The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 | Page 7

by three ships and the tender, the last-named being lost on Easter Day. A detailed description of the strait follows. On September 4, "we saw land, and it was one of the islands of the Ladrones which the other expedition had discovered," where they find a Spaniard who had fled from the ship of the former expedition. On September 10 they depart from this island for the Moluccas. October 8 they land at an island where the friendly advances of the natives are checked by a native from Malacca, who declares that the Castilians would kill all the inhabitants. On the tenth, "the eleven slaves we had seized in the island of the Ladrones fled in the same canoe that we had seized with them." On the twenty-first they anchor at "Terrenate, one of the Malucos, and the most northern of them." November 4, they have news that the Portuguese are fortified in other islands of the archipelago. Negotiations with the Portuguese are detailed at some length. "The islands having cloves are these: Terrenate, Tidori, Motil, Maquian, Bachan." A description of these islands follows, and then the pilot adds, "All these islands of Maluco and those near by are ... mountainous." March 30, 1528 a Castilian vessel anchors at Tidore, one of three sent by Cortes [5] to seek news of Loaisa. The two others had been blown from their course five or six days before reaching the Ladrones. This ship, under command of Captain Saavedra Ceron, had ransomed three men of the caravel "Santa Maria del Parral," one of Loaisa's ships, on an island to the north of Tidore. These men declare that their ship had been captured by the natives, the captain and most of the crew killed, and the remainder made prisoners. The accusation is made that these three men, in company with others, had themselves killed their captain. The document closes with various observations as to recent events, and states various needs of the Spaniards. The governor praises Saavedra, declaring that because of his diligence he is worthy of great rewards. (No. xiv, pp. 241-313.)
Letters and documents follow which give details of the voyage of Loaisa, and events in the Moluccas until the year 1535. From a letter written (May 3, 1529) by Hernando de Bustamante and Diego de Salivas it is learned that Jorge Manrique, captain of the "Santa Maria del Parral," had been killed by his own men; and that sixty-one of those sailing in the fleet died a natural death, nine were drowned when the "Santi Spiritus" was wrecked, nine were killed by the Portuguese, and four were hanged. A writ handed to the king from the Council of the Indies says that German factors denied the report of the death of Loaisa; and it is advised that one or two caravels be sent from New Spain--from Colima, or Guatemala, or Nicaragua--to find out the truth of this report.
A letter from Hernando de la Torre states that "Juan Sebastian del Cano, who was captain of the ship wrecked in the strait," became captain-general at Loaisa's death and "died a few days afterwards;" and that of the one hundred and twenty-three men of the "Victoria," and twenty-five others who came with Saavedra, only twenty-five men were left. In an investigation concerning matters connected with Loaisa's expedition, Juan de Mazuecos declares (September 7, 1534) that Loaisa had died of sickness, four hundred leagues from the Strait of Magellan; and that all who ate at his table had died within the space of forty days. Like depositions concerning this expedition are taken from several others, among them being Fray Andres Urdaneta. A document made up from the above investigations says that Loaisa's death was in the last of July, 1526, and that the Ladrones number in all thirteen islands, "in which there are no flocks, fowls, or animals." (Nos. xvi-xxv, pp. 323-400. These documents are much alike.)
The noted Augustinian Urdaneta [6] wrote an account of this disastrous enterprise, and of subsequent events, covering the years 1525-1535; this relation is the best and most succinct of all the early documents regarding Loaisa's expedition. It bears date, Valladolid, February 26, 1537; and the original is preserved, as are the majority of the Loaisa documents, in the Archivo general dé Indias in Seville. Urdaneta, as befits an actor in the events, uses the first person, and gives a very readable and interesting account of the expedition. He describes a Patagonian thus: "He was huge of body, and ugly. He was clad in a zebra skin, and on his head he bore a plume made of ostrich feathers; [7] he carried a bow, and on his feet had fastened some bits of leather." He describes, briefly and graphically, the storms that scattered the ships and caused the foundering of the