In this confusion and in great sorrow we continued on our course. The Captain was anxious to clear up the mystery, and made enquiries. He found that, on certain days, the lad had filled two pitchers with seeds, beads, bells, twine, nets, knives, and a hatchet; that he had closed their mouths with wax of Nicaragua, that he had put wine and a small box of conserves into a moderate-sized jar, and had taken his sword. On that same morning he had been very attentive, listening to the life of St. Anthony the hermit being read to him, and praising it much. He turned down the page and kept the book. All the afternoon he was at the masthead looking out, and taking bearings of the land with a compass he possessed. On the night that he disappeared it was noticed that he was very watchful. It was conjectured that with a board, and some battens and cord he had in his berth, he had made a raft, and that he went away on it, taking with him all the things that have been mentioned, for none of them were to be found. It was also said that he had a strong wish to remain with the natives of the discovered land, and that he had asked one man to stay with him; but as our departure had been sudden, he had no opportunity of carrying out his intention. He had, therefore, determined to leave us here, to teach the heathens or to live in solitude. His chest was opened, and there was found his clothes, his money, and a memorandum of all that did not belong to him and had been given to him to take care of, desiring that it should be returned to the owners.

This was the act of a man whom we held to be rational and a good Christian, and when I think of his strange resolution it causes me sorrow, much more that he should have launched himself on such a raft, with great risk that he would never put his feet on land. Even if he did, he might not find the requisites to sustain him. If he tried to go inland, or to the banks of some river, or along the shore, who was to carry the two pitchers for him, with the things he had with him, and the other necessaries to maintain life? If eventually he met with natives, they might be those who would receive him and treat him well, or they might be those who eat human flesh. Then, to think of the solitude, of his nakedness, and of the inclemency of the weather. If he finds that the land does not suit him, from not offering the means of carrying out his intention, or from having repented of what he had done, how far he will be from any remedy, and how near to danger and evil! There are other things well worthy of consideration; above all, his being cut off from the divine offices and the sacraments. As I know not his motives, I will not venture to be his judge in this matter; only desiring that the Lord may have been served by guiding his destiny in such a way that he may have been saved, and many others with him.

A Great Storm.

We continued on our course, the men ready with their arms, and look-out men at the mast-heads, because we were approaching a cape called San Lucas, where the Englishman, Thomas Cavendish, robbed the ship Santa Ana. We soon passed it and in peace, and on Wednesday the 11th of October, the sky was serene, the sea smooth, without conjunction or opposition of the moon. But, in the mouth of the Gulf of California, towards dawn, a wind sprung up from the N.E., with very thick weather. At nine o’clock the wind shifted to N., and increased so that we were obliged to batten down the hatchways, and run before it only under the foresail, which was soon blown to ribbons, and the ship broached to, breaking the rudder pintels. The rudder being thus left free, gave such violent blows on either side that the least harm to be feared was that it would be smashed into splinters and leave the ship ungovernable. Presently the sailors, understanding what that signified, helped each other and rigged tackles, with which the rudder came under control. In bending another foresail the man who was at the yard-arm was twice covered with water, and was under water for long spaces of time.

Presently we tried to make sail and run before it; but the wind increased to such an extent that the violent seas threw up spray which seemed like showers of rain, and the drops made the eyes smart.

The waves filled the boat with water, and it was quickly washed into the sea. It was scarcely gone when three seas broke over the ship, with such force that they left her with the waist half full of water. With this weight and the violence of the wind the ship could not rise to it. Seeing this, the Moorish drummer said: “Here we have nothing more to hope for.” Presently he tossed himself into the sea, and such was his luck that another wave brought him on board again. That he might not commit such an act of folly again, he was taken into custody.

The scuppers, where the water flows out of a ship, were small and few. With water up to their waists, the men succeeded with bars and levers in tearing away some of the planks, so as to allow the water to escape. Here was seen those who helped without intelligence, and others who ought to have helped but did not. Some were to be seen at the pumps, others trying to lighten the ship, and many hoarse with crying: “Cut away the main mast; it is that which is taking us to the bottom.” Some said Yes, others said No; but, in an instant, with knives and hatchets, they were cutting away the weather rigging. The Captain called to the Pilots to look out. They remained deaf. He sent to tell them all to wait another hour. Many, seeing that the remedy was delayed and the knife was only threatened, the diligence they used was for what was important for their souls. Some confessed, others sought pardon and pardoned, embraced and took leave of each other. Some groaned and others wept, and many went into corners awaiting death.

The Captain, in great haste, ordered the two natives to be brought to the bed where he was lying, and the Franciscan Father to ask them whether they wished to be Christians. Both replied in the affirmative very fervently, and, when they had recited the creed, he baptized them, calling them Pedro and Pablo.

The Captain was their godfather, and embraced them with his eyes full of tears. Seeing that they were frightened, he consoled them, saying: “To God be the thanks that I owe and ought to give, oh eternal Father! for such signal mercies. For you have been served that I should go through such labours, without meriting this small fruit: small as compared with my desires, but really great, for they are two souls newly baptized and brought into the bosom of our Catholic Church.”

Pedro and Pablo were very devout and constant in prayers, with their hands joined, and when the ship appeared to be sinking they cried: “Jesus! Mary!” making the sign of the cross towards the sea. It was enough to see and hear them, to melt the hardest hearts. The ship ran on, and hope arose. There was one who said: “Fear nothing; for such a work is done that God will add what is needed to save the ship and crew.”