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 deg.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 deg. or 12 deg. 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.
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