Discovery-Granted to Camelo by the King of Spain-Shipwreck of Henry May-Of Sir George Somers-Granted by King James I. to the Virginia Company-Formation of the Bermuda Company-Settlement under Governor Richard Moore.
THE Bermudas were first discovered in 1515,* by a Spanish vessel, called La Garza (on a voyage from Old Spain to Cuba with a cargo of hogs), commanded by Juan Bermudez, and having on board Gonzalez Oviedo, the historian of the Indies. Having approached within cannon-shot, they regarded the group as a single island, about twelve leagues in length, and thirty in circumference.
* Murray's British America, vol. ii, p. 140. This date seems, however, to be very uncertain. The Abbé Raynal says 1527. History of the East and West Indies, vol. iii, p. 39; also Winterbottom vol. iv, p. 287. Fenning, in his Geography, London, 1771, fixes the period at