The Discovery Of Australia ................................................................................................................................1

Summary relation of the discovery begun by Pero Fernandez de Quiros, a Portuguese, in the Southern Sea in

the Southern parts up to the island of irenei called by him the Great Astrialia of the Holy Spirit, and

completed for him by Captain Don Diego de Prado, now a Monk of our father Saint Basil the Great of

Madrid, with the help of Captain Luis Baes de Torres in the ship San Pedrico in the year 1607 up to the city

of Manila on the 22 of May of the said year, to the honour and glory of the omnipotent God, Amen.

King Don Philip our lord, whom God preserve for long and happy years, ordered the Count de Monterey,

who was then Viceroy of the fertile and extensive Kingdoms of Peru and Chile, to fit out two ships in the port

of Callao of Lima adequate for any work, and equip and supply them sufficiently both with arms and

munitions and provisions for one year and deliver them when ready to the Captain and chief Pedro Fernandes

de Quiros, a Portuguese, in order that he may make the discovery of the unknown and Southern lands as he

has offered and has been ordered to do. All this the said Viceroy fulfilled as His Majesty had commanded

him, paying all the men for one year. The capitana was called the San Pedro y San Pablo, it was of 60 tons

with the following crew: Commander Pedro Fernandes de Quiros, captain Don Diego de Prado, Chief pilot

Juan Ochoa de Vilbao, of Seville, master Manuel Noble; accountant and overseer Juan de Iturbe; three

Franciscan Fathers, whose commissary was Father Juan de Bonilla; a surgeon and doctor named Alonso

Sanches of Seville and besides these sixty sailors Spaniards, Portuguese and Flemings; armed with six pieces

of bronze artillery 3 to 4 pounders; twenty muskets; forty arqubuses; two "roqueras" sixty cases containing an

arroba of powder apiece; twenty round shields, twenty pikes; and halbards and small spears as needful; rope,

lead and iron shot in sufficiency, and enough biscuit and other provisions for a year, with eight hundred jars

Of the almiranta San Pedrico the captain was Luis Baes de Torres, a Breton; master Gaspar de Gaya; pilot

Juan Bernardo Fontyduea; three Franciscan Friars and forty sailors; six pieces of cast iron artillery 3

pounders; twenty muskets, twenty arquebuses, two roqueras, twenty pikes, twenty round shields, fifteen

halbards and small spears, forty cases of powder, iron shot, lead and rope in sufficiency, with biscuit and the

other provisions in abundance and six hundred jars of water. It was of forty tons. And for greater abundance

he gave him an English launch with twelve sailors, very well equipped and armed, its captain and pilot was

Pedro Bernal Zermeo, the launch was named Los Tres Reyes Magos, and was added in order that if God

should be pleased that Southern land should be discovered, he should despatch it at once with the news with

all the speed due to His Majesty's service. After the ships were delivered to Pedro Fernandez de Quiros he set

out on S. Thomas's Day from the port of Callao of Lima at four in the afternoon, and passing in front of the

capitana of Peru we saluted the Royal Standard with all our artillery and arquebuses, and the said capitana

duly replied: the port of Callao was so full of people that it looked as though the city were deserted to see a

thing never seen before. The route was taken to the islands of Las Hormigas 9 leagues from Callao to the

West South West with the South wind which is the usual one on that coast. On reaching the large island

which is in front of Callao the Captain and Commander Quiros hoisted his standard. He did not do it sooner

for the Viceroy forbad it saying it was only permitted to Generals and as he was not one it could not be

allowed. It was of crimson damask in the shape of a scalene triangle with a Christ crucified in the centre, with

the Apostle S. Peter on the right side and the globe of the world beneath the feet, and another royal salute was

given; then the captains hoisted their flags, that of Don Diego de Prado was white with a cross of Calatrava in

the centre and edged round with a band more than half a span wide chequered yellow, red and blue. And after

the voyage, when the aforesaid reached the island of Malta and the new city of Valeta, he had some roman

characters written round it saying, speaking with the Cross, With thee I have gone round the whole world and

have discovered new Southern Kingdoms, Lippis, Canais Suleis and Hobaniaos for the great Philip, King of

the Spains; and it is now in the chapel of Nuestra Seora de la Buena Ventura in the church of S. Basil the

Great, for when it was hoisted it was dedicated to the said Virgin. That night we reached the said islands of

Las Hormigas and the said Quiros ordered the said route of W.S.W. to be taken, and at fifty leagues out the

wind came S.E. which is more favourable, and afterwards the wind came East which is the levant. A fortnight

after we left Callao they took the Sun with the astrolabes and found they were in 16° of altitude South. That

night as it was very clear we saw in the sky three clouds in the form of an altarcloth, but much larger, two

were white and the other black as pitch smoke, in the N.N.E. quarter, the first was white like the Milky Way

which they call in Castile S. James's Way, and seemed full of very brilliant stars; the altitude was taken with

the crossstaff and it was found to be 30° above the horizon, some say that that altitude is over the hill of

Potosi; the other was black and much larger and diverted towards the North, also full of stars, and this was

40° above the horizon; the other was white and much larger and higher than the others, in the direction of the

black one, in 55° above the horizon; these were seen from the ships for the space of two months; and being

100 leagues at sea the wind came east, which is the levant, and did not leave us until after the tropic; and

following the said route on the 14th of January they took the sun with the astrolabes and found we were in

24° of altitude and different oceans were seen, for we had passed the tropic with the wind favourable. On that

day there was half a gale from W. to more than S.W.; in the afternoon were seen great and very dense masses

of cloud and mist which the earth is wont to discharge, it was noted that at sunset they broke downwards and

the sun did not appear again. Most days it was noticed to be the same; they are signs of land and if they are

large it is a great country. I told Captain Quiros what occurred and that it was a sign of great and lofty

country, but as it had not come out of his own head he made little of it. I told the chief Pilot, as he was a very

practical sailor and very competent in his profession, that it seemed to me that we were near land; he

answered that he thought likewise and had noticed the same thing. I also told it to other good sailors who

came in the ship and they agreed, and the Pilot Fontiduea also when he came to take the watchword said that

he had noticed it; we all agreed that it should be observed daily, and this was done until we reached 26° of

altitude and it was found that the more we approached them the more they increased. In 25 days we reached

that altitude, and on that day the said clouds were specially observed and the sun entered them at half past 2

in the afternoon and was not seen until the following day. The sky in all parts was clear of clouds, only that

part was overcast; wherein all assented, and were convinced and said that it must be land and very large. We

informed Pedro Fernandez de Quiros thereof and convinced and persuaded him by evident reasons. He

ordered the chief and lower officers of the ships to be summoned in order that it might be decided what was

to be done. They held a full council and after many pros and cons they concluded that it was land and that we

were near it and decided that we should go to it. I said to him that he should remember that when the Viceroy

of Peru took our oath of fealty, one of the things he most charged us with was that if we should discover any

land towards the S.W. that in every instance it should be approached to discover it, for he gave the

wellequipped launch for this purpose, and it would be a great service to his Majesty; and he thus

commanded all of us. He decided that we should go thither on the following day and ordered that the route he

took should be followed; upon such a good decision all proceeded to their ships and the men were very happy

and contented. The Chief Pilot and an innkeeper, a relation of his, a Portuguese, seeing that this would be a

reason for lengthening the voyage to the Philippines spoke secretly to the said Quiros and put before him

such fears and impediments as interested men are wont to adduce, and without further consultation he gave

orders at midnight that the course should be directed N.N.W., at dawn we saw the almiranta and launch at a

great distance through following its route. If the weather had brought a fresher breeze they would doubtless

have borne away and lost sight of us. (The interest of these men was that the Chief Pilot, Juan Ochoa de

Vilbao, for his good deeds had been sentenced to the galleys for six years in Cartagena, and the Viceroy

commuted this sentence on condition that he should serve his Majesty in that voyage without pay, and on

arriving at Manila, the chief and capital city of the Philippine Islands, he should then have completed his

liability in regard to the galleys; but as this pilot had many debts to merchants in Lima he was seized for

16000 dollars which they had entrusted to him and which he had gambled away; and so that his Majesty's

service should not be hindered the said Viceroy agreed with the merchants that the said Quiros should be

security and should undertake not to release him in Manila, but to deliver him up in Seville, when please God

the President and Auditors of the Contratacion would ship him to Lima and deliver him to his creditors,

which obligation the said Quiros undertook.) The innkeeper or grocer had shipped about 200 jars of white

wine, knowing that it was at a high price in Manila and more than 30 dollars a jar and t he said Quiros had

ordered it to be shipped giving out that he was interested therein, whereby he did disservice to his Majesty

and injury to all those on board, since to accommodate them they took out those of fresh water which they

brought for the crew, and this was the cause that it was lacking at the due time as will be then shown. (The

crew of the armada seeing the excellent resolution taken and the evil one that had been carried out without

any reason for it, took occasion henceforth to raise a mutiny and pay the said Quiros what he deserved, for

they held it for certain that this armada would end like that of the Adelantado Avendao whose Chief Pilot was

the said Quiros when he went in search of the Solomon Isles). Seeing how great disservice had been done to

his Majesty by not having gone in search of land so near, as the council had decided, I told him how badly he

had acted, reproaching him as a man of little knowledge and who did not consider the charge he held and

what an evil account he was beginning to give of himself, and other things conducive to his Majesty's service

and I put before him that he should remember that when the Viceroy of Peru took our oath of fealty the first

thing he charged us with was that we should ascend to 30° of altitude and see if there was any land in that

region, and if we saw evident signs we should go thither, and on having found it we should send the launch

which he gave us for this purpose, for thereby we should do great service to his Majesty. He answered that he

knew what he was doing. I told him also that his relation's jars of wine and other merchandise count for more

than the service of his Majesty, who has shown him such great favour in having sent him and placed him in

this position, and that he might reckon for certain that some day it would come to his knowledge and that he

would reward him as he deserved. From thenceforth he took the greatest dislike and ill will towards me and

said to one of his friends that he would leave me ashore on a desert island, I replied that I had to be in his

company for he was mistaken about any other fate. So continuing the said route of N.N.W. to the 22nd. of

January they discovered a flat island with short brushwood and a reef of sandbanks which ran far out in the

sea, and being late it was not approached, the next day he wished to go to it; the currents drove us so much

that it was not possible, for at midday a storm of wind from the S.W. came upon us with heavy showers so

that we were forced to lower the sails. This finished undeceiving us and gave us to understand how near we

were to the land we left. The island would be about a league in circumference, it is in 24?° of altitude; it was

Continuing then the said route to the 25th of January they discovered another smaller islet and not finding

any anchorage we passed in the open sea, they gave it the name of Sin Provecho it is in 23° of altitude.

