1635 Strait of Megellan, South America

TABVLA MAGELLANICA, Willem Jansz. Blaeu (1635)In 1615-1617 Jacob le Maire (1585-1616) and Willem Cornelisz Schouten (c. 1567-1625) discovered a new nautical route between the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean south of the Strait of Magellanes: the Strait Le Maire. This new nautical route opened an alternative route to the Indies while the Strait of Magellanes which was dominated by the Dutch East India Company (VOC), could be avoided. Though there was much opposition from the Company and the Dutch Government, Willem Jansz. Blaeu (1571-1638) succeeded in publishing this discovery in 1618. When Blaeu published this map of the southern most point of South-America in 1635, the curiosity was already over and the Strait le Maire a busy nautical route.