Gives the sorrowful discourses made by the Captain and others,
to mitigate the grief they felt at having lost the port, and to
settle what must be done with the consent of all.
Here it was represented to the Captain that if in Lima they had
given him his despatch on the day of St. Francis, so ordered that he
should go on with his plan, which was to steer for the thirtieth degree
towards the south, for this forty days or less seemed sufficient. If by
that route the sought-for land was found, it would be the best time of
the year for exploring its coasts and islands. If land was not found
on that parallel, there was still a month and a-half before the sun
took its turn, for them to navigate towards the W., or with tacks to
S.W. and N.W., to cross those seas until it was made clear that the
supposed lands do not exist; and he might make many other researches,
according to the position in which he found himself.
In short, I say that from the day of St. Francis to the end of May
there are eight months less those four days, and that to go from Lima
by the usual route to Manilla two months and a-half, or at most three
months, are sufficient. The other five months give plenty of time to
discover and see very extensive lands and many ports, or to go in May
to Manilla, which is before the S.W. winds begin, and in October or
November, which is the beginning of the N. winds; and by these breezes
to leave that city and go outside the two Javas to the S.S.W. in
search of lands, passing the Cape of Good Hope in January, February,
or March, the best months in the year for that, so as to reach Spain in
July, August, or September, which is the summer. To make such a grand
voyage as this twenty months are enough, or at the outside two years,
and this truth will be confessed by all who know how to navigate; and
also how great will be the regrets of him who knows that this time he
is unable to get from such labours those fruits for others which he so
truthfully expected. With his great loads of sorrow the Captain said in
public that all of us should be witnesses, because if he should die,
it should remain in the memory of the people that these two months
and a-half of summer that he was delayed at Callao had robbed him of
the power of following up so great an enterprise as was the present,
while only half an hour of time took it from his hands.
He considered the strong contrary winds, the very threatening weather,
the fact that their present position was unknown, that the ship must
need repairs, the necessity for going to a place where she could
be either got into harbour or careened on a coast, and that all
was ended there. He had very prominently in his mind that at the
first difficulty or danger there would be a want of resolution or
of management, or of the desire to apply a remedy; for which reason
it might with truth be said that he was without pilots on whom he
could rely, and that from some other persons there was little to
be expected or hoped. Then there were his own infirmities; so that
altogether the case was one of evident danger.
Putting on one side the ordinances of God, His high and secret decrees,
and how limited was his understanding to enable him to decide whether
what happened was or was not in conformity with them, the sorrowful
Captain said discretion was of little use to arrange things, nor the
mind to undertake business, though it be easy, if there be any one
who has the will and power to take away all his just value or great
part of it. Sovereigns, he said, when they undertake great enterprises,
ought to distinguish, make clear, and strengthen their orders in such a
way that the persons to whom their execution is entrusted can have no
room for doubt, nor to contend, nor any one who can make excuses; and
not pledge men so that they find themselves in positions so confused
and difficult as had the Captain. For he could not tell what advice
was mature nor what was inexperienced, nor the choice he should make,
nor the resolution he should take which, if followed, might lead at
least to part of the remedy for the evils which were menaced in so
important a matter.
He arranged to go, as we were then steering to N.E. and N. as far
as 10° 30' S., the latitude of the island of Santa Cruz, which being
settled, the Captain made the following discourses.
In the first place the S.E. wind had the same force, and if with such
threatening weather he steered to the W. in search of the island of
Santa Cruz, it might remain at the E., and, without the danger in
which he would have to put the vessel, he would place himself still
more distant from help if he did not make the landfall.
Secondly, he knew, for he had already made the voyage to the
Philippines, there was the beginning of those furious westerlies
which last at least until the first days of October, for which cause
it was impossible to go there at that season.
Thirdly, to undertake the voyage to Acapulco; the distance was very
long, and it would be necessary to cross the equator without knowing
which time would be the best; while there was very little water
left and no meat: for the Chief Pilot had buried the casks among the
ballast where the bilge-water sucked in, and for that reason it had
all turned bad.
He felt that he had many sick, and no medical man, nor the necessary
comforts to nourish them.
He knew that in the ship he had some few friends and all the rest
enemies; and those he had to help him and take part of his duties
were those who were soonest tired, and were least able to manage
things, or to treat of more than the security of their own persons,
while they disliked work.
He did not certainly know what had happened to the other two vessels;
so that he reflected that only the ship in which he was, was available
to bring the news of the discoveries and how much they imported,
and that the same news should be given by those who remained. He
made other very sorrowful discourses, and the following, which were
more consolatory.
The first was that many exploring ships and fleets, full of men and
riches, have been lost in known seas, without, in many cases, having
secured their objects, either in whole or part.
The second, that he had completed the discovery of such good peoples
and lands without knowing where they ended, with such a large bay
and good port within it, and had taken possession in the name of
His Majesty, without the loss of a single man; and that all this
was a beginning, with very great foundations, for the settling and
completing the discovery of all that those lands contain; and that
so arduous an undertaking could not be finished in one voyage, nor
in three, even with very efficient help, and with men who would work
with the same love for the cause as the Captain felt.
The third, that as God had been served to guide them to those parts,
and to give them time for all that had been done, it was very just that
he should be consoled and in conformity with the will of the Lord of
times and seasons. He could understand that if another voyage should
be desired, that also it could be made, although it should be more
in the winter, and though men should contradict or favour, and other
thousands of opponents should bar the way. It would be well to agree to
what had happened, for causes which, at present, are not comprehended.
The fourth is that, in the other two vessels, there remained the
instructions that had been given, and it was understood that, if
they were safe, they would do all in their power to discover more
lands, and bring from them such news as might be hoped from God, and
the Admiral, and his Pilot, Juan Bernardo de Fuentidueña, a person
from whom great things might be hoped; and also from the Captain of
the ship, Gaspar de Gaya, and from three very respectable monks; in
fine, from all the people connected with that ship, as likely to be
useful. Finally, he said that the present time ought to be cared for
to ensure the time to come, and that he who rules must entrust to some
man all or part of the business, present or absent, great or small;
and if those who are so trusted deceive those who put confidence in
them, where can there be a remedy except in heaven.
The Captain saw that it was indispensable to decide at once what ought
to be done; and, therefore, he called a meeting of all the officers
and other persons in the ship, telling them that they must carefully
consider all the reasons he would put before them, the present state
of affairs, and what should be done. There were some who, through the
mouth of one as ignorant as themselves, said that they should go to
the Philippines. To this, others replied that as they had money they
wanted to go and get employment in the porcelain and silks of China,
where the work should pay them, or at least the Royal Treasury. In the
end all were of opinion that they should make for the port of Acapulco,
and they signed their names to this resolution on the 18th of June.
The Captain at once ordered the Pilots to shape a course N.E. by N.,
if the weather would allow it, and if in the southern part where we
were any islands should be found, we were to anchor there to build
a launch and come to a new resolution, in order that God and His
Majesty might be better served. In case no such island could be found,
we were to continue on the same course until the ship was in 13° 30'
N. latitude, the parallel of the island of Guan in the Ladrones, on
the route of ships going from Acapulco to the Philippines. There, with
reference to the feelings of the crew, the weather, the condition of
the ship, and the provisions, another final agreement was to be made,
and a resolution taken with reference to the route to be adopted for
reaching a friendly port.