Chapter XIV.
The assembly of Pilots; what happened at it, and the arrest of the Chief Pilot.
On the 25th of March, being Easter eve, the Chief Pilot said in public that he found the distance from Callao to be 2,220 leagues, and that he said so for what might happen in consequence. For this reason, and because there was uneasiness and difference of opinion respecting the voyage among some, the Captain ordered a flag to be hoisted on the maintopmast, the signal for counsel; in order that the people, who were little satisfied with what they heard the Chief Pilot say, might be appeased and quieted. The two other vessels closed, and the Admiral, Luis Vaez Torres, Juan Bernardo de Fuentidueña, and from the launch the Captain of her, Pedro Bernal Cermeño, all three being pilots, came in their boats to the Capitana. Being together, with the Chief Pilot and his assistant, Gaspar Gonzalez, the former, without any apparent cause, went up into the deck-house in a great state of agitation, a thing which appeared to everyone very strange and very bad. The Captain called him down, and, when he had come, the meeting was thus addressed:—
“This meeting is convoked in order that each one may state in public the number of leagues he believes we are from the port of Callao, also the reason why we have not yet come to the island of Santa Cruz, having navigated in order to reach it, and on the same parallel. Take notice that it is large and not low, and that near it there is a volcano so high that it may be seen at a distance of 40 leagues; also that the distance of Santa Cruz from Lima is 1,850 leagues.” When the Captain had said this, the Pilots showed their charts and notes. As they were only by dead reckoning, there were great differences, especially in the reckoning of the Chief Pilot, which was 2,300 more or less, and in that of Captain Bernal. The Admiral said that he made it 2,000 leagues, and that there may be currents which detained the ships, or that he may have over-rated his distances, or that Santa Cruz may be further from Lima than is shown in the charts; and other explanations which at present they could not make out. If we sailed on the same parallel to the year’s end without seeing the sought-for island, it would be understood that we had not passed by it. The Pilot, Juan Bernardo de Fuentidueña, was of the same opinion; his position and that of his assistant not being so far in advance as the others.
The Chief Pilot wishing, for reasons he gave, to make it believed that his position was the right one, asked the Captain to look to the north, where he would see very large and swollen waves, a certain sign that we were much further to the east than was supposed. The Chief Pilot also said that we had been sailing for ninety-four days. The Captain replied that in the former voyage the island of Santa Cruz was sighted after sixty-nine days, and though it was true that we had now been sailing for a long time, there were many nights when the swell was against the ship’s progress, and that on many others they had been under very small sail; that there had been detentions of days at the various islands in seeking for ports, and that during nearly all the month of May, in which we were, there had been calms or light winds, while there had not been wanting in other periods of the voyage calm weather or changes of wind, or other causes for waste of time, which reduced the real number of days’ runs to sixty-four, and that for sixty-nine there wanted five still, to equalise the two voyages. He himself had taken the sun in the island of Santa Cruz, and he was certain that the latitude was 10° 20′, and that we neither were behind nor in advance.
Presently the Chief Pilot showed on his chart the track he had drawn upon it from Callao to 26°, which the ships reached, the course being nearly W.S.W. It seemed that this was his chief mistake, for he multiplied degrees on the W.S.W. course, which is the direction in which he had to navigate, and he laid down the route by the course, which is the same as by it and by the latitude; when it should have been, for more accuracy, by the estimated leagues and the known latitude. He did not calculate for errors in determining distances in a route from east to west, and their two quarters, caused by the variation of the needle, more or less leeway, winds and sails and other things to be considered, and necessary calculations so as to be able to mark on the chart the position nearest the truth. This was not the navigation that the Chief Pilot had been accustomed to make. His experience was from Acapulco or Panama to Callao, along the coast, and when out of sight of land, it is a short distance off, and even if it is great, the land is extensive and well known that he had to seek, which, if not seen on one day, will be on the next; and if he does not make a landfall where he intended, he can do so where the coast is known, and find the port he seeks.
Having made a calculation of all that has been said, and laid down what was afterwards found when we came to the port of Acapulco, it was established that there was an error of 600 leagues, as can be proved when necessary. The Captain gave these and other reasons to all, and some to the Chief Pilot, who became agitated, and again went up into his deck-house. Thence he declared that he came to serve the King, and not for pay, and that he had worked hard in fitting out the ships and at other duties. To all this the Captain replied that all present were aware that, without knowing him, nor owing him anything, nor wanting him, but only to do him good he had been taken, but the Captain had seen that, by his inefficiency, it became impossible that he could be any use. Finally, the Chief Pilot showed himself to be ungrateful. The Captain said to him that it was enough to know that it was incredible how much he had said, and that it was not to be hoped from his mind that his work would be well to the point. In fine, in the ship it was said that there was one who did not wish that lands should be discovered, nor that anything should be found; and the Captain, seeing the state of affairs, and the obligation to all, said to the Admiral that he was to take away the Chief Pilot as a prisoner. Presently it was reported to the Captain that the ship was in a state of mutiny, owing to what he had said in public. “Is there one that objects, it being for the royal service, that I turn the Chief Pilot out of the ship?” One who spoke in his favour was ordered to hold his tongue, being told that the day before he had said just the contrary.
With the departure of the Chief Pilot all his friends were much distressed; but the ship was without those licences and disturbances which had been going on until now.
The Captain said to Pedro Bernal Cermeño that he wished him to remain and assume the office of Chief Pilot, and he went to fetch his clothes from the launch. But his people showed themselves so discontented at his going that, his exhortations not sufficing, he was forced to threaten them. Thus he apparently quieted them, and there remained as Chief Pilot Gaspar Gonzalez de Leza, an honest man and good pilot.
The Captain caused a block to be placed at the yard-arm, and from that time forward he lived with a caution necessary among such villains. He said: “For what evil deeds that I have done do I go sold in this ship, where are some to whom I have done such good deeds, and desire to do more? The great mistake was not to have thought of bringing irons, fetters, and chains from Lima, intending to oblige by faithful treatment and to bring out the good.” While the Captain was still in Madrid, he went to see a Friar, Andrés de San Vincente, a Dominican; and he said that, navigating with the Chief Pilot of Ternate to Malacca, the ship he was in was lost; on account of which, and the fault that the passenger caused, and the exigency in which they placed him, he said: “Oh, Captain Quiros, this is your fault, because you did not chastise me for the occasion I gave you, your piety not allowing you.”
There were not wanting in the ship those who were tired of her, and they asked the Captain to let them play a little, and that the winnings should be given for the souls in purgatory. But the Captain said to them many times that they would not risk to go on with such new and good work if there was playing and swearing. As for the alms offered from the results of betting, he would not want to take a soul out of purgatory, and set it on the road to Heaven, if it left his and the souls of others in hell; and it would be much better to give, without playing, that which would be given by playing. For passing the time there are very good books, and one who would teach to read, write, and count to those who do not know how; also a master-at-arms, black swords,[1] practised soldiers to teach recruits, and one who would teach them the art of fortification and artillery, the spheres and navigation; and that these pursuits were better than to play for money.
[1] Probably wooden swords for teaching the drill.