Continuing the said course on the 2nd of February very late we saw another island of a league and a half in

circumference, we reached it on the day of San Blas and they gave it that name; all were uninhabited, it is in

At six on the said day they discovered four islands with a cocoanut palm in the largest of them, a boat's crew

went but not finding people or water therein we passed outside, they gave them the name of the Quatro

Hermanas, they are in the altitude of 19?° . At 9 on the same they discovered a lofty island which would have

two leagues in circumference, and as it was S. Polonia's day they gave it her name, it is in altitude 18°

without harbour or anchorage or large beach; now already want of water was felt, for each one got two

cuartillos a day, which was real misery; the reason was that it had been turned out to stow the jars of wine of

the grocer relation. The said Quiros seeing that they had not discovered any inhabited island seemed to lose

what discretion was left to him and summoning the crew of the ship said to them in a sad voice: Brethren and

Gentlemen, all these islands which you have seen are signs of land close by; if God should grant that we find

some island, even though it may not contain more than just two Indians, I give you my word that we shall be

able to reckon ourselves the most fortunate men who have gone forth from Spain, for I will give them as

much silver and gold as they can carry and such a quantity of pearls that they shall measure them by hatfulls;

for that of Peru and of New Spain is a very small matter compared with what I am telling you. He was asked

if he had seen it and answered no. Someone answered him, Leave that wind for a time of calms for then it

will be useful! what we see is that you do not know whither you are going, and it will be the same in future,

and since you did not choose to enjoy the favour which God would have given us at 26° of altitude do not

take us into shoals and rocks, since for the rest we are already certain that everything will end in smoke as

usual. Sailing on the same course on the eve of San Guillermo in the afternoon we discovered land, we went

to it and as it was a very flat and swampy island we were nearer to it than we thought for; while carefully

surveying the shore I saw smoke come from the land, and I told the said Quiros, and that it was a sign that it

was inhabited, and at the end of half an hour we saw people moving along the shore, and we pointed them out

to the said Quiros, whereat he was pleased, as may be imagined, and ourselves not less. It is in the altitude of

17° and that name remained to it; it would have about 7 leagues in circumference, and is mostly swampy

when the tide rises; it has only one high portion where there are some cocoanut palms and the village, the rest

is covered with water and at low tide a big lake is left in the centre, and as the wind was rough we got close in

but found no anchorage; the boat went ashore and our people got out; the Indians received them with great

joy kissing their hands, arms and breasts, and never tired of looking at them, giving them many caresses and

showing them the village in order that they might go to it, but as it was very late they left it; their chief came

next day with two canoes and they gave him a jacket and drawers of green taffety and a mirror, at which he

made grimaces like a monkey, but would never come on board the ship; he went ashore and sent in return a

cap of palm leaves and some red hairs of a woman which were dried in the sun, wherewith the said Quiros

Following our route after two days they discovered a very flat and low island which would have two leagues

in circumference, we reached it, but not finding anchorage and it being uninhabited we passed outside, it is in

15?° of altitude, they gave it the name of Sin bentura. Twelve days after we left this island we discovered

another which seemed to be three islands; we went to it and Pedro Fernandes de Quiros said that he had been

in it and that he had market it in the map, that it was called the island of San Bernardo; the men went to it in

the boat and found that it consisted of 22 islets, uninhabited and without water, trees or scrub for wood. They

brought some red fish and others green, which they call parrots, soft and ill tasted, and some morenas marked

grey on white like grains of mustard, and we perceived that it was not the one the said Quiros mentioned, it is

Proceeding on the same route after three days we saw a low island very full of cocoanut palms, six canoes

came out and approached near to the ships, the men were white and welldisposed and came near the ships

but would not come on board, and as the Almiranta was closer in it wished to anchor but found no place; the

launch being a smaller vessel reached further on shore and anchored in about 10 fathoms as they said. The

Indians liking the look of that vessel dived and drew out the anchor and pulled the launch towards the shore

by the cable; the sailors perceiving what they were doing fired blunderbusses and muskets at them and killing

some they unwillingly relinquished the position; more than 300 Indians came out of the village and formed a

long squadron with their red banners to avenge the injury and defend themselves from us. Forty shooters

went ashore to seek fresh water and on experiencing the arquebuses they gave up the position and fled away

tumultuously to the other side of the island, crossing in boats a lake in the middle of it; we went to the village

which was of neat houses of reeds lined with palm mats, very well made, of various colours; they found a

quantity of fish hooks of all kinds made of mother of pearl and highly wrought, and many strings of

sundried oysters and when we eat them we found good pearls and seed pearls in them, very much injured by

opening the shells by fire; we did not find fresh water so doubtless they subsisted on the water of the

cocoanuts, and by collecting the sap of the palms which is very thin like sugar juice. It would be 3 leagues in

circumference, there are no other trees in it except cocoanut palms; it lies in 10° of altitude.

Continuing the route to the W. in three days time we saw a quantity of wolffishes in large shoals, which is a

sign of low and swampy land, and many birds, white rabijuncos, which have a long thin tail of a single

feather of two spans long, and a quantity of rabihorcados, they are like kites with long forked tails; also there

appeared many snakes marked in yellow and black with broad tails like eels; all these are signs of land near.

And continuing the said route on the 22nd of March the moon was eclipsed to a red colour approaching

black, it began at 8 o'clock at night and ended at 3 in the morning. Talking in Ternate with the Camp Master

Juan de Esquibel about this eclipse he said that our armada was then on the route for Ternate, and they saw

the eclipse and after the conquest of the island the King of Ternate said that that eclipse denoted and

announced the loss of his country, and that he was a man of much reputation in matters of the moon.

Proceeding on that course East West which is from the levant to the West, it pleased God that on the 8th of

April they should discover lofty land but not very large, and in the afternoon we anchored between some

islets and the land; a harbour of good depth and safe; they saw on one island numbers of plantains, the

ordinary fruit of the Indies; the boat went to the shore and they brought back plenty of very good plantains

with which we were all refreshed. In the morning after sunrise we set sail and went to anchor opposite the

village of this island which is called Taumaco, which is on a reef with shoals that are very difficult to get

between, with neat houses of beams and rushes, with its streets and alleys well laid out; the island is in the

shape of an equilateral triangle and would be about 3 leagues in circumference, it has five other islands

adjacent, all inhabited and mostly of the same size; this island is very fresh, with pretty groves and excellent

springs of water; the men are white with very handsome features, full bearded and good looking and tall and

big; they cover their private parts with loin cloths. The village is situated on sandbanks which they have

covered with rubble and have built the village thereon, with some fruit trees round about; it measures in the

salt water about 400 paces, with numerous reefs around, with water up to the waist, so that in order to get to

the land they have to pass this arm of water. Directly they saw our ships anchor they took the women and

children and old folks inland and put them in the woods, and made ready to fight. When they saw that our

boats drew near within musket shot of the village, the chief, called in their tongue the Tampitao, came

through the water nearly up to the boats and called out loudly Ha! ha! raising his hand and dropping it he said

pu! pu! yac! Captain Luis Baes understood perfectly that he meant to say, Sir, make them put down the

arquebuses; he answered him by signs that he likewise should have the arrows put down; he went ashore and

brought a quantity of bows and arrows and coming to the boat delivered them to Luis Baes, first raising his

hands to heaven in token of peace and friendship; he was answered in like manner. Luis Baes told him by

signs that he would like to land in the village with the crew, and he answered with his head in our manner that

we should go. We learned from what he said that he was in the island of Santa Cruz when the soldiers of the

Adelantado Avendao killed the Tampitao Malope with an arquebuse, and thence knew the arquebuses which

he called the pu, and consequently came to us in peace in order to save his people from a like fate. We

disembarked at the village, placing our sentinels in the most necessary positions, and our head quarters, and

informed Captain Quiros of what had taken place, and on the following day he came with three friars with the

ornaments for saying mass; we fitted up a good house of boards with an altar, and with the pictures and

images they brought it seemed as if that house had been erected specially for a church. The Tampitao with a

little son was always with us. A father put on his vestments and said the first mass, and whatever the

Spaniards did he did the same kneeling with great attention, he stood up at the holy gospel, knelt again at the

elevation of the Host and beat his breast, and stood up at the last gospel. On the following day four Indians

came and said they were some of the chiefs and spoke to the Tampitao and were present at all the masses as if

they had been taught. When they were ended we invited them to eat; they eat without suspicion, but when

they tasted the wine they made signs that it was good; and after the meal they asked by signs what it was the

friars had done and they were told that it was God of Heaven, and they said Dios, Dios with bow and

reverence to the most holy name of God. Many of our people were sorry to see them, reflecting how easily

they would become Christians. And they asked him what islands there were in that part and he indicated more

than thi rty in different directions, and for those of cannibals he bit his arm; and pointing to the West he said

hu hu hu, raising his arms up and dropping them to the ground, which meant a very great land having great

animals with horns on their heads i.e. buffalos, which they worship as gods because they do no harm to them,

and this land which he described was that which we afterwards discovered, as time and experience showed;

this island of Taumaco is in 10° altitude. Captain Don Diego de Prado knowing for certain that the Men of

the Capitana were going to mutiny informed the said Quiros by way of confession through the Father

Commissary of the Franciscans, who told the said Don Diego that he also knew it and had informed him and

would do so again, but the said Quiros took no notice of it; so the said Don Diego, seeing the little remedy

that was to be expected, asked leave of the said Quiros to pass to the Almiranta with his rations, which were

the same as those of the said Quiros; he granted it to get rid of the bother, and Don Alonso de Sotomayor

went in his place. The said Don Diego knew who were the mutineers and how they wanted him for head, but

he did not want to mix in such conflicts and lose the honour which he had gained in the service of H.M., so

he at once shifted his things to the Almiranta, whereat the Captain thereof was very pleased. The next day the

surgeon did the same. While our people were washing their clothes at a spring he ordered the Chief Pilot Juan

Ochoa de Vilbao to be seized and taken to the Almiranta with verbal orders that he should be garrotted at

once and cast into the sea after confession: Luis Baes de Torres told me privately thereof, I told him that he

should do nothing of the sort unless it was given to him in writing, that he well knew how changeable and

untrustworthy the said Quiros was and that the said Pilot owed 14000 dollars to the merchants of Lima and

how the said Quiros guaranteed to deliver him to the President of the Contratacion of the Indies on reaching

Seville in order that they might send him back to Peru, and other things which he ought to know, and if he did

what the said Quiros sent to tell him without having it in writing they would look to him about it; and the said

Quiros might say that he had not ordered such a thing, and they would call him to account for the death and

for the money. As a prudent man he was grateful for the good advice and himself asked for the same in

writing, but he would not give it nor would the other do it; and when afterwards I learned privately from a

friend of his the reason which had moved him it was that he complained of the said Pilot that by his steering

he had robbed him of a quarter of wind which means much way, and he had no reason to say such a thing. I

went with the said Luis Baes to the said Quiros and with kind and gentle words we got from him the cause

which had moved him to do such a thing. I replied he is not in fault but you, for you were daily and hourly at

the binnacle watching the needle, if he did this wickedness you should then at once have had him seized in

the very act and punished and not now after four months of navigation; and it is said, as is well known and

time has proved to us, that you do not know where you are going, and from what you have told us we are

going very far out of our way; and I told him other things so that he was worse than before; but they were for

the service of H.M.; and thereupon we went ashore with our men. In this village we found some boats to hold

