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Title: The Voyages of Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, 1595 to 1606.
Volume 1

Author: Pedro Fernandes de Queirós

Translator: Sir Clements R. Markham

Release date: October 27, 2012 [eBook #41200]
Most recently updated: October 23, 2024

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VOYAGES
OF PEDRO FERNANDEZ DE QUIROS, 1595 TO 1606. VOLUME 1 ***

WORKS ISSUED BY

The Hakluyt Society.

THE VOYAGES
OF
PEDRO FERNANDEZ DE QUIROS,
1595 TO 1606.

SECOND SERIES.
No. XIV.

THE VOYAGES
OF
PEDRO FERNANDEZ DE
QUIROS,
1595 TO 1606.

Translated and Edited
BY
SIR CLEMENTS MARKHAM,
K.C.B., P.R.G.S.;
PRESIDENT OF THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY.

IN TWO VOLUMES.—VOL. I.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY.
M.DCCCCIV.

London:
Printed at the Bedford Press, 20 and 21, Bedfordbury, W.C.

COUNCIL
OF
THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY.
Sir Clements Markham, K.C.B., F.R.S., Pres. R.G.S., President.
The Right Hon. the Lord Amherst of Hackney, Vice-President.
Rear-admiral Sir William Wharton, K.C.B., F.R.S., Vice-President.
Colonel George Earl Church.
Sir William Martin Conway.
George William Forrest, C.I.E.
William Foster, B.A.
F. H. H. Guillemard, M.A., M.D.
The Right Hon. the Lord Hawkesbury.
Edward Heawood, M.A.
John Scott Keltie, LL.D.
Frederic William Lucas.
Admiral Sir Albert Hastings Markham, K.C.B.
Mowbray Morris.
Commr. John Franklin Parry, R.N.
Edward John Payne, M.A.
Ernest George Ravenstein.
Admiral of the Fleet Sir F. W. Richards, G.C.B.
Henry William Trinder.
Richard Stephen Whiteway.
Basil H. Soulsby, B.A., Honorary Secretary.

Contents.
VOLUME I.

PAGE
Dedication ix
Introduction xi
Note on the Cartography of the Southern Continent. By xxxvii
B. H. Soulsby
I.— Narrative of the Second Voyage of the Adelantado Alvaro de 3
Mendaña, by the Chief Pilot Pedro Fernandez de Quiros
II.— Narrative of the Voyage of the Adelantado Alvarez de 149
Mendaña de Niera for the Discovery of the Islands of
Solomon, written by the Chief Pilot Pedro Fernandez de
Quiros for Don Antonio de Morga, Lieutenant-General of
the Philippines
III.— Narrative of the Voyage of Pedro Fernandez de Quiros in 161
1606, for the Discovery of the Austrial Regions

VOLUME II.

IV.— True Account of the Events of the Voyage that the Captain 321
Pedro Fernandez de Quiros made to the unknown Southern
lands, by Gaspar de Leza, Chief Pilot of the said Fleet
V.— Torquemada’s Account of the Voyage of Quiros 407
VI.— Letter from Luis Vaez de Torres to the King of Spain 455
VII. Legends on the Four Maps signed by Diego de Prado y 469
— Tobar

APPENDIX.

I.— Eighth Memorial of Quiros 477

II.— Memorial of Quiros, 1607 487
III.— Memorial of Quiros, 1609 504
IV.— Memorial of Don Fernando de Castro, 1608 508
V.— Letters from Diego de Prado y Tobar, 1613 511
VI.— Note on the Memorials of Quiros by the Council of the 514
Indies, 1610
VII. Memorial touching Papers printed by Quiros, 1610 516
—
VIII. Memorial by Juan Luis Arias 517
—
Index 537

MAPS.

1.— Planos de las Bahías descubiertas el año de 1606, en las In
islas del Espíritu Santo y de Nueva Guinea y Dibujadas por Pocket
D. Diego de Prado y Tovar en Igual Fecha (Soc. Geogr. de at the
Madrid, 1878). end.
2.— New Hebrides, Banks and Duff Groups, showing In
Discoveries of Quiros in 1606. G. Mackay del. Pocket
at the
end.
3.— Routes of Mendaña, 1595; Quiros, 1606, and Torres, 1606. In
G. Mackay del. Pocket
at the
end.

DEDICATION.
TO
COMMANDER ROBERT FALCON SCOTT,
R.N., M.V.O., F.R.G.S.;
LEADER OF THE NATIONAL ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION,
1901 TO 1904.

My Dear Scott,

I dedicate this translation of the Voyages of Pedro Fernandez de Quiros to
you, because the efforts and aspirations of the first navigator who ever
conceived the idea of discovering the Antarctic continent cannot fail to have
an interest for you who have actually made such great discoveries in the Far
South; as a tribute also of admiration for your great qualities as a leader, and
of affectionate regard for yourself.

Believe me to be ever, my dear Scott,

Your attached friend and well-wisher,

Clements R. Markham.

Introduction.

T
he Council of the Hakluyt Society has decided that the
volumes containing the narratives of the discovery of
the Solomon Islands by Mendaña shall be followed by
a monograph on the two voyages of Quiros. In the first
voyage he was Chief Pilot to Mendaña; the second and
most famous voyage was under his own command.

The best and most detailed narrative of both voyages is contained in a work
which remained in manuscript until twenty-eight years ago, when it was
edited and published at Madrid by Don Justo Zaragoza. It is entitled History
of the Discovery of the Austrial Regions, made by the General Pedro
Fernandez de Quiros.1 Two copies were known to be in existence: one in
the private library of the King of Spain, the other in that of the Ministry of
Marine. Both have erroneous titles, written by careless librarians. The
narratives were evidently dictated by Quiros, or written from his notes; but
Señor Zaragoza gives reasons for the belief that the work, in its present
form, was written by Luis de Belmonte Bermudez, a young man who was
Secretary to Quiros during the voyage of 1606, and that it contains several
passages for which the Secretary was alone responsible. Belmonte
Bermudez remained faithful to Quiros in his adversity, and, after his
master’s death, he became a poet of some celebrity. Señor Zaragoza quotes
several passages which show the hand of a poet.2 There is also a quotation
from the Araucana of Ercilla on unknown lands not yet revealed by God, to
which is added another version by the young sailor-poet on those unknown
lands now revealed by God.3

The author is mentioned twice in the narrative: once as being nearly
drowned in landing on the island of Anaa4 (“Conversion de San Pablo”),
and again in the list of officials for the municipality of the city of New
Jerusalem projected by Quiros.5 The question of authorship is really settled

by the poet himself, in a line of his poem entitled La Hispalica, quoted by
Zaragoza. Speaking of Quiros as his “Lusitanian master, the star of gallant
Portuguese,” he adds that, in recording the history of the voyage there was:
—

“Want of a writer, which I supplied.”

The Historia, as published by Zaragoza, is continuous in eighty-one
chapters. It has been found more convenient to divide the translation into
two parts: the first containing the second voyage of Mendaña, and the
second part being the story of the voyage of Quiros in 1606.

The present volume commences with the first part of the History of the
Discovery of the Austrial Regions. It describes the second voyage of
Mendaña in much detail, including the discovery of the Marquesas Islands
and of the island of Santa Cruz, the death of Mendaña, and the terrible
passage from Santa Cruz to Manilla. It is certainly a most extraordinary
story.

In the work entitled Hechos del Marques de Cañete, a life of one of the
Viceroys of Peru, by Cristoval Suarez de Figueroa,6 Book VI contains an
abbreviated version of the narrative in the Historia, generally copied word
for word. Numerous details are omitted, particularly such as are derogatory
to the Spanish character. There are also a few passages which are not in the
Historia, but none having any bearing on the events of the voyage. Suarez
de Figueroa tells us that he had the narrative of Quiros before him as he
wrote. For these reasons I have considered it unnecessary to translate the
version of Suarez de Figueroa, as it is merely a mutilated version of the
narrative in the Historia. The account in the work of Suarez de Figueroa
was the only version of the second voyage of Mendaña that was known to
our historians of Pacific voyages, Dalrymple and Burney.

There is a short report of the second voyage of Mendaña, to Antonio de
Morga, the Governor of the Philippines, by Quiros himself. It was translated
and printed by Lord Stanley of Alderley, in his edition of the work of

Antonio de Morga (Hakluyt Society, 1868). I have caused it to be reprinted
in this volume, in order to make the monograph of Quiros complete.

For the voyage of Quiros in 1606, when he discovered the Duff and Banks
groups of islands, and the New Hebrides, there are no less than four
separate accounts.

The first, and by far the most important, forms the second part of the
Historia del descubrimiento de las regiones Austriales, by Belmonte
Bermudez. It contains the full narrative, the speeches and reflections of
Quiros, as recorded by his Secretary, and the remarks of the poet himself.
The royal orders, the curious and interesting instructions of Quiros to his
Captains, the act of possession and other strange proceedings at Espiritu
Santo, the half-allegorical will of Quiros, and other documents, are
included.

The second narrative is by Gaspar Gonzalez de Leza, the Chief Pilot of the
Capitana with Quiros. For the most part it is merely a log, with courses,
distances run, winds, and latitudes for each day, with occasional
calculations of the distance from Callao. But it also contains accounts of the
visits to the newly-discovered islands, and some remarks of interest, which
may be compared with the same events described by Quiros, and in the
work of Torquemada. The manuscript is in the Royal Library at Madrid (J.
2); and Lord Stanley of Alderley quoted largely from it, in annotating the
letter of Torres. But it was first printed by Zaragoza.

The third narrative is contained in the Monarquia Indiana, a work on
Mexico first published in 1614, by the Franciscan Friar, Juan de
Torquemada, who was Provincial of the Order in Mexico in that year (vol. i,
pp. 738 to 756 the second edition, 1723) (Lib. V, caps. lxiv to lxix).
Torquemada was at Mexico when Quiros and his companions landed at
Acapulco, and came up to the capital in the end of 1606. He must have
known and conversed both with Quiros and with some of his crew. He thus
obtained his information at first hand, and was able to write an authentic
account of the voyage. Torquemada’s style is more polished and flowing

than those of the sailors, or even of the young poet, who relate the events of
the same voyage.7

The fourth narrative is contained in a letter from the second in command,
Luis Vaez de Torres, to the King. This letter briefly describes the whole
voyage; but it is specially interesting when it relates the events after parting
company with Quiros. For Torres, on his voyage from Espiritu Santo to
Ternate, was the discoverer of the strait which bears his name. Dalrymple
obtained a copy of the letter of Torres, and translated it. This translation
was, with the permission of Dalrymple, first published by Burney. Mr.
Major reprinted it in his volume of Early Voyages to Australia (Hakluyt
Soc., 1859). Lord Stanley of Alderley found another copy in the National
Library at Madrid (J. 2), and translated it as Appendix VI of his edition of
the work on the Philippines, by Antonio de Morga (p. 402, Hakluyt Soc.,
1868). This is a copy of a document mentioned by Navarrete as existing at
Simancas. Ever loyal to his chief, though disapproving of his conduct of the
expedition, Torres wrote another letter to Quiros. The letter of Torres has
such an important bearing on the voyage of Quiros, that I have considered it
indispensable to include it in the present volumes.

The Memorials of Quiros, and other documents in the Appendix, will be
described further on. They complete the materials for a monograph of the
famous navigator’s work and life.

I now propose to state all that I have been able to ascertain respecting his
life; and to discuss his character, his attainments, his views and aspirations,
and the position his voyages occupy in the history of maritime discovery.

Pedro Fernandez de Quiros was born at Evora8, in Portugal, in 1565, the
year before Mendaña sailed on his first voyage. The ill-fated Don Sebastian
was then King of Portugal. His uncle, the Cardinal Henry, became King in
1578; but in 1580 Philip II, the Cardinal’s nephew, succeeded as King of
Portugal, as well as of Spain. Quiros, though a Portuguese, then became a
subject of the King of Spain, his age being fifteen. We are told, though an
enemy is our informant,9 that young Quiros was brought up in the “Rua
nova,” then a disreputable part of Lisbon, and that he was a clerk or

supercargo in merchant ships. This may or may not be true. He certainly
became a good sailor, and an accomplished pilot.

In 1589, when he had reached his twenty-fourth year, he had probably been
several years at sea. He then married Doña Ana Chacon, of Madrid,
daughter of the licentiate Juan Quevedo de Miranda, by Ana Chacon de
Miranda. She was a year his senior. A son, named Francisco, was born to
them in 1590, and they must then have gone to Peru; for their daughter
Jeronima was born some months after Quiros sailed from Peru with
Mendaña in 1595.10

Quiros was thirty years of age when he accepted the post of Chief Pilot in
the ship of Alvaro de Mendaña, who had received a concession to colonise
the Solomon Islands, which he had discovered thirty years before. Quiros
joined this expedition with some misgivings, caused by the quarrelsome
character of the Camp Master, the want of order and discipline, and the
position assumed by the Commander’s wife and her brothers. Mendaña was
more than twenty years older than Quiros. The Pilot’s position was one of
some difficulty: for while on one side he had to exercise tact in his
intercourse with the family clique, on the other he found it difficult to avoid
friction with a most impracticable and quarrelsome old soldier who was
Camp Master, and who had a feud with the brothers-in-law of Mendaña,
which continued to increase in bitterness. The expedition culminated at the
island of Santa Cruz, a new discovery, with the slaughter of the old Camp
Master, the deaths of Mendaña and his brother-in-law Don Lorenzo, the
succession of the widow, Doña Isabel, to the command of the expedition,
and the disastrous voyage to Manilla.

Through all this intrigue and violence the Chief Pilot steered his course
with prudence and caution. He was a reliable seaman, and was constantly
consulted. He appears, from his own account, to have been a peacemaker, to
have avoided quarrels, and to have had some influence. He was, however, a
great talker. The widow did not like him, but she was obliged to rely upon
him entirely. Her brothers were useless. Quiros stood between the widow’s
selfish parsimony and a crew on the verge of mutiny from misery and

starvation. He brought a sinking ship, with rotten spars and rigging, safely
over an unknown sea from Santa Cruz to Manilla.

It was during this voyage, and while gaining experience in the navigation of
the Pacific Ocean and the treatment of natives, that Quiros conceived his
grand project. He was a cartographer, and, in studying existing maps, he
saw a great Southern continent extending across the ocean, from the Strait
of Magellan to New Guinea. He thought that here was a discovery as
famous as had been made by Columbus or Da Gama. He thought that here
was not only a great continent extending to the South Pole to be added to
the dominions of his sovereign, but millions of souls to be saved and
brought within the fold of the Church. He devoted his life to the realisation
of this glorious dream with unswerving devotion, never turning aside to the
right hand or to the left; undaunted by difficulties or wearisome delays to
his dying day; literally killed by Councils and Committees; but succumbing
only with his last breath. He became a man with one idea. Alas! he was but
a dreamer.

It was a dream. The heroic days of Spain and Portugal were passed and
gone. Quiros was the last of the long and glorious roll of great Spanish
navigators. He spoke, if not to stone-deaf ears, to fast-deafening ears. The
Viceroy Don Luis de Velasco,11 at Lima, to whom Quiros first explained his
project, would take no responsibility, and referred him to the Court of Spain
and its Councils of State and of the Indies. It was a happy inspiration which
led Quiros to go first to Rome, and interest the Pope in the conversion of
millions of Antarctic souls; for nothing was more likely to induce the
Spanish Government to move in the matter than a strong recommendation,
which would be looked upon almost as a command, from the Supreme
Pontiff. Quiros was himself a very religious man, deeply imbued with the
superstitions of his time and nation.

When Quiros arrived at Rome, the Duke of Sesa, a descendant of the Great
Captain, was Spanish Ambassador. The Pope was a scion of the noble
Roman family of Aldobrandini, and had succeeded, as Clement VIII, in
1592.

The Duke of Sesa received Quiros well on his arrival at Rome, made him a
member of his household, and was so much interested in his project that he
assembled all the most eminent astronomers and geographers in the Eternal
City to examine and report to him upon it. Among these experts there was a
mathematician of the first rank. Christopher Clavio was born at Bamberg in
1537, and taught mathematics at Rome for twenty years. He corrected the
calendar for Gregory XIII, and published his Calendarii Romani Gregoriani
Explicatio in 1603. He had previously been the author of a work entitled
Gnomonices, and of an edition of Euclid. The other advisers of the Duke
were Dr. Mesa and Dr. Toribio Perez, who had been Professors of
Geography at Salamanca, and a learned Jesuit named Villalpando.

The authority of Clavio cannot be gainsaid. He found Quiros to be an
accomplished Pilot and cartographer, and the inventor or improver of two
nautical instruments. The Duke of Sesa was satisfied by Clavio and the
other experts of the capacity of Quiros as a navigator, and of the importance
of his project. He, therefore, introduced him to the Pope, and both Clement
VIII and the Duke gave him letters of recommendation to the Spanish
Government.

Philip III had succeeded his father in 1598 as King of Spain and Portugal.
He found the country utterly ruined, and commerce nearly dead. Yet he
continued the same fatal policy. He confided the management of affairs to
the Duke of Lerma, a man well known to readers of Gil Blas, and the
extravagance of the Court helped to lead Spain downwards on the road to
decadence and ruin.

Quiros arrived at Madrid with his credentials in the spring of 1602, and had
interviews with Philip III, and with his Minister, the Duke of Lerma. The
Pope’s influence secured his success. Within a year he had obtained a royal
order, through the Council of State, addressed to the Viceroy of Peru,
instructing that dignitary to fit out two ships at Callao, to enable Quiros to
undertake an expedition for the discovery of the Antarctic continent.

Quiros sailed for Peru in the summer of 1603. He seems to have left his
family in Spain. He was shipwrecked near the Island of Curaçoa, in the

West Indies, and had to pass some time at Caraccas. Here he found the
orphan children of a brother, of whom he had not heard for many years,
living with their maternal grandfather: two boys and a girl. He thought it
right to take the two nephews with him, leaving the niece with her
grandfather. One of the nephews is not heard of again. The other, Lucas de
Quiros, was his uncle’s companion in the voyage of 1606. He was Royal
Ensign for the ceremonies at Espiritu Santo. He is afterwards heard of as a
rising cartographer at Lima.12

Quiros arrived at Lima quite destitute, owing to the refusal of the royal
officials on the route to give him any pecuniary assistance, although they
had positive orders to do so. He found shelter in the house of a potter; and it
was some days before he could get an audience of the Count of Monterey,13
who was then Viceroy of Peru. Eventually, the Viceroy recognised the
necessity for carrying out the royal orders. Vessels were tardily bought and
fitted out at Callao, for the expedition of Quiros, in the last months of 1605.
There were two ships and a zabra or launch. The ship chosen for Quiros
was called the Capitana, and named San Pedro y San Pablo. She was 150
tons. The other ship was called the Almiranta, and named the San Pedro,
120 tons. Her Captain was known as the Admiral, the title of a second in
command in those days. Both ships were built on the west coast, probably
at Guayaquil. They carried one hundred and thirty men and six friars. The
launch was named Los Tres Reyes.

Luis Vaez de Torres, the Admiral or second in command under Quiros, was
a good sailor and pilot, an energetic and capable leader, and loyal to his
chief. He commanded all the landing parties, and relieved Quiros of much
anxiety and trouble. His Chief Pilot in the Almiranta, Juan Bernardo de
Fuentidueña, and Pedro Bernal de Cermeño, in command of the launch,
were loyal and capable men. The junior Pilot in the Capitana, Gaspar
Gonzalez de Leza, afterwards Chief Pilot, was also a reliable officer. Quiros
had a cousin with him, one Alonso Alvarez de Castro, as well as a nephew,
Lucas de Quiros. But his most faithful and devoted friend was young Luis
de Belmonte Bermudez. Born at Seville in about 1585, this youth had gone
out to seek his fortune, first in Mexico and then at Lima. Fired by the stories
told him of the Araucanian war in distant Chile, he composed a panegyric

on the youthful deeds of the Marquis of Cañete, the first product of his
muse. When Quiros was fitting out his expedition, Belmonte Bermudez
accepted the post of Secretary, taking with him the “Araucana,” that noble
epic of the soldier-poet, Alonso de Ercilla.

But Quiros also had in his ship men of a very different stamp. Among them
was a Chief Pilot named Juan Ochoa de Bilboa, who had been forced upon
him as a protégé of the Viceroy;14 another officer named Diego de Prado y
Tovar; and the accountant, Juan de Iturbe. They stirred up mutiny and
disaffection on board.

Quiros complained bitterly of the delay in fitting out the expedition, which
obliged him to sail so late in the year. He considered that he should have
sailed not later than St. Francis, or the 4th of October. He did not obtain his
despatch until the 21st of December.

Quiros was now free to attempt the realisation of his dream, the discovery
of the Antarctic continent and the annexation of the South Pole. All was left
to his discretion. There is no reason for the belief that the Viceroy of Peru
gave any instructions beyond the letter of farewell which was read to the
men. The plan of Quiros was to steer W.S.W. from Callao until he reached
latitude 30° S.,15 where he fully expected that he would have reached the
continental southern land shown on the maps of his time. He continued on
this course from December 21st to January 26th, when he found himself in
26° S.

Then Quiros came to the fatal decision to alter course to W.S.W. He says in
his narrative that there was a heavy swell, and that he was obliged by the
force of the wind and the sea to alter his course. He adds, in one of his
memorials, that winter was approaching, that there was a mutinous spirit
among his crew, and that he was ill in bed. Torres remonstrated. He wrote:
“I gave a declaration under my hand that it was not a thing obvious that we
ought to diminish our latitude till we got beyond 30° S.” If Quiros had
continued on his course, he would have discovered New Zealand, and his
dream would have been partly realised.

Having turned away from the goal, his plan was to make for the island of
Santa Cruz, discovered when he served as Chief Pilot under Mendaña, and
thence to make another attempt southward. But this was a lame conclusion.
His chance was gone. Antarctic discovery was left to another nation and
another century.

The latitudes recorded by Quiros, Torres, and Leza, and the courses and
distances run, enable us to identify the islands discovered by Quiros in
crossing the Pacific. The first inhabited island, reached on February 1st,
1606, has been supposed by Burney and others to be Tahiti. It is in the
latitude of Tahiti; but it is described as a low island with a large lagoon in
the centre, and no fresh water. This could not by any possibility be Tahiti.
Sir William Wharton has identified it as Anaa, or Chain Island, one of the
Low Archipelago to the eastward of Tahiti.16 Quiros named it “Conversion
de San Pablo,” not “Sagittaria,” as Burney supposed. With Anaa as a point
of departure, the other islands discovered by Quiros are easily identified.17

In following the parallel of 10° 20′ S. to reach Santa Cruz, Quiros
fortunately came upon Taumaco, the principal island of what is now called
the Duff group. Here he found a native Chief, from whom he received such
detailed information respecting the existence of islands, and, as was
understood, even continental lands to the southward, that the most sanguine
hopes appeared to be approaching realisation. The project of going to Santa
Cruz was abandoned, and Quiros steered S., fully anticipating the
consummation of his dreams of discovery. Nor was he destined to be
altogether disappointed. Island after island, all lofty and thickly inhabited,
rose above the horizon; and at last he sighted such extensive coast lines that
he believed the Southern Continent to be spread out before him. The islands
of the New Hebrides group, such as Aurora, Leper, and Pentecost,
overlapping each other to the S.E., seemed to him to be continuous coast
lines, while to the S.W. was the land which he named Austrialia del Espiritu
Santo. All appeared to his vivid imagination to be one continuous
continental land.

Such was the enthusiastic navigator’s belief when his vessels anchored in
the port of Vera Cruz, at the southern extreme of the great bay of St. Philip

and St. James. He had found the largest island of what Captain Cook named
the New Hebrides group, yet not a very large island. He showed his belief
by his grandiose proceedings. To us they must now appear very pathetic.
There was a ceremony of taking possession, in the names of the Church, of
the Pope, and of the King. Quiros took possession of “all this region of the
south as far as the Pole, which from this time shall be called Austrialia del
Espiritu Santo, with all its dependencies for ever and so long as right
exists,” in the name of King Philip III. A great city was to be founded and
named the New Jerusalem, and its river was to be the Jordan. All the
municipal and royal officers were nominated, and a knightly order of
“Espiritu Santo” was instituted, subject to confirmation by the King. There
were processions, religious dances, high masses and fireworks.

The great navigator had two serious drawbacks in his rejoicing. He was
disabled by a serious illness; and the natives, owing to the misconduct of
the Spaniards, were persistently hostile. After being at anchor in this port of
Vera Cruz for thirty-five days (from the 3rd of May to the 8th of June,
1606), the little fleet sailed, with the object of completing the discovery of
the Southern Continent. Then came the catastrophe.

It came on to blow hard from the S.E., with a nasty sea; and it was resolved
to return to the anchorage. Late at night Torres brought the Almiranta to
anchor, and the launch was also safely brought to. Quiros was too ill to
come on deck, the Pilots seem to have lost their heads, were confused
between the lights of the other ships and these on shore, and eventually
stood out, running before the wind. At dawn they were several leagues to
leeward, outside the bay. From the 12th to the 18th they were trying to beat
up to the bay, but with topmasts struck it was nearly all leeway. Ships built
in Peru would not work to windward: Quiros was in despair. At last, he
determined to make for Santa Cruz, which was a rendezvous in the
Instructions. But when the latitude of Santa Cruz was reached, there was a
consultation. It was resolved to cross the Line, and make for Acapulco: a
four months’ voyage. Quiros bewailed his position. He had enemies on
board. He does not mention any actual mutiny, though his enemy, Prado y
Tovar, who must have got his information from the men who remained at

Mexico, and perhaps afterwards found their way to the Philippines, makes
the assertion.

Quiros consoled himself with the reflection that his return would at least
enable him to make known his discoveries, and to urge upon the King and
his Councils the importance of completing them. He also felt confidence in
Torres, his second in command, who was left behind on board the
Almiranta, and in his Pilot, Fuentidueña; and with good reason. They were
resolute and capable seamen. Quiros hoped that they would continue his
discoveries; and he rejoiced when, some years afterwards, he received the
news of the successful voyage of Torres.

After waiting for some days for the Capitana, Torres continued the voyage
by rounding the northern end of Espiritu Santo, and steering a course to the
S.W., until he reached a latitude of 21° S.18 He then altered course to the N.,
and discovered the bay and islands at the east end of New Guinea. In 1613
Diego de Prado y Tovar sent home four maps from Goa, which throw
considerable light on the course of Torres’s ship. The first map is a very
interesting one of the bay of St. Philip and St. James, in Espiritu Santo. The
next is a map of a land named “Buenaventura,” with many islands. Torres
arrived at this land on July 18th, having sailed from the bay of St. Philip
and St. James on the 26th of June. “Buenaventura” is Basilisk Island, so
named by Captain Moresby, after his ship, in 1873. The bay of San Millan,
accurately delineated by Torres, is Jenkins Bay of Moresby. The port of
Santo Toribio of Torres is the China Strait of Moresby.

The third map shows the great bay of San Lorenzo, and the port of
Monterey, identified with “l’Orangerie” and “Ile Dufaure” of Bougainville
(1768), on the S. coast of New Guinea. The names of Saints given to the
bays, capes, and islands, throw light on the dates, for it was usual to give to
a cape, bay, or island the name of the Saint on whose day it was discovered.
The feast of San Lorenzo is on the 10th of August, the date when Torres
arrived in the bay, where he appears to have remained for several days. The
fourth map is of the bay of San Pedro de Arlanza, whose feast is on the 18th
of October. This bay is identified with the Triton Bay of the Dutch. The four
maps have been reproduced for this volume, and the legends on the original

large-scale maps are given separately.19 From Triton Bay, Torres proceeded
to Ternate, where he left the launch, and thence continued his course to
Manilla. His letters to Quiros and to the King from that place are dated June
and July, 1607. From the fact that Diego de Prado y Tovar sent the four
maps home in December, 1613, it is supposed that Torres had died in the
interval. The letter of Torres was first printed in Burney’s Voyages, from a
copy obtained and translated by Dalrymple, who suggested the name of
Torres Strait for the principal discovery of that navigator. The Spanish
Government jealously concealed the knowledge acquired by their great
explorers, and left their noble deeds in oblivion. It was left to Englishmen to
immortalise the names of Quiros and Torres, whose achievements were so
long forgotten by their own countrymen.

The actual results of the voyages of Quiros and Torres were the discovery
of thirteen coral islands in the Pacific, of the Duff and Banks groups, of the
New Hebrides, of the eastern end and southern coast of New Guinea, and of
Torres Strait, with its innumerable islands: not a barren record.

Quiros came to Madrid to urge the Spanish Government to give him
command of another expedition for the completion of his discoveries. He
had before him a dreary seven years of memorialising Councils, of
obstruction and delays. It wore him out; but he was led to believe that he
had succeeded. A timely death saved him from the anguish of finding that
he had been deceived. He was worried into his grave by Councils and
Committees. But before he died he believed that he had at length overcome
the obstruction, and his last hours were cheered by the hope of final
success.

We gather the character of Quiros from his narratives. He was a man of a
humane and generous disposition, averse to violence and bloodshed. He
was a zealous Catholic, striving to maintain religious feelings and to
enforce morality among his people. Brave and resolute himself, full of zeal
and enthusiasm, he failed in the management of men. He was often weak
and vacillating, and had not the force of will necessary to control the
turbulent and to cheer the half-hearted. The Chief Pilot, Juan Ochoa de
Bilboa, during the voyage, caused a mutinous feeling on board the

Capitana, persuading the crew to go straight to Manilla. Quiros merely sent
this Chief Pilot on board the Almiranta under arrest. Torres strongly
importuned his chief to punish such insubordination, but he would not. It
was the same with another mutinous officer, Diego de Prado y Tobar. He
was merely sent on board the Almiranta. To this weakness Torres attributes
the slackness and want of zeal, if not something worse, when the Capitana
parted company. Juan de Iturbe, the Accountant, in his letter now in the
Biblioteca Nacional (J. 2), merely says that the Chief Pilot went over to the
ship of Torres because he was disgusted with Quiros. We have the evidence
of Torres himself that this was not the reason. Iturbe was another disaffected
officer, and disloyal to his chief. There was not a single instance of capital
punishment during the expedition, and not a single death, with the
exception of the Father Commissary, who died of old age. Quiros was a
thorough seaman, and the best Pilot of his time. He was not a self-seeker,
but was devoted to a great idea, and persistently strove to realise it with
unswerving resolution, until death ended his career.

Quiros was very unlike his countryman Magellan. He rather reminds us of
the great Genoese. Like Columbus, he was a visionary, full of dreams and
religious aspirations. Like Columbus, he was devoted to one idea, which he
followed with unchanging fidelity to the day of his death. Like Columbus,
he was gentle in dealing with those who opposed him, and often weak. One
dream of Quiros was that in his Southern Continent there should be justice
to the converted natives, and that the evil deeds perpetrated in Mexico and
Peru should not be repeated.20

It only remains to record the story of the Quiros Memorials, when we shall
see the navigator, prematurely old, striving for the means of renewing his
efforts: struggling against Councils and Committees while life lasted.

Quiros landed at Acapulco, was very coldly received by the officials at
Mexico, and reached Madrid on the 9th of October, 1607. He was quite
destitute. He only had two maravedis, which he gave to a beggar. But his
faithful young Secretary remained true to him. During the first eleven days,
he had not money to buy ink or paper. He wrote his first Memorial on the
flyleaves of a pamphlet. He got the money for printing it by selling his

clothes. To print the second, he sold his bedding; for the third, he pawned
the royal banner under which he had taken possession of Espiritu Santo.
After seventeen months of extreme penury, the King granted him 500
ducats.

Quiros tells us that he sent in fifty memorials in fifty months. Of these,
eight have been preserved and printed by Zaragoza. The first was written in
1607.21 He describes the events of the voyage, and makes excuses for
altering course when he had reached 26° S.; and for having parted company
with Torres. He explains his view that the Antarctic continent runs from
Espiritu Santo S.E. to Magellan Strait, a land of vast extent: “a new world.”
He says that he gave the name of “Austrialia del Espiritu Santo” from His
Majesty’s title of Austria. He says that the tonnage of his ships was 150 and
120, and that they carried one hundred and thirty men, besides six friars.
The cost of the expedition was 184,000 ducats. He concludes by saying that
he had no pay, and that he owes 2,500 dollars without one quarto to pay it.

The second existing Memorial is the eighth that he sent in. It is given in
Purchas, and was reproduced by Dalrymple. It forms the first document in
the Appendix.22 The eighth Memorial was printed at Seville in 1610.
Purchas obtained a copy, which he reprinted in his Pilgrimes. Hessel
Gerritsz printed a Dutch version, in 1612, in his Detectio Freti Hudsoni,
reprinted by Müller at Amsterdam, in 1878, and two French translations
appeared in 1617.

The third existing Memorial is also given in Purchas and Dalrymple. It
forms the second document in the Appendix.23

The fourth is translated for the first time, and forms the third document in
the Appendix.24

The fifth existing Memorial was the sixteenth he had written. It contains
proposals for colonising the new continent; and here Quiros compares
himself to Columbus, Da Gama, and Magellan.25

The sixth existing Memorial refers to a royal order received from the
Secretary, Gabriel de Hoa, instructing the Viceroys to despatch Quiros on a
new voyage. He submits detailed estimates. He proposes to take one
hundred and fifty persons, and mentions the names of three Captains who
are willing to accompany him. One of them is Lorenzo Ferrer Maldonado, a
cosmographer and writer who is best known for his account of the
imaginary Strait of Anian, published in 1588. Quiros also gives the names
of eighteen Franciscan friars who are ready to go. He refers to his extreme
poverty, and asks for his debts to be paid.26

The seventh extant Memorial is, according to Quiros, the fiftieth that he
wrote. It is much the longest, covering 108 pages. It begins by
recapitulating the contents of his eighth and sixteenth Memorials. It
contains an interesting report by Hernando de los Rios, the Procurator of the
Philippines, of a voyage to New Guinea by a Portuguese named Miguel
Roxo de Brito; also an extract from a letter received by Quiros from his
second in command, Torres, dated June 15th, 1607; and a report by Ruy
Gonzalez de Sequiera, the Governor of the Moluccas. Quiros repeats his
proposals, and again dwells on the importance of the intended discoveries.

The eighth and last extant Memorial is only a further recapitulation. He says
he has been sending in memorials constantly for fifty months.

The Memorials are tedious, and necessarily full of repetitions. I have only
thought it advisable to give three of them in the Appendix, as specimens.

The fourth document in the Appendix is a letter from Fernando de Castro,
who had married the widow of Mendaña. He prayed that no concession
might be made to Quiros, as he, Castro, had inherited the claims of
Mendaña on the Solomon Islands.

The two letters from Diego de Prado y Tovar,27 the malignant enemy of
Quiros, follow. This man had made the voyage with Torres, and wrote from
Goa, on his way home. He forwarded four valuable and very interesting
maps, the originals of which are now at Simancas. They are from the
surveys of Torres, who had probably died previous to the date of Prado’s

letters. One is a plan of the Bay of St. Philip and St. James; the other three
are plans of bays in New Guinea. They are coloured, with long descriptive
titles.28 Reduced copies, in colour, were published in the Boletin of the
Madrid Geographical Society, in 1878,29 with the long titles printed
separately. I have had these maps reproduced for the present work. The
abuse of Quiros by this insubordinate officer can be taken for what it is
worth.

Another detractor of his commander was the disloyal Accountant, Juan de
Iturbe. He wrote a long letter from Mexico, dated March 25th, 1607,30
which was referred to the Council of the Indies and retained for reference.
He gives a fairly truthful account of the events connected with the return of
the Capitana, while trying inferentially to throw blame on Quiros. He
ridiculed the ceremonies at Espiritu Santo, and the creation of an order of
knighthood by Quiros; and while representing the importance of the
discoveries, he added that Quiros was not a fit man to command a new
expedition. I have not thought it necessary to insert the letter of Iturbe, as it
contains no new information.

The next two documents in the Appendix speak for themselves. One is a
Minute of the Council of the Indies on the demands of Quiros, and on the
most politic way of treating him. The other is an order to check him in the
printing and dissemination of his Memorials, which were to be considered
confidential. We know that two at least had been published at Seville, and
had fallen into the hands of Purchas and Hessel Gerritsz.

The last document in the Appendix is the Memorial on the discovery of the
Antarctic continent and the conversion of its inhabitants, by a Chilian
lawyer named Juan Luis Arias. It is bound up in a volume in the British
Museum, with other documents, chiefly memorials, relating to the Church
of Spain.31 The text was reprinted at Edinburgh in the last century, and
translated by Dalrymple in 1773. Its chief interest lies in the statement that
Juan Fernandez led an expedition from Chile which discovered the
Southern Continent, landed on it, and had intercourse with the inhabitants.
Dalrymple and Burney treat this fabrication seriously, and conjecture that
the discovered land might have been New Zealand. I have discussed the

career of Juan Fernandez in a footnote to the Memorial of Arias in the
Appendix.32

We get a glimpse of the view taken by leading Spanish statesmen under
Philip III, of the Memorials and aspirations of Quiros, from the Minutes of
a sitting of the Council of State in July, 1609.33 The Cardinal-Archbishop of
Toledo,34 the Constable of Castille,35 the Duke of Infantado,36 the Count of
Lemos,37 and other grandees, were present.

The letter from Juan de Iturbe, as well as the Memorials of Quiros, were
before them. The Count of Lemos wrote a Minute strongly against the
employment of Quiros. The feeling was that further expenditure on such
voyages was undesirable, and that it would be wiser to spend money in
completing the exploration of Peru and Mexico. They looked upon Quiros
as a very discontented and dangerous man, who might sell his knowledge
and services to the English. The best course would be, they thought, to keep
him quiet in Madrid by promises. He might be employed to draw maps and
charts. If he continued to insist upon going to Peru, a letter of
recommendation might be given to him for the Viceroy. But it was further
suggested that the letter of Iturbe should also be sent to the Viceroy, with a
contra-despacho, leaving the matter to his discretion, with orders to
entertain Quiros and his proposals, but not to despatch his business.

This treachery was the final conclusion when Quiros started. Worn out by
delays and obstruction, worried almost to death by Councils and
Committees, he gladly accepted the promise to give him command of an
expedition. Ignorant of the contra-despacho, he put his trust in the honour
of the new Viceroy of Peru, a great man, Don Francisco de Borja, Prince of
Esquilache,38 with whom he proceeded on the voyage to Peru, accompanied
by his wife and two children. He thought that at length, after years of
wearisome solicitation, his grand ideas were to be realised. Fortunately for
the brave enthusiast, he was saved from the anguish of being undeceived by
a timely death at Panama on his way out. He died at the age of fifty, quite
worn out and driven to his grave by Councils and Committees, with their
futile talk, needless delays, and endless obstruction. His faithful Secretary,

Belmonte Bermudez, who had edited the Memorials for him, stood by him
to the last.39

The ideas of Quiros respecting an Antarctic continent were, no doubt, fixed
in his mind by seeing the coast-lines delineated by the map-makers of his
time. It, therefore, becomes very interesting to trace this southern coast-line
on the principal maps from the time of Ortelius down to the last map that
showed it before Captain Cook’s second voyage finally disproved its
existence. Mr. Basil Soulsby has kindly prepared a note on this subject,
which follows the Introduction.

The voyage of Quiros was the first event in the story of Antarctic enterprise.
Its object was the discovery of the Southern Continent and the annexation
of the South Pole. It was the dream of an enthusiast. It was a failure, but not
altogether a barren failure. Others of another nation were to follow up his
idea. He fell, worried to death by Committees. But he opened the glorious
record of Antarctic discovery. Captain Cook made known the Southern
Continent imagined by Quiros, and actually seen by Torres. Captain Cook
first crossed the Antarctic circle, and searched all round it for the supposed
coast-lines of Quiros. Great communities were to arise in the Southern
Continent, in Australia and New Zealand, but not of Spanish race. The
achievements of the peoples of the Iberian peninsula were of vast
importance to the world; but they came to an end with the voyage of
Quiros. The mantle of discovery fell on other shoulders. James Ross
followed Cook in realising the dream of Quiros; and now we recognise
Robert Falcon Scott as the greatest and most successful of Antarctic
discoverers.

1 Historia del descubrimiento de las regiones Austriales hecho por el General Pedro Fernandez
de Quiros, publicada por Don Justo Zaragoza (3 vols. Madrid, 1876.)

2 One in the early part of the second voyage of Mendaña, where he compares the importance and
influence of small things to stars of unequal sizes (see p. 5); and other passages, though written in
prose are really in verse, in the Spanish. Such is the passage describing the reappearance of the
Almiranta after being out of sight (p. 192); the description of a visit made by natives to the Spanish
ships (p. 210); and, again, when the Almiranta stood out to sea (p. 212). The description of Quiros on

a bed of sickness at the mercy of his Pilots is really in verse in the Spanish (p. 280); and the reasons
given by Quiros for not punishing mutineers may be those of the leader of the expedition, but the
words are certainly those of his poetical Secretary.

3 See p. 262.
4 See pp. 200 and 418.

5 See pp. 254 and 383.
6 I have given an account of Suarez de Figueroa and of his works in a footnote to my translation
of the Spanish account of the capture of Sir Richard Hawkins, also taken from the Hechos del
Marques de Cañete.

7 Quiros was devoted to the Franciscans, and had several in his fleet. Torquemada was Provincial
of the Order in Mexico. At a later date, two historians of the Order of St. Francis in Peru gave
accounts of the voyage, quoting from Torquemada, and without any other original sources of
information. One was Fray Antonio Daza, who wrote Cronica General de la Orden de San
Francisco. The other is a folio with double columns: Cronica de la religiosissima provincia de la
Orden de San Francisco de la regular observancia compuesta por el R.P. Fray Diego de Cordova,
Salinas (1651). This work is very rare. There is no copy in the British Museum. There was one in the
Library at Lima. Cordova gives a brief account of the voyage of Quiros, copying from Torquemada.
Neither of these Franciscan historians, writing in Peru many years afterwards, are of any authority on
the voyage of Quiros beyond what they derive from Torquemada. Daza, however, gives the Act of
Possession at Espiritu Santo, which is not quoted in full by Torquemada (see p. 444). Antonio de
Ulloa, in his Resumen, quotes from Cordova respecting an island discovered in 28° S. by Quiros, but
the quotation is not correct. It is referred to by Mr. Major in his Early Voyages to Australia, p. lxxii.
Mr. Major had never seen the work of Cordova.
8 See Antonio (Nic.), Bibliotheca Hispana vetus et nova, sive Hispanicorum scriptorum.

9 Diego de Prado y Tobar (see p. 513).
10 These particulars are gathered from the information given and recorded, when Quiros and his
family sailed for Peru in 1615. “Informaciones presentados por el Capitan Pedro Fernandez de
Quiros para paser a las Indias con su mujer y hijos, en la casa de contratacion de Sevilla, 24 Marzo,
1615” (Archivo de Indias), referred to by Zaragoza, vol. iii, p. 79 (n). Marriage and ages of wife and
children are given.

11 Don Luis de Velasco, Viceroy of Peru from 1596 to 1604, was the son of a distinguished father
of the same names, of the family of the Constables of Castille. The father was the second Viceroy of
Mexico. He sent an expedition to Florida, and another to the Philippines under Miguel Lopez de

Legaspé. The elder Don Luis died at Mexico, where his son was born in 1555. The younger Don Luis
de Velasco was Governor of Cempoala, and proceeding to Spain, was appointed by Philip II
Ambassador at Florence. In 1590 he became Viceroy of Mexico, and in 1595 Viceroy of Peru. In
January, 1604, he returned to Mexico, and lived there privately for three years. He was appointed
Viceroy of Mexico a second time in 1607, and was created Marquis of Salinas. In 1611 he became
President of the Council of the Indies, serving in that post until his death in 1616.

12 Arca de Noe, por El Capitan de navio Cesario Fernandez Duro (Madrid, 1881), p. 560. Lucas de
Quiros drew a map of the western side of South America, from Cartagena to Magellan’s Strait, under
the auspices of the Prince of Esquilache, Viceroy of Peru. Lucas is called on it “Cosmógrafo del
Peru.” The map is drawn on parchment. See also J. de la Espada, Relacion Geografica, p. cxl.
13 Don Gaspar de Zuñiga y Azevedo, Count of Monterey, had been Viceroy of Mexico from 1595
to 1603, and was transferred to Peru to succeed Don Luis de Velasco. He arrived at Lima in very bad
health.

14 He had been Pilot of the ship which brought the Count of Monterey from Acapulco to Callao.
15 Juan de Iturbe says 40°, for which there is no other authority. But Arias, in his Memorial (see p.
528), says that Quiros was advised by Torres and his other companions to go as far as 40° S. Quiros
and Torres give 30° as the limit. It was the proposal of Quiros himself, not in any instructions given
to him. There were no such instructions.

16 Royal Geographical Society’s Journal, Aug. 1902, vol. xx, p. 207.
17 La Encarnacion, p. 487 (Luna-puesta, p. 192; Anegada, p. 329), is one of the coral islands of the
Dangerous or Low Archipelago, probably Ducie Island.

San Juan Bautista, pp. 193, 487 (Sin Puerto, p. 330; San Valerio, p. 456), is Henderson Island.

Santelmo, pp. 195, 487, Marutea, or Lord Hood Island.

Las Cuatro Coronadas, pp. 195, 487 (Las Virgenes, p. 456), Actæon group.

San Miguel, pp. 196,487, Aburaa Island.

La Conversion de San Pablo, pp. 204, 487, Anaa or Chain Island.

La Decena, pp. 204, 487 (Santa Polonia, p. 456), is Niau or Greig Island.

La Sagittaria, pp. 204, 487, Mahatea or Aurora Island.

La Fugitiva, pp. 205, 487, Matahiva or Lazareff Island.

San Bernardo, pp. 207, 425, 457 (Island of Fish, p. 342).

Peregrino, pp. 217, 487 (Gente Hermosa, p. 431; Matanza, p. 459), “Genta hermosa” on modern
charts.

18 This latitude is only given in the Memorial of Arias. See p. 525.
19 See p. 469. There was also a general map of the discoveries of Torres, which is lost.

20 See his extraordinary Will at p. 291.
21 Zaragoza, vol. ii, p. 191 (23 pages).

22 See p. 477.
23 See p. 487.

24 See p. 504.
25 Zaragoza, vol. ii, p. 242.

26 Ibid., vol. iii, p. 268.
27 These letters were published by Zaragoza (vol. ii, p. 187), and also in the Boletin de la Sociedad
Geografica de Madrid for 1878 (tom. iv, p. 62). Lord Stanley of Alderley gave a translation of one of
them in his Philippine Islands, p. 412 (Hakluyt Soc., 1868).

28 See p. 469.
29 Tom. iv, Jan. 1878. The maps were reproduced, without colour, in Collingridge’s Discovery of
Australia (1895).

30 In the Biblioteca Nacional at Madrid (J. 2).
31 Papeles tocantes à la Iglesia Española (British Museum, 4745, f. 11).

32 See pp. 526 to 528 and footnotes.
33 Zaragoza, vol. ii, p. 259.

34 Dr. Don Bernardo de Sandoval y Roxas, a grandson of the second Count of Lerma, was then
Archbishop of Toledo, Cardinal and Inquisitor-General. He died in 1618.
35 Don Juan Fernandez de Velasco, Duke of Frias, Marquis of Berlangas, and Count of Haro, was
hereditary Constable of Castille. He died at Madrid in 1613.

36 Don Juan Hurtado de Mendoza, Duke of Infantado and Marquis of Santillana. He died in 1624.
37 Don Pedro Fernandez de Castro, seventh Count of Lemos, was Ambassador at Rome in 1600,
President of the Council of the Indies, and afterwards Viceroy of Naples. He married his cousin, a

daughter of the Duke of Lerma. He was the patron of Cervantes. His son was Viceroy of Peru 1667–
72.

38 He was a grandson of Francisco de Borja, Duke of Gandia, and the third General of the Jesuits
who was canonized. He was Prince of Esquilache by right of his wife, and his age was thirty-two
when he went out as Viceroy of Peru in 1615. He reached Lima in December.
39 Luis de Belmonte Bermudez then went to Mexico, and he appears to have returned to Seville in
1616. There he wrote El Cisma de Jordan. In 1618 he settled at Madrid. Then appeared his Aurora de
Cristo and Hispalica. In the Comedias Escojidas (4to, Madrid, 1682–1704) there are eleven plays of
Belmonte, including the Renegade of Valladolid, and God the Best Guardian. Ticknor mentions them
as a singular mixture of what is sacred and what is profane (Ticknor’s Spanish Literature, vol. ii, p.
300).

Comparative List of Maps of the New Hebrides,
etc., 1570–1904.

