SINCE it pleased God to deliver Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca from captivity, and from the troubles that he underwent for ten years in Florida, he came to these kingdoms in the year of our Lord 1537, where he remained till the year 1540; in which year there came to this court of His Majesty some persons from the river La Plata to inform His Majesty of what had happened to the army which Don Pedro de Mendoza had taken there, and of the danger those were in who had survived, and to supplicate that His Majesty would be pleased to aid and succour them before they perished (as but few of them remained). And when His Majesty knew of it, he ordered that a certain arrangement and capitulation should be made with Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca, in order that he might go to their relief. This arrangement and capitulation was there effected, the said Cabeza de Vaca offering to go to their assistance, and undertaking to expend for that journey and relief, in horses, arms, apparel and provisions, as well as other things, eight thousand ducats. And in consideration of this treaty thus entered into, His Majesty favoured him with the governorship and general captaincy of that land and province, and with the title of Adelantado.[297] It pleased also His Majesty to grant to him the twelfth part of everything that was in that land and province, and of all that entered and went out of it, provided that the aforesaid Alvar Nuñez expended on that expedition the sum of eight thousand ducats as aforesaid. And so, in fulfilment of the agreement entered into with His Majesty, he started immediately for Seville in order to put the agreement into execution, and to make provision for the aforesaid assistance and armament. And to this effect he bought two vessels and a caravel, together with another that was in waiting for him at Canaria. One of these vessels was newly arrived from her first voyage and was of three hundred and fifty tons burden, and the other was of one hundred and fifty tons. He equipped these vessels very well and supplied them with plenty of commodities, and engaged pilots and sailors, and four hundred soldiers well trained to the use of arms, and such as were wanted for that relief; and all that volunteered for that expedition were provided with a double set of arms. In order to complete his purchases and supplies he remained there from the month of May till the end of September, when the ships were ready to sail. But the weather being unfavourable, he was detained in the city of Cadiz from the end of September till the 2nd of November, on which day he set sail and made his voyage, and in nine days arrived at the island of La Palma, where he disembarked with all his people, and remained there twenty-five days, waiting for a favourable wind to continue his voyage. At the end of this time he sailed towards Cape Verde. In this voyage the ship, the Capitana, made so much water that it rose to the height of ten spans in the hold of the vessel. Five hundred quintals of biscuits were damaged, and much oil was lost, besides other commodities. This accident caused them great trouble, and they kept at the pumps day and night till they arrived at the island of St. Iago (one of the Cape Verde Islands). Here they disembarked and landed the horses, in order that they might refresh themselves and rest from their fatigues, and because it was necessary to unload the vessel in order to stop the leak. And after she had been unloaded the master stopped the leak (for he was the best diver in Spain). They sailed from La Palma to Cape Verde in ten days, for they are 300 leagues apart. In this island the harbour is very bad because of the many sharp, sunken rocks that fray the cables attached to the anchors, and when they pull on them in order to raise the anchors these remain in the rocks. And for this reason the sailors have a saying that there are many rats in that harbour, which gnaw the cables asunder; and because of this, it is a very dangerous harbour for vessels stationed there in the event of a storm. This island is unhealthy and full of infections in the winter, so much so that the greater part of those who go ashore there die in a few days, soon after their arrival. The armada, however, remained there twenty-five days, during which not a single man died; and the inhabitants were much astonished at this, and took it as a great marvel. And the inhabitants gave them a good reception; and this island is very rich, and there are more doubloons in it than reales,[298] for those who traffic there for negroes were giving a doubloon for twenty reales.
[297] Governor of province on the frontiers and in newly-discovered countries.
[298] The meaning of this is that gold was more plentiful in the island of St. Iago than silver.
[CHAPTER THE SECOND.]
How we departed from the island of Cabo Verde.
WHEN we had repaired the leak of the Admiral ship, and purchased the necessary supplies, such as water, meat, and other things, we embarked and pursued our voyage and crossed the equinoctial line, and, continuing our navigation, the master took stock of the water that was on board the Admiral, and, out of a hundred barrels that had been stored, he found no more than three left, and four hundred men and thirty horses had to drink. And the governor, having seen the necessity we were in, ordered the ship to land; and they were in search of it three days, and the fourth day, one hour before dawn, a wonderful thing happened, and as it is not beyond our purpose, I will relate it. It happened, as the vessels were going towards land, they were on the point of striking some very high rocks, and nobody would have seen or been aware of them had not a cock began to crow which one of the soldiers had put on board at Cadiz, being desirous of listening to the music of the cock; during two months and a half, however, we had neither heard it nor known of its existence; and the soldier was grieved at its silence. That morning, however, the bird felt the land and began to crow, and its music woke all the people on the vessel, who saw the rocks an arrow-flight off, and shouted to let go the anchors, as we were drifting towards the rocks. And so they lowered the anchors, and this saved us, for had not the cock crowed our four hundred men and thirty horses would assuredly have been drowned; and we all thought it a miracle of God for us. And while we navigated more than one hundred leagues along the coast, the cock gave us his music every night, and so the armada arrived at an harbour which is called Cananea,[299] which lies beyond Cape Frio,[300] and is twenty-four degrees of elevation. It is a good harbour, and there are several islands at its entrance. The water is clear and eleven fathoms deep. Here the governor took possession in the name of His Majesty, and having done so, he left that harbour and passed over the river and the bay called San Francisco,[301] which is twenty-five leagues from Cananea, and thence the armada proceeded to the island of Santa Catalina, which is twenty-five leagues from the Rio de San Francisco, and they anchored at the island of Santa Catalina, after encountering many troubles and reverses on the voyage, arriving there on the 29th of March 1541. The island of Santa Catalina is barely in the twenty-eighth degree of latitude.
[299] Cananea, on the coast of the province San Paulo, Brazil, in lat. 25° 1′ S., long. 47° 51′ W.
[300] Cape Frio is east of Rio de Janeiro, in lat. 23° 1′ S., long. 41° 58′ W., where the coast trends northward.