60 persons with which they navigate, very different from those of Europe, and each one required as much sail

as our ship, they are in the following form; on two thick beams inside, each 60 feet long and 18 feet thick, I

mean in circumference, they build their boat, that is 12 battens crossing from one beam to the other, each 30

feet long and inserted in the said beams, and each half a yard thick; on these beams they put some curved

timbers of a span each, 30 in number like an arch, with 8 planks across on the sides, half a foot thick and a f

oot and a half wide, fastened with strong cords of cocoanut fibre, these curved timbers are each about 16 feet

high; on this arch are other thinner planks crossed in a square in which they make the upper deck of the vessel

where the crew who manage the sail are placed; the flooring is a strong mat of rushes very well made, with a

door for the crew to go in and out, in the middle of these curved timbers they have other planks like a

platform, where they put the food and drink which they carry in cane tubes, each tube holding half an arroba

of water, very well laced and stowed; in the laths which are in the water they fix stones for ballast; from the

laths in the water some planks project to the upper deck and one longer pole, they are well fastened and in

them they fix a strong rail of stout canes; the topmast is of three very stout canes with its tackleblock and sail

yard of cane fixed in the middle of the said vessel, which requires as much sail as our ship; at the ends of the

beams of the poop they have two high seats with two great oars placed on them with which they steer the

ship; with the wind astern they will go well, if it is on the side on the bowline they are worthless; they require

little water and so do not need a boat for landing; their bread is sago, and further on the manner of making it

will be described. At the sides of the beams they have some small planks and seats from which they row with

their paddles, which are a kind of oars made like rackets, two yards long, and these are used through all this

country up to Borneo and in the Moluccas. After supplying the ships with water and wood, eight days after

landing in the island Pero Fernandez de Quiros sent an order to Luis Baes who was on shore to embark the

crew at dawn and take with them four Indians of the youngest and best disposed he could find, and he did so

and among them he shipped two nephews of the Tampitao; he went to the capitana and left two Indians, the

others he took to the almiranta, and on their arrival we set sail. God permitted that within an hour they all

went away, jumping into the sea and swimming ashore. All rejoiced to see them go, for in payment of the

good deed they had done us in receiving us and supplying the ships he gave them that recompense. It is after

the custom of Portuguese India where the greater part of the Bengal slaves they hold are captured in this way.

On the 19th of April we left this island on the route to S.W., and on the 21st. we found an island which the

natives call Chiquipia, we approached it and Indians came at once in their boats and invited us to go ashore,

and gave us two of their loin cloths with which they cover their private parts, they are red and white and

made of the bark of certain trees and appear to be woven like stockings. The island has the shape of a

crescent with a large islet in the middle wherein is a good harbour, it is in 12° altitude, the people are like

Continuing the route on the same course on the 25th of the said month we discovered land in the morning, we

went to it and arrived late, it is a lofty volcano which had already consumed the fire of the sulphur, and on

account of the many reefs and shoals around we did not anchor. We saw the villages and people and well

cultivated country. It would be 3 leagues in circumference, is in altitude 13?° and because we discovered it on

Sailing on the said course we reached another island which we reckoned to be about 12 leagues in

circumference, in shape almost square, very fresh with pretty groves and streams running into the sea, we

coasted it as far as time allowed us and anchored in a pretty harbour where we stayed a night and a day; the

boats went to land and the Indians wanted to fight, and it happened to them as to the others; they have

poisoned arrows and are dusky people. We took in wood and water and left to seek another larger island; they

gave it the name of Santa Marina, it is in 14° S. altitude. According to the account given by a Franciscan

Father who was from Cadiz and said he had it from his father, who was with the Adelantado Avendao in the

first discovery which he made of the Solomon Islands, having compared the altitude and from the courses on

which he came and the signs of the land, these are the said Solomon Islands for there are no others in this

On the 29th of April we set sail and directed our course to the S.E. and struggled hard to reach this island as

the wind was almost dead against us, after a tack or two we reached on the 1st. of May, the day of the

Apostles S. Philip and S. James, the point of a pretty bay which would be about 16 leagues in circumference.

Our ship the almiranta entered it and approaching the shore they kept sounding to find bottom and coasting

towards the South for about 5 leagues we found 20 fathoms in a small creek, with excellent fresh water from

springs and rills, and trees for wood; and, having anchored, the launch went to report to Captain Quiros what

we had found, for he was lying to with the ship and not venturing to approach the shore; at the good news he

came to anchor in the said spot, and next morning we went to the land with our arms, but did not go ashore

on account of the numbers of Indians lurking among those trees. To this harbour or anchorage he gave the

name of Vera Cruz, from having anchored in it on that day. Earlier next day we approached the land at a

more open part and went ashore; the Indians came at once with great shouting and attacked us, and paid for

their rashness, for about ten were left dead on that ground; they are black and very ugly with their nostrils

pierced sideways and white bones put through them as big and long as the little finger; they cover their

private parts with a black loin cloth; they have poisoned arrows which on drawing blood kill in less than 24

hours. The said Quiros heard of the death of these and took it very ill, for he wished that they should not kill

any of them, as he gave to be understood in very peevish words. He was answered that it was done because

with such savages it is impossible to use politeness, and in order that another time they should not be so rude

to Spaniards, to whom all the nations of the world pay respect, and if not they compel them, even with regret.

He could not swallow it being a Portuguese. On the approach of Whitsuntide he ordered an excellent bower

of branches to be erected on shore in front of the ships, and therein they said masses during the days of the

festival, and they celebrated those of Corpus Christi with dances in Portuguese fashion and the artillery and

arquebuses were fired, and when they were ended they all went to the shade of the trees and ate what they

had, and when they had finished he called the Father Commissary of the Friars and Pedro Bernal and Sojo his

friend and told them privately what he wished to do, which was the institution of the order of knighthood of

the Holy Ghost, which is the blue robe like that of the order of Montesa; he first called his nephew and gave

him the grand cross which was of blue taffety; then Luis Baes and Don Diego de Prado and Pedro Bernal;

then he summoned the rest and gave them robes down to the black drummer; then they had to put them on

their breasts, which they did, with the obligation that they were to defend the Indians from their enemies and

from the others who wanted to injure them, and other absurdities which I omit to avoid tiresomeness; I will

only say this as it is serious, namely that he resolved to build on the side of the river a city to which the name

of the New Jerusalem was to be given; its gates were to be of marble and he pointed out that it was to be got

from a white spot that was in a clay pit about two leagues off. And the great church was to be of that marble

and was to be such as to rival that of Saint Peter at Rome, and the fences of the city and houses also were to

be of that marble, for he understood that that land had more than 2000 leagues of coast and was thickly

populated, and he was going to write to H.M. to send him 3000 friars to plant the holy catholic faith therein;

and other things very tedious to relate. And having rested a little he appointed the officials both royal and

municipal; Luis Baes de Torres, Camp Master General; Juan de Sojo, Superintendent of Mines and Sargeant

Major General, a new office in the militia; Don Juan de la Pea Factor and Overseer; the Chief Pilot,

Treasurer; Don Diego de Prado, Guardian and Trustee; and Juan Seraon, a Portuguese, Chief Magistrate of

Mines; Gaspar de Gaya, Ordinary Magistrate of the city and Don Alonso de Soto Chief Magistrate of the

Gentry. It was all wind, both walls and foundation, for he thought to cover up thus what he had promised on

the way and was mistaken. After all this was over I said to him before his friends, Sir Chief or General you

should well remember what was said about you when you promised on the way that if God would give you

but two Indians discovered you would reckon yourself the most fortunate of all those who had gone forth

from Spain, for you would give us so much gold and silver that we could not carry it, and the pearls should be

measured by hatfulls; God has given you Indians, not only two but thousands, as in the islands of San

Guillermo, Las Palmas, Taumaco, Chiquipia, San Marcos, Santa Marina, and now this of Ireney which you

call the great Australia of the Holy Spirit. We have only found the black devils with poisoned arrows; what

has become of the riches? We quite understand that all your affairs are imaginary and as such have gone off

in wind; consider that you have not promised this to Indians but to Spaniards, and that there are some who

used to ask for alms in the hills of Ronda with their gun in their hands; of those from the mud of Lisbon I say

nothing for they are just the same; look out for yourself for they will execute what they have thought of when

it is least expected. He was angry at this but could make no reply; he ordered the assembly to be sounded and

said that he would takek possession of all the land for H.M.; and all the men standing to arms they raised the

standards, and uncovering his head he spoke the following words "Be witnesses to me heaven and earth and

sea with all the elements and animals, birds and beasts, and you loyal vassals of the King our lord, that I take

possession of all this country discovered and to be discovered in the name of His Holiness the Pope, and of

King Don Philip our lord, and of S. Francis of Assisi and of Anton Martin de la Capacha and of the

successors to the royal crown of Castile." I said to him in a loud voice "of the King our lord and of his

predecessors and not of others", he answered "I know what I am doing". Among the others the same reply

was given to him. From here the men marched in order to a little wood which was close by, the said Quiros

placed himself in the middle and finding some wild oranges he had some branches cut down saying they were

to make crosses to send to His Holiness the Roman Pontiff, and turned to go to the shore and ordered that all

the men should embark and go on board. At the beginning of the month of June the boats went to catch

pargos and they brought back loads of fine fish which Messieurs the Magistrates distributed, taking two parts

to the capitana and the other to the almiranta and launch. There was in the almiranta an honest sailor called

Saabedra, very experienced in the coast of Havannah and New Spain who said to Luis Baes and to me

"Notice Gentlemen that much of this fish is jaundiced, namely that which has black teeth, and it is pure

poison, do not eat it but throw it into the sea and only eat that which has white teeth;" this was done and

having cleaned out some of those with black teeth they were eaten by two cats and two young pigs and they

all died within two days. They gave this advice at once to the people of the Capitana, but they called us

gluttons, as if we wanted them for ourselves. They all supped early and at midnight the boat came with the

sergeantmajor to ask that the Fathers and the surgeon might go to the capitana, for all the men were

prostrate on the upper deck, asking for confession because they were dying. They went and did their duty and

the surgeon took a jar of oil and gave it to the sick to drink and they vomited the food. The remedy was

opportune for if they had delayed it would have done the same as to the cats and pigs; this poison closes the

ducts of the faeces and urine and at once produces dementia, and there were some who did not come to

themselves for more than a fortnight. The said Quiros was so timid and nervous abut this, that, although

nothing happened to him, as he did not eat of it, he resolved to leave that spot; after the people recovered he

started on the 7th. of June to seek an island which seemed to be near, but in two days he could not reach it as

the E. wind was against him, so he decided to return to the place he had left; he veered and at 11 reached the

middle of the bay, and in the afternoon we wished him a good voyage, and they took the watchword, and he

ordered us to go to anchor in the port of Vera Cruz from which we had set sail, and at 7 in the evening a fresh