With British Museum press-marks.

1.—1570. Antwerp. Typus Orbis Terrarum. In Abraham Ortelius’s Atlas.—
The Terra Australis, with Beach provincia aurifera, extends right across the
world, and from the Tropic of Capricorn to the S. Pole. New Guinea
appears as an island. The Molucca Islands are shown. [Maps. 46. c. 2.]

2.—1578. Antwerp. Universi Orbis seu Terreni Globi in plano effigies. In
G. de Jode’s “Speculum Orbis Terrarum,” 1578.—New Guinea forms one
end of the Terra Australis, in which Terra del Fuego appears in the centre,
and which stretches across the whole Circulus Antarcticus. [Maps. 31. c. 5.]

3.—1587. Antwerp. Typus Orbis Terrarum. In Abraham Ortelius’s Atlas.
1592 edition.—The Terra Australis. The Solomon Islands, discovered in
1568, appear with this name for the first time. [Maps. 46. d. 2.]

4.—1587. Duisburg. Orbis Terrae Compendiosa Descriptio. By Rumold
Mercator. In G. Mercator’s Atlas, 1589.—The Terra Australis, but without
the Solomon Islands. Java Minor appears to the S.E. of Beach province.
[Maps. 34. c. 2.]

5.—1589. Antwerp. Totius Orbis cogniti universalis Descriptio. In C. de
Jode’s “Speculum Orbis Terrarum.” 1593.—New Guinea an island.
Otherwise as in 2. [Maps. 24. c. 7.]

6.—1590. Amsterdam. Orbis Terrarum Typus De Integro multis in locis
emendatus. Auctore Petro. Plancio.—Terra Australis Magellanica, with
Beach provincia aurifera, extends across the Antarctic Circle. “Nova Guinea
nuper inventa quez an sit insula an pars continentis australis incertum est.”
Insulae Salomonis alone of Quiros’ islands are shown. [920. (266.)]

7.—1612. Antwerp. In A. Ortelius’ Atlas, Latin edition. Same as No. 3.
[Maps. 46. d. 12.]

8.—1628. London. A New & Accurate Mappe of the World. By R.
Vaughan. (From “The World encompassed by Sir Francis Drake”).—“This
South part of the world contayning almost the third part of the globe is yet
unknowne, certaine sea coasts excepted, which rather show there is a land
then discry eyther land people or comodities,” appears on “The Southerne
Unknowne Land,” across the Antarctic Circle. New Guinee is shown. [920.
(46.)]

9.—1630. Amsterdam. Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica ac
Hydrographica Tabula. By Henricus Hondius. In H. Hexham’s English
edition of G. Mercator’s Atlas. 1636.—The Terra Australis, with the Beach
province, is defined in very faint outline. The Ladrones appear, also Baixos
de S. Barth, I. d. S. Petro, J. Vesinos, Barbudos, I. de Paxaros. The Solomon
Islands are not given. [Maps. 34. d. 8.]

10.—1641. Amsterdam. Same as No. 9. In J. Jansson’s Atlas. 1653. [Maps.
88. e. 1.]

11.—1662. Amsterdam. Nova et accuratissima totius Terrarum Orbis
Tabula. Joannes Blaeu.—The large Terra Australis has disappeared.
Hollandia Nova is outlined, but N. Guinea is only partially outlined.

Zelandia Nova has a western coast-line only. Antonii Van Diemans Landt is
partly outlined. The words Australia Incognita occur on the circle of the
Southern Polar Region. [Maps. 64. e. 1.]

12.—1660. London. A New Map of the Terraqueous Globe according to the
latest discoveries and most general divisions of it into continents and
oceans. In Edw. Well’s “A New Sett of Maps.”—“New Zeland supposed to
be part of ye Southern unknown Continent.” 35° S.

“New Holland esteemed to be part of ye Southern unknown continent,”
mixed up with New Guinea, touching the Equator, and all only partly
outlined.

The smaller islands are not named. [Maps. 87. d. 3.]

13.—1667. Paris. Mappe-Monde. In N. Sanson’s (d’Abbéville) Atlas.—
New Guinea appears as an island. The Beach Province is only partially
outlined. Terre Magellanique Australe Incogneue is outlined right across the
Southern Hemisphere, as in No. 1. Nearly all the islands in the New
Hebrides mentioned by Quiros are shown. [Maps. 88. d. 3.]

14.—1668. Paris. Carte Universelle de tout le Monde. Par H. Jaillot.—Terra
Australis, showing Beach provincia aurifera, extends right across the
Antarctic Circle. Petan Island and Java Minor are to the E. of Beach. Nova
Guinea jam recens detecta ab I. Lamero, is partly shown in outline. [920.
(61.)]

15.—1674. Rome. Mappa Mondo. By Gio. Lhuilier. In G. G. de Rossi’s
Mercurio Geografico.—Terra di Quir, N. coast, is shown in outline, S. of
Solomon Islands, 10° to 20° S. Nova Guinea appears as an island. Terra
Magellanica embraces the Arctic Circle. Nova Olanda is shown, but without
the E. coast. The smaller islands are not given. New Zealand appears in
outline. [Maps. 64. d. 10.]

16.—1680.—Oxford. Orbis Terrarum nova et accuratissima Tabula. Auctore
Joanne à Loon. In Moses Pitt’s “The English Atlas,” vol. i. 1680.—New
Zealand, E. coast, shown in outline. The islands mainly as in No. 13. N.
Guinea and Hollandia Nova are shown in outline on W. coast. Van
Diemen’s Land shown in detail. The Terra Australis does not extend across
the Antarctic Circle. [Maps. 85. e. 3.]

17.—1690. Amsterdam. Nova Orbis Tabula in Lucem edita a F. de Wit. In
F. de Wit’s Atlas.—The small islands are as in No. 9. N. Guinea and
Hollandia Nova join, and the western coast is outlined. Zelandia Nova is
outlined also on the W. coast. Australia Incognita is printed round the circle
of the S. Pole. [Maps. 86. d. 11.]

18.—1690. Amsterdam. Orbis Terrarum Nova et Accuratissima Tabula.
Auctore Nicolao Visscher. In N. Visscher’s Atlas Minor. Tom. 1.—Same as
No. 17. [Maps. 89. e. 3.]

19.—1696. Paris. Mappe-Monde. By N. Sanson. In H. Jaillot’s “Nouveau
Atlas.”—As in 15. Carpentaria, N.W. coast, appears below Nouvelle
Guinée, between 10° and 20° S. [Maps. 84. e. 1.]

20.—1700. Paris. Mappe monde. Par Guillaume Delisle. In G. De L’Isle’s
Atlas. 1715.—Nouvelle Guinée and Nouvelle Hollande are joined, and are
outlined on the W. coast, as in Nle. Zelande. Terre de Diemen is outlined on
the S.E. coast.

The following routes, in dotted lines, are shown:—

Ferdinand Magellan, 1520.
Juan Gaetan, 1542.
Mendaña and Gallego, 1568.
Mendaña and Quiros, 1595.
An English Pilot, reported by Robert Dudley, c. 1600.
Olivier du Nord, 1600.
Le Maire and Cornelius Schouten, 1616.
Pelsart, 1629.
Abel Tasman, 1642.
William Dampier, 1686.

“Isle découverte par Drak” occurs in lat. 66° S., long. 75°, above the S.
Polar region. Terre que la flote de Mendaña crut être la Nle. Guinée occurs
in lat. 6° S., long. 188°. [Maps. 86 d. 1.]

21.—1705. Paris. Mappe-Monde. In N. de Fer’s “Atlas Curieux.”—N.
Guinée and Nouvelle Hollande are connected, and shown on W. coast.
Nouv. Zeelande, W. coast, appears in outline. The smaller islands are not
shown. [Maps. 1. c. 46.]

22.—1710. London. A New and Correct Map of the World. By C. Price.—
New Guinea and New Holland are not connected, but the E. coast is not
shown. Diemen’s Land is given, due S. of N. Holland, between 39° and 45°.
The smaller islands are as in No. 9. [Maps. 63. f. 2.]

23.—1720. Paris. Mappemonde. Par Guillaume De L’Isle.—In G. De
L’Isle’s Atlas, 1732.—Mainly as in No. 20. Mendaña’s “New Guinea”
appears as the Solomon Islands. “Les Marquises de Mendoce” are shown.
[Maps. 91. e. 3.]

24.—1720. Amsterdam. Diversa Orbis Terræ ... in Planum Orthographica
Projectio. By Peter Schenck. In J. B. Homann’s Atlas. 1740.—Hollandia
Nova nearly complete. To E. of Carpentaria comes Quiro Regio, between
10° and 20° S. Most of Quiros’ smaller islands are shown. Zelandia Nova,
and Antoni van Diemen’s Land are partly shown. Baye S. Philippe and St.
Jacques occur both in Quiro Regio and in Zelandia Nova. The continent of
Terra Australis, across the S. Pole, now disappears. [Maps 87. e. 12.]

25.—1730. Augsburg. Diversi Globi Terr-Aquei ... in planum delineati
Orthographici Prospectus. In M. Seutter’s Atlas Novus.—Same as No. 15,
with various route tracks added. Regio habitata detecta per Mendaña,
occurs between 10° and 20° N. Terra quam vidit Mendaña occurs on the
Equator, 260° Long. Baye de S. Philippe et S. Jaques occurs in Zeelandia
Nova, 40° S. The smaller islands are shown. [Maps. 89. e. 4.]

26.—1740. Amsterdam. Hémisphère Meridional. Par G. Delisle.—Terres
Australes, Nouvelle Hollande, W. coast shown in outline. Terre Australe du
St. Esprit (R. Jordan, Port de la Vraie Croix, R. S. Sauveur, G. de S. Jaque
et S. Philippe), shown in outline, E. of Carpentarie. Routes of Quiros and
Gallego, Le Maire and Schouten, etc., shown. Cape de la Circoncision, Jan.
1, 1739, between 50° and 68° S. [960. (1.)]

27.—1752. London. A New and Accurate Map of all the Known World.—In
Emman. Bowen’s “Complete Atlas.”—New Guinea, New Holland, and Van
Diemen’s Land are shown as one continent, New Zeeland, W. coast, in
outline. “Land and Is. discovered by Quiros,” between 10° and 20° S. but
not named. [Maps. 89. d. 2.]

28.—1752. Paris. Mappemonde.—In Robert de Vaugondy’s Atlas
Universel. 1757.—Terres et isles vues par Quiros en 1605, shown without
names. New Guinea continent as in No. 27. Terre découverte par les

Vaisseaux de la Compagnie des Indes en Janvier 1739, shown between 50°
and 60° S. 30° Long. [Maps. 69. e. 1.]

29.—1753. Paris. Nouvelle Mappe-Monde. Par Guill. De la Haye.—T. du
St. Esprit, is shown, 160° Long. [920. (83).]

30.—1755. Paris. Mappemonde.—In J. Palairet’s “Atlas Méthodique.”—
Same as No. 28. [Maps 68. e. 2.]

31.—1761. Paris. Hémisphère Occidental ou du Nouveau Monde.
Hémisphère Oriental ou de l’Ancien Monde. Par le Sr. D’Anville.—
Nouvelle Guinea and Nouvelle Hollande are one. The E. coast is not
defined. Terre du St. Esprit, Terre de Quiros, appear due E. of Nouvelle
Hollande, between 10° and 20° S. Nouvelle Zeelande and Terre de Diemen
are partly outlined. [920. (272.)]

32.—1773. London. Map of the World, after D’Anville. By T. Kitchen.—
Tierra del Spiritu Santo, Land of Quiros, is shown. New Zealand, with two
islands, appears in detail; New Holland, with New South Wales, and Van
Diemen’s Land, also appears with a complete coast-line, for the first time.
[Maps. 86. d. 5.]

33.—1776. London. Chart of Discoveries made in the South Pacific Ocean
in H.M. ship Resolution, under ... Captain Cook. 1774. By W. Palmer.—
Tierra del Espiritu Santo, and the rest of the New Hebrides, are shown in
very complete detail. [981. (4.)]

34.—1786. Paris. Hémisphère Occidentale, etc. (see No. 31. 1761.) Revu
par M. Barbié du Bocage.—Terre de Kerguelen appears 50° S. The map is
an improvement on 1773, but Nouvelle Guinée is not shown complete, and
Terre de Diemen is still part of Australia. [Maps. 86. d. 2.]

35.—1790. London. New World or Western Hemisphere.—Eastern
Hemisphere or Old World. In W. Faden’s General Atlas.—Shows Cook’s
Track, 1769–78. Furneaux’s Track, 1774. Van Diemen’s Land is part of
Terra Australis. The smaller islands are clear and more correct. [Maps. 2. e.
1.]

36.—1798. London. Chart of the Pacific Ocean. By A. Arrowsmith.—New
Holland (S. coast excepted) in outline. Van Diemen’s Land shown as an
island. New Guinea only partly shown, and in outline. [980. (10.)]

37.—1799. London. Map of the World, after d’Anville, by T. Kitchen.—
Tierra del Spiritu Santo now appears as part of the New Hebrides.
Otherwise as in No. 32. 1773. [Maps. 89. e. 6.]

38.—1799. London. Chart containing the greater part of the South Sea, etc.
By Laurie and Whittle.—New Zeeland, in two islands. Tierra (Austral) del
Spiritu Santo, in New Hebrides. Route of Mendaña in 1567 shown. Below
the Society Islands, “Islands seen by Quiros.” Between 25° and 30° S.
“Santelmo the southernmost island of Quiros according to Ulloa.” [981.
(2.)]

39.—1799. London. Western (Eastern) Hemisphere. In “Cary’s New
Universal Atlas,” 1808.—New Holland, with New South Wales, is shown
complete, except Northernmost point. New Guinea is not complete, and in
outline. The islands are as in Laurie and Whittle. [Maps. 92. f. 17.]

40.—1824. St. Pétersbourg. Carte Générale de l’Océan Pacifique.
Hémisphère Austral. In Krusenstern’s “Atlas de l’Océan Pacifique.”—
Australia appears so-called for the first time. The islands, Nlles. Hebrides,
etc., are shown with the dates of discovery. [Maps. 7. e. 11.]

41.—1827. Bruxelles. Carte d’Assemblage de l’Océanie. In “Ph.
Vandermaelen’s Atlas Universel.”—Nouvelle Hollande and N. Guinée are
shown in complete outline. New Zealand in three islands. The smaller
islands are now as before. [Maps. 68. e. 1.]

42.—1827. Gotha. Australien. No. 50 in Ad. Stieler’s “Hand-Atlas.”—Neu
Holland and Neu Süd Wales appear as parts of “Austral-Land.” Neue
Hebriden and the other groups of islands are shown. [Maps. 85. d. 10.]

43.—1835. London. The World, on Mercator’s Projection. In J.
Arrowsmith’s London Atlas.—“New Holland or Australia,” without any
inland towns. First use of the name of Australia for New Holland in a

general Atlas. New South Wales still extends to the Gulf of Carpentaria.
The Solomon Islands, New Hebrides, and the other islands are now
completely shown. New Zealand, without inland towns, in three islands.
Terra Australis or Australia occurs in the Atlas to Capt. Matthew Flinders’s
“Voyage to Terra Australis, 1801–1803.” 2 vols. London, 1814 [455. c. 13,
14. and Tab. 437. a.] In vol. i. pp. vii–x, he mentions Torres’s discovery of
Australia. In J. Arrowsmith’s Map of the Pacific Ocean, 1832, the dates of
discovery are given to most of the islands. [Maps. 86. d. 7.]

44.—1866. London. New Caledonia, New Hebrides, and Loyalty Islands.
Admiralty Chart.—This is the best modern map of Quiros’s islands. The
Atlases between 1836 and 1865 do not show much change or much detail.
[Sec. xv. (1380.)]

45.—1886. New Hebrides Islands. Banks Group. Surveyed by H.M.S. Dart.
Admiralty Chart.—Gaua (Santa Maria) and the other islands are shown on a
large scale. [Sec. xv. (174.)]

46.—1892. London. New Hebrides Islands. Malo Island to Efate Island.
Admiralty Chart.—This is on a much larger scale, and gives the islands in
full detail, surveyed by H.M.S. Dart, 1890–91. [Sec. xv. (1570.)]

47.—1896. London. New Caledonia, New Hebrides, and Loyalty Islands.
Admiralty Chart.—This is a new edition of No. 44. The islands are shown
in much more exact detail, and with more information.

48.—1904. London. British New Guinea and the Solomon, Santa Cruz, and
New Hebrides Islands. In Edward Stanford’s London Atlas. 3rd edition.
1904.—This is a very excellent and clear map; scale, 1:4,089,064. 64.537
English miles to 1 inch.

Bibliography,

With British Museum Press-marks.
Antonio (Nicolas).—Bibliotheca Hispana Nova ... 1500 ad 1684. [Edited
by T. A. Sanchez, J. A. Pellicer, and R. Casalbonus.) 2 tom. Apud
Joachimum de Ibarra: Matriti, 1783–88. 4°. [2049, e.—126. h. 5, 6,—128.
h. 4, 5,—G. 53.]

—— Bibliotheca Hispana Vetus. [Edited by E. Marti.] Roma, 1696. fol.
[617. m. 14.—1788.—2049. e.—126. h. 3, 4.—128. h. 2, 3.—G. 52.]

Arias (Juan Luis), Dr. [A Memorial addressed to Philip III., King of Spain,
respecting the exploration, colonisation, and conversion of the Southern
Land.] [Madrid, 1640.] fol. [4745. f. 11. (18.).—1324, k. 5. (72.)]

—— [Another edition.] [571. k. 11. (14.)] Edimbourga, 1773. 4°.

—— [Another edition.] In R. H. Major’s “Early Voyages to Terra
Australis.” Hakluyt Society: London, 1859. 8°. [Ac. 6172–23.]

Bougainville (Louis Antoine de) Count.—Voyage autour du Monde par la
frégate du Roi La Boudeuse, et la flûte L’Etoile en 1766–69. pp. 417.
Saillant & Nyon: Paris, 1771. 4°. The map at p. 19 has the track of Capt.
Cook marked in pencil by himself. (C. 28. 1. 10.—454. a. 1.—215. c. 5.—
G. 2831.]

—— A Voyage round the World ... 1766–69. Translated by Johann Reinhold
Forster. Plates and maps. pp. xxviii. 476. J. Nourse: London, 1772. 4°. [983.
d. 1.]

Brosses (Charles de).—Histoire des Navigations aux Terres Australes. [An
English translation, with additions, was issued by John Callander in 1766–
68.] 2 tom. Durand: Paris, 1756. 4°. [454. a. 17, 18.—566. h. 5, 6.—215. a.
15.—G. 7382–3.]

Burney (James), Admiral. A Chronological History of the Discoveries in
the South Sea or Pacific Ocean. 5 vol. pp. 680. G. & W. Nicol: London,
1803–17. 4°. [455. b. 17–2.—G. 7231–2.]

Callander (John).—Terra Australis Cognita: or, Voyages to the Terra
Australis, or Southern Hemisphere, during the Sixteenth, Seventeenth, and
Eighteenth Centuries. [A translation, with additions, of Ch. de Brosses’
“Histoire des Navigations aux Terres Australes.] 3 vol. A. Donaldson:
Edinburgh, 1766–68. 8°. [566. c. 1–3.—G. 16065–67.]

Clavius (Christophorus).—Gnomonices libri octo. pp.654. Apud
Franciscum Zanettum. Romæ, 1581. fol. [533. k.2.]

—— Romani Calendarii Gregorio XIII. P.M. restituti explicatio. pp. 680.
Apud Aloysium Zannettum: Romæ, 1603. fol. [532. k. 10.] On the binding of
this and the previous work are the arms of King James I of England.

See also Euclid.

Coleccion de Documentos.—Ineditos para la historia de España. 1842, etc.
8°.

See Fernandez de Navarrete (Martin).

—— sacados del Real Archivo de Indias. 1864–83.

See Pacheco (Joaquin Francisco).

Collingridge (George).—The Discovery of Australia ... Illustrations,
Charts, Maps, etc. pp. xv. 376. Hayes Bros.: Sydney, 1895. 4°. [9781. g. 13.]

Comedias Escogidas.

See Spain.

Cook (James), Captain.—A Voyage towards the South Pole and round the
World; performed in his Majesties ships, the Resolution and Adventure ...

1772–75, etc. 2 vols. W. Straham & T. Cadell: London, 1777. 4°. [454. h. 7–
8.—213. d. 8, 9.—Maps. K. 12. Tab. 21.—G. 7416–17.—K. 12. Tab. 20.]

Cordova (Diego de) Fray.—Cronica de la religiosissima provincia de la
Orden de San Francisco. Salinas, 1651. [Not in the British Museum. A copy
in the Library at Lima.]

Daça (Antonio) Fray.—Quarte Parte de la Chronica General de San
Francisco y su Apostolica orden, etc. [Being a continuation of M. da Silva’s
Chronicles of the Friars Minors.] Valladolid, 1611. fol. [4783. d. 5.]

Dalrymple (Alexander).—An Account of the Discoveries made in the
South Pacifick Ocean previous to 1764. Part 1. pp. xxxi. 103. 7 plates.
London, 1767. 8°. [1045. e. 26.]

—— An Historical Collection of the several Voyages and Discoveries in the
South Pacific Ocean. 2 vols. Printed for the author: London, 1770–71. 4°.
[560. h. 9. (2.)—454. h. 5, 6. (1.)—212. d. 11.—C. 1781.]

—— 35 Charts, 1769–98. [460. g. 6.—435. k. 17, 18.—570. h. 1–4.]

Daza (Antonio), Fray.

See Daça.

Duro (Cesario Fernandez).

See Fernandez Duro (Cesario).

Ercilla y Zuñiga (Alonso de).—La Araucana de Don A. de Erzilla y
Çuñiga (Canto primero-quinzeno). Madrid, 1569. 8°. [C. 58. c. 25.]

Euclid.—Euclidis Elementorum Lib. xv. ... illustrati ... auctore C. Clavio.
1589. 8°. [8533. aaa. 23.]

Fernandez de Navarrete (Martin).—Coleccion de documentos inéditos
para la historia de España. (Indice, 1891.) Madrid, 1849, etc. 8°. [9197. f.]

Fernandez de Queiros (Pedro).—

See Quiros (Pedro Fernandez de).

Fernandez Duro (Cesario).—Disquisiciones náuticas. (lib. 6: Arca de
Noe.) 6 lib. Madrid, 1876–81. 8°. [8806. dd. 14.]

Figueroa (Christoval Suarez de).

See Suarez de Figueroa.

Gerritszoon (Hessel).

See Hudson (Henry), the navigator.

Gil Blas.

See Le Sage (Alain René).

Hudson (Henry) the Navigator.—Descriptio ac Delineatio Geographica
Detectionis Freti ... recens investigati ab. H. Hudsono ... Item Narratio ...
Australia Incognitæ ... per P. Ferdinandez de Quir, etc. [Edited by H.
Gerritszoon.] Ex officina H. Gerardi: Amsterodami, 1612. 4o. [1045. e. 15.
(1.)—G. 7163.—1613. 1045. e. 15. (4.)—500. b. 25. (10.)—G. 7164.]

—— The Arctic North-East and West Passage. Detectio Freti Hudsoni, or
H. Gerritsz’s Collection of Tracts by himself, Massa, and de Quir, on the
N.E. and W. Passage, Siberia and Australia. Reproduced with the maps, in
photolithography, in Dutch and Latin after the editions of 1612 and 1613.
Augmented with a new English translation by F. J. Millard ... and an Essay
on the origin and design of this collection by S. Muller. Amsterdam, 1878.
4o. [10460. bb. 7. This entry does not occur under Hudson in the British
Museum Catalogue.]

Jiménez de la Espada (Marcos).—Relaciones geográficas de Indias. [Not
in the British Museum Catalogue.]

Juan y Santacilla (Jorge) and Ulloa (Antonio de) Admiral.—Noticias
secretas de America ... escritas ... segun las instrucciones del ... Secretario
de Estado y presentadas en informe secreto a S. M. C. ... Fernando VI., por
J. Juan y a de Ulloa ... Sacadas a luz para el verdadero conocimiento del
gobierno de los Españoles en la America meridional por de Barry.
(Apendice. Informe del Intendente de Guamanga Don D. O’Higgins al
Ministro de Indias.) 2 pt. John Murray: London, 1826. 4o. [795 m. 5.—G.
6270.]

La Espada (Marcos Jiménez de).—

See Jiménez de La Espada (Marcos).

Le Sage (Alain René).—Histoire de Gil Blas de Santillane. Troisième
edition. 3 tom. Rouen, 1721–1724. 8o. [243. h. 25–27. Neither the First nor
the Second Editions are in the British Museum.]

—— Avec des notes historiques et littéraires par M. le Comte François de
Neufchateau. L. P. 3 tom. (Collection des Classiques François.) Lefèvre:
Paris, 1825. 8o. [12512. g. 25.]

Mac Kenna (Benjamin Vicuña).

See Vicuña Mac Kenna (Benjamin).

Major (Richard Henry), of the British Museum.—Early Voyages to Terra
Australis, now called Australia. A collection of documents, and extracts
from early MSS. Maps,... from the beginning of the sixteenth century to the
time of Capt. Cook. Edited with an Introduction by R. H. Major. pp. cxix.
200. 13. 5 Maps. Index. (Ser. 1, 25). Hakluyt Society: London, 1859. 8o.
[Ac. 6172/23.]

Moresby (John), Admiral.—New Guinea & Polynesia. Discoveries &
Surveys in New Guinea and the D’Entrecasteaux Islands: A cruise ... of
H.M.S. Basilisk. pp. xviii. 327. John Murray: London, 1876. 8o. [2374. c.
8.]

Morga (Antonio de).—Sucesos de las Islas Philipinas. ff. 172. Mexici ad
Indos, 1609. 4o. [C. 32. f. 31.—G. 6939.]

—— The Philippine Islands, Moluccas, Siam, Cambodia, Japan and China,
at the close of the sixteenth century.... Translated from the Spanish, with
notes and a preface, and a Letter from Luis Vaez de Torres, describing his
Voyage through the Torres Straits, by the Hon. Henry E. J. Stanley [Lord
Stanley of Alderley]. pp. xxiv. 431. 2 Illus. Index. (Ser. 1. 39.) Hakluyt
Society: London, 1868. 8o. [Ac. 6172/60.]

Navarrete (Martin Fernandez de).

See Fernandez de Navarrete (M.)

Pacheco (Joaquin Francisco).—Coleccion de Documentos inéditos
relativos al descubrimiento, conquista y colonizacion de las posesiones
españolas en América y Occeania [sic], sacados, en su mayor parte, del Real
Archivo de Indias, bajo la direccion de ... J. F. Pacheco, etc. (Segunda serie,
publicada por la Real Academia de la Historia.) 40 tom. Madrid, 1864–83.
8o. [9551. g.]

Petherick (Edward Augustus).—Bibliography of Australia. In “The Torch
& Colonial Bookseller.” vol. i. 89–97, 162–172; ii. 2–8, 127–140; iii. 136–
138. Colonial Booksellers’ Agency: London, 1887–92. 8o.

Quiros (Pedro Fernandez de).

See also Hudson (Henry), the Navigator.

Quiros (Pedro Fernandez de).—Historia del descubrimiento de las regiones
Austriales hecho por el General Pedro Fernandez de Quiros. Publicada por
Don Justo Zaragoza. (Biblioteca Hispana-Ultramarina.) 3 vols. M. G.
Hernandez: Madrid, 1876–82. 8o.) [9771. ee. 17.]

—— Begin. Señor. El Capitan Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, etc. [The
original petition of P. F. de Quiros to Philip III of Spain concerning the
discovery of Australia.] ff. 2. [Seville, 1610.] fol. [G. 7240.]

—— Relation Herrn. P. Fernandes de Quir.... Von dem new erfundnem
vierten Theil der Welt, so bissher in Mappis der Land [t]afflen Terra
Australis incognita genannt, und desselben Länder.... In Spanischer Sprach
... getruckt, jetzo aber ... ins Teutsch gebracht. pp. 9. C. Dabertzhofer:
Augspurg, 1611. 4o. [1295. b. 18.]

—— Account of a Memorial presented to His Majesty [Philip III, King of
Spain] by ... P. Fernandez de Quir, concerning the population and discovery
of the fourth part of the world, Australia the unknown, its great riches and
fertility ... printed ... anno 1610. From the Spanish [“Relacion de un
Memorial.”] With an introductory notice by W. A. Duncan. Spanish and
English, pp. 38. Thomas Richards: Sydney, 1874. 8o. [10492. bbb. 1.]

—— The Copie of a Petition presented to the King of Spaine by Capt. P. F.
de Quir, touching the discouerie of the fourth part of the world, called Terra
Australis Incognita. [From the Spanish. Another Petition in Spanish, giving
an account of his discoveries.] In “Purchas (Samuel), Purchas his
Pilgrimes,” pt. 4. 1625. fol. [679. h. 14.]

—— Voyage. Memorial presented to Philip II of Spain.—Relation of a
Memorial presented ... to His Majesty about the settling ... of ... Australia
Incognita. (In Dalrymple (Alexander).—“An Historical Collection,” etc.)
1770, etc. 4o. [566. h. 9. (2.)]

—— Fernand de Quiros to Polynesia and Australasia. (In “Callander (John)
Terra Australis cognita.”) vol. 2. 1766, etc. 8o. [566 c. 2.]

Quiros (Pedro Fernandez de).—Voyage de Quiros. (In “Charton
(Edouard)), Voyageurs anciens et modernes. tom. 4. 1854, etc. 8o. [10027.
g. 2.]

—— MS. in Private Library of the King of Spain. Another copy in Library
of the Ministry of Marine, Madrid.

—— Informaciones presentados por el Capitan Pedro Fernandez de Quiros
para paser a las Indias con su mujer y hijos, en la casa de contratacion de

Sevilla, 24 Marzo, 1615. (Archivo de Indias.)

—— Narratio ... Regi Hispaniæ facta super tractu ... cui Australiæ
incognitæ nomen est, recens detecto. (In Hudson (H.)) Descriptio ...
geographica detectionis freti ... sive transitus ad Occasum. 1612. 4o. [1045.
e. 15. (1.)]

—— [Another copy, with an additional title-page.] Exemplar Libelli
supplicis, potentissimo Hispaniarum Regi exhibiti, a Capitaneo Petro
Fernandez de Quir: super detectione quintæ Orbis terrarum partis, cui
Autraliæ [sic] Incognitæ nomen est, etc. [G. 7165. (2.)]

—— [Another edition.] In Orbis.—Recentes Novi Orbis Historiæ. 1612. 8o.
[1061. a. 4.]

—— [Another edition.] In Bry (J. T. de) and (J. I. de) [Indiæ Orientalis.
Part. x.] Indiæ Orientalis pars. x. 1613. fol. [986. h. 20. (7.)]

—— [Another edition.] In Hudson (Henry).—Descriptio ac Delineatio
Geographica detectionis Freti, etc. 1613. 4o. [1045. e. 15. (4.)]

—— [Another edition.] In Bry (J. T. de) and (J. I. de).—[India Orientalis.
Part x. 2nd edition.] India Orientalis pars x. 1633. fol. [215. c. 13. (4.)]

—— De Terra Austriale Incognita. [Another edition.] In Bry (T. de.)
(America, Part 13.) Decima tertia pars Historiæ Americanæ, etc. 1634. fol.
[566. 1. 9. (2.)]

—— Terra Australis Incognita, or a new Southerne Discoverie, containing a
fifth part of the World, lately found out by Ferdinand de Quir. pp. 27. John
Hodgetts: London, 1617. 4o. [T. 809. (8.)—C. 32. g. 33.—C. 13 a. 11. (1.)]

—— [Another edition.] pp. 31. W. Bray: London, [1723.] 8o. [B. 513. (1.)—
112. a. 67.—G. 15929.]

—— Verhael van seker Memorial ... aengaende de bevolckinghe ende
ontdeckinghe van ’t vierde deel des Werelts, ghenaemt Australia incognita,

etc. [Amsterdam, 1612.] 4o. [1045. e. 15. (2.)]

—— [Another copy.] In “Samoyedes.”—Beschryvinghe van der
Samoyeden Landt. 1612. 4o. [10055. b. 34.]

—— [Another edition.] In L’Hermite (J.)—Journal van de Nassausche
Vloot. J. P. Wachter: Amstelredam, 1643. 4o. [1061. g. 42.]

—— Copie de la Requeste presentee au Roy d’Espagne par le Capitaine
Pierre Ferdinand de Quir, sur la descouverte de la cinquiesme partie du
monde, appellee la terre Australle, incogneuë, et des grandes richesses et
fertilité d’icelle. pp. 16. Paris, 1617. 8o. [10491. aa. 13.]

—— Relation einer wunderbarlichen Supplication, Ihr. Königl. Magest. in
Spanien, von ... P. Fernandes de Quir ... belangendt die Entdeckung dess
ffünfften Thiels der Welt, Terra Australis incognita genandt.... In Hulsius
(L.) [Collection of Voyages & Travels.] Thl. 12. [1598, etc.] 4o. [10028. d.
37.]

—— —— [Another edition.] See Bry (J. T. de) & (J. I. de). [Indiæ
Orientalis. Pt. 10. German.] Zehenden Theil der Orientalischen Indien, etc.)
1613. fol. [10003. e. 13.]

—— —— [Another edition.] See Bry (T. de). [America. Pt. 13. German.]
Dreyzehenden Theil Americæ, etc. 1628. fol. [10003. e. 33. (2.)]

Spain.—Primera (—quarenta y ocho) parte de Comedias escogidas de los
mejores de España. (Catalogo de Comedias, 1681.) 48 pt. [MS. notes by L.
Tieck.] Madrid, 1652–1704. 4o. 11725, b. c. d.—11726. h. MS. notes by J.
R. Chorley.]

Suarez de Figueroa (Christoval).—Hechos de Don G. Hurtado de
Mendoza, quarto Marques de Cañete. [With a prefatory notice by G.
Caravajal de Ulloa.] pp. xiv. 324. Emprenta Real: Madrid, 1613. 4o. [1199.
h. 18.—278. f. 29.]

—— [Another edition.] Introduction by D. Barros Arana. pp. viii. 126.
1864. In “Coleccion de Historiadores de Chile.” Tom. 5. Imprenta del
Ferrocarril: Santiago, 1861, etc. 4o. [9772. e. 19.]

Torquemada (Fray Juan de) Franciscan.—Ia(—IIIa.) Parte de los veynte y
un libros rituales y Monarchia Indiana con el origen y guerras de los Indios
Occidentales de sus poblaçones descubrimento, conquista, conversion y
otras cosas maravillosas de la mesma tierra. 3 pt. Matthias Claviso: Sevilla,
1615. fol. [601. k. 16.]

—— [Another edition. Edited by A. Gonzales-Barcia.] 3 pt. Nicolas
Rodriguez: Madrid, 1723. fol. [146 e. 11–13.—G. 6452–54.]

Ulloa (Antonio de) Admiral.—Noticias secretas.

See Juan y Santacilla (Jorge) and Ulloa (A. de), Admiral.

Ulloa (Antonio de), Admiral.—Relacion historica [by A. de Ulloa] del
viage a la América meridional, etc. (Appendix to Tom. iv. Resumen
histórico ... de los Incas y demas Soberanos del Peru.) [With plates and
maps.] 5 tom. Antonio Marin: Madrid, 1748. 4o. [687. k. 10–14.—983. g.
19, 20.—215. a. 6–9, and 144. e. 14.]

—— [French translation by E. Mauvillon.] Illd. 2 tom. Arkstee & Merkus:
Amsterdam, 1752. 4o. [211. c. 7, 8.]

Vicuña MacKenna (Benjamin).—History of Juan Fernandez. Santiago,
1883. [Not in the British Museum Catalogue.]

NARRATIVE
OF THE
Second Voyage
OF THE
Adelantado Alvaro de Mendaña,
BY
THE CHIEF PILOT,
PEDRO FERNANDEZ DE QUIROS.1

1 Historia del descubrimiento de las Regiones Austriales.

Second Voyage of Alvaro de Mendaña.

Chapter I.
How the second voyage to the Isles of Solomon was commenced by the Adelantado Alvaro
de Mendaña, in whose company Pedro Fernandez de Quiros went as Pilot and Captain.
Recounts the departure from Callao.

any years having passed in silence since the first
M

voyage of Alvaro Mendaña, God was served that in
the city of Kings, residence of Viceroys of Peru, the
enterprise should be proclaimed which His Majesty
had ordered the Adelantado1 Alvaro Mendaña to
undertake to the Isles of Solomon. He hoisted his flag,
his Captain being his brother-in-law, Lorenzo Barreto;
and he sent another Captain, named Lope de Vega, to the valleys of Truxillo
and Saña, with orders to recruit men and collect provisions. The Adelantado
met with some difficulties and obstacles in fitting out the expedition, which
Dom Garcia Hurtado de Mendoza, Marquis of Cañete, and then Viceroy of
Peru, helped him to overcome.2 Thus four vessels were got ready with as
much despatch as possible, and the Adelantado went from Lima to Callao,
with his wife Doña Isabel Barreto, and all the people he had to take from
thence. With the diligence he exercised, he persuaded and induced Pedro
Fernandez de Quiros to come with him as Captain and Chief Pilot. The Pilot
de Quiros had raised several points with the Adelantado in the
conversations they had together respecting the conduct of the voyage, both
in going and returning; but all were settled, and he ended by resolving to
join the expedition.

The disorders which took place in this expedition were numerous; and in
order that this history may be clear, it is necessary to say something of
them, as it seems to me that they were the cause of the unfortunate ending
of the enterprise.

The stars of the eighth heaven are unequal in dimensions, for some appear
to our vision great, and others so small that they are scarcely visible. There
are those who say that if one of these should be wanting in heaven there
would be equivalent loss on earth. I mean that the most minute
circumstance that has ceased to do harm may have its effect on the course
of events.

The Master of the Camp3 embarked, and the first thing he did was to
interfere with the Boatswain in matters pertaining to his office, using words
to him which oblige little and offend much. The Boatswain excused himself
and the Master of the Camp, wishing to be avenged, certain persons in the
accounts department prevented him. At the same time the Chief Pilot was
talking to Doña Isabel, who said: “The Master of the Camp is severe. If that
is the way in which he asserts his position, he may have a prosperous end,
though I am very far from thinking so.” The Master of the Camp returning,
she said that it seemed to her that the Adelantado would not be pleased to
have his people treated with the contumely he showed to them, and still
more when the occasion was so slight. The Master of the Camp replied with
great impertinence: “Oh look! what have we here?” The Chief Pilot, with
good reason, showed much indignation. The Master of the Camp then said,
in a loud voice: “Know me! Understand that I am the Master of the Camp,
and if we sail together in one ship, and I ordered the ship to be run on some
rock, what would you do?” The Chief Pilot answered: “When that time
comes I shall do what seems to me to be best; and, in this fleet, I do not
recognise any other head but the Adelantado, who has delivered the charge
of this ship to me, whose Captain I am; and when he comes he will state
what my duties are to be. Believe me that if you want to be lord of all that is
about to be discovered, rather than be under the orders of one who takes so
much upon himself, and shows so little discretion, I would give up the
voyage.” Two soldiers, who were present at this colloquy, came to the Chief
Pilot and said that their persons were at his service, having so much need
for him during the voyage. The Pilot valued their good will, but answered
that he did not come to form parties. I leave the rest that passed on this
occasion.

The Adelantado came on board, and, as he said that he would apply a
suitable remedy to what had occurred, the Chief Pilot remained. On Friday,
the 9th of April, of the year of our Saviour Jesus Christ 1595, orders were
given to weigh the anchors and make sail from the port of Callao of the city
of the Kings of Peru, which has a latitude of 12° 20′,4 shaping a course for
the valleys of Santa Truxillo, and Saña, on the coast of the same province.

1 An office corresponding to the President or Governor of a province. Præfectus. “Adelante,” in
front; more advanced than others.

2 Here Suarez de Figueroa inserts the following speech, made by the Marquis of Cañete to
Mendaña.

On one of the many occasions when Alvaro de Mendaña (then fitting out) had interviews with the
Viceroy to communicate some particulars and to kiss his hand for the many kindnesses and favours
he had received from him, his Excellency said: “My Lord the Adelantado, I may well wish you God
speed on commencing this business with as vigorous a set of men as can be found in the world.
Prodigious are the deeds of the Spaniards at various times and in various places, and especially when
led by valorous generals who know how to overcome difficulties; who have met dangers with
prudence; who under adverse circumstances have maintained a cheerful countenance and kept up the
spirits of their followers with encouraging words and promises; who rewarded them; who cherished
them; who succoured them; and who, ruling by kindness, took advantage of every opportunity with
wisdom. There are so many glorious leaders of our nation who have acted thus, that might be named,
that I undoubtedly should tire my tongue in enumerating them and my memory in bringing them to
mind. On the other side their valiant followers have always been, on these occasions, loyal and
obedient, and full of courtesy and virtue both in word and deed. If in the present age these
generalities suffer from some exceptions, it is not the fault of the men. Various times bring forth
misfortunes. A few years soon pass in the harvest of valour, and few good things are known of the
leaders. This is especially the case in maritime expeditions where the inconveniences and difficulties
are innumerable, while the remedies that can be applied to them are few and of little efficacy. Certain
ancient mariners make a notable clamour, in whose eyes our ancestors were so excellent that they
hold them in great veneration. But they all made furrows in the eastern sea; very little was done by
them on the western side, which scarcely puts limits to the imagination. On that side some navigators
have been eminent. In the first rank is Columbus, who, being despised by various sovereigns, made
his discovery finally for the Catholic ones, Isabella and Ferdinand, and showed America, the
foundation on which has been built so many and such important edifices, alike spiritual as temporal.
He was succeeded by the wonderful Cortes, with his extensions of empire and his marvellous deeds.

In the part where we are now was the famous Francisco Pizarro, conqueror of so many provinces.
Then came Magellan, who nearly went round the world, and came to an end which was less fortunate
than his spirit deserved. Next Gama sought remote regions, and opened to the nation the commerce
of the east. Valiant (it need not be denied) were the audacious enterprises of Drake, Cavendish, and
Hawkins, emulous of the fame of Magellan. Traversing the strait which bears Magellan’s name, they
came to disturb the seas which for many previous years had been secure and peaceful. But this
notwithstanding, it appears to me that I now behold in you a discoverer not less distinguished and
famous than those. It has been so in all countries, in times past, that important affairs have been
entrusted to him who, either by reason of his genius, or the dignity of his person, or the purity of his
life, or his grace and authority, had acquired the universal fame of a true umpire of peace and war,
justly committing to his prudence the preservation and prosperity of the state. It is certain that all
these qualifications are combined in your person. Your actions prove it, and confirm the choice made
by His Majesty for so great a service to God and to him. I hold that there can be no doubt that your
established government will be glorious and triumphant, and that the people in your company will
remain under it; so that, almost from this time thanks may be given to you for your great industry and
valour.”
3 Equivalent to Colonel. He was an old soldier named Pedro Merino Manrique. The name is given
by Suarez de Figueroa.
4 12° 3′ 45″ S. Callao Castle; 12° 2′ 34″ S. Lima.

Chapter II.
Of what happened to the fleet until it reached the port of Payta, and what ports it touched
at.

Having made sail, there was so little wind that the ship could not get out of
the port. A boat was sent on shore, but presently returned with a report that
the beach was full of armed men, who prevented any landing. The night
passed, and when the day came the galeot went on, and our other vessel
made for Callao. She had been at the ports of the coast, visiting the ships
she met, and taking what was wanted out of them. After those on board had
behaved like corsairs, they arrived at the port of Santa, where they found a
ship on her way from Panama to Lima, laden with merchandize and
negroes. They took the vessel, placing a guard to prevent them from going
until the Adelantado should arrive, to whom they gave the advice to take
her as she was, for his better despatch, sending her value to the owners
when God should provide it. The Adelantado would not do this, nor consent
that it should be done. The Vicar, zealous for the service of God,
reprehended the Captain with sharp speeches, and told him that he was
excommunicated, charging him to pay for what he had taken. Having done
this he was absolved, and the business was closed. Here a soldier was
punished, the reason being kept secret.

Making sail, they anchored in the port of Cherrepe, which is that for the
town of Santiago de Miraflores, where the Captain, Lope de Vega, had
enlisted a good company of married people. Here the Adelantado married
this Captain to his sister-in-law, Mariana de Castro, giving him the title of
Admiral.

There was at anchor in this port a new and strong ship with a cargo of flour,
sugar, and other things, bound to Panama. The officers of the Almiranta
having made friends with those on board the other ship, they were
persuaded, by means of efficacious reasoning, to let the General take her,
and receive their vessel instead, which, owing to age and bad construction,

they might well do, because thus the King would be better served. But the
Adelantado showed great annoyance at these intrigues, and replied that his
ship was very good for the service on which it was to be employed. Those
who intended evil felt the good intention, and, in order to gain their end,
they secretly made seven gimlet-holes in the ship, in order to oblige—as
they did oblige—the soldiers to say that they would not go in a ship so
unseaworthy if they could not take the other. In consequence of this, the
Pilot and Master presented a petition to the Adelantado, setting forth that his
ship was making a great deal of water, and was unsuited for so long and
risky a voyage as she was intended to make; and begging him to take the
remedy that was at hand. The Adelantado, seeing the determination of all,
and compelled by necessity, referred the matter to the Master of the Camp,
before whom information was taken which proved what was wanted, and if
more was wanted, more could be proved. So the General ordered the Master
of the Camp to take the ship; and that the carpenters should make an
estimate of the excess of value over that of the vessels to be exchanged for
it. They reported that the difference amounted to 6600 dols.

Presently, the Master of the Camp sent a guard on board the ship, and began
to unload her. There was a priest on board, who owned half the cargo. He
protested vigorously against the injustice and robbery, when he saw the loss
that he would sustain. He made strong protests and claims on the ship, in
his own name and in those of other interested parties. He sought the ship,
stating that his remedy was there. He came and went to the Capitana with
his complaints, but got no redress. It was said that a soldier gave him a
push, and threatened to throw him overboard. The priest felt all this very
deeply, and loudly declared that when he had to pray to our Lord, in his
sacrifices, he would ask that the ship might never reach safety if she was
unloaded. The good priest caused great sorrow to the compassionate, both
on account of the force with which he was treated and the loss of his
property; and the grief was doubled at the enterprise being one that was
undertaken by their own masters, to whom he earnestly, but vainly,
complained of his loss. At last the ship was unloaded, when the Adelantado
satisfied the priest respecting his share, which somewhat quieted him. The
Adelantado also undertook to pay the difference before he came from the
Solomon Islands to Peru, mortgaging to the creditors all his ships. The

Adelantado felt and complained much of this proceeding, which had been
forced upon him, and he threatened those who he believed to be the cause
of it.

As the effects are seen in all things, and even in the justice of God are never
wanting, it was understood that usually in that port there was much
merchandize, collected in certain warehouses, from all those valleys, to be
embarked for Lima, Panama, and other places. They embarked some of
these goods, with the owner, his wife and children. Many things were left,
and nothing was said about them, for the shadows of things are sufficient to
see them by; and expeditions without a royal purse cannot, it would seem,
be set forth without some mischief being done.

The Master of the Camp, because it was his ordinary and first thought not to
keep the peace, had a certain slight difference with the Admiral, which,
although trifling, appears to have been the beginning of disorders. For if
such exist, however small they be, when the Devil stirs them they revive.
The Adelantado was very desirous of entering respectable men only; and so,
for reasons that moved him, he put certain men and women on shore. I well
believed that he might have turned them all out, and proceeded alone on his
voyage. Here, for a slight cause, he turned out a sergeant. Who was the
instigator the reader will pardon me for leaving it to be understood, for I am
not a friend of telling, though it should be a bad affair.

These things being settled, the Adelantado ordered the Chief Pilot to make
five charts for the navigation, one for himself and four for each of the
Pilots. He was not to show more land on them than the coast of Peru from
Arica to Payta, and two points north and south, on one side or the other, the
one in 7° and the other in 12°, and 1,500 leagues to the west of Lima,
which, he said, was the extreme distance in longitude of the islands of
which he was going in search, whose longitude was 1,450 leagues. The
other 50° was to be added so as the better to arrive with some margin, and
no more land was to be delineated lest some ship should steer to or desert to
it.

The Admiral embarked on board the new ship, and the provisions were
distributed, but they were not in such quantity nor so good as was
necessary. The defects were made up by what the soldiers and other people
bought, and by other means.

