d Hope is in 34 deg.
30' south latitude, sixteen hundred leagues distant from Cape of
Molucca, and it is the largest and most dangerous cape in the world.

Some of our men, and among them the sick, would have liked to land at a
place belonging to the Portuguese called Mozambique, both because the
ship made much water and because of the great cold which we suffered;
and much more because we had nothing but rice-water for food and drink,
all the meat of which we had made provision having putrefied, for the
want of salt had not permitted us to salt it. But the greater number of
us, prizing honor more than life itself, decided on attempting at any
risk to return to Spain.

At length, by the aid of God, on the 6th of May, we passed the terrible
cape, but we were obliged to approach it within only five leagues'
distance, or else we should never have passed it. We then sailed toward
the northwest for two whole months without ever taking rest; and in this
short time we lost twenty-one men, between Christians and Indians. We
made then a curious observation on throwing them into the sea; that was
that the Christian remained with the face turned to the sky, and the
Indians with the face turned to the sea. If God had not granted us
favorable weather, we should all have perished of hunger.

Constrained by extreme necessity, we decided on touching at the Cape
Verd island named St. James. Knowing that we were in an enemy's country
and among suspicious persons, on sending the boat ashore to get
provision of victuals, we charged the seamen to say to the Portuguese
that we had sprung our foremast under the equinoctial line--although
this misfortune had happened at the Cape of Good Hope--and that our ship
was alone, because while we tried to repair it our captain-general had
gone with the other two ships to Spain. With these good words, and
giving our merchandise in exchange, we obtained two boat-loads of rice.

In order to see whether we had kept an exact account of the days, we
charged those who went ashore to ask what day of the week it was, and
they were told by the Portuguese inhabitants of the island that it was
Thursday, which was a great cause of wondering to us, since with us it
was only Wednesday. We could not persuade ourselves that we were
mistaken; and I was more surprised than the others, since, having always
been in good health, I had every day, without intermission, written down
the day that was current. But we were aft