S. wind came up and as we were near land compelled us to lower the sails as we could not find anchorage, we

only left the foresail in order to go on lying to from one tack to another, at 9 we made signal with a torch and

they replied, at 12 we repeated it and they did not reply, at one we made it with two torches alight on the

topsail and they did not reply; at dawn we went to the harbour with the launch and anchored and the wind

sank so that we no longer perceived it. Seeing that the capitana did not appear they suspected that it had

become a wreck; I told them that they need not search, for the crew had determined to mutiny if they saw an

opportunity, the wind had invited them and they had mutinied. How it happened and the manner of it we

knew two months after our arrival at the Philippines, because the capitana came from New Spain and in it

some sailors who were at the festival and told us how it happened, as will be related in due time further on;

seeing then that the capitana did not appear Luis Baes de Torres went in the boat, well equipped, along the

coast of the bay to the N. and the launch along the other coast, hugging the land because if the vessel had

made shipwreck they would find plenty of pieces of planks along the coast, and if they found nothing it

would be certain that they had mutinied. They found nothing, and went up to the top of the headlands which

were fairly high and saw nothing. We called a council about what we were to do because the provisions were

diminishing daily; they settled to wait until the 20th of the month and if he did not appear we would take

another decision. During this time there were two very great tremblings in the earth and in the sea; they said

that it threatened the coming of winter. The term having passed and seeing that we were losing time we called

a second council and it was decided that we should set sail from that place to seek a part where we might

obtain provisions and be able to winter. That day we made an incursion on shore to look for some pigs to eat,

and it was very unfortunate to us for so many negros came down upon us that with difficulty we got away

from them, they wounded four men with poisoned arrows, but they had reason to lament; among those whom

our people killed there was one they wounded in the mouth and in trying their swords however many cuts and

stabs they gave him they could not cut his flesh, it was as though they struck a cuirass; he bore on his arm a

band of four fingers broad edged with snail shells, which must have been the insignia of the captain or what

had the virtue that the swords should not cut. He was entrusted to a sailor and was forgotten on shore; directly

we were embarked and in the open they came and put him on their shoulders and carried him off. And on the

26th we took in wood and water and set sail the following day from the harbour, and as the wind was E.,

which is the levant wind, we went directing our course to the W. This island, called the Australia of the Holy

On the 25th., S. John's Day, Luis Baes again summoned a council and produced a closed and sealed paper,

and said it was from the Viceroy of Peru; in substance it contained and said that in case any of the ships

should go astray they should make every effort to go up to 20° of S. altitude and see if there was any land in

that region, and not finding it should go to the city of Manila and wait there for four months for the other

ships, as they also carried the same orders; and in case Pedro Fernandez de Quiros should fail they were to

take Captain Don Diego de Prado for chief in order that he might direct that voyage, and further on it said

that after provisioning the ships in the said Manila H.M. ordered that they were to go to the Molucca islands

and thence to the Cape of Good Hope and to Spain, carefully noting that route and putting it on a chart, in

order to give an account of it all to H.M. The said Don Diego accepted the charge as committed to him, and

thenceforth executed his office and we went round the island as much as the E. wind permitted us and found

that the opinion of Pedro Fernandez de Quiros was wrong, for it would be about 30 leagues in circumference,

and we turned our course for greater altitude. (I do not want to pass on before mentioning the remedy we took

for the men who were wounded, which it is good should be known. Some experienced men from Portuguese

India said that as the wounded men complained so much directly they were wounded there was no doubt that

they would die speedily unless they were aided with Chinese confection, which is human excrement diluted

with water, an ounce and a half to the dose; this was done at once and they drank and vomited that poison and

rapidly recovered. Among the wounded there was a Portuguese who would never drink it, and he died when

once it seized him, and his wound was the smallest of all. The Chinese do this in such cases; it is a secret

unknown amongst our people.) And continuing our route to S.W. until we reached 20?° of altitude, we there

found pleasant coolness, the sign of land in the vicinity, and in parts many birds on trunks of trees. Our

provisions did not permit us to investigate it, and having carried out the order, we turned to the N.,

commending ourselves most sincerely to God and to his most holy mother: and although the wind was S.E.

and not much in our favour the Lord God was pleased that at daybreak on the 14th of July we should find

land, very high, and the coast running very far both ways; and had the dawn been half an hour later we should

doubtless have gone on the shoals, where we should have perished. We drew out and crowded sail to go

Eastwards, with sunrise the wind blew a stiff breeze so that it was necessary to submit and to go along the

coast, from which arose great smoke signals from all the villages of the Indians, a practice much in use

among them when they see ships in their seas. We continued coasting for five days and in the afternoon at 5

o'clock we stood out to sea and at sunrise we returned to the coast, and during all this time we found no

mouth by which to enter the land. It is so full of shoals that they come out more than two leagues into the sea,

and on the sixth day we saw some lofty islets like sugar loaves and they reckoned that there would be an

opening there, and so we sent the boat and it sounded with the lead and found from 8 to 10 fathoms with

clean bottom, we steered the ships thither and reached the shore where we found a nice harbour of 14 fathoms

on clean ground, and as we anchored Indians came to the shore; it is a land of large handsome trees, good

springs of water and above all very sheltered from all winds. I gave it the name of port Lerma. The beginning

of the land is in 12° of altitude and this port is in 10?° . The next day we went ashore in pursuit of some

Indians and came to a house of rushes where there were many fishing nets and four cocoanut palms; the

Indians ran off up a hill and by following them we found some enclosures of rushes with plenty of yams and

potatoes which was a good ref reshement; and from there the sea appeared to be close on the other side. The

next day we put 16 men in our boat and four in that of the launch, and coasting along the West side, which is

where we descried that bit of sea from the hut, the Indians made signs that we should go thither. We stood out

to sea and at a third of a league from that spot there came from the mouth of a harbour six canoes of twenty

paddles a side with great cries and shouting and with many banners and streamers, and in battle array. We

went towards them and being within gunshot we fired at them with our muskets and the bullets struck in the

midst of the said canoes; so seeing how far our arms reached they held a council, and in a short time returned

to the place they started from. The wind came fresh in our favour and we hoisted sail in pursuit, and at the

entrance of the mouth they were awaiting us on shore with round shields, clubs and wooden swords. The

mouth was about 200 feet wide and on reaching them we saluted them with our arquebuses and killed some,

and when one fell dead they gave him blows with their clubs to make him get up, thinking that they were not

dead; just then a bullet struck a shield and passed through it and also through the Indian's body and he fell

dead. This frightened them so much that they abandoned the place, and more than 300 came down from the

direction where they made signs we should go on shore, and they spoke with the others and put the dead on

their shoulders and went away silently; we entered the mouth and took two canoes without crew. We

surveyed the harbour, and there were two opposite to one another; that on the E. side is very sheltered and

could take 300 ships of deep draught, that of the West is smaller, with clean bottom. We went to the point

which the larger harbour makes towards the N. with three islets, where there is a large mouth which leads to a

bay enclosed like a lake, which would be more than 30 leagues in circumference, and the ebb and flow of the

waters of this bay and harbours all passed through the mouth which we entered to the said harbours, and at

the said point there was a village of Indians, who through fear had abandoned it, with many trees full of

cassia, and two very large enclosed yards where they keep turtles or tortoises to eat. I gave the bay the name

of San Millan; here we saw numbers of parrots, some very white with a crest of yellow feathers and the beak

and feet black; there are other larger ones of purple colour with yellow and red patches on the body and

green, yellow and red wings, the beak and feet red; there are others entirely bright red, wonderfully beautiful;

we saw some magpies with red feet and bill, they are very black and larger than those of Castile, and their

chattering is like the human voice. After we had anchored for three days in the harbour, one day at dawn they

persisted in chattering thus, ay, ay, ay, aya, yaya, yaya, ay, so that I thought they were Indians in ambush who

were waiting for us, I caused the men to be roused so as to be on the watch and in a few minutes they came

out of the wood flying and chattering in the same way, which amused us for some time. We also saw a very

large field of ginger which God alone cultivates for the natives do not know what it is; here we killed an

animal which is in the shape of a dog smaller than a greyhound, with a bare and scaly tail like that of the

snake, and his testicles hang from a nerve like a thin cord; they say that it was the castor, we eat it and it was

like venison, its stomach was full of ginger leaves and for that reason we eat it. In all the parts we traversed of

these harbours and bay they made many smoke signals on land, which is a sign that there were many villages

therein. On the way back from these parts and bay we had one very bad time, for when coming out of the

mouth the tide was running out and with such force that there is no river current that could be compared with

it, for it raised waves more than three times a man's height, so that we were obliged to get out and leave in the

boa t one man at the helm and two at the oers, and fix a long rope to it which we pulled to prevent the current

carrying it away. In this way we moved out with great difficulty until we got clear of the current and then we

got in a good way beyond the mouth. The same thing was done with the canoe of the launch, and I assert that

there is not a galley on the sea, however strong, that can break through such a current, so formidable and

strong is it. At the distance of two leagues from the port of Lerma, there are three islands and in the largest,

which was two leagues in circumference we saw fires every night; we went to it with all the boats and the

launch; the Indians abandoned their position and went in boats to another: it has a neat village of rush houses,

very well made, with divisions. We found in them numbers of well made fishing nets and very large pearl

shells, some hatchets for chopping wood made of touchstone, fixed into handles. The island is well cultivated

with plenty of fruit trees, they drink water from a large, wellmade cistern as they do not know how to sink

wells; we found small dumb dogs that neither bark nor howl, and do not cry out even if beaten with sticks.

The best we found, and of which we were very glad, were nine very fine pigs, we killed half and took away

the rest alive, a most excellent provision. I gave the island the name of San Facundo because it gave us such

good help for several days. From this island up to the first land we discovered there are three nations of

people, namely the Boniguis, the Hunis and the Canaiis, as we were informed by some Indians we captured in

a canoe which came to that island and whom we set at liberty immediately. In this harbour we stayed 15 days

and two days before our departure God provided us with four large fishes which we caught with the hooks

used for sharks, they are white with black spots and are called caellas, it is a carnivorous fish of fine taste and

flavour, with three rows of teeth in its mouth, each would weigh about 25 arrobas, and large pieces were

Before setting out from this harbour I caused all the men of the ship and launch to collect together with their

arms in their hands, and having set two sentinels in good posts and the men in the form of a squadron, I took

possession of all the land in the following form; having taken off my hat I said "Be my witnesses noble and

faithful vassals of the King our lord that I, Don Diego de Prado, his Captain and Chief, do take possession of

all this land discovered and to be discovered in the name of the most invincible and Catholic King Don Philip

the Third our lord, King of the Spains and West and East Indies, and of his predecessors for ever and ever,

amen." And they all responded three times in a loud voice, with heads uncovered, Long live the King our

lord, and I forthwith asked the notary of the ship for an attestation; and a royal salvo was fired with the

artillery and arquebuses, and in the evening there were illuminations and a Salve Regina was sung, giving

thanks to our Lord and to his blessed Mother for the favour received and praying him to grant us a good

voyage and every good success in that expedition to his honour and glory, amen. We set sail from this

harbour coasting the land and taking our course to the West, and because there are many shallows we

determined to proceed by daylight with a lookout in the bowsprit, and at five in the afternoon to anchor in

a suitable spot; so following the coast we anchored on the 12th of August at an island in the shape of a razor,

with fine and clear bottom and good shelter, and as it was Saint Clara's day I gave it her name. We went

ashore next day and found an excellent village with numbers of very large sweet basils, and some orange

trees and other fruit trees; we captured some Indians in a canoe who were ransomed for a fine big pig which

others brought. On the day of the Assumption of Our Lady we went ashore in the boats towards a big river

which runs from a corner towards the north, and near its mouth we found a large village of welldisposed

people, tall and white, and though they saw us aproaching they were not frightened, but waited for us and

saluted us after their fashion, raising both hands to heaven, like one who gives thanks to God, and then sat

down on the ground; we responded in like manner and sat down. They continued looking at us as at people

they had never seen, and in a short time one of them, who must have been one of their chiefs, rose up and

asked us by signs what we wanted. He was answered by putting the hand in the mouth, which is the sign for

asking for water to drink. He at once went to a goodsized house and brought a cane tube full of water, which

would hold about three azumbres, and our people drank, these are the vessels in use throughout this country,

cane tubes very thick and large. Having replaced the tube in the house he again asked by signs what we

wanted; he was answered by blowing with the mouth as one blows a firebrand and taking it to him kindled.