It only remained to arrange for the water supply, but the supply was scanty
and the port was bad. The Corregidor of the district, Dom Bartolomé de
Villavicencio, arrived, and the goodwill he showed is admitted by the
Admiral in his report. But as he saw, when he came, the overwork that was
being exacted, he went to his house, taking with him all the Indians and
horses that were helping us, so as to oblige us to depart. This was the reason
that induced the Adelantado to make sail, and pursue his course with only
the water that the Chief Pilot had on board. Recognising such a serious
defect, the Pilot represented that it was a terrible thing to start with half the
jars empty, knowing that we had to enter the largest of the gulfs, and that it
must be well considered, lest we should have to leave the land without
taking the full supply of water needed for so long and doubtful a voyage.
The Adelantado answered that the soldiers asked for it to be obtained in the
ports where it was found to be very expensive, and that if a ration of half a
gallon ought to be given, a pint might be served out. To this the Chief Pilot
replied that it was his duty to see to everything, and not to allow himself to
be conquered by the importunities of people who did not know what they
were asking. The Adelantado answered to this that he was convinced, and
that he would settle the matter with them; which he did with some good and
some bad reasons. This done, they made sail, arriving at the port of Payta to
take in water.

Chapter III.
Of what passed in the port of Payta, and how the fleet set sail and commenced the voyage.

In each port there was disorder, and as this is one of the best ports on the
coast of Peru, the best quarrel was reserved for it. The anger of the Master
of the Camp, who excused no one, fell upon the Vicar respecting certain
proceedings in his department. There were words between them; and there
would have been acts as well if the Adelantado had not been present to
prevent them. But they remained angry and unfriendly. Bickerings also
commenced between the Master of the Camp and the Captain Don Lorenzo,
respecting luggage which some of the soldiers had with them.

The Master of the Camp gave a blow with a stick to a person of
consideration. He said that he did not know about that, but that the party
would know very well how much a stick weighed. There was some
disturbance; the Master of the Camp drew his sword (at which he was
always ready) and struck another soldier, who was annoyed at the blow
given to his companion. He fled, but was taken, and incontinently was to be
punished. Doña Isabel came out to plead for him. The Master of the Camp
showed himself to be so compliant that he threw down the stick and went
on board; but this was not that he might not give the Adelantado a faculty
against the prisoner. The Chief Pilot would have interceded, but the
Adelantado did not wish to hear him, saying that the man had put his hand
in his beard, which was a sort of mutiny. The Chief Pilot prayed that
nevertheless the Adelantado would hear the case, and dismiss it; or, if he did
not wish to do that, that he would judge the matter officially; for that the
man had been brought by force, and that it did not seem just to take away
his honour. At last, yielding to these prayers, the Adelantado set the prisoner
free. The Master of the Camp had gone on shore, and presently he sent for
his clothes. But as the Adelantado showed a wish that he should stay, the
Admiral and Captain Don Lorenzo persuaded him to return to the ship.

It appeared to the Chief Pilot that it was very uncertain what would be the
end, when the beginning was so disordered. He, therefore, requested the
Adelantado that he might be left behind; and for this course he gave many
reasons which did not appear to be bad. The Adelantado threw his arms
round the Pilot’s neck, declaring that only an angel could conduct things as
he said, but that all should be put in good order, and that a remedy should
be found. The Chief Pilot still insisted upon his dismissal, saying that where
the General’s person was, who so well understood the art of navigating, he
might well be excused. The Adelantado was much grieved on hearing this,
and with his sagacity, he showed himself so kind and friendly, and used
such honeyed words, that they induced the Pilot to remain. He went on
board and, as he passed the ship, the sailors said: “Ah! Sir Chief Pilot, what
goings and comings are these? We are informed of what you think of doing,
for no one wants to remain in this ship though it cost all their lives.”
Jumping on shore, the Admiral, the Lieutenant of Payta, and other persons
of the fleet, came to the Pilot, and he gave his reasons to all.

At this time the Master of the Camp came up and said, in a loud voice:
“Well, Sir! the Devil walks loose among us, to see if he can injure this good
work. Let us go whence we came, and let him show himself for what he is.
For, though he works with diligence, we will advance forward such a
Christian undertaking, and in this voyage we will truly serve God and the
King.” The Chief Pilot gave him this answer: “Sir Master of the Camp! in
all things there should be moderation and fair dealing, but your Honour was
very hasty in raising the stick, drawing your sword, and abusing the seamen
whose services are so necessary. As I know the mischief that is done by
such conduct, I wish to see the remedy, so as to comply with all my
obligations.” The Master of the Camp, more gentle when he was on shore,
answered that a Camp Master could not be so moderate. The Chief Pilot
said that he must be both careful and moderate; that as yet they were in
Peru, and that the seamen had to bring them to the islands, and to guard the
ship when they had arrived; and that if they were aggrieved, as men, there
would be serious trouble; that they had to bring the news and return with
succour, and speak well of the land, or evil though it was good, for revenge.
The Camp Master was not quieted with this argument, but was wedded to
his own idea, and answered that men did not do what they were told at sea;

that he had to make them stir quickly; and that all he had done was
necessary that the fleet might not be disorganised, and that each man to his
own office seemed good, and was in order. With this, and many other things
that were said at the time, the incident was closed.

The two embarked, not very friendly, and the Adelantado engaged a man
here, who gave him 2,000 dols. for the place of Sergeant Major; and with
this he left off recruiting. He embarked 1,800 jars of water, and gave
instructions for the order that was to be maintained, and for the navigation
that was to be carried out.

They carried in the fleet 378 persons by the list, of whom 280 were capable
of bearing arms; 200 arquebuses and other weapons, offensive and
defensive, respecting which testimony was given before the Lieutenant of
Payta to send to the King our Lord, as was done.

The Capitana was named San Jeronimo, and there went in her the
Adelantado, his wife, his sister-in-law and her brothers, the chief Officers,
and two priests.

The Almiranta was named Santa Isabel, under the Admiral Lope de Vega,
with two Captains, and a priest.

The galeot was named San Felipe, under Captain Felipe Corzo, with his
officers and men.

The frigate was named Santa Catalina, under Captain Alonso de Leyva.

Chapter IV.
The Island of Magdalena.

Having made sail, the fleet shaped a S.W. course, displaying the royal
standard and the flags, playing clarions, and feasting on such an auspicious
day as this was considered to be. The winds were from the S. and S.S.E.,
which are the winds of Peru, until we reached a latitude of 9° 30′, and from
that point the course was W.S.W. as far as 14°. From thence the course was
W.N.W. to 21°. The sun was taken at noon, and having made the
computation, the result was 10° 50′. At 5 in the afternoon, an island was
sighted 10 leagues distant, being N.W. by N.1 The Adelantado gave it the
name of Magdalena, as it was the eve of that day. He thought it was the land
that he sought, for which reason he was very joyful in every one’s sight, in
that he had come in a short time with a fair wind, the victuals good, and the
people amicable, healthy, and cheerful. During the voyage there had been
fifteen marriages, scarcely a day passing without some one wanting to be
married next day. It seemed as if all would run in couples with the good
fortune, with high hopes, many stories, and none for the good of the natives.

The Adelantado said to the Vicar and Chaplain that they were to chant the
“Te Deum laudamus” with all the people on their knees, and that they
should give thanks to God for the mercy of sighting land. This was done
with great devotion.

On the following day, with doubt whether that island was inhabited, the
ships were steered to the south of it, and very near the coast. From a point
under a peaked hill towards the eastern end, there came out seventy small
canoes, not all the same size, made of one piece of wood, with outriggers of
cane on each side, after the manner of the gunwales of galleys, which reach
to the water on which they press to prevent the canoe from capsizing, and
all their paddles rowing. The least number they had in a canoe was three,
the greatest ten, some swimming, and others hanging on—altogether, four

hundred natives, almost white, and of very graceful shape, well-formed,
robust, good legs and feet, hands with long fingers; good eyes, mouth, and
teeth, and the same with the other features. Their skin was clear, showing
them to be a strong and healthy race, and indeed robust. They all came
naked, without any part covered; their faces and bodies in patterns of a blue
colour, painted with fish and other patterns. Their hair was like that of
women, very long and loose, some had it twisted, and they themselves gave
it turns. Many of them were ruddy. They had beautiful youths who, for a
people barbarous and naked, it was certainly pleasant to see; and they had
much cause to praise their Creator.

Among them there was a boy, who appeared to be about ten years of age.2
He came rowing in a canoe with two others. His eyes were fixed on the
ship, and his countenance was like that of an angel, with an aspect and spirit
that promised much, of a good colour, not fair but white; his locks like that
of a lady who valued them much. He was all that has been said, so that I
never in my life felt such pain as when I thought that so fair a creature
should be left to go to perdition.3

The natives came with much speed and fury, rowing their canoes, pointing
with their fingers to their port and land, speaking loudly, and often using the
words atalut and analut. They came to our ships, and when they arrived
they gave us cocoa-nuts, a kind of food rolled up in leaves, good plantains,
and large canes4 full of water. They looked at the ships, the people, and the
women who had come out on the galley to see them, at whom they looked,
and laughed at the sight. They got one to put his hand on the ship, and, with
coaxing, they got him to come on board. The Adelantado dressed him in a
shirt and put a hat upon his head, which, when the others saw, they laughed
and looked, crying out to the rest. On this about forty came on board, beside
whom the Spaniards seemed of small stature. Among them there was one
taller than the rest by a head and shoulders, and taller than our best men,
though we had one very tall. They began to walk about the ship with great
boldness, taking hold of whatever was near them, and many of them tried
the arms of the soldiers, touched them in several parts with their fingers,
looked at their beards and faces, with other monkey tricks. As they saw that
our men were dressed in various colours, they were confused; so the

soldiers bared their breasts, let down their stockings, and tucked up their
sleeves to satisfy them. When they were shown this, they quieted down, and
were much pleased.

The Adelantado and some of the soldiers gave them shirts, hats, and other
trifling things, which they presently put round their necks, dancing and
singing in their fashion, and loudly called to the others to look at what they
had been given. Their conduct annoyed the Adelantado, who made signs to
them to go; but they not only would not leave the ship, but became more
free in taking things they saw. Some cut slices from our bacon and meat
with knives made of cane, and wanted to take other things. At last the
Adelantado ordered a gun to be fired, and when they felt and heard it, with
great terror, they all jumped into the water and swam to their canoes, only
one remaining in the ship. He was clinging on to the main channels, and
they could not make him let go, until some one wounded him on the hand
with a sword, which was shown to the others, and they took him into a
canoe. At this time they fastened a rope to the ship’s bowsprit, and, by
rowing, tried to tow her on shore, thinking they could thus take her.

When the native was wounded, they all became warlike, and were
marshalled by one who carried a parasol of palm leaves. Among them was
one old man with a long and well-ordered beard, who cast fierce looks from
his eyes, put both hands into his beard, raised his moustaches, stood up, and
cried out, looking in many directions. They played on shells, and striking
with their paddles in the canoes they showed their hostility: some taking up
the lances which they brought, tied down; others with stones in slings, not
having other arms. With good will, they began to hurl stones, and wounded
a soldier; but first they had come near the ship, and those with lances
threatened to throw them. The soldiers pointed their arquebuses, but, as it
had been raining, the powder would not ignite. It was a sight to behold, how
the natives came on with noise and shouts; and how some, when they saw
weapons pointed at them, jumped from the canoes into the water, or got
behind the others. At last, the old man who made the menaces was shot in
the forehead, and fell dead, with seven or eight others, while some were
wounded. They fled from our ships, and presently three natives came in a
canoe, calling out. One held up a green branch, and something white in his

hand, which appeared to be a sign of peace. They seemed to be asking us to
come to their port; but this was not done, and they departed, leaving some
cocoa-nuts.

This island has a circumference of about 10 leagues, so far as we could see.
It is clear and open towards the sea, lofty and wooded in the ravines, which
is where the natives live. The port is on the south side. It is in latitude 10°
S., and a thousand leagues from Lima. It is thickly inhabited; for, besides
those who came in the canoes, the beaches and rocks were covered with
people. The Adelantado did not know the place, and, being undeceived, he
said it was not one of the islands he came in search of, but a new discovery.

1 Magdalena is in 10° 25′ S. and 138° 28′ W.
2 Suarez de Figueroa says it was a girl.
3 Suarez de Figueroa quotes all this word for word, and here says that he is quoting from the
papers of the Chief Pilot.
4 Joints of bamboos in which they carry water.

Chapter V.
How three other islands were sighted, their names, and how they came to a port in that of
Santa Cristina.

At a short distance from this island three other islands were sighted, for
which a course was shaped. The first, to which the Adelantado gave the
name of San Pedro, was 10 leagues W.N.W. from Magdalena. It was not
ascertained whether it was inhabited, because it was not visited. It is about 4
leagues in circumference, with much forest, but apparently not very high.
At the east end there is a rock at a short distance from the coast.

There is another island called Dominica, with a circumference of some 15
leagues, bearing N.W. from San Pedro, distant 5 leagues. The island is
beautiful to look upon, and runs N.E. to S.W. It has fine plains and
mountains, is thickly inhabited, with many groves of trees.

To the south of Dominica there is another island to which the name of Santa
Cristina was given. It seemed to be about 11 leagues in circumference, and
is a little over a league from Dominica, with a clear and deep channel
between them. The Adelantado named all four islands together “Las
Marquesas de Mendoza,” in memory of the Marquis of Cañete; because by
this, and in making sail with his ships from any port, he wished to show
how grateful he was for the assistance given by that Viceroy in the despatch
of the expedition.

While tacking off and on, and seeking a port in the island of Dominica,
many canoes full of natives came out, who seemed to be of a browner
colour, and crying out, showed the same good will as the others. In one
canoe there came an old man, carrying a green branch and something white.
At this moment the ship was put about, and, thinking that she was going
away, the old man began to renew his shouts, make signs with his hair, and
pointing downwards with his hair and fingers. The Adelantado wanted to
return, but he could not do so because the wind freshened, and no sheltered

port for anchoring could be seen: though the frigate, which stood close into
the shore, reported having seen many more people than were visible from
the ship, and that a native had come on board, who with great ease had
lifted a calf by one ear.

On the following day the General sent the Camp Master in the boat with
twenty soldiers, to seek for a port or a watering place on the island of Santa
Cristina. Many natives came out in canoes, and surrounded them. Our
people, wishing to make themselves safe, killed some of them. One, to save
himself, jumped into the sea with a child in his arms. Clasped together, they
were sent to the bottom by a shot from an arquebus that one of the soldiers
fired off. He said afterwards, with great sorrow, that the Devil had to take
those who were ordained to be taken. The Chief Pilot said to him that he
regretted that he had not fired in the air, but the soldier said that he acted as
he did lest he should lose his reputation as a good marksman. The Chief
Pilot asked him what it would serve him to enter into hell with the fame of
being a good shot? The Camp Master returned without having found either
a port or a watering place.

At the same time four very daring natives had gone on board the ship, and
while no one was looking, one of them took a small dog, which was the gift
of the Camp Master. Then, with a shout they all jumped overboard with
great courage, and swam to their canoes.

The next day, which was St. James’s day, the General again sent the Camp
Master, with twenty soldiers, to the island of Santa Cristina to find a
watering place and a port. He effected a landing with the men in good order,
and surrounded a village while the inhabitants stood looking on. The Camp
Master called to them, and about three hundred came. Our people then drew
a line, telling the natives by signs that they were not to go beyond it. On
asking for water they brought some in cocoa nuts, and the women brought
other kinds of fruit. The soldiers said that many of these women were very
pretty, and that they were ready to come near in friendly intercourse, and to
give their presents with their hands. The Camp Master sent the natives for
water with the jars, but they made signs that our people should carry them;
running off with four jars, for which reason we opened fire on them.

The General, having seen the port into which the Camp Master had gone,
ordered the ship to be taken into it and anchored. But the wind died away
under the land, and the ship was taken by a wave to within a lance’s length
of a rock, with 50 fathoms close to it. There was great consternation at the
obvious danger. Sail was made, and God was served that a breeze should
spring up, and the ship stood off. Then there came another report that the
port was bad, full of sunken rocks, and that it was impossible to get out
again if a ship had once entered. The Adelantado was much annoyed to hear
the complaints of the hard work, and was moved to continue the voyage,
saying that the water they had on board would be sufficient for the voyage
to his islands. The Chief Pilot reminded him of the uncertainties of the sea,
to which he answered: “If we cannot find a port, what are we to do?” The
Chief Pilot replied that we must return to Magdalena, which we had already
seen, and where the frigate had anchored, and that for a little more work it
was needful to secure more necessaries. Meanwhile, the Camp Master had
been coasting along the island; and very near the port that had been entered
he found another, which he reported, and there the fleet anchored.

Chapter VI.
How the Adelantado landed on the island of Santa Cristina, and what took place with the
natives.

On the day after the arrival, which was the 28th of July, the Adelantado
went on shore, with his wife and the greater part of the crew, to hear the
first mass said by the Vicar. The natives knelt down in silence and attention,
imitating all they saw the Christians do. A very beautiful native sat near
Doña Isabel, with such red hair that Doña Isabel wished to cut off a few
locks; but seeing that the native did not like it she desisted, not wishing to
make her angry.

The General, in the name of His Majesty, took possession of all the four
islands, walked through the village, sowed maize in presence of the natives;
and, having had such intercourse as was possible with them, he went on
board. The Camp Master remained on shore with all the soldiers, who in a
short time began to quarrel among themselves. Then the natives threw many
stones and lances, wounding one soldier in the foot, without doing any
other harm. They then fled to the mountains with their women and children,
our people following them, until they were all in the woods. Being fired at,
the natives reached the summits of three high hills, where they entrenched
themselves. In the mornings and afternoons they all, with one accord, made
a resounding noise, which echoed through the ravines, and was replied to
by shouts. They wished to do us harm, hurling stones and lances, but their
efforts were in vain.

The Camp Master placed guards in three positions to secure the village and
the beach, where the women were resting and the sailors getting wood and
water for the ships. What I have to say is, that some of these natives, being
strong and courageous, used arrows, while there were not wanting others
who seemed more cautious. They were very diligent to attack; but seeing
how little harm they did, and how much hurt they received from the
arquebuses, they tried to establish peace and friendship. For when the

soldiers went to their work, they came out to them lovingly, offering them
bunches of plantains and other fruits. It seemed that they felt the want of
their houses, for they asked, by signs, when the Spaniards would go. Some
came to the guards with food, which they gave to the soldiers. One native
especially, of good presence, was taught to make the sign of the cross, and
to say “Jesus Maria,” and the rest. They were in conversation with their
comrades, for each one had a comrade, whom they sought out and sat with,
when they came; and by signs they asked each other the names of the sky,
the earth, the sea, the sun, the moon and stars, and everything else within
their vision. All were well content with what they said, calling each other
friends and comrades. As this friendship was not without payment, there
was a certain man who joyfully said to the General, that he had his dog well
fed by the natives, by a forage he had made in the preceding night, when his
company had the guard.

On another day eleven natives came in two canoes, and two of them stood
up with some strings of cocoa nuts in their hands, and shouted while they
showed them. Orders were given not to answer, and for the soldiers to be
ready with their arquebuses. When the natives found that they were not
answered, they came close to the ship, when a volley was fired. Two were
killed. The soldiers shot three more, and throwing down what they had, the
rest rowed away and fled. They were chased in a boat, but the natives got
on shore and fled. Jumping on shore, only three were seen to run to the top
of some high hills. Those in the boat took the canoes, with three dead
bodies in them, for the rest had fallen into the sea. The cruelty of the
Spaniards was such that there were not wanting those who said that the
bullet wounds, so fierce and ugly, would frighten the other natives, and that
the swords, making wide wounds, would have the same effect. In order that
the natives might see, it was ordered that the bodies should be taken on
shore, that the Camp Master might hang them up where they would be seen
by the natives. It was said that this was done in order that the natives, if
they came with false intent in their canoes, might know what the Spaniards
could do. But it seemed to me that four armed ships had little to fear from
unarmed natives in canoes. The Camp Master hung up the three natives in a
place best adapted for the intended object. A certain person came to see

them, who gave one of the bodies a lance-thrust, and praised what had been
done. At night the natives took the bodies away.

An evil example gives rise to licence, and reason conquers him who knows
it. A certain person had an arquebus in his hut, and a friend of his loaded it,
and pointed it to fire at the natives. The other took it out of his hands, and
asked him what he was going to do with so much diligence. He replied, that
his diligence was to kill, because he liked to kill. “It is not right,” replied his
friend, “that you should show such readiness to cause the death of men.
What harm have these natives done to you that you should treat them with
such cruelty? It is not valorous to show yourself a lion amongst lambs, nor
to kill when it takes your fancy. If you do not know what a foul and sinful
thing it is to murder a body which contains a soul, it is high time that you
learned, and though it has weight it is not profitable.”

The native who was friendly to the Chaplain came to the guard, and being
seen by the General they embarked very joyfully, the native crying out,
“Friend! Friend!” The Adelantado received him very cordially, offering him
conserves and wine, but he would neither eat nor drink. He began to look at
the sheep, and seemed to give them a name; he gazed at the ship and the
rigging, counted the masts and sails, went below and noted everything with
care, more so than is usual with a native. They told him to say “Jesus
Maria,” and to make the sign of the cross, which he did with great
amusement, showed good will in all things, and presently he asked for
persons to take him back to the shore. Such was the intelligence of this
native that when he understood that the ships would depart, he showed
regret, and wanted to go with us.

The Adelantado wanted to colonise these four islands, to make his business
with them, and to leave thirty men, some of them married. But the soldiers
complained of this, and seeing their ill-will he gave up the idea.

It may be held as certain that two hundred natives were killed in these
islands, for the impious and inconsiderate soldiers dropped one or two or
three. Their evil deeds are not things to do, nor to praise, nor to allow, nor to
maintain, nor to refrain from punishing if the occasion permits.

Chapter VII.
In which an account is given of the port, island, and inhabitants; of their customs, and other
things.

This island of Santa Cristina is very populous, and lofty in the centre. It has
its ravines and valleys, where the natives live. The port was named “Madre
de Dios.” Praise to her! It is in the western part, in latitude 9° 30′, sheltered
from all winds, only excepting the west, which never was found to blow. Its
shape is that of a horse-shoe, with a narrow mouth, and at the entrance it
has a clear bottom of sand, with a depth of 30 fathoms, in the middle 24,
and 12 near the beach. The marks by which it is known are a hill to the
south, rising from the sea, having a peak terminating in three others on its
summit; to the north a concave rock; within the port five wooded ravines,
all coming down to the sea, and a hill which divides the little beaches of
sand, having a stream of excellent water falling from a height of a man’s
stature and a half, the thickness of a fist, where the barrels can be filled.
Near it there is a stream of equally good water, flowing near a village which
the natives have there. So that waterfall, stream, and village are all on the
shore, which is on the north side of the hill. On the south side of it there are
houses scattered among the trees. To the east there are high rocky hills, with
some ravines whence the stream descends.

Some of the natives of these islands did not appear to be as white as those
of Magdalena. They have the same form of speech, the same arms and
canoes, with which they communicate. Their village is built on two sides of
a square, one north and south, the other east to west, with the surroundings
well paved. The rest is a space with very tall and thick trees. The houses
appear to be for the community, after the manner of slave quarters, and
open to wind and water, the floor being raised above that of the street. It
appeared that many people were lodged in each house, for there were many
bed-places, and these low. Some houses had low doors, and others had all
the front open. They are of wood, interwoven with very large canes having

joints of more than 5 palmos1 in length, and of the thickness of a man’s
arm. The roof is of the leaves from the trees in the open space.

The Chief Pilot did not see anything of the women, because he did not land
at the time that they came; but all who saw them reported that they had
beautiful legs and hands, fine eyes, fair countenances, small waists, and
graceful forms, and some of them prettier than the ladies of Lima, who are
famed for their beauty. Respecting their complexion, if it cannot be called
white, it is nearly white. They go with a certain covering from the breasts
downwards.

Apart from the village there was an oracle surrounded by palisades, with the
entrance on the west side. Within there was a house, almost in the middle,
in which there were some wooden figures badly carved; and here were
offerings of food and a pig, which the soldiers took. Wanting to take other
things, the natives interfered, saying they must not take anything, showing
that they respected that house and the figures.

Outside the village they had some very long and well-made canoes of a
single tree, with the form of a keel, bow, and stern, and with boards well
fastened with ropes made from cocoa fibre. In each one there is room for
thirty or forty natives as rowers; and they gave us to understand, when they
were asked, that they went in these large canoes to other lands. They work
with adzes, which they make of thick fish-bones and shells. They sharpen
them with large pebbles, which they have for the purpose.

The temperature, health, vigour, and corpulence of these people tell what
the climate must be under which they live. One suffers cold at night, but the
sun does not cause much molestation by day. There were some showers, not
heavy; dew was never felt, but very great dryness, so much so that wet
things, when left out all night on the ground, were found quite dry in the
morning. But we could not tell whether this was so all the year round.

They saw pigs, and fowls of Castille, and the fishery is certain wherever
there is sea.

The trees which have been mentioned as being in the open space before the
village yield a fruit which reaches to the size of a boy’s head. Its colour,
when it is ripe, is a clear green, and when unripe it is very green. The rind
has crossed scales like a pineapple, its shape not quite round, being rather
more narrow at the end than near the stem. From the stem grows a leaf-stalk
reaching to the middle of the fruit, with a covering sheath. It has no core nor
pips, nor anything uneatable except the skin, and that is thin. All the rest is a
mass of pulp when ripe, not so much when green. They feed much upon it
in all sorts of ways, and it is so wholesome that they call it white food. It is
a good fruit and of much substance. The leaves of the tree are large, and
much serrated, like those of the papay.2

They found many caves full of a kind of sour dough, which the Chief Pilot
tasted. There is another fruit covered on the outside with prickles like a
chestnut, but each as big as six of Castille, with nearly the same taste. Its
shape is like a heart, flattened. They eat many, roast and boiled, and leave
them on the trees to ripen.

There are nuts the size of those of Castille, and appear to be almost the
same in taste. The outside is very hard and without joint, and its kernel is
not attached to the rind, so that it comes out easily and entire when opened.
It is an oily fruit. They ate and took away many of them.

They saw calabashes of Castille sown on the beach, and some red flowers
pleasant to look on, but without smell. As our people did not go inland, and
all the natives retreated into the woods, as has been said, this is all that can
be related. The soldiers said that all the trees appeared to bear fruit.

Our men were very well received by the natives, but it was not understood
why they gave us a welcome, or what was their intention. For we did not
understand them; and to this may be attributed the evil things that
happened, which might have been avoided if there had been some one to
make us understand each other.

1 A palmo is 8 inches, being a quarter of a vara, which is 32.9 inches.

2 The earliest description of the bread fruit.

Chapter VII.
How the Adelantado departed from this island, and how the murmuring began among the
soldiers by reason of faults and of not finding the land.

While the Adelantado was at this island he ordered the galeot to be repaired,
for one day, before anchoring, she was in great danger from having fouled
the bowsprit of the Capitana. He also ordered wood and water to be got on
board, the people to be embarked, and the ships to be got ready. On the 5th
of August he raised three crosses, each one in its place, and another was cut
on a tree, with the day and year. He then weighed, and made sail in search
of the islands of his first discovery. A course was shaped W.S.W., with the
wind E. varying to S.E. In this way, sometimes altering course to N.W. and
due west, they sailed for about 400 leagues.

After three or four days, the Adelantado said that on that day they would see
the land of which they were in search, news which greatly rejoiced the
people. But, looking in all directions, they neither saw land on that day nor
on many days afterwards; and for this reason the soldiers began to say
things, and to conspire because the voyage was so prolonged. There was
scarcity of food and water, for at the news of the proximity of land the
people had indulged themselves freely. Now they began to show slackness
and suspicion. It is no cause for surprise that in such enterprises those who
have to bear the blame and the responsibility should be the chief workers as
well as the chief sufferers.

On Sunday, the 20th of August, having covered the said 400 leagues, the
dawn found us close to four small and low islands, with sandy beaches, and
many palm and other trees. Together they appeared to be 8 leagues in
circumference, more or less. They are in a square, very close to each other.
From S.W. to N.E., and towards E. there are banks of sand, where there are
no means of entrance, and a point was found in the reef which goes more to
S.W. The General gave the name of “San Bernardo” to these islands, as it
was that saint’s day. He wanted to find a port among these islands, but

desisted at the request of the Vicar. It was not known whether they were
inhabited, although the people in the galeot said they had seen canoes, but
this was believed to be a mistake. The islands are in 10° 20′ S., and in
longitude 400 leagues from Lima.

Passing these four islands the wind came from S.E., which always blows,
sometimes with light showers, and thick dense cloud-masses were not
wanting. These masses were of various colours, and, strangely enough, they
formed themselves into various figures, and in contemplating them they
remained for a long space of time. Sometimes they were so fixed that they
were not dissipated during the whole day. As they were in an unknown
direction, it was thought that they were indications of land. We continued to
steer a westerly course, sometimes N.W. and S.W., always in latitudes in
accordance with the will and instructions of the General, which were not to
go higher than 12° or lower than 8°. Generally we were in 10° to 11°.

On Tuesday, the 29th of August, we sighted a low round island covered
with trees, and surrounded by a reef which rose above the water. It was
about a league in circumference, and in latitude 10° 40′ S., distant from
Lima 1,535 leagues. As it was by itself, it was named “Solitaria.” The
Adelantado ordered the two small vessels to go in shore and seek for a port,
so as to get wood, of which the Almiranta was much in need, and to see if
water could be procured, of which there was also much scarcity. They
anchored in 10 fathoms, and with loud cries told the General to stand off, as
the bottom was full of great rocks. They were going and coming with the
sounding line sometimes finding 10 fathoms, at others 100 fathoms. There
was no bottom in places, and to see the vessel among such rocks aroused
alarm. There was no want of haste to get her away into the open sea. All
round this island there are a great number of rocks, and the channel between
these rocks is to the south.

At this time the soldiers, being influenced by their privations, and wearied
from the disappointment of their hopes, formed both public and private
assemblies to murmur and talk, which was a dissolution of discipline, and
an indication of what would happen afterwards.

The Camp Master (as has been said) was somewhat violent, and he had
quarrels with many people in the ship. In fine, experience and time taught
me what should be said, and I saw what should be done with regard to his
evil behaviour and menaces. In general we said as follows: “We do not
come here to lose but to gain. The Camp Master orders things for the King’s
service, as the King desires he should order them, and we all have to obey.
Do your duty, and leave the things that do not belong to it. Avoid insults and
threats to the stick, for we will not suffer it. With so small a company so
many heads may be dispensed with. Our General is enough, for we are not
going where the usages of Flanders or of Italy are needed; nor are we naked
Indians, and for us death-dealing soldiers are not necessary; but we are
courageous and well-intentioned persons. Above all, we must watch the
General and the Camp Master, that each one may do his part, and carefully
and in detail give an account of what he may succeed in hearing; while they
conceal things in such a manner that, when asked about them, they know
nothing.” For unjust eyes have been turned upon those who are far from any
fault, and these, when they wish to defend themselves, it would be
necessary to have angels for their sureties, for there is no place for a fair
hearing.

There was little reason, and so life was passed, many saying that there was
an end of it, for that we should never find the land; that there was no
necessity for so much rule, death being certain. Others said that the Isles of
Solomon had fled away, or that the Adelantado had forgotten the place
where they were to be found, or that the sea had risen and covered them.
Others said that, to call himself a Marquis and advance his own relations, he
had taken them, with 400 pounds of biscuit, to perish in that great gulf, to
go to the bottom and fish for those wonderful pearls he had talked about.
They put forward their arguments and said one thing and another: that we
had navigated for so many days in 10°, and the islands we seek are said to
be in the same latitude, and yet they are not to be found. Either we have
passed them, or they do not exist, for by this road we shall go round the
world, or at least we shall come at last to Great Tartary. Neither the Chief
Pilot, nor the other Pilots, nor the Adelantado, know where they are taking
us to, nor where we are at present. They could easily give or take away
rewards to whom they chose, and follow their own likings.

The Pilots of the other ships said that they took their vessels on rocks and
over the land, because the place where they were painted had been rubbed
off for many days, owing to the great and little height they had navigated;
and they said other things which were for the soldiers. Also, there were
those who said that in hard times and long voyages the soldiers know their
true friends.

The Chief Pilot, against whom there were suspicions that he would never
find the sought-for land, knowing that they had passed far beyond the
longitude given by the Adelantado, and yet that he was the authority to
whom they all turned, spoke to the General with a view to consoling the
soldiers, who were so afflicted. He answered, that they had also said to him
that all would be lost. The Chief Pilot, for satisfaction on his part, said
many things in a loud voice, and concluded by saying: “Hear me, and do
not answer to what is said. Hold yourselves in the belief that my words
merit, for consider that I did not come to navigate in order that I myself
might perish.” The Captain, Don Lorenzo, then came forward with some
remarks very far from the mark, to whom the Chief Pilot answered: “Those
who do not understand the affair, why should they speak to others?” After
these discourses there were those who complained, saying among
themselves: “This business is very different from what it was supposed to
be. Here there is neither honour nor life, as we are all companions who live
in this house without doors, and without tokens of friendship.” But there did
not want those who said: “What hospitals have been founded or served by
those that desire to please God and obtain their desires? Take what is given
us with joyful faces, for this is the best way; and this being so, what is
wanting will be that which need not concern us.”

Chapter VIII.
How an island was discovered, that of the volcano was examined, and the loss of the
Almiranta.

These complaints caused much suffering to the Adelantado, making him
avoid both public and private sins, which he did as much as was in his
power, and giving an example in order to obtain peace for all. With the
beads in his hand, and without loss of a day, he ordered the “Salve” to be
raised before the image of Our Lady of Solitude, which the Chief Pilot had
brought for his own devotions. He also caused the vespers of Holy Days to
be solemnly observed, banners to be displayed, and streamers to be hoisted,
while warlike instruments were played. To practice the soldiers this was
done every afternoon, others assisting as much as they could, although it
should entail additional work.

In this state was the Capitana when the Almiranta asked the Adelantado for
a boat-load of wood, saying that, for want of fuel, they had burnt boxes, and
were using the upper works of the ship. This was granted, and on another
day the Admiral came on board the Capitana to greet the Adelantado, as
was customary. He then told the General of his necessities, and begged that
they would not part company, and with this promise they were rejoiced. He
sought for succour as regards water, saying that he only had nine jars left.
The Admiral showed much despondency, saying that the defects of his ship
were numerous, but that he was determined to die with his people, because
for that he had come. The Adelantado did what he could to cheer him, and
ordered him to make sail, saying that the islands could not be far off. The
Master represented that, owing to there being little ballast, the ship was
very crank, and for this reason she would not bear much sail; that there
were one hundred and eighty persons on board, and that he hoped he would
at least give them twenty jars of water. The Adelantado, although at that
time he had more than four hundred jars full, would not give one, for the
report seemed to him false.

With these and other misfortunes they sailed on until the 7th of September,
when, with a rather fresh S.E. breeze, the ship only had a foresail on her
without a bonnet,1 steering west. There was seen ahead a mass of dark
smoke, for which reason the Chief Pilot ordered the galeot and frigate to go
on, keeping in sight of each other, and see what land or reefs there were,
and to report by burning two lights, and two others in reply or in warning.
But they were to return before nightfall.

With this anxious doubt they continued to navigate with the care that such a
night made necessary. At 9 the Almiranta was seen, and at 11, on the port
side, there was a great and thick mass of cloud, which covered the horizon
in that direction. The sailors, and all who turned their eyes upon it, were
doubtful whether it was land. The fog raised its curtain, which was in the
form of a dense shower, and land was clearly seen, less than a league
distant. It was announced in the customary way, in a loud voice, and all
hands came out to see. The galeot made many signals to the other ships,
and, though the night was dark, they could be seen at a great distance. The
two ships answered, but no signal was seen from the other. The night was
passed praying to God to send the day. When it came, a point was seen
rather dark and rounded, being covered with trees, looking very beautiful;
but, looking round for the Almiranta, she was nowhere to be seen; on which
every one was sad and anxious, showing the feeling that it was natural they
should have. It was Mariana de Castro, the Admiral’s wife, who felt it most,
for she blamed herself, and wept continually. The General, though he
wished to do so, could not dissimulate, for all saw that his thoughts were
bitter. What may be said is, that he was always apprehensive of the loss of
this ship, for many reasons which might be given, some of which were
spoken at Saña, now at a distance of 1,085 leagues. Next day, at dawn, they
were repeated by a native woman, who mourned for the loss of a soldier, a
friend of hers, who was in the ship.

When the daylight appeared, they beheld a single pointed mountain rising
out of the sea like a sugar-loaf, all cut out, and to the S.E. another small hill.
It seemed to be distant about three leagues, being eight from the island, and
it has no port, nor any place where one could jump on to the slope. It is
quite bare, there being no trees nor anything green. There are some

crevices, two especially on the west side, and out of them as well as from
the summit of the mountain, a great quantity of sparks and fire came out
with much noise. It may be said with truth that ten volcanoes together do
not send forth such flames as this one does by itself. When it was first
sighted it was not seen to send out flames. It had a very well-formed peak;
but, a few days after we anchored at the island, it threw off its crown with a
great trembling, insomuch that, being 10 leagues distant from it where we
were anchored, we heard it, and it moved the ship. From that time forward,
every now and then, there were mighty thunderings within the mountain at
the time that the flames burst forth; and when they finished, there was so
much and such dense smoke, that it seemed to cover the whole concave of
the first heaven.2

The Adelantado gave orders to the frigate to sail round the volcano, which
was to the west, to see if perchance the Almiranta was on the other side of
it, and was becalmed under the land, and then to proceed in the direction of
the island. He also ordered the soldiers to be confessed, and, to set an
example, he himself confessed in public. The Vicar also persuaded them,
for they were about to visit an unknown land, where enemies and dangers
would not be wanting.

1 Piece of canvas laced to the foot of the mainsail and foresail.

2 This is the island of Tinakula, an active volcano rising 3,000 feet above the sea in a most
perfectly shaped cone, to the north of the island of Santa Cruz. The volcano is still in full activity. It
is in lat. 10° 24´ S., long. 165° 45´ W.

Chapter IX.
How a great number of canoes came out to the ships from the land; gives an account of
them and of the natives, and of the rest that took place until they went into port.

Being near this island, there came out from it a large canoe with a sail, and
behind it a fleet of fifty smaller canoes, the people in them calling to the
ships with shouts and waving of hands, our men, though doubtfully, calling
in return. They arrived. The natives in them were of a black colour; some of
them tawny, with frizzled hair; many of them having it white, red, and of
other colours. It certainly must have been dyed, and half of it removed from
the head in some, and there were other differences. They were all naked.
Their teeth were dyed red. Part of their bodies was covered with woven
stuff, and all were painted with lines blacker than their own colour, and they
had lines on their faces and bodies. They had many turns of a black reed
round their arms, and many strings of very small beads of bone and fish’s
teeth round their necks, and many plates of mother-of-pearl, small and
great, hanging from various parts. The canoes were small, and some came
fastened together, two and two, with frames rather high, as counterpoises,
like those of the former islands. Their arms were bows, with arrows having
very sharp points of toasted wood, and others with bone harpoon-shaped
points. Some were feathered, with the point anointed, and carried in
quivers. The ointment appeared to be from a herb. Although they do little
harm, they carry stones, clubs of heavy wood, which are their swords, and
darts of stout wood, with three rows of harpoons, in length more than a
palmo1 to the points. They carried from a shoulder-belt a kind of bag, well
worked, and full of biscuits, made from a certain root, which they were all
eating as they came along, and readily gave away some of it. When the
Adelantado saw their colour, he took them for the people he was in search
of, and said: “This is such and such an island or land.” He spoke to them in
the language he had learnt during his first voyage, but they never
understood him, nor did he understand them.

They went on to look at the ships, and all went chattering round them; but
they would not come on board, though we tried to persuade them. On the
contrary, after consulting, they took their arms quickly, apparently incited
by a tall and lean old native who was in the front, and without more ado
they drew their bows ready to shoot. The old man addressed them, the word
was passed from one to the other, and for some time there was indecision;
but, finally, their resolution was formed, and, giving a shout, they shot off
all their bows, and sent many arrows into the sails and on other parts of the
ship, without doing any other harm. Seeing this, orders were given to the
soldiers, who were ready, to fire their arquebuses. Some were killed, many
others were wounded, and they all fled in great terror. They were followed
in the boat by four arquebusiers, and overtaken. Two jumped into the water
to save their lives, who were spared, and the rest, jumping out on the beach,
hid themselves among the trees.

We stood off and on, seeking for a port, which all so much desired, with the
patience taught by the severe work they had gone through, understanding
that a landing would bring us certain refreshment. The frigate came back
without having seen the Almiranta, which aroused our grief and fear afresh,
and all three vessels anchored at the mouth of a bay, under the shelter of
some rocks. The bottom was dangerous, and with the rising tide the galeot
got adrift at about 10 in the evening. Seeing the danger of driving on the
rocks, the General came out to give courage to the men, and raise the
anchors. The noise and hurry was great, the danger being imminent, and the
night time made it appear greater than it was. The negligence of the soldiers
was reprehensible, and there were not wanting those who cried out: “The
services which merit approval from the King are neither these cares nor
want of care. Let the brave Peruvians go below, and let those who get the
credit do the work. This ship must be looked after among them, for it is for
their credit, and to save their own lives.” They did not want to work, and
had no shame; but, without their help, God was served by our getting up the
anchors. Having made sail, the ship got out into the open sea, though not
without some difficulty, for the waves came on board and made her heel
over.

At dawn the Adelantado went on board the galeot to seek for a port; and the
Chief Pilot found one, though small. The volcano bore N.W. The port was
sheltered to the S.E., and had 12 fathoms of depth, a village, a river, fuel
and timber, and fresh air. The Adelantado came back without having found
a port, and the ships entered the bay. As it was late they anchored under a
point. The Sergeant landed with twelve arquebusiers to secure a position.
The natives of the village came out, and shot off arrows with such force,
that our men were obliged to take refuge in a hut. Two volleys were fired
from the ship, which put the natives to flight, and the boat was sent for the
men. All that night the ships were at sea, and the next day the Adelantado
found a harbour sheltered from all winds, where he anchored in 15 fathoms,
and near the shore, where there were villages and a river. All night the noise
of music and dancing was heard, striking drums and tambourines of hollow
wood, at which the natives passed their time.

1 8.346 inches.

Chapter X.
How the natives came to see the ships; how they found another better port; of the guazabra
that the natives gave; and what happened until the settlement was formed.

Having anchored in the place already mentioned, many natives came to see
the ships and our people. Most of them had red flowers in their hair and in
their nostrils, and some of them were persuaded by our people to come on
board the ships, leaving their arms in the canoes. Among them there came a
man of fine presence and tawny-coloured skin, with plumes on his head of
blue, yellow, and red, and in his hand a bow, with arrows pointed with
carved bone. On either side of him were two natives, with more authority
than the rest. We understood this man to be a personage, both because he
appeared to be greater than the others, and because of the respect with
which he was treated. Presently he came forward, and asked by signs who
was our chief. The Adelantado received him with much love, and, taking
him by the hand, let him know who he was. He said that his name was
Malope, and the Adelantado said that his was Mendaña. Malope
understood, and said that henceforward his name should be Mendaña, and
that Mendaña’s name should be Malope. When this exchange of names had
been effected, he showed that he put great value on it, and when anyone
called him Malope he said no, that his name was Mendaña; and pointing
with his finger to the Adelantado, he said that was Malope.

He also said that he was called Jauriqui: that name appearing to mean chief
or captain. The Adelantado dressed him in a shirt, and gave him a few trifles
of little value. To other natives the soldiers gave feathers, little bells, glass
beads, bits of cloth and cotton, and even playing-cards, all which they put
round their necks. They taught the natives to say “friends,” and to make a
cross with two fingers, embracing them in token of peace, all which they
did learn and constantly practised. They showed them looking-glasses, and
with razors they shaved their heads and chins, and with scissors they cut
their finger and toe-nails, at all which they rejoiced and were astonished;

but they begged hard for the razors and scissors. They also found out what
was under the men’s clothes, and, being undeceived, they played monkey
tricks, such as those used by the natives of the first islands.

This continued for four days, and they came and went, and brought what
food they had. One day Malope came, for he was the one whose visits were
most frequent, and who showed most friendship, the ships being anchored
near his village. The natives assembled with fifty canoes, in which they had
their arms concealed, all waiting for Malope, who was on board the
Capitana. They all fled because they saw a soldier take up an arquebus, and
made for the shore, our people following them. On the beach there was
another crowd of people, who received them with joy, and they had a great
consultation. The soldiers were disappointed at such signs of peace, and
would have preferred that they should have given occasion to break the
peace and make war.

On that same afternoon the natives took all they possessed in the nearest
houses, and retreated to the village of Malope. On the following night there
were great fires on the other side of the bay, lasting nearly until morning,
which seemed to be a signal for war; and this was confirmed when canoes
were seen going in great haste from one village to another, as if they were
warning or giving notice of something.

Next morning a boat was sent from the galeot to take in water at an adjacent
stream. While they were thus employed, some concealed natives shouted
and fired off arrows, which wounded three of our men. They followed down
to the boat, where they were repulsed by the arquebusiers. The wounded
were attended to, and the Adelantado at once ordered the Camp Master to
land with thirty men, and to do all the harm they could with fire and sword.
The natives stood their ground, when five were killed, and the rest fled. Our
people retreated, and, embarking, came back to the ships, having cut down
palm trees and burnt some huts and canoes. They brought away three pigs,
which they killed.

On the same day the Adelantado sent the Captain, Don Lorenzo, in the
frigate, with twenty soldiers and seamen, to seek for the Almiranta, with

instructions to examine all the coast that was in sight, and to return to the
place where they anchored on the first night of seeing the land. Thence he
was to steer W. and N.W., which was the direction the Almiranta might
have taken, beyond the route taken by the Capitana, and he was to see
whether anything could be found in that direction.

He also ordered the Camp Master to rise early, and go quickly with forty
soldiers to some huts which were near a hill, to punish the natives for
having hit our men with arrows, in order that, by means of the chastisement
inflicted on them, it might have the effect of preventing greater evils. He
arrived without alarming the natives, occupied the paths, surrounded the
houses, and set them on fire. Seven natives who were inside, seeing the fire
and the people, defended themselves like brave men, and attacked our
soldiers without regard for their own lives. Six were killed, and the other
escaped by running, but was badly wounded. The Camp Master came back
to the ship with seven wounded men and five dead pigs.

In the afternoon Malope came to the beach, for the houses and canoes that
had been burnt belonged to him. In a loud voice, he cried to the Adelantado
by the name of Malope, saying: “Malope! Malope!” and beating on his own
breast, saying: “Mendaña, Mendaña!” In this way he made his complaint,
showing the harm they had done him by pointing with his finger. He also
made signs that his people had not shot arrows at our men, but that the
aggressors came from the other side of the bay. He strung his bow,
intending that we should all go against them, and that his people would help
us in taking vengeance. The Adelantado called him with the intention of
explaining matters; but he did not come. He went away, returning on
another day, and friendship was restored.

On the day of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist, they made sail from this
port, steering for another which was better and more convenient, at a
distance of half a league, and in the same bay. While altering our berth, the
Captain, Don Lorenzo, came back with the news that in sailing round the
island he had found another bay not less good than the one in which we
were, and with more people and canoes; also, that further on he saw two
fair-sized islands, near the large island, which were thickly peopled. To the

S.E., at a distance of 8 leagues, he saw another island; 9 or 10 leagues to
E.N.E. from where we hove to for the night when we first sighted land, he
came on three islands, one 7 leagues round and the two others very small.
They were all inhabited by brown people of a clear colour, covered with
palm trees; and many reefs ran out to W.N.W., with openings and channels,
of which no end was seen.1 No sign whatever was seen of the ship of which
they were in search.

We anchored in the second port, and the natives passed the whole night in
shouting, as if they were bull-fighting or having games, and very clearly we
heard the word “amigo,” and presently shouts. In this and making fires the
night was passed. When morning dawned, a troop of about five hundred
natives came to the beach, all with their weapons in their hands, menacing
and hurling arrows, darts, and stones at the ships in hostile fashion. Seeing
that their missiles did not reach, some of them advanced into the water up to
their breasts, while others began to swim; in short, all were equal in
willingness, diligence, and noise. They came so near that, grappling with
the buoys of the ships, they went on shore with them. Seeing their audacity,
the Adelantado ordered Captain Lorenzo, his brother-in-law, to take fifteen
soldiers in the boat, and to skirmish with them. Those with shields protected
the arquebusiers and rowers, so that only two were hit, but there would have
been more if it had not been for the shields, which were passed from place
to place. The natives fought in very scattered formation and by rushes, but
showed themselves to be valorous, so that it was understood that we had
met with a people who knew well how to defend their homes. But this only
lasted during the time that our arms did not do the harm that they did and
saw. As soon as they were undeceived by the death of two or three, and
several wounded, they retreated from the beach, and, abandoning their
aggressive attitude, took the road to their homes, carrying the dead and
wounded, creeping with the speed that we gave them into the woods. They
carried the wounded in their arms, and helped others to walk, leaving the
trail of their own blood where they went.

