JOURNAL OF GALLEGO. 237 



they had allowed me to go further, I should have brought them to 

 a very prosperous and rich land, which will be discovered at God's 

 pleasure by whomsoever He wills. We were not far from it now, 

 and of its goodness I did not wish to speak, because they were all 

 disheartened and desired to return to Peru." 



Heading north-eastward with uncertain winds, they were obliged 

 to steer S.E. by E. for six days as the wind shifted to the north-east. 

 Finally, they headed to the northward again, and in the last day of 

 August they passed the 3rd parallel of south latitude. " Between 2° 

 and 4° of south latitude," as Gailego writes, " we met abundant signs 

 of land, such as palm-leaf matting, burnt wood, sticks, and rosuras,^ 

 which the sea derived from the land. From these signs we knew 

 that we were near the land, although we did not discover it. We 

 thought that it was New Guinea,^ because it is not in a greater 

 latitude than 4° south of the Equinoctial." 



New Guinea, however, lay some 1200 miles away; and the 

 Spanish vessels were in the vicinity of the Gilbert Group, which lay 

 probably about 300 miles to the eastward. On September 5th, with 

 shifty and contrary winds, they crossed the Equator at about the 

 168th meridian of longitude east of Greenwich. The course pur- 

 sued, in which it would appear the Chief-Pilot had not been con- 

 sulted, was the subject of a protest made to the General. Thus 

 writes Gailego : " I said to the pilot, Juan Henriquez, that we ought 

 to petition the General to direct our course to one place or another 

 or to steer for one pole or the other, as we were expending our pro- 

 visions and water in beating to windward. Since the General 

 followed his own opinion and showed no desire to consult me, I 

 made this request in the presence of Antonio de Cieza, Clerk, all of 

 which appears more fully in the said petition, which is in the pos- 

 session of the said Clerk." 



Steering to the north and subsequently to the N.E. by E., they 

 reached the 4th parallel of north latitude on September 8th. "This 

 day," writes the Chief-Pilot, " I signified to the ' Almiranta ' that 

 they should keep a good look-out from 6° up to 11", as we were 

 heading for the land." Altering their course to N.N.W., they 



^ Not translated. 



^ Gailego here adds: "Inigo Ortez de Retes discovered it {i.e., New Guinea) and no 

 other : but Bernardo de la Torre did not see it : nor is there such a Cabo de Cruz (Cape of 

 the Cross) as he says." I have placed this intere.sting reference to the discovery of New 

 Guinea in a foot-note, as it is suddenly interposed in the narrative. In Note XI. of the 

 Geographical Appendix, the reader may learn more, if so desirous. 



