A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 02 · Chapter 11Chapter I. (6)
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[54] In this latitude, on the shore of Costa Rica, there is a town now called Porto Cartago; but whether that indicated in the text it is difficult to say, as Galvano is not always perfectly accurate in his latitudes.--E.
[55] Gomar. Hist. Gen. II. lxv. and Conqu. f. 243.
[56] Gomar. Hist. Gen. II. lxvi, and Conqu. f. 256-261.
[57] The Spanish leagues are 17-1/2 to the degree of latitude, hence this march exceeded 2000 English miles.--E. Gomar. Hist. Gen. II. lxvi. Id. Conqu. 246-273.
In the year 1525; Francis Pizarro, and Diego de Almagro, went from Panama to discover Peru, on the south of the fine, which they called Nueva Castillia . Pedro Asias, governor of Panama, refused to take any concern in this expedition, on account of certain evil news which had been brought to him by Francis Vezerra. Pizarro went first in a ship with 124 soldiers, and was followed by Almagro with seventy men in another ship. Almagro came to Rio de San Juan, in lat. 3° N., where he got 3000 pezoes of gold; and not finding Pizarro, of whom he was in search, he lost heart, and returned to Panama. Pizarro went first to the island of Gorgona, and thence to the isle of Gallo, from whence he proceeded to the river called Rio del Peru , in lat. 2° N. from which the rich and famous country of Peru derives its name. He sailed thence to the river of St Francis, and Cape Passaos , where he passed the equinoctial line, and came to Puerto Vejo , in lat. 1° S. and sailed on to the rivers of Chinapanpa, Tumbez, and Payta, in four or five degrees of southern latitude, where he received intelligence concerning King Atabalipa, and of the vast riches of his palace. On receiving this intelligence, Pizarro returned to Panama, from whence he went to Spain, where he solicited and obtained the government of the rich country he had discovered; having spent above three years in the discovery, with much labour and great danger[58].
[58] Gomar. Hist. Gen. V. i. and ii.
In the same year, 1525, seven ships were fitted out from Spain, under the command of Garcia de Loaisa, for a voyage to the Molucca Islands. Sailing from Corunna, and passing by the Canaries, they came to the coast of Brasil, where they discovered an island in lat. 2° S. which they named St Matthew; and, finding orange trees, hogs, and European poultry, they concluded it to be inhabited; but, by inscriptions oil the bark of trees, they learnt that the Portuguese had bean there seventeen years before. A small pinnace of this squadron, commanded by Juan de Resaga, passed the straits of Magellan, and ran along the whole coast of Peru and New Spain, carrying the intelligence to Cortes of the expedition of Loaisa to the Moluccas: But the admiral ship only of this squadron, commanded by Martin Mingues de Carchova, arrived at its destination, where the Moors of the Moluccas received the Spaniards hospitably; Loaisa and all the other captains died by the way.
In the same year Stephen Gomez sailed from Corunna, to endeavour to discover a strait in the northern parts, by which ships might sail from Europe to the Moluccas. This person had been refused employment in the fleet commanded by Loaisa; but the Count Ferdinando de Andrada, with the Doctor Beltram, and a merchant named Christopher de Sarro; fitted out a galleon for him at their joint expence. He went first to the island of Cuba, whence he sailed to Cape Florida, sailing only by day, as he was ignorant of the coast. He passed Cape Angra, and the river Enseada, and so went over to the other side; and it is reported that he came to Cape Razo[59] in lat. 46° N. whence he returned to Corunna with a cargo of slaves . But news spread through Spain that he was come home laden with cloves , which occasioned much joy at the court of Spain, till the mistake was discovered. Gomez was ten months engaged in this voyage. In this same year, Don George de Menesses, governor of Molucca, and Don Henriques, sent a vessel on discovery towards the north, commanded by Diego de Rocha, having Gomez de Sequiera as pilot. In lat. 9° or 10° N. they discovered several islands in a group, which were called the islands of Sequiera; whence they returned to the island of Bato-China. In 1526, Sebastian Gabota, chief pilot to the emperor, a native of Bristol in England, whose father was a Venetian, sailed from Seville with four ships, intending to have gone to the Moluccas by a western course. Gabota came to Pernambuco in Brasil, where he waited three months for a favourable wind to get round Cape St Augustine. In the Bay of Patos , or of ducks, the admirals ship was lost; and despairing of being able to accomplish the voyage to the Moluccas, he built a pinnace for the purpose of exploring the Rio Plata. Gabota accordingly ran sixty