Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/462

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436
FERNANDEZ
FERNANDEZ DE CASTRO ANDRADE

sage was rendered extremely long and laborious by the winds that prevailed constantly in these lati- tudes, and he thought that he would avoid them by standing out from land. His plan was successful, and he arrived in Chili without any ditiiculty, mak- ing the journey in a much less time than when he followed the shore. In one of these voyages, prob- ably about 1563, he discovered the island which bears his name. According to some writers, the Spanish government granted him possession of it, while others say that he met with a refusal. He remained some time on it, however, and when he departed left several goats behind him, which mul- tiplied to such an extent that the island was soon stocked with them. The islands of Saint Felix and Saint Ambrose were discovered by him in 1574. He was so much encouraged by these suc- cesses that, in the hope of making still more im- portant discoveries, he sailed from the coast' of Chili in 1570, bearing out farther from land than in the preceding voyages. He sailed over about forty degrees toward the west and southwest, and, after a month's journey, landed on a coast which to all appearance was tliat of a continent. The inhabitants, who were white, well-made, and de- cently clothed, received the Spaniards kindly. As his ship was very small and badly equipped, Fer- nandez did not push his researches farther, but, after a short stay, embarked for Chili. He made his companions promise to keep the discovery a secret, and arranged with them to return with a larger expedition, but he was prevented in some way from putting his design in execution, and, after his death, the whole affair was forgotten. According to another version, he partially dis- closed his discovery to certain persons who aban- doned the idea of pursuing it after his death. These details are found in a work published by Luis Arias, a Spaniard, entitled '• Memoir to rec- ommend to the King the Conversion of the Natives of Newly Discovered Islands" (1609; English trans- lation, Edinburgh, 1778). It has been conjectured by some geographers that the coast perceived by Fernandez was that of New Zealand, and they ac- count for the discrepancy between the real distance of New Zealand from South America and the forty degrees over which Fernandez sailed by supposing that Arias, from his ignorance of nautical matters, made an error in his calculations. Another dis- covery by Fernandez was that of Easter island, forty degrees west from the Chilian coast, which was generally thought to have been sighted first by Roggeween, a Dutch navigator, in 1722, but Duperrey, a French savant, has restored the credit of its discovery to Fernandez.


FERNANDEZ, Prospero, Costa Rican president, b. in San Jose de Costa Rica, 18 July, 1834; d. there, 11 March, 1885. He studied at the University of Guatemala, and in 1852 entered the military service under the new conscription law. In 1854 he became lieutenant, and in 1855 marched with the auxiliary forces of Costa Rica to Nicara- gua to repel the invasion of William Walker and his filibusters. He took part during 1856-'7 in the battles of Santa Rosa, Jan Jacinto, and Rivas, and finally in 1858, during Walker's second inva- sion, in the capture of his steamers in the river San Juan. In 1870 he took an active part in the revolution headed by Col. Tomas Guardia, which broke out on 27 April against the government of President Jesiis Jimenez. Dr. Bruno Carranza was appointed provisional president, but resigned on 8 Aug., and Guardia as commander-in-chief succeeded him, but, in view of the hostility of the national assembly, retired to Alajuela, and was proclaimed dictator by the military forces under Fernandez, 7 Oct. Under Guardia"s despotic gov- ernment, Fernandez, promoted to general of divis- ion, held aloof from politics, but was for some time governor of the province of Alajuela, in 1881 was appointed commander-in-chief of the military forces of the republic, and in 1882 elected by popu- lar vote to the presidency for the constitutional term of four years. When Guardia died before the expiration of his term, 6 July, 1884, Lizano as- sumed the power for some weeks, and on 10 Aug., Fernandez was installed. His government con- tributed to the material progress of the country. A revolt that broke out in October, 1884, in favor of the expelled Jesuits, was promptly quelled. Before the expiration of his term Fernandez died, and Vice-President Bernardo Soto succeeded him.


FERNANDEZ DE CASTRO ANDRADE Y PORTUGAL, Pedro Antonio, count of Leraos, marquis of Sarria and duke of Taurisano, viceroy of Peru, b. in Madrid, 1634: d. in Lima, 6 Dec, 1672. He was educated for the army and enjoyed high favor at court. He was appointed viceroy of Peru by King Charles II. in 1666, and arrived in Lima, 21 Nov., 1667. Soon after his arrival the rebellion of the brothers Jose and Gaspar Salcedo, rich miners of the province of Paucarcolla, which had begun in 1065, took such proportions that Lemos resolved to go personally to the seat of disturbance. He soon subdued the rebels, and instituted a court, which condemned the chief, Jose Salcedo, with forty-one others, to death. Gaspar Salcedo was banished for six years, and condemned to a fine of 12,000f. and costs. This sentence was appealed to Spain and reversed, Gaspar Salcedo was set at liberty and fine and costs returned to him, and the natural son of Jose, a captain of the same name, was in 1708 given by Philip V. the title of marquis of Villarica. Notwithstanding that the injustice committed by Lemos was generally acknowledged, there was in 1679 printed at Lima a work entitled " Estatera juridica en defensa del virey conde de Lemos y del Oidor Ovalle sobre la muerte del maestre de campo Don Jose Salcedo en 1668." The viceroy had the city of Laycacota, consisting of about 3,000 inhabitants, entirely destroyed, and made Puno capital of the province. After this campaign he visited the provinces of Chucuito and Cuzco, and returned to Lima in 1669. During his absence in campaign, for the first time in the history of the New World, he did not leave the government in the hands of the Andiencia, but appointed his wife. Ana de Borja, a daughter of the Duke of Gandia, regent. He was a fervent Catholic, and entirely in the hands of the Jesuits, going to such an extreme that in the building of the temple of Los Desamparados, near the bridge of Lima, he daily carried building material as a common laborer, and often served as clerk or sacristan at mass with Father Castillo. In the early part of 1670 the. news arrived at Lima that the famous English privateer Morgan had taken Chagres, captured Panama, and sacked the city. The viceroy fitted out an expedition of eighteen vessels with nearly 8,000 troops, but it arrived in Panama too late, as Morgan had evacuated the city. Later in the same year renewed rumors of a foreign invasion kept the country alarmed, and the viceroy ordered all the Pacific ports to be put in a thorough state of defence. The new church of Los Desamparados was finished and opened 30 Jan., 1672, and this, as well as the canonization of St. Rosa toward the end of the year, was celebrated by the viceroy with great splendor, but in the last he contracted a sickness of which he died in a few days.