Just then a very big pig, white with black spots like those of the land of fields, came across among the men,

and a soldier asked him by signs to give it to him, and he answered contemptuously that he might take it; he

put the match to his arquebuse and shot the bullet below its ear and straightway it fell dead. This caused them

great astonishment. The said Indian who had brought the water rose up and asked him for the arquebuse, and

went about 20 paces to a sty with a pig, which for sheer fatness could not move; he pointed the arquebuse at it

and with his mouth said "pu" with great force, thinking that the soldier had killed the other in that fashion;

and seeing that he had not killed it he aimed at it again and raised his voice still more saying puu, with the

same result. All the Indians, some 500, who were awaiting the event, seeing that he had not killed the pig

began to roar with laughter so that it was a sight to see the fun they made of it after their fashion. The Indian

came back very much ashamed, with his arquebuse so that he could hardly walk, and gave it back to the

soldier, who turned the other way and recharged it and asked the Indian by signs that he should give him the

pig, and he replied by signs that he might take it; the soldier went to the sty and killed it, then the laughter

was still greater like men making fun of their companion. While they were amusing themselves this he

caused both pigs to be taken to the boat. I presented him with a Milanese bell hung from a silk ribbon, and

rang it for him before them all, which he highly exteemed; and he gave a bird larger than a swan of dark grey

colour, with a sharp beak, that had neither tongue nor wings, and in their place it had on each side 5 points

like porcupine quills black and white; it eat pebbles, iron tarpauling nails, pieces of linen and paper and when

it drank seawater it got drunk, and then it was a sight to see the leaps and springs it made in the ship. At

Ternata I gave it to the Camp Master Juan de Esquibel, who valued it greatly. I saw plenty of wild fowl,

larger than ours, of dark purple colour with white spots, which live in the trees, and highly coloured

pheasants, of which there is abundance throughout this country, and numbers of peacocks. The ordinary fruits

are plantains, cocoanut palms, bread fruits of the size of a large melon, durions and "bifasas", a fruit as large

as a quince, the rind of which is covered with points like those of diamonds; the flesh is like puff pastry very

white and palatable. At nightfall we went to the ship intending to come back again to the village, but at

midnight it began to pour and continued for a day and a half; the flow of the river was such that we were

obliged to move to another spot more than a league lower down, and left it as we could do no more. There are

in this country some trees which in the New Kingdom of Granada are called papayos, of the size of a

cultivated pine, with grey bark, at the beginning of spring they shed their leaves and the flower comes out,

which is like a white lily but of pink colour; it comes out at sunrise and falls off at dusk, so that it blooms

afresh and the flowers of the said shape fall off daily; and all day long it gives out a delightful scent and

fragrance to praise the Lord God who is so wonderful in his works; and at the beginning of winter the leaf

comes forth, but it does not blossom until the summer. From this village towards the West a plain begins

which would be about 20 leagues long and 5 wide, thickly inhabited and cultivated and full of the fruit trees I

have mentioned, with numerous brooks of good water which run to the sea, at the end of that plain five hills

rise which appear to be one on top of the other, so that the two hinder ones touch and are covered with snow

when they escape the sun, and are not seen until sunset or at dawn; in my opinion they are higher than

Mongibelo in Sicily or the range of Santa Marta, they are some of the highest mountains I have seen in the

West or East Indies; there is no doubt whatever that they contain many mines of rich metals, as they are at the

altitude and parallel of the part of Peru which has the best mines of gold. The quantity of cocoanut palms

there is in this plain at the seashore is very great, and where there are these trees they can never suffer hunger.

We landed on this plain and loaded the boats three times with cocoanuts; and the Indians came out to protect

them, but they knew what arquebuses were and how far they kill with the bullets. A negro belonging to the

pilot Fontiduea came ashore with us and taking a shield and a sword went towards the Indians, and when he

got near they ran off, more than 300 of them; we were astonished, but afterwards learned from the Indians we

took from the island of San Bartolome that there were near that part some negros who eat human flesh, and

that they came in those parts, and killed the Indians they caught and lighted a fire and roasted and eat them in

sight of the others, and consequently all those in those regions fled from them, and thinking that this negro

From here we went along the coast as far as it was clear of shoals until we reached them, when standing out

we proceeded towards some islands which appeared to the West; we reached them on S. Bartholomew's Day;

the first is uninhabited but very full of cocoanut palms, we went to the other which is thickly populated, and

to which we gave the name of the holy apostle; in their language it is called the Ratiles. We anchored quite

close to the shore owing to the safety of the harbour, and on the following morning we landed and found

more than 100 Indians in ambush in a copse which was near the water, and as they were discovered they went

to seek the others who were guarding the pass we had to go through to the village; it was about 12 feet wide,

on the one side it had a great precipitous rock and on the other the high hill, also precipitous; on coming

within gunshot we made them signs of peace after their manner. They responded by brandishing their arms,

namely lances and shields, which is a sign of battle; notwithstanding this we again made signs of peace and

they replied with shouts, brandishing their arms. Seeing that we were losing time by treating them with

further consideration we knelt down and saying a Paternoster and an Ave Maria, Cierra Espaa! we gave them

a Santiago, and in that skirmish some fell dead, and we seized their gate and pressed on, shooting them as

they fled; in order to flee more lightly they threw away their shields and lances and on reaching the village

they embarked in 26 boats, flying to the great land of the Railes and after embarking some were killed on the

open sea, and this caused them greater fright and terror, on seeing that they killed them so far from land. The

village had about 300 houses very well enclosed by planks and big canes. They had withdrawn their women,

children and old men and put them on top of a cliff precipitous on three sides, with only a very difficult

ascent on the one at the end of the village, and on the sides it was cut off by the sea, so that for our people to

get to the ascent we had to pass below this fortress. We made the signs to them that they should come down

and they replied with showers of stones, we passed with difficulty up to the ascent, and the Chief Pilot and a

valiant Galician asked permission to go with their swords and shields up the cliff: they were allowed, and half

way up there fell upon them such showers of stones that they came tumbling headlong to the bottom, without

shields or hats, and came to us. The Indians raised a great shout in sign of joy but it lasted only a short time,

for twenty shooters and others with shields came up at once and made slaughter; the living and the wounded

came down to the number of about 300, three parts were women and I was sorry to see so many dead children

they were carrying in their arms. I selected 14 boys and girls of from six to ten years and sent them on board,

the rest I let go free and they ran up a hill like goats. We found a girl of about 14 years old with the most

lovely face and eyes that could be imagined; her whole body painted with stripes like a Milanese corselet and

her private parts covered with a red apron reaching to her knee made of the bark of trees. There were disputes

about who was to take her to the ship, so considering that some might come to grief with her and offend God

I delivered her up to a good old woman of her own people; she thanked me greatly in her manner and wanted

to go off with the rest, which she did forthwith. They sacked the fortress and found a quantity of cocoanuts

and mats on which they sleep, and fishing nets and very large pearl shells; the pearls because they are round

and have no handles they throw into the sea. This island is very cultivated and full of the ordinary fruits I

have mentioned; it would be four leagues in circumference and is in 8?° altitude. All those carried off were

baptised in Manila to the honour and glory of God. The fathers taught them the prayers of the Pater Noster,

Ave Maria, Credo and Salve Regina, and the commandments and the a rticles of the catholic faith. These

Indians worship the sun which they call Nina and the moon Puri. In this island I took possession of the

country in the name of his Majesty the King our lord in the manner aforesaid; and to the great land I gave the

name of the Magna Margarita because it was discovered in the time of Queen Margaret our lady, for as she

was great in her doings so is this land in the circumference that can be imagined. These Indians have

abundance of yams, which are roots they sow like potatoes, as large as Cordovan olive tubs; they are

extremely good cooked in a pot with meat; plenty of sweet canes of which they make sugar; sweet basils as

big as a man which serve them for food; and wild amaranths, green, yellow and red. We found numbers of

very big pearl shells and learned afterwards from the Indians we carried off that they throw the pearls into the

sea because they are round and have no handles to take them by, and that they are sometimes as big as

filberts. They worship the sun which they call Nina and the moon Puri; they also worship the buffaloes

because they do not harm them. Opposite these islands is the province of the Railes, we did not reach it on

account of the many shoals there are around. The Indians who fled from the island of San Bartolome went

thither and gave the news that some men had reached their country who made fire by their mouths and killed

whomsoever they wished, and thinking we would go there they embarked in more than forty boats and went

to another part; we saw them pass out to sea behind the said shoals. This we learned from some Indians we

captured in a canoe, who explained it to us by signs and said that that village of the Railes is large, and we set

them at liberty at once. On the 28th. we set sail from these islands steering to the West, and finding a mouth

among the shoals we entered it, as the bottom was clear among the shoals and the land high, with from seven

to eight fathoms of water, and even if there is a storm in the sea it does not come in here. So we went coasting

along until we reached an island where we found good bottom and anchored. It would be about a league and a

half in circumference, they gave it the name of San Juan Bautista; it is in 8?° altitude; from here begins the

On the 2nd. of September we set sail from this island still following the coast and anchored near a red island

without brushwood or anything green, and found a boat with women who were fishing with nets, and at dawn

there came a storm of wind which broke our cable and we lost an anchor. We ran without sails until it got fine

and continuing our route we entered a fine "pracel" of six or seven fathoms of water and went to anchor

beneath a very lofty headland and point which formed a pretty bay. The next day desiring to follow the said

route we saw a great reef of rocks which ran towards the shore with little depth so that we were obliged to

take another route until we found more water, but it did not last long so that we again changed our course and

made for an island that would be about two leagues in circumference, here we went along with the boat ahead

sounding the bottom as it was very foul and full of rocks; we made our way with difficulty and found a good

depth. We gave the island the name of Malandanza, it is in 9° and inhabited by tawny people.

