and kindness with which the English in their new Colony welcomed us wandering vagabonds, Ulysses' companions. A Nation renowned throughout the world, which has left nothing untried, will also overcome with the happiest omens, by the most assiduous labour and by its own determined spirit the great obstacles opposing it in the foundation of what may one day become another Rome".
During its visit to Port Jackson, twelve drawings were done by members of the expedition, which are a valuable record of the settlement in its early years, especially as among them are the only depictions of the convict settlers from this period.
The recently founded English colony had been included in the expedition’s itinerary in response to a memorandum drawn up in September 1788 by one of Malaspina’s fellow naval officers, Francisco Muñoz y San Clemente, who warned of the dangers it posed to the Spanish possessions in the Pacific in peace time from the development of a contraband commerce and in war time as a base for British naval operations. Muñoz said: “The colonists will be able to fit out lucrative privateers so as to cut all communication between the Philippines and both Americas.... These possessions will have a navy of their own, obtaining from the Southern region whatever is necessary to establish it, and when they have it ready formed they will be able to invade our nearby possessions...” In the confidential report he wrote following his visit, Malaspina echoed the warning from Muñoz, writing of the “terrible” future danger for Spain from the English colony at Port Jackson,
from whence with the greatest ease a crossing of two or three months through healthy climates, and a secure navigation, could bring to our defenceless coasts two or three thousand castaway bandits to serve interpolated with an excellent body of regular troops. It would not be surprising that in this case—the women also sharing the risks as well as the sensual pleasures of the men—the history of the invasions of the Huns and Alans in the most fertile provinces of Europe would be revived in our surprised colonies.…The pen trembles to record the image, however distant, of such disorders.
While recognizing the strategic threat it posed to Spain's Pacific possessions in time of war, Malaspina wrote: “It is not the concern of these paragraphs to demonstrate in detail the many schemes for these projected plunderings, so much as the easiest ways of preventing them”. He preferred the peaceable approach of drawing attention to the commercial opportunity the new colony offered for a trade in food and livestock from Chile and the development of a viable trade route linking that country with the Philippines. Having seen carts and even ploughs being drawn by convicts for want of draught animals in the colony, and having eaten meals with the colonists at which beef and mutton were regarded as rare luxuries, Malaspina saw the trade in Chilean livestock as the key to a profitable commerce. He proposed that an agreement be signed with London for an Association of Traders, and for an agent of the colony to be resident in Chile. Conscious that the policy he was proposing was a bold and imaginative one in the face of Spain's traditional insistence on a national monopoly of trade and other relations within her empire, Malaspina declared that "this affair is exceedingly favourable to the commercial balance of our Colonies", and it would have the advantage of calming and tranquilizing "a lively, turbulent and even insolent neighbour....not with sacrifices on our part but rather with many and very considerable profits".
Returning east across the Pacific Ocean the expedition spent a month at Vava'u
Vava'u
Vavau is an island chain of one large island and 40 smaller ones in Tonga. According to tradition Maui fished both Tongatapu and Vavau but put a little more effort into the former. Vavau rises 204 meters above sea level...
, the northern archipelago of Tonga
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
. From there they sailed to Callao, Peru, then Talcahuanco, Chile. The fjords of southern Chile were carefully mapped before the expedition rounded Cape Horn. Then they surveyed the Malvinas Islands ("Falkland Islands," in English) and the coast of Patagonia before stopping at Montevideo again.
From Montevideo Malaspina took a long route through the central Atlantic Ocean to Spain, reaching Cádiz on September 21, 1794. He had spent 62 months at sea.
Results of the Expedition
Mount Saint Elias
Mount Saint Elias, also designated Boundary Peak 186, is the second highest mountain in both Canada and the United States, being situated on the Yukon and Alaska border. It lies about southwest of Mount Logan, the highest mountain in Canada. The Canadian side is part of Kluane National Park,...
in Alaska and explored gigantic glaciers, including Malaspina Glacier
Malaspina Glacier
The Malaspina Glacier in southeastern Alaska is the largest piedmont glacier the world. Situated at the head of the Alaska Panhandle, it is about wide and long, with an area of some . It is named in honor of Alessandro Malaspina, an Italian explorer in the service of the Spanish Navy, who visited...
, later named after him. He demonstrated the feasibility of a possible Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
and outlined plans for its construction. In addition, Malaspina's expedition was the first major long distance sea voyage that experienced virtually no scurvy
Scurvy
Scurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of collagen in humans. The chemical name for vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, scorbutus, which also provides the adjective scorbutic...
