The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 — Volume 01 of 55: 1493-1529; Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century
History
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 — Volume 01 of 55: 1493-1529; Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century
Demarcation line of Alexander VI; Missions -- Philippines; Philippines -- Discovery and exploration; Philippines -- History -- Sources
Seville, May 12, 1521. The accountant Juan Lopez de Recalde writes to
the bishop of Búrgos on this date of the arrival of the "San Antonio"
at the port of Seville, Las Muelas. The captain of the vessel now was
"Gerónimo Guerra, a relative and servant of Cristobal de Haro, and
its pilot Esteban, a Portuguese." "They brought as prisoner Alvaro de
la Mezquita, eldest son of Magallánes's brother, who was appointed
captain of this said ship in place of Juan de Cartagena." Mezquita
was transferred to a prison on shore, at which Barbosa, "Magallánes's
father-in-law, showed much resentment, saying that he ought to be
set free and those who brought him imprisoned." The letter relates
the discord between Magalhães and certain of the other officers of the
fleet; the imprisonment of Mezquita by Cartagena; the attempted mutiny;
the tragic deaths of Mendoza, the treasurer, and Quesada; and other
vigorous measures of Magalhães in quelling the outbreak. He relates the
separation in the strait of the "San Antonio" from the other vessels,
and the determination of the men of this vessel to return to Spain,
notwithstanding the opposition of Mezquita. The latter coming to blows
with the pilot Esteban Gomez was arrested and "they came direct to this
port, eating three ounces of bread each day, because their provisions
had failed. In the judgment and opinion of those who have come, the
said Magallánes will not return to Castilla." (No. xxi, pp. 201-208.)
A journal or log of Magalhães's voyage was written by Francisco
Albo, covering the voyage from cape San Agustin in Brazil until the
"Victoria" [the first ship to circumnavigate the globe] returned
to Spain. The log begins November 29, 1519, and ends September
4, 1522. The entries are for the most part very brief. It shows
that the fleet sighted or touched at various points, among them "a
mountain shaped like a hat, which we called Monte Vidi, now corruptly
called Santo Vidio [today Montevideo], [211] and between it and Cape
Santa Maria... a river called the Patos River;" also, farther on,
"a very great river... Solis [today Rio de la Plata]." The record
for October 21-December 1, 1520, says: "On the twenty-first of
the said month we took the sun in fifty-two degrees at a distance
from land of five leagues. And there we saw an opening like a bay;
at its entrance toward the left was a long sandy point. The cape we
discovered before this point is called Cape Las Vírgines. The point
of sand lies in fifty-two degrees of latitude and fifty-two and
one-half degrees of longitude. From this sand-point to the other
side is about five leagues. Inside this bay we found a strait of
about one league in width. From this entrance to the sand-point it is
straight east and west. On the left side of the bay is a large angle
in which are many sunken rocks. But as you enter you keep toward the
north, and as you enter the strait you go toward the southwest by a
mid channel. And as you enter you observe some shoals in front at a
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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