The First Discovery of Australia and New Guinea | Page 5

25th of May, 1526, they entered the
Pacific Ocean, where they were met by another storm, which dispersed
the fleet right and left.
On this occasion an extraordinary piece of good luck befel one of the
small vessels of the fleet--a pinnace or row boat, of the kind called
pataca, in command of Joam de Resaga, who steered it along the coast
of Peru, unknown at the time, and reached New Spain, where they gave
an account to the famous conquerer of Mexico, Fernand Cortez, telling
him that Loaysa was on his way to the islands of cloves.*
[* It is strange that this voyage, along the coasts of an hitherto
unexplored country, preceding as it did, not only the conquest of Peru
by Pizarro, but even the arrival of that conquistadore in the South
Pacific Ocean, should have remained unknown by Prescott and all other
historians of the conquest of the Land of the Incas.]
The remnant of the fleet steered a north-westerly course when once in
the Pacific Ocean.
They were in a sore plight. Both commanders were sick, and, nearing
the Line, on the 30th of July, Loaysa died. Four days after, Sebastian
del Cano, who had escaped and weathered so many storms and dangers,
expired also, leaving the command of the expedition to Alonzo de
Salazar.
Salazar steered for the Ladrones. On the 4th of September he arrived at

that group, where he met Gonzalo de Vigo, one of the seamen of the
Trinidad.
From the Ladrones the expedition sailed for the Philippines, and on the
way Alonzo de Salazar, the third commander, died.
Martin de Iniquez was now appointed to the command, and it was
November before they came to anchor at Zamofo, a port in an island
belonging to the King of Tidor, who had become their ally during their
previous voyage.
Disputes immediately arose between the Spaniards and the Portuguese
commander settled at Ternate. A war ensued, which lasted for several
years, with various degrees of success and activity, the people of Tidor
supporting the Spaniards and those of Ternate the Portuguese settlers.
Galvano, the Portuguese historian of the Moluccas, and a resident there
for many years, informs us that only one vessel of Loaysa's fleet
reached the Spice Islands. The fourth commander, Martin de Iniquez,
died some time after, poisoned, it is said, and the command of the
remnant of the expedition was entrusted to Hernando de la Torre. But
the only vessel left was found to be so much damaged in repeated
actions with the Portuguese that it had become unfit for the homeward
voyage.
About this time, 1527, Fernand Cortez, the conqueror of Mexico, sent
from New Spain his kinsman, Alvaro de Saavedra, in search of
Loaysa's expedition.
Saavedra set out from the Pacific coast with three armed vessels and
one hundred and ten men.
Two of the vessels were almost immediately separated from the
commander, and their destiny remains a mystery to the present day.
Saavedra, however, in command of the Santiago pursued his course
alone and reached the Spice Islands, after a voyage of a little over two
months.

His countrymen were delighted to see him, but remembering their own
sad experiences, would hardly credit that he had come from New Spain
in so short a time.
He was immediately attacked by the Portuguese, and various
engagements took place in which he was supported by the survivors of
Loaysa's armada, who had now built a brigantine out of the planks of
their famous fleet of seven vessels.
Meanwhile Saavedra, during the intervals of peace, did not neglect to
load up his good ship with spices, and, in the beginning of June, 1528,
he set sail for New Spain. The prevailing winds that had favored his
outward passage were now against him. He tried to avoid them by
taking a southerly course, and, in doing so, he fell in with the northern
coast of New Guinea, the shores of which, as I have intimated, he
followed for no less than 250 leagues.
The Spaniards found traces of gold all along this part of the country,
and Saavedra named the island Isla del Oro, the Island of Gold; but his
description of the natives, whom he found to be black, with short
crisped hair or wool, similar to those of the coast of Guinea in Africa,
gave rise, no doubt, to the alteration in the name, for at a later date the
island became known as Nova Guinea, or New Guinea.
Upon leaving the shores of New Guinea, Saavedra hoped to be able to
reach New Spain, but the head winds which still prevailed compelled
him to return to the Spice Islands.
The following year, in May, 1529, in another attempt to reach New
Spain, he again coasted along the northern shores