. Malaspina's medical officer, Pedro González, was convinced that fresh oranges and lemons were essential for preventing scurvy. Only one outbreak occurred, during a 56-day trip across the open sea. Five sailors came down with symptoms, one seriously. After three days at Guam all five were healthy again. James Cook had made great progress against the disease, but other British captains, such as George Vancouver
George Vancouver
Captain George Vancouver RN was an English officer of the British Royal Navy, best known for his 1791-95 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of contemporary Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon...
, found his accomplishment difficult to replicate. It had been known since the mid-18th century that citrus fruit was effective, but for decades it was impractical to store fruit or fruit juice for long periods on ships without losing the necessary ascorbic acid. Spain's large empire and many ports of call made it easier to acquire fresh fruit.The City Gazette and Daily Advertiser (Charleston, South Carolina), 19 July 1797, carried a report of the expedition:
VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY: The following particulars of the last attempt of a voyage of discovery, which has made but little noise, and has not even been mentioned by an English journal, cannot fail to procure attention. A magnificent work is at this present moment in the Madrid press, containing a full and ample detail of all the transactions that occurred during this voyage of discovery; and, on its publication, we shall be gratified with an account of the manners and customs of the Babaco [Babao/Vavau] Isles, a non-descript cluster, then visited for the first time by Europeans. The two sloops called the Discovery and the Subtile [sic], the former commanded by Don Alexander Malespina [sic], and the latter by Don Joseph de Bastamente [sic], sailed in company from the port of Cadiz, on the 30th of July, 1789, in order to co-operate with the other maritime powers in the extension of the human knowledge, and more particularly of navigation. The commanders of these vessels made correct charts of the coasts of America and the adjacent islands, from the river La Plata to Cape Horn, and from that cape to the farthermost northern extremeties [sic] of that part of the world. Their intentions in this was merely to repeat the attempts of the same kind, formerly undertaken either by foreigners or their own countrymen, and thus acquire a more minute knowledge of the subject. On their arrival at the north-west coast of America, in lat 59.60. and 61 degrees, they searched, in vain, for a passage by which they might penetrate into the Atlantic ocean; they accordingly concluded that the predictions of Cook were founded in sound reasoning, and that the gut mentioned by Maldonado, an old Spanish navigator, had no existence, except in his own brain. In the beginning of the year 1792, the Subtile, and a galliot, called the Mexicana, under the command of don Dion Galvano [Dionisio Galiano] and don Cais de Taldes [Cayetano Valdes], joined the English squadron commanded by captain Vancouver, with an intention to examine the immense Archipelago, known by the name of the Admiral’s Fonte [Admiral de Fonte], and Juan de Fuca. They continued the greater part of the year 1792 in visiting the Mariannes and Philippines, as also the Macas [Macao], on the coast of Guiana [China]. They afterwards passed between the isles Mindanoa and the isles called Mountay [Morintay], shaping course along the coasts of New-Guinea, and crossing the equator. On this occasion they discovered a gulph of about 500 maritime leagues in extent, which no former navigator had traversed. They then stopped at New-Zealand and New-Holland, and discovered in the Archipelago, called the Friendly Isles, the Babacos [Babaos/Vavau], a range of islands which had never before been seen by any European mariner. After a variety of other researches in the southern ocean, they arrived in June 1793, at Callao. From this port they made other occasional expeditions; and each separately examined the port of Conception, and the rest of the coast of America, which extends to the south-west, as well as the western coast of Moluccas [Malvinas/Malouines/Falklands]. They then entered the river La Plata, after having surmounted all the dangers incident to those southern latitudes. Having been equipped and supplied anew with provisions at Montevedia [Montevideo], they joined a fleet of frigates and register ships, and sailed for Cadiz, where they arrived after a passage of nine days [weeks], with cargoes to the amount of eight millions of dollars in money and merchandize. These voyages have not a little contributed to the extension of botany, mineralogy and navigation. In both hemispheres, and in a variety of different latitudes, many experiments were made relative to the weight of bodies [gravity], which will tend to very important discoveries, connected with the irregular form of our globe; these will also be highly useful, so far as respects a fixed and general measure [metric system]. While examining the inhabitants, our travellers collected all the monuments that could throw any light either on the migration of nations, or on their progress in civilization. Luckily for the interests of humanity, these discoveries have not caused a single tear to be shed. On the contrary, all the tribes with whom they had any connexion will bless the memory of these navigators who have furnished them with a variety of instruments, and made them acquainted with several arts, of which they were before entirely ignorant. The vessels brought back nearly the whole of their crews; neither of them, in short, lost more than three or four men; which is wonderful, if we but consider the unhealthy climates of the Torrid Zone, to which they were so long exposed. Don Antonio de Valdes, the minister of the marine, who encouraged and supported the expedition, is busied at this moment in drawing up a detailed account of this voyage, so as to render the enterprize of general utility. It will soon be published; and the curious will be gratified with charts, maps, and engravings, now preparing to accompany it. In the mean time he has presented to the king the captains, Don Alexander Malespina [Malaspina], Don Joseph de Bastamente [Bustamante] and Don Dion Galeano [Dionisio Galiano], and lieutenant Don Carlos [Ciriaco] de Cevallos. These officers are entitled to, and will soon experience, the royal munificence.
