THE VOYAGE OF 1595 151 



object, " to see if the Almirante was there, and to do what 



might be best for the service of God and His Majesty." 



If they failed to find San Christobal, " her determination 



was to go to the city of Manila, to engage priests and The voyage 



people, and return to complete that discovery." They a a ' 



g __ 



sailed, then, on the loth of November in search of San Feb. 1596. 

 Christobal. Forty-seven had died in one month, and 

 the survivors cursed the island they were leaving as " a 

 corner of Hell." They failed to find San Christobal, 

 and they failed to find the Almirante. Then they sailed 

 for Manila, avoiding the coast of New Guinea ; though, 

 said Ouiros, but for the wretched state of the ships, I 

 should have given orders to sail along that land, and find 

 out what it was. They suffered terrible distress. The 

 ships were rotten. The frigate disappeared one night, 

 and was never more seen. There was little food, and the 

 little was bad. The water was full of powdered cock- 

 roaches. Men prayed, like Dives in Hell, for a single 

 drop of water. The " Governess " refused to allow men 

 to share in her private stores of wine and oil, and used 

 precious water to wash her clothes. " You wash your 

 clothes," said Quiros, " with their life." The '< Salve " 

 was recited every afternoon, our only consolation. Scarcely 

 a day passed without the throwing of one or two corpses 

 overboard. In a beautiful passage Quiros tells of the 

 Christian heroism of one Juan Leal, "^servant of God," 

 in nursing the sick. He also died and " went to his reward 

 in heaven." 



They passed various islands, and came to the Ladrones ; 

 and " navigating only by information, and without a 

 chart," Quiros groped for the Philippines. Some said 

 " We shall soon hear Mass, and seek God \ There is no 

 longer danger of death without confessing, for that is 

 a land where Christians dwell." But there were more 

 dangers of shipwreck, and once the " Governess " made 

 arrangements for a pious death, holding the book of 

 devotion in her hand, and turning her eyes to Heaven. 

 At last they came to Manila, in February 1596. A native 

 came on board whom the English navigator Thomas 



