ollege, for our safety is thereby assured on any occasion
whatever. The papers in this matter are sent, in order that your
Majesty may have provision made according to your pleasure.

At the beginning of this year, a galleon arrived at these islands from
Piru, and later a small fragata in its convoy, wherein it appears
that Adelantado Alvaro de Mendana had set out from Piru in April of
last year to discover the western islands in the Southern Sea. This he
did not succeed in doing, and lost his flagship and afterward another
fragata. He formed a settlement on another island near Nueva Guinea,
where the men quarreled among themselves, and the said adelantado
died with many of his people. [37] His wife inherited that settlement,
and arrived at these islands in great need and after many hardships,
where she married Don Fernando de Castro, cousin of the governor,
and returned to Piru with her ship. I am sending your Majesty the
report of the matter which has been received, and an account of their
voyage and adventures, which are therein stated at greater length.

After such long voyages I am left in very poor health, and with
little hope of recovery, on account of the climate of this country. I
am very poor and spent, with fewer children than those I brought
with me, for they have died on the way. Therefore I strongly desire
that your Majesty grant me grace if it be possible, and permit me
to go to Espana, and be pleased to provide for this garrison. With
this I should feel well paid and satisfied after all my hardships
and wanderings. Even though I do not deserve the rewards of my
predecessors, I shall live content in returning to my home and
fireside, God willing, to give your Majesty a true account of the
many things I have seen, and of what would be best for the better
service of your Majesty. I humbly beseech your Majesty to grant me
this favor as soon as possible. May our Lord preserve for many years
the royal person of your Majesty, as is necessary to Christendom and
your Majesty's servants. Manila, July 6, 1596.

_Dr. Antonio de Morga_

Letter from Francisco Tello to Felipe II

Sire:

Through God's help, I entered the channel of these islands on the
third of June of this present year, 1596. As the weather was bad,
it was was necessary for me to make port at Ybalon, where I was
forced to remain several days, because of contrary winds. Considering
that this condition of affairs might endure longer, I det