The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 23 of 55 by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781318822096
Google: 7JQdvgAACAAJ
Goodreads: 11301367
Publisher: HardPress
Published: 2016-06-23T18:32:25+00:00

Chapter X

How Father Urdaneta discovered the return passage to Nueva España

Now were preparations for the sailing well advanced, and the season was already well forward, and the governor had all that was yet lacking concluded without any delay. He assigned the men for the voyage, and as commander of the ship “San Pedro,” chose his grandson Felipe de Salcedo, a youth of tender years, but possessed of great courage and valor. He subordinated him in all things to the advice of Father Urdaneta; the latter was the one who had been expressly ordered by his Majesty, to discover the [return] route, hitherto unknown to everybody. For company and counsel, Father Urdaneta took father Fray Andrés Aguirre with him. They set sail June 1, 1565. The voyage was prosperous and better than those made now, which are so full of hardships and dangers, as will be seen in the proper place. Father Urdaneta took charge of the ship, for as soon as they had left Súgbú, the pilot and master of the ship died. Even to this circumstance can one ascribe its good fortune, as a ship governed by so great a religious. Setting sail, then, with the vendaval, within a short time they reached the outside of the channel. The ships sailing from Manila do not do this, and are much delayed, because they must run a greater distance within the channel and among more islands. This is not the least danger of the vessels in sailing from the bay of Manila. They need the brisa or east wind; but when the shoals of Silay are reached, they need the vendaval. But, when they sail, they usually go at the height of the vendaval, and many times the ships encounter great danger, and lose their anchors, and are even wrecked. This does not happen in Sugbú. But they leave port with the vendaval, and get clear of the islands, and in less than twenty hours reach the Spanish sea. They pursue their course with the same vendaval, which brings them to the Ladrones Islands. At this point navigation is difficult, for east winds prevail here, which take vessels going to Nueva España by the bow. Hence, it is necessary to present the side of the vessel to their fury, and to look for north winds. Thus they go forging their way until they reach thirty, thirty-six, or forty degrees, and one has gone as high as fifty degrees. There northwest and north winds are generally blowing, and with these they descend to the coast of Nueva España. In those latitudes great cold is suffered. By the above account the difficulty of this voyage will be realized, for in sailing from Sugbú, which lies in twelve degrees, or from Manila, in thirteen degrees, to Acapulco, in seventeen degrees, a deviation so disproportional as ascending to thirty-four or forty degrees is made. On account of this difference in temperatures, very many of the crew fall sick, die, and endure very great hardship, since the voyages are necessarily long; hence we can say that they make the voyage twice over.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.