Aftermath
Unfortunately, Malaspina political judgment lead him to take part of a failed conspiracy to overthrow Spain's Prime Minister Godoy, and he was arrested on November 23 on charges of plotting against the state. After an inconclusive trial on April 20, 1796, Charles IV decreed that Malaspina be stripped of rank and imprisoned in the isolated fortress of San Antón in La Coruña, Galicia (Spain), where he remained from 1796 to 1802, when he was finally freed at the end of 1802, although on the condition that he was exiled from Spain.As a result, his seven-volume account of the Expedition was suppressed and remained unpublished until the late 19th century. A large portion of the documents meant to be used as source material for the publication of Malaspina's expedition remained scattered in archives to the present day. A significant number of documents are lost, and those that survive are often in a rough, semi-edited form. Alexander von Humboldt
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...
, an admirer of Malaspina, wrote, "this able navigator is more famous for his misfortunes than for his discoveries." There was some contemporary publication, but it took two hundred years for the bulk of the records of the expedition to be published. The notes made by the expedition’s botanist, Luis Neé, while he was at Port Jackson in 1793 were published in 1800. Dionisio Alcalá Galiano’s journal of his survey of the straits between Vancouver Island and the mainland, carried out as part of the Malaspina expedition, was published in 1802 with all mention of Malaspina’s name excised. In 1809, José Espinosa y Tello published the astronomical and geodesic observations made during the expedition in a two-volume work that also contained an abbreviated narrative of the voyage. This narrative was translated into Russian and published by Admiral Adam von Krusenstern St. Petersburg in 1815. The journal of Malaspina’s voyage was first published in Russian translation by Krusenstern in successive issues of the official journal of the Russian Admiralty between 1824 and 1827 (a copy of the manuscript had been obtained by the Russian ambassador in Madrid in 1806). The journal of Francisco Xavier de Viana, second-in-command of the Atrevida was published in Montevideo in 1849. Bustamante’s journal was published in 1868 in the official journal of the Directorate of Hydrography. An abbreviated account of the Malaspina expedition, consisting mostly of his journal, "Diario de Viaje", was published in Madrid in 1885 by Pedro de Novo y Colson. Malaspina’s journal was published in another edition in Madrid in 1984. The definitive version of the expedition was finally published in Spain by the Museo Naval and Ministerio de Defensa in nine volumes from 1987 to 1999. The second volume of this series, Malaspina's journal, was published in an annotated English translation by the Hakluyt Society in association with the Museo Naval between 2001 and 2005.
The drawings and paintings done by members of the expedition were described by Carmen Sotos Serrano in 1982. The 4,000-odd manuscripts relating to the expedition were catalogued by Maria Dolores Higueras Rodriguez between 1989 and 1994.
Malaspina Expedition 2010
In recognition to Malaspina's work, several Spanish institutions launched a major scientific expedition to circumnavigate the globe, that bears his name. The Malaspina Expedition 2010Malaspina Expedition 2010
The Malaspina circumnavigation expedition is an interdisciplinary research project whose overall goals are to assess the impact of global change on the oceans and explore their biodiversity...
is an interdisciplinary research project whose overall goals were to assess the impact of global change
Global change
Global change refers to planetary-scale changes in the Earth system. The system consists of the land, oceans, atmosphere, poles, life, the planet’s natural cycles and deep Earth processes. These constituent parts influence one another...
on the oceans and explore their biodiversity
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
.
250 scientists were on board the oceanographic research vessels Hespérides and Sarmiento de Gamboa, embarking on a nine-month expedition between December 2010 and July 2011. Following the spirit of the original Malaspina Expedition, it combined pioneering scientific research with training for young researchers, while advancing marine science and fostering the public understanding of science. The voyage covered a combined 42,000 nautical miles, with calls at Miami, Rio de Janeiro, Punta Arenas, Ushuaia, Cape Town, Perth, Sydney, Honolulu, Panama, Cartagena de Indias and Cartagena, before returning to Cadiz.
The project was promoted under the umbrella of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation's Consolider – Ingenio 2010 programme and is led by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) with the support of the Spanish Navy
Spanish Navy
The Spanish Navy is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces, one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Armada is responsible for notable achievements in world history such as the discovery of Americas, the first world circumnavigation, and the discovery of a maritime path...
.