and he [de la Torre] has been elected captain, “not
because they found in me any good qualifications for
the office, but only a willing spirit.”
He gives account to the king “of all that has
happened, as I am obliged to do, and because of my
office it is more fitting for me than any other to
do so.” Some notable events mentioned in
the log are: the entrance into the Santa Cruz
River on January 18, 1526; their arrival on the twenty-fourth
at the cape of Las Virgines, near which Juan Sebastian
del Cano’s ship founders in a storm; and the
passage of the strait, beginning March 29, by three
ships and the tender, the last-named being lost on
Easter Day. A detailed description of the strait
follows. On September 4, “we saw land,
and it was one of the islands of the Ladrones which
the other expedition had discovered,” where
they find a Spaniard who had fled from the ship of
the former expedition. On September 10 they depart
from this island for the Moluccas. October 8 they
land at an island where the friendly advances of the
natives are checked by a native from Malacca, who
declares that the Castilians would kill all the inhabitants.
On the tenth, “the eleven slaves we had seized
in the island of the Ladrones fled in the same canoe
that we had seized with them.” On the twenty-first
they anchor at “Terrenate, one of the Malucos,
and the most northern of them.” November
4, they have news that the Portuguese are fortified
in other islands of the archipelago. Negotiations
with the Portuguese are detailed at some length.
“The islands having cloves are these: Terrenate,
Tidori, Motil, Maquian, Bachan.” A description
of these islands follows, and then the pilot adds,
“All these islands of Maluco and those near by
are ... mountainous.” March 30, 1528 a Castilian
vessel anchors at Tidore, one of three sent by Cortes
[5] to seek news of Loaisa. The two others had
been blown from their course five or six days before
reaching the Ladrones. This ship, under command
of Captain Saavedra Ceron, had ransomed three men
of the caravel “Santa Maria del Parral,”
one of Loaisa’s ships, on an island to the north
of Tidore. These men declare that their ship
had been captured by the natives, the captain and
most of the crew killed, and the remainder made prisoners.
The accusation is made that these three men, in company
with others, had themselves killed their captain.
The document closes with various observations as to
recent events, and states various needs of the Spaniards.
The governor praises Saavedra, declaring that because
of his diligence he is worthy of great rewards. (No.
xiv, pp. 241-313.)