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 Pedro
Fernandez de Quirós (1595)
Magellan crossed Micronesia in 1521 on his way
to the Philippines, but missed every
island except Guam. Pedro
Fernandez de
Quirós is typically given credit for the European discovery of
the island of Pohnpei in 1595, though it is
possible that another explorer, Alvaro de
Saavedra, spotted
the island more than seventy years earlier. De Quirós,
Portuguese by birth, was part of a Spanish expedition led by Alvaro de
Mendaña, whose mission was to establish a colony in the Solomon Islands.
Mendaña's ship, San Jeronimo, never reached its intended destination, and when the captain grew sick and died, de
Quirós took over. On the return voyage to Manila, the San
Jeronimo sighted
Pohnpei. The Spaniards anchored off-shore, and some
Pohnpeians paddled out toward the ship in their canoes.
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Intimidated, de Quirós decided to leave without going ashore.
In the common tradition of the time, de Quirós named Pohnpei
"Quirósa" after himself.
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