The Captain, Don Lorenzo, although he had no orders to land, followed the
natives with his men, and the Camp Master, who was watching everything
from the ship, shouted that the men were being placed in risk, and that if he

was in another place he would punish one who assumed a licence that had
not been given to him. Doña Isabel felt this very much, and wished it to be
understood that, being her brother, for him there was no limit of licence in
things military. The Camp Master landed with thirty soldiers, and went in
pursuit of the natives, but as he would not wait, he had nothing to report.

It may be looked upon as certain that the Camp Master had said to the
Captain, Don Lorenzo, that if he would not obey he was not fit to be a
Captain; that he must pull up and know his duty, and that there were not
wanting those who would teach him. When this came to the knowledge of
Doña Isabel, she said things which were very deeply felt by the Camp
Master; who did not come back, but went alone to pass the night at one of
the villages of the natives which was near, and all that night silence was
well kept.

1 Nupani, Nukapu, and several other small reef islands north of Santa Cruz.

Chapter XI.
How they began to treat of a settlement, and what passed in forming it, and the complaints
of the soldiers.

The following day, the Camp Master being on shore, he proposed to the
soldiers to clear a place which was close to a large stream, and to found a
settlement. The soldiers were not pleased with the place, which appeared to
be unhealthy, and for this reason some of the married men went on board to
inform the Adelantado of the determination of the Camp Master, and to ask
leave to go on shore and settle in one of the native villages, where the
houses were ready built and the place already used. Others represented that
there was no better place than the one selected, and that if the natives had
not settled there, it was a token of their bad disposition. If not, they could
do what seemed best.

The Adelantado agreed to this, and went on shore. As the unmarried men
were of the same opinion as the Camp Master, they at once got out axes,
wood knives, and spades, and began to cut down trees with smooth trunks,
lofty and tufted, but with very diverse leaves. The Adelantado was not at all
pleased at the decision, for it was his intention to form the settlement on a
bare point near the entrance of the bay, where he went with the Camp
Master and the soldiers. All came with the opinion that the land was like
Andalusia, that the natives had many farms, and for a settlement that the
place was as good as it was agreeable.

The soldiers cut down the trees with good will, brought poles with which
they built huts, and branches of palms to roof them. Their former work and
troubles, and the gift they had left behind, were forgotten, as well as the
small store they then had. They did not remember their country, nor that
they had left the province of Peru, so rich and extensive, where there is no
man who is poor in hopes. They would overcome all the difficulties of
which they were told, and which were before their eyes, for their God and
their King. The spirit and valour of Spaniards could do all, for neither

labour nor ill fortune could daunt them, nor could dangers, however terrible
and fearful they might be. So they built their houses and set up their tents,
each one doing the best he could, as a beginning of what they would have to
perform in parts where they would live and end with honour and fame. The
Devil was able to work so well with some of them, that they kept in mind
the delights of Lima; and this sufficed to rob the rest of their lofty thoughts,
and thus to abate that constancy which it is necessary to preserve and
maintain in such affairs.

The Adelantado did not disembark, but gave his orders for the good
government of his people from the ship. But the soldiers, to whom a limit to
what they are permitted to do seldom or ever seems good, began to
complain of an order which the Adelantado had given. It had reference to
the good treatment of the natives, their houses and property. Those were not
wanting who said that they did not want to have a division but a moderate
profit, that it was sufficient that they had been brought to that coast, and that
all belonged to them. In other ways they noted and reminded themselves of
what they had spent and left behind, and of what they had suffered, and of
their hopes. Hence complaints arose, and too surely they began to lose their
love and loyalty point by point.

Chapter XII.
In which a particular account is given of this bay, the natives, the port, the villages and
food, with what else was seen.

This bay, to which the Adelantado gave the name of “Graciosa,” for so it is,
has a circuit of 40½ leagues. It runs N.N.E. and S.S.W., and is at the
western end of the island, on its north side, and south of the volcano. Its
mouth is half a league wide, and there is a reef on the east side, but the
entrance is very open. The bay is formed by an island to the westward,
which is very fertile and well peopled, both on the shore and inland. We
called it our garden, “Huerta.”1 It is separated from the large island by a
short space, full of rocks and reefs, with some small channels, so that only
boats and canoes can pass. The port is at the bottom of the bay, where there
is a very copious stream of clear and excellent water, which, at the distance
of a musket shot, runs under some rocks and so enters the sea. The
settlement was formed on the banks of this stream and of the sea. To the
east of the stream, at the distance of an arquebus shot, there is a moderate-
sized river. The port is in 10° 20′ S., and 1,850 leagues from Lima. There
are breezes from the S.E., which do little harm. The bottom is mud, with 40,
30, and 20 fathoms, and anchorage close to the shore. In all this bay there is
no place for a ship to anchor except in the port, and in the first, which we
left because it was small. Over all the rest there is foul ground owing to
rocks. There is another spring on a beach of clean sand, of excellent water,
and a river and stream, which flow near the houses of Malope, and there
enter the sea.

In this country there are many pigs, which they roast whole over stones.
There are fowls like those of Castille, many of them white. They fly up into
the trees and breed there; also partridges, like those of Castille, or of
another kind very like them.

There are large wild pigeons, grey, with white necks, small doves, herons,
black and white, ducks, swallows, and other birds which I do not know. Of

reptiles I only saw some black lizards, and ants, but no mosquitos: a new
thing in such a low latitude.

There are many kinds of fish. The natives fish with three-pronged poles
which they have, large, and many of them. The line appears to be of fibre,
with floats of light wood, and sinkers of stone.

They have many plantains, of seven or eight kinds. Some are reddish, and
as broad as the width of a hand; others of the same colour, but very small
and tender, even when ripe. Some have the rind green, and the pulp not so
green. There are others very large, twisted with one turn, which are of a
delicious taste and smell. Each bunch has many plantains.

There are great numbers of cocoa-nut trees and very large sweet canes.
There are also almonds with three sides, and the pulp of each one contains
as much as four almonds of Castille, the taste being delicious. There are
some very beautiful pines of the size of a man’s head, with the kernels the
size of a Spanish almond. The trees on which they grow have few leaves,
and those they have are large. There is another kind of very good nuts,
which grow in very large and long bunches on small trees with round
leaves, and each one, with its rind, will be of the size and shape of a date.
There is also the large fruit which we praised much at the first islands, and
the nuts and chestnuts like the others. There is another fruit which they
called a pippin. It grows on a tall and large tree, and another kind which is
not so good, the way of growing being like that of pears. As we did not go
all over the land, nor were there all the year round, it is not known what
other fruits there may be.

There are three or four kinds of roots, all in abundance, which form their
bread, and they eat them roast or boiled. One of them has a sweet taste, the
other two prick a little when eaten. A soldier ate one raw, from which a
great nausea resulted, but he was none the worse. Of these roots the natives
make a great quantity of biscuits, dried either in the sun or by fire. They
keep them in baskets of palm leaves. This food is sustaining. It has the
drawback of being rather heating, but much is eaten of it, and of the roots
roasted and boiled, and in pots.

There is plenty of fibre, which throughout the east is used as cord.

There are large and red amaranths, greens, and a sort of calabash, plenty of
sweet basil with a very strong smell, and several kinds of red flowers
beautiful to look at, which the natives are very fond of. They have no smell.
They train them on small trees, and have them in small pots near their
houses.

There is plenty of ginger, which grows without being sown. There is also a
great quantity of a tall branching shrub called indigo, from which the indigo
dye is made. There are aloe trees, much demajagua,2 from which they make
their cords and nets, as well as from the cocoa-nuts, though not so much.

There are shells like the curious ones that are brought from China, and pearl
oyster-shells, some large and others small.

In our settlement, on the banks of the stream, there was a tree which the
natives wound in the trunk, and there comes out a liquor of a sweet smell,
which is very like turpentine, and with this, or another mixed with it, they
fill their calabashes. The natives make bags and purses of palm very well
worked, and large sheets or mats which serve as sails for their canoes. They
weave a fabric—I do not know from what it is woven—on some small
looms they make, which serve for mantles, with which the women are
clothed.

I have already said that the natives are black and tawny, and they are like
the people we have among ourselves of those colours. They make great use
of a root which is also used in the East Indies, called betel, and in the
Philippines buhio. It is a cordate-shaped leaf of the size of a hand, more or
less, its smell, taste, and colour like a clove. They put lime with it,
apparently got from shells, and fruit the size of acorns, which grows on wild
palms. They spit out the first chewing, and keep the pulp that is left. It is
well spoken of as wholesome, and strengthening to the stomach, as well as
good for the teeth.

Their villages consist of twenty houses, more or less, and they build them
round, of boards one over the other, on a single frame of stout wood. They
have two lofts, to which they ascend by ladders, with roofs of interlaced
palms, like hen lofts in Castille. They are all open, half the height of a man,
and surrounded by a wall of loose stones, with an opening instead of a door.
The eaves do not reach to the boards of the roof, and serve as a shelter. In
each village there is a long house, used as an oracle, with human figures in
half relief, badly carved, and another long house, which appeared to be for
the community. In the centre of them there were barbacoas of cane. There
are ten or twelve of these villages on the sea shore, and in each one or two
wells, curiously lined with stones, with steps such as are in use among us,
by which they go down, and the opening has its covering of boards. On the
shore there are some yards encircled by stones where, when the sea rises,
they fish with a certain contrivance, having a pole worked like a pump-
handle.

They have some large and beautiful canoes, with which they navigate to a
distance, for the small ones only serve to go for short distances from their
homes. They are flat-bottomed, made of a single tree from stem to stern.
They have their hatchway in the middle, out of which they take the water
which comes in by the mast. They fix a frame of crossed sticks, very
securely fastened with cords, from which comes an outrigger with a cross
plank, which steadies the canoe, and prevents it from capsizing. In this way
one such vessel will serve for thirty or more men with their things. The sail
is large, and made of matting, wide above and narrow below. The canoes
are good sailers and weatherly. Our frigate succeeded in getting one, and
hoisted her up, under the bowsprit.

They have their cultivated patches, and fruit gardens well ordered. The soil
is black, spongy, and loose. The parts that are sown are first well cleared.
The temperature is the same as that of other lands in the same latitude.
There was some thunder and lightning, and many showers, but not much
wind.

The Adelantado gave the name of Santa Cruz to the island. It appeared to
have a circumference of 100 leagues. All the part which I saw runs almost

east and west. It is well covered with trees. The land is not very high,
though there are hills, ravines, and some beds of reeds. It is clear of rocks,
and those that do exist are close to the land. It is well peopled all along the
sea shore; but I cannot give an account of the interior, as I never explored it.

1 In lat. 10° 40′ S., long. 165° 45′ 30″ W.
2 Not a Spanish word.

Chapter XIII.
How the trouble among the soldiers began with a paper and signatures; what the
Adelantado said on the subject to certain soldiers; of some complaints that were made, and
some disgraceful things that occurred.

As has been said, the Adelantado did not land because no house had been
built for him. So that he was in the ship, while the Camp Master was on
shore and had charge of the ordering of things there. Our people began to
seek for food, and whenever a leader with twelve or fifteen soldiers went to
the villages of the natives (which were numerous and near our settlement),
or to their cultivated patches, they always came back with from six to
twelve pigs, many cocoa nuts and plantains, and everything else that the
island supplies. They found the natives submissive and inclined to peace;
for though it is true that at first they took to flight, afterwards they remained
quietly in their houses, with their wives and children. They themselves
brought supplies to near the camp. They were not allowed to enter, lest they
should see how small were our numbers. The same was done by them as
regards the ship, and their solicitude seemed to show that they were friends.

Malope also conducted himself in the same way, and from the goodwill that
was shown by all, it seemed to us that the friendship with them was firmly
established. It arrived at such a pitch that the Captain Don Lorenzo was able
to make an agreement with the natives that they would come to help us to
build the houses, praying that their own might be left to them, and showing
much feeling when they were pulled down. One day, when they came the
Vicar went out to them, and many with him. He made a cross with two
poles, ordering all present to show reverence to it. Presently the natives did
the same, and went with it to their village in procession.

Things being in this condition, there began to arise among the soldiers
opinions very different from those of the Adelantado. They said that the
land was wretched and very poor, that there was nothing in all the country,
and that the position of the settlement was bad. They were dissatisfied with

everything. What yesterday appeared very good to them now seemed very
bad; guided by their fancies, and forgetful of the obligations of those who
follow the banner of their King. At last a document was prepared with
several signatures, in which the Adelantado was asked to take them away
from that place and find a better one for them, or to take them to the islands
he had talked about. The Adelantado had notice of the paper and signatures,
through the gossip and the post which the Devil always has ready to carry
tales. He fell ill at the trouble of seeing such a bad beginning to what he had
hoped would have a good end. Seeing, however, into what disorder things
were falling, he went on shore. Meeting one of those who had signed the
paper, he said: “Is your worship a ringleader of the party? Do you not know
that it is little less than mutiny to sign that paper?” The man replied, with
the paper in his hand: “Here is what we want, and if anything else has been
said it is a lie.” A soldier put forth another argument, and the Adelantado
said: “Silence, for you have cause to hold your tongues.” He then went on
board again, and ordered the Pilot of the galeot to go on shore, where he
was received by certain of the soldiers. It is reported that he said to them
that they should leave that land, and that in less than thirty days he would
take them to a better one.

In the midst of these troubles our church was built, for which there was a
charitable promise in the future of 10,000 ducats; and each day the priest
said mass in it.

They had to seek for food, and they cut much fibre to make ropes,
collecting all they could get from the natives. Meanwhile the signing of the
paper proceeded, and it was considered certain that there would be eighty
signatures. Those who asked men to sign did not forget to make the most of
the island, and to remind them of their hardships and hard work. Some of
the men answered that there was the need to work everywhere, and that the
work in that land was of a kind which was quite suitable to them.

The deaths of the natives took place in the following way. One of them,
being in friendship with us, a soldier shot him in the neck, of which wound
he presently died. The other, being in conversation, four soldiers called him
apart, and killed him with stabs. These things were done with the object of

inducing the natives to make war upon us, and thus produce a scarcity of
provisions, so as to make it the desire of all to leave the island. Also it was
thought that the natives attacking, the camp would have to be strengthened,
the Adelantado would be applied to for the artillery, and he being disarmed
they would remain strong. It was said that they wanted to kill some of us, I
know not who, but certain persons were followed, with the object of taking
their offices and giving them to friends of the disaffected. It was also said
that it was intended to give a false alarm at night, and, when those who
were loyal to the Adelantado came out of their houses, to set upon them.

It was made public that, one night, a troop of armed malcontents came to
enter a house where some loyal men were watching, and after they had
pointed arquebuses at their breasts, they turned back and went into a tent.
There they tried the beds, and, not finding the owners in them, who from
fear had fled into the woods, they only terrified their wives. At another
place they tried the place in a bed by driving a sword into it, and not feeling
anything they went away. This was related by the people themselves. But as
the stories wanted evidence, nothing was done. I say myself that a soldier
said to me that others had asked him whether he wished to return to Peru;
that he had answered in the affirmative, and seeing what his wishes were,
they asked him to sign the paper they showed him, to be presented to the
Adelantado. As soon as he had signed they said to him: “Now that you have
signed you must have your weapons ready, and if you see the Adelantado
and the Camp Master opposed, take the side of the Camp Master, and act
like a good soldier. Point with your arquebus and fire. You are not told to
kill unless,” etc. The same thing was said on another occasion: “It is a pity,
for at night I am disturbed lest they should not kill as many men as they
want to kill.”

Among the various proposals of the malcontents there was one that they
should make gimlet holes in the ships, because it was not desirable that
news should be taken to Peru, for the islands would not be found, even if
search was made for them they would not be discovered, and thus either all
would go or none. To this a well-intentioned person answered that the
coming had been for the good of the people of those parts, and that if the
King was not informed, so that succour might be sent, the service could not

be performed. This honourable answer so enraged the other that he raised
his arm in anger, and said that “they would not be converted, a flock of
sheep, and as they have been until now, so they will continue to be
henceforward; but we are not going to die here when we can be saved.” The
other, continuing the conversation, said: “I should be fortunate if the Lord
granted that I should be the means of one soul being saved; how much more
when there are so many here to be saved.” This plan of returning to Peru
was so fixed in their minds, that they did not even like the Chief Pilot to go
out to sea on the important business of his calling; saying, that if he went
with the sailors he would not come back again. This had such an effect on
the mind of the Adelantado, that he had all the sails unbent, and put them
under guard. This was not the only false testimony that was borne; for
another lie was told of another person. It was a small thing to take life, so
long as they could gain their ends. But it was seen by experience that
attempts against truth and innocence profit little, because the author of them
is soon discredited. I can well say that the harm they intended me has been
pardoned. A friend said to one of them: “Is your worship one of those who
wish to leave this land?” The reply was: “What can we do here?” The other
answered: “What we came to do! and if all others went away, I should
remain to do my duty; and the friend who should deny this ought to be
answered, without further ado, with a dagger in his blood.”

This confused time was good for each one to declare his good will if he had
it. Discontented and vacillating soldiers, when they saw no firmness, felt
that the door was open for them to try the minds of others, and find out who
was resolved and who was not. One said in public: “the Camp Master is my
cock; all are afraid of him. What he orders is obeyed. Now things are
ripening. Before long we shall see something, and before long we shall
have liberty.” It was also said that the clothes of Doña Isabel were intended
to last two years. Another said that he might think himself fortunate who
could take his wife by the hand. Another said: “Such and such could stay,
but we intend to go, let it give pain to whom it might pain, for in my
kingdom I may rule.” Such like nonsense would lead to death. It was also
said: “We carry such a one as pilot, who is not known to the world. He will
take us to the deserts of Chile, and with that we shall be contented, and we
will go to Potosi.” In short, each word that was said was mutinous and

insubordinate. Well was this tower of confusion built up over the ashes of
vindictiveness, vanity, and disordered ambition and avarice, the pests of
such an enterprise. This it is to want understanding and prudence. Will it not
bring ruin? Further on we shall see.

Chapter XIV.
How the Adelantado went on shore, and what happened, and what he said to the Camp
Master; and the transaction between the Vicar and the Chief Pilot.

Seeing that there was so much disorder, the Adelantado determined to go on
shore, where he met several soldiers with swords in their hands. He asked
them why they carried them so, and one replied that it was because there
was war. The Camp Master came to the Adelantado, and said: “It is well
that your Lordship has come. It seems to me that these bellicose men go and
come with complaints, and refer me to your Lordship; and if your Lordship
does not apply a remedy, all those will be found some morning hanging
from a tree”; and he pointed with his finger. To this the Adelantado
answered with great patience, and showing much sorrow. The Camp Master
replied: “They are rascals who would not dare to take a crumb from a cat.
Apart from your Lordship, whom I hold to be above my head (this with his
hat in his hand), I do not care for any of them, from the smallest to the
biggest, and I look upon them as the dirt under my feet, and none of them
merits notice except myself, for I am a gentleman. All who are here, except
your Lordship, want to go away and leave this land, but I must obey and
serve your Lordship; God knows that if it had not been for me the honour of
your Lordship would have been in the dust; and last night they would have
killed all those who were in two of the houses if I had not prevented them.
One is the house of such an one, and as to the other I will keep silence.”
They told me that he said more. I am not any longer informed about it. They
can do what they like. On this day a soldier took the liberty to address the
General. The Camp Master was present, and he quarrelled with the man.
The Adelantado, seeing this, and considering the liberties that had been
taken on other days, said: “Now they lose respect for me.” The man was
respectable, and was on the side and held the views of his chief, and would
have stood by him, and for the honour of the King. But the Adelantado took
him by the arm, and said: “This is not the time!”

The General paid several visits to the camp, to see if his presence would
smooth matters. One day he met the Camp Master, and said to him: “For all
that is happening the fault is your worship’s, for you give the soldiers
wings, and they suffer misrepresentation.” The Camp Master answered:
“The false statements are on board the ship, and I show no favour to the
soldiers, but I make them respect your Lordship and obey you as governor.”

On another occasion the Camp Master took the hand of the Adelantado, and
complained of what Doña Isabel had said of him. The Adelantado was more
annoyed this time than on others. The Camp Master went away, and the
Adelantado went to the corps du garde. He laid down on a chest, and
showed much feeling. They had to help him to raise his feet on to it.
Presently, the Chief Pilot and some others came, saying that he should not
be troubled, and that all were his servants and would follow him. Having
rested a little, he went on board, and repeated what he had said to the Camp
Master. With arms in his hand the General came for me, and told me, that
the Camp Master had said also what a thing it was not to have come
provided, as was reasonable, and they had deceived him in not having
brought two hundred axes and three hundred wood knives; for they had
come to a land where neither God nor the King would be served by their
arrival, and if this people were taken to another part it would be a great
advantage. These things about the Camp Master I relate partly from the
reports of others, for I do not myself remember them all very well.

The next time the Adelantado went on shore was to arrange and mark out
with the Camp Master a site for a stockade to be used as a fort. Touching
this, and the ground for sowing, and other matters relating to the
administration of the settlement, he had to give his attention and to hear
much folly. There were questions of entails, titles, relationships, and
ownerships; such demands, replies and settlements; such wasting of time
and breaking of heads. In fine, they did not trust each other. On this day two
arquebusiers left the camp, and the ball of one of them went whizzing over
the Chief Pilot, who was on board the Capitana. The other ball passed over
the frigate, and I know not at what birds they were aiming.

On the following night the Chief Pilot was keeping watch, and at dawn Don
Diego Barreto came in a canoe to speak to his brother-in-law. Having
spoken to him, he said to me that things had come to such a pass in the
camp that it did not promise less than his death, and the deaths of his
brothers and brother-in-law, with all those who remained true to their duty.
At this time the Camp Master was saying on shore, “Arm! Arm!” The Chief
Pilot ordered that the Constable should fire off a piece that was pointed at
the village, sending the ball in the air, to terrify the natives, or at least to let
them understand that we did not sleep without a dog. The noise of all
ceased, and that of one voice sounded, saying that the General should send
them powder and cord. We were deaf for the time, but at dawn we sent them
what they asked for; asking at the same time the cause of the disturbance.
The answer was that the branches of trees rubbed against the posts in one
part of the camp, and, thinking it was the natives, they had sounded to arms.

On the same day the Vicar went on shore to say Mass, according to his
custom; for he also still lived on board, there being no house for him in the
camp. When he returned in the afternoon, he said to the Chief Pilot: “Those
people will go without fail.” The Chief Pilot asked where they would go.
The Vicar replied, “I only know what I say;” and the Pilot said: “What
sailors have they to take them? Will they kill us, or use force?” The Vicar
said Yes; that all were determined to do so. He asked the Chief Pilot to
procure that the soldiers should be appeased, for if they should go the
natives will be the losers. He shrugged his shoulders, saying that with very
good will he would spend four years there, teaching the natives. The Pilot
answered: “A month has not even passed since we arrived. How can there
be so little firmness in honourable men?”

Chapter XV.
How the Chief Pilot asked leave to go, in the name of the General, to speak to the soldiers
on shore, and what passed between them.

The next day, being a Friday, the Chief Pilot, seeing the determination of
the men in the camp, from what the Vicar had said, and the illness and low
spirits of the Adelantado, asked permission to go on shore and speak to the
soldiers in his name. The Adelantado answered: “I know not whether those
people will listen to anything in my favour and that of the land, being so
determined, and having declared that they would have their own way.” The
Pilot went to him a second time, and at last he consented. So the Chief Pilot
went on shore, and the first person he met, with a scornful gesture, and his
head turned derisively, said: “Are you ordered to go with a report to Peru?
Now is the time to take my letters.” Then a soldier, who was a friend to the
Adelantado, came to the Pilot, and said: “Things look very bad; I know not
what will happen.” Another said: “Though I wish to see you proceeding
with the enterprise, I am very sorry to see you here, because of the menaces
with which you will be received.”

On going further into the camp, many soldiers came to him. Some were
saying: “Where have you brought us to? What place is this whence no man
goes, and to which no man will return? Even if notice was sent, people
would only come to take gold, silver, pearls, or other things of value, and
these are not here. The Adelantado is not to send notice, nor will all of us,
or any of us, consent to it.”

Others said: “We did not come to sow: for that purpose there is plenty of
land in Peru; that is not the way to follow the service of God or of the King.
We have obligations to our own people, not to these savages. These are not
the islands the Adelantado told us of, nor will we remain here. Embark us
and take us to seek those other islands, or take us to Peru or some part
where there are Christians.” Resolute words of people without a master! Of
these and other like things one and the other talked, in the direction whither

their desires guided them, or rather drove them, without attending to
whether the things they wanted were profitable or harmful. For mutineers
have their wills so unrestrained that they have no bridle to check them,
though the words spoken to them may be words of truth.

The Chief Pilot enquired for the reasons which made them think that the
land was bad, to which they answered that it yielded next to nothing. On
this he asked them what they had left in Peru, and what they had brought
from there? and what they sought for to pass this life, unless it was money
to buy a house and sustenance: a thing which few succeed in doing until
late, most men passing their lives in hopes; that the present is good for
working, without knowing what may come after, or what may be
discovered. They said that when that time came twenty years would have
passed away, and they would be old. The Pilot said to them that according
to that, they ought to know how to find cities, vineyards, and gardens; to
enter a house ready furnished, with the tables spread, and to make the
owners give up their property and go into servitude; or they should know
how to find mountains, valleys, and plains of emeralds, rubies, and
diamonds, ready to be loaded and taken away. It should be remembered that
all the provinces in the world had their beginnings; that Seville, Rome, and
Venice, and the other cities of the world, were once forests or bare plains;
and that it had cost the inhabitants what great things cost to create them,
that their successors might enjoy the fruits of their labours, as they do now
enjoy them. “What I understand is that you want others to have worked that
you may rest, without remembering that all have to work, though the first
workers may have made the beginnings.”

But they looked upon the Chief Pilot with suspicion, and they gave for a
reason that it was he who was to go with the news, and he therefore
favoured the settlement of this land that he might remain in the other. He
asked them what riches they had seen him take that they thought this of
him; that he it was who risked most, having to go for their good to discover
routes over unknown seas; besides the labour he had to go through, to look
out for a rock at night, and to complete calculations.

He further addressed them as follows:—“Gentlemen, who is it that deceives
you and makes you discontented? What is the bad conception which makes
you think that you can all leave this place with the ease that you promise
yourselves? Tell me who they are, for I will explain to you the
impossibilities there are in going from here to Peru, or any other part
whatsoever.” One of them answered: “Let that be how it may, for I would
rather die at sea than where I am, and between the two we are in irons.” The
Pilot said to this man: “Know you not that we follow our General, who is in
the place of the King, and that we are bound to desire what he desires for
the King’s service; and to want any other thing is to want to go contrary to
the royal service.” They all answered: “Here we are not going against the
royal service.” To this the Pilot replied: “What is it to go against the will of
your General; to refuse to improve the land which he has settled in the royal
name; and what is it to disobey, incite, and menace those who do not agree
with you?” They answered: “We only desire that notice be not sent to Peru,
and that, as we are a small body of men, we may be taken from here and
taken to the islands of which we are in search, or to some better place.” The
Pilot replied: “The Adelantado is the person whose duty it is to see that all
goes well. It should be left to him, who now wishes a second time to search
for the Admiral at the island of San Cristobal, which he was instructed to
search for. If it should be found all will be well, and if not, a Christian view
of things should be taken. The Adelantado’s person and that of his wife
were in the same place where they all were, and all would share the dangers
together. If the Almiranta was found, all must approve. Moreover, it was not
the Chief Pilot who had to go, but the Adelantado, who was well prepared.”
The Pilot added that their leader was ill, and that it was not reasonable to
expect that his person should be exposed to new risks. But when he should
wish to go, there should be none to contradict, being such honourable men
whose faith could be trusted in this and more.

At this time others had come to give their opinions, but as the music was
loud and so much out of tune, it did not sound well.

Continuing the discussion, the Chief Pilot, whose services in having
navigated the fleet and discovered four islands whence they could take a
new departure with a fair wind and short voyage, were nearly forgotten,

now said: “You should all remember that if God had not given us the island
on which we now are, we should all have perished; and as He gave it, we
ought to be willing to remain here for a time. Now it may be seen that the
same wind which brought us detains us here; the wind that was fair is now
contrary, and a return to Peru is impossible without seeking a very high
latitude. The ships have many defects, and we cannot careen them, we have
no cables, and the rigging is rotten. As for provisions, we have nothing left
but a little flour, and the jars for water are diminished in number, as many
of them have been broken; while the barrels are out of order, there being no
one who can repair them. The route is long and unknown, and we do not
know what would be the duration of such a voyage. These things are
certain, and cannot be avoided, without the risk of your own lives and those
of your comrades.” He said further: “I desire that the wind would change,
but we must go west, being the only course with a fair wind. We may be
certain that we shall not be a longer time on the voyage than we were in
coming here, where we can have as much, in the way of supplies, as we
started with. Why should we have gone through so much labor, wasting our
property and running such great risks, undertaking such an honorable
enterprise, if we do not go through with it?

“Remember well that the King has had and still has other vassals, who have
defended frontiers and maintained provinces against warlike people of great
power, and sometimes eating dogs and cats rather than suffer dishonour;
and all without expecting any reward such as may be hoped for here. At
present neither will supplies be wanting in so fertile a soil, nor will an
enemy cause serious danger; nor are there other drawbacks which we are
obliged to forget, but which others will not forget. For we have an
honourable opportunity which many others would like to have without ever
having it offered to them, which we can perpetuate at the cost of much
careful management. Why should we avoid such a chance? We should show
resolution, for there is time for all things, and it is as well to reach the place
we want in May as in September. In short, where is it desired that we should
be, if we are to say that we only come to seek our own welfare; and even to
procure that we want the spirit, for very soon, and without more cause than
our own cowardice, we should be undone. We should be looked upon as the

enemies of God and the King, and of the honor of our General and our own,
if we abandon such an enterprise and such a land.

“Enemies to God, because we abandon so easily, and without sufficient
cause, the work we came to do for the honour of God and the salvation of
souls. It is the great interest on which we have to turn both our eyes, to
rescue from the captivity of the Devil those whom he looks upon as so
secure; to turn the worship of the natives from him, and turn it to God, to
whom they owe it, and whose it is.

“Enemies of the King, for impeding his service, which may be promoted in
this place, without making other discoveries, incurring fresh expenses, or
risking other fleets. It may be that what was intended will be achieved, for
when the new world was discovered it was not known at first how
important it was, there being only a few small islands of little or no value;
yet, through the constancy of the discoverers, there were afterwards found
the great and rich provinces of New Spain and Peru; while the return to
Spain, for a long time laborious and difficult, is now made easy through the
mercy of God.

“Enemies to the honour of our General, because he has expended his
resources on the enterprise, leaving what he has left in Peru. Do you wish,
solely for your whim, to destroy such Christian aspirations, which have
endured so long?

“Enemies of our own honour, because, from this position where we now
are, there is no place to which we can go that will not be in the dominions
of our King, and whose Ministers will exact a very strict account of whence
we came, where we have left the General, and what reason we had for
abandoning a land which had been settled in the name of the King: more
especially such a land as this which is fertile, with friendly and numerous
inhabitants. In one way or another we cannot escape from offending our
consciences, risking our lives, our honour, and our liberty. For all to go it is
not possible, although we may wish it. To leave women and children, and
helpless persons, would not be just. Would you go to New Spain? The
Adelantado has already taken that route when he was in these parts before,

but many died, and all went through terrible hardships during a long
voyage; moreover, it is not always the season for such navigation. To go to
the Philippines also has its difficulties.” Thinking it all over, and doing his
best to combat their inconsiderate desire, the Chief Pilot concluded by
saying: “Why do you litigate without any grounds, saying that you will
embark presently? I will show, with the Adelantado, that what you want to
do this day is impossible.”

Some of them, opening their eyes, appeared to be convinced by these
arguments; but others were still obdurate. They preferred to trust to the ship
rather than to what the land offered, and the water could be taken in 10,000
cocoa nuts, in joints of the canes, or even in the canoes of the natives,
covering and caulking them; and they proposed other equally feasible
contrivances. But the Chief Pilot said: “This is only a waste of time. Is it not
for the Adelantado to decide what shall be done?” They said that “if the
land will yield much food, how is it that we get nothing to eat from it?”
“What certainty have you,” said the Pilot, “that the provisions obtained here
will not get bad.” They answered that they were ready to risk that. As to
water, they said that they would fall in with other islands on the route
whence they could take in water; and that they would listen to reason, for
they were reasonable beings.

Finally, they went back to their old song that they wanted to go to Manilla,
which was a land of Christians. The Pilot said to them that Manilla was also
a land of heathens, and that there being Christians was due to the
discoverers who settled there; and that in our expedition a similar duty was
required of us. In Manilla there are only some soldiers stationed by the
King to guard the estates of the settlers; and it is better to remain here where
we might become such as they are in fame and honour, than go marching
there with shouldered arquebus. To this one of them answered that honour
was where the Pope and the King were, and not among Indians. The Pilot
then said that it was better to ask for what they wanted from their General,
who was not a man to close his ears to a just petition; and that they should
consider that their position was very offensive to the General, who desired
to do what the King had ordered. What word soever sounded ill there would
also follow as many more and as free. To this, one of the soldiers said:

“Leave off! leave off! and leave it for he who wants to stay, for we intend to
go, dislike it who may.” I was without a sword, and he with seven or eight
others, went for theirs, and presently came back with heightened colour.
Asking for the Camp Master, they all bowed their heads, with their swords
in their hands, looking very fierce, not wanting much whispering, and
secrets among some who spoke within hearing. They said publicly that they
came to kill the Chief Pilot; and there was one who swore that they came
saying: “Come, let us kill him, for he is the cause of our being in this land;”
and others swore, and went so far with their menaces as to say: “What shall
they drink in his skull.” Things did not look well. God knows what they
intended.

He who had declared that they would go, spoke and said: “There is no one
who does not wish to go from this land; one who keeps most apart was he
who showed most willingness, but it does not signify.” He said most on that
side, and was most resolved, both then and at other times; but as there were
many people, there were as many arguments, and with loud voices. The
Chief Pilot concluded what he had to say by declaring that all he had put
before them was in the service of God and the King, and that he would
sustain it to the death, as he had proved.

Chapter XVI.
How the Camp Master came on board the ship; what passed with the Adelantado, and
between the Camp Master and the soldiers on shore, where the Chief Pilot talked to the
Camp Master.

This was the state of affairs when the Camp Master came on board the ship
to speak with the Adelantado, who, had he been alone, would have
strangled him and hung him on one of the masts. So Doña Isabel, his wife,
urged him (according to her own account), saying to her husband: “Kill him
or have him killed. What more do you want? He has fallen into your hands,
and if not I will kill him with this knife.” The Adelantado was prudent, and
did not do so. He understood that the desire of the Camp Master was not to
go so far in offences of his own as it was said that he intended. The Camp
Master returned to the shore, and said to the soldiers: “Gentlemen! I come
from speaking to the General respecting his affairs and this settlement; and
he said that it had come to his knowledge that all of you were afflicted and
troubled, saying that this is not a good land, and that you wanted to be taken
to a better one. He says that you ask for a paper, and that he will answer,
which is reasonable, as he is our General.” Presently he said: “This is not
mutiny, but it is when, without saying anything to their superiors, the
soldiers suddenly break out, killing and crying, ‘Down with the rascals!’
Your worships have a right to ask, and to go and seek the Almiranta; for
those on board were our comrades, and it is not just to leave them without
making any search.

“But if I were not the Master of the Camp, I would do and say more, for it
is not understood that in my position I can give consent, when the
Adelantado has said that his friends were those who have most declared
themselves: a reason for giving all to understand that one enjoys his
friendship.

“No soldier, whatever his condition may be, can to-day speak a word
without its coming to the ear of my General; for I have to be subordinate,

though I may be his best friend. My General has given to me his honour and
the service of the King, and they are in that place I have to serve. Each one
watches another. I am watched because I favour your party. I have not to
lose my honour, nor is it ever to be supposed that such evil and unjust
things can ever enter the thoughts of a person with my obligations, position,
and experience. Nor is it reasonable to think that such honourable soldiers
as are in this camp would wish to do by force what is suggested. Each one
performs the duty assigned to him, for we only came here to obey and serve
the King, and he who serves him not will be punished.”

The soldiers began to talk among themselves, saying they need not be
alarmed nor bear it in mind; and one of them said, referring to a search for
the Almiranta, that he would offer to go in search in the name of the rest;
that if he volunteered the thing would be safe, as he was more confident
than the others, not being altogether ignorant of the art of navigation.
Another said that the Adelantado is expert, and could not be deceived; and
said that it should be the Camp Master. Another objected that he was not a
sailor. He laughed, and said: “Gentlemen, I do not understand those affairs,
and can easily be taken in.” He added: “Some one has to go, and some one
has to be trusted in the business.” This ended what was said in public. A
witness swore that, the Chief Pilot being there talking, one soldier said to
another: “Let us choose this traitor; we will kill him.”

The Chief Pilot took the Camp Master aside, and asked him to listen for a
moment; then looked round carefully, and in a short time discussed many
things that have already been referred to. Respecting the navigation, the
Pilot said that, when the time came, he would do the work well in
accordance with instructions of the Adelantado.

The Camp Master said that now he did not value his life, and that he would
say nothing unless he was asked to speak.

The Chief Pilot then took his leave, and went on board to report what had
happened to the General, adding that, in his opinion, it would be well if the
General would go on shore and speak to his people; that he thought it would

be easy to reduce them to obedience by his presence, his will, and by
putting before them the just reasons which actuated him.

On the following day the General went on shore. As he jumped out, a
servant of his said, while he seized his arms: “There are going to be black
puddings.” Some soldiers coming towards the Adelantado said to one
another: “Our General comes with the martingale. He also comes armed.
What think you of the words his servant spoke to him?” That day the
Adelantado had arranged with Don Lorenzo and three other soldiers that the
Camp Master should be put to death. This was very different from what I
had understood that he intended to do, but such things ought to be stated as,
in my opinion, will explain the change. A certain person told me that a bad
third person had said to the Adelantado that if he would have the Camp
Master stabbed (he did not say that he should be killed), but that if he
should be killed—Let those of better understanding judge, for I do not hold
it to be right to sit in judgment on the living and the dead.

Chapter XVII.
How the Chief Pilot went to seek for provisions, and how Malope came to make peace, and
the friendship that was established.

On the following day the Chief Pilot asked permission from the Adelantado
to go in search of food. Having received it, he went in the boat, with twenty
men, to a village where he only saw one man with a little boy. The rest had
fled into the woods. On entering and searching the houses, nothing to eat
was found. The Pilot followed a path which seemed to lead to the cultivated
patches of the natives, and some pigs were seen, which ran into the woods.
The Chief Pilot then heard the report of an arquebus, and presently another.
On this he went back to the beach, where he had left the boat in charge of
four arquebusiers. Arriving on the beach, he found Malope, who had come
with two canoes, and said: “Friends; let us all come and eat.” These words,
and some others, we had learnt. He then told us by signs that we should
embark, and come with him to a place where he had many pigs and other
food. He sent the other canoe in advance. The Chief Pilot embarked, and
told Malope to call the natives of that village. They came back, and
arranged, on their return, to have food collected. Malope rowed his canoe,
our boat followed, and, arriving at two other villages, a similar arrangement
was made. We then entered the village of the warlike natives. They gave us
a pig, and a few cocoa-nuts and plantains. As this seemed little, the Chief
Pilot asked for more. But the natives took up arms, and retired behind their
houses and the trunks of trees with their bows and arrows, shouting and
apparently calling to Malope. He seemed to be undecided, looking at one
party and then at the other. The Chief Pilot, who always kept Malope by his
side, drew his dagger and threatened Malope if he should attempt to go, or
should not tell the natives not to shoot off their arrows. If they did, they
would all be killed with the arquebuses. With an ignited cord he got ready
to fire them off. Malope went to the village, and induced them to offer that,
when the sun showed it to be three o’clock, they would come with what
they could get ready. Malope called them, and they presently came, giving

us many plantains and cocoa-nuts to eat. They also invited us to come and
shoot natives on the other side of the bay, and to kill pigs. Having
embarked, the boat followed the canoe, but the Chief Pilot marched along
the shore with sixteen men and three native guides. Seeing some birds, the
natives made signs that we should shoot them with the arquebus. The Chief
Pilot would not consent, though some of the men urged it. His reason was
that to shoot a ball at a small object would have a doubtful result; and he
did not wish the natives to think that the result was uncertain; that they
might not lose their fear of the arquebus.

Malope landed, the boat and canoe remaining side by side. All being on
shore, they found the spring which has been mentioned. Malope sat down
by it, and made signs that we should drink. From there we went to a village
where the natives had ready for us a great heap of many plantains, sweet
canes, cocoa-nuts, almonds, roots, biscuits, mats, and two pigs. Thus we
went from village to village, and they gave fourteen pigs and of other things
as much as we could take. The natives were always quiet, with the large
canoes ready with their paddles, and themselves sitting under the shadow of
them. There were some who gave us plantains and roasted roots, open
cocoa-nuts, and water taken from the wells, doing all with as much good
will as if they had been well paid. Malope showed himself to be contented,
and said that we might come further, and he would get more food for us. He
took us to a higher part, and all the natives round heard and respected him
as Lord or great friend.

The Chief Pilot, by signs, told him to make the natives carry that food, and
at a word from him they had it all on their shoulders. It was worth seeing
when more than a hundred natives went along the shore in a line. Having
reached the boat, they put all they carried into it. Malope told the Chief
Pilot to embrace the General for him, and took his leave. The Chief Pilot
embarked, and went to the villages already mentioned, receiving from the
natives what they came out in their canoes to give us.

The provisions that we brought were good, but to some it seemed too small
a supply. They said to the Chief Pilot that he should let them go on shore;
that they would take, burn, and kill; that the natives were dogs, and that

they did not come from Peru to be satisfied with nothing. The Chief Pilot
replied: “Does a boat laden with what has cost no money, and given with
good will by our friend Malope, seem to you to be nothing?” They
answered according to their knowledge, and the Chief Pilot proceeded as
appeared to be necessary.

I have related this in such detail, because it is much to the purpose in this
narrative, as will be seen further on. Having arrived at the ship, Doña Isabel
told the Chief Pilot that the other day the soldiers went from the camp to
kill Malope. The Adelantado sent to tell them of the friendship Malope had
shown, and desiring that notice should be given in the camp not to do him
any harm, as he had done so much good to us. The Adelantado appreciated
what this native had done, praising his good conduct. He rose from his bed
to see what had been brought on board, which was very fairly distributed,
and he said to the Chief Pilot that he only wanted the same share as a
companion.

Chapter XVIII.
How the Adelantado went on shore with the Chief Pilot, and ordered a squadron of soldiers
who were going in search of food not to kill Malope. It relates the death of the Camp
Master, and other cruelties.

When the night came, the Adelantado sent for the Chief Pilot, and made
him sit by his bedside, where he was lying ill. With very great caution, he
told him that he intended to go on shore the next morning with four men in
whom he had most confidence, all armed, and that he would be
accompanied by the royal standard, and would proclaim the will of the King
at the proper time; for that he had to go and to do justice on the Camp
Master, for reasons which moved him so to act.

That night the Chief Pilot caused the usual careful watch to be kept, and at
dawn they asked for the boat from the camp, with loud voices. On hearing
them, Doña Isabel came from her bed, saying: “Alas! alas! they have killed
my brothers, and they ask for the boat to come and kill us.” The Adelantado
would not listen, and as soon as it was day a squadron of thirty soldiers
came out of the camp. The Adelantado ordered them to be told not to go on
before he had spoken to them. Embarking with his people, he asked who
was their leader, who had sent them, and where they were going. The
Lieutenant answered that he was the leader, and that they were ordered by
the Camp Master to go to the village of Malope and seek for food. The
Adelantado warned them not to kill Malope, nor to do him any harm, nor
take any of his property, as he was our friend, and that they should take him
with them. He knew quite well that they came for food, and, turning to the
Chief Pilot, the Adelantado told him to relate to the soldiers all that had
passed with Malope the day before. They heard it laughing.

The Adelantado had with him the Captain of the galeot, who carried a great
wood-knife.1 On the shore the Captain, Don Lorenzo, his brothers, and a
few sailors, were waiting. Having landed, the Adelantado joined those who
were on the shore, and went to the fort which the Camp Master was

constructing in great haste. Before arriving, there were not wanting those
who asked what was it they were wanted to do there, and one was cleaning
his arquebus. The General arrived at the camp when the Camp Master was
having his breakfast. He came out just as he was, without coat or hat, to
receive the General, and when he found himself among so many who were
not his friends, he called for staff, dagger and sword.

Those who had to do the deed were arriving. The Adelantado raised his eyes
to heaven, and, giving a sigh, put his hand to his sword, saying: “Long live
the King! Death to traitors!” Upon this, without any delay, one Juan
Antonio de la Roca took the Camp Master by the collar, and gave him two
stabs, one in the mouth and the other on the breast. Then a Sergeant, with a
Bohemian knife, gave him another in the side. The Camp Master cried:
“Oh, gentlemen!” He turned to get his sword, but the Captain, with his
wood-knife, nearly cut off his right arm. He fell, saying: “Oh, leave me time
to confess.” One answered that “there was no time. You can well feel
contrition.” The wretched man was palpitating, stretched on the ground, and
crying, “Jesus Maria!” A good woman came up, and helped him to die in
peace. One with a kind heart did no more than draw out the sword, and the
woman gave it up. So the body was left, and the Adelantado approved the
slaughter.

This being done, it was presently ordered to be proclaimed that the Camp
Master was dead, and that all the rest were pardoned in the name of his
Majesty. The Camp Master having expired, the drummer, coveting his
clothes, left him naked.

The Camp Master was very zealous, a hard worker and good soldier, and in
all enterprises he was the first. He appeared to be about sixty years of age,
for his hair was quite white, and, though old, he was vigorous, but very
impetuous. He knew how to think much, but he could not be silent, and I
believe that for no other thing he was killed.

At this time Don Luis and the Chief Pilot were talking near the tent of two
friends of the Camp Master, and Don Luis seized one of them and stabbed
him. The soldier cried out: “For me? For me? What have I done?” Don Luis

left the dagger, and drew his sword; but the Chief Pilot defended the man,
saying: “What is this, that without more ado men are to be killed thus?” A
soldier came out of another tent with his sword drawn, and said: “What is
this? Like the Camp Master?” Don Luis attacked him, and many others
coming up, the soldier retreated inside, saying: “What have I done? What
have I done?” Then the Captain, Don Lorenzo, came, and they killed the
soldier by some houses where he had fallen. The drummer stripped them,
and soldiers were stationed to guard the goods of both.

Don Lorenzo and his brother came with a party of soldiers, but they found
the Chief Pilot at the door, who opposed their advance, saying he would
report them. Don Lorenzo told him to leave the door, crying “Death to these
traitors!” The Chief Pilot said that they were friends. “Kill them! kill them!”
they replied, “they deserve it more than the others.” The Chief Pilot urged
that they should mind what they were doing. Don Lorenzo answered that
only St. Peter, if he was there, could induce them to spare the lives of such
people. At the cries and noise of arms, the women came out, alarmed and
agitated. Some prayed for their husbands; others wrung their hands and
lamented. The men were like lunatics, going about with their eyes seeking
those they would kill, shouting, with drawn swords: “Long live the King!
Death to traitors!” It seemed that this was a day for avenging injuries; but to
me it seemed a day of licence to lads who might go any length.

After the disturbances the Sergeant-Major came out of his tent, and that he
might be able to say that he had also fleshed his sword, he gave a page of
the Camp Master a cut on the head, and another to one of his servants. He
also tried to wound a black man who had served the Camp Master, but he
saved himself by his feet. The two who were wounded went to seek
protection from the General, who ordered the Sergeant-Major to leave the
boys alone.

One came out who was suspected; another, who cried for the King, would
have killed him if the Chief Pilot had not protected him. The cry was that
traitors came out with their arms; this one should have a rope; dead and
alive all need to have honour. They came out, they said, to accompany the

royal standard which Don Diego Barreto hoisted, and cried out for the
King, to which all answered, “Death to traitors!”

