lightly touched upon here, so that it seems fitting to reproduce literally the relation, to which Don Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, chief pilot on this voyage, affixed his signature, which is as follows. Relation of the voyage of Adelantado Alvaro de Mendaña de Neira for the discovery of the Salomon Islands On Friday, the ninth of the month of April, one thousand five hundred and ninety-five, Adelantado Alvaro de Mendaña set sail with his fleet for the conquest and settlement of the western islands in the South Sea, sailing from the port of Callao de Lima, which lies in twelve and one-half degrees south latitude. Laying his course toward the valleys of Santa, Truxillo, and Saña, and collecting men and provisions, he went to Paita. [67] There he took in water and numbered his forces, which amounted to about four hundred persons. Then with his four vessels, two large and two small, he left the said port, which is five degrees higher than the former port, and directed his course west-southwest in search of the islands that he had discovered. He took Pedro Merino Manrique as master-of-camp; his brother-in-law, Lope de la Vega, as admiral; and Pedro Fernandez de Quiros as chief pilot. Following the above-mentioned course he sailed to the altitude of nine and one-half degrees, whence he sailed southwest by west to fourteen degrees, where he changed his course to northwest by west. On Friday, the twenty-first of the month of July, having reached an altitude of ten long degrees, we sighted an island to which the general gave the name of Madalena. [68] From a port of this island, about seventy canoes came out, each containing three men, or thereabout, while some came swimming and others on logs. There were more than four hundred Indians, white and of a very agreeable appearance, tall and strong, large-limbed, and so well made that they by far surpassed us. [69] They had fine teeth, eyes, mouth, hands and feet, and beautiful long flowing hair, while many of them were very fair. Very handsome youths were to be seen among them; all were naked and covered no part. Their bodies, legs, arms, hands, and even some of their faces, were all marked after the fashion of these Bissayans. And indeed, for a barbarous people, naked, and of so little reason, one could not restrain himself, at sight of them, from thanking God for having created them. And do not think this exaggeration, for it was so. These people invited us to their port, and were in turn invited to our flagship, and about forty of them came aboard. In comparison with them we appeared to be men of less than ordinary size. Among them was one who was thought to be a palmo taller than the tallest man of our fleet, although we had in the fleet men of more than average height. The general gave some of them shirts and other things, which they accepted with much pleasure, dancing after their fashion and calling others. But being annoyed at the liberties that they took, for they were great thieves, the