Copy of a Letter Sent from Seuilla
To Miguel Saluador of
Valencia.  Which Narrates the Fortunate
Discovery Made By the Mexicans Who
Sailed in the Fleet Which His Majesty
Ordered to Be Built in
Mexico.  With Other Wonderful
Things of Great Advantage
For All Christendom: 
Worthy of
Being Seen and
Heard.

¶_Printed in Barcelona, By Pau Cortey, 1566._

Of this discovery, two relations have come from China:  namely, that on the seventeenth of November, [103] in the year one thousand five hundred and sixty-four, a fleet was made ready by order of his majesty in Puerto de le Natividad, (which is situated on the Southern Sea, one hundred leagues from Mexico), consisting of two ships and two pataches, in order to discover the spice islands, which are named Philippinas, after our king.  This fleet, when ready for sailing, cost more than six hundred thousand pesos of Atipusque. [104]

¶These vessels set sail from port on the above-mentioned day, voyaging in company for six days.  On the seventh a squall struck them, separating from the others the patache, a vessel of fifty tons’ burden, and carrying a crew of twenty men. [105] This vessel sailed for fifty days, at the end of which time land was sighted.  This proved to be a number of islands, among which they saw one larger than the others, where they cast anchor. ¶On the shore of the island were gathered the natives, who are lighter complexioned than our Indians, the women being of even lighter hue than the men.  Men and women were clad alike in garments woven from the palm, and worked along the edges with different colored silks.  By way of adornment, they color their teeth, and bore them through from side to side, placing pegs of gold in the holes.  The men wear drawers of cotton cloth, silken garters, and many pieces of gold. ¶Among them was one man who seemed of higher rank than the others, clad wholly in silk, and wearing a cutlass, of which the hilt and sword guard were gold and precious stones. ¶Our men asked them for food, giving them various trinkets in exchange.  But they asked for iron, which was given to them; and when they caught sight of the nails, they desired nothing else, and paid for them with gold-dust.  Some of them wear very neatly-made steel daggers, and they appear to be a polite and intelligent people.  They use weights and measures.  They gave our men deer, swine, poultry, quail, rice, millet, and bread made of dates—­all in great abundance.  The patache remained here for about thirty days, waiting for the other ships; but, as these did not come, they determined to return to Mexico.  As they left the island, they met a junk, which is a vessel of about one hundred tons’ burden, in which were sixty Indians.  When these caught sight of the patache, all threw themselves into the water, and swam to the shore, which was not far away.  Some soldiers, by command of the captain,