Jacob Le Maire | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | c. 1585 |
| Died | 22 December 1616 |
| Occupation | mariner |
| Known for | circumnavigation |
Jacob Le Maire (c. 1585 – 22 December 1616) was a Dutch mariner who circumnavigated the Earth in 1615 and 1616. The strait between Tierra del Fuego and Isla de los Estados was named the Le Maire Strait in his honour, though not without controversy. It was Le Maire himself who proposed to the council aboard Eendracht that the new passage should be called by his name and the council unanimously agreed with Le Maire. The author or authors of The Relation[1] took Eendracht captain Willem Schouten's side by proclaiming:
- “ ... our men had each of them three cups of wine in signe of ioy for our good hap ... [and the naming of] the Straights of Le Maire, although by good right it should rather have been called Willem Schouten Straight, after our Masters Name, by whose wise conduction and skill in sayling, the same was found.”.[2]
Eendracht then rounded Cape Horn, proving that Tierra del Fuego was not a continent.
- ^ The Relation of a Wonderfull Voiage made by Willem Cornelison Schouten of Horne. Shewing how South from the Straights of Magelan in Terra Delfuego: he found and discovered a newe passage through the great South Seaes, and that way sayled round about the world. London: Imprinted by T.D. for Nathanaell Newbery, 1619 [Facsimile of the first edition in English. London: George Rainbird Limited for The World Publishing Company, Cleveland, Ohio, 1966]. “Translation thereof out of the Dutch, wherein it was written” by William Philip
- ^ THE RELATION, p. 25