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Jesuit José Quiroga (1707–1784) was a naval officer and a navigator whose experience influenced his activity as a Jesuit. José Cardiel (1704–1781) was a Jesuit from a different educational and professional background. After sixteen years as a missionary among the Abipones and Guaraní, he joined forces with Quiroga, and they sailed the South Atlantic to have the adventure of their lifetimes. During 1745–1746, together with another Jesuit, Matthias Strobel (1696–1769), Cardiel and Quiroga led a maritime expedition along the Patagonian coast as part of an effort to expand the Jesuit missions in the region south of Río de la Plata. The final goal, however, was more ambitious: the exploration of Patagonia, the Strait of Magellan, and Cape Horn. A comparative analysis of Cardiel’s and Quiroga’s manuscript maps and their narratives offers two different but complementary views of Patagonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]