FERNANDEZ, Diego, a Spanish adventurer and historian of the 16th century. He was originally educated for the church, but about 1545 he embarked for Peru, where he served in the royal army under Alonzo de Alvarado. Mendosa, marquis of Canete, who succeeded Alvarado as viceroy, bestowed on Fernandez the office of chronicler of Peru; and in this capacity he wrote a narrative of the insurrection of Giron, of the rebellion of Gonzalo Pizarro, and of the administration of Gasca. The whole work, under the title Historia del Peru, was published at Seville in 1571. It is written in a clear and intelligible style, and with more art than is usual in the compositions of the time. It gives copious details, and, as he had access to the correspondence and official documents of the royalist leaders, it is, although necessarily possessing a royalist bias, the fullest and most authentic record existing of the events it relates. A notice of the work will be found in Prescott’s History of the Conquest of Peru.

FERNANDEZ, Joam, a Portuguese traveller, also of the 15th century. Early in life he had been taken captive by pirates of Barbary. While amongst them he acquired a knowledge of Arabic, and had his curiosity stimulated with regard to the geography of the African continent. On regaining his freedom he joined an exploring expedition, and got himself landed at the mouth'pf the Ouro river (lat 23°N.), where, exposed to considerable hardship and danger, he spent seven months of a nomadic life with some of the native tribes, and acquired a considerable amount of information about the geography of the interior (1445). Two years afterwards he explored the territory in the neighbourhood of Cape Blanco. He deserves some notice as having been the earliest of modern African explorers. The narrative of his adventures, which is said by those who have seen it to resemble that of Mungo Park, is to be found in Azurara’s Conquista de Guine.

FERNANDEZ, Juan, a Spanish navigator and discoverer. While navigating the coasts of South America it occurred to him that the south winds thatalm03t constantly prevailed near the shore, and retarded the voyages between Peru and Chili, might not exist further out at sea. His idea proved to be correct, and by the help of the trade winds and some currents at a distance from the coast he made a voyage with so great rapidity that he was apprehended on a charge of sorcery. His inquisitors, however, accepted, with a readiness far from common, his natural explanation of the seeming marvel, and he was set at liberty. During one of his voyages in 1563 Fernandez discovered the two islands which now bear his name, He was so enchanted with their beauty and fertility that he solicited the concession of them from the Spanish Government. It was granted in 1572, but a colony which he endeavoured to establish at the largest of them soon broke up, leaving ι behind them a number of goats, the progeny of which still continue on the islands. In 1574 Fernandez discovered the islands of St Felix and St Ambrose, and his companions who survived him affirmed that during a voyage in 1576 in the southern ocean he came in sight of a continent, which must have been either Australia or New Zealand if the discovery is to be accepted as a fact, but more probably it was either a delusion or an invention of his followers. See Alexander Dalrymple, An Historical Collection of the several Voyages and Discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean, London, 1769-71.

FERNANDEZ, Juan, a Spanish sailor and adventurer. In 1531 he joined the army of the celebrated^ Francesco Pizarro, conqueror of Peru, with a small force, but in 1533 he passed into the service of his rival Pedro de Alvarado. When the latter, however, agreed for a sum of money to cede his claims on Peru and make over his navy to Pizarro and Almagro, Fernandez necessarily returned to the service of Pizarro, who not only granted him pardon, but gave him the command of the ship. In 1538 ho accompanied Antonio de Sedeno on an expedition despatched by the Spanish Government against the island of Trinidad. Instead, however, of attempting to fulfil the purpose of the expedition, they were tempted by rumours of the existence of gold to disembark on the mainland, where, after enduring great privations and hardships, both leaders died in the winter after they set out, without finding the object of their quest. The survivors, under four different^ leaders, and decimated by hunger, fatigue, and continual combats with the natives, managed to find their way to the Spanish settlements.