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 deg.. N. or higher, on the coast of the South Sea[61].
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 deg.. 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 Carquicano, 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.
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