CHAPTER XXVI

    Of what happened to the President Vaca de Castro, after he left the city of Panamá to go to Peru.

AFTER leaving Panamá all went well in the vessel on board of which Vaca de Castro and his friends had embarked, and the vessels accompanying her, until they came to a rocky islet called by the sailors "Mal Pelo." Thence they sailed along the coast until they sighted the Island of La Gorgona, which is near the river of San Juan. After that the winds were contrary, and the rains frequent. Then the sea became tempestuous, bearing on its waves the vessels that had come from Panamá. After some days they sighted the Island of El Gallo, whither the pilot and captain ordered the sailors to steer, as they wished to renew their supply of water. Pedro Luis Cabrera, Hernán Mejía and some others landed. While they were on shore, the hawser which secured the vessel carried away, and those who had gone on shore were only got on board again with great difficulty. At length they were able to continue the voyage, and arrived at the Ancón de Sardinas. On the night of their arrival there arose a furious gale, insomuch that they thought they were lost. All the vessels put to sea, but when daylight came the galleon was alone, no[86] other vessel being in sight. When the pilot saw this he wanted to return to Ancón de Sardinas, but was unable to, as the vessel had drifted too far to leeward. Night coming on, and being near the land, the pilot anchored the vessel with good cables so as to ride through the night without drifting, with the contrary wind, from the place into which they had come. But after a short time a sailor cried out that they were driving on shore. They slipped the anchor and stood out to sea under the foresail, so, in spite of the efforts of the pilot, they were unable to hold their own. They ran for the island of El Gallo, where they found a ship at anchor. They believed she was one of those which had started with them; but it was not so, she had come from Nicaragua.

Vaca de Castro ordered Merlo to go to that vessel in the boat, and to require those in command on board to come and appear before him. There came one named Pedro Orejón, who was married to a daughter of the Governor Rodrigo de Contreras, and another named Juan de Qui?ones, a settler in the city of León. As soon as they learnt that Vaca de Castro was on board the galleon they came to pay their respects. He asked them to keep him company, as he had lost touch with the vessels which left Panamá with him. They answered that they would do so. So they got up their anchors and left that place, to sail on along the coast. But although they used all their skill to gain southing they could not do so, by reason of the adverse weather which would in no wise allow them to proceed. When Vaca de Castro saw how difficult it was to make way against the contrary winds, and reflected how desirable it was to reach his destination speedily, to prevent trouble between the respective parties of Chile and of Pachacama, he consulted with those on board. They agreed that, as the contrary winds were so persistent, and there was a deficiency of cables and gear, it would be better to make for the port of Buenaventura, whence they could march to[87] the city of Cali, where they would find all the outfit necessary for a journey to Peru. Vaca de Castro and those on board both the vessels having come to this decision they steered for the Isle of Palms. No one on board either ship knew the port of Buenaventura, it being situated between rivers, with very dense forests on either side; so that to make no mistake it is necessary to know it well. I myself, having once gone to Panamá to negotiate certain business with the Royal Chancellery, returned to the province by way of this port. Though I had a pilot with me, named Martín Hernández, who had been there twice before, we missed our mark and thought we had lost ourselves, because one has to enter by two or three branches of the rivers to get into the one by which vessels are brought up to the port by the tide. We were eleven days in those rivers seeking for the port and never able to find it; nor should we have got there at all, if it had not been for a skipper who was coming out in a small vessel on a fishing cruise. He piloted us into the branch of the river which leads to Buenaventura. I mention this because Vaca de Castro had much trouble in finding the port, as there is much risk in trying to enter, for those who have never seen it before.

Having arrived at the Isle of Palms they were very puzzled over the means to be adopted for finding the port. They found an inscription cut in large letters on a rock in the island, to the following effect: Whoever comes in search of the port of Buenaventura should sail for six leagues to the west, and on the beach at which he will arrive he will see a large cross, and on digging at the foot of it will find a calabash containing a letter which tells where the port is. They were all much pleased at finding this writing, and Vaca de Castro ordered a sailor who understood navigation to go in the boat and seek for the letter at the cross, for then they could not possibly go wrong. He ordered Merlo to go with him in the boat. They started, and presently arrived where the[88] letters on the rock directed. They found the cross cut down by the coast Indians, but, after a diligent search, could not find the letter. As the cross had been cut down, they decided to go towards a bay or roadstead that the coast forms. They wandered about for eight days without being able to find anything, nor any sign of a port. After those eight days the boat returned to the galleon, where the crew had suffered much from hunger, and must have succumbed if it had not been for the Nicaraguan ship which supplied them out of the stores she had brought.