La Relación - page 6

La Relación - page 6

But having gone half the distance and having reached a port called Cape Santa Cruz, it seemed to him that the fleet should wait there and send a ship to bring the provisions. For this purpose he sent a certain Captain Pantoja there with his ship and to be on the safe side, he ordered me to go with him. And the Governor remained with four ships, since he had bought another vessel on the island of Santo Domingo.

When we arrived at the port of Trinidad with these two ships, Captain Pantoja went with Vasco Porcalle into the town, one league away, to obtain the provisions. I remained on board with the pilots who told us that we ought to leave that place as rapidly as possible, for it was a very poor harbor and many ships were lost in it. And because what happened to us there was very noteworthy, it seemed appropriate to the purpose and aim of my account of this journey to tell about it here.

The following morning there were bad signs in the weather. It began to rain and the seas were getting so rough that I gave permission for the people on board to go ashore. They nevertheless saw how bad the weather was, and since the town was one league away, many returned to the ship rather than expose themselves to the rain and cold.

Meanwhile a canoe came from the town bringing me a letter from a resident urging me to go there, saying that he would give me whatever provisions were available and necessary. I declined his offer, saying that I could not leave the ships.

At midday the canoe returned with another letter requesting the same thing with great insistence. A horse for me to ride was brought to the shore. I gave the same answer as before, saying that I could not leave the ships. But the pilots and the people begged me very much to go so that I might hasten the transfer of provisions as much as possible, so that we could leave there, since they greatly feared that the ships would be lost if they remained there for long. For this reason I decided to go to the town. But first I made arrangements with and ordered the pilots

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