of the master, the pilot, Lope Martin—the
pilot of the vessel that had deserted Legazpi—and
others. After various insubordinations, of which
the captain, in his blindness, took no notice, the
latter and his son were murdered. Soon afterward
the two chief conspirators quarreled; and the pilot,
forestalling the intention of the master to arrest
him, hanged the latter. Then the pilot resolved
to return to Spain by the Strait of Magellan, promising
to make rich men of all who would follow him, but
intending to abandon on some island those who were
not favorable to him. Under pretext of wintering
at a small islet near the island of Barbudos, he contrived
to have the greater part of the men disembark.
The ecclesiastic Juan de Viveros, who accompanied
the expedition, discovering the pilot’s intention
to abandon some of the party, remonstrated with the
latter’s chief adviser, saying that “it
was inhuman, and he should take them to the Filipinas,
and leave them where there were provisions,”
but to no purpose. Each man lost all confidence
in his fellows, and certain of the men, forming a
counter mutiny in the king’s name, seized the
vessel and set their course for the Philippines, abandoning
Lope Martin and twenty-six men on this island.
The leader of this second mutiny hanged two men who
were concerned in the death of the captain. Finally,
after many hardships, the Ladrones and later the Philippines
were reached. The notary of the ship was tried
and executed by Legazpi as an accomplice in the captain’s
death. The others concerned in the mutiny were
all pardoned. This new contingent “made
homage anew, and swore to obey his majesty and the
governor in his royal name.” [75] The master-of-camp
having been sent about this time to Panay to collect
the tributes of rice, returned on November 16, without
having accomplished his object, and having been compelled
to leave his vessel, the “San Juan,” at
Dapitan. He brought news that the Portuguese were
coming to the island, sent thither by the viceroy
of India “in search of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi,
who had left Nueva Espana with four ships.”
One ship of the Portuguese fleet was encountered near
Mindanao and four others about thirty leagues from
Cebu, and two more at a distance of ten leagues out.
On the following day the two Portuguese vessels last
seen made their appearance, but almost immediately
stood off again, and soon disappeared. The Spaniards
began to fortify their settlement as strongly as possible,
and the vessels were stationed in the best positions.
Legazpi bade the Spaniards not to forget that they
were Spaniards, and reminded them of the “reputation
and valor of the Spanish people throughout the world.”
The natives in terror abandoned their houses, “removing
their wives and children to the mountain, while some
took them in canoes to other villages; and others
took their children, wives, and possessions to our
camp, placing them in the houses of soldiers who were
their friends, saying they would die with us.”