leagues, or 120 miles up that river; when coming to a bar, he left the large ships there, and went with the boats of the squadron 120 leagues, or 480 miles farther up the river Parana, which the inhabitants considered to be the principal river. He here constructed a fort, and remained in that place above a year; From thence he rowed still farther up the Parana, till he came to the mouth of another river called Paragioa , or Paraguay; and, perceiving that the country produced gold and silver, he kept on his course, sending one of the boats in advance, which was taken by the natives. On this, Gabota thought it more prudent to return to his fort, after having penetrated 200 leagues or 800 miles up this river. He took on board the people he had left at the fort, and returning to the ships at the bar, sailed back to Seville in 1530. He reported that the Rio Plata was navigable for a great way, and that it rises from a lake named Bombo [60] in the kingdom of Peru, whence, flowing through the valleys of Xauxa, it receives the rivers Parso, Bulcasban, Cay, Parima, Hiacax, and several others, by which its waters are greatly increased. It is also said that the river of San Francesco comes from the same lake, which likewise is very great; because rivers that flow from lakes are larger than those which proceed from springs.
[59] The ambiguity of the language is here utterly inexplicable.--E.
[60] Meaning probably the lake of Titicaca in Peru. It is hardly necessary to say that this slight survey of the Plata must be erroneous, especially in its reports. The Rio San Francisco, alludes to one of the sources of the Great Maranon, or river of the Amazons.--E.
In the year 1527, Panfilo de Narvaez sailed from St Lucar de Barameda with five ships, having 600 soldiers, 100 horses, and great abundance of provisions, ammunition, and all other necessaries, to take possession of Florida, as far as the river Palmas, of which he was appointed governor. Not being able to land at the place he wished, he went on shore with 300 of his soldiers, some horses, and a supply of provisions, nearer Cape Florida, ordering the ships to proceed to the river Palmas, in which voyage they were nearly all lost Those who escaped shipwreck, suffered extreme hardships from hunger and thirst on a dry barren island, called Xamo by the natives, and which the Spaniards named Malhada . In this island they were attacked by the natives, and many, both of the Spaniards and natives, were slain.
Narvaez, and his people, saw some gold among the Indians of Florida, who said they had it from Apalachen . He therefore went to that town in search of gold, where they found abundance of bay trees, and others of many different kinds, and plenty of beasts and birds, but neither gold nor silver. From Apalachen, he went to a town called Aute, and from: thence to Xamo, a poor and barren country. In this place, the natives requested the Spaniards to cure their sick, of whom they had great numbers; and the Spaniards being in extreme poverty and distress, prayed for the sick, and used such endeavours as were in their power, towards their relief: And it pleased God that many, both of the sick, and those who were ill from wounds, recovered; nay, even one that was supposed to be dead, was, by them, restored to life. Owing to this, the Spaniards were greatly esteemed, and even reputed as gods, so that the people offered them no injury, and even gave them such things as they had. By these means, they passed through many countries, and many strange nations, differing from each other in language, customs, and dress, and came at length among a people that lived continually among their flocks and herds, like the Arabs. Many of the tribes through which they travelled were so poor as to feed on snakes, lizards, spiders, ants, and all kinds of vermin, yet were well contented with their hard fore, and were much given to singing and dancing. This people are reported to purchase all their wives from their enemies, and to kill all their own daughters, lest by marrying into hostile tribes their enemies should increase in numbers. In some places, the women continued to suckle their children till they were ten or twelve years old; and there were certain men, being hermaphrodites, who married each other. In this manner, the Spaniards penetrated above 800 leagues, or 3200 miles through the country, till at length, not above seven or eight of the whole armament reached the city of St Michael of Calvacan, in lat. 23°. N. or higher, on the coast of the South Sea[61].
[61] Ramusio, III. 310. Ramusio gives a long and minute account of this unfortunate expedition, entitled, Relation made by Alvaro Nunez, of what befel the armament sent to the Indies (America) under Pamphilo Narvaez in the year 1527, to the end of 1536; when he returned to Seville with three only of his companions.--Clark.