The Captain of the wood-knife took the two heads which the General had
ordered to be put into nets, and each one was set on a pole near the corps de
garde.2 At this time the boat came from the ship in a great hurry, with the
Vicar holding a lance in his hand, and the sailors under arms, crying out,
“Long live the King! Death to traitors!” Coming to where they found the
Adelantado, they said: “We have all come to serve his Majesty and to die
with your Lordship,” and they rallied round the royal standard. One of them
asked the General whether it was done, and when he replied in the
affirmative, the man said it was well done. On seeing the two heads he
exclaimed: “A wall has henceforward fallen from before me.”

At this time Doña Isabel and her sister came from the ship, for the Captain
with the wood-knife had been on board to announce the victory to them,
and to boast of having given a good stab to the Camp Master, and of having
cut off the two heads. He said: “Now you are mistress and marchioness, and
I am Captain, for the Camp Master is dead. I say that it is terrible to fear
wicked men with licence.” When Doña Isabel landed, she went to the corps
de garde.

At this juncture a soldier came out of the camp, with plumes in his hat,
dissimulating, and asking carelessly what was the matter, pretending that he
did not know. This was the man who raised all the questions, and to whom
all turned their eyes. He was allowed to be free, because the persons were
few with whom he had treated. Many were frightened, and they had
themselves given the occasion for the insecurity. Some commended
themselves to their friends who had really been true, and they freed them.
The Adelantado ordered that all should go to the church to hear Mass,
which the Vicar said. When he had finished he turned his face to the people,
and told them not to be scandalised at the deaths, for it was ordained. He
recommended them to be quiet and obedient to the General, reminding
them that by that way there was safety. They returned from the Mass in the
same way they had come, with the standard, to the corps de garde. The
baggage of the dead men was opened, and their enemies made a division of

it. The Adelantado ordered the bodies to be buried, with which this first
tragedy ended. All were dismissed to assemble again in the afternoon, with
the consequence that will be described in the next chapter.

1 Felipe Corzo. He was an enemy of Quiros.
2 Outpost guard, whence sentries were selected. A picket. Usually consisting of twenty or thirty
men.

Chapter XIX.
How the soldiers killed Malope; of the arrests that were made in consequence of the
murder, with the deaths of an Ensign and of a murderer of Malope.

In the afternoon all assembled at the corps de garde, and the Adelantado
ordered the heads to be taken down and the standard to be concealed; when
one arrived who had gone with the soldiers in the morning, and reported to
the Adelantado. He said that when the soldiers came to the house of
Malope, he had regaled them and given them what he had. The innocent
man felt secure, when a soldier raised his arquebus, pointed it at him, and
fired. He fell to the ground palpitating, when a certain person, to put him
out of his pain, came to him with a hatchet and cleft his skull, saying we
had never done a better thing. In this way they most unjustly killed Malope,
returning so much evil for so much good. It was the work rather of a devil
than of a man. He had kept the country at peace, and had given us food. He
was the means of inducing others to give, and his kindness had been very
great. They excused themselves by saying that Malope had intended to
commit treason. This seems to have been an invention to give colour to the
outrage they had committed. They gave up the murderer, and he said,
ordering his arms: “He is well dead. Is there any one who wants to seek my
death?” The Adelantado felt it much, and so did every one, not only the
deed itself, but the trouble it would lead to. The murderer was brought in a
canoe, with his hands tied behind him, and the Adelantado ordered both feet
to be put in the stocks.

Most of the soldiers came marching along the shore. The Adelantado
ordered those who were with him to conceal themselves in the corps de
garde, and as they entered, coming four and four, to seize them. The
Lieutenant of the Sergeant-Major entered, and four with him, who were
seized and put in irons. They looked about in all directions, and, seeing the
page of the Camp Master, they asked him with their eyes about his master.
The boy took hold of his throat with one hand, meaning that his master was

dead. The prisoners showed their sorrow. A nephew of the Camp Master
then came in, whom the General honoured much, saying he knew what a
good servant of the King he was; and the same with Don Toribio de
Bedeterra.

Presently the Ensign came with the rest of the soldiers, and Don Lorenzo
disarmed him, and delivered him to four arquebusiers with irons, to be
taken to a corps de garde at some distance. The wife of the prisoner went
crying among the houses and branches, well aware of the danger of her
husband, for she was weeping before he came.

Don Lorenzo went to call the Chaplain, and the good father, as one seeing a
turbulent river, did not dare to pass it. He said: “Sir Captain, what is it that
you want with me? Remember that I am a priest. Oh, for the sake of the one
God, do not kill me!” “Come with me,” said Don Lorenzo, “just for a
little.” “Here! here!” said the priest; “I cannot go any further.” It was
explained to him that it was to confess the Ensign, and he was reassured. He
presently was taken behind a tree, where the prisoner was. He began to
persuade him to confess, as they were going to kill him. The prisoner said:
“I to die? wherefore?” The priest undeceived him. Those who were present
relate that the Ensign then said: “Let it be then as God wills;” and he knelt
down at the feet of the confessor, whose duty it was and who performed his
office. A black servant of the General had orders, and, with a knife, gave
him a blow and then another, by which his head was cut off, and put with
the other two. The body was covered with some branches, and soon
afterwards thrown into the sea, at which his wife wept bitterly.

The Ensign being finished with, the Captain, Don Lorenzo, in the hearing of
the General, asked who should be taken out of the stocks next. He ordered
that it should be the Lieutenant of the Sergeant-Major, but all entreated the
Adelantado to spare his life, which he did, taking him in his hands and
receiving the oath. He then retired, that he might not be asked by the next
one who was ordered to be taken out of the stocks, for the Sergeant-Major
had him by one arm, the Chief Pilot taking the other; but the prisoner,
shaking them off, exclaimed: “Here I am. If I deserve it, cut off my head.”
Doña Isabel and all the others entreated the Adelantado to spare his life. He

made him take the same oath as the other, and pardoned him. Rising up, the
prisoner cast his eyes on the head of the Camp Master. With his hands over
his face and weeping, he said, in a voice so that we could all hear: “Ah,
thou honoured old man! and have you come to this at the end of so many
years of service to the King? This is the reward they have given you! a vile
death, and your head and grey hairs stuck on a pole.” There was a soldier by
his side, who said: “I cannot but mourn for the sad fate of the Camp Master,
whom we looked upon as a father.” The Adelantado heard them, and
ordered them to be silent. They said that he should give thanks for having
been delivered from the dangers in which he was, and that he should be
grateful to his sponsors for the good intercession they made. He gave thanks
to all, and embraced his companion with many tears.

While this was passing, the murderer of Malope called to the Chief Pilot,
and told him of his condition. In the name of God, he entreated the Pilot to
be a good intercessor for him in his need, and for a second time he asked
him to pray to the Adelantado to pardon his crime. He might be sure how
well he would serve hereafter, and he wanted to marry Pancha, the
Adelantado’s servant (this was a native girl of Peru, of bad character,
carachanta,1 and the rest), whom the Adelantado had in his service. The
Chief Pilot reassured him, saying that he might be certain that, without
doing what he had pointed out, he would be a good mediator, as he would
presently see. The Adelantado came to take him out of the stocks with his
own hands, that he might be judged. The Chief Pilot prayed that his life
might be spared, but the Adelantado said, almost in a rage: “How am I to
pay for the death of my friend Malope but with the death of this man?” The
Chief Pilot replied that he might show the heads of the two who were
executed to the natives, and make them think that they were punished for
the death of Malope; adding, that he must remember we are few, and that
the position of affairs made pardon advisable. The Adelantado answered
that he would consider that, and would keep him a prisoner. The Chief Pilot
gave thanks for the mercy, and the prisoner was taken out of the stocks and
sent on board the ship in charge of four men.

This man did not care to eat, and drank salt water, turning his head to the
wall with shame because some said to him: “Why did you kill that good

native without cause?” Others told him he deserved to be quartered for
having committed such a crime. At last it seemed to him that it would be
better to die than to live. He left off caring for himself, and died very
suddenly after a few days, having first received the holy sacrament, a
privilege not enjoyed by the others. With this ended the tragedy of the
islands where Solomon was wanting.

1 Caracha is a cutaneous disease in Peruvian parlance; caaranta, a person who has no eyebrows,
also a Peruvianism.

Chapter XX.
Of the great mourning for Malope among the natives. The great sickness that prevailed in
the camp; with the deaths of the Adelantado and the Chaplain, and the victories gained by
the natives.

Next morning, great cries of sorrow were heard in the village and house of
Malope, raised by a large assembly of people. The Adelantado ordered that
a party should presently go with the head of the Ensign, and give it to the
natives, telling them that, as the best thing that could be done, this other life
had been taken for the death of Malope. But when the natives saw the boat
coming to their village, leaving their mournings, they all fled into the
woods. Those in the boat called to them to come back, holding up the head;
but it was no use, they all hid themselves. Seeing this, the head was left at
the door of the house, and the boat returned. At the petition of the Vicar, the
Adelantado ordered the other two heads to be taken down from the poles,
that they might be buried. The burial was neglected; and, as they were left
that night on the beach, they were found next morning with all the flesh and
skin gone, for the dogs had eaten them.

All this time the Adelantado became each day more unwell. He ordered a
house to be built for him in great haste, in which, having landed with his
family, he established himself.

Now the punishment came down from Heaven which we deserved for our
treacheries, disorders, and cruelties, in the shape of sickness without the
means of curing it.

The Captain, Don Lorenzo, in whose charge all things were now placed by
land and sea, early one morning sent twenty soldiers and an officer in the
boat to seize some boys, with the object of teaching them our language, as
we could not understand theirs. The natives, who carefully concealed
themselves, defended the landing with such vigour that before our men
could get back the officer and seven men were wounded with arrows.

Enjoying the occasion, they followed up the repulse with many shots of
arrows and stones, and with great shouts. They came so near the camp that
Don Lorenzo had to issue forth with the banner displayed, and all the rest of
the men who were not sick, to defend the gate. As the natives retired, they
fired a volley of arrows which went home, wounding six men and Don
Lorenzo himself, who were brought in and attended to. Upon this, Don
Lorenzo sent a soldier in charge of a party, to burn canoes and houses, and
to do as much damage as possible, the result being eight wounded soldiers.
With these three victories, all gained on the same day, the natives became so
audacious that they shot arrows into the camp at night, and threw stones
with such effect that they wounded two men, one of them dying. Owing to
the sickness of the Adelantado, and the number of wounded soldiers, we
could only defend and secure the camp, the attempts of our soldiers being
confined to getting “bledos,” which sometimes cost them dear.

On the Vigil of St. Luke the Evangelist, the first of our companions died,
the Chaplain, Antonio de Serpa, for whose decease the Vicar mourned
deeply, and raised sad lamentation, turning up his eyes to heaven, and
saying: “Oh, my God! how great is the punishment that You send for my
sins. You leave me, O Lord, without a priest to whom to confess. O, Father
Antonio de Serpa! Happy are you to have died after having received the
sacrament. Who would not change places with you, and not remain in mine,
in which I am so abandoned, for I can confess all who are here, but have no
one to confess me.” He went about with his face hidden, and would not be
consoled He went to the church, and wept at the altar. The good Vicar said
that, in mourning for the dead, he opened the tomb where he was buried.

On the following night, which was the 17th of October, there was a total
eclipse of the moon; when it rose in the east it was completely eclipsed. The
Adelantado was so weak that he gave orders about his will, which he could
scarcely sign. He left Doña Isabel Barreto, his wife, as general heir, and
nominated her as Governess, for his Majesty had issued a special decree
giving him power to name any person he chose for his successor. He
nominated his brother-in-law, Don Lorenzo, to be Captain-General; and,
ordering the Vicar to be called, he complied with all the obligations
required for his soul.

In this way the night passed, and the day arrived, which was that of St.
Luke. Seeing the end so near, the Vicar said that a person of good life knew
how much it imported to die well, so that there might be time to make his
peace with God. He said other things alike holy and pious, which the
Adelantado heard, showing not only attention but great contrition, and
making it to be well understood how submissive he was to the will of God
who created him. The Vicar had a crucifix brought, in whose presence the
Adelantado seemed to bend the knees in his heart. Helping to say the
Miserere mei and the Creed, at one o’clock after noon our Adelantado
passed from this life, with which there ended his enterprise, so much and
for so long a time desired. He was a person zealous for the honour of God
and the service of the King, to whom the things ill done did not appear
good, nor did those well done appear evil. He was very plain-spoken, not
diffuse in giving his reasons, and he himself said that he did not want
arguments but deeds. It seemed that he saw clearly those matters which
touched his conscience. It seemed to me that he might say with reason that
he knew more than he performed, yet he saw nothing that passed by stealth.
The Governess felt his death, as did others, though some rejoiced at it.

In the afternoon, with as much pomp as the circumstances would admit, we
prepared for his sepulture. The body was placed in a coffin covered with
black cloth, and carried on the shoulders of eight persons of the highest
rank. The soldiers stood with their arquebuses reversed, in accordance with
usage at the funerals of Generals. The procession went with two banners
displayed, and from two drums covered with mourning cloth came slow and
muffled sounds, while the fife expressed the like sentiments. Arrived at the
church, the Vicar performed the service, and we then returned to the
Governess to condole with her on her misfortune.

Chapter XXI.
How the Vicar delivered some admonitions to the soldiers, and the examples he gave.

After the two deaths already described, the Vicar reflected how serious the
sickness was, and that one, two, or three died every day, and began to
perambulate the camp, crying with a loud voice: “Is there one who wants to
confess? Put yourselves well with God, and attend to the welfare of your
souls, for a punishment has come upon us, from which none can escape,
how numerous soever we may be. The natives will triumph over us, and
will remain, enjoying our clothes and arms and all we possess in this place,
where God holds us prisoners, to chastise us according to our deserts. Think
that if God punishes a whole kingdom for one sin, how will He punish here
where they are so many. There are men here who have not confessed for
three, five, seven, nine, fourteen and thirty years, and one who has only
confessed once in his life. There are men here who have caused the deaths
of two and three other men; there is a man who does not know whether he
is a Moor or a Christian; others have committed sins so foul and so serious
that, being such, I will not name them. Remember how God conferred with
David, and told him out of three punishments to choose one. We have
among us sickness, war, famine and discord, and we are far from any
remedy. Reflect that we have God incensed against us, and that the naked
and bloody sword of His justice, with which He goes forth to kill, is ready
to put an end to us. Fully justified is His judgment. The punishment is not
so great nor so rigorous as we deserve. Confess yourselves! clean your
souls, and with the repentance, appease the anger of God, Who wishes not
the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and
live. Open your eyes, and see what a terrible chastisement is this.”

The good priest went about day after day performing his office, giving the
sacrament to the sick, burying the dead, and seeking the means of inducing
those who did not wish to confess to yield. At other times, with the same
anxious spirit, he said that the mercy of Christ was much greater than our

sins, how ugly and heinous soever they might be; and that one single drop
of the blood which was shed in the Passion was sufficient for the sins of
infinite worlds. None of those who were there, be their sins what they may,
should lose hope; rather, with the faith and constancy of Christians, they
should put their trust in God, Who knows how to pardon sinners. In order
further to console and encourage them all by examples, he told the two
following anecdotes:—

In a town in Peru there was a Franciscan friar in his convent, of pure life, at
whose feet a soldier, who was his neighbour and known to him, knelt down
to confess; and as he knelt, he put his eyes on a crucifix, and said in his
heart: “O Lord, have mercy on this soul!” On the instant, the image came
down from the cross, came half the distance, and said: “Doubt not! confess
and be absolved. It was for thee, and other sinners like thee, that I came to
the world.”

The other story was that, in the Indies, there was a man rich in goods, but
poor in virtue, who sinned, and had old and well-grown roots in many
vices. He was a man who sometimes came to the camp with dagger and
lance, closed teeth, and eyes raised to heaven, saying: “O God! come down
here, to this place, and come with me to see who is the bravest;” and he said
other things, showing as little fear or reverence for God as this. This man,
being out one night, and passing a room of his, praying with some beads,
heard a voice which said: “Oh! such an one, wherefore do you not recite
with devotion on that rosary?” Astonished and full of fear, he struck a light,
and looked into the room, but saw no one. Continuing to search, he found
an image of Our Lady, painted on paper. Raising it from the ground, he put
it on the wall, and, kneeling down, he held it with one hand, while he
recited on his rosary. While thus employed, two negroes came to him, put
out the light, stripped him naked, and flogged him until he was nearly dead.
At this juncture he saw the room brilliantly lighted, and a voice said: “Go!
go! and leave this soul which is not thine, for My Son has granted it to Me
through His mercy and My prayers.” In a moment, the negroes left him, and
the light disappeared. The patient went away as well as he could, and laid
down on his bed. He sent for a friar, who asked what had happened that he
should send for him in the middle of the night. He related what had

happened, showed him the wounds and bruises, and begged urgently to be
confessed, saying that it was thirty-eight years since he had confessed. The
confessor heard and consoled him, saying that much worse sins were
pardoned by God with a free hand. His confession lasted for seventeen
days, and he was absolved with a small penance. A fever came upon him,
and wasted him so, that on the day when he finished his confession he died
like a saint.

With these stories, and in many other ways, as Christian as these, the Vicar
secured the salvation of the souls which could be brought into the right
way; and the better to fulfil the duties of his office, he came on shore to live
in the house of one of the men who had died.

Chapter XXII.
In which is related what more passed with the natives.

Knowing the time, the natives came in pursuit of their vengeance, and
sought out our people every day, carrying shields, thinking to defend
themselves against the arquebus, as the shields protected us from their
arrows. They were very careful to take warning, and so, with this animosity,
they shot arrows from among the trees and branches, aiming at the face and
legs, which were, they saw, unprotected. It was the soldiers’ fault, because
they took up the arrows and drove their points against the shields and other
protected parts, to show the natives that they did no harm. But it only
showed the natives that they must aim at the eyes or legs; so they
understood the secret, and always shot at those two places. The General,
Don Lorenzo, seeing that they came to seek us in camp, ordered a soldier,
with twelve others under him, to go to the village of Malope and do harm
there, assuming that it was his people who made the attacks. They burnt the
village and returned, the inhabitants having fled into the woods.

While this was going on, the natives nearest to the camp were shouting and
saying: “See what they are doing to the village of Malope, and the
disposition that these people are showing.” We called to them from the
camp with a flag of peace (they also use the same). After a time some of
them came, and the General came out to speak with them, taking the Chief
Pilot with him, and six arquebusiers in attendance to be ready for anything
that might occur. But the natives, when they saw the arquebusiers, began to
go back, at the same time making signs that they were not to come. The
General ordered them to stop, and using endearing terms, he said that we
were friends, asking why they did not bring in food as they used to do. They
complained, saying by signs that if we were friends, why did we kill them,
there being peace? They said “Malope! Malope! why friends pu” (the name
they gave to an arquebus); meaning that if we were friends of Malope, why
had we killed him with an arquebus, and were now burning his village,

pointing with a finger. The General replied that those who had done the
harm were now dead, and a head had been sent to the village as a
punishment for what had been done. They asked for the Jauriqui,1 their
name for the Adelantado, and were told that he was in the camp. Don
Lorenzo asked them to bring food; and they did so, coming on the
following and subsequent days. These natives appeared to me to be well
ordered and easy to be brought into habits of peace; and they kept faith
entirely. In my opinion we waged war upon them, while they gave their
property to us. All the time that peace was broken with them, we were in
great need for want of their helps, and the soldiers could not go out to seek
for food. This want was supplied by the flour that had been brought from
Peru, which was the life of the expedition.

1 Tauriqui of Mendaña’s first voyage.

Chapter XXIII.
In which it is related what happened until the death of the General, Don Lorenzo Barreto.

Don Lorenzo, with his infirmity, did what he could for the sustenance and
welfare of the camp, and for a third time sent the frigate, with the Captain
of artillery, to search for the Almiranta, giving him instructions as to the
course he was to pursue. The Captain went, and worked diligently, but did
not find her. He shaped a course to one of the three islets already
mentioned, surrounded by reefs. Here he captured eight youths, four grown
up, and all of tawny colour, well made, with fine eyes, and good presence.
He also collected some pearl shells, which he found in a village, and with
them he returned to the ship.

The General sent Don Diego de Vera, as leader, with some soldiers who
were most healthy, to seek for natives, to be held as hostages, so as to
induce the rest not to try to do us harm. They brought in three women and
six children, and their husbands often came to see them, with many others.
They came to pray for their liberation, with many caresses, and to content
them we gave them up.

There was a movement to seek permission from the Governess to leave that
land; and those who worked it ordered the soldiers to sign a document
which the Vicar gave them, so that it should be submitted in the name of all.
One answered that they should not be ordered to sign, for that the
Adelantado had killed the Camp Master and two soldiers for signing a
paper. He was assured that if he signed there would now be no penalty, as
the time was different.

The Vicar drew up a petition in which he gave the reasons, which he said
were sufficient, for abandoning the settlement. The Governess and the
General ordered that information should be taken, of which, when the
magistrate asked for a copy (as he said) they ordered him to pass on: as all

the people on shore had signed the paper, they took all the seamen as
witnesses. As the Chief Pilot had shown how much the desire to form a
settlement would cost, I say that one day a friend of his came to him on
board, and, I know not whether it was out of charity or envy, told him to
hold his tongue, for if not he would be killed or left alone on that island. His
persistence reached such a point that he offered to sow, and maintain the
seamen; but the suspicion and hatred they conceived of such a proceeding
was such that they never wished to let him go on the excursions they made
by sea. Thus they attacked the intention of coming there, after leaving the
chances of being able to do much in Peru, to employ themselves on
discoveries of such importance.

This seems to me to free the land from much that our sailors say about it,
that it was the worst that was known: giving as a reason the numerous
deaths and the sickness.

It is quite clear that to change of temperature, diet, and customs, to work
and go about in the sun, to get wet without changing, to settle in woods in
winter, to sleep on the ground with damp and other things inimical to
health, with men who are not made of stone, will bring on sickness; while
the want of medical men who understand what is wrong, and of remedies
that should be applied, nor the presence of any one to give them, are the
open doors of death. Besides, there are positions more healthy than others
in populous cities and towns; so that I understand that only a small part is
exposed to the above evils. Even here those who remained on the sea never
fell ill. If the land was as unhealthy as was represented, the sick, with so
much against them, would not have survived so long. Many lived for weeks
and months, and none died suddenly, as happens at Nombre de Dios, Puerto
Bello, Panama, Cabo Verde, San Tomé, and other unhealthy places, where,
with all needful remedies, the sick succumb in a short time, even in a few
hours.

The sick continued to die, and it was a sad thing to see them in the clutches
of disease, stretched out, some delirious, others nearly so; some wanting to
go on board, hoping to find health there, others wanting to go from the ship
to the camp, hoping to find it on shore. The General supplied their wants so

far as was possible, and the Governess did what she could, other persons
helping out of charity; but all that could be done was little, seeing that the
needs were great. At this time the Vicar fell ill, and as the land did not seem
a good place to him, he returned to the ship.

The General who, as has already been mentioned, was wounded in the leg,
found it necessary to take to his bed, where he got worse every minute. The
camp was now in such a condition that it did not contain fifteen healthy
soldiers, and these were all lads who could endure fevers better, though in
fifteen days the fever does not run its course. The Chief Pilot went to visit
Don Lorenzo, to inquire after his health, but he replied in much affliction:
“Ah! Chief Pilot! I shall die without confession;” and presently he said:
“Ah, death! in what a condition you take me.” With his eyes fixed on the
crucifix, he exclaimed: “I am a sinner. O, Lord! pardon me.”

The Chief Pilot, knowing his great need, consoled him by saying that he
would go and ask the Vicar to come as he was. He went on board and
entreated the Vicar, for the love of God, to come and confess Don Lorenzo,
because he was dying fast. The Vicar replied that he was dying too; that if
he would bring Don Lorenzo on board he would confess him. The Chief
Pilot answered that Don Lorenzo was passing away; that even to turn him in
his bed it was necessary to have a line hung from the roof, and that only
with this, and the help of two men, could he be turned. He was young, and
the Vicar knew that he ought not to allow him, nor any other person who
sought confession, to die without it. “Your worship wishes to kill me,”
replied the Vicar; “can you not see that I am unable to stand on my feet? So
little do you care for my health. Let them carry me where they please,
though I may die.” So he was put in the boat, trembling and wrapped in a
blanket. He was carried to the side of Don Lorenzo in his bed, whom he
confessed, as well as all others who wished to confess. A soldier, seeing
how ill the Vicar was, said very sorrowfully: “Ah, Sir! what is this that I
see? What have we come to?” They returned to the ship. That night Don
Lorenzo was much worse, and at break of day, the 2nd of November, he
died. May God pardon him! He was mourned for, and buried in the same
way as his brother-in-law, the Adelantado. Among the rest a soldier died,

who received death with such a cheerful countenance that in the words he
spoke, and what he did, he seemed to be a pilgrim on the road to heaven.

Chapter XXIV.
In which the unhappy condition of our people is related, the death of the Vicar, and the
embarkation of all hands.

Our condition, as above related, had reached such a point that, if only ten
determined natives had come, they could have killed us all, and destroyed
the settlement. At last the sick, pressed by the evils they suffered, which
were great, went on board the ship, and the Governess with them, leaving
the flag on shore with the few soldiers who still retained some health, to
provide wood and water. On Monday, the 7th of November, the flag and the
rest of the people were embarked, and so an end was given to this
promising enterprise. I never expected anything else, and it must be left in
the claws of him who held it before,1 until God permits others to come
forward who are more desirous of the welfare of those lost ones, that with a
finger they may show the way to that salvation for which they were created.

The settlement remained a spectacle for sentiment and reflection on the
disastrous and brief course of events which took place in it. It was a
noteworthy thing to see the dogs running along the beach and barking, as if
they were asking why the people went away and left them behind. The
smallest dog rushed into the sea, and came swimming to the ship, and for
such fidelity was taken on board; and of him it may be said that fortune
favours the brave.

The Vicar made his will, and three soldiers kept watch with him during the
following night. He asked one of them to read to him the “Symbol of the
Faith,” by Fray Luis de Granada. When day came, the Chief Pilot, seeing
the little hope there was for his life, and that he appeared to be dying, said
to him that the time was short, and that he should look to what concerned
his soul. He answered that it was well, and that he did not grieve for
anything. The Chief Pilot said that his was the office of a friend, to tell him
that he must not deceive himself, for that he was near his end. “Why did
you not tell me so sooner,” said the Vicar, and the Chief Pilot answered that

he never thought that the illness would bring him to his present condition.
The Vicar asked for a crucifix, and with it in his hands he said: “Oh eternal
Father who sent me; that which I should do I understand not, and presently
power of speech will be gone.” Thus his death-agony came, and he gave his
soul to the Saviour and Creator.

This loss was what we deserved for our sins. Punishment and castigation
came that we might not deceive ourselves, but know that God was enraged
against us, for after so many bodily afflictions He now took from us our
spiritual gift. His death was much felt, though not by all, for all do not
know how to feel such losses. The Vicar, Juan Rodriguez de Espinosa, was
a very honourable priest, for whom, by reason of his virtue and good parts,
much love was due.

The Chief Pilot caused him to be buried in the sea; not being willing that it
should be on shore, lest the natives should disinter and insult his remains.

1 Namely, the Devil.

Chapter XXV.
How we made two more incursions, which were the last, and what passed until we made
sail.

Next day the wind was from the north, and, although moderate, three cables
parted, by which the ship was secured, leaving only one slight cable which
appeared to be too weak to hold a ship. Yet it was so strong that it saved the
ship from going on shore, which was very near.

Later, Luis Andrada was sent in charge of thirty men to seek for provisions
for the voyage. He went to the small island which we called the garden,
“Huerta,” and found five large canoes in a bay, laden with the biscuit of that
country, which the natives had there concealed, and without any difficulty
he collected them all and sent them to the ship. He said that he killed one
hundred and twenty pigs, of which he brought some. He found the natives
peaceful at first; but afterwards they were hostile, because the ill-disposed
soldiers illtreated them. They made holes in the narrow paths, covered with
branches and earth, and in them they planted upright stakes, on which a
soldier hurt his foot. With what was obtained by this incursion, order was
taken for the sick, and the ship was supplied with the whole.

The leader came back, and soon afterwards the Chief Pilot went, with
twenty men, to the same island, following many canoes of the natives.
Leaving six men in the boat, he jumped on shore with the rest, and the
natives, threatening war, received them with arrows in their hands, making
the perneta, shouting and dancing round. The Pilot held up a white flag as a
sign of peace, but they danced and shouted all the more. It was a narrow
path, with trees on each side, and they began to send arrows and stones
from all directions. Two arquebus shots were fired, and the village was
entered; but nothing more was found but biscuits in the houses, and roots
tasting like oranges, and of the same colour. The natives were followed to a
hill, and, reaching the top, we found ourselves on a fine plain, with great
abundance of fruit cultivation. The soldiers cut many large bunches of

plantains, got a quantity of cocoa nuts, and found a great supply of biscuit
in a house. Laden with these provisions, and keeping close to each other,
they all got into the boat without any further mishap; and though there was
an encounter with the natives, none were either killed or wounded. For the
Chief Pilot gave orders to the soldiers not to fire to hit but to frighten.

Having done this, he ordered the boat to follow along the shore to a place
where he went to cut small palms. But when he arrived, the boat was not to
be seen, however much they tried to find her. All agreed that the best plan
would be to go back to the place where they first landed. They marched
until sunset, when they came to a place where some rocks made a good
shelter. For this reason, and having found a canoe there, the Chief Pilot
decided on passing the night, and sending a man in the canoe to report their
position to the ship, that those on board might send to look for them. The
Chief Pilot said that he was anxious about the boat, and much more when
he considered the insecure position in which the best sailors were placed,
without whom the rest could not take the ship to any place where they
would be saved; and thus there would be no notice of the discovery that had
been made, nor of the rest that was surmised.

He asked what powder the soldiers had. They replied that they had ten
rounds. He said that was little, and that it would be better to go on and look
for some of the canoes. When taken, if the natives required them, after all
the powder was expended, they would defend themselves with swords and
shields. If anything had happened to the boat, the natives would have seen,
and would have hidden their canoes so that we might not get away. This
was agreed to. A soldier was given command of the vanguard, and he, with
some others, marched along the beach where the trees grew very thick, no
one having touched them since their creation, with some great rocks. It was
almost impossible to make a way through this in the day-time; how much
less on a dark night. Sometimes the water was up to their knees, and at
others to their middles. They went climbing and descending from trunks
and rocks, making their way either in the sea or through the woods.
Altogether, there were ten of them, two being ill and asking the others to go
and leave them, for that they could hold out no longer. The Chief Pilot, who
heard this, said that they must not be left behind, but must be brought along,

even if it became necessary to carry them. They pushed on a little further,
but it was past midnight when they heard two arquebus shots, and presently
two more. The companions in front pressed onwards to ascertain the cause,
and found that the boat had just arrived. They had been detained by contrary
winds, and had made the round of the island. The party got into the boat and
returned to the ship, arriving at break of day, and finding all on board
anxious, owing to their long absence.

On this day the Governess proposed to the Pilots that they should depart
from that island in search of San Cristobal, to see if the Almiranta was
there, and to do what would be best for the service of God and His Majesty;
and that if she was not found, her determination was to go to the city of
Manilla in the Philippines, to engage priests and people, and return to
complete that discovery. On this subject she asked, persuaded, and ordered
each person present to give his views in the form that appeared most
convenient. The view and opinion of all was that a W.S.W. course should be
shaped so long as was necessary to reach a latitude of 11°, and if neither the
island nor the Almiranta were found, then to proceed to the Philippines.
They all signed their names, and the Chief Pilot undertook to return in
company with the Governess, if she returned as she proposed.

The Chief Pilot said to the Governess that the ship being so injured, both in
hull and rigging, the sailors few, the men sick, and it being necessary to
give thirty of the most healthy to navigate the frigate and the galeot, it
would be best to abandon those two small vessels. For if this was done, the
voyage of the Capitana would be much more secure; for the two small
vessels were in bad order, their pilots were not satisfactory, and their
rigging, sails and people would all be serviceable on board the Capitana. To
this the Captain of the galeot said that it was because the ships had not cost
him any money that he wanted to abandon them. The Chief Pilot replied
that he had no other motive than consideration for the good of all; that in
Manilla, whither they intended to go, they would find other and better
vessels for less than 200 dols., and for such a small sum it was not worth
while to risk so much. The Captain of the galeot had on his side certain ill-
conditioned enemies of truth and reason, and these the Governess had for

her council of state of war and marine. Each one said a little, and so things
remained, nothing being done.

Presently they wanted to get rid of the trouble and charge of the sick. It was
ordered that they should be sent to the frigate. The Chief Pilot protested,
saying that it was unjust to send them where the conveniences were much
less, or to deprive them of the comfort they had where they were in the ship,
especially as all could be accommodated in the large ship, safe from the
sun, night air, and damp. They replied that a sail could be set up to form a
tent, underneath which they could lie at their pleasure. The Chief Pilot
answered that the navigation would not always admit of tents being set up,
and that the sick always needed care. It was publicly ordered that they
should remain, but nevertheless a sergeant began to get them into the boat.
One cried out, and the Chief Pilot came and delivered them from men with
so little pity and so much folly. Finally, the Governess ordered that they
should stay, and so they remained.

In the afternoon the Chief Pilot went to visit the frigate and the galeot,
leaving with them the necessary supplies of flour and water. He gave them
instructions respecting the navigation they would have to work, and a chart
to the Pilot of the frigate, who neither had one nor knew how to use it. At
night the Captain, Don Diego de Vera, with some persons of his company,
went on shore to disinter the body of the Adelantado, to be taken on board
the frigate to Manilla; for on board the Capitana they would not consent to
receive it, owing to objections which are never wanting.

Chapter XXVI.
How the ship and the other two vessels departed from the bay of Graciosa; the labours
during the voyage; the loss of the galeot; and gives an account of a hermit.

The distance from the bay of Graciosa to Manilla is 900 leagues. On the
following day, the 18th of November of the same year, the three vessels
sailed in quest of the island of San Cristobal; and the gear was in such a
state that the falls carried away three times in getting the boat in.

In one month forty-seven persons died. Nearly all the rest were ill but
joyful, as it seemed to them that their troubles were over. They turned their
eyes to the huts of the settlement, saying: “Ah! there you remain, thou
corner of Hell, that has cost us so much! mourning for husbands, brothers,
and friends,” they said; and went on, overcome by their own feelings.

On this day and the next they steered W.S.W. Having taken the sun, and
made the calculations, the result was 11°. We looked to see if land could be
seen in any direction, but none was seen. On this same day the Boatswain
and four other seamen fell ill. The five or six who remained well said to the
Chief Pilot that the ship was unfit for sea, full of sick, in want of water and
food; and that they could not continue to plough the sea in her. The soldiers
joined with them, and there was no want of voices; nor was there wind, and
the mainstay was carried away. There was appearance of evil, which lasted
for a bit, owing to the opinions being different. Things being put right, the
Chief Pilot said to the Governess that they were in the latitude of 11°, and
that, in accordance with the agreement, she must order what should be
done. She replied, that as the island of San Cristobal was not in sight, and
the Almiranta could not be found, she would shape a course for Manilla.

The Chief Pilot made his course N.W. with the wind S.E. to avoid New
Guinea, which was very near, and not to get among the islands. If it had not
been for the wretched condition of the ship, I should have given orders to
coast along that land, and find out what it was.

On this course we continued to sail until the 27th of the month, when we
were in 5°. On that day we saw a great trunk, a great mass of reeds, with
three almonds like those we had left, much straw and snakes. The wind was
S.W., with squalls and showers from that direction. By these signs we
understood that New Guinea was close on board. We began to experience
great waves coming from N.W. and N.N.W., which knocked the ship about,
and it was worse when there were calms or light winds: a sign that these
winds come from the other side of the line. This continued nearly as far as
the Ladrone Islands. There were also variables up to 5° N., where breezes
sprang up from N.E. which lasted all the voyage. If the sun should be near
the zenith when it was in Capricorn, I know not how it would be on
crossing the equinoctial line.

We sailed on until the 10th of December, when I found the latitude half a
degree from the line, a position in which the sky was clear, the air quiet, the
sea smooth, but no land in sight; but so cold at night that it was necessary to
use blankets. Yet in the day the sun was so hot, that even when it was near
the horizon the heat could hardly be borne.

The galeot had not been seen for several days, for she had parted company;
so, wishing to comply with her obligations to the Capitana, the Governess
ordered that her Captain should be notified that, on pain of being declared a
traitor, he should keep his position, and not be more than half a league off.
For it seemed that the Capitana, from her general unseaworthiness, and
having her mainmast sprung, could never reach safety. Yet on that night the
galeot stood on another tack, and disappeared, without being any more
seen.

The ration that was served out consisted of half a pound of flour, of which
they made mashed-up paste with salt water, baked in the hot ashes; half a
quartillo1 of water full of powdered cockroaches, which made it very
nauseous and stinking. There was not much good fellowship, owing to the
great sickness and little conformity of feeling. What were most evident
were the ulcers coming out on feet and legs, the sadness, groans, hunger,
infirmities, and deaths, with mourning for those whom it concerned.
Scarcely a day passed without throwing one or two overboard, and on some

days there were three and four. It came to this: that there was no little
difficulty in carrying the dead up from the between decks.

The sick became rabid from the effluvia of mud and filth that was in the
ship. Nothing was hidden. All the prayers were for water; some begged for
a single drop, showing their tongues, pointing with their fingers, like the
rich man and Lazarus. The women, with children at their breasts, prayed for
water, while all complained of a thousand things. Here could well be seen
the good friend, he who was a father or a son, the charity and patience that
was shown. Here, too, might be seen one who could accommodate himself
to the times, and who could be resigned. Many deaths without confession
took place, and other evils which to think of together were to feel above
measure. The Salve was recited in the afternoon, before the image of Our
Lady of Solitude, which was all the consolation in this pilgrimage.

There had come on this expedition a venerable old man and good Christian,
who in Lima was barchilon,2 and served in the hospital of the natives. His
name was Juan Leal, which he was through all the events he was concerned
with. This servant of God and worthy man, in poor health, for he was
convalescent, without rest, which in good sooth it had been well if he had
found, but he only sought time to occupy himself night and day without
ceasing—was he who, in camp and on board, and in the present voyage,
devoted himself to the service of the sick with cheerful faith. He showed
that his bowels were full of charity, for all that was done for the sick passed
through his hands. He bled them, cupped them, made their beds, helped
them to a good death, prepared and accompanied their bodies to sepulture,
or got them out of danger; a man, in short, who did well in word and deed,
though deeply feeling the numerous miserable sights he beheld. But there
were ears to which his voices reached, and not finding doors, they returned
to their master, who afresh converted them into more love and care to help,
as he did help with his accustomed piety.

1 A quarter of an azumbre, which is about half a gallon.

2 No such word in Spanish, nor is it a Peruvianism.

Chapter XXVII.
Of the state in which the ship was as she continued her voyage, and of the death of the
hermit.

A list was made of the surviving sick, and each one was given, besides his
ordinary ration, a plate of fritters helped out with honey and treacle, and in
the afternoon a mug of water with a little sugar to help as sustenance. Those
who were a little stronger had double rations to enable them to work at the
pumps four times a day, at which they suffered fearfully, for some hid
themselves, others sat down, and others stopped, saying they could not
work. Night passed without being able to give rest from the evil that was so
near, for its clamours and forced necessities were two things which it was
not possible to remedy.

The rigging and sails were so rotten that repairs were incessant, and splicing
and sewing was constantly needed. These were evils that could not be
amended. The main mast was sprung from the step, and the step of the
bowsprit, from not being morticed, hung on one side, taking the bowsprit
with it, which caused us great anxiety. The sprit sail with all its gear fell
into the sea, and none of it could be recovered. The main stay carried away
a second time, and it was necessary to make another stay with part of the
hemp cable, and the backstays of the mainmast, which were unrove for the
purpose. There was not a yard that was not bent downwards owing to parted
lifts, the topsail ties were gone, and perhaps for three days at a time the sail
was flapping in the waist, because no one cared to hoist it with a rope that
had been spliced thirty-three times. We took down the topsails and mizen in
order to mend the courses, which at last were the only sails we used. Of the
hull of the ship it may be said with truth that only the beams kept the people
above water, for they were of that excellent wood of Guayaquil called
guatchapeli,1 which never seems to grow old. The ship was so open in the
dead wood that the water ran in and out of the ship when we sailed on a
bowline.

The sailors, from the hard work and their weakness, and from seeing the
ship in such a state, set no store by their lives; and one of them said to the
Chief Pilot that he was tired of being always tired, that he would rather die
once than many times, and that they might as well shut their eyes and let the
ship go to the bottom. They did not want to work, saying that neither God
nor the King required them to do what was impossible. The men said they
were without strength, and if one took another in his arms he was unable to
hold him up. If they should die, who was there that could revive them? The
Chief Pilot answered one of them that if he should jump overboard, the
Devil would have him body and soul. Many others said that as he knew
how to command, he should give them nourishment from the jars of wine,
oil, and vinegar which the Governess had, or that it should be sold to them
in exchange for their work; that they would give receipts and pay at
Manilla, or make a return in kind. They said this was necessary for them in
order to recover strength to work the ship, and that if they all died she
would die also. When there was the greatest necessity for them, then they
would show her needs and remember what had passed. The Chief Pilot
submitted their prayer to the Governess several times during the voyage,
saying it was much worse to die than not to expend stores. She said that
there was more obligation to her than to the sailors who talked of her
favour, and if two were hanged the rest would hold their tongues. The Chief
Pilot answered that he only referred to the matter in order to apply a remedy
to pressing needs, that the sailors were good men, that if he advocated their
cause it was not for any obligation he owed to them, but that the ship might
be taken where she herself wished, and that the obligation to please her did
not relieve him from the duty of his office, the pay being equal to the debt.
At last she served out two jars of oil; but they were soon used up, when the
complaints were renewed and continued throughout the voyage.

The soldiers seeing so long a time before them (for no time is short to those
who suffer) also said a good deal: that they would gladly exchange this life
for a sentence of death in a prison, or for a place on a bench in a Turkish
galley, where they might die confessed, or live in the hope of a victory or a
ransom. Hope in God, whose power is greater than all our necessities, said
one, for that will prove an armed voyage, and above poverty.

This death, which I hold to be a happy termination to a life of good works
when received with meekness, was doing service to the Lord in calling, in
good time, our dear Juan Leal, who went to his reward in heaven for the
merits of what he had done on earth. He died alone and forsaken, like the
rest. He was exemplary in his life and customs, he valued the world and its
affairs for what they were worth, he went about dressed in sackcloth next to
his skin, and reaching half down his legs, with bare feet, and long hair and
beard. He had passed many years in this severe course of life, serving
hospitals, after having previously served for many years as a soldier in
Chile. On the same night a sick man fell overboard, it was not known how,
crying out for help; but he was left and was no more seen.

1 The brothers Ulloa, in their Noticias Secretas, spoke very highly of the “guatchapeli” wood of
Guayaquil (p. 58) for ship-building, especially extolling its durability.

Chapter XXVIII.
How there was a proposal to elect a General; the reply of the Chief Pilot to it; the advice
given by a man to the Governess, and the loss of the frigate.

The Chief Pilot took great care of the water, as there was little left, and, by
secret means, there were great wasters of it. He was therefore present when
it was served out. The Governess used it very largely, requiring it to wash
her clothes, for which purpose she sent a jar to be filled. The Chief Pilot
said that the position should be considered, and that it did not seem just to
use so much water, when there was so little. At this she took great offence,
and felt it so much that she said very angrily: “Cannot I do what I please
with my own property?” The Chief Pilot answered: “It belongs to all, and it
will go to all. The cup is good for him that cannot wash, and it is your duty
to curtail your own allowance, that the soldiers may not say that you wash
your clothes with their life’s blood. You should put a high value on the
patience of those who are suffering, for they might take by force what there
is in the ship. Starving people sometimes know how to help themselves.”
Upon this the Governess took the keys of the store room away from the
steward, who was an honest man, to whom the Chief Pilot had entrusted
them, and gave them to one of her own servants. There were not wanting
those who said to the Chief Pilot that he ought not to allow himself to be
ruled by a woman, and that if it was put to the vote, the majority would be
for a man. But the Chief Pilot answered that they should leave her to enjoy
her just title for the brief space that remained. When the time came that he
was forced to act, it would then appear more reasonable to say what is now
said without considering her.

One honest man1 was anxious to see less bickering in the ship, and more
order and peace than prevailed there. Knowing that some of the hungry and
suffering people had determined to force their way into the store room when
it was opened, and knowing what must happen from this project, whether
fights or other mischief, so that the little food that remained would be got

by blows—he said many things to the Governess touching her rule. There
were not wanting those who told her not to trust him, and knowing this, he
spoke thus to her: “Consider, Lady, that those who speak to you are not
saints, and well they show it in what they say, for they seek their own
benefit and the evil of others. Trust in the men in whom your husband
trusted, for have you not seen that in his necessities and your own they have
loyally done their duty, seeing your risk. Be assured that here there is no
one who desires to rise, nor who would consent to it, nor any who do not
owe to you a sole obedience in all that is just.” She replied: “Here they
come to me with complaints that I do not wish to hear.” He answered: “Do
not listen to them nor believe them, and treat the men well. See with what
heavy loads they are laden. They might throw them off, and refuse to carry
them, or make some evil agreement, so as to agree afterwards. Be sure that
each one thinks that, although miseries overflow, compensations are not
wanting. To these your brethren be considerate. Do not look upon them as a
petty government of many heads without feet, or of many feet without a
head. Reflect well on what are new affairs. These people wish for little, and
here they suffer much. They owe nothing, yet they owe much; and for what
they owe to you they dissimulate. If they had not come here, no one would
owe anything, nor would what is wanted now be wanted; and to you all is
more than owing.” At last this man asked her, “What ought he to do who
was warned that some wanted to kill others on board the ship?” She
answered that he should look out. He then said: “I know that it was you
yourself and your brother who plotted to kill me, and you sharpened the
knives; but I did not believe it easily, though I was told by a friend. Nor did
I fail in caution, though now I may. You see here how it has been made
sure, and if you should wish it, you can have assurance, though you may not
believe who it was that deceived you. I am not afraid of what I have told
you and excused, for there are very few women with such heads as Dido,
Zenobia, and Semiramis.”

With these troubles we went on steering the same course, N.N.W., until
Tuesday, the 17th of December, when we were in 3° 30′ N. The men in the
frigate were worn out by work at the pump, and it was necessary to give
them three more to help them at their labour. Sailors were sent to check the
water, which was coming in at many places. No diligence availed, and she

could not keep up with the Capitana. The people were very sad, yet
desirous to save the vessel because the body of the Adelantado was on
board. Knowing the danger, the Chief Pilot said to the Governess several
times, that it seemed right to abandon the frigate, taking off the people, who
would be safe, while the ship would be better manned. As he could not
prevail, he said to Don Diego de Vera, Captain of the frigate: “You know
how to complain; how is it you do not know how to make things safe? Do
you not see that it will be the death of yourself and your companions?
Come on board this ship, for here you will be welcomed like brothers.” At
last the frigate was lost sight of at night, for which cause the Chief Pilot
eased off the sheets, and waited until the next day in the afternoon. The
soldiers began to make an outcry, saying it was no time to delay the
navigation, for that the frigate would not appear, that she may have gone
ahead, and that if not it was God for us all and each for himself. The Chief
Pilot answered that it would be an ill deed to abandon that vessel full of
friends on the high sea, without such a pilot as could take her to safety. If
she parted company, she could not be secure of reaching port. She was
never more seen.

1 The “honest man” is evidently the Chief Pilot himself.

Chapter XXIX.
How they came in sight of an island bearing north, and of the great danger in which the
ship was placed.

With the wind from the E. and N.E. the ship continued her N.N.W. course,
and on the following Saturday she came in sight of an island, for which they
steered cheerfully in hopes of a port and provisions. But as it did not appear
well to the Chief Pilot to go too near an unknown land during the night, he
ordered the ship to be tacked. The sailors, accustomed to work, said they
were not tired, and that they were quite ready to go on. The Chief Pilot
eased off the foresheet, put the helm down, and the ship went round. This
seemed to be the inspiration of an angel, for if she had not been put about
she would certainly have been lost, as will be seen further on. Up to where
the ship was the sea was clear and unbroken, but further on it was not
known what the ship would strike against.

At dawn the ship stood in to where she was before night. A sailor was sent
to the mast-head, as was the custom morning and evening, and he reported
that to the N.E. there were some great reefs, the termination of which he
could not see. The ship had no after sails to enable her to work to
windward; and the water was breaking over the rocks. The ship was so near
them that there appeared to be no escape, and death seemed ready to
swallow us up. A certain person made a prayer and a promise, in his heart,
to St. Anthony of Padua; and it served the Lord that on this day, which was
that of His holy birth, the ship came out of the danger in which she was
placed. At three in the afternoon she doubled the reef, it may be said by a
miracle.

