Chapter XXXVII.
Of various things that happened to the Chief Pilot, Pedro Fernandez de Quiros.
We were some time in the city of Manilla, which is the capital of the government of the Philippine Islands. It is built on a clear point running out into the sea, and by the mouth of a river. It has a good fortress, and other houses well worthy of special note, on which a long chapter might be written. But I must be excused, referring the reader to a special book on the city, the Philippine Islands, and the history of their conquest, which was written by Dr Antonio de Morga.[1]
While I was in the city there arrived the new Governor, Don Francisco Tello, who had been Treasurer of the Board of Trade at Seville. There were great festivals for his reception, got up both by the Spaniards and natives. It was a special sight to behold three elephants which were brought into the square, of which the largest, named Don Fernando, had been sent as a present from the King of Cambodia to the late Governor when he asked for help. On each one there was an Indian driver, dexterous in the method of governing the elephant, both by words and by the use of an iron hooked instrument. Placed in front with his goad, the driver made him run, march, go down on his knees, raise himself, and other things well worth seeing. This hook serves the same use as a bridle for a horse. They were performing in front of the Governor, who was sitting at a window, to whom they put their knees on the ground three times, the feet stretched out behind, as they are unable to double up. The performances of the elephants were numerous, and, as a conclusion, they took Don Fernando apart, and his Indians placed him facing the beams on which had been fastened the castle of fire on the night before. Saying a word, and touching his forehead with the goad, the elephant gave a blow, and took the beam on his two tusks with great ease; and so he upset the whole: a thing worth seeing.
A few days afterwards (according to what was said), when this elephant was drinking at the river, there came to him a great and well-fed crocodile, which had taken many natives in that river. He seized the elephant by the trunk, and when the elephant felt it, he raised up the crocodile just as easily as a fishing rod raises a light fish, and let him fall on the ground without more ado. A crocodile, such as this one, weighs as much as a fat bullock.
They say also that this elephant had a boil on his gum, of which the native driver cured him, but the pain made him throw about his trunk so as to hurt his driver. When the elephant was to be healed, the driver said to him: “I am very angry, Don Fernando, for in return for the good I did you, you tried to kill me. What do you think the King, my Lord and yours, who sent you here, and gave me for your companion to look after you, if he knew of it, would say. See how you can no longer eat, and are getting thin, and you will soon die without any fault of mine. Open your mouth, if you please, and presently I will cure you like a friend, forgetting the harm you did me.” The elephant, having taken two turns with his trunk round a shelf that was there, opened his mouth, and was operated upon without moving, his groans showing what pain he endured. And so he was cured.
Of another elephant they told me that, to avenge himself on a native who had charge of him, he crushed him when he passed through a doorway, and killed him. The man’s wife said to the elephant: “Don Pedro, you have killed my husband. Who is now going to maintain me?” On which the elephant went to the market place, and took a basket of rice which it gave to her, and when it saw that she had eaten it all, it fetched another, and then another. Things are said of these animals which seem incredible, and the wonderful thing is that they understand everything, in whatever language it is spoken, as I have myself seen. An elephant was surrounded by Spanish soldiers, and one told him, without making any sign, to take a plantain out of his pocket and eat it. The elephant promptly put his trunk into the pocket, and when he found that no plantain was there, he took up a little earth in his trunk, and threw it in the face of the soldier who had deceived him.
When the festivities were over, our Governess married a young cavalier named Don Fernando de Castro, a cousin of the Governor Marinas, who, as was just, took possession of the property of his wife as his own, and he was able to secure much in the city. With this help the ship was victualled and furnished with all that was necessary. On the day of St. Lawrence, we made sail to undertake the voyage to New Spain. But, having started so late, we had to go through incredible hardships and troubles. At last we arrived in the port of Acapulco on the 11th of December of the year 1597, where the ship was visited, and all received free leave to land. There I, Captain Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, took leave of the Governess, and of my other companions, and embarked on board a passenger ship for Peru.
[1] Edited for the Hakluyt Society by Lord Stanley of Alderley in 1868.
