Captivating account of John Byron's (1723-1786) secret expedition to establish a permanent British base in the South Atlantic Ocean in 1764-1766. After exploring Patagonia, the Magellan Strait and Tierra del Fuego, Byron set sail to the East Indies before returning to England. By making use of the trade winds (permanent east-to-west prevailing winds flowing in the equatorial region), he was able to circumnavigate the globe in less than 2 years, which had never been done before. This account was probably written by Charles Clerke (1741-1779), a member of Byron's crew. It describes the journey in detail, including unique encounters with "Patagonian giants" and other Indigenous people of South America and Micronesia. The present work is the first Spanish edition and contains notes and a foreword not available in the English version.
John Byron was sent on this expedition by the Royal Navy. In June 1764, he set sail from Woolwich to Brazil on the frigate HMS Dolphin, accompanied by the HMS Tamar. His first task was to find Pepys Island, an island off the coast of South America that had been spotted by another sailor almost a century earlier. He was unable to find it and decided it must have been a phantom discovery, which was indeed the case. His next task was to claim the Falkland Islands, which he did, but he was unaware they had already been claimed by the French a year earlier. His journey continued through the Strait of Magellan, where Byron and his crew encountered a community of very tall Indigenous people. Byron believed them to be the giants mentioned by other travellers and traded with them. After rounding South America, Byron sailed towards Polynesia. He reached the Gilbert Islands in Micronesia and had the first documented European encounter with the Indigenous people of Nikunau. From there, it was a relatively short distance to the East Indies. He replenished his resources in Batavia and returned home via the familiar route. He arrived in England 22 months after departure, completing the fastest circumnavigation of the globe of the time, and the first to do so without losing a ship.
With an ownership stamp on the title-page ("AR(?)"). With a small, brown stain on the back board. The gutters of the end leaves show some signs of wear, without affecting the integrity of the binding, a brown stain and small wormholes in the margins of the folding map in the back, slightly affecting the image. Otherwise in very good condition. Howgego, Encyclopedia of exploration to 1800, B200; not in Cox; cf. Beaglehole, The exploration of the Pacific, pp. 194-199.