Natives came in their canoes from the island under sail, others paddling. As
they were unable to cross the reef, they jumped on it, and made signs with
their hands. In the afternoon one single native in a small canoe came round
the end of the reef. He was at a distance to windward, so that we could not
see whether he had a beard, the position being near the island of the

“Barbados.” He seemed to be a good-sized man and naked, with long, loose
hair. He pointed in the direction whence he had come, and breaking
something white with his hands he ate it, and had cocoa nuts for drink. He
was called to, but did not want to come.

It was evening, and, for that reason, a sailor went aloft to look out. He
reported two small islands and many rocks, by which the ship was
surrounded as in a yard. There was reason for despondency, as whatever
course was taken (to those who did not understand) seemed to threaten
danger. The ship was put on a course steering N.N.W.

This islet is in latitude 6°. It is nearly round, and about 30 leagues in
circumference. It is not very high. It has many trees, and at their sides there
were flowers and cultivated patches. At 3 leagues to the west there are four
low islands, and many others near them, all surrounded by reefs. The sea
appeared to be more clear to the southward.

Chapter XXX.
How they came in sight of the Ladrone Islands, and what happened there.

Continuing on a N.N.W. course, they were in 14° N. latitude on Monday,
the 1st of January. The wind was west, and the ship was going free. On
Wednesday, the 3rd of the same month, we came in sight of two of the
Ladrone islands, for which we were making. One was called Guan, and the
other Serpana. We passed between the two, which lie N.E. and S.W., by a
channel 10 leagues wide, keeping on the side of Guan. A man who was
handing the foresail fell overboard; and in the whole ship there was only
one line. It was thrown over where the man had fallen alongside, who got
hold of it and came up, thanks be to God! Many canoes came out from
Guan under sail, with a number of Ladrone natives in them, who are stout
men of a reasonable colour. They were crying out “charume,” which means
friends, and “heoreque,” signifying “Give us iron,” which is what they seek,
being very fond of it. As so many came there was a great press, and some
canoes fouled each other and were overturned, whose masters swimming,
turned them over again with great ease. They are built with two prows, so
that they can turn the sail without having to turn the canoe. They brought
many cocoa nuts, plantains, rice, water, and some large fish, giving all in
exchange for old iron. Those of the ship were delighted with these people
and their refreshing provisions. The exchange being completed, the natives
went away, all but two who were killed by an arquebus, owing to a matter
of a piece of cask hoop.1

The soldiers insisted much with the Chief Pilot that he should go into port
at this island and procure provisions. He was very willing; but he gave it up
because there was no gear for getting the boat into the water. He said this to
all; but they still insisted, saying they could do it with their hands. The
Chief Pilot replied: “And how will you get it on board again?” They
answered: “Why cannot it be left here?” Then the Chief Pilot said: “It is not
well to lose the boat, having to navigate among so many islands of which

we go in search.” They were very persistent; but he turned a deaf ear, and
continued to shape a westerly course until Friday, the 12th, when, on taking
the sun, he found the latitude to be 13° N.

1 Here Suarez de Figueroa introduces a fuller account of the Ladrone Islanders, especially of their
customs connected with the burial of the dead, with an anecdote about an adventure between a
Spanish soldier and a native of Guan.

Chapter XXXI.
How, when they came in sight of the Philippine Islands, the ship was in many dangers, and
how she anchored in a good harbour.

The Chief Pilot navigated only by information, and without a chart, seeking
for the cape of Espiritu Santo, the first land of the Philippines. At daybreak
land was sighted, being the peak of a high mountain; and nothing else was
then seen owing to a shower of rain that came on. The land was welcomed
with as much content as if we had really reached a safe haven. Some said:
“Soon we shall hear Mass and seek God. There is no longer danger of death
without confession, for that is a land where Christians dwell.” Amidst these
anticipations and great rejoicing, there were others so weak that they could
not stand on their feet, and who were like skeletons ready to die; and their
refrain was that they no longer wished to bring to light their propped-up
bones. Presently they all applied for a double ration of water, for the want
of it caused the greatest sufferings. But the Chief Pilot said that he could not
give more than the cup, for there was very little left, and we should still be
at sea some time before we anchored.

Having come near the land, a bay was seen on the shore running north and
south. The people said that this was a port, and that we should make for it,
for God had shown us such signal mercy that He had guided us there. This
was also the view of the Chief Pilot; for there was a soldier on board, who,
some time before, had made this voyage and knew the coast. We continued
to coast along, looking out for signs that would be satisfactory. The wind
was strong from the N.E., and there was mist over land, while the sun was
obscured. It did not seem advisable to the Chief Pilot to proceed further, nor
to enter such a dangerous place, in which, if once embayed, it would not be
possible to get out, the wind being contrary, there being few hands, and the
whole furniture of the ship being bad. For these reasons he ordered the ship
to be put about, intending to see if he could get the latitude by a star
observation, or the sun next day, so as to be sure where he was.

They began to persuade him to go in, and he told them that it would be
better to endure one day more of suffering than to lose their lives. He then
examined the soldier in great detail for his reasons for being satisfied that
that was the opening that we sought. His replies were as far from the truth
as he was near to a mistaken notion. After all this, he and others gave their
opinions to the Governess. They made their complaints, and said that the
Chief Pilot did not understand how to take advantage of such a good
chance. To all this he answered that no one desired the salvation of the ship
more than he did, whose duty it was to seek a port on pain of loss of credit
in case of failure; while as regards their lives they were all equal. “God has
been pleased to bring them there, and He would also take them to Manilla;”
adding that if others had the responsibility they would not feel so certain
about what they said.

The Governess also said that it appeared to be the opening, for that
everyone said so. The Chief Pilot answered that she should leave it to him,
for that he understood his duty; if not, she could appoint some one else. He
knew that for anyone to enter that opening and get the ship into danger, he
would not be without blame whoever he might be, and there would be no
escape. “And how,” he added, “could the sick, and all the women and
children they had on board, be saved? Even if they were saved, how could
they be fed and taken on their way? And what certainty was there that there
was peace in that land? Even if there was, how much better was it to take
such measures as would make safety certain, than to make the voyage to
Manilla doubtful, it being still 300 leagues distant. Moreover, the night was
coming on, which made it necessary to stand away from the land.” At last
the ship was put about, and kept on that tack with the care that was
necessary during a night without moon.

At dawn we returned to seek the land, though it was not visible owing to
mist, in consequence of which great murmurs were raised against the Chief
Pilot. They said that they could only be drowned once, and it would have
been better to have taken the ship in when they spoke before than to risk
nothing. At last the land came in sight, in the form of a cape a little to
windward. They set the bonnet, and ran in for the land, with the intention of
coasting along it, the sounding line in the arm, and the deep-sea lead in the

hand, ready to anchor, or decide upon what it was most desirable to do. The
yard was hoisted up, and the tie was carried away. The sail fell, and the
people, who were tired, did not care to apply a remedy. At last, persuaded
by good reasons, and by the proximity of dangerous reefs, the yard was got
up again, and secured to the mast by stoppers. But these stoppers would not
hold; the yard fell again, and to hoist it once more required both hands and
tongue. The night before there had been a great swell, and now it was the
same, and as the ship, head to wind, laboured much, the rigging almost all
carried away, especially the running rigging belonging to the foremast, and
there was only one shroud left on each side. The mast appeared so badly
supported that the least thing would make it go by the board; but it was a
good spar, and held on. Firmness is needful in all cases, for without it all
else is worth little or nothing.

As for the reefs in sight, they were said to be the Catanduanes, where a ship
is in great danger of foundering with all on board; while if anyone escaped
by swimming, the natives shoot arrows into him like San Sebastian, which
they know how to do very well. Others said we were between those reefs
and the island of Manilla, in a part where it was impossible to get out.
Others, that the channel was astern, and that the fault was with the Chief
Pilot. Others declared that the ship would sink, that he should die who
would die; and other disconcerting opinions like these, sufficient to upset
the most collected.

The Governess, in her retreat, appeared to be making arrangements with
death. A book of devotions in her hand, her eyes turned to heaven, making
ejaculations, and as afflicted and tearful as the rest. The Chief Pilot
regretted that he could not do what he intended. Some clamoured, others
appeared sad, and all turned their eyes to the Chief Pilot, with whom was
the whole solution. They asked him what land that was, and where they
were, as if it was enough merely to see it in order to know it without further
ado. At last, at the end of all this and much more, the blame was put on the
soldier who professed to know that coast: for it was thought that some devil
had possessed him that day, to bring all to their deaths, if the intervention of
God did not save them.

The Chief Pilot said: “What is it that you want me to say to you? I never
saw the land in my life until now, nor am I a sorcerer. I came in search of
the Cape of Espiritu Santo. It ought to be here, within two leagues, more or
less. Can you not see that the land is covered with clouds, and so is the sky,
so that I am prevented from making use of my instruments. Now we will
coast along the land, and when we find a port or anchoring ground, we will
bring to; for by all means we must keep the ship from grounding.” He then
told two sailors to set up two backstays to support the foremast, and another
strong lad to have the anchor ready to let go as soon as there was bottom.
But they turned their backs without answering, and made use of bad
language.

The ship and crew was in this state when it pleased the Lord to look down
with the eyes of clemency, and to be served by turning the bows of the ship
right into a bay. A breeze sprang up, and we ran in, with a reef on either
side. At this juncture three natives came to reconnoitre us in a canoe, and
placed themselves to windward of the ship without saying anything. The
only man on board who knew the language spoke to them, and when they
saw that we were Christians, they came on board, and showed us the
anchorage which we were then seeking. We anchored in the middle of the
bay, in 14 fathoms. One of these natives was an interpreter. The other was
the man that the English navigator, Thomas Cavendish, took with him to
point out to him the channels among these islands. I asked them what land
that was. They answered that it was the Cape of Espiritu Santo, and that the
bay and port were called “Cobos;” also that the opening was near, and that
the ship was on her right course. I asked who was then governing Manilla.
They replied that Don Luis Perez de las Mariñas was Governor for the
Spaniards. I asked this, because it was reported in Peru that Japan was
preparing an attack with a great fleet. This news was given to people who
seemed an hour before to be sentenced to death, and now were to live. They
could not conceal their joy, and showed it by tears and thanks to God, Who
knows how to show these mercies when He pleases to the man who serves
Him.

Chapter XXXII.
Of what happened during the time that the ship was in the bay.

The natives went to their village, from which others came, one with a wand
of justice; and, on seeing it, and a cross on the land, the crew believed the
natives to be peaceful and Christian. They brought fowls and pigs, at two or
three reals a piece, together with palm wine, by drinking which some of us
talked various languages; also many cocoa nuts, plantains, sweet canes,
papays, roots, water in bamboo joints, and fuel. They took in exchange
reals, knives and glass beads, which they value more than silver. During
three days and nights the galley fire was never put out, nor was there any
cessation of kneading and cooking, or of eating the boiled of one and the
roast of another, so that they were eating day and night.

With mouths sweetened and stomachs satisfied, they all remained as
contented as it is possible to imagine. The Chief Pilot said that this was the
present work, to enable them to arrive at the port they so much desired.
Some wanted to embrace him; others said that he had made them happy;
and he said to all that they should give thanks to God. He said to the two
sailors who would not hear his orders: “Does it seem to you that if you had
had your own way you would have given a good account of yourselves?
Tell me whether you are better off here, or where you importuned me to
take you?”

The natives here are of a brown colour, not very tall, and their bodies
tattooed. They have no beards, nor any sign of them. Their hair is black and
long. Their loins are covered with cloth, and in the villages they wore a
tunic of the same material, with no colour, and reaching down to their
calves. They have large gold earrings, ivory armlets, and similar ornaments
on their legs, of gilded bronze, which deceived some of our people. These
natives are so selfish that without silver or something they want in
exchange, they will give nothing.

The sick, being so little accustomed to abundance of food, and eating
without moderation, did themselves serious harm; three or four even died of
it. The natives came morning and evening, bringing and bartering their
produce, so that in fourteen days provisions were collected for the rest of
the voyage.

The bay is open to the N.W., and when it blew hard from that quarter there
was a heavy sea. The ship rode by a small cable that looked like a thread, so
that it was a new mercy of God that strength was given to it to hold the ship
during two days and a night, while it strained against its slender cable, with
rocks and mangrove swamps to leeward. The Chief Pilot, seeing the danger
in which the ship was placed, proposed to the Governess that the royal
artillery and munitions should be got out and stored in one of the villages,
with her property, and that of the women and children, or at least what was
of most value; while, as regards the ship, he would always be on board,
with the sailors, ready for anything that might happen. She replied that, for
the eight days they were going to stay, what danger could there be? He then
said that he would not feel secure of the ship’s safety for a single hour; and
seeing the want of care of the Governess, he repeated what he had said. As
she would not consent, he said he would make a protest for his own
security, for she made certain of her own freedom from blame by reason of
the care he took. So he drew up a brief protest, saying in it what, in his
opinion, ought to be done. When she had read it, a council was called and
an act was prepared, ordering that sail should presently be made for
Manilla, and that they should not remain in that port. The Chief Pilot said
that he gave his protest as a reply, for that the ship was not then fit to go to
sea, as first she must be refitted and victualled so far as was necessary; also
that the wind was then blowing into the mouth of the bay, being the
direction by which they must go; also that he must protest afresh against his
request not being complied with, for the ship was not safe for a moment.
They drew up another order, that within an hour he should take the ship out
and shape a course to Manilla, and that his conduct was disrespectful and
mutinous. All these and other similar things happened there, and the Chief
Pilot spoke to the soldiers to this effect: “See you not that these concerted
replies of mine are to provide for your necessities? I know not what steps to
take in order to bring this lady to reason. It ought to be understood that my

obligation is to serve her and to endure her. But see you not that this ship is
only held by a cable that can be clasped with two fingers?”

On this occasion the sailors signed a paper and gave it to the Chief Pilot,
asking him, who they looked upon as their commander, that he would give
them food, or an instalment of their pay; otherwise, that he would dismiss
them soon, that they might go to seek for other service; for here they had
sold what they had, and if they applied for rations, or advances, or pay, they
had nothing but excuses and evil answers. The Chief Pilot showed the paper
to the Governess, and said that their plan was for all to go or to seize the
ship. The sailors said that it was tyranny; that the King, being over all, paid,
fed, and gave liberty. The Governess to this replied by saying to the
Sergeant-Major: “Go to Manilla, and bring me a judge, with soldiers and a
frigate, so that they may come to me and punish these people.” She spoke
as she understood, and would work in this way if she could, having shown
her disposition. All complained and all suffered. The Chief Pilot said: “I do
not wish to say during this expedition anything more, but rather to suffer a
woman as Governess, and her two brothers; and all this from my desire not
to offend the name of the King’s presence, for now I am in the hands of
Doña Isabel Barreto.”

The Chief Pilot, not neglecting his duties, had soundings taken in a certain
port round a cape, whither he presently took the ship and anchored her.
With reason, it may be said that to avoid one danger he ran into another
which was more certain, the one being quite as much by chance as the
other; for both ends of the lee foresheets carried away outside the thimble;
the wind was fresh, and the rocks quite close. But at such moments temerity
often brings safety, as on this occasion. Sending a hawser on shore, the ship
was brought into a safe port. Here he ordered the natives to make a strong
cable of fibres, and other ropes, with which he both rigged the foremast and
secured the ship.

In reply to the sailors, the Governess had ordered a proclamation to be
made that no one was to go on shore without leave on pain of death. It
happened that a married soldier went on shore without leave to get some
food, or with leave according to his own account, and for this he was

ordered to be arrested. A council was assembled, and presently an order was
given that the prisoner should be flogged. The Sergeant-Major, who had to
carry out the order, was not handy in rigging what was required, and at last
told the Boatswain to reeve a tackle and hoist up the yard. While this part of
the comedy was proceeding, an ensign came up the hatchway, followed by
some halberdiers as long and thin as himself. They came by authority of the
sentence, with the drum which was nearly passed its work, and the most
wonderful costumes, for there is no play without an interlude. The
Boatswain was one Marcos Marin, an Aragonese, a large man, now old and
very respectable. As he knew better how to understand things, and complain
of them, than to pronounce the Castilian language, it was a wonderful thing
to hear his honest liberties and well-founded complaints, which he took
even to the Adelantado himself. But he was very careful, and highly
intelligent in his office. As the Sergeant-Major hurried him very much, and
he had very little inclination, he said: “Report, Sir Sergeant-Major, that we
are all chastised with so much hunger, sickness, and so many deaths during
the time we have been at sea, that it will be better to reflect on all this rather
than flog another.” The Sergeant-Major replied that he must obey at once,
for that the Governess had given the order. The Boatswain answered: “The
Lady will do equally well in giving us to eat from the store she keeps for
herself; and the jars of wine and oil, given to those who need them, would
be better than these floggings. I have an order, but who orders me to do
what is right?” The Sergeant-Major was enraged, and the Boatswain,
without any hesitation, said: “We have good security—flog here, hang
there, many orders, and to die of hunger!”

On this there arose cries and complaints, and the wife of the prisoner was
praying for justice from God for the injury that they were going to inflict on
her husband. The Chief Pilot went to represent to the Governess that it
seemed to be an unjust thing that in return for so many hardships that the
man had suffered, having lost four children and expended his property, he
should be left without anything, and to die without honour. The Governess
answered that he had disobeyed her orders, and that it was proper he should
suffer for it. The Chief Pilot replied, saying that “they also broke the orders
of God with punishment in the life hereafter, and those of Holy Mother
Church with punishment of excommunication, and those of the King with

the punishment of a traitor, which is loss of life, honour, and property, who
hastily make the sword run with blood.” The Governess said she had given
the order to frighten the sailors. The Chief Pilot begged that she would not
do so at such cost, and that he would look after them. With this the prisoner
was set at liberty, and the solicitude of the Sergeant-Major ceased.

Chapter XXXIII.
How the ship sailed from this bay, and of what happened until she arrived at the entrance
of that of Manilla.

The ship left this bay of Cobos, which is in 12° 10′ N. latitude, on Tuesday,
the 29th of January, and in going out we committed two bodies to the deep.
By five in the afternoon we were well clear of the entrance, and left the
island of San Bernardino, which is in the middle of the mouth, far astern. At
night, near an island called Capul, we encountered a strong cross sea,
caused by currents which are here very powerful, so that the ship was
turned right round, and there was cause for thankfulness that she was not
driven on shore. Next day several natives came out in barangais from a port
on the island of Luzon called Nivalon. They brought quantities of fowls,
pigs, wine and fruit; but the soldiers now had scarcely anything to barter
with, and were able to buy little. We kept the island in sight all day, and in
the night we were among many others, passing through places of which
experienced pilots said afterwards that they could not understand how it
was that we had not been lost among the numerous reefs which we never
saw. The Lord was served in protecting us.

On Thursday, the first of February, the Governess, at a place called Galvan,
sent her two brothers, with seven other men, in the boat, to seek for food.
This business came to such a point that the Captain, Don Diego, ordered an
arquebus to be fired at one of the sailors who went up the mizen mast. The
Chief Pilot said to the Governess that to no one was it more important than
to her that the expedition should end in peace. This was a foolish affair, and
so it was left. The boat did not come back, although we waited for her all
day. They went to Manilla, which was 15 leagues distant, by a certain strait
in the island, to report our approach. On the next night, before dawn, the
ship was so embayed among islands that no way out was visible, without a
boat and without food, for the provisions taken in at the last port were
consumed. We saw many natives in canoes; but they all fled from us,

although we made signs to them. The reason was that, as this was not the
time when ships arrive from New Spain, they thought the ship was English.
For they remembered the ship of Thomas Cavendish, and the warning of the
Governor to act thus. There was no want of anxiety about our condition,
and much more that we could not see how to extricate the ship. We
proceeded as well as we could, for it was nearly calm, and at last we saw a
channel, so narrow that a stone might almost be thrown across it. The wind
freshened and we made for it, coming out between the islands of Luzon and
Caza, near a point which is called Azufre, in the wide sea of a great bay
called Bombon.

Where there is hunger there is discontent. The soldiers stood menacingly
round the hatchway, because the Governess would not give the order for
their rations to be served out. The Chief Pilot, seeing this, asked the
accountant to request the Governess to be so kind as to order food to be
served out to the people. If she did not like to give it, the Chief Pilot would
sign an obligation to pay her at Manilla what the cost of the provisions
would be from that time; or, if that would not do, to give it her in specie. If
she refused, it might be that the store-room would be broken into. For it was
not just that, there being provision on board the ship, the crew should die
for want of it. The Governess sent for him and said: “Sir Captain, have you
spent 40,000 dols. as I have on this expedition, or have these people
undertaken it at their own charge? The Adelantado is ill paid for the great
things he expected.” The Chief Pilot replied to this: “My Lady, I spent my
property, and each one spent what they had; many gave up their lives, and
all expended all they knew. As for the Adelantado, I was a better servant to
him than he was friend to me; but these passed memories do not oblige me
to look favourably on present faults which give much trouble, as may well
be known. These men have the same necessity to eat on one day as they
have on another, and as we all have; and until we bring them to Manilla we
are bound to give them to eat and drink. That which belonged to the
Adelantado, and that which belongs to your Ladyship, must be used for the
necessities of the voyage; and upon me falls the duty of guarding it,
disposing of it faithfully, measuring the quantity, according to the time that
this ship may spend with reference to the small amount of sail she is able to

carry.” The Governess having been convinced, said that a calf might be
killed that she had on board.

While this business was being arranged, two boats came in sight, each
rowed by forty natives, twenty on each side.

A signal was made to the one which came in front. She turned, but did not
care to wait. They ran into each other, and made fast to a line which was
thrown to them. They were asked whence they came and whither they went.
They replied that they were from Manilla, which was 20 leagues distant,
speaking in the Castilian language, and that they were on their way to Zebu,
the first settlement that was formed by the Spaniards in those parts, an
island 100 leagues from Manilla. I asked for a native as a guide, because the
ship had to pass some reefs called “Tuley” during the night. They gave one
a wage of 3 dols. for his trouble. The Chief Pilot bought from them two
large baskets of rice for two pair of shoes, which was divided among the
people. The Governess wanted to buy two more, but she could not agree
about the price; so, having given us the guide, they let go the line and
proceeded on their way. A careful watch was kept during the night, and next
morning we came in sight of the opening to the bay, which we kept nearing
by coasting along the land of the island of Fortun. The wind was contrary
for entering on the west side, for there was a breeze from the north-east.

Chapter XXXIV.
Of what took place with the sailors on the arrival; how four Spaniards came on board; and
other things that happened until the ship was anchored at Cavite.

There is an island called Marivelez, at the entrance of the bay of Manilla,
where there is usually a Spanish look-out man, with native rowers and light
boats, to go out and reconnoitre any ships that are coming in, so as to give
early intelligence to the Governor. There is also a small rock called El
Frayle, bearing north from Marivelez. These two islands form three
channels, and to enter the one between Marivelez and El Frayle I began to
alter course. As the only sails we had were the two courses, and the crew
weary and disinclined to work, while not unwilling to injure the ship so as
to revenge themselves, we made little or no way, and indeed began to lose
ground. We went on like this for three days, all tired and annoyed to find
that we did not sight the island, and were thus deprived of the pleasure of
reaching and resting at Manilla. All was sorrow, and waiting for one tide
after another, counting the hours for its flood, that we might get inside; but
as no order was kept, that hour did not come. The sailors said to the Chief
Pilot that he should run that ship on shore, for that they had worked enough,
and done more than they were bound to do. The thing that ought to be was
to see the land on both sides, and the smoke of Manilla. When they gave
any help, they did so very slowly, as if it was done as a favour. There was
now neither food to eat nor water to drink. There was only a foul wind, and
the affliction expressed in consequence. The Governess said that she had
only got two sacks of flour and a little wine, and that she wanted it all to say
masses for the soul of the Adelantado.

The Chief Pilot showed much feeling against the sailors who wanted to run
the ship on shore, and told them to look and see that all that coast was steep
to, and with a heavy sea. “See you not,” he said, “that we have no boat, and
that the ship is full of sick without food. If you would give notice at
Manilla, there is nothing to take you over the sea, and by land it would take

several days. It is not possible to sustain the people for one more day. Let it
not be said that you only want those to be saved who have health and know
how to swim. Reflect that we have brought the ship from such remote parts,
by a route never before navigated. The little that remains cannot appear
much to those who have suffered so much with such great courage. And
how would you suffer where they look out for us, at losing the reward your
labours deserve? Reflect well that if the ship arrived well furnished, full of
healthy men, well fed and paid, in that case there would be small thanks.”
They answered that “they were only sailors, and that when the ship was
anchored they would get no credit, but only the Chief Pilot who
commanded them.” To this he replied that the greatest reward for which he
hoped was to anchor the ship in a safe harbour, where all could enjoy the
good things they so much desired.

There were many very painful scenes such as this, when that merciful Lord,
who is always looking down upon us and brings succour and relief in times
of greatest necessity, like a father to his children though prodigal, was
served that we should come in sight of a boat, which rapidly approached the
ship with sail and oars. When it came near four Spaniards could be seen in
it, who seemed like 4,000 angels, and eight natives were rowing them. This
was the look-out man, who, as has been said, is always stationed at
Marivelez, named Alonzo de Albarran, with the chief butler of the Governor
and two soldiers. They came by the Governor’s order, to condole with the
Governess on her misfortunes, and to bring a letter, which she presently
showed to the Chief Pilot, and which contained many and most honourable
greetings. The coming of the ship had become known from the brothers of
the Governess, who had come by land. The satisfaction of all on board was
such, and so warmly shown, at the sight of the four Spaniards, that it cannot
be described. The sailors gave their hands, and helped them into the ship,
where they were received only with embraces, for there was nothing else to
give them. And they, looking carefully from one to another, and seeing them
so sick, covered with boils, poverty-stricken, with tattered clothes, and
surrounded by so much misery, could only exclaim: “Thanks be to God!
Thanks be to God!”

The look-out man went down between decks to see the hospital and the sick
women, who, when they beheld him, cried out: “What do you bring us to
eat? Oh, give us food, for we are mad with hunger and thirst.” With the
hope of refreshment some were consoled, and the look-out man came on
deck again, much horrified at what he had seen. Then, seeing two pigs on
board the ship, he said: “Why do they not kill those pigs?” They told him
that they belonged to the Governess, and he prayed hard to her to allow
them to be killed, having said: “What the Devil! Is this a time for courtesy
with pigs?” The Governess then ordered them to be killed, and a soldier,
who took careful note of such things, exclaimed: “O, cruel avarice! which
even with a gentle and pious woman turns her heart into a stone, even in a
business so necessary, cheap, and clear!” God was served that all the good
wine appeared too. The ship came to Marivelez on the next tack, whence
the Governess sent a soldier with the reply to the letter she received from
the Governor, which was sent by the returning boat.

Soon afterwards another boat was seen, in which was the Chief Magistrate
of that part of the coast, with the brothers of Doña Isabel. They brought
much fresh bread, wine and fruit, presented by the Governor. When it was
being distributed there was seen, in respectable persons, some things which
were far from well ordered. For in such necessitous times as were those,
ordinary obligations are disregarded. All got a share, some more than
others, which they consumed during that afternoon. One boy died from
exhaustion, due to previous privations. The long night passed with hope of
day, when a large barge arrived laden with fowls, calves, pigs, bread, wine,
and vegetables brought by Diego Diaz Marmolego, the land-owner of that
part, by order of the Governor. They were also sent on board, and
plentifully distributed among all, with much liberality.

The ship was nearing the port, though obliged to make several tacks.
Presently, Pinao, Assistant Master of a royal ship, came in a skiff full of
sailors, all dressed in coloured silks, to help the few weak men in the ship.
The Captain of the port was on the beach, with the banner flying, and all the
soldiers drawn up with their arms. At the point of letting go the anchor, all
the artillery saluted, as well as the arquebusiers round the standard. The ship
replied as well as she could, riding by one anchor secured to the slight

cable, so celebrated during the voyage. This was on the 11th of February,
1596, in the long desired and long sought for port of Cavite, two leagues
S.W. of the city of Manilla, capital of the Philippines, in latitude 14° 30′ N.
Fifty persons had died since the ship left Santa Cruz.

As soon as the ship was anchored, some men came on board, moved by
charity, with bread and meat, which now became plentiful. Presently the
sailors and other persons from the city came to see the ship, as a sight both
on account of her great need as that she came from Peru, as it was said, to
fetch the Queen of Sheba from the Isles of Solomon. All came on board,
and, having seen how little there was, they wondered that she should ever
have arrived in safety, and they praised God that she should have been
spared, to Whom be the honour and the glory, and to Whom the success
should be attributed and the thanks given, for His are the great mercies
shown during the voyage. It is to be noted that if the people who died had
not died, those who survived would not have arrived with more than twenty
jars of water and two sacks of flour. Thus concluded, as they say, this
unhappy voyage with safety.

Chapter XXXV.
What happened until the people went to Manilla.

This joyful day passed, and the night came, in which there were not wanting
some new, but not unusual, annoyances with the Magistrate of the coast, to
whom Doña Isabel had made complaints in private. He showed himself to
be a judge who sided with the first comer without hearing the other side; for
if he would have heard, he would have known how much that lady owed to
him who brought her where she was, and how little, from any point of view,
he owed her. But it is very unusual for poor men to work without pay or
thanks, and for others to do evil to him to whom good is due. He took one
sailor, and to another he gave sharp words and threatened, saying that it was
an old custom for the people of Peru to be mettlesome, and that if they
came in that spirit they must not think that they were there in their island,
where they could do as they pleased; that those who failed to pay would be
punished, or would have to pay double, or with their lives. He made other
remarks, and was answered that all who came had been and were good
vassals of the King; and as for the rest, they were as good as others. These
altercations ended at last, but the long desired night was passed with less
content than had been anticipated. For the satisfactions of this life come
tardily, and endure little longer than a sigh.

Next morning the Master of the Camp came to the ship by order of the
Governor, with an alderman sent by the Municipality, and a clergyman by
the officials of the Church, all to receive the Governess, and to arrange for
the sick to go to Manilla. The Governess was taken to the royal residence at
the port, and again there was a salute when she disembarked. Having
partaken of refreshments, she was received in a boat, and conducted to the
city. She entered at night, was received with an illumination, and well
lodged.

The sick were carried out of the ship in men’s arms, and taken to the
hospital. The widows were received in the houses of the principal residents,
and afterwards they were all married to their satisfaction. The convalescents
and the rest of the soldiers were lodged by rich inhabitants. The married
were put in houses where they were received, lodged, and tended, with
much love and pleasure, by respected citizens of Manilla. In a few days ten
died, and four entered monastic orders.

The frigate was never more seen. There was a report that she had been
found with all her sails set, and the crew dead and decomposed, run upon a
certain part of the coast. The galeot reached port at an island called
Mindanao, in 10°, having been lost among all those islands. The people on
board were reduced to such necessity that they landed on a small islet called
Camaniguin, to kill and eat a dog they had seen on shore. Some natives,
who met them by chance, guided them to a port where there were some
fathers of the Company of Jesus. The fathers took them to a Governor in
that district, who sent five of them prisoners to Manilla, because their
Captain quarrelled with them, saying they wanted to mutiny. They were
sent with a letter to Dr Antonio de Morga, Lieutenant-General of that
Government, which he showed to the Chief Pilot. It was as follows:—

“Here came into port a galeot with a Captain who was as impertinent as the
things he said. He was asked whence he came, and he replied that he
belonged to the expedition of the Adelantado Alvaro de Mendaña, which
was undertaken to make a voyage from Peru to the Solomon Islands,
consisting of four vessels. This galeot put in here, and, as she carried a royal
flag, I received her as was proper. If the others were here, this would be
better known. Against the soldiers there is no process. They said that,
because the Captain wished it, he parted company from the ship with his
galeot.”

Chapter XXXVI.
Which contains a discourse by the Chief Pilot, explaining why they did not find the
Solomon Islands.1

The reason why the Solomon Islands, of which the Chief Pilot, Hernan
Gallego, who discovered them, makes mention in his narrative, and of
which the Adelantado, Alvaro de Mendaña, went in search, are not the
Islands of the Marquesas de Mendoza, nor those of Santa Cruz which we
discovered in this voyage: and why we pressed so far in advance of the
position where he said they were in conformity with his instructions, may,
as it seems to me, be conveniently explained here, to satisfy the doubts
which may be raised respecting the cause of our not reaching them.

I find three reasons which might form impediments to our reaching the
Solomon Islands in the positions where we were.

The first is the belief that they had less longitude than was really the case,
for they would not seem so far to the people who had to go for their
settlement.

The second is some motive of private interest, leading to a concealment of
the true latitude, giving to it somewhat less or more.

The third is ignorance, or the want of the instruments to calculate certain
distances, or an error in judgment while navigating: what appears to be one
thing being another; or a mistake in writing.

As for the first, if it was so that we were not given the true longitude of the
Solomon Islands, I say that we really did not reach them, and that they are
further to the west than the islands we discovered. The reason is that, if
what the Adelantado told me was true, by whose order I prepared the
navigating charts, and if what appears in his instructions and in the narrative
of Hernan Gallego is true, the Solomon Islands are in latitude 7° to 12° S.,

1,450 leagues from Lima. There cannot be an error, as we always continued
to navigate without reaching the position, and could not have passed them
when they were 400 leagues further to the west. It must, therefore, be
believed that they were not behind but in front of us.

As to the second reason, if it was interest, as many people said, that induced
Hernan Gallego, when the Adelantado asked him for the route to these
islands, not to give him the true position as regards latitude, this may
explain it. For when he was at Court to report to his Majesty he had not
negotiated for himself; and as the Adelantado, when he undertook the
discovery, did not understand the art of navigation, he could be deceived.
On the other hand, his observations could not be kept so secret when they
were taken by four pilots, who must have known as well as the people who
were with them; nor did Hernan Gallego then know that he would have a
disagreement with the Adelantado. Nor do I believe that a man of such high
character would do such a thing. Moreover, if in this there was deceit, I say
that if the islands were in 7° at the least, or in 12° at the most, and we seek
them between 7° and 12°, they might well remain behind us, on one of the
two sides.

As for the third reason, if it was ignorance there is nothing more to be said.
It is very certain that navigating so much as they navigated from east to
west, they were on a course on which altitude is not altered, nor is longitude
fixed except by such estimation as each one may make. In this there may be
very great error, as well in him who makes the estimate as in the ship
which, in such a case, may have been understood to have gone over less
ground than she is supposed to have made good.

In proof of the greater distance between Peru and the Solomon Islands, I
may mention that Hernan Gallego says in his narrative—and the
Adelantado also told me the same—that being among the Isles of St.
Bartholome,2 in 8° 40′ N., in the position of the Barbudos, they saw a vessel
flying from them under a head sail. They sent the boat on shore; all the
natives fled to one of their villages, which our people entered, and brought
thence to the ships a chisel made of a nail, from which they understood that
Spaniards had been or were there.

What they suspected, respecting this circumstance, was that when the
Adelantado, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, discovered the Philippine Islands, a
pilot named Lope Martin, returned to New Spain without orders, to bring
the news to the Viceroy, Luis de Velasco, who had sent that expedition of
discovery, by whom he was very well received and dispatched with succour.
He, or one of the people who went with him, also took a letter which a
certain friend of the Adelantado Legazpi wrote from Mexico, in which it
was said that as soon as it was received Lope Martin should be hanged for
having taken the leave which was not given to him. This letter, I know not
by what order, got into the hands of Lope Martin. Besides this, between him
and the others there were encounters and some deaths, including that of the
Captain. Arrived at the Barbudos, Lope Martin went on shore with some of
his friends. Meanwhile the Boatswain, with the men of his party, conspired
and made sail, leaving them on the island. As the Adelantado, Alvaro de
Mendaña, arrived at the islands a little time after this event, it was suspected
that those who had been left there thought that Mendaña came in search
with the object of punishing them; and for that reason they fled in that
vessel which they had probably built, and went to New Guinea.

I say that if this is true, as the islands of the Barbudos are in 8°, 9°, or 10°,
more or less, and 2,000 leagues or more from Peru, and as Hernan Gallego,
coming from the Solomon Islands, which he says are 1,450 leagues from
Lima, to seek the coast of New Spain, navigating from N.E. to N., for so
bear the islands from that coast, he could not fall in with the Barbudos,
being from the Solomon Islands at least N.E., having come from a much
greater longitude than they really thought, or did not wish to say. Moreover,
inhabited islands are no small indication that New Guinea is near.

Hernan Gallego says, in these formal words, that “in 2° or 3° to the S.W. we
found very clear signs of land, but never saw any land whatever. Finally, we
concluded that we had land to the west of us, and that it was New Guinea;
not in a higher latitude than 4° S., for it was discovered by Iñigo Ortiz de
Retes, and by no one else. Bernardo de la Torre neither discovered nor saw
it, nor is there such a place as the Cape of the Cross.”3

I say, touching such signs as the palms seen in the sea, which Hernan
Gallego mentions, that I also saw many, which might make me believe that
New Guinea was near, being in the same latitude, and for other reasons that
I will give further on. Also, in a northerly direction, I came upon the
Barbudos in 6°, an island peopled by good natives. Moreover, I came from
the island of Santa Cruz, 1,850 leagues from Lima, and afterwards
navigated another 40 leagues more to the west, making 440 further than
Hernan Gallego, according to his own account. And as I navigated to the
Philippines, which is more to the west, I was more in the way of seeing the
signs of the island I found than was Hernan Gallego. For he confesses that
he went 1,450 leagues from Lima, and took his way to New Spain, which is
N. to N.E. This proves that he could not have seen those signs, nor the
islands he sighted, without having gone over much more longitude than he
stated.

Hernan Gallego says further, in his report to the Licentiate Castro, who was
at that time President of the Audience in the city of the Kings, who
despatched the expedition:—“Being in 7° S., 30 leagues from the island of
Jesus,4 which was the first we discovered as we saw the archipelago of
islands, it was never intended to prosecute discoveries further, but that we
should return to Peru, as is public and notorious. If we had gone on another
cock would have crowed, for we should have discovered another land,
different from this, and very near where we were. The goodness of the land
I do not wish to dilate upon, because your Lordship will hear that from
others.”

I quote this to show that Hernan Gallego was certain that he was near New
Guinea as he says. He could not have come to this conclusion if he had not
known that it was 2,000 and more leagues from Lima; for in his position he
could not have been deceived, because it was discovered at a very short
distance, as the Maluco Isles are from it. Miguel Rojo de Brito, a native of
Lisbon, went from Maluco to New Guinea, and said that they were close to
each other, as may be seen in a chapter of his narrative which will be
attached to this discourse. Although I do not know the original intention of
that expedition, I suspect that they went in search of New Guinea, because
it is explained that Iñigo Ortiz de Retes was its discoverer, and not Bernardo

de la Torres. So that it may be looked upon as certain that it was from a
report of one of these, or both, that they were deriving the information
respecting the object they sought. For Gallego says that the Cape of the
Cross has no existence, and that New Guinea is in not more than 4° S.,
implying that one said it was in 4°, which seemed most likely to be correct,
and the other in more. He went in search, but did not find it; coming by
chance on the island of Jesus in 6° 45′, and presently came to the reefs of
Candelaria, and the Island of Santa Isabel, and always discovering by a
higher latitude and decreasing longitude. The reason for not sighting New
Guinea was the same as prevented us from reaching the Solomon Islands,
namely, the island of Santa Cruz. My conclusion is that New Guinea, the
Solomon Islands, and the Islands of Santa Cruz are all near each other, for a
reason I shall give presently.

Hernan Gallego says, further, that the Adelantado asked his opinion
respecting the return from those islands to Peru, across 1,700 leagues of
sea; that the port on this island of Cristobal was three leagues by land from
the most eastern point; that with a fresh breeze from S.E. they navigated 20
leagues N.E. ¼ E., and 15 leagues N.E. ¼ N., and N.E. 25, and 18 N.N.E.,
and when there the latitude was 7°, and 30 leagues from the island of Jesus
to E.

He says that this island of Jesus was the first they discovered in 6° 45′ S.,
and that its distance from the city of Lima was 450 leagues. If this is as he
says, that from this island of Jesus to the port whence he had come the
course runs N.-S., it follows that the same number of leagues intervening
between the island of Jesus and Lima, also intervene between San Cristobal
and Lima, both being almost on the same meridian. It is clearly to be seen
that there is carelessness here, or that there was an error in his calculation,
and there no doubt was one throughout in trying to determine the true
longitude. For in so short a distance as there is from one point to the other,
there cannot have been a mistake of 250 leagues. Whence I infer that, in
such a long route as that from Lima to the Solomon Islands, the error would
be much greater, the course being east and west.

If his narrative is considered, other obscure and contradictory points will be
found. In one place he says that the natives told him that those islands to the
S.E. were extensive, and that he saw them. Presently he says that a sailor
climbed up a palm tree, and could not see them. He says that at the Island of
Guadalcanal he could not see the end, and that the coast ran westward.
Further on, he says that it would take six months to go round it; and that the
land he did not see was reported to be very good, but that he certainly did
not see it. He reports that it was better to take a northern route in returning
to Peru, because it was difficult to find favourable winds further south. Few
pilots would give this reason, because the usual winds outside the tropics, in
the same latitude, are much the same on the north as on the south side. And
how much easier was it, being (as he says) certain that there was no land to
the S.E., to go to 11° S., where he would have found the route to 30° or 40°
on that side, than to run down 11° and go up 30° or more on the other side,
and yet be further from Peru.

It may seem strange that the Adelantado did not meet with the islands that
we have now discovered on his first voyage. I reply that, when he began the
voyage from Peru, he made a large curve W.S.W. to 18°, and another to
W.N.W. to 6°, more or less, and followed that parallel, as I have been told
by one who was on board. This was the reason that he did not come upon
the islands in question, which are in a higher latitude, leaving them to the
south and passing to the north of them.

There is further proof that the islands of Santa Cruz are near the Solomon
Islands. The natives are the same colour, they dye their hair in the same
way, called their chief “Jauriqui,” have the same arms, pigs and fowls, and
many other things in common. It may really be concluded that all the
people of Santa Cruz and the Solomon Islands came from the archipelago
of the Philippines. The Santa Cruz people dye their teeth red and black, and
use the buyo, as in the Philippines. In the Island of Luzon there are black
men, who are said to be the aborigines of the land. They are called Pogotes,
and are retired on the island of Maragondon and other islands. For the
Moors and other Indians occupy their lands, drive them away, and force
those that remain into corners of the land where they now are. It may well
be that, by reason of the invaders, the persecuted people have gone away to

seek other settlements, until they came to New Guinea as the nearest place,
and thence to the Solomon Islands and Santa Cruz. The half-breeds, and
differences of colour among them, proceed from intercourse between them.

In conclusion, I may say that the Adelantado told me, as well as certain
pilots of that time, that Hernan Gallego, navigating on the coast of Mexico,
made the land one day, and that afterwards he sailed over 700 leagues to
reach the same place again. These, added to the 1,450 leagues which, he
says, intervene between the Solomon Islands and Lima, make more than the
2,000 leagues which I say intervene between Lima and New Guinea, from
which point the distance really ought to be drawn. This being so, my
suspicion is confirmed; and there may be seen, as he says, the signs of the
land of New Guinea, when he met with the Barbudos, and he did not see the
land when he said he did. For if he had gone over the 1,450 leagues, as he
said, it would take much more than four months of navigation. There are a
little over 700 leagues from there to the coast of New Spain, navigating by
the best-known route, which is that by the north. So that there cannot have
been so great a mistake, if it was not from having intended to go by that
point, and have taken the said 700 leagues more to the west. This appears to
explain what has been said until the contrary is shown.

1 The object of the voyage had been to reach the Solomon Islands, which Alvaro de Mendaña had
discovered in his first voyage. The arguments of Quiros consist of a criticism of the report of
Gallego, the Chief Pilot of Mendaña’s first voyage.
2 Solomon Islands, vol. i, pp. 67, 68 (Hakluyt Society, 1901).

3 Solomon Islands, vol. i, p. 66.
4 Identified by Mr. Woodford as Nukufetan in the Ellice Group, in 7° 50′ S.—Solomon Islands,
vol. i, p. 14 (n.), 1901.

Chapter XXXVII.
Of various things that happened to the Chief Pilot, Pedro Fernandez de Quiros.

We were some time in the city of Manilla, which is the capital of the
government of the Philippine Islands. It is built on a clear point running out
into the sea, and by the mouth of a river. It has a good fortress, and other
houses well worthy of special note, on which a long chapter might be
written. But I must be excused, referring the reader to a special book on the
city, the Philippine Islands, and the history of their conquest, which was
written by Dr Antonio de Morga.1

While I was in the city there arrived the new Governor, Don Francisco
Tello, who had been Treasurer of the Board of Trade at Seville. There were
great festivals for his reception, got up both by the Spaniards and natives. It
was a special sight to behold three elephants which were brought into the
square, of which the largest, named Don Fernando, had been sent as a
present from the King of Cambodia to the late Governor when he asked for
help. On each one there was an Indian driver, dexterous in the method of
governing the elephant, both by words and by the use of an iron hooked
instrument. Placed in front with his goad, the driver made him run, march,
go down on his knees, raise himself, and other things well worth seeing.
This hook serves the same use as a bridle for a horse. They were performing
in front of the Governor, who was sitting at a window, to whom they put
their knees on the ground three times, the feet stretched out behind, as they
are unable to double up. The performances of the elephants were numerous,
and, as a conclusion, they took Don Fernando apart, and his Indians placed
him facing the beams on which had been fastened the castle of fire on the
night before. Saying a word, and touching his forehead with the goad, the
elephant gave a blow, and took the beam on his two tusks with great ease;
and so he upset the whole: a thing worth seeing.

A few days afterwards (according to what was said), when this elephant was
drinking at the river, there came to him a great and well-fed crocodile,
which had taken many natives in that river. He seized the elephant by the
trunk, and when the elephant felt it, he raised up the crocodile just as easily
as a fishing rod raises a light fish, and let him fall on the ground without
more ado. A crocodile, such as this one, weighs as much as a fat bullock.

They say also that this elephant had a boil on his gum, of which the native
driver cured him, but the pain made him throw about his trunk so as to hurt
his driver. When the elephant was to be healed, the driver said to him: “I am
very angry, Don Fernando, for in return for the good I did you, you tried to
kill me. What do you think the King, my Lord and yours, who sent you
here, and gave me for your companion to look after you, if he knew of it,
would say. See how you can no longer eat, and are getting thin, and you
will soon die without any fault of mine. Open your mouth, if you please,
and presently I will cure you like a friend, forgetting the harm you did me.”
The elephant, having taken two turns with his trunk round a shelf that was
there, opened his mouth, and was operated upon without moving, his groans
showing what pain he endured. And so he was cured.

Of another elephant they told me that, to avenge himself on a native who
had charge of him, he crushed him when he passed through a doorway, and
killed him. The man’s wife said to the elephant: “Don Pedro, you have
killed my husband. Who is now going to maintain me?” On which the
elephant went to the market place, and took a basket of rice which it gave to
her, and when it saw that she had eaten it all, it fetched another, and then
another. Things are said of these animals which seem incredible, and the
wonderful thing is that they understand everything, in whatever language it
is spoken, as I have myself seen. An elephant was surrounded by Spanish
soldiers, and one told him, without making any sign, to take a plantain out
of his pocket and eat it. The elephant promptly put his trunk into the pocket,
and when he found that no plantain was there, he took up a little earth in his
trunk, and threw it in the face of the soldier who had deceived him.

When the festivities were over, our Governess married a young cavalier
named Don Fernando de Castro, a cousin of the Governor Marinas, who, as

was just, took possession of the property of his wife as his own, and he was
able to secure much in the city. With this help the ship was victualled and
furnished with all that was necessary. On the day of St. Lawrence, we made
sail to undertake the voyage to New Spain. But, having started so late, we
had to go through incredible hardships and troubles. At last we arrived in
the port of Acapulco on the 11th of December of the year 1597, where the
ship was visited, and all received free leave to land. There I, Captain Pedro
Fernandez de Quiros, took leave of the Governess, and of my other
companions, and embarked on board a passenger ship for Peru.

1 Edited for the Hakluyt Society by Lord Stanley of Alderley in 1868.

NARRATIVE
OF
THE VOYAGE
OF THE
ADELANTADO
ALVARO DE MENDAÑA DE NEIRA
FOR THE
Discovery of the Islands of Solomon.1
WRITTEN BY
THE CHIEF PILOT,
PEDRO FERNANDEZ DE QUIROS,
FOR
DR. ANTONIO DE MORGA, LIEUTENANT-
GENERAL OF THE PHILIPPINES.