NARRATIVE
OF
THE VOYAGE
OF THE
ADELANTADO
ALVARO DE MENDAÑA DE NEIRA
FOR THE
Discovery of the Islands of Solomon.[1]
WRITTEN BY
THE CHIEF PILOT,
PEDRO FERNANDEZ DE QUIROS,
FOR
DR. ANTONIO DE MORGA, LIEUTENANT-GENERAL OF THE PHILIPPINES.
[1] Contained in the Sucesos de las Islas Philipinas of Antonio de Morga (1609); translated by Lord Stanley of Alderley for the Hakluyt Society, 1868.
SECOND VOYAGE
OF THE
ADELANTADO ALVARO DE MENDAÑA,
BY
HIS CHIEF PILOT, PEDRO FERNANDEZ DE QUIROS.
On Friday, the 9th of April, of the year 1595, the Commander-in-Chief, Alvaro de Mendaña, set sail with his fleet to go and subject and people the western islands of the South Sea, from the port of the Callao of Lima, which is in 12½° S. latitude; passing by the valleys of Santa, Truxillo and Saña, and collecting men and provisions, he went to Paita, where he took in water, and made a list of four hundred persons, more or less, with his four vessels, two large and two small. He left this port (which is 5° higher than the said port), steering W.S.W., making for the islands of his discovery: he took as Master of the Camp Pedro Merino Manrique, and as Admiral his brother-in-law, Lope de la Vega, and as Chief Pilot, Pedro Fernandez de Quiros; and he sailed on this course to the altitude of 9½°, from which point he sailed W. and to the point S.W. to 14°, where he changed his course to W. and the point N.W.; and having reached, by this course, fully 10° of latitude, on Friday, 21st of July, we sighted an island, to which the General gave the name of Magdalena, and from a port in it there came forth about seventy canoes, in each of which came three men, in some more in others less. Others came swimming, and others on logs: they were more than four hundred natives, white, and of very agreeable appearance, tall and strong, large limbed, and so well made that they had greatly the advantage over us; with handsome teeth, eyes and mouth, hands and feet, and most beautiful flowing hair, and many of them very fair. Amongst them were most beautiful youths; they were entirely naked, without covering on any part, and all had their bodies, legs, and arms, and hands, and some of them their faces, marked after the manner of the Bisayas here: and indeed, for savage people, naked and of so little reason, at sight of them there was much cause to praise God who created them. Let this not be taken for exaggeration, for so it is. These people called us to go to their port, and we called to them from our flag-ship, and they went on board of her, a matter of forty of them; and we appeared to be men of less than the usual stature by the side of them; and amongst them there came one who was understood to be a palm taller than the tallest man of our fleet, although we had in the fleet men of more than regulation height. The General gave there to some of them shirts and other things, which they received with much pleasure, and danced after their fashion, and called to the others. The General was put out of temper at the liberties they took, because they were great thieves; and he ordered a cannon to be fired to frighten them; when they heard it they took to swimming, and all seized their arms, and sounding a conch, they threw a few stones, and threatened with their lances, for they had no other arms. From the ship they fired at them with arquebuses, and killed five or six, and they remained there. As our fleet sailed on we discovered three other islands. This island may be 6 leagues round; we passed by it on the S. side; this is high, precipitous towards the sea, with rocky ravines, in which the natives dwell. There seemed to be many inhabitants in it, for we saw them on the rocks and beach; so we went on making for the other three islands. The first, to which was given the name of San Pedro, will be 10 leagues from Magdalena, and runs with it northward and to the point N.W.: it will have 3 leagues circuit. It is an island beautiful to look at, with much wood and fair fields: we did not know whether it was inhabited, for we did not come close to it. To the S.E. of it, about 5 leagues off, is another, which the General named Dominica; it is very fair to look at, and seemed thickly inhabited: it may have about 15 leagues circumference; and to the S. of this, and a matter of little more than a league off, is another island, which may be 8 leagues round, which received the name of Santa Christina; and our fleet passed through the channel between this and the other island. For all that we saw of these islands is clear sailing; and on the W. side of Sta. Christina a good port was found, in which the fleet anchored. These natives did not come before me like the others, but some very beautiful women were seen. I did not see them, but persons who had an opinion in the matter affirmed to me that there were as beautiful women as in Lima, but white, and not so tall; and in Lima there are some very pretty. What was seen in the way of victuals in that port was pigs and hens, sweet canes, very good plantains, cocos, a fruit which grows on high trees; each is as large as a large fir cone; it is very good to eat; much of it was eaten—green, roasted