Learning, as has been formerly mentioned, that Garcia de Louisa had passed through the Straits of Magellan, on a voyage to the Islands of Cloves , Cortes fitted out three ships from Civitlanejo, now St Christophers, in lat. 20°. N. on the western coast of New Spain, intending to send there in search of Loaisa, and that they might discover the way to the Moluccas, and open up the spice trade with New Spain. Leaving Civatlanejo, on All Saints day, 1527, under the command of Alvaro de Saavedra Ceron, the cousin of Cortes, they fell in with the islands formerly discovered by Magellan, which he had named the Pleasures ; whence they sailed to the islands which had been discovered by Gomez de Sequeira, and called by his name, but not knowing of this previous discovery, he named them Islas de los Reyes , or the Isles of the Kings, because discovered on Twelfth day. During this part of the voyage, two ships of the squadron separated from Saavedra, and were never more heard of. Sailing on from island to island, he arrived at the Island of Candiga, where he ransomed two Spaniards for seventy ducats, who had belonged to the crew of Loaisa, who was shipwrecked in that neighbourhood. Saavedra reached the Moluccas in March 1528, and anchored at the Island of Gilolo, where he found the sea calm, the winds moderate, and no tempests; and he estimated the distance from thence to New Spain at 2050 leagues, or 8200 miles. At this period, Fernando de la Torre was governor of the Molucca islands, and lived in the city of Tidore, having been chosen instead of Martin Yniguez de Carquiçano, who was recently dead. Torre waged a fierce war with Don George de Meneses, captain of the Portuguese; and in a fight of the fourth of May, Saavedra took a Portuguese galliot, and slew Fernando de Baldaya the captain. In June, Saavedra set sail on his return towards New Spain, taking with him Simon de Brito, Patalin, and other Portuguese prisoners; but, after several months sail, he was forced back to Tidore by contrary winds, where Patalin was beheaded and quartered, and the rest of the Portuguese prisoners hanged. In this year, 1528, Cortes sent 200 infantry, and sixty cavalry, with a large force of Mexicans, to explore and subdue the country of the Chihimecas, which was reported to be rich in gold. He then took shipping for Spain, where he landed with great pomp, bringing with him 250,000 marks in gold and silver. On his arrival at Toledo, where the emperor then resided; he was very graciously received. The emperor created him marquis della Valle , and married him to the lady Jane de Zuniga, daughter to the Conde de Aguilar; after which he returned to resume the government of New Spain.
Saavedra, of whom we have lately made mention, returned from the Moluccas towards New Spain, in May 1529: and, during, the voyage, came in sight of land, in lat. 2°S. He ran along the coast to the S.S.E. from that time to the end of August, upwards of 500 leagues, finding a clean coast, free from shoals and rocks, with good anchoring ground, inhabited by a black people, with curled hair. The people of the Moluccas named the inhabitants of this coast Papuas because they are black with frizzled hair and both Portuguese and Spaniards have adopted the same name. Having reached to four or five degrees south of the line, he returned northwards; and near the equinoctial he discovered an island, which he called de los Pintados , or of the painted people, as the inhabitants were of a white complexion, but marked with a hot iron[62]; and, from various circumstances, he concluded that they were originally from China. A kind of boat put off from the shore, containing a number of these islanders, making many threatening signs and gestures, as if ordering the Spaniards to go away from their land, and even proceeded to throw stones from slings at the ship, but, as the stones did no harm, Saavedra would not allow his people to fire upon them. A little beyond this island, in 10° or 12° of north latitude, they discovered a group, consisting of many small low islands, covered with grass, and full of palm trees, to which they gave the name of Los Jardines , or the gardens[63]. Saavedra came to anchor in the midst of these islands, where he remained several days, and concluded that the people had come originally from China, but had, by long residence, degenerated into lawless savages, using no labour or industry. They wear a species of white cloth, made of grass, and are quite ignorant of fire, which put them in great terror. Instead of bread they eat cocoas, which they pull unripe, burying them for some days in the sand, and then laying them in the sun, which causes them to open. They eat fish also, which they catch from a kind of boat called parao , or proa , which they construct