Chapter XXXIII.
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.