and boiled, and when ripened it is indeed so sweet and good a fruit to my way of thinking, that I know no other which has the advantage of it; there is hardly anything in it to throw away, unless a little husk. There was another fruit, like chestnuts in savour, but much larger than six chestnuts together: a good deal of that was eaten, roast and boiled; and some nuts with a very hard shell, which were very oily, and many of them were eaten; some suspect that they brought on looseness. We also saw pumpkins of Castille sown in the ground. There is a pretty waterfall close to the beach of very good water; it comes out of a rock, at the height of two men; its volume may be of the thickness of four or five fingers; and then, close to it, a stream of water, and the vessels supplied themselves from it. The natives went off to the mountains and rocks, in which they fortified themselves, and tried to do mischief by rolling stones and hurling them; but they never wounded any one, for the Master of the Camp stopped their advance by placing outposts. The natives of this island, on seeing a negro of ours, made signs towards the S., to say that in that direction there were men like him, and that they went there to fight, and that the others had arrows, and that these went in large canoes, which they possess. As there was no interpreter, nor much curiosity to learn more, the matter remained thus; but in my opinion, this is not possible for natives so isolated, unless there is a chain (of islands), because their boats and customs in other matters do not show that these people had come there from any great distance.
This port is in 9½° S. latitude. The Commander-in-Chief ordered three crosses to be set up in it, and on Saturday, 5th of August, to weigh anchor and set sail, making for the W., to the S.W., or N.W., a matter of 400 leagues. Sunday, the 20th of August, we saw four low islands, with sandy beaches, full of very many palms and woods, and on the S.E. side, towards the N., a great sand-bank. All four may have a circuit of 12 leagues. We did not know whether they were inhabited, because we did not go close to them. This year all seemed timid: I say this with rage. They are in 10¾° latitude, and were named after St. Bernard, having been discovered on his day. Henceforward we began to meet with S.E. winds, which appear to predominate here. With these we continued sailing to the above-mentioned points, never rising above 11 or going below 10 leagues, until Tuesday, 29th of August, when we discovered a round islet, which might be a league round, all surrounded by reefs. We tried to land on it, and could not find where to do so, in order to get wood and water for the Admiral’s ship, of which it had run very short; it was given the name of Solitary Island; it is in 10⅔°, and will be 1,535 leagues from Lima. From this place we went on navigating, with the above-mentioned orders, and a variety of opinions were given: some saying that we did not know where we were going, and other things which did not fail to cause grief. It was God’s pleasure, that on the eve of Our Lady in September, at midnight, we saw an island, which might have a circuit of from 90 to 100 leagues, and it lies about E.S.E. and W.N.W., and will be 1,800 leagues from Lima. The whole of it was very full of woods, reaching to the highest ridges, and where it was not cleared for the natives to sow, in all the rest not a span of earth was to be seen. The ships came to anchor in the northern part of the island in 10° latitude. To the N. of this port, about 7 leagues off, is a volcano, with a very well-shaped hill, from the top of which and from other parts issued much fire. The volcano is lofty, and may have a circumference of 3 leagues; it is precipitous on the side of the sea, and all bare, and without any part where a landing can be effected; it rumbles within frequently and loudly like thunder. To the N.E. of this volcano there are some small islets, which are inhabited, and a great quantity of shoals; there is a distance of 7 or 8 leagues to these islets, and the shoals run to the N.W.; and the person who went to see said that they were numerous. Around the great island there were some small islands: all of them, and the great one (when it was circumnavigated), were found to be inhabited; and within sight of this great island, to the S.E. of it, there was seen another island of no great size: this must be the link with others. After putting into port in the great island of Santa Cruz, for this was the name given it, the Commander-in-Chief ordered Captain Don Lorenzo, brother of his wife, to go with the frigate to seek the Admiral’s ship, which disappeared on the night in which we saw the island, respecting which I make no favourable conjecture; it was sought for this and two other times, and was not found, but only the shoals which I have mentioned. What was seen in the way of victuals in this port consisted of pigs, hens, plaintains, sweet canes, one, two, or three kinds of roots like sweet potatoes, which they eat roast and boiled, and make biscuit with it, buyos, two kinds of good almonds, and two kinds of pine