izes of steel spikes are specified, with drawings
to illustrate; five, thirty, forty, and fifty
respectively, of the various kinds are asked for.]
[_Endorsed:_ "List of articles which are required for his majesty's
camp situated in the port of Cubu of the West."]
Relation of the Voyage to the Philippine Islands, By Miguel Lopez
de Legazpi--1565
Illustrious Sire:
I wrote to your excellency from Puerto de la Navidad giving as full
an account as possible up to that port. Now I shall do the same, for
I consider it a debt justly due, and I shall always consider it so
whenever the opportunity presents itself. I am enjoying good health,
thanks be to our Lord; and the same can be said of the whole camp,
a thing which ought not to be looked upon as of little importance. May
our Lord grant to your excellency the good health that I wish.
On Tuesday, November 21, three hours before dawn, I set sail with the
fleet that was at Puerto de la Navidad. For five days the fleet sailed
southwest, but on the sixth we directed our course westward until we
reached the ninth degree. We sailed on in this latitude in search of
the island of Los Reyes, in order that we might go from that point
to the Felippinas. A week after we had taken this course, we awoke
one morning and missed the _patache_ "San Lucas," with Captain Don
Alonso de Arellano in command. There had been no stormy weather to
make it lose sight of us; nor could it have been Don Alonso's fault,
for he was a gallant man, as he showed. It is believed that it was
due to the malice or intent of the pilot. And as he had already been
informed about the expedition that we were making, and the course we
were to sail, and as he was fully instructed as to what he must do in
case he should lose sight of us (as actually happened), and whither
he must proceed to await us, we expected all the time that we would
find the vessel in some of these islands. But up to this time we have
heard nothing of it, which gives me not a little uneasiness. After the
fleet had sailed for fifty days in the same course between nine and
ten degrees, a degree more or less, we reached land, which proved to
be an island inhabited by poor and naked fishermen. This island was
about four leagues in circumference, and had a population of about
two hundred men. That same day we sailed between two other small
islands, which were uninhabited and surrounded by many reefs, which
proved very troubles
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