with tools made of shells, from pine wood that is drifted at certain times to their islands, from some unknown regions. The wind and weather becoming more favourable for his return to New Spain, Saavedra resumed his voyage thither, intending to have gone to Panama, to unload the cloves and other merchandize he had brought from the Moluccas. His purpose was to have carried this merchandize in carts from Panama, about four leagues, or sixteen miles overland, to the river Chagre, which is said to be navigable, and which discharges itself into the North Sea not far from Nombre de Dios, where the goods could be reshipped for Spain; by which means all kind of goods might be brought from India in a shorter time, and with less danger, than by sailing round the Cape of Good Hope, as the voyage from the Moluccas to Panama is almost a perfectly straight course between the line and the tropics. But, in the present voyage, they were never able to procure a favourable wind, and were therefore forced back to the Moluccas, where they arrived in great affliction, as Saavedra died by the way[64]. Had Saavedra lived, he intended to have opened a navigable communication from sea to sea, through the land of Castilia del Oro and New Spain, which might have been done in one or other of the following places:--1. From the gulph of St Michael to Uraba, which is 25 leagues, or 100 miles. 2. From Panama to Nombre de Dios, which is 17 leagues, or 68 miles, much the greater part consisting of the river Chagre, navigable for small craft. 3. Through the river Xaquator, now St Juan, in the province of Nicaragua, which springs out of a lake that reaches to within three or four leagues of the South Sea, and falls into the North Sea, being navigable by large boats and lighters. 4. The other place is from Tecoantepec, through a river, to Verdadera Cruz, in the bay of Honduras[65].
[62] The inhabitants of this island were most probably tatooted , of which custom a particular description will be given hereafter, in the particular voyages of discovery in the South Sea.--E.
[63] The longitudes being altogether neglected in these relations by Galyano, it is impossible to form any conjecture as to the islands indicated in text. They may possibly have belonged to the Carolines of modern maps, which extend between long. 135° and 180° E. and about the latitudes of the text.--E.
[64] The account which Galvano gives of this voyage is very vague and inconclusive. We shall find afterwards that the Spaniards found out the means of counteracting the perpetual eastern trade winds of the Pacific within the tropics, by shaping a more northerly course from the Philippine islands, where they established the staple of their Indian commerce, between Acapulco and Manilla.--E.
[65] Galvano certainly mistakes here in assigning Tecoantepec, which is at least 340 miles from the nearest part of the bay of Honduras. If a navigation were practicable from Tecoantepec, it would more probably be towards Tabasco, at the bottom of the bay of Campechy. Perhaps he ought to have said from Guatimala to the gulf of Dolse, at the bottom of the bay of Honduras. This splendid navigation between the Atlantic and Pacific, within the tropics, like that between the Mediterranean and Red Sea, still remains an unsolved problem. It will be resumed hereafter, among the voyages and travels to Spanish America.--E.
In the year 1529, Damiano de Goes, a Portuguese, travelled over all Spain, and went from Flanders into England and Scotland, being at the courts of the kings of these countries; after that he returned into Flanders, and travelled through Zealand, Holland, Brabant, Luxemburgh, Switzerland, and through the cities of Cologne, Spires, Strasburg, Basil, and other parts of Germany, and so back to Flanders. He went thence into France, through Piccardy, Normandy, Champagne, Burgundy, the dukedom of Bourbon, Gascony, Languedoc, Dauphiny, and Savoy; passing into Italy by Milan, Ferrara, and Lombardy, to Venice. Turning back, he passed through the territory of Genoa, the dukedom of Florence, and all Tuscany, to Rome and Naples. Thence back, through Italy, to Ulm, in Germany, and through Swabia, Bavaria, Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, and Hungary, to the confines of Greece. Thence through Poland, Prussia, and Livonia, to the great dukedom of Moscovy; and thence back into Germany, and through the dominions of the Landgrave, and the dukedom of Saxony, into Denmark, Gothland, and Norway, penetrating to lat. 70°.N. In the course of these travels, which occupied him during 22 years, he saw, spoke to, and was conversant with, all the kings, princes, nobles, and chief cities of all Christendom; for which reason, I thought the great extent of his travels was worthy of remembrance.