1 Contained in the Sucesos de las Islas Philipinas of Antonio de Morga (1609); translated by Lord
Stanley of Alderley for the Hakluyt Society, 1868.

SECOND VOYAGE
OF THE
ADELANTADO ALVARO DE MENDAÑA,
BY
HIS CHIEF PILOT, PEDRO FERNANDEZ DE
QUIROS.

O
n Friday, the 9th of April, of the year 1595, the
Commander-in-Chief, Alvaro de Mendaña, set sail
with his fleet to go and subject and people the western
islands of the South Sea, from the port of the Callao
of Lima, which is in 12½° S. latitude; passing by the
valleys of Santa, Truxillo and Saña, and collecting
men and provisions, he went to Paita, where he took
in water, and made a list of four hundred persons, more or less, with his
four vessels, two large and two small. He left this port (which is 5° higher
than the said port), steering W.S.W., making for the islands of his discovery:
he took as Master of the Camp Pedro Merino Manrique, and as Admiral his
brother-in-law, Lope de la Vega, and as Chief Pilot, Pedro Fernandez de
Quiros; and he sailed on this course to the altitude of 9½°, from which point
he sailed W. and to the point S.W. to 14°, where he changed his course to
W. and the point N.W.; and having reached, by this course, fully 10° of
latitude, on Friday, 21st of July, we sighted an island, to which the General
gave the name of Magdalena, and from a port in it there came forth about
seventy canoes, in each of which came three men, in some more in others
less. Others came swimming, and others on logs: they were more than four
hundred natives, white, and of very agreeable appearance, tall and strong,
large limbed, and so well made that they had greatly the advantage over us;

with handsome teeth, eyes and mouth, hands and feet, and most beautiful
flowing hair, and many of them very fair. Amongst them were most
beautiful youths; they were entirely naked, without covering on any part,
and all had their bodies, legs, and arms, and hands, and some of them their
faces, marked after the manner of the Bisayas here: and indeed, for savage
people, naked and of so little reason, at sight of them there was much cause
to praise God who created them. Let this not be taken for exaggeration, for
so it is. These people called us to go to their port, and we called to them
from our flag-ship, and they went on board of her, a matter of forty of them;
and we appeared to be men of less than the usual stature by the side of
them; and amongst them there came one who was understood to be a palm
taller than the tallest man of our fleet, although we had in the fleet men of
more than regulation height. The General gave there to some of them shirts
and other things, which they received with much pleasure, and danced after
their fashion, and called to the others. The General was put out of temper at
the liberties they took, because they were great thieves; and he ordered a
cannon to be fired to frighten them; when they heard it they took to
swimming, and all seized their arms, and sounding a conch, they threw a
few stones, and threatened with their lances, for they had no other arms.
From the ship they fired at them with arquebuses, and killed five or six, and
they remained there. As our fleet sailed on we discovered three other
islands. This island may be 6 leagues round; we passed by it on the S. side;
this is high, precipitous towards the sea, with rocky ravines, in which the
natives dwell. There seemed to be many inhabitants in it, for we saw them
on the rocks and beach; so we went on making for the other three islands.
The first, to which was given the name of San Pedro, will be 10 leagues
from Magdalena, and runs with it northward and to the point N.W.: it will
have 3 leagues circuit. It is an island beautiful to look at, with much wood
and fair fields: we did not know whether it was inhabited, for we did not
come close to it. To the S.E. of it, about 5 leagues off, is another, which the
General named Dominica; it is very fair to look at, and seemed thickly
inhabited: it may have about 15 leagues circumference; and to the S. of this,
and a matter of little more than a league off, is another island, which may be
8 leagues round, which received the name of Santa Christina; and our fleet
passed through the channel between this and the other island. For all that
we saw of these islands is clear sailing; and on the W. side of Sta. Christina

a good port was found, in which the fleet anchored. These natives did not
come before me like the others, but some very beautiful women were seen.
I did not see them, but persons who had an opinion in the matter affirmed to
me that there were as beautiful women as in Lima, but white, and not so
tall; and in Lima there are some very pretty. What was seen in the way of
victuals in that port was pigs and hens, sweet canes, very good plantains,
cocos, a fruit which grows on high trees; each is as large as a large fir cone;
it is very good to eat; much of it was eaten—green, roasted and boiled, and
when ripened it is indeed so sweet and good a fruit to my way of thinking,
that I know no other which has the advantage of it; there is hardly anything
in it to throw away, unless a little husk. There was another fruit, like
chestnuts in savour, but much larger than six chestnuts together: a good deal
of that was eaten, roast and boiled; and some nuts with a very hard shell,
which were very oily, and many of them were eaten; some suspect that they
brought on looseness. We also saw pumpkins of Castille sown in the
ground. There is a pretty waterfall close to the beach of very good water; it
comes out of a rock, at the height of two men; its volume may be of the
thickness of four or five fingers; and then, close to it, a stream of water, and
the vessels supplied themselves from it. The natives went off to the
mountains and rocks, in which they fortified themselves, and tried to do
mischief by rolling stones and hurling them; but they never wounded any
one, for the Master of the Camp stopped their advance by placing outposts.
The natives of this island, on seeing a negro of ours, made signs towards the
S., to say that in that direction there were men like him, and that they went
there to fight, and that the others had arrows, and that these went in large
canoes, which they possess. As there was no interpreter, nor much curiosity
to learn more, the matter remained thus; but in my opinion, this is not
possible for natives so isolated, unless there is a chain (of islands), because
their boats and customs in other matters do not show that these people had
come there from any great distance.

This port is in 9½° S. latitude. The Commander-in-Chief ordered three
crosses to be set up in it, and on Saturday, 5th of August, to weigh anchor
and set sail, making for the W., to the S.W., or N.W., a matter of 400
leagues. Sunday, the 20th of August, we saw four low islands, with sandy
beaches, full of very many palms and woods, and on the S.E. side, towards

the N., a great sand-bank. All four may have a circuit of 12 leagues. We did
not know whether they were inhabited, because we did not go close to
them. This year all seemed timid: I say this with rage. They are in 10¾°
latitude, and were named after St. Bernard, having been discovered on his
day. Henceforward we began to meet with S.E. winds, which appear to
predominate here. With these we continued sailing to the above-mentioned
points, never rising above 11 or going below 10 leagues, until Tuesday, 29th
of August, when we discovered a round islet, which might be a league
round, all surrounded by reefs. We tried to land on it, and could not find
where to do so, in order to get wood and water for the Admiral’s ship, of
which it had run very short; it was given the name of Solitary Island; it is in
10⅔°, and will be 1,535 leagues from Lima. From this place we went on
navigating, with the above-mentioned orders, and a variety of opinions
were given: some saying that we did not know where we were going, and
other things which did not fail to cause grief. It was God’s pleasure, that on
the eve of Our Lady in September, at midnight, we saw an island, which
might have a circuit of from 90 to 100 leagues, and it lies about E.S.E. and
W.N.W., and will be 1,800 leagues from Lima. The whole of it was very full
of woods, reaching to the highest ridges, and where it was not cleared for
the natives to sow, in all the rest not a span of earth was to be seen. The
ships came to anchor in the northern part of the island in 10° latitude. To the
N. of this port, about 7 leagues off, is a volcano, with a very well-shaped
hill, from the top of which and from other parts issued much fire. The
volcano is lofty, and may have a circumference of 3 leagues; it is
precipitous on the side of the sea, and all bare, and without any part where a
landing can be effected; it rumbles within frequently and loudly like
thunder. To the N.E. of this volcano there are some small islets, which are
inhabited, and a great quantity of shoals; there is a distance of 7 or 8
leagues to these islets, and the shoals run to the N.W.; and the person who
went to see said that they were numerous. Around the great island there
were some small islands: all of them, and the great one (when it was
circumnavigated), were found to be inhabited; and within sight of this great
island, to the S.E. of it, there was seen another island of no great size: this
must be the link with others. After putting into port in the great island of
Santa Cruz, for this was the name given it, the Commander-in-Chief
ordered Captain Don Lorenzo, brother of his wife, to go with the frigate to

seek the Admiral’s ship, which disappeared on the night in which we saw
the island, respecting which I make no favourable conjecture; it was sought
for this and two other times, and was not found, but only the shoals which I
have mentioned. What was seen in the way of victuals in this port consisted
of pigs, hens, plaintains, sweet canes, one, two, or three kinds of roots like
sweet potatoes, which they eat roast and boiled, and make biscuit with it,
buyos, two kinds of good almonds, and two kinds of pine nuts, wood-
pigeons, doves, ducks, grey and white herons, swallows, pot-herbs,
pumpkins of Castille, the fruit which I mentioned in the first islands, and
chestnuts and nuts. There is a very strongly-scented sweet basil, and red
flowers, which at this port they keep in the gardens, and two other species
of another sort, also red. There is another fruit on high trees, like pippins for
their good smell and savour. There is a great quantity of ginger, which
grows there without its being cultivated, and much yerba chiquilite, with
which they make indigo. There are agave trees, and a great deal of sagia,
and many cocoa nuts. Marble was seen, and pearl shells, and large snail
shells, like those which are brought here from China. There is a very
copious spring, and five or six other rivers, though not very large. The
settlement was established close to this spring. The natives attempted to
defend themselves; and as the arquebus tells at a distance, seeing the evil
effects, they did not defend themselves much, but, on the contrary, gave
some of what they possessed. In this matter of going for provisions there
were a few things happened, which were not very good treatment of the
natives, for they killed the native who was our best friend, and the lord of
that island; his name was Malope; and two or three others, who were also
friendly. Of the whole island no more was seen than a matter of 3 leagues
around the camp. The people of this island are black: they have small
canoes made of one tree, in which they go about their villages, and other
very large canoes with which they go out to sea. On Sunday, the 8th of
October, the Commander-in-Chief ordered the Master of the Camp to be
killed by stabbing, and they killed Tomas de Ampuero in the same manner,
and they cut off the head of the Ensign, Juan de Buitrago, and he wished to
put to death two other friends of the Master of the Camp; but he left them
alone, because we entreated him to do so. The cause of this was public,
because they wished to go away from the country, and abandon it, and there
must have been other reasons, but I am unacquainted with them. What I saw

was much dissoluteness and shamelessness, and more than enough
improper conduct. On the 18th of October the Commander-in-Chief died:
on the 17th there had been a total eclipse of the moon. On the 2nd of
November his brother-in-law, Don Lorenzo, who had succeeded as Captain-
General, died; and, seven or eight days before, the priest, Antonio de Serpa;
and on the 8th November the Vicar, Juan de Espinosa. There was great
sickness amongst our people, and as there was little care for want of an
apothecary and doctor, many of them died; and they begged the lady
Governor, Doña Ysabel Barreto, to take them out of the country. One and
all agreed to embark; and, trusting ourselves to the mercy of God, we left
this port on Saturday the 18th of the said month, in a westerly direction to
the S.W. point, making for the island of St. Christopher; or, more exactly, in
search of it, to see if it or the Admiral’s ship could be fallen in with, for so
the lady Governor commanded. We sailed two days and saw nothing; and at
the request of all the people, who cried out that we were taking them to
destruction, she ordered me to shape the course from this town to Manilla,
from a port in 10½°, from which I came steering to N.W. to avoid meeting
islands on the way, for we were ill-prepared to go amongst them: with the
crews so sick that there died whilst we were sailing some fifty persons, and
there in the island forty persons, a little more or less. We made our course,
short of provisions, navigating 5° S. and as many in N. latitude. We met
many impediments and calms, and in fully 6° N. latitude saw an island,
which seemed to have a circumference of 25 leagues, thickly wooded, and
inhabited by very many people, like those of the Ladrones, for we saw them
in canoes which came out to us. From the S.E. to the N. and then to S.W. it
is surrounded by large reefs. On its western side, about 4 leagues off, there
are some low islets; we found no place to anchor, though we tried, for the
galeot and frigate which sailed with our ship had disappeared some days
back. From this place we came by the said course to latitude 13¾°, and in
two days that we sailed W. in this latitude we sighted Serpana and Guan in
the Ladrones, and we passed between the two and did not anchor, from not
having ropes to lower and recover the boat. This day was the 3rd of January
of 1596, and on the 14th of the said month we saw the cape of Espiritu
Santo, and on the 15th anchored in the bay of Cobos. We arrived there in
such a state that only the goodness of God could bring us thither, for human
strength and resources were not enough to reach to a tenth of the way. There

we arrived so dismantled, and the men so thin and worn out, that it was the
most pitiable sight that could be seen, with only nine or ten pitchers of
water. In this bay of Cobos the ship and crew were set to rights as much as
was possible, and on Tuesday, the 2nd of February, we left that port and
bay, and on the 10th of the same month we anchored in this port of Cabite.

Besides the desire which I have to serve your Honour, that which moves me
to leave this brief narrative with your Honour is, that an account may
remain (if perchance God should dispose of my life, or anything else should
arise, or I or she that I take with me should be missing), and that it may give
light, which may be a business of great service to God and to the King our
sovereign. May your Honour be pleased to accept the goodwill to serve you
which I retain; and if God make me return to this port there will be an
opportunity to set it forth better; and at the same time will your Honour
forgive my being so short, for time is in fault for being so with me. I beg
you to keep it secret, for man does not know what time brings; for looking
at it rightly, it is fit that the first islands should remain concealed until His
Majesty be informed, and order whatever may be most for his service: for
as they are placed, taking a middle position between Peru, New Spain, and
this country, the English, on knowing it, might settle in them, and do much
mischief in this sea. And consider me as the faithful servant of your
Honour, whom may God preserve many years, with much satisfaction and
increase of dignity, etc.

Your servant,

Pedro Fernandez de Quiros.

To the Dr. Antonio de Morga, Lieutenant-General of His Majesty in the
Philippines.

NARRATIVE
OF
THE VOYAGE
OF
Pedro Fernandez de Quiros
IN 1606,
FOR THE
Discovery of the Austrial Regions.

Voyage of Pedro Fernandez de Quiros.

Chapter I.
Of various things that happened to the Chief Pilot, Pedro Fernandez de Quiros; until he
arrived at the court of the King of Spain.

aving sailed along the whole coast of New Spain, I
H

arrived at the port of Payta on the 3rd of May, 1598.
Thence I wrote a letter to the Viceroy, Don Luis de
Velasco, and travelled by land to Lima, where I
arrived on the 5th of June, and was very well received
by the said Viceroy. He desired to be specially
informed respecting all the particulars of our voyage
and discoveries, and I gave him the best account in my power. I also offered
that, if he would give me a vessel of 70 tons and 40 sailors, I would return
to discover those lands and many others which I suspect to exist, and even
felt certain that I should find in those seas.

But in the end he came to the conclusion that he could not give me the
necessary means without first consulting and receiving orders from His
Majesty. He thought it would be the best plan that I should proceed in
person to the court of Spain, as the business was so serious and important,
and as no one could undertake it so well as myself, who possessed such
complete information. On his part, the Viceroy would help me by giving me
letters of introduction to the King and to his councillors. Having received
them, I embarked on board the Capitana at the port of Callao, on the 17th
of April, 1598, under General Don Beltran de Castro y de la Cueva, arriving
at Panama after a voyage of twenty-two days. Thence I went by land to
Puerto Bello, where I embarked in a frigate, and in seven days arrived at
Cartagena. I found this place in great confusion, because a fleet of twenty
large ships had appeared before it, under the command of the English Earl
of Morlant (Cumberland), who had previously taken the city of Puerto Rico.
But most of this fear disappeared on the arrival of Don Luis Fajardo, knight

of the order of Calatrava, and General of the fleet for guarding the Indies
and the route to them.

From Cartagena I wrote to the Viceroy of Peru, in case I should die on the
voyage, giving him a more detailed account of the enterprise I wished to
undertake, and of what would be necessary when it should be taken in hand.
Don Luis de Fajardo, having returned from Puerto Bello with the silver, I
embarked on board his galleon, and we left Cartagena on the 1st of
November, 1598. After twenty-seven days we anchored at Havanna,
whence we sailed on the 16th of January in the following year, convoying
thirty ships. Having made a good start, we encountered such a gale in 29°
N. that we were in great danger of being lost. Many ships disappeared, and
others, including ourselves, were obliged to return to Cartagena on Tuesday
the 3rd of March. Thence I wrote to His Majesty and to the Viceroy of Peru;
but we had to winter at that port all that year until, having sent the news to
His Majesty and two galleons having come for the silver, the two Generals
embarked fifteen millions on board twenty vessels. They made sail on the
4th of January and, after encountering several tempests, they sighted Cape
St. Vincent, where they captured two English ships. On the 25th of
February, 1600, with salutes of artillery, and amidst the music of
instruments, we anchored at San Lucar.

There I embarked for Seville, where I entered the city so well fitted for
giving an account of myself, as may be understood from the labours I had
passed through, and the hardships I had suffered. Finding myself free from
them, and considering that the year was the holy one, during which the
great jubilee is celebrated at Rome, I determined to go to Rome, and pass
the summer in a visit to the holy city. With this object I sold the little I
possessed, bought the dress of a pilgrim, and only with the help of a
pilgrim’s staff I went on foot to Cartagena of the east, encountering several
adventures. When the galleys of Italy arrived, I embarked in one of them,
which coasted along by Valencia and Barcelona. On the 5th of August we
crossed the bay of Narbonne; and soon afterwards landed at the port of
Baya, which is in the territory of Genoa. Thence, dressed as a pilgrim, and
accompanied by two others and a friar, we passed through all the finest
cities of Italy, where there was much to see and to notice.

Finally, having reached the great city of Rome, I had the good fortune to be
well received and listened to by the Lord Duke of Sesa,1 who at that time
held the office of Ambassador from Spain at that court. To him I gave an
account of the lands that had been discovered, and of my desire to return to
them; and submitted that it would be right for His Holiness to favour the
enterprise. I addressed myself chiefly to the importance of saving an
infinity of souls, such as exist in that new world. It seemed good to His
Excellency, and he called together a meeting in his house of the best pilots
and mathematicians to be found in Rome. Having made a detailed
examination of my papers and charts in his presence, they came to the
conclusion that all I had said was probable, and worthy to be put into
execution.

The Lord Duke then arranged for me an interview with His Holiness
Clement VIII, which took place on the 28th of August, I having first dined
at the table of the poor. His Holiness heard me very attentively, saw all the
papers I showed him, and approved of my zeal and veracity. He encouraged
me to persevere in my laudable intentions, and conceded many graces and
indulgences for the time when I should begin the voyage. He gave me
letters to the Majesty of the King our Lord, to whom also the Lord Duke of
Sesa wrote letters of recommendation; and he also gave me letters to other
princes and councillors of the court of Spain, with the means of proceeding
thither. Having gained the holy jubilee, and beheld many things which were
worthy of note, including the canonization of the glorious St. Raymond, I
was still detained in Rome much longer than I expected, for the completion
of the letters and indulgences already mentioned, and that His Holiness
might show me favour by giving me some rosaries that had been blessed,
and a piece of the wood of the Cross. About this there was great difficulty.

At length, these and others having been overcome, the day arrived for my
departure from Rome, which was the afternoon of Holy Wednesday of the
year 1602. Having visited the holy dwelling of Our Lady of Loreto and
passed through the cities of Arimino,2 Forli, Ferrara, and Lodi, in which I
found much to see and take note of, and where I met with various and
notable adventures, I entered the city of Milan, which contains so many
grand and admirable buildings, that to treat of them briefly would be to do

them injustice. I passed by Pavia and Tortona, and went thence to sleep at
the town of San Estevan, the first place in the territory of Genoa. Then I
entered Genoa at so fortunate a time that on the second day I was able to
embark on board one of the six galleys of Prince Doria, who was sent with
his nephew to congratulate His Majesty on the birth of a princess. We
arrived at Barcelona, where I went to Montserrat, and, passing through
other cities of Spain, I entered Madrid on the octave of Corpus Christi of
the same year, 1602. The court not being there, having moved to Valladolid,
I went to the famous convent of the Escurial, where I had notice that His
Majesty then was, with whom I might speak, and kiss his royal hands, and
give him my memorial respecting my pretensions, on Monday, the 17th of
June of the said year.

1 Don Antonio de Cardona y Cordova, sixth Duke of Sesa, was descended from the Great Captain.
He was son of Don Fernando de Cordova y Requesens, second Duke of Soma, by Doña Beatriz de
Figueroa. He became Duke of Sesa by renunciation of his aunt, Francesca de Cordova, and
succeeded an elder brother as Duke of Soma. He was also Duke of Baena. The Duke of Sesa died at
Valladolid on January 6th, 1606.
2 Rimini.

Chapter II.
Of what happened to the Captain Pedro Fernandez de Quiros at the court of Spain;
negotiating for leave from His Majesty to discover and settle the southern parts; how, and
in what form, the business was negotiated; and his voyage to Peru.

Having spoken to His Majesty, and placed my first memorial in his hands,
in which I declared my plan and its importance, he heard me with his
accustomed clemency and benignity, and replied that he would order the
matter to be seen to. Presently I went to speak with Don Juan Idiaquez, with
the Father Confessor, with Don Pedro Franqueza, and with other Members
of the Council of State, and important persons about the court, who might
be able to help in despatching my business. To these I gave the letters I
brought from the Viceroy of Peru and the Ambassador at Rome; and I
showed to them the letters of His Holiness, and the other papers and charts
relating to my discovery.

Some received me well, holding the affair to be serious and worthy of
support. Others thought little of it or of me, thinking that I promised more
than I could perform, and that for the performance of so great a deed, a
person of more parts and valour was needed. Some answered me that
sufficient lands had been discovered for His Majesty, and that what
signified was to people and settle them, rather than go in search of those I
said were new, which were so distant that they would be difficult and costly
to maintain, after they had been conquered and settled. There were not
wanting those who threw doubts on the utility of such conquests. So that I
was forced to be more importunate to His Majesty, submitting new
memorials every day, representing the arguments in favour of the enterprise,
and endeavouring to satisfy those who opposed me. During this time I had
much trouble at court, and I made a long discourse on the life passed by
those who had business to prosecute there. I had different replies, some
sharp, and others gentle, like those from Don Pedro Franqueza and others of
the Council of State.

At last, on the last day of Easter, in the year 1603, I was sent for by Don
Pedro Franqueza, who told me that my business was despatched; and he
took me to the Chief Secretary, named Matienzo, and said that, as he valued
his regard, he was not to delay me on any point. So on Saturday, the 5th of
April, they delivered to me some orders of His Majesty which contained my
despatch, and which had been passed by the Council of State. Their tenor is
as follows:—

Copy of the Order of His Majesty touching the Principal Despatch.

To Don Luis de Velasco or the Count of Monterey, my relation, my Viceroy and Captain
General in my kingdoms and provinces of Peru, or such other person as may be governing
in my name, at the time of the delivery of this order.

There has come here from Rome the Captain Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, a Portuguese;
and the Duke of Sesa and of Baena, of my Council of State and my Ambassador at that
Court, wrote to me that in the holy year he had news from Friar Diego de Soria, Prior at
Manilla of the Order of San Domingo, that there would be found at that court the said
Captain Quiros, who was a great pilot with much experience of the South Sea and of the
great gulf between the coasts of New Spain and Peru and Japan and the Philippine Islands,
having been Chief Pilot of the second discovery made by the Adelantado Alvaro de
Mendaña. The said Father represented that it would be much for the service of God and for
mine to introduce him, that he might again return to discover these unknown parts and
islands. So the Duke sent for him to his house to ask him concerning curious things relating
to his art; and entertained him there for near seventeen months, during which time he
opened his mind, and showed many papers he possessed, and drew up others which he
communicated to Father Clavio and other mathematicians and distinguished geographers.
All were persuaded, by the proofs and reasonings he submitted to them, that there could
not fail to be either a continental land or a number of islands from the Strait of Magellan to
New Guinea and Java and the other islands of that great archipelago. And they concluded
that, enjoying the best part of the torrid and temperate zones, where it has been seen, as
well in the ancient provinces of the world as in the new discoveries, that much and very
good and rich land exists which has a temperate and therefore a habitable climate. They
are, therefore, of opinion that it is very desirable to lose no time in discovering that
southern region, unknown until now, which will be a great service to God.

Besides the interest and advantages that this discovery promises, it will be easier to explore
the southern region than it was to find the Western Indies. When the said Captain returned
from that long navigation, including detentions in various parts, lasting for two years, he
offered to Don Luis de Velasco, my Viceroy of Peru and your predecessor, to return in the
same ship in which he had come, to that discovery, if it should prove necessary, as far as
New Guinea and the Moluccas, and to return to Peru by way of the Philippines, with a full
account of all he had discovered. But though it seemed well to the Viceroy he did not act,
but gave the Captain letters to me and to His Holiness, who has heard and spoken with
him. His Holiness was pleased with his proposals, insomuch that he has conceded many

spiritual gifts for those parts (if I order the voyage to be undertaken), for the reasonings of
the said Captain satisfied him. The Duke has given me a good account of his parts, good
judgment, experience in his profession; and has assured me that he is a worker, quiet,
disinterested, of decent life, zealous for the service of God and for my service. As regards
the theory (according to what the mathematicians at Rome affirm) they say that there are
few pilots who know as much as he does; that he is expert in making globes, and charts for
navigating; that he well understands the use of instruments necessary for navigation, and
that he showed them two of his own invention, one by which to know, in navigating, the
difference made by the needle between the N.E. and N.W. points, and the other for taking
an altitude with more ease and accuracy. Both were commended by the Fathers Clavio and
Villalpando of the Company of Jesus, and by the Doctors Toribio Perez and Masa, who
have lectured publicly in mathematics at Salamanca, as well as by distinguished
geographers. Captain Quiros had made an offer to the Duke that, I being served by it, he
would go from Spain by the Strait of Magellan and return by the Eastern Indies, having
gone round the world, using, by sea and land, the instruments he had made, and that he
would make quite clear the true differences made by the needle in variation: a matter which
up to the present time is very obscure, and respecting which there are many different
opinions. The discovery of the truth will be of great advantage to navigation, in giving a
knowledge of the true latitude and longitude of places, ports, and capes discovered, or
which may be discovered in various voyages.

In conformity with what has been reported, the said Captain Quiros has related to me all
that he has told to others respecting the navigations and discoveries; proving his statements
by writings and maps of the islands he discovered, when he served as Chief Pilot under the
said Adelantado, Alvaro de Mendaña, describing the diversity of people shown by their
different colours, yet appearing to be docile, and the fertility of the islands which promised
wealth. He prayed that, taking into consideration his zeal, and that his ends and objects
being the service of God and my service, and the conversion of these people to our holy
faith, and the good that might accrue from the discoveries (without reference to his
interests), and besides all this the way in which the navigation of these wide seas would be
facilitated through the great practice and experience he has of them, I would be served by
ordering that a ship, not very large, should be provided with crew, provisions, munitions,
and other things necessary for the said navigation and enterprise; and that matters should
be arranged in a manner that would enable him to accomplish what he wishes to undertake.
Having considered his proposal, with the attention that so serious a matter requires, for the
increase of the faith and the benefit of the souls of those remote people, and placing the
service of God before all things, as is reasonable, after consulting my Council of State, I
have resolved:—

That the said Captain Quiros shall presently depart to make this discovery, in the first fleet
for Peru; and I ordain and command that on his arrival you are to give him two very good
ships with which he will be satisfied, to fit them out and provide them with the number of
people necessary, well victualled, and supplied with munitions and arms requisite for so
long a voyage. The ships are also to be supplied with things for bartering with natives, if
they should reach places where this can be done, in conformity with the general orders
which you and your predecessors have for similar discoveries, and with all that seems most
conducive to my service. The cost of the preparations, of the people who will be embarked,
of the provisions, munitions, clothing, and other things necessary for the voyage, is to be

defrayed from my royal revenues, and from those which are most readily available. You are
to give orders that some bare-foot friars, of the Order of St. Francis, exemplary and of good
life, are taken; and you are to see that the people who are embarked in the said ships are
good and useful, ordering them to obey and respect the said Captain during the voyage out
and home, as their leader and superior, whom I name for that position from this time,
obeying him in all things.

Take notice that it is my will that the said Captain Quiros is presently to make this voyage
and discovery without delay; and so I charge and order you very positively to comply
promptly with my orders, without interposing doubts or difficulties, notwithstanding that
this order does not come through my Council of the Indies. The business being peculiar, I
have arranged and I shall be served by its coming through the Council of State, and in this I
must receive precise service from you. By the first ship you are to report the arrival of the
said Captain Quiros in those my kingdoms, and how you have furnished him with the said
two ships, and provided him with all that is necessary. For I shall look out, with much
anxiety, for the news of compliance with my orders. And to such of my officials or
accountants as have the duty of keeping the accounts respecting what is contained in my
royal letter, I order and command that they receive and pass the expenditure which you
sanction out of my royal revenues, with your orders or letters of payment without seeking
any other authority; for I approve it, from this time as well and properly spent and paid,
and this shall be their authority. In Valladolid, 31st of March, 1603.

Copies of two other Royal Orders.

To Don Luis de Velasco, or the Count of Monterey, my cousin, my Viceroy and Captain-
General in my kingdoms and provinces of Peru, or whomsoever shall be governing the said
kingdoms in my name at the time that this Order is presented. Although in another separate
letter I have caused to be written to you very specially the reasons which have moved me
to resolve to send the Captain Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, a Portuguese by nation, who
will deliver this, to proceed with two ships well supplied with men, victuals, munitions,
and artillery, to discover the southern islands and lands as far as New Guinea and Java
Major, in this I desire to repeat those orders, as I do very particularly, that, without
hindrance by difficulties or other causes, you are to further my service by sending the said
Captain Quiros, with as much despatch as possible, with the said two ships, so that my
orders may be complied with quickly; and I trust to you that you will do your part in
providing the two ships, in obedience to my commands. For besides that it is furthering my
service, I take a particular inclination and pleasure in the discovery that is to be undertaken,
for the increase, which is to be hoped from it, of our holy faith among those remote people,
for the glory of God and the public benefit, which is the object I have before me. You are to
advise me, by the first opportunity, of what steps you have taken, for I shall await the news
with the desire for it that you should understand. From Valladolid, the 31st of March, 1603.

The King.

To whomsoever my Viceroys, Governors, Lieutenant-Governors, Captains-General,
Adelantados, and Admirals of my armies and fleets by land and sea in the eastern and
western Indies, the Philippine and other islands, and coast of Africa, and to all my

Ministers of Justice and War, of whatsoever title, quality, nation or condition they may be,
to whom this my royal order may be presented. Forasmuch as I have ordered the Captain
Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, a Portuguese by nation, to proceed to the city of Lima in Peru,
and with two ships, well supplied with men, victuals, and munitions of war, to proceed
thence to discover New Guinea, Java Major, and other southern lands and islands,
returning by that part of the world to these my kingdoms of Spain, to deliver and account
to me of what he had seen and discovered, and of the observations he will have made by
land and sea during his navigation, in conformity with the orders he has received. I hereby
order and command you, that in whatever part of the said my kingdoms and states the said
Captain, or the officers and sailors who go with him, may arrive with the said two ships or
any one of them, or with any other vessel, you shall receive, protect, and succour the said
Captain and his people in my ports and lands, and provide them with whatever is necessary
to complete the said voyage without delay; and you are to assist them to obtain whatever
they may require, and he may ask for, as he is my servant and Captain, going expressly to
carry out my orders; and you are not to interpose any impediments or difficulties, but rather
you are to extend to him favour and help, if you desire or seek my approval. For this
proceeds from my will, and is very conformable to my royal service. At Valladolid, March
31st, 1603.

These orders were accompanied by many letters, which were given to me at
court by some great lords, for the Viceroy of Peru. Having communicated
the letters of His Holiness to the Royal Council of the Indies, the Count of
Lemos, who was President of that Council, and the other members of it,
desired that I should explain to them my objects and intentions, and they
ordered that I should bring them a map. I went to give this account in a
garden of the court, where the other members assembled to hear me.
Having listened to what I told them, they were satisfied, and rather envious
that my despatch should have been arranged by the Council of State. But I
was not yet contented, on seeing that, in the orders that had been prepared, a
special clause had not been inserted that, in the event of my failure or death,
I might nominate another person to carry on and complete the discovery. So
I represented that an order should be given to me, with this provision; and,
after some trouble, I succeeded. The additional order is as follows:—

The King.

To Don Luis de Velasco or the Count of Monterey, my cousin, my Viceroy and Captain-
General in my kingdoms and provinces of Peru, or whomsoever may be governing in my
name at the time that this order is presented. The Captain Pedro Fernandez de Quiros who,
by my order, proceeds to make discoveries in the unknown parts of the south and others (as
is contained in more detail in the despatches which I have ordered to be sent to you), has
besought me, in order to make more sure of the success of the enterprise that, if he should

fail through sickness, accident, or death, that as great a success as is expected from the said
discovery for the service of God and of our Holy Faith may not be lost, I shall be served by
ordering that, in the said event, you shall nominate a person equally able and sufficient for
the duty, in order that with the said despatches and papers and writings that he may have
left, concerning what he had seen and what he hoped to discover, such a person may
continue the said discovery. And as what he asks is a testimony of his zeal in the service of
God, in my service, and in that of Christianity, I order and specially charge you that if our
Lord should be served by the failure of the said Captain Quiros, or if he should not be able
to go on the said voyage, with the papers and memorial that he will leave to explain and
throw light on his intentions, you shall nominate the most suitable person you can find to
take his place and carry out this great undertaking. And to him who may be selected you
are to give all the assistance and help he needs, in the form indicated in the previous
orders; and this is my will, and is conformable to my service. At Aranjuez, May 9th, 1603.

With this I set out on the road to Seville, and found the fleet for New Spain
ready to sail. I at once applied to the House of Commerce for my despatch;
and, though there were some difficulties to overcome, in the night of the
eve of St. John I went on board a brigantine, and proceeded down the river
of Seville. But when I reached the bay of Cadiz I found that the fleet had
already sailed, consisting of thirty ships, and in the fleet was the Marquis of
Montes Claros, going out as Viceroy of New Spain. I had to do what I
could, and in great haste. So I took a passage in a frigate, commanded by
Captain Diego Ramirez, going to Tierra-firme under convoy of the fleet.
After a good voyage we sighted the island of Marigalanta on the 1st of
August; and on the next day, which was that of a Franciscan festival called
“Porciuncula,” we came into the port of Guadaloupe, when the Viceroy and
Vice-queen landed to hear Mass. At dinner-time the persons of most
consequence went on board again; but a great many remained on shore,
wandering about or washing clothes. They were suddenly attacked by the
natives of that island, who fell upon them with great shouting and flights of
arrows. It seemed certain that they would be captured, killed, or wounded,
and, in consequence, upwards of sixty persons were drowned, seven of
whom were Dominican friars. This caused great sorrow and perturbation
throughout the fleet, and was a prognostication of what was afterwards to
happen. For that night there rose a wind from the S.S.W., which was nearly
abeam; and as the ships were near the shore and close to each other, they
were all in great danger, especially the Capitana, for another ship, named
the Pandorga, came into collision with her, and both were in danger of
being lost. It was necessary for the Viceroy and the Vice-queen, almost

naked, to pass to another ship. They left behind much property that was
coming with them; and the ships were ordered to be burnt, that they might
not fall into the hands of enemies. The other ships put to sea as well as they
were able, and proceeded on their voyage, and our frigate on hers, making
for the island called Curaçoa. The frigate’s voyage was so unlucky that, on
the vespers of St. Lawrence, she struck and went to pieces on some rocks,
which we afterwards learned were those off the island called “Aves.” We
found ourselves in great trouble, but by the mercy of God most of the
people were saved, being taken in the boat to those rocks. With the same
boat what was possible of the ship’s gear was got on land, with which we
set to work, until the diligent Captain ordered the boat to be sawn in two,
and a small vessel to be built of the materials, which was launched in the
end of August. He said that he was determined to send her with all the
passengers, and me as their leader, to the port of Guayra, of the city of
Caraccas, to bring back provisions for those who remained, with some
vessel in which the whole party could escape from that dangerous prison
into which God had put them. I do not know whether it was worse for those
who remained behind, or for those who went in the vessel. But by the
favour of God, having passed through great hardships, I arrived at Caraccas,
and gave an account of what had happened to the Governor, who supplied
me with what was necessary, and I returned with the refreshments to my
unhappy companions who, with penitence and prayers, besought God for
my return. They had been on an allowance of only two ounces of bread for
ten days. Having brought the relief and almost made another frigate, I said
to the Captain that it was only fair that I should continue my voyage. So I
took my leave, and embarked, with certain persons returning to Caraccas,
where I remained for eight months, waiting for a passage. I noted and wrote
in much detail the things I observed concerning that island.1 By great good
luck I found there three children of a brother of mine, of whom I had not
heard for many years. It appeared that he had married there and died,
leaving a widow and these three children. It seemed to me right that I
should take them out of such a bad country, and bring them with me. I got
leave from the grandfather, for the widow was also dead, and I took the two
boys,2 leaving the little girl with her grandfather.

At last the time for my long desired departure arrived, and I embarked for
Cartagena in a frigate. There I presented to the Governor the order of His
Majesty, in which all his officers are instructed to help me; but he made
little account either of the order or of assisting me. As soon as I could I
again embarked for Puerto Bello, and arrived at Panama so poor that for the
space of eight days I had not one rial. I arrived, owing for the hire of the
mules and many other things. So I determined to apply to the Audience of
that city to present me with 200 dols. from the treasury, or I should have to
seek it at a loss from merchants, to be repaid at Lima. But the judges made
as little of me as of the royal orders which I presented, saying that that was
no place for advances from the public funds. So I had to retire to my poor
lodging, where I was sued by the muleteer and other creditors.

In the middle of these troubles, on Monday, the 30th of August, the most
Holy Sacrament went forth from its house to the hospital, which was built
of old wood. Ascending to the upper story, as the weight of the people was
great, a large part of the building gave way, and we fell, sixty of us, with the
beds and patients, a height of more than twenty feet. There were many
accidents. A priest was killed on the spot, and there were broken limbs. I
escaped with what I got, which was a severe blow on the left side, a wound
on the right ankle, and a hand cut open by a nail. My cure cost me four
bleedings and two months and a-half in bed, without possessing a single
maravedi during the whole time, and in a very expensive place. Only by a
miracle I found anyone to take pity on me in my necessity.

When barely convalescent, I was able to embark in a ship bound for Peru,
without a bit of bread or a jar of water. God favoured me with such a good
voyage that in twenty days we anchored at Payta, and I sent a letter by the
chasqui to the Count of Monterey, who had arrived as Viceroy of that
kingdom from New Spain. Embarking again, God was served that in
eighteen days I should arrive at the port of Callao, where I disembarked on
the 6th of March, 1605, with debts for the passage and food, and with no
money. I hired horses from one I had known before, and entered Lima by
night. I went round without being able to find any hostelry, until God led
me to a potter who, for that night and for three other nights, hospitably
received me with goodwill among his pots; so that I am able to say with

good reason that I arrived at Lima weighted down with so many old labours
to make a beginning with new ones, in the way that will be seen by what
follows.

1 He forgets that Caraccas is on the main land.
2 One of these nephews was no doubt the Lucas de Quiros who was appointed Royal Ensign by
his uncle on May 13th, 1606, at the bay of St. Philip and St. James. Zaragoza mentions that, in 1616,
Lucas de Quiros was acquiring a certain reputation at Lima as a cosmographer (IV, Apuntes
Biograficas, p. 139). He constructed a map of the western side of South America, from Carthagena to
Magellan’s Strait, by order of the Viceroy, Prince of Esquilache, on parchment (see Duro Arca de
Noc, p. 560).

Chapter III.
Of what more happened in the city of the Kings and in its port of Callao, to the Captain
Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, until his despatch took effect, and he embarked for the new
discovery.

After I had arrived at the city of the Kings, three days passed without being
able to obtain admission to or audience with the Viceroy, to explain to him
my plans, and inform him respecting the orders of His Majesty. I spoke with
him for the first time on Friday, the 11th of March, and, having seen the
royal order, he appointed an audience on the 25th of the same month, which
he gave me. He had ordered to be present two judges, two religious persons
of the Company of Jesus, the General of Callao, Don Lope de Ulloa, the
Captain of the Guard, and a secretary.

The Viceroy ordered me to read certain papers referring to the business, and
to explain everything. He had a general chart spread out on a buffet, with
which he satisfied himself when I answered the questions they asked me.
Although, in the course of the discussion, the Viceroy said that it appeared
more convenient to him to make the voyage from Manilla, where the
expedition could be fitted out at less cost than would be incurred in the
purchase of two ships at Lima, I answered that the royal order expressly
commanded that the expedition should start from Lima and not from the
Philippines, and that the contrary winds would be against all successful
navigation. I added that there was a want of sailors and soldiers at Manilla.
There were those at the audience to whom my remarks seemed to be just.
Don Juan de Villela, one of the judges, was strongly in favour of the
expedition; also the Father Francisco Coello, who had been “Alcalde” of
the Court of Justice and Assessor to the late Viceroy, Don Luis de Velasco.
They were present when I gave an account of my navigation and my plans
on the first occasion; so that they were witnesses brought by God to prove
the truths of which I treated. The Viceroy showed himself to be satisfied
with my arguments, and of the importance and grandeur of the proposed
discovery. Yet, owing to his bad health and many occupations, and to the

difficulties which always arise in business of this kind that has to pass
through many hands, the despatch could not be proceeded with as quickly
as was necessary, and as I desired. If the day of St. Francis should pass, the
best time of the year would be lost for making sail and shaping a S.W.
course. So that I was forced to continue my memorials to the Viceroy, and
to set forth all the details I deemed necessary to arm, equip, and provision
the ships for so long a voyage. I found more opposers than helpers. Don
Fernando de Castro, husband of my former Governess, Doña Isabel Barreto,
who, with all her household, had come to live in Peru, opposed my
undertaking as trenching on the Solomon Islands, which he inherited
through his wife, who was the widow of their discoverer, the Adelantado
Alvaro de Mendaña. But the good cavalier was convinced by my pious
reasoning, and he said that, as he understood it, he would condemn the soul
who pretended to disturb me.

The Doctor Arias Ugarte, a Judge of the Royal Audience, learning in what
poverty and discomfort I lived, invited me to his house and table: an offer
such as a brother might make, or one friend to another. Seeing that my wish
differed from his, he wanted to make me accept a great dish full of dollars,
almost by force. I gave him thanks, and said that it did not seem right for
one serving His Majesty in a great undertaking to be sustained by alms. At
length, after many memorials and much worry, I induced the Viceroy to
nominate commissaries whose duty it was to see that the most necessary
things were provided for my despatch. Those matters relating to the sea
were under the superintendence of the Admiral, Juan Colmanero de
Andrada, who was not well disposed towards me. This was the reason that I
had to return to the Viceroy with complaints and importunities, in which he
honoured and favoured me. One day he said to me that, by virtue of the
royal order I had shown him, he wished to name a person to go in my
company, who was to take my place and office in the event of my death. I
answered that I did not wish to take with me any one who would know that
he was to succeed me, for that was an arrangement fraught with obvious
danger. In the order His Majesty allowed that I myself made the proposal,
with the object that if I should die before I reached Lima, or before I left the
port, the enterprise should continue in being. But at present I was strong and
well; so I begged him to suspend this business until it was seen what God

ordained; and that he would leave it in my charge; so that when it appeared
necessary I could select such a person as time had shown to merit the
charge of so serious an enterprise.

In this position the matter rested, and my despatch proceeded, though with
slow steps. As the time for starting approached, it was represented that the
pay should be in advance, and the persons who raised the question claimed
that it should be given on board the ships, or with good securities. I
succeeded in satisfying them, saying that, as His Majesty had entrusted to
me and to them a business of such importance, it was not just to proceed in
all things with such limitation.

Having settled this, I took steps for my people to receive the jubilee which
had been conceded by His Holiness, and that a special festival should be
held for them in the convent of St. Francis of the port of Callao, where were
the six friars who were to go in our ships. The standards and banners were
to be blessed, and we were to come forth with all our people in procession,
in the clothes of sackcloth which almost all had made for the occasion. But
the envy which is so powerful put a stop to this laudable intention, and there
were not wanting those who opposed the blessing and raising of the
standard, as if the undertaking was not for the service of His Majesty.
However, all the people confessed and took the sacrament. The standards
and banners were embarked, rolled up on their staves; and I, with other
persons of the fleet, went to seek for the six friars. These, accompanied by
many others of their Order, and by their guardian and commissary, came
forth from their convent, and were lovingly embraced by many people, for
always at such partings many tears are shed. We all went on board together,
with the Admiral and other royal officers. When the inspection was made,
there was not a single man missing who had received pay, and not counting
those, there were twenty-two. One day before, I had been to Lima to take
leave of the Viceroy, having with me the two captains of the other two
ships. I asked him to pardon me for having been so pressing, for it had been
necessary to make a finish of my despatch. The Viceroy answered that, on
the contrary, he was much pleased, and he embraced me, and afterwards the
other two captains: saying that, owing to his serious indisposition, he was
unable to go to the port to see us start, as he desired, but that he would write

a letter to all the people of the expedition, which was to be read publicly
before making sail, as was done. Its tenor was as follows:—

Letter of the Viceroy, Count of Monterey.

Illness will not allow me to honour and favour with my presence your departure from the
port, and the commencement of your navigation. As I am unable to say to you what is
desirable in words, I have decided to do so by a letter.

I feel very sure that, in general, you have understood the lofty aims for the service of God
our Lord which has moved his royal Majesty to undertake this discovery with great cost to
his treasury; and what mighty interests may result from the enterprise to the church of God,
by the saving of many souls, and to the crown of Spain by the increase of its dominions. So
I trust that you will keep the one and the other object present to your minds, being the
principal reasons which also moved us to the undertaking.

I desire to charge you to maintain peace and obedience from subordinates to their officers,
and from all to the Captain Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, who has been ordered by His
Majesty to make this voyage. And I charge you to keep in memory that he represents in his
person the Viceroy himself, as if I myself was on board, and as if I gave the orders that he
will give; showing that, in the discipline and obedience that you must exercise on all
occasions, you signally display your loyalty as good vassals to His Majesty. He who falls
away from this shall be severely judged by the councillors of His Majesty, or the royal
ministers where the matter is reported, and especially by me in cases that come before me.
May God guide you and send you forth to do His will. Given on December 20th, 1605.

As soon as the letter was read, the ships being ready, the various banners
were displayed from the mastheads and tops, and the royal standard was
hoisted, the yards were raised, and the anchors got up in the name of the
most holy Trinity. The sails were set, and the men on their knees prayed for
a good voyage to our Lady of Loreto, saying that this fleet is dedicated to
her name, and sails trusting in her favour and protection. All the artillery,
muskets, and arquebuses were fired off. The ships passed near the other
royal ships, which were saluting with their pieces, with many people on
their decks and galleries, and many more in the town, on balconies and
roofs, and on the beach, watching attentively as we left the port. It was the
day of St. Thomas the Apostle, Wednesday, at three in the afternoon, the
21st of December, 1605, the sun being in the last degree of Sagittarius.

In this manner the three ships departed. The Capitana was named San
Pedro y San Pablo. She was bought from Sebastian de Goite y Figueroa,
and was well adapted for such service. The other vessel, as Almiranta, was

rather small, and was also purchased for His Majesty in the port of Callao.
The third was a launch, or zabra, of small size, which had lately arrived
from the Galapagos Islands, to rescue the people who had been wrecked
there. She was very strong and a good sailer. In all three were embarked
nearly three hundred men, sailors and soldiers, with some small pieces of
artillery, arquebuses and muskets, provisions of all kinds for one year, iron
implements, fruits and animals of Peru for those who should form a
settlement, and the said six friars of the Order of St. Francis, also four
brothers of Juan de Dios to cure the sick. As Chief Pilot there came one
against my will, whom they made me receive, as he had taken the Count of
Monterey from New Spain. He did me much injury.1 The second Pilot was
called the Captain Pedro Bernal Cermeño, to whom I delivered the charge
and command of the launch.

1 His name was Juan Ochoa de Bilboa.

Chapter IV.
How the Captain, Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, having left the port of Callao with his fleet,
navigated from the coast of Peru, and his instructions to the pilots, sailors and soldiers that
they might know how to govern themselves.

Commencing to leave the port of Callao, the prows of the three ships were
pointed in the direction of their destination. The sun went down. The
Almiranta asked for her name. She was given the name of San Pedro,
patron of the same ship, and of the cause. They sailed with the wind S.S.E.,
so prevalent on that coast, thence to E.S.E., and as we went on the wind
passed from point to point until it was due east, where it remained for many
days, blowing gently. It seems that the lofty cordillera of Peru, running
north and south, impedes the wind from blowing east until a good offing is
gained, when it is the ordinary wind.

