. The earth and its inhabitants ... Geography. CHAPTER XVIIL. FALKLAND ISLANDS AND SOUTH GEORGIA. HIS archipelago, which rises from the Atlantic depths at a distance of 340 miles to the east of Magellan Strait, bears an English name, though not that of its English discoverer. The islands were first sighted by Davis in 1592, and he was followed in 1594 by Hawkins, who passed this way on his plundering expedition to the coast of Chili, and named the group the " Maiden Islands," in honour of Queen Elizabeth. Then came the Dutchman, Sebald de Wert, in 1598, who gave them his own name. Ne
. The earth and its inhabitants ... Geography. CHAPTER XVIIL. FALKLAND ISLANDS AND SOUTH GEORGIA. HIS archipelago, which rises from the Atlantic depths at a distance of 340 miles to the east of Magellan Strait, bears an English name, though not that of its English discoverer. The islands were first sighted by Davis in 1592, and he was followed in 1594 by Hawkins, who passed this way on his plundering expedition to the coast of Chili, and named the group the " Maiden Islands," in honour of Queen Elizabeth. Then came the Dutchman, Sebald de Wert, in 1598, who gave them his own name. Nearly a century later, that is, in 1689, the navigator Strong dedicated them in his turn to his friend Falkland, and this name has prevailed, although the appellation of Malouines, due to a sailor of Saint-Malo, long figured on the French and Spanish maps. It was even retained by the Argentines, who claimed the archipelago as part of their domain, and gave it the official name of Malvinas. In 17t)4 Bougainville took the first steps towards a permanent occupation, by letting loose some cattle in the archipelago ; but he founded no colony properly so-called. Then the Spanish Government, becoming aware of the pro- spective value of these oceanic lands, wished to establish a military station on the islands. But this act of possession having been accompanied by high-handed pro- ceedings against English subjects, the British Government at once protested, and in 1765 Admiral Byron arriving with a fleet formally reinstated his fellow-country- men in the name of England, without, however, questioning any higher claims or pretentions of Spain. But it was undoubtedly a serious step, the more so that the English station of Egmont was at the same time erected on the bay of like name. This was obviously a precedent which might afterwards be appealed to as an act of formal possession. After the War of Independence, however, the Argentine Hepublic, heir to the rights of Spain, took advantage of
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