From it we went towards another island of the same size and anchored nearer to the land, and all night the

dogs were howling, which caused terror. In the morning we went ashore and to the village, which was

abandoned, and we found a quantity of turtle of the sort greatly valued by the East Indians and worth in

Malacca as much as 300 ducats a cwt., and a quantity of masks made of the said turtle, very well finished,

and a fish called albacora imitated so naturally that it seemed to be the very thing, and a half man half fish

of a yard and a half high, also made as a good sculptor might have finished it. The soldiers killed a

goodsized dog, the flesh of which was better than that of venison, and it filled many with so much longing

that they went in search of the others, which got away more than half a league from us through some shoals

until we lost sight of them. When searching the island we met with a number of women with two men who

were guarding them very carefully, and one of the men climbed up a high tree and left a bow and arrows on

the ground, and however many signs we made to him he would not not come down; they shot at him with the

arrows and he caught them all in his hand, an extraordinary thing. At last they let off an arquebuse at him and

he fell lifeless. We selected three of the youngest women and put them on board for the service of the people

of the ship; they gave the island the name of Isla de los Perros; the inhabitants of this as of others live on the

From this island we went on sounding in search of another among the same shoals, with hard work; we

anchored near shore as the bottom was clear. Two ballasted canoes came out and up to our ship, with four

very tall men in each; afterwards they went to the launch and examined it at their pleasure, and it seemed to

them suitable for their service; they went ashore and fetched their arms and came down upon it and attacked

it. But being on the alert we fired some musket shots at them and one was killed, the rest abandoned the

canoes and dived below the water and we saw them no more; the dead one was a youth without down on his

lip, his foot was more than 12 inches long, and his body 8 feet 4 inches in height; their arms are very strong

bows which we could not bend and clubs of touchstone, with a handle in the middle as thick as the wrist, 3

foot nine inches long, and about 40 lb. in weight, and in my opinion there is no helmet arquebuseproof that

could resist the blow. We went ashore and found the village with numbers of skulls and bones of men they

had eaten; these are the negros that they told us the Indians had fled from when they saw our negro: they are

not negros as was ascertained from the one they killed, but they stain themselves to appear more fierce. Those

who were in the village went to other islands when they saw us disembark. From this island, which is lofty,

we counted forty, all situated among the shoals. From this we went to another small one, very fresh with

abundance of trees; the inhabitants had abandoned it; we tried again to go to the great land, but the shoals

were so large that we could not get across. On the 22nd of September there was another eclipse of the moon,

as great as that of March, of the same colour, but it lasted an hour longer and on the next night there came

such a great wind and tempest while we were anchored that it seemed as if all the elements had conspired

against us; so that at midnight we all made confession and prepared to die; of the two cables with which we

were anchored one broke, but in commending ourselves very truly to Jesus Maria Joseph, Jesus was pleased

to have mercy on us. So great was the water and sand that entered along the bowsprit that the upper deck of

the ship was half blocked up. At dawn the storm ceased and the sea became as calm as if there had never been

anything. With the capstan we weighed the anchor and with it came up the rope of the buoy of the other. In

short we saw clearly the favour that S. Joseph had obtained from the child Jesus. Hereupon we proceeded to

Seeing that we could not get clear of these shoals we took counsel as to what was to be done, and decided not

to weigh anchor until low water and to go with the foresail only to direct the ship, because the waves would

carry the ships through the trough of the water, and to anchor at the flow of the tide. The opinion was as if it

had come from heaven, for in this way we secured the ships and our lives. Proceeding thus at the end of three

days we reached a flat island with good bottom where we anchored and found plenty of very large pigeons all

white and trees of plums they call of Nicaragua, they have big stones and little flesh. The whole island was

full of pumice stone and seems to have had a volcano in former times; they gave it the name of Isla de vulcan

From this we went towards others and reached the largest, which greatly resembled the hill of Our Lady of

Monserrate, and anchored there as it was a sheltered and safe place. The inhabitants did not appear as they

We set sail from here in search of other islands and at the end of three days we anchored between two islands

to take in water; So great was the number of flies they call cantharides that it seemed as if they wanted to eat

the men up. The Indians fled to the hills and we got a fine supply of very nice water. On the following day the

contrary currents were so great and so strong that it was necessary to have two men at the rudder to keep the

ships head against the stream, and this lasted for eight days and nights. It kept the name of Isla de las

After the said currents ceased we proceeded towards two islands of no great size passing along a very narrow

channel which formed some shoals; we did not reach them for we did not need to; and at the end of two days

on the eve of S. Francis we found other islands towards the North and among them one bigger than the rest;

and at nightfall we anchored in five fathoms at half a league from the island; and at midnight the ship began

to give bumps on the bottom, which had it not been of clay would have smashed it to pieces, we lightened the

deck and charged the cable and with this it righted; the launch was nearer to the island but being a smaller

God was pleased that we should henceforth find more water so that we had not to wait for the tides; the wind

being a strong breeze we went out towards the North and discovered a lofty cape of the great country, we

steered towards it and saw on anchoring that the coast ran in a different direction and perceived that there was

an end of coasting. We were among these rocks and shoals for 34 days, they run out into the sea as far as we

could judge about 50 leagues in a Southern direction. It pleased God that at this cape we got away from the

From this Cape of S. Paul we bore northwards thinking that we had finished coasting this great land and for

two days we saw the coast of the land very far away; although we voyaged by night they sounded daily,

morning, midday and evening, and always found from 25 to 26 fathoms, with bottom of clay which stuck to

the plummet; it was blue and might serve as bright blue colour for painters; it is a sign of land of rich

minerals. On the third day a man went up to the topmast to see if he could discover land; he said that the

coast was still visible with very high mountains and that ahead we had many shoals of yellow and red colour,

which are rocks above the surface. We lowered the sails and with only the low foresail we went towards

them, and the boat went in front sounding and entered among them and found 26 fathoms with the said

bottom; it came alongside and reported that they were eggs of fishes which had spawned in that place, they

occupied about seven leagues of the region; we passed through the middle of them sounding and finding the

We were very pleased at having left the land on the East side, and steering N. after four days we again

discovered very high land ahead, and on reaching it, as the sea was clear with good anchorage, we saw many

villages and the coast ran wide on both sides with numbers of rivers which ran into the sea, with muddy water

full of mud banks. We ran before the East wind which blew fresh, proceeding Westwards along the shore and

at nightfall we stood out to sea and were without sails; and in the morning we returned to the coast, enjoying

the delightful sight of so many woods and taking in water in some places; we discovered an island straight

ahead near the land and went to it and anchored in a good spot; we went ashore and saw that they had houses

of rushes on top of very big trees, woven into the branches of the said trees, and in them were the women and

children and a few men, but however many signs we made they took no notice of us. We found a very fine

sucking pig weighing about 8 arrobas and took it to the boat and to the ship and loaded up a lot of very large

fine oysters and some snails, each about two handfuls, which we eat for many days and it was excellent food;

a big canoe appeared thereabouts but did not venture near the boat or ships. The natives wage war upon one

another and the trees with the huts serve them as fortresses. I gave it the name of Isla de los ostiones.

From there we went coasting to the West and entered a very lovely harbour with an island in the mouth which

protects it from all winds. All the high parts around were very red like the clay at the extremities of Portugal,

and the banks very green and filled with groves which smelt very sweet. I gave it the name of San Juan del

Prado; we anchored here in order that the men might rest, as indeed they needed to.

Next day we went along the coast and entered a narrow mouth, but suitable for anchoring, with an island

which made it a good harbour, and it was S. Luke's Day 18 October. At the side it had a good village with

houses of planks; the Indians came to the ship and we gave them biscuits and whatever we had. This visit was

to reconnoitre the ships, for four days afterwards they came with eight big canoes crowded with warriors,

with banners and arrows and lances to attack us, but it availed them little, for at the first discharge of the

arquebuses they abandoned their canoes and jumped into the water and did not venture to get into them until

they had drawn them clear of that spot and far from the ships. I gave the harbour the name of San Lucas on

account of having entered it on his day. Every night at seven o'clock a caiman more than forty feet long came

to the ship, a fierce brute that doubtless was accustomed to be fed at the Indian village and eat some of them,

as it was punctual in its visits. I do not want to pass over in silence the description of the manner in which the

women in this country give birth. One of the three women we brought from the Isla de los perros was

pregnant, and in this harbour the birth came on and when her pains began, which was at nightfall, she sat on

the open deck on a cannon and a negress fetched seawater in a bucket and poured it over her neck, back and

breast with all her strength, this continued until the strong pains of parturition came on her and then she came

below on to a guncarriage, and taking sea water and pouring it on her neck and back as aforesaid she did not

stop until the child was born; and immediately afterwards she took a bowl and filled it with water in which

she washed herself and the child, and threw the afterbirth into the sea. And she covered herself with a cloak

which I caused to be given to her and I had her put below deck; she nursed the child with all this comfort

until she reached the Philippines, when it died; and when she had learned to speak she said that the women of

those regions give birth in that way, for with the dashings of water they do not feel the pains so much and

On the 27th of October we left this harbour and coasting along we anchored between some islets so as to be

opposite a big island which jutted far out on the South side; there was a strait between the great land and this

island and I sent the boat to sound the mouth, and it found that on the South side close to the island there was

fine clear anchorage, and at rise of tide we entered and passed easily, without danger, to the island. I gave it

the name of Navaja because it had that shape, and to the strait La Boca de Tovar; it is in the altitude of the

Coasting the land we entered, on the 30th of the said month, a very beautiful bay, all the land, both hills and

valleys, was red and looked like painters' vermilion. Here we captured a canoe with six very dark Indians,

some with thick beards; we released five of them with the canoe and kept a fine big youth, who after he

learned to speak told us in Manila how that in that country there were plenty of brilliant red stones like those

worn by Spaniards in their fingerrings, and because they did not know how to polish them they made no

account of them; they are either garnets or rubies. This is the country of those they call Papuas, which begins

at the spot where we turned to find it before the Isla de los ostiones, and ends at the cape of the land. I gave

From here we went to some lofty islands, seven in number; the largest ones, where we anchored as it was

late, are inhabited by black people with long hair and beards. We named them Islands of Saint Simon and

Jude; they are in the same altitude. Here we found some shellfish they call veneras, each a yard and a half

long, a yard wide and a third thick; it holds about ten pounds of meat and weighs about 4 arrobas. The Indians

use these shells to make hatchets for cutting wood, and clubs for battle, for these Papuas fight with clubs and

round shields, and canetubes each a yard long and hollow like a musket; they put quicklime in powder into

them and when they come to close quarters with their enemies they blow it into their eyes and capture them

blinded with that powder. And of these arms we found a quantity in some villages and in those of this island.

From here we went to other islands about 18 leagues off, which are five in number where we anchored, they

are in 2?° altitude, we gave them the name of the Cinco Hermanas. In the village we found an iron harpoon,

such as the Chinese use, and hooks and lines from China, and two onions like ours, and some bellows made

of two very large tubes of cane, and pieces of dishes of china clay, which was a good indication to us to give

up the idea that we were lost, as we thought, and a sign that we were near where the Chinese trade.

From here we went to nine islands which are about 20 leagues from those in which there was the quantity of

shell fish above mentioned of which we made good store, they are in 1?° altitude; here we took in a supply of

We set sail and ran along the coast and leaving the islands on the land side we rounded them outside until we

got back to the said coast and at 22 leagues from these islands we found two very full of very big trees and

among them much mariac wood; we anchored between them, as the harbour was very good, at 3 in the

afternoon and at 4 a boat with an awning appeared with a man in it half clad in red, and coming near he asked

in Portuguese what nation it was, he was answered Portugal, and he said Portuguese do not come here. I

caused the flag to be run up to the top and he came closer and again asked what nation, he was answered

Spain, then he came to us at once and came on board and embraced us and gave us welcome in Portuguese

fashion and said Spain, valiant cavaliers with swords of gold and they display an ardour that is astounding.

