Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Jacobson, Christian

JACOBSON, Christian, Danish explorer, b. in Copenhagen in 1528; d. in Lima, Peru, in 1596. He studied divinity, but he was seized with a desire to go to the New World, and, sailing for San Lucar de Barrameda, joined a cousin who was established as a merchant in Seville. The latter advised him to enter the Roman Catholic church; to which he readily assented, and obtained for him an appointment in the army. He was sent to Peru in 1551, and served in the civil wars in that country. In 1557 he went to Chili, and was made by Hurtado de Mendoza commander of the marines in the expedition of Ladrilleros (q. v.) to the South sea. Resigning his commission in 1564, he went on an exploration across the Cordilleras, reaching Buenos Ayres, after a dangerous journey, in 1565. Thence, sailing again for Peru, he settled in Lima, where he held an office in the audiencia, and devoted his leisure to literary labors. He wrote “Relacion del Viage de Ladrilleros al estrecho de Magellanes” (Seville, 1792); “Historia repertæ navigationis in Oceanum mare” (1779); “Derrotero de Viage” (1794); “Vidas de Españoles celebres” (2 vols., 1776); and several other works.