|
|
Alcalá-Galiano (1792)[Alcalá-Galiano, Dionisio (1762-1805)]. Relacion del viage hecho por las goletas Sutil y Mexicana en el año de 1792 [...]. Madrid: Impr. Real, 1802.
Born in 1762 in Cabra, Spain, Dionisio Alcalá-Galiano enrolled in the naval school in 1775 and started active service in 1779. During the following years he participated in various hydrographic surveys of the Spanish and South American coasts. In 1789 he was chosen to accompany the explorer Alejandro Malaspina on a scientific voyage round the world. In 1791 Alcalá-Galiano spent a year in Mexico to update the maps and astronomical calculations he had amassed since leaving Spain. At the end of 1791 he was chosen by the viceroy of New Spain (Mexico) to replace Francisco Antonio Mourelle at the head of an expedition charged with mapping the west coast of North America from San Francisco to 55 latitude north. In addition, Alcalá-Galiano was to closely scrutinize Juan de Fuca Strait; based on the report of a previous expedition, the viceroy actually believed that this was where the entrance to the Northwest Passage was. Alcalá-Galiano left Acapulco in the spring of 1792 and returned the following autumn after exploring the coast to just north of Vancouver Island. In Georgia Strait, between Vancouver Island and the mainland, he had also met George Vancouver; driven by the same scientific spirit, the two explorers had exchanged information and even worked together for several weeks. Afterwards Alcalá-Galiano wrote an account of his explorations which was published in 1802. Unlike other accounts dealing with the northwest coast of North America, his account gave a positive view of the economic potential of the region. But since no passage to the Atlantic had been discovered, the Spanish authorities lost interest in the region. This lack of interest explains, no doubt, why it was possible to publish Alcalá-Galiano's account, for until that time Spain had always kept the results of its explorations secret. After this expedition, Alcalá-Galiano pursued his career in the navy, reaching the rank of brigadier of the naval forces. He was killed in October 1805 off the Spanish coast in the Battle of Trafalgar.
|