He asked for wine and drank three times with pleasant air; after he had rested he said that Biliato, his lord,

who was governor of two villages, had sent him and if they were friendly people he was to go on board the

ships and ask leave for him to go to them and take them provisions; if they were not friends he was to return

at once. And having given him the permission and asked him what land it was, he replied, the end of the

country of the low Papuas, and that we were five days voyage in a carack from the Kingdom of Bachan,

where there was a Father of the Company of Jesus, and that Don Pedro de Acua, Governor of the Philippines,

had seized the Molucca islands and the King of Ternate and had carried him off to Manila, and that in his

place the Camp Master Juan de Esquibel, a great cavalier, had remained in Ternate; and he mentioned the

names of many captains, as he had been in the expedition with the Sangax of La Bua, which is so to speak

Count of La Bua, one of the Molucca islands. He also said that between Bachan and Gilolo there was a strait

through which we could go quickly to Ternate. To this the pilot of the ship did not give credit, because in the

chart the island of Gilolo had three branches, and this is false as we found by experience and will be stated

further on. The ambassador returned to his boat to give the answer to his master. It is impossible to

exaggerate the pleasure we all felt at such good news, and certainly for us he was like an angel, for we

already gave ourselves up for lost, and as in the modern maps they colour this great land as mainland of the

summit of the antarctic pole, we though it was so until this man told us where we were. We gave great thanks

to God for such signal favour and gave the islands the name of Islas de las buenas nuevas; they are in two

Next day at ten in the morning came the Governor Biliato with a well equipped carack and boat with

abundant provisions of kids and pheasants, which are wild fowls with yellow stripes, and plenty of cocks and

hens, Spanish and native, and numbers of birds of paradise and red parrots and others purple. With this

Governor came a Moor marked on the cheek with the S and the nail who spoke Italian very well, and told us

how they captured him in the expedition of Don John of Austria when he was a boy and he was sold in

Seville to some merchants of Manila in the Philippines, and that in Manila he and six others stole a boat and

took the following route; from Cavite to Mindoro and to the island of Panay and to that of the Negros and to

Mindanao and to that of Sarrangan and to Panguisara and to the Meaos, and to that of Gilolo to Bocanora and

Sabuga and thence to the Papuas where he now was with the Governor. I asked him about the conditions of

that country and he said it is very rich in gold, but as it is soft they do not take much account of it, and that

there were many and large pearls, but not knowing how to pierce them they do not value them, abundance of

sandal wood, black pepper and red stones as large as a thumbnail, but mostly much smaller, and that there

was plenty of pork and many buffalos, ginger and cocoanut palms and that it was thickly peopled. And he

gave us two eggs as large as the fist, which were from a bird called tabon which is the size of a pigeon, and it

lays them four spans deep in the sand, and when it lays them they are like those of a pigeon and they grow in

the sand until the chicks hatch out; and that we should eat them quickly for one already contained a large

chick, almost ready to hatch out, and it was better than the other which did not yet contain a chick; that we

should fry them in the pan and they did not need oil to fry them. This was done and it is certainly very dainty

food. The ships bartered much food for old shirts and knives of little use and old shoes; and the Biliato was

presented with a piece of green taffety and in return he gave a boy of about ten years, very graceful. We made

him a salvo of three discharges of artillery, and thereupon he embarked in his carack. The Alfaqui also told us

that Chinese ships used to come in those parts to barter gold, but they had not come for three years, and they

At the end of three days after anchoring we set sail and coasted until we reached the cape called by the

natives Cape of Popan which makes a strait with the cape of Gilolo, which would be about ten leagues wide,

we did not pass through it as we did not know the coast, and the pilot Fontiduea said that the island of Gilolo

has three capes or promontories, and that it was not advisable to go to that which is in the middle, but that we

should descend one degree from the equinoctial in order not to be embayed between the two capes, and that

certain calms would come upon us and we should not get away in a fortnight; and that we should not believe

what the Moor said. This was done and we went to the island of Banda, mother of the nutmeg. Thus far the

East wind was with us, but the wind turned West and was the cause of our going on lying to on one course

and another for the space of eight days between Banda and the island of Oby without being able to gain a

league, because the currents were contrary and to get forward we turned back so that it was necessary to

anchor at the island of Oby. The next day we started with little wind and found a channel which the land

made with other leeward islands; we entered it in search of fresh water and found a great cave from which ran

a very large spring of it; we anchored and took in water and found a quantity of bats as large as young rabbits,

measuring more than two yards across the wings. In Ternate they told us that they are better than rabbits, and

that they give them as food to the sick. The pilot said that as the wind was contrary for returning to the place

we left we should follow that channel, as the wind was in our favour and the channel broad, deep and clear.

We did so and next day at four in the afternoon we anchored at an island near Bachan without being aware of

it. In a quarter of an hour a covered canoe appeared from there, with a man clothed in red and seated in the

middle. He came near and asked us what nation it was, he was answered Portugal, He replied, you are

nothing but Dutchmen. Then they hoisted the flag on the poop, saying we are Spaniards and when he

recognized the arms of Spain, being a Portuguese, he came closer and assured himself that we were Spaniards

and came aboard and embraced us with much affection and satisfaction. The reason he did not come on board

at once was that in this place a Dutch ship had anchored which carried 24 pieces of artillery, with only ten

men, very sick, and left eight days ago. I thought this must be its consort and consequently I did not venture

until I made certain; I am a servant of the King of Bachan, lord of this country; the King my lord asks leave

to come to the ship to see you. He was answered that he would do us very great honour and that he might

come when he pleased and the ship and crew were all at his service. He went off with the reply and at the

Avemarias the King came in a carack with the Portuguese, and asked us not to fire guns as they terrified him.

He came on board and we all received him with a welcome and he sat in the gallery of the poop on an old

carpet we brought out. He was clad in a long blouse of purple taffety down to the knees, nothing on his head,

nor shoes on his feet; he brought twelve men from his guard and attendants, and his auditor and the

Portuguese, who acted as interpreter. The arms his guard bore were some butchers' knives, and one man had a

naked sword and a round shield, which are the royal insignia used by the Kings of these regions; an attendant

carried in his right hand a silver cone with many holes filled with tobacco pipes, and in the left a silver flask

with native wine. After he sat down in his fashion, which is like women, the first thing he asked was how was

the King of Spain his brother, I answered, In good health, glory be to God. What was his age? I said 25 years.

How many children had he? At present two, the prince and an infanta. If he was a great sportsman with the

round net for catching sardines and other fish? I replied, A fisher truly, but not of sar dines but of kingdoms,

and that he had caught with his net more than half the world, with all the Indies, West and East, and the

Philippines and the Moluccas nearly up to Bachan. He said, According to that, he is indeed a great fisherman.

He asked for Spanish wine and drank three times one after another and the rest of the night he drank tobacco

until he went to sleep on the carpet. I put my men on guard throughout the ship, for they told me that this

King was baptized, and a renegade entirely through carnal vice. I said he is not to be trusted nor his people,

for he who leaves God will do any wickedness. In the morning he said that we were not comfortable in that

spot and that we should go to the safe harbour of La Bua. He caused two caracks to come and with his own

they towed the ships to the harbour two leagues distant where we anchored on the 16th of December, a year

less six days since we started from the Callao of Lima. From here I sent advices to the Camp Master Juan de

Esquibel, by a soldier in a vessel which the King gave me, for from this harbour to Ternate is 24 leagues. He

was well received by him and hospitably entertained by all the Spaniards. He replied that we should go

thither forthwith, because it was for His Majesty's service, as all that district was almost in revolt. The reply

came on Christmas Eve and we received it through Father Fonseca, of the Company of Jesus. The King asked

us to go in his company on an expedition he had to make against some subjects who had rebelled against him,

who were half way on the road. It was granted on condition that we were to start after Christmas. He got

ready his armada of four caracks with 500 men and we set out through some estuaries, very navigable as the

wind was right for getting out of the harbour. The next day we reached an island with a good harbour which

is called Tahabares and stayed two days owing to bad weather. Then we saw the strait between Gilolo and

Bachan which the Moor from the Papuas mentioned. From here we went to Cayoa and anchored in a fine bay

very early. The King at once sent a summons that they should come immediately and render him obedience,

if not he would devastate and burn them all. They replied that they were seeking kids and hens to present to

him and that in the morning without fail they would go to render him obedience. All night they were fixing

stakes in the estuary which led to the village and the blows were heard clearly in the ships; they thought that

unless we entered by the estuary we should not reach the village. I told the King to send his men to

reconnoitre and not to believe them, for they wanted to gain time to fortify themselves. Having ordered them

all to be ready in the morning and our men having breakfasted, I selected thirty men with the drummer, and

the King came with his men and took us wading through a mango marsh, where the enemy did not suspect

us; I thought he would take us to destruction, but he told us not to be worried as it was the safest part and

would soon end, as it did. The enemies had established themselves in a square fortification of stone, with a

moat full of water round it and such that they could defend themselves from 2000 men. I told the Sangax of

La Bua, who was a Christian and spoke Portuguese very well, to go forward with a handful of men and sound

to arms behind them and we with the King would take the position of the gate. This was done and the Sangax

sounded to arms after we were in the said position; shouting Santiago I gave them a volley of arquebuses;

they were so confounded with the name of Santiago and the noise of the drum and arquebuses that they

rushed out pell mell through a side door, abandoning the fort and fleeing like deer; there were more than 80

corselets and 150 helmets. Our men entered and found a quantity of excellent cane pikes and missile darts

with charred points. The King went afterwards to the village and caused it to be sacked and burned, and only

left the mosque. It appeared ill to a Biscayan soldier that the King had left it unburned a nd he set fire to it,

and being of dry canes it was very soon reduced to ashes. The King sent me, by a Bachan who spoke

Portuguese, a request to punish that soldier for his disrespect in having burned the mosque; I promised to do

so. So having collected my men I went off to the island of Maquien, the chief and most important of those

that have the drugs of clove and spice, and I anchored in order that the men might rest and to wait for good

weather. So great was the report that the conquest of Cayoa spread through all the region that some of the

Kings of Gilolo, who were on the point of making friends with the refugees of Ternate, at once sought the

friendship of the Camp Master and other Spaniards of Ternate, as they held it impossible to be able to

conquer that island. The island of Maquien is five leagues in circumference with a quarter of a league around

of shoals and rocks in three spans deep of water; on the side of the Portuguese fort there is an "olla" or hidden

port with a mouth through which a ship can enter, but if there is a slight fresh North wind it will dash to

In the morning we left Maquien and anchored in the island of Ollas in a harbour of the same sort but more

sheltered, as the wind had gone contrary and the currents. Next day we went to anchor in that of Tidore, and

next day in Ternate, and because the ships could not enter the harbour formed by the ridge of rocks, on

account of the shallowness of the mouth, we made a salute to the city with all our artillery and arquebuses.

