alled _Mar Vermejo_, or the Vermilion Sea,
and by some, the sea of Cortes. Having penetrated 50 leagues within that
gulf, he espied a ship riding at an anchor, and, on his approach towards
her, had nearly been lost, if he had not received assistance from that
other ship. Having repaired his own ship, he departed from thence with
both ships; and, having procured provisions at a very dear rate, at St
Michael de Culiacan, he went to the harbour of Santa Cruz, where he
received information that Don Antonio de Mendoca had arrived from Spain as
Viceroy of Mexico. He therefore left Francis de Ulloa with the command of
his ships, ordering him to proceed on discoveries; and going to Acapulco,
he received a messenger from Don Antonio de Mendoca, the new viceroy,
certifying his arrival, and the assumption of his authority. Mendoca
likewise sent him the copy of a letter from Francis Pizarro, stating that
Mango, the Inca of Peru, had risen in arms, and assailed the city of Cusco
with 100,000 fighting men, having slain his brother, John Pizarro, and
above 400 Spaniards, with 200 horses; and that he himself, and the Spanish
dominions in Peru, were in imminent danger, unless speedily and
effectually assisted.

Cortes, not yet resolved on submitting to the authority of Mendoca, fitted
out two ships, under the command of Ferdinando de Grijalva and one
Alvarado, on purpose to discover the route to the Moluccas by the way of
the equinoctial line, because the islands of Cloves are under that
parallel. They went first to St Michael de Tangarara, in Peru, where they
landed succours for Pizarro, and thence, all along the line, to the
Moluccas, as they were ordered; and they are said to have sailed above
1000 leagues without sight of land on either side the whole way. At length,
in lat. 2 deg. N. they discovered an island named _Asea_, which was believed
to be one of the islands of Cloves. Five hundred leagues farther, more or
less, they came to another, which they named _Isla de los Pescadores_, or
island of Fishers. Going still in the same course, they saw another island,
called _Hayme_, on the south side of the line, and another named _Apia_,
after which they came in sight of _Seri_. Turning one degree to the north,
they came to anchor at an island named _Coroa_, whence they came to
another under the line named _Memousum_, and thence to _Busu_, still
holding on the same course[81].

The people of all these islands are black, with frizzled ha