In 1529 or 1530, Melchior de Sosa Tavarez went from Ormus to Bassora, and the islands of Gissara, with some ships of war, and sailed up to where the Euphrates and Tigris unite together, being the first of the Portuguese who had sailed so far on the fresh water in these parts. Not long after this, a Portuguese, named Ferdinando Coutinho, being at Ormus, determined to return overland from thence to Portugal. For this purpose he went to Arabia, and up the river Euphrates, for the space of a month, and saw many countries and kingdoms that had not been before visited by the Portuguese. He was made prisoner at Damascus; whence he crossed the province of Syria to the city of Aleppo. He had been at the holy sepulchre in Jerusalem, in the city of Cairo, and at Constantinople, where the Great Turk resides. After seeing that Court, he passed over to Venice; and, from thence, through Italy, France, and Spain, to Portugal, he came back to Lisbon. This person, and Damiano de Goes, were the most adventurous of the Portuguese, who, in our time, had seen and discovered the greatest extent of foreign realms for their own satisfaction.
About the year 1530, Francis Pizarro, who has been already mentioned as having gone to Spain to obtain the government of Peru, returned to Panama, having procured all things as he wished, carrying with him four brothers, Ferdinand, John, Gonsalvo, and Francis Martines de Alcantara[66]. They were not well received by Diego de Almagro and his friends, because Pizarro had not sufficiently represented his merits in the discovery of Peru to the emperor, in which he had lost an eye, but took the whole merit to himself. In the end, however, they agreed; and Almagro supplied Pizarro with seven hundred pezoes of gold, providing him likewise with provisions and ammunition, and other necessaries towards his intended expedition against Peru. Soon after this arrangement with Almagro, Pizarro, and his four brothers before-mentioned, set out with such soldiers and horses as they could procure on their expedition. Being unable, from contrary winds, to reach Tumbez, where he proposed to have landed, he was under the necessity of disembarking at the river of Peru; whence he marched along the coast with great difficulty, on account of many rivers and marshes, in which some of his men were drowned in crossing. Coming to the town of Coache, they found much gold and emeralds in that place; some of which they broke, to see if they were perfect. From thence Pizarro sent twenty thousand pezoes of gold to Almagro at Panama, to enable him to send supplies of men, horses, ammunition, and provisions, and went from Coache to the haven named Porte Viejo , where he was joined by Sebastian Benalcazar, with all the supplies he had sent for. In the year 1531, after the arrival of these reinforcements, Pizarro passed over from Porto Viejo to the rich island of Puna, in the bay of Guayaquil, where he was outwardly well received by the governor, who yet conspired to kill him and his men; but Pizarro prevented him, and took many of the Indians, whom he bound with chains of gold and silver. Such was the jealousy of the governor of Puna, that he caused those who had the charge of his wives to have their noses and privities cut off. In this place, Pizarro found above six hundred prisoners belonging to king Atabalipa, who was then at war with his eldest brother Guascar. Pizarro set these prisoners at liberty, on promise of procuring him a friendly reception in Peru; but they forgot their engagements afterwards, and excited the people to war against the Spaniards. From Puna, Pizarro sent three Spaniards to Tumbez, in Peru, to treat of amity; but the Peruvians seized them, and put them to death. On hearing of this cruel action, Pizarro crossed over to the main, and made a sudden attack, during the night, on the city of Tumbez, killing great numbers of the inhabitants. The remainder submitted and made peace, presenting him large gifts of gold and silver, and other riches. Pizarro then built a town on the river Cira, which he named St Michael of Tangarara, which was the first habitation of the Christians in these parts; and he appointed Sebastian de Benalcazar to the command. After this, he made search for a secure haven on the coast, and found one every way to his wish at Payta.
[66] These seem all to have been brothers to Pizarro, and named from the town of Alcantara in Spain.--E.
In the same year, 1531, Diego de Ordas went, with 600 soldiers and 35 horses, to settle the country on the Maranon, or river of the Amazons; but, dying on the voyage, this expedition proved fruitless. Afterwards, in the year 1534, Hierom Artal was sent thither with 130 soldiers, yet he came not to the river, but formed settlements at St Michael de Neveri , and other places in Paria. Aries d'Acugna, a Portuguese gentleman, went likewise to the Maranon, with ten ships, 900 men, and 130 horses, where he spent much, and did little to purpose; but the greatest loser in this expedition was John de Barros. This great river Maranon is in lat. 3° S.[67], its mouth being 15 leagues, or 60 miles across, with many inhabited islands, on which there are many trees producing incense, much larger than those of Arabia. It produces gold and precious stones, and an emerald was found there as large as the palm of the hand. The people of that country make a kind of drink of a species of oats that are as large as quinces.