Thereupon a boat sent by the Camp Master came with a lieutenant and told us to go to the Rume which is an

island near Tidore which forms a fine harbour. Then in order to cover twelve leagues we were three days in

that sea of great currents, uncertain winds of short duration and very few places in which to anchor. We went

ashore to pay our respects to the Camp Master Juan de Esquibel and the other captains, we were received

with great joy by all and hospitably entertained; we remained here until the 28th of April when the supply of

provisions they sent from Manila arrived, and it was the first they had sent since that land was won. The

islands which have the clove are four; Maquien which is below the equator and is five leagues in

circumference; Motiel, uninhabited owing to the bad air, which is two leagues in circumference; Tidore,

thickly populated, is four leagues in circumference; Ternate, with its active volcano, is three in

circumference. There are other islands round about and larger ones, but they do not produce cloves, as they

are flat. Those that produce the clove have the shape of a highcrowned hat; on the top of these islands there

are no clove trees nor at the bottom; it is all at the midheight of the hills. The trees that bear the clove, called

in Portuguese claveras, are large, the bark is tawny tending to dark red, the leaves are like those of the

strawberry tree. The nutmeg trees are like cherry trees both in colour and leaf. There is another strange tree of

large size the leaves of which are like those of the white cabbage, and when yellow are good to eat with meat

in the pot, and they have the same taste; they call it Molucca cabbage, and thus it is the alltheyearround

cabbage. The fruits are plantains, a fruit known throughout the Indies; there is another they call durions as

large as a citron with a green skin marked like diamond points, the flesh inside stinks like rotten onions; the

Portuguese say that it is the best in the world; I could never eat it. There is another they call papayas, as large

as small melons, they have the same taste, the pips are like peppercorns and taste stronger; they cover it when

green with sugar and it tastes like candied peel. There is another they call mangos as large as the fist, when

ripe it has the taste of a peach, and when green they pickle them, like olives, in brine, and they are more

savoury than olives. There is another they call granzones, as large as small hen's eggs, when it is ripe it is

white and transparent like cloudy crystal, the taste is soursweet and very good; it has three stones in the

middle like pumpkin pips which embitter like aloes. There is abundance of very good cocoanut palms. There

is neither rice nor wheat. They eat bread of sago; these are trees like palms but smaller and they have a soft

pith; they cut them in the middle and place a piece on top of a kneeding trough, pour a stream of water on it

from buckets and the pith it drives out stays at the bottom. They take it out and put it in another; and when

they want to make bread they have square dishes of good earthenware, with hollows in them of two finger's

breadth deep, and the same wide, these they put to heat in the fire, and when very hot they withdraw them

and put the sago in the hollows, and leave them a little while and then empty them, and thus they make bread

until the dish is cold, then they take another and in quarter of an hour they make bread enough for twenty

persons; it comes out like little biscuits and only needs sugar to make it as tasty. On cutting down a tree

another springs up which is ready for eating the next year. The i slands producing the clove are 12 leagues

away. It rains at all the conjunctions of the moon for 24 hours; the weather is always the same, summer and

winter. The fragrance of sweet scent which comes from those trees before sunrise is something to praise the

On the first day of May we left Ternate on the course for Manila passing along the islands of Sarrangan

Pauguisarn, Jolof, Taguima, the Mindanao and the Rio de la Canela where we bartered a large quantity; and

thence to the Catandianes, Panay, Mindoro, el Fraile and the island of Maribeles, to the port of Cabite of

Manila, where we anchored on the 22nd of May and were visited by the Factor Joanes de Equi and Captain

Felippe Corso. We went to the city to give notice of our arrival to the Audiencia, which was carrying on the

government, owing to the death of the Governor Don Pedro de Acuna, and to ask them to provision us as

speedily as possible for continuing our voyage as His Majesty commanded. They replied that they had no

money for the purpose and required the ship for other things important to His Majesty's service, and with this

our expedition ended, which lasted 17 months from the 21st. of December 1606 to the 22nd. of May 1608.

At the beginning of June there came from New Spain the ship San Pedro, which was our capitana, and in it

some sailors from among those of our expedition who related to us what occurred about the mutiny, and it is

as follows. From the time when Pedro Fernandes de Quiros turned to the N.W. and would not proceed to

carry out what was decided in the council, when the evident signs of land near appeared, the friends of the

Chief Pilot said, This man is selling us and does not know where he is going, he will do with us what he did

with the Adelantado Avendano when he went to the Solomon Islands, for he is taking the same steps; let us

go to New Spain and run the ship ashore, and let us throw him and his nephews into the sea and thus we shall

get clear of this trouble, but this must be done when we find a place to supply the ship with water. They

wanted to carry it out in Taumaco when they saw that you had gone to the almiranta, and not finding the time

suitable they gave it up. In the Isla del Spiritu Santo when they set out to seek those islands and on turning

round in the middle of the bay that South wind came on us, Bernal said to Captain Quiros, General, we are

lost unless we seek anchorage; in the bay it is impossible, as you know, except in the harbour of Vera Cruz,

and we cannot go there as the wind is dead against us. Quiros said, What can we do? Bernal said, Let us go to

anchor behind the cape of San Philippe and when the wind drops we will enter the bay and harbour. Quiros

said, Let it be done, and went to sleep. We made such haste that at dawn we lost sight of the island. Quiros

came out at midday as usual from his sterncabin and asked why they had not anchored behind the cape, in

reply he was told to shut his mouth and go to his cabin, where they put the Portuguese grocer and his

nephews with guards, and they ordered the jars of wine belonging to the Portuguese to be brought out and to

divide them among the sailors; and they gave nothing either to the grocer or to him; and they gave them to eat

whatever they wanted. Thus the wine he thought to sell at a good profit in the Philippines they took from him

for nothing. But seeing how submissive they were in their cabin they did not carry out what they had

projected. They reached the port of Acapulco and forsook the ship before it anchored there. They went to

Mexico and gave report to the Viceroy about this man, and his comrade and great friend informed the

Viceroy of what the said Quiros had discovered, and when he went to speak to him he took no notice of him,

The island of Luzon, which is the chief of the Philippine Islands, is the largest of all, and contains the city of

the Spaniards called Manila, where the Governor and Audiencia reside. It is situated on the sea coast, at the

side of the bay, and on the other it has a great river so that more than two parts is surrounded by water. The

position is flat and calm, and in the shape of a trapeze; at the point between sea and river it has a strongly

walled castle with two bastions on the city side and a curtain, all the wall is of lime and stone; and it has good

artillery inside; it is called the Castle of Santiago. The city has 1500 feet of wall, seven feet thick, and on the

land side from Vagunbaya there are five terraced bastions with their curtains and two gates to go out into the

country. It would have about 800 houses of lime and stone with very straight streets of 20 feet wide; there is a

cathedral church with its archbishop, canons and prebends; a fine monastery of Augustine Friars, another

house of Recollets of S. Nicholas of Tolentino, another convent of Dominican Recollets, another of S.

Francis and another of the Company of Jesus, and a good hospital. Outside the wall it has the suburbs Tondo

and Minondo on the river side, and in front the Parian which is the quarter of the Chinese merchants who

come with goods, and of all who hold offices for the service of the citizens. The suburbs of S. Anton,

Candelaria and Vagunbaya all have rush houses like the Indians use. The churches in these suburbs and the

dwellings of the Friars are of stone and very prejudicial to the fortification of the city, for if an enemy attacks

it he can easily seize the roads by which it can be relieved and so be soon lost. And for this the Governors are

There is great trade in Chinese goods and delicacies; from Japan they bring a quantity of wheat flour for

bread, as this country does not produce it, but only rice which is the ordinary bread of the natives and

residents; there is much wine of nippa and cocoanut palms; it is all white. The nippa trees are short palms

which grow in the salt estuaries and arms of the sea; from them grow asparagus shoots about half a yard long,

and as thick as the wrist; they cut the points and bend them so that the liquor which comes out falls into

vessels they place underneath; they call it sura, it has the taste of sugar water; they put it into large

earthenware alembics, what comes out is white nippa wine, as strong and hot as brandy; but if they do not

distil it within six hours it becomes vinegar, and very good, which they use with food, as it is of pleasant

taste. This sura recently drawn off is very good for liver disease provided it be very fresh. The sura of

cocoanut palms is drawn from the flower in this manner. Each palm tree produces three branches of flower,

one they leave for cocoanuts and two for wine. They tie each branch separately with thin cords of cocoanut

fibre, and cut the ends and under each they put a vessel which receives the sura, they pass it through an

alembic like the nippa and wine comes out stronger than that of the nippa; and if they pass it twice it is

stronger than the best brandy made in Spain; and in order that the sura may come out better they cut the ends

every day about the thickness of paper, and this they call gladdening them. When the asparagus of the nippa

tree comes to an end they cut it down for another to grow, and do the same with the palm trees, and as there

are plenty they pass the vessels on to others until they end, and as long as the others have shoots; and thus

they have wine all the year round, and it is of excellent flavour, colour and odour. The provinces of the island

called the great Margarita, as I was informed by the Governor Biliato and the morabito who was with him,

and the Indians I took from there, are as follows: the Boniguis, Huniis, Suleis, Canais, Lippiis, Railes,

Elabons, Ovaniaas, Alomas, and High and Low Papuas. The bread they eat in general throughout this country

and that of the Moluccas is sago. The meats are turtles, very large pigs, peacocks, native fowls and those of

Spanish breed, pheasants, doves and parrots. There are wild buffalos, but they do not eat them because they

do not approve of killing them, but rather worship them like gods. The fruits are durions, bifafa, nancas,

plantains, cocoanuts; it must have others which we did not see. The roots are white, yellow and purple

potatoes, yams and ginger; there is plenty of sweet cane of which they make sugar in Spain, and of large size,

black pepper and cassia. The coast we discovered from the cape of S. Buenaventura on the West to Cape

Popan, point and end of the land, is 680 leagues; that which runs to the East, which is to the levant is very

great; all along this coast there are many and very fine ports and anchorages, with clear bottom and free from

sharp sunken rocks; plenty of fresh water, wood, shell fish and ballast for ships. Every time I went ashore I

took care to look for the stones there might be on that ground, and there were many of tawny colour which

are from copper mines, others sandy and purple like those from silver mines, and as this land is in the parallel

and altitude of the best mines of gold and silver there are in Peru, I think they may be here also. The

navigation is easy from the port of Acapulco of New Spain, as this land lies midway between Acapulco and

Manila in the Philippines. Its conquest is easy, for the people are docile and illarmed; and in a land where

there are so many cocoanut palms people cannot die of hunger. May it please the Lord God to put into the

heart of our lord the King the desire and means to conquer it, both for the salvation of the many souls there

are in it and for the greater increase of the Royal Crown of Spain. Amen. Don Diego de Prado.

Luis Baes de Torres, Captain of the Almiranta called San Pedrico; Gaspar de Gaya, master; Juan Bernardo

Fontiduea, pilot; Juan Ochoa de Vilbao, who was chief pilot of this expedition and Francisco Rodrigues de

Mazagaon notary thereof, certify that at the instance of the Captain and Chief Don Diego de Prado we have

seen this account which he made of this discovery from the port of the Callao of Lima to that of Cabite of

Manila, and it is accurate and true, and we hold it for such because we have compared it with others which

we ourselves had, and in order that at any time he may be able to send or give it to His Majesty or to the

Lords of his Royal Council of the Indies and they may give to it the credit it deserves, we sign it with our

hands and names and it is dated in Manila of the Philippines on the 6th day of the month of June of the year

Luis Baes de Torres. Gaspar de Gaya. Juan Bernardo Fontiduea. Juan Ochoa de Vilbao.