The Captain, during the three first days, made entries in his journal, but
presently his health failed him. For he took such a headache from Lima that
he could suffer neither sun nor shade, and could expose it neither bare nor
covered. On this malady there came a spasm which caused him much
suffering, and, as was afterwards supposed, he was cured by this reversed
attack, though none of these changes sufficed to finish him. For whom God
wishes will live. The three eves and days of Christmas, Circumcision, and
Epiphany, were celebrated with great festivity; and at the Conversion of St.
Paul, the Captain, not having been able to do so before, issued the following
instructions to the people of his ship, and to those of the other two ships of
his fleet, judging them to be very necessary.

Instructions.

Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, Captain and Chief of the three vessels of the fleet, of which he
has command, to discover the unknown southern regions for His Majesty.

As it is agreeable to the service of God our Lord, and to that of the King of Spain, Philip,
third of that name, whose is this fleet, and whose vassal I am, and in whose name I go on
this service; and as it is conducive to good government that the Captains should have rules

to keep respecting the voyage that has to be made, and other work that has to be done, if by
chance, owing to a tempest or other legitimate cause, they should part company from me,
they should be given instructions and notices that they may follow and carry out the orders
with regard to the charge with which they are entrusted. I, therefore, give to Luis Vaez de
Torres, Admiral of the ship called San Pedro, the orders as follows:—

I specially charge the said Admiral that he is to maintain Christian, political, and military
discipline among the men of his ship.

Further, I charge him to see that they do not curse nor blaspheme, nor say or do other
things evil against God our Lord, nor against the most holy Mother, nor against angels,
saints, or things divine or sacred; and if perchance (which may God not permit) there are
some so wicked as to dare to utter such blasphemies, he is to punish them severely and
rigorously as their crimes deserve.

Further, I charge him not to consent to any playings with dice or cards, either for small or
great stakes; and if by chance there should be any playing cards found in his ship, or dice
(except for playing at backgammon), he is to throw them overboard as a thing very
prejudicial to the objects of the voyage; and if the games at tables cause disputes and
trouble, they are also to be thrown overboard, so as to avoid all occasion for mischief.

He is to take great care that every day, in the afternoon, all the people go on their knees
before an altar where there are images of Christ and of the Virgin Mary, and that the Litany
of Our Lady of Loreto is recited, praying for her favour and for her intercession, that God
our Lord may guide us and show us the lands and people we seek, and help us in all that
undertaking on which we are employed, and grant us that success which will be to His
honour and glory and for the good of so many of His creatures.

Further, I charge him that he forbids and by all means prevents any one from taking God’s
name in vain, the person so offending forfeiting his ration for that day, and if he has
already had it, for the next day; and the same punishment is to be inflicted on such persons
as may give him to eat, even if they are his own mess-mates. If the blasphemer repents his
fault, he may be pardoned the first time, but for the second, third, or other times he may be
put in irons, or fined for the benefit of souls in purgatory; and this may not be remitted.
And that this may be known to all, a copy of this chapter is to be nailed to the ship’s main
mast.

Further, he is to be very vigilant in preventing free or disrespectful words being spoken of
the royal person or his service: and those who so offend are to be punished promptly and
with rigour, always justifying what is inflicted for this or other offences.

Further, he is to take care and use much diligence in treating kindly and lovingly all the
people under his charge, and to honour and maintain each one of his officers in the posts
they occupy, and to cause them to be respected and to respect each other. In short, he is to
acquire those methods and habits which are necessary to keep his people contented and
firm in their love, truthfulness, fidelity, and loyalty, remembering how worthy of esteem
that Captain is who, without the use of knife or other rigour, governs his people in peace.

Further, he is to look after the Master of the Ship with vigilance, who is to see that the
provisions do not turn bad and are not wasted; and that those respecting which there is a
suspicion that they may turn bad are used first.

The ration to be served out each day to each person on board, whether receiving wages or
not, is 1½ lbs. of biscuit, 1 lb. of meat, 2 oz. of bacon, 1 oz. of pulses, half a gallon of
water for drinking, and sufficient for cooking. On fish days the ration is to be one fish or (if
it is large) part of one, 6 oz. of pulses, a measure of oil, another of vinegar; biscuit and
water as on meat days. If there is no fish, 4 oz. of cheese is to be substituted. As regards
extras, what appears most convenient is to be done, always seeing that there is no pretext
for complaints, and considering that there is much time and a long voyage before us.

He is to be very diligent, both by day and night, in following the Capitana ship, which will
shape a W.S.W. course until the latitude of 30° is reached; and when that is reached and no
land has been seen, the course will be altered to N.W. until the latitude of 10° 15′; and if no
land has yet been found, a course will be followed on that parallel to the west, in search of
the island of Santa Cruz. There a port will be sought in the bay of Graciosa, in 10° of
latitude, and 1,850 leagues from the city of the Kings, to the south of a great and lofty
volcano, standing alone in the sea, about 8 leagues from the said bay. The Captain who
arrives first in this port, which is at the head of the bay, between a spring of water and a
moderate-sized river, with bottom from 40 to 35 fathoms, is to anchor there, and wait there
three months for the other two ships. When together, a resolution will be taken as to what
further shall be done, in compliance with His Majesty’s orders. If by chance the other ships
do not arrive, the Captain, before he departs, is to raise a cross, and at the foot of it, or of
the nearest tree, he is to make a sign on the trunk, to be understood by him who next
arrives, and to bury a jar with the mouth closed with tar, and containing a narrative of all
that has happened and of his intentions. Then he will steer S.W. as far as 20°, thence N.W.
to 4°, and on that parallel he is to steer west in search of New Guinea. After coasting all
along that land, he is to proceed to the city of Manilla, in the island of Luzon of the
Philippines, in 14° N., thence by the eastern Indies to Spain, to give an account to His
Majesty of all that has been discovered.

Further, he is to be diligent in taking the sun daily, and at night the star Crucero, or at least
whenever the weather admits of it, that he may know his latitude and plot it on his chart,
making allowances for lee-way, caused by winds or currents, and for the variation of the
needle; and for greater accuracy, he shall take care to correct it by the sun, or by a known
star when on the meridian. He is also to be careful to note the number of leagues made by
the ship each day, the winds and the changes, the showers, currents, flights of birds, shoals
of fishes, and signs of land, with its appearance when sighted. Also, he is to note the
islands, whether inhabited or uninhabited, and place them on the chart in their latitude,
longitude, and form. If it is continental land, he is to do the same as regards ports, capes,
anchorages, and all other features; writing descriptions of the positions of each feature, of
the rivers and places where wood and water can be obtained, as well as the rocks and reefs
that are met with. If the bottom is sand, it is to be denoted by dots of ink, if of rocks by
small crosses. Besides these details, the colour, shape, features, and dress of the inhabitants
are to be noted, their food, arms, boats, behaviour, and government and religion; so that a
full and detailed account can be given to the King our Lord in his Council of State, from
whence the orders for the voyage were issued.

Every day he will come up to this Capitana, as is the custom, to give his respects and wish
for a good voyage; and to ask for the word, which will be answered and given in the
customary way.

He is to take care that, at sunrise and sunset, and oftener if it seems desirable, two men go
to the masthead to look out over all parts of the horizon; and at night the sentries are to be
doubled, one being on the bowsprit. The rounds and over-rounds are to be gone by him in
person, and when he is not able, he is to delegate the duty to others in whom he has
confidence. In this he is to be punctual, and rigorous in punishing those he finds not
keeping a good look-out, or sleeping. In taking in sail, when the weather is threatening,
there must be no negligence.

When the Capitana puts out a flag from the main topmast, it is a signal to the pilots for the
ships to close. The ships shall then come near the Capitana to receive orders.

If the Capitana should alter course during the night, a gun will be fired, if it is desired to
give notice that land is sighted, or that there are rocks, two guns will be fired. The other
two ships will do the same, and all three will repeat, to show that the signal is understood.

If by day it is necessary to communicate, a flag is to be shown on the main rigging, so that
it may be seen by the other two ships, and presently they will close, to learn what is
wanted. If it is night, two lights are to be shown, besides the stern lantern, as a signal that
help is needed, which presently will be given.

Great precautions are to be taken against fire. There is to be no lighted candle nor other fire
between decks, except within a lantern in charge of a man to watch it. And this duty is not
to be given to any person unless he can be trusted.

Much care is to be taken that there is no waste in cord, powder, or balls; and attention is to
be given to all the royal stores that there may be no fraud whatever in their expenditure.

If there is both wind and sea, and both suddenly cease, being night time, heave to and
sound, and keep a good look-out, as the cause may be the interposition of land close to.

If there are puffs and flaws of wind besides the wind that fills the sails, or the ship raises
her head and stern as if she was being pushed, it being night time, take soundings, for she
may be very near the land or rocks, where the sea breaks and sends back the surf.

If, the sky being clear, the sun, moon, and stars come out and are higher than the horizon, it
is a certain sign of land; at night heave to and sound, at daytime look out for it.

If on the route there should be thick mists ahead which do not move away, or a fixed line,
or a damp fog, heave to and sound, keeping a good look-out, for there is probably land
near.

If certain flashes with little lights are seen ahead, accompanied by thunder, or there are
puffs of wind, it being night time, heave to and sound, as they may be signs of small rocks
or islets. If the lightning is forked and the thunder loud, also heave to and sound, keeping a
good look-out.

If in spite of the wind that is blowing there come dry gusts from another quarter, or with
rain or hail, it is a sign of land being near; it being night time, heave to, waiting for
daylight to seek for it.

If the sea appears greasy, with leaves of trees, grass, herbs, wood, branches, palm nuts, and
other things which the waves carry from the shores, and rivers send down when in flood, it
is a sign of land being near in the direction of the present course of the wind, or the
currents have brought them. In that case the circumstances will indicate what it is best to
do, but land will be left behind towards the quarter whence the wind comes.

If there are currents it is better when they are strong, or there are shoals of small fishes
which seem to swarm over the sea, or patches of camarones, sea snakes, seals, turtles,
much bad water, or some land birds, take care, for the ship will be very near the land.

If flocks of many sea birds are met with, such as boobies and petrels, note should be taken
of the direction in which they fly, and whence they come in the morning; noticing whether
they assemble early and return late, for then they are far from the land; but if they assemble
late and return early, the land is near. If they are not seen to assemble, and are heard to
make a noise at night, and are still to be seen at dawn, then either land is very near or the
birds have slept on the sea. It is to be noted that these birds almost always frequent islets or
rocks, because they are nearer their fishing grounds. For this reason there should be
vigilance to avoid shoals.

If the birds that may be met with are piqueros, ducks, widgeons, gulls, estopegados, terns,
sparrowhawks, flamingos or siloricos, it is a sign that the land is very near; but if there are
only boobies so much care is not necessary, because these birds are found far from land,
and the same may be said of boatswain birds, which fly where they please. Moreover, if all
the birds, or part of them, fly together, it is a sign of proximity to land; and it should be
noted whether some of these birds fly as if wounded, seeking land on one or the other side.

If patches of brown water are seen on the sea, it is a sign that there are rocks near the
surface; if the patches are white, it is a sign of a sandy bottom, with little depth; a black
patch is a sign of ooze and mud; and a green patch points to a bottom covered with weeds.
In short, if the sea is of any other colour than the ordinary one of the ocean where there is
great depth, namely, dark blue, it is necessary to exercise care, and much more if at night
the sea should be heard to make sounds greater than is usual. All the above signs cause an
obligation to be very careful and to get soundings; but there are two things which require
more especial vigilance, and which have the most importance for the security of the
voyage. It is then the principal thing to bear in mind that while all these signs point to land
or to rocks; that while the birds have wings and can sleep when they like on the sea; while
the fish are in their element; while the winds, the thunder and lightning, and the clouds fly
through the air, it is only in God that we must put our confidence, for it is He alone who
knows, and who can guide and save the people and the ship.

After anchoring in any port, a careful look-out should be kept both by day and night, for
the natives are great swimmers and divers, and might wedge up the rudder, cut the hawsers,
or set fire to the ship. For this reason it is well, in places where there is cause for suspicion,
to have a guard in the boat at night over the buoys, or at least to visit them many times.

Take care not to allow so many natives on board the ship as would be able to overpower
the crew; and even when they are few, great evil may come to them as well as to us, from
ignorance of our arms; whence may arise a commencement of war, and a faithful peace
may never then be made.

In effecting a landing, it should always be by day, and never at night. The landing-place
should be level and clear of woods, or at least as well situated in these respects as possible:
sending dogs in front to discover ambushes, with arms ready, marching together and in
order, and entering passes with caution. It should be kept in mind that the natives usually
get behind rocks or trees, or stretch themselves flat on the ground even in level places,
concealed only by the grass.

Take notice that, if it is possible, chiefs or other natives who appear to be of consequence,
should be kept in the ship as hostages, but well treated and given presents of things that
they seem to like most. The same course should be followed on shore, when the natives
seek intercourse and conversation with us. The barter should be conducted by one of us,
who should always give the natives to understand that the things are of great value, as they
really are for them; and this because they do not value their own things much, and ours but
little.

Learn from the natives whether there are other islands or extensive lands near, if they are
inhabited, of what colour are the natives, whether they eat human flesh, if they are friendly
or carry on war. Enquire whether they have gold in dust, or in small lumps, or in
ornaments; silver worked or to be worked; metals, all kinds of pearls, spices and salt, and if
they eat those commodities. If they have names for them, write the names down. Ask in
what parts these things are to be found, and what those lands are called. Show pleasure at
what they give, and manage to let them know by signs what they ask.

Do not think little of the natives, for they are pilferers and runners, and when they come for
that, they know well how to do it; at least, they try, whence follow evils from one side to
another, which is what ought to be avoided.

Do not follow the guidance of the natives except with great caution. Never trust or believe
in them on any occasion whether they show much or little sign of friendship, because their
custom is to watch on the roads and to make pits covered with earth and grass. They are
capable of leading those they pretend to guide direct to their traps or ambushes, or with evil
intent to get them away from their boats or the beach, and to lead them inland into the
woods, and there do what evil they can to them. They always carry their canes open at both
ends, containing a lighted cord, that it may not be extinguished when it rains.

Never allow our people to mix with the natives, nor leave them to join company, owing to
the danger that, on a given signal, three or four may fall upon and carry off one of ours to
meet the fate which they may want to inflict on him.

On occasions when it is desirable to have an interview with the natives, it should always be
in a cleared space, with a good distance between the two parties, and the Chief, or one
named by him, standing in the space, so as to concert with him what they desire or ask for.
It is always necessary to see that the back is safe without ceasing to watch or even turning

the face, but always the whole body. And, when obliged, let it be back to back, with the
shields in front, so as to make all more strong and secure.

If it should be necessary to embark in retreat, either in presence or absence of the enemy,
half the arquebusiers and shield-bearers should face the natives, that the other half may
embark safely; and those embarked are quickly to turn, making the same guard as the one
made by those on shore until all are embarked. For, if all embark in a troop, there is danger
from arrows, stones, darts, and lances, which are the arms of the natives.

The natives never give up anything they have about them, or anything in their houses,
though it be gold, silver, pearls, or any other thing of value, nor do they understand our
covetousness. But before we gave them our things we were very liberal, sowing with them
and teaching them to sow maize, beans, onions, cotton, and all the most profitable seeds
and vegetables. Whenever there is an opportunity, such seeds should be sown even on
desert islands. If the place is suitable, rabbits, goats, and swine should be landed, for it is
an advantage to enrich those desert lands, remembering the possible needs of future
navigators.

Take care not to feed on the things which the natives present to be eaten, because they
know how to play tricks. For which reason do not fill your hands, nor quit your arms, nor
take your eyes off the natives. Under all circumstances these precautions should be well
attended to. One or two of our people should always be on the watch, especially in the
direction where there is most cause for suspicion.

Care should be taken to look out for poison put into the water or food. Vegetables and fruits
should not be eaten unless known before, or unless they have been seen to be used as food
by birds and monkeys.

In ports where natives come to give assistance, never ill-use them nor detain them, unless it
is to let them return with clothes or presents, nor break the peace or the word that has been
given to them, nor cut down their fruit trees, nor injure their crops, nor destroy their houses
or canoes; for all such acts cost them very dear, owing to the difficulty of repairing
damages from want of proper tools. For this cause they seek for vengeance, and withdraw
food supplies. In short, all is lost that was intended to be obtained from them. If it seems
necessary, they can be made to understand the harm we can do them with our arquebuses,
swords, and other arms, but not to do it, refraining at the last.

For two reasons the natives may give false information respecting the land, people, and
products, the latter being what we enquire for most and come to seek. The first that we may
go, the second that we may be deceived, in revenge for some wrong that has been done
them. When it is decided to follow up any of their notices by sea or land, the same natives
that have given the information should be made to accompany the party, to secure this
point.

The shouts and noises of the natives in their assemblies, and the blowing and beating of
their war instruments, need cause no alarm to us, nor should the natives be despised. In
forced attacks, arquebus fire should be in the air, with or without ball; and by taking other
steps suited to the occasion, they will be made to fly or desist.

A very important notice is that, when seeking for wood, water, or provisions, a boat should
be sent with well-armed men to over-awe the natives, even in places where it does not
seem likely that there will be a rupture with them. If they begin to offer opposition, and the
necessity is not very great, it will be as well to return to the ship, and await a better
opportunity. If the necessity is great, send a large number of guards to protect the foraging
party. Finally, avoid the danger of offending the natives, or being offended by them. The
position should be as fathers to children, but they must be watched as if they were known
enemies. Our part is always to be in the right, with open and honest intentions; then God
will help us, as He helps all those whose objects are good.

It is well known to all those persons who are engaged on this discovery how His Holiness
Clement VIII, at my humble petition, has conceded that if our Lord should be served by
removing us from this world to another, at the hour of death, if unable to confess or to take
the sacrament, being contrite, we name the most holy name of Jesus, either with our
mouths or in our hearts, he gives us plenary indulgence and remission of all our sins. I hold
the brief for this grace in my possession.

If any person should fall sick, he should presently confess and make his will. If he should
die, it is ordered that the master, with a clerk, should make an inventory of his goods, and
take charge of them, in order to carry out the wishes of the deceased. If he dies intestate,
the same care is to be taken in making an inventory, and in taking care of the goods.

All these things are to be complied with, without exceeding them, unless time is very
pressing. In that case, if it appears necessary, counsel should be taken with the Master and
Pilot, officers, and other important persons, and with the opinions of all of them, signed
with their names, what is agreed upon may be done, all being for the service of God and of
His Majesty. Given on board the ship San Pedro y San Pablo, by the leader of the said
discovery, in this Gulf of Loreto, navigating on a W.S.W. course, in the latitude of 19°, on
January 8th, 1606.

Chapter V.
Recounts the navigation that was made, and the signs that were noted, until the first
uninhabited island came in sight.

The fleet continued to steer W.S.W. in accordance with the instructions,
from the time that the ships made sail from Callao until they reached the
latitude of 16°, where they met with a heavy and confused swell from the
S.W. On the 10th of January the first birds were seen, and on the 11th the
first showers of rain, with the wind E. and E.S.E. On the 12th the wind was
south. On the 13th a number of gulls were seen. On the 15th the wind was
N. and N.W. On the 16th we saw great flocks of birds. On the 17th we were
in latitude 24°, with the wind S.W. and W., blowing with some force and
with a high sea. At this change the Captain presently showed a flag from the
maintop mast to take opinions, the weather not allowing of any other way.
The pilots of the ships said, by shouting, that, being outside the tropics, all
winds might be met with, and by reaching higher latitudes, the north wind
would be met with, blowing with greater force. On the 18th the wind went
all round the compass, but was generally in the north. On the 21st we had
the wind from S. and S.W.

On the 22nd we were in latitude 26°, with a squall and showers from the
S.E., and with a great swell from the south. This brought out the timidity of
some, saying: “Whither are they taking us, in this great gulf, in the winter
season?” Some said they should get the boat into the sea. We were obliged,
by the force of winds and sea, to stand on a W.N.W. course until we reached
25°. On the 24th, at night, we saw the first lightning, which was not very
bright. On the 25th we saw the first weeds; and on the 26th we saw birds of
several kinds flying together. On this day, at 11 o’clock, we discovered the
first island in latitude 25°, and reckoned it to be 800 leagues from Lima. It
has a circumference of 5 leagues, many trees, and a beach of sand. Near the
land the depth was 80 fathoms. I gave it the name of “Luna-puesta.”1 It was
now late, so I determined to stand off and on during the night, waiting for

the next day to go to the island; but at dawn we were too leeward, and for
this cause and others we left it.

1 Leza calls it “Anegada.” In the Memorial of 1609 the name “La Encarnaçion” was given to the
first island.

Chapter VI.
Relates how the Almiranta disappeared and joined company again, and how they sighted
the second uninhabited island.

We were steering to the west in some doubt, when we saw some whales and
many gulls. At dawn of this day the Almiranta was not in sight. The Captain
ordered the mast-head men to look carefully round the horizon, and at 9 the
ship was seen coming to us under all sail. This caused us great pleasure, as
her absence had given anxiety, for to part company! now one sees what that
means. Having arrived, the Captain received a letter in which the Admiral
said that, during the previous night, the stern light of the Capitana went out;
and that, as he was unwell, he had not seen what happened, and had not
been able to carry out the orders exactly.

Still steering on the same course, on the 29th of January, at dawn, we
sighted another island near, and presently stood towards it. The launch to
the S.W. found a port in a small bay, where she anchored in 27 fathoms, and
almost on shore. The ships did the same. The people in the launch told them
by shouting that she was dragging her anchor; so the ships stood out, and
the launch got up her anchor and made sail.

Three men were sent from the Almiranta in a dingey to land. Fearing to
remain they came back quickly, bringing certain fruits known to some on
board, which were too unripe to eat. They said that the landing was very
bad for a dingey, and would be much worse for larger boats.

This island was supposed to be 870 leagues from Lima. It is 10 leagues
round. It is massive, moderately high, open, having groves and plains. It is
steep, too, and its beaches are rocky. It is only inhabited by birds. Its
latitude is 24° 45′. It was named “San Juan Bautista;”1 and as it had no port
where we could get wood and water, we continued our voyage to the
W.N.W.

This day the Admiral came on board to see the Captain about certain
matters; who, to put an end to discord, made the Admiral embrace the Chief
Pilot and make friends, for there was very little friendship between them
before.

On the following day, which was the penultimate of January, a great number
of birds were seen, and on the last day of that month there were such squalls
that it was necessary to strike the topmasts.

1 Leza calls it “San Puerto.” Torres gives the name of “San Valerio.” The two islands are 75
leagues apart.

Chapter VII.
Recounts how they came in sight of the third island that was discovered, and a great storm.

Following the W.N.W. course, on the 3rd of February, the Captain put out a
flag on the topmast for the ships to close and the pilots to report in what
latitude they were, how many leagues from Lima, the observations the ships
had taken respecting lee-way, winds, and the variation of the needle, also
the bearing of the islands of Las Marquesas de Mendoza. The ships closed,
and the pilots said that, owing to the clouds, they had not been able to take
the sun for three days; that they thought Las Marquesas de Mendoza bore
N.N.E.; and that after they had got the sun’s meridian altitude they could
make a more formal report.

While this was going on land was sighted to the west, which, being
concealed by clouds, was near; and as it was late, all sails were set. Night
came on, and, having gone a short distance, a dark and thick cloud rose in
the north-east in three parts, which soon became one, and made its way
towards the ships with such speed and fury that all began to seek for
remedies against the evils that menaced them. The ships, trembling,
received the force of the storm, and went over on their sides. The sea rose,
and all were horrified. The lightning in the air seemed to rend the heavens
and blind the sight. Three thunderbolts were heard to fall; the thunder was
awful, the pouring rain terrible, and the squalls of wind so violent that it
seemed as if the least damage would be the fall of the masts. The launch
being close to, her Pilot shouted in a hoarse voice: “The Capitana ahoy!
Alter course—ahoy! Luff up!” All was confusion, hurry, and noise. The
night was fearful, decision doubtful, and great the anxiety to know whether
the position of the ships was safe.

Our Father Commissary, with a cross in his hands, passed the whole night
conjuring the sea and winds. St. Elmo appeared, as the sailors say, which
they saluted with great devotion three times. In short, it was a dark,

confused, ugly, and long night which we passed, confiding, after God, in the
soundness of our ships and the stoutness of our sailors. When the long-
wished-for daylight came, we saw that our land was an island surrounded
by a reef. Neither port nor bottom could be found, though sought for with
care, as we were in want of water, and for fuel we only had brushwood.
Seeing that the island was so useless, we left it for what it was; and,
considering the night it had given us, it would have been dear even if it had
been a very good land instead of a very bad one. This island was calculated
to be 1,030 leagues from Lima, 36 leagues round, in latitude 20° 30′. It was
named St. Elmo.

Chapter VIII.
Four other desert islands are sighted, and what else happened.

Steering W.N.W., on the following day, we sighted an island about 6
leagues off, and presently another, and then two more, and at none of the
four was there bottom or port. There are reefs and shoals almost continuous.
The distance from one to the other was four or five leagues, and from the
City of the Kings 1,050. Their latitude is 20°, and they were named Las
cuarto coronadas.1

The Captain, considering that on all these seven newly-discovered islands
neither a port nor water could be found, and finding that there were fewer
water-jars than he ordered to be embarked, he made some discourses with
respect to the time and the present state of affairs, and deemed it necessary
to reduce, as he did reduce, the allowance of water. Twelve or fifteen jars of
water that were consumed each day he reduced to three or four jars. He was
present when it was served out, saw the hatchway closed, and kept the keys.

Presently he ordered a brick oven to be built over one of the hearths, in
order to make sweet water from sea water, with a copper instrument he had
with him, by means of distillation. They got two or three jars full every day,
very good and wholesome. On the least productive day there was a jar and
a-half, and altogether fifty jars. This invention, with certain improvements,
promises, with little expenditure of fuel, to turn out in fifteen hours eight,
nine, and ten jars of fresh water, and more if it is necessary.2

This was Ash Wednesday. Our Father Commissary gave ashes to every
person on board the ship. The course was W.N.W., and at a distance of 75
leagues from the four isles astern we sighted another small island to the
N.E., but could not approach owing to being to windward. We judged its
latitude to be 18° 30′. It received the name of San Miguel. Owing to

threatening weather and darkness, we were hove to this night with all the
ships.

1 Torres calls them “Las Virgenes.”
2 This is a very early notice of the use of a method of obtaining fresh water by condensing.

Chapter IX.
The first inhabited island is sighted; what happened there with the natives.

Next day, which was the 10th of February, having a look-out man at each
mast-head, constantly watching all parts of the horizon, the Almiranta fired
a piece, and land ahead was reported in all three ships. As all the other
islands were desert, it was expected that this one would be the same, so the
report was received with very moderate rejoicing. We presently steered
towards it, and soon a high and thick smoke was seen to rise between two
palms. Those in the launch presently shouted: “People, people on the
beach!” The news was as joyful as incredible to many, from having been so
long desired, fearing lest it should prove a mistake, until, coming nearer, we
clearly saw men, and the sight was hailed as if they had been angels.1

Of this glory the Captain got a large share, for until now he had been
saying: “God shows us in this sea millions and millions of natives.” The
people were restless from sheer satisfaction, so that they had not attended to
the sails. The launch anchored near the slope of the beach, and the two ships
presently stood out to sea, as there was no port for them. They got the boats
out to search, but could not find one, sounding until they came opposite to
the place where the natives stood in a row, with clubs and lances in their
hands. Our people who saw them thought it was war, but looked at them
and spoke by signs. They said our men should land, also by signs.

The place was dangerous, and little satisfaction could be got from the
natives; so our people in the boats determined to return to the ships to avoid
any collision. The waves did their office, and the natives, when they saw the
high ones, told the boats to keep away, owing to the danger they ran. As it
appeared to our people that these demonstrations were all made out of
kindness, two undressed and jumped into the water. As soon as they landed
the natives, putting down their lances, all together at one time bowed their
heads and arms, and saluted three times. Apparently, the welcome and

smiles were to receive our men, and when one was knocked over by a
wave, they picked him up, embraced him, and kissed him on his cheeks,
which is a way of showing friendship used also in France. When the people
in the boats saw the loyalty with which the natives received complete
strangers, not knowing their intentions, two others went on shore. One of
them was very white, and the natives, when they saw him, came and felt his
back, breast, and arms, showing much astonishment, and they did the same
with the other three. All four gave them what they had, which the natives
received with signs of love. The one who appeared to be chief over the
others gave to one of our people a palm branch as a sign of friendship, and
also did more. He crossed his arms, making very friendly signs to our
people that they should come to the village, to which they pointed with their
fingers, to give them to eat.

With this they took their leave, and our men embarked, to the sorrow of the
natives. Eight of them followed the boats, and to see them the men laid on
their oars and invited them to get in, but they were afraid. The launch and
the boats returned to where the ships were at sunset. Presently, the Chief
Pilot asked the Captain what was to be done, who replied that they would
beat to windward that night, and on the following day return to the same
point, or to another, and search again for a port or anchorage, or for water,
which was much needed. The Chief Pilot went aloft, and said from the
mast-head that he saw a bay to leeward, much better than the bay of Cadiz.

All night we stood off and on, rather joyful at the thought of finding this
port, and at dawn we found ourselves 3 leagues to leeward of the place
where the natives had been seen; and looking out a first and a second time,
there was no sign of that bay, but only a narrow and long reef almost
covered by the water. There was one place where there were some palm
trees, for which reason the Captain sent both the boats, well manned and
armed with jars, to seek for water. They found the beach very difficult, most
of it rocks, on which the waves broke with great fury. But undaunted by
this, our people jumped into the water up to their waists, loaded with
arquebuses, spades, and crowbars, and the last, whose name was
Belmonte,2 had such difficulty that, if Ensign Rozo3 had not helped him
with his spear, which enabled him to get out, there would have been an end

of his career. Marching in good order, they entered a palm grove, where
they found, at the foot of a tree, a number of brown stones, and one in the
form of an altar, covered with branches. It was supposed that this was a
burial-place, or a place where the Devil spoke to and deceived these
miserable natives, without there being any one to obstruct him. Our people,
to sanctify the place, set up a cross,4 and gave God thanks on their knees for
being the first to hoist His royal standard in an unknown place inhabited by
heathens. In sorrow for their evil condition, they spoke thus: “How long, O
pious Lord, is the darkness in which they live to last for these people?”
They said this with all due reverence; and, leaving the cross, they began to
dig for water, which they did not find, but were able to quench their actual
thirst with cocoa-nuts.

When they went down to embark they saw a shape, which appeared to be
that of a man, coming towards them at a short distance. They went to see
what it was, and found that it was an old woman, who appeared to be a
hundred years of age: a tall and large woman, with fine and long black hairs
and only four or five grey ones, her colour brown, face and body wrinkled,
teeth few and decayed, and with other faults caused by a long life. She
came along, waving with soft palm leaves. She carried some cuttle-fish
dried in the sun, in a basket, and a knife made from a mother-of-pearl shell,
also a skein of thread. A little speckled dog accompanied her, which ran
away.

With this good capture the boat returned to the Captain, to show her to him,
who was highly delighted at seeing a human creature. He seated her on a
box, and gave her meat and soup from a pot, which she ate without scruple;
but she could not manage the hard biscuit. She showed that she knew well
how to drink wine. A mirror was put into her hand, and she looked at the
back, then at the front, and when she saw her face she was much pleased.
All noticed her good manners, and concluded that, when young, she was not
bad-looking. She looked at all the men with attention, but she displayed the
greatest pleasure in looking at the boys. She looked at the goats as if she
had seen them before. There was a gold ring with an emerald on one of her
fingers. She was asked for it, but replied by signs that she could not give it
without cutting off her finger, and she seemed sorry for this. She was

offered one of brass, which she did not care for. Having given her things to
dress herself with and take away, we saw four canoes coming from the
village under sail, out of a lake which the island has in its centre, and they
anchored near the palm grove. The Captain presently ordered the old
woman to be landed, in order to reassure the natives. They no sooner
recognised her than they came to see her, and looked at her as if she had
been long absent. They came to our people with the confidence of friends.
There were seventy-two natives, and by signs they said that they were
going, as they presently did go, to see the cross. As well as they could our
people tried to make them understand its value, and that they should place
themselves before it on their knees. Finally, they did all that they were told.

When it was asked which of them was the chief, they pointed out a robust,
tall, and well-proportioned native, with a good well-complexioned face,
who appeared to be fifty years of age. He wore on his head a tuft of black
feathers, and towards the front some skeins of golden hairs whose ends
reached half way down his back. According to their custom, it should be the
hair of his wife. He also wore round his neck a large plate of mother-of-
pearl. He had a serious manner, and all the others paid him great respect. He
was asked whether he would like to go on board the ship, and, having given
us to understand that he would, he was taken to the boats with some
followers. One of the boats having been swamped, they helped to raise her.
The chief got into one boat, and several natives into another, but when they
had gone a short distance they jumped overboard, apparently from fear, and
began to swim. The chief wanting to do the same, we detained him. He tried
to do so by main strength, which was great, and to take a knife from a
soldier, but failed. He made other attempts, but nothing availed him. The
boat arrived alongside, and four men took hold of him and tried to make
him go up; but it was labour in vain, for he would not stir. The chief was
stretched out at his whole length, fencing with his nervous arms, and in this
way he strove to get clear and escape by swimming. Seeing he could not do
this, he put one foot against the ship’s side and sent the boat some distance.
When we saw how much trouble he was giving, he was fastened to a whip,
to hoist him into the ship; and when he found himself secured he got into
such a fury that it shocked our eyes.

The Captain went down into the boat, and the first thing he did was to take
in his hand the palm branch the other had given him, and to remove the
cord which had caused the chief such anger. He showed that he felt this
release very much, both by his face and his hands; but not for this did he
consider himself in safety. With melancholy looks he gazed at those who
were in the boat, then at the ships, the sails and masts, and at the land,
pointing with his finger that he wanted to return there. The Captain was
sorry to find him so discontented. He dressed him in a pair of breeches and
shirt of yellow silk, put a hat upon his head, a tin medal round his neck,
gave him a case of knives, embraced him, and ordered the boat to go on
shore. This quieted him.

A sergeant and some men had remained on shore, collecting cocoa-nuts.
Three, who were together, saw the natives collected in order with their
lances, and appearing to be determined to force them into their canoes, as
their chief had been forced to go to the ship. Eight of our people got
together, and pointed out to the natives that they had remained as sureties,
and that their chief was now coming on shore in the boat. With this, and
owing to two of us showing off by fencing with their swords, the natives
remained peaceable until their chief landed, when they were astonished at
his being clothed. He gave them to understand what had happened, and they
ran to receive him. One of these was a well-made youth, and very
handsome. He was supposed to be the chief’s son, for he was the only one
he embraced, and the two together showed an expression of sentiment at
which the others helped.

These and other strange doings having been finished, in the order of drilled
soldiers, all carrying the chief in their midst, they marched slowly to their
canoes, and some of our men, who were looking on and noting all this, went
with them. The natives, who were now contented, gave them water to drink,
and some fish they had brought to eat. The chief, who had left his garland
of plumes and tresses on shore, gave it into the hands of the sergeant, to be
given to the Captain who had released and clothed him. This was the final
act of a man who knew and was grateful, though himself unknown, causing
confusion to some of the company who received much greater benefits, and

gave a bad return. The natives then departed, and our people, to give them
joy, fired their arquebuses into the air, and returned on board.

To this island the name of the “Conversion of St. Paul” was given. It is in
latitude 18°, distant from Lima 1,180 leagues.5 Its circumference is 40
leagues, and in the centre there is a large shallow lake. The people are
corpulent, and of very good shape and colour. Their hair is fine and loose,
and they have their parts covered. Their arms are thick and heavy lances of
palm-wood, about 30 palmos long, and clubs of the same wood. The
anchorage, where the launch found bottom, is on the east side near the palm
grove above referred to, near which is the village on the shores of the lake.

As soon as the people had come on board, it seemed desirable to the
Captain that the ships should lie-to that night, in order to go next day to
where the natives were. The Chief Pilot said that as it was well to
windward, and not to waste the water, it would be better to stand on, as we
did, with the wind E. to N.E. Next day another island was sighted to the
N.E., and named “Decena.”6 We could not go either to it or to other islands
that were sighted later. The first was named “Sagitaria,”7 the second
“Fugitiva.”8 Afterwards, in latitude 14°, the pilots were asked for their
positions, who gave them, some much more, others much less.

1 This island is Anaa, or Chain Island, about 200 miles east of Tahiti, in the same latitude. It was
named “Conversion de San Pablo” by Quiros. No name is given by Torres or in Torquemada. Burney
confused “Sagittaria” a small atoll seen after leaving “Conversion de San Pablo” with that island.
Whenever he mentions “Sagittaria” it should be “Conversion de San Pablo.” Burney says that the
“Sagittaria” of Quiros is generally believed to be Tahiti (vol. ii, p. 277 n.). It was Captain Wallis, the
discoverer of Tahiti in 1767, who first thought that he had identified that beautiful island with the
“Sagittaria” of Quiros: because the latitude is about the same, and because a low isthmus is
described. But Tahiti has several good anchorages; the island of Quiros has none. Tahiti is very lofty;
the island of Quiros is flat. Tahiti has abundant supplies of water; the island described by Quiros has
none. Moreover, Quiros says that his first inhabited island has a large shallow lake in its centre. The
Pilot Leza describes it as a ring of land encircling part of the sea. Sir William Wharton, who
identifies the island with Anaa, or Chain Island, has pointed out that the passages describing the
landing, especially the one in Torquemada, are excellent accounts of the difficulty of landing on the

foreshore of a low reef island; but Tahiti, though there is a barrier reef round it, has a smooth lagoon
within, with easy landing, and there are numerous openings in the reef. The description of the march
across what has been supposed to be an isthmus, answers to the low land of an atoll, the water on the
other side being the lagoon.

The only low island near Tahiti is Tetaroa, which is 20 miles from it. But another low island was not
seen by Quiros, after leaving “Conversion de San Pablo,” until the second day. Starting from Tahiti,
there is no such island; but, sailing from Anaa and steering W.N.W. before the trade wind, there are
such low islands as are mentioned.

These considerations make it quite certain that Quiros never sighted Tahiti, as Burney supposes.

2 Luis de Belmonte Bermudez, the Secretary to Quiros and probable author of the narrative.
3 It should be Sojo.

4 Dr. Bolton G. Corney found at Seville the journal of the frigate Aquila, which was sent by the
Viceroy of Peru on a voyage to Tahiti, under the command of Don Tomas Gayangos in 1774. In
reconnoitring the island of Anaa, on November 2nd, 1774, a well-proportioned cross was seen, set up
on a sandy beach, on the skirts of a wood. The Spaniards of 1774 named the island “Todos Santos.”
5 The S.E. end, 18° 30′ S. (Torres); N.W. point, 17° 40′ S. (Torquemada). Burney calculates the
longitude 147° 7′ W.

6 Niau, or Greig Island, of the chart. Torres calls it “Santa Polonia.”
7 Makatea, or Aurora Island, of the chart.

8 Matahiva, or Lazareff Island, of the chart. The present editor may be excused for referring to
Lazareff as the first coral island he ever saw. He was a naval cadet on board H.M.S. Collingwood
when, at seven bells in the forenoon of Friday, August 8th, 1845, she sighted the island. There was a
border of white sand between the blue sea and the dense cocoa-nut grove. He went to the main-
topmast head for a view of the interior lagoon over the cocoa-nut trees. At that very time he was
reading Burney’s account of the voyage of Quiros.

Chapter X.
Relates how the Captain received reports that there was a plot to seize the ship, and of the
discourses he made and precautions he took in consequence.

The Captain already had seen that the Chief Pilot altered the course, and it
was intimated he wanted to mutiny with the crew, and that if there was two
days’ delay there would be no remedy. One man there was who said that,
with this object, it was determined to stab the Captain and throw the body
overboard. This and other things were told to the Captain, which he did not
believe, except some things that came to him through base rumours, and
that which he himself saw, that appeared bad. He considered that a mutiny
can only begin between two or three, and that to corrupt the rest there must
be sounding of people, friendships, and much intercourse, and that such
things must be seen. It was observed that the Chief Pilot showed little zeal
in seeking for what was needed; that he wasted the water and provisions
among his particular friends, and others whose friendship he obtained in
that way, and who might well be innocent; that he showed favour to all. The
noise they made together in the ship, the quarrels with the officers, the
consultations continually held by day and night, were suspicious.

One day the Captain said to the whole crew that the Royal Majesty
despatched those ships at great expense, to see whether there was in this
unknown part of the earth the land which was supposed to exist. With this
object all might be quite sure that they would have to search for it,
ploughing all the ocean with long turns until it was found, even if it cost all
their lives. To the Chief Pilot he said that he should know his duties, saying
much respecting them. But this did not lead him into better courses, and he
sent to say that he wanted leave to go on board the Almiranta with the
Father Commissary. To this the Captain answered that he might go
presently; but he did not go, nor did he refer to the matter again. There was
not wanting one who said that these invitations were misunderstood by the
Captain, and added that discoveries always cost the finders dear, and that

the Captain could not put down the discontents nor satisfy the others. For
all this, patience and vigilance were two very necessary things.

The Captain, seeing the low latitude they had reached without having found
the mother of those islands we had left behind, hearing the Chief Pilot shout
to the Captain of the launch that winter was near, and other things that it
was not well for the men to hear; that others said that if the course had been
S.S.W. the coast of the land of which we were in search followed the same
course; that now we should never reach it, but should be engulfed by
contrary winds, where it would be impossible to live, and that in the end all
would perish; that these sayings were witnesses of the little love some had
for the service, and of the great love they had for themselves; and that they
were far from having the valorous minds which ought to animate the
searchers for unknown lands, to uphold the original motives and perform
heroic deeds, or at least make them merit a good name—owing to these
shortcomings and many others, he said in public that they should know how
to value and enjoy having been chosen to the lot of searching for and
discovering the fourth part of the globe which is yet unknown, and not
show themselves ready to turn back and be tired without occasion. And
mark! what services are there without requiring that men should be ready to
suffer all the blows that may come? I ordered that the course should be
N.W. as far as latitude 10° 40′, so as to reach the east of the Island of San
Bernardo, which in the other voyage I helped to discover, although we did
not then arrive at it.

Chapter XI.
Relates how we came in sight of the Island of San Bernardo, and what happened there.

We continued to navigate on the same course until the 19th of February. On
that day we altered course to west, and on the 21st the Pilot of the
Almiranta, Juan Bernardo de Fuentidueña, said that on that very day we
should see—as we did see—the island we sought. We lay to under little sail
for the night. Next day we proceeded towards the island, the launch next
ahead, and anchored close to the land, and thence the crew shouted to the
other ships, which were coming up to anchor, that there was no port for
them.

The Captain then lowered the two boats, and sent an officer with the boat’s
crews to search for water, for the scarcity of it forced them to be on an
allowance of a cuartillo a day. They went on shore, searched for water, but
could find none, and returned on board.

This island of San Bernardo is uninhabited, divided into four or five
hummocks, and all the rest submerged. Its circumference appeared to be 10
leagues. It is in latitude 10° 40′. The anchorage is on the north side, and
only available for small vessels. Its distance from the city of the Kings was
calculated to be 1,400 leagues. An old canoe, lying on her side, was found
on the island.

There was a great number of fish inshore, and, owing to the water being
very shallow, they were killed with swords and poles. There were great
numbers of lobster and craw-fish, and other kinds of marine animals. They
found a great quantity of cocoa-nuts in a heap at the foot of the palm trees,
many large, and of different sizes. There were a great quantity of sea birds
of several kinds, and so importunate that they seemed to want to attack the
men. We took plenty of all these things.

It seemed to the Captain that on an island where there are so many trees
there could not fail to be water. He wished to wait during that night, so that
on the following day they might return and make a more thorough search
for water, and at least they could get more fish. The Chief Pilot said that the
people were tired, and made other excuses and said things, making them all
legitimate daughters of our necessities.

The Captain, finding himself very ill and overwhelmed by cares of many
kinds, and that there were some who, like moths, were eating against the
enterprise, and causing much discontent, and that they kept in memory the
great abundance of the court, the cold snows, the fresh fruit, and other
memories which cooled their wills and changed them in other ways, and
that up to the present time we had not found an island with a port, nor
water, and that it was not right to risk the little we had in a business that was
so important, the weather being doubtful and the point in the direction of
which we should find land uncertain: for these and other reasons, which I
leave out, it was decided that the best course would be to seek the island of
Santa Cruz, which was known to possess a port and water, and other things
necessary for the provisioning of a ship, intending to begin to make
discoveries from there, as if we were starting from Lima. In prosecution of
this decision we steered west.

That night there was a great disturbance on board the Capitana. At the noise
the Captain came out, and found some tackling each other, others going to
arm themselves, and the Chief Pilot with a drawn sword, with which he had
wounded a man. It was taken out of his hands, without understanding who
was the culprit or who was the author of the disturbance. That which the
Captain felt he kept to himself, confessing that he was so weak that he was
unable to say in a loud voice a third word.

Chapter XII.
How they sighted the second inhabited island, and what happened there.

With the wind in the east, they continued on a western course until the 1st
of March. That night, the launch being ahead, she fired off a small piece,
and a man shouted, “Land ahead!” Presently we saw it, and a fire burning,
at the sight of which there was great content. When it became broad
daylight we saw an island, and steered towards it. When we came near, two
canoes came out to reconnoitre, but the people in them, though we called,
would not wait. The launch anchored very near the land, and presently a
fleet of ten small canoes, rowing fast and as if racing, came out towards the
Capitana. Having arrived, we saw on board them some tall men, well made
and handsome, and of a good colour. They all came singing to the sound of
their paddles, one of them leading, to whom the rest replied; and by signs
they told us to call to the Almiranta, that by rounding a certain point he
would follow the way outside; showing that it gave them sorrow to see that,
and that they remained joyful now that they saw her return. They also gave
us to understand, pointing with their fingers, that we should go to their port.
What their object was they knew. Many stood upright, and with arms and
hands, legs and feet, and with their paddles, they made sounds with great
dexterity, dances, and gestures. Their chief theme was music, and to show
themselves joyful and merry before our ships. But in spite of our
importunities, they never would come on board, nor eat of anything we
gave them, which they received on the points of their lances and showed to
all the others; and what fell into the sea they dexterously recovered, by
diving for it.

Five natives came in a canoe, the middle one vigorously bailing the water
out of the vessel. His red hair came down to the waist. He was white as
regards colour, beautifully shaped, the face aquiline and handsome, rather
freckled and rosy, the eyes black and gracious, the forehead and eyebrows
good, the nose, mouth, and lips well proportioned, with the teeth well

ordered and white. In fine, he was sweet in his laughter and smiles, and his
whole appearance was cheerful. Being rich in so many parts and graces, he
would be judged to be very beautiful for a girl; but he was actually a youth
of about thirteen years. This was he who at first sight stole away the hearts
of all on board the ship; he was most looked at and called to, and he to
whom all offered their gifts, and to whom the Captain, with great
persuasion, desired to present a dress of silk, which he accepted, and put on
with much grace. It was pain to the Captain that the youth could not be
kept, to take as a proof of the greatness of God in those parts.

Many natives came to the launch, and, having fastened a cord to the
bowsprit, they tried to drag her on to the beach. Others, diving into the
water, fastened ropes to the cable and dragged for the anchor. Others took
up positions to conceal their tricks. The Captain of the launch, seeing their
diligence and how quickly they went to work, fired off arquebuses to
frighten them. But they, ignorant of the effects, showed no fear at all, even
seizing hold of naked swords with their hands, until some were hurt, when
there was a disturbance and talk among themselves, and they rowed away in
their canoes at a great rate. At this time a very audacious old man came in
one of their canoes to the Capitana, with a very long and thick lance of
palm wood, well balanced; and he had on a sort of cloak or hood made of a
leaf dyed crimson, and a hat they had given him from the launch. He was a
tall, robust man, and very supple, and showed himself to be arrogant.
Wounded in feet and legs, they trembled violently. He made fierce faces
with his eyes and mouth. In a very loud voice he seemed to order us to
surrender. With his lance, brandishing it menacingly, he made as many
thrusts as he could. With the intention of making him quiet, two muskets
were fired off. The others cried out and threw up their arms, but he made
light of it. With great pride he showed more signs of his anger; and, finding
he could do nothing, he quickly passed both ships and went to where the
launch was, following all the other canoes.

At this time both the ships anchored, there being a land breeze, and all the
natives went on shore, and showed themselves ready for war. In a short time
the wind was abeam, and though light, it swung the ships so as to bring
them too near the shore, and they were in great danger. The Captain ordered