Map of the Le Maire Strait between Vuurland and Statenland
Blaeu, Wilhelm (Jansz.) / Anoniem / Anonymous
Map of the Le Maire Strait between Vuurland and Statenland.
Tabvla Magellanica qu?? Tierrae del fuego, cum celeberrimus fretis a F. Magellano et I. Le Maire detectis novissima et accuratissima descriptio exhibetur.
In 1615-1617 Jacob le Maire (1585-1616) and Willem Cornelisz. Schouten (circa. 1567-1625) discovered a new sea route south of the Magellan Straits between the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean: the Le Maire Strait. Via this new sea route a new route for the voyage to the East Indies became available, whereby the VOC's monopoly on plying the Magellan Straits route could be circumvented. In doing so they discovered the Le Maire Strait and Cape Horn, which they named after Schouten's home town. Despite their discoveries the voyage of the two was not very successful: on their arrival in Batavia they were not believed and their remaining vessel, de Eendracht, was impounded along with its cargo.
Despite great obstruction from the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch government, Willem Jansz. Blaeu (1571-1638) succeeded in publicizing the newly-discovered route in 1618. When Blaeu finally published this chart showing the southernmost tip of South America in 1635, the novelty of the discovery had long worn off and the Le Maire Strait was a busy sea route.
Top right a dedication by Willem Jansz. Blaeu to Constantijn Huygens.
Key: a-l; R-V.
Cf. Nationaal Archief, The Hague, inv. nr. VEL2170.
Please contact Koninklijke Bibliotheek for reuse and copyrights.