Did Spanish Adventurers Pene

trate “Isla del Oro”?

From Our Own Correspondent

Pt. Moresby, April 10.

THE reported discovery of Spanish coins in the wash on the Morobe goldfields, New Guinea, is interesting to residents of Papua, as some time ago similar coins were found at Misima Island among the money presented by natives when paying their tax.

How they came to be on Misima is a complete mystery, though it has been sug gested that they were remnants of money given in exchange for commodities by Cap tain Dumont D’Urville, who visited the Louisiades in the French corvettes L’Astro labe and La Zelee during his last voyage around the world, before making his pas sage through Torres Strait.

This idea had its basis in the fact that Lieutenant Kops, in the war schooner Circe, when visiting the N.W. coast of New Guinea to open up the country for Dutch settlers, discovered the natives of Port Dorey manufacturing rings, bracelets' and ear ornaments from Spanish coins. The natives explained that these were obtained from the survey ships L’'Astrolabe and La Zelee, in return for foodstuffs.

There have been, and will be, many theories (possible and impossible) to ac count for the Spanish coins recovered at Wau, but it is quite probable that they were relics of a Spanish party which ven tured into the unknown inland of the island which was called by the fantastic name of “Isla del Oro”—lsland of Gold.

The Spaniard Alvaro de Saavedra, a relation of the great Cortez (discoverer of Mexico), after searching for the missn.g expedition of Loyasa (1525) made two at tempts to return to Mexico and failed. In both attempts he landed on the northern shores of New Guinea (1528-29) and found traces of gold all along the coast. On his return to the Moluccas he bestowed the name of “Isla del Oro” upon the strange land.

This name must have attracted atten tion. One can suppose that enterprising young Spaniards set forth to try their luck and wandered far into the interior in search of its hidden wealth, much the same as Australians have done in recent years.

There is nothing to suggest that the Span iards would have been behind in that respect. Having recently despoiled the Incas of Peru, they were greedy for gold, and wanted more.

In 1536, Gryalva from Peru put in along the coast of New Guinea, after landing reinforcements from Mexico to help the Spaniards against the Incas. Then came De Retez, in 1545, and Louis de Torres in 1606.

New Guinea was known to a dozen fear less navigators of the Pacific, and it seems likely that some of their men would have been driven by the spirit of adventure to push further afield than the coast lands. r ”

Mr. S. Reilly, chief surveyor to the Ad- Ministration of Papua, left Sydney with his wife by the Esperance Bay on April 4 for a tour abroad.