nuts, wood-pigeons, doves, ducks, grey and white herons, swallows, pot-herbs, pumpkins of Castille, the fruit which I mentioned in the first islands, and chestnuts and nuts. There is a very strongly-scented sweet basil, and red flowers, which at this port they keep in the gardens, and two other species of another sort, also red. There is another fruit on high trees, like pippins for their good smell and savour. There is a great quantity of ginger, which grows there without its being cultivated, and much yerba chiquilite, with which they make indigo. There are agave trees, and a great deal of sagia, and many cocoa nuts. Marble was seen, and pearl shells, and large snail shells, like those which are brought here from China. There is a very copious spring, and five or six other rivers, though not very large. The settlement was established close to this spring. The natives attempted to defend themselves; and as the arquebus tells at a distance, seeing the evil effects, they did not defend themselves much, but, on the contrary, gave some of what they possessed. In this matter of going for provisions there were a few things happened, which were not very good treatment of the natives, for they killed the native who was our best friend, and the lord of that island; his name was Malope; and two or three others, who were also friendly. Of the whole island no more was seen than a matter of 3 leagues around the camp. The people of this island are black: they have small canoes made of one tree, in which they go about their villages, and other very large canoes with which they go out to sea. On Sunday, the 8th of October, the Commander-in-Chief ordered the Master of the Camp to be killed by stabbing, and they killed Tomas de Ampuero in the same manner, and they cut off the head of the Ensign, Juan de Buitrago, and he wished to put to death two other friends of the Master of the Camp; but he left them alone, because we entreated him to do so. The cause of this was public, because they wished to go away from the country, and abandon it, and there must have been other reasons, but I am unacquainted with them. What I saw was much dissoluteness and shamelessness, and more than enough improper conduct. On the 18th of October the Commander-in-Chief died: on the 17th there had been a total eclipse of the moon. On the 2nd of November his brother-in-law, Don Lorenzo, who had succeeded as Captain-General, died; and, seven or eight days before, the priest, Antonio de Serpa; and on the 8th November the Vicar, Juan de Espinosa. There was great sickness amongst our people, and as there was little care for want of an apothecary and doctor, many of them died; and they begged the lady Governor, Doña Ysabel Barreto, to take them out of the country. One and all agreed to embark; and, trusting ourselves to the mercy of God, we left this port on Saturday the 18th of the said month, in a westerly direction to the S.W. point, making for the island of St. Christopher; or, more exactly, in search of it, to see if it or the Admiral’s ship could be fallen in with, for so the lady Governor commanded. We sailed two days and saw nothing; and at the request of all the people, who cried out that we were taking them to destruction, she ordered me to shape the course from this town to Manilla, from a port in 10½°, from which I came steering to N.W. to avoid meeting islands on the way, for we were ill-prepared to go amongst them: with the crews so sick that there died whilst we were sailing some fifty persons, and there in the island forty persons, a little more or less. We made our course, short of provisions, navigating 5° S. and as many in N. latitude. We met many impediments and calms, and in fully 6° N. latitude saw an island, which seemed to have a circumference of 25 leagues, thickly wooded, and inhabited by very many people, like those of the Ladrones, for we saw them in canoes which came out to us. From the S.E. to the N. and then to S.W. it is surrounded by large reefs. On its western side, about 4 leagues off, there are some low islets; we found no place to anchor, though we tried, for the galeot and frigate which sailed with our ship had disappeared some days back. From this place we came by the said course to latitude 13¾°, and in two days that we sailed W. in this latitude we sighted Serpana and Guan in the Ladrones, and we passed between the two and did not anchor, from not having ropes to lower and recover the boat. This day was the 3rd of January of 1596, and on the 14th of the said month we saw the cape of Espiritu Santo, and on the 15th anchored in the bay of Cobos. We arrived there in such a state that only the goodness of God could bring us thither, for human strength and resources were not enough to reach to a tenth of the way. There we arrived so dismantled, and the men so thin and worn out, that it was the most pitiable sight that could be seen, with only nine or ten pitchers of water. In this bay of Cobos the ship and crew were set to rights as much as was possible, and on Tuesday, the 2nd of February, we left that port and bay, and on the 10th of the same month we anchored in this port of Cabite.