[67] The mouth of the Maranon is exactly under the line.--E.
Nunnez de Gusman was sent from Mexico, in 1531, with 500 soldiers, half of whom were cavalry, and 6000 Indians to carry his baggage and provisions, to discover and subdue the countries to the northwest of the kingdom of Mexico. In this expedition he reduced the countries of Xalisco, Ceintiliquipac, Ciametlan, Tovalla, Cnixo, Ciamolla, Culhuacan, and other places. On this expedition he marched through Mechuacan, where he acquired much gold, and 10,000 marks of silver. To the country of Xalisco he gave the name of New Galicia, because it was rugged and mountainous, and the people robust and hardy. He built many towns in the conquered countries; particularly Compostella, Guadalajara, after the place of his own birth in Spain, Santo Espirito de la Conception, and St Michael, which last is in lat. 24° N. In 1532, Cortes sent Diego Hurtado de Mendoça in two ships from Acapulco, which is 70 leagues from Mexico, on purpose to explore the coast of the South Sea, as he had been ordered to do by the emperor. Mendoça sailed from Acapulco to the harbour of Xalisco, or Xalis, on the river Barania, in lat. 22° N. where he wished to take in wood and water. But he was resisted there, by the orders of Nunnes de Gusman, and obliged to proceed on his voyage. Some of his men mutinied, and he put them all on board one of his ships, that they might return to New Spain. Being in want of water, these people put in at the bay of Vanderas, not far south from Xalis, where they were all slain by the Indians. In this voyage of discovery, Hurtado sailed 200 leagues along the coast, but did nothing worthy of being recorded.
In 1533, Pizarro went from Tumbez to Caxamalca, where he took king Atabalipa prisoner, who engaged to pay a vast sum in gold and silver for his ransom. On purpose to procure this, Pedro de Varco and Ferdinando do Sotto were sent to the city of Cusco, in lat. 17° S.[68], a journey of 200 leagues, all upon causeways of stone, with bridges wherever necessary, and having lodging-places at proper distances for the conveniency of the Yngas , by which name the kings of Peru are distinguished. The armies of the Peruvians are very numerous, as they often bring more than 100,000 men into the field; and they lodge on these causeways, as already mentioned, where they always have abundance of provisions and other necessaries, as is said to be the custom in China. Ferdinando Pizarro went with some horsemen to Paciacama, 100 leagues from Caxamalca, to discover the country; and, on his return, he learnt that Guascar, the brother of Atabalipa, had been put to death by his command; and that Ruminaguy, the general of the army of Atabalipa, had risen in arms, in the city of Quito, against the Spaniards. After the reception of this intelligence, Atabalipa was strangled by the orders of Pizarro[69]. After the death of the two kings of the Peruvians, Pizarro continually extended his authority over the dominions of Peru, and built many cities, towns, and forts, in convenient situations, to hold the country under subjection. He detached Sebastian de Benalcazar, whom he had before made governor of St Michael de Tangarara, with 200 infantry and 80 horse, to Quito, against Ruminaguy. Benalcazar proceeded successfully in reducing the country to subjection from one city to another, eastwards, for 120 leagues, not far from the equinoctial line; where Peter Alvarado found certain mountains so cold, and loaded with such quantities of snow, that 70 of his men were frozen to death. Having reduced the city of Quito, he established himself and his people in that place, calling it the city of St Francis; and it seemed very strange to the Spaniards to find, in that country, abundance of cattle, wheat, barley, and other plants, similar to those of Spain. After sending Benalcazar to reduce the city of Quito, Pizarro himself undertook to reduce the royal residence of Cusco, in about 13° 20' S. in which expedition he was opposed by Quisquiz, a Peruvian general, whom he easily defeated; and he soon afterwards took possession of Cusco, the exceedingly rich and wealthy capital of the Peruvian monarchy. About this time Mango, a brother of Atabalipa, joined Pizarro, who made him Ynga, or king of the country, in name only, while he assumed the whole authority and revenues of the kingdom to himself[70].