[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.