Besides the desire which I have to serve your Honour, that which moves me to leave this brief narrative with your Honour is, that an account may remain (if perchance God should dispose of my life, or anything else should arise, or I or she that I take with me should be missing), and that it may give light, which may be a business of great service to God and to the King our sovereign. May your Honour be pleased to accept the goodwill to serve you which I retain; and if God make me return to this port there will be an opportunity to set it forth better; and at the same time will your Honour forgive my being so short, for time is in fault for being so with me. I beg you to keep it secret, for man does not know what time brings; for looking at it rightly, it is fit that the first islands should remain concealed until His Majesty be informed, and order whatever may be most for his service: for as they are placed, taking a middle position between Peru, New Spain, and this country, the English, on knowing it, might settle in them, and do much mischief in this sea. And consider me as the faithful servant of your Honour, whom may God preserve many years, with much satisfaction and increase of dignity, etc.
Your servant,
Pedro Fernandez de Quiros.
To the Dr. Antonio de Morga, Lieutenant-General of His Majesty in the Philippines.
NARRATIVE
OF
THE VOYAGE
OF
Pedro Fernandez de Quiros
IN 1606,
FOR THE
Discovery of the Austrial Regions.
Voyage of Pedro Fernandez de Quiros.
Chapter I.
Of various things that happened to the Chief Pilot, Pedro Fernandez de Quiros; until he arrived at the court of the King of Spain.
Having sailed along the whole coast of New Spain, I arrived at the port of Payta on the 3rd of May, 1598. Thence I wrote a letter to the Viceroy, Don Luis de Velasco, and travelled by land to Lima, where I arrived on the 5th of June, and was very well received by the said Viceroy. He desired to be specially informed respecting all the particulars of our voyage and discoveries, and I gave him the best account in my power. I also offered that, if he would give me a vessel of 70 tons and 40 sailors, I would return to discover those lands and many others which I suspect to exist, and even felt certain that I should find in those seas.
But in the end he came to the conclusion that he could not give me the necessary means without first consulting and receiving orders from His Majesty. He thought it would be the best plan that I should proceed in person to the court of Spain, as the business was so serious and important, and as no one could undertake it so well as myself, who possessed such complete information. On his part, the Viceroy would help me by giving me letters of introduction to the King and to his councillors. Having received them, I embarked on board the Capitana at the port of Callao, on the 17th of April, 1598, under General Don Beltran de Castro y de la Cueva, arriving at Panama after a voyage of twenty-two days. Thence I went by land to Puerto Bello, where I embarked in a frigate, and in seven days arrived at Cartagena. I found this place in great confusion, because a fleet of twenty large ships had appeared before it, under the command of the English Earl of Morlant (Cumberland), who had previously taken the city of Puerto Rico. But most of this fear disappeared on the arrival of Don Luis Fajardo, knight of the order of Calatrava, and General of the fleet for guarding the Indies and the route to them.
From Cartagena I wrote to the Viceroy of Peru, in case I should die on the voyage, giving him a more detailed account of the enterprise I wished to undertake, and of what would be necessary when it should be taken in hand. Don Luis de Fajardo, having returned from Puerto Bello with the silver, I embarked on board his galleon, and we left Cartagena on the 1st of November, 1598. After twenty-seven days we anchored at Havanna, whence we sailed on the 16th of January in the following year, convoying thirty ships. Having made a good start, we encountered such a gale in 29° N. that we were in great danger of being lost. Many ships disappeared, and others, including ourselves, were obliged to return to Cartagena on Tuesday the 3rd of March. Thence I wrote to His Majesty and to the Viceroy of Peru; but we had to winter at that port all that year until, having sent the news to His Majesty and two galleons having come for the silver, the two Generals embarked fifteen millions on board twenty vessels. They made sail on the 4th of January and, after encountering several tempests, they sighted Cape St. Vincent, where they captured two English ships. On the 25th of February, 1600, with salutes of artillery, and amidst the music of instruments, we anchored at San Lucar.
