the ships is left" and he [de la Torre] has been
elected captain, "not because they found in me any good qualifications
for the office, but only a willing spirit." He gives account to the
king "of all that has happened, as I am obliged to do, and because
of my office it is more fitting for me than any other to do so." Some
notable events mentioned in the log are: the entrance into the Santa
Cruz River on January 18, 1526; their arrival on the twenty-fourth at
the cape of Las Virgines, near which Juan Sebastian del Cano's ship
founders in a storm; and the passage of the strait, beginning March 29,
by three ships and the tender, the last-named being lost on Easter
Day. A detailed description of the strait follows. On September 4,
"we saw land, and it was one of the islands of the Ladrones which the
other expedition had discovered," where they find a Spaniard who had
fled from the ship of the former expedition. On September 10 they
depart from this island for the Moluccas. October 8 they land at
an island where the friendly advances of the natives are checked by
a native from Malacca, who declares that the Castilians would kill
all the inhabitants. On the tenth, "the eleven slaves we had seized
in the island of the Ladrones fled in the same canoe that we had
seized with them." On the twenty-first they anchor at "Terrenate,
one of the Malucos, and the most northern of them." November 4,
they have news that the Portuguese are fortified in other islands
of the archipelago. Negotiations with the Portuguese are detailed at
some length. "The islands having cloves are these: Terrenate, Tidori,
Motil, Maquian, Bachan." A description of these islands follows, and
then the pilot adds, "All these islands of Maluco and those near by
are ... mountainous." March 30, 1528 a Castilian vessel anchors at
Tidore, one of three sent by Cortes [5] to seek news of Loaisa. The
two others had been blown from their course five or six days before
reaching the Ladrones. This ship, under command of Captain Saavedra
Ceron, had ransomed three men of the caravel "Santa Maria del Parral,"
one of Loaisa's ships, on an island to the north of Tidore. These men
declare that their ship had been captured by the natives, the captain
and most of the crew killed, and the remainder made prisoners. The
accusation is made that these three men, in company with others, had
themselves killed their captain. The document closes with various
observations as to recent event