There I embarked for Seville, where I entered the city so well fitted for giving an account of myself, as may be understood from the labours I had passed through, and the hardships I had suffered. Finding myself free from them, and considering that the year was the holy one, during which the great jubilee is celebrated at Rome, I determined to go to Rome, and pass the summer in a visit to the holy city. With this object I sold the little I possessed, bought the dress of a pilgrim, and only with the help of a pilgrim’s staff I went on foot to Cartagena of the east, encountering several adventures. When the galleys of Italy arrived, I embarked in one of them, which coasted along by Valencia and Barcelona. On the 5th of August we crossed the bay of Narbonne; and soon afterwards landed at the port of Baya, which is in the territory of Genoa. Thence, dressed as a pilgrim, and accompanied by two others and a friar, we passed through all the finest cities of Italy, where there was much to see and to notice.
Finally, having reached the great city of Rome, I had the good fortune to be well received and listened to by the Lord Duke of Sesa,[1] who at that time held the office of Ambassador from Spain at that court. To him I gave an account of the lands that had been discovered, and of my desire to return to them; and submitted that it would be right for His Holiness to favour the enterprise. I addressed myself chiefly to the importance of saving an infinity of souls, such as exist in that new world. It seemed good to His Excellency, and he called together a meeting in his house of the best pilots and mathematicians to be found in Rome. Having made a detailed examination of my papers and charts in his presence, they came to the conclusion that all I had said was probable, and worthy to be put into execution.
The Lord Duke then arranged for me an interview with His Holiness Clement VIII, which took place on the 28th of August, I having first dined at the table of the poor. His Holiness heard me very attentively, saw all the papers I showed him, and approved of my zeal and veracity. He encouraged me to persevere in my laudable intentions, and conceded many graces and indulgences for the time when I should begin the voyage. He gave me letters to the Majesty of the King our Lord, to whom also the Lord Duke of Sesa wrote letters of recommendation; and he also gave me letters to other princes and councillors of the court of Spain, with the means of proceeding thither. Having gained the holy jubilee, and beheld many things which were worthy of note, including the canonization of the glorious St. Raymond, I was still detained in Rome much longer than I expected, for the completion of the letters and indulgences already mentioned, and that His Holiness might show me favour by giving me some rosaries that had been blessed, and a piece of the wood of the Cross. About this there was great difficulty.
At length, these and others having been overcome, the day arrived for my departure from Rome, which was the afternoon of Holy Wednesday of the year 1602. Having visited the holy dwelling of Our Lady of Loreto and passed through the cities of Arimino,[2] Forli, Ferrara, and Lodi, in which I found much to see and take note of, and where I met with various and notable adventures, I entered the city of Milan, which contains so many grand and admirable buildings, that to treat of them briefly would be to do them injustice. I passed by Pavia and Tortona, and went thence to sleep at the town of San Estevan, the first place in the territory of Genoa. Then I entered Genoa at so fortunate a time that on the second day I was able to embark on board one of the six galleys of Prince Doria, who was sent with his nephew to congratulate His Majesty on the birth of a princess. We arrived at Barcelona, where I went to Montserrat, and, passing through other cities of Spain, I entered Madrid on the octave of Corpus Christi of the same year, 1602. The court not being there, having moved to Valladolid, I went to the famous convent of the Escurial, where I had notice that His Majesty then was, with whom I might speak, and kiss his royal hands, and give him my memorial respecting my pretensions, on Monday, the 17th of June of the said year.
[1] Don Antonio de Cardona y Cordova, sixth Duke of Sesa, was descended from the Great Captain. He was son of Don Fernando de Cordova y Requesens, second Duke of Soma, by Doña Beatriz de Figueroa. He became Duke of Sesa by renunciation of his aunt, Francesca de Cordova, and succeeded an elder brother as Duke of Soma. He was also Duke of Baena. The Duke of Sesa died at Valladolid on January 6th, 1606.
[2] Rimini.