KUNGL. SV. VET. AKADEMIENS HANDLINGAR. BAND 57- NIO 4- 133 



and pass through different climates. Owing to the varying states of the air and the inconstancy of 

 the weather, it further follows that the crew is seized with sicknesses, especially those who are badly 

 clothed, and who are in lack of the things most necessary to endure such hardships. One day four are 

 seized and another six, the middle decks are filled with sick people, and the upper deck is almost deserted. 

 This too further lengthens out the voyage: owing to lack of men for the navigation, for setting and 

 taking in sails, they are threatened by still greater dangers. Finally, when the senas are discovered 

 in 37° lat., they have already got to the end of January or the beginning of February. Af ter having 

 now passed from a sea that is practically frozen they pass to the opposite extreme, on the coast of New 

 Spain, which is burning hot in consequence of the proximity of the sun; and in reality this means 

 death to those who have suffered so much durin g the voyage. At last the ships reach the longed-for 

 port at the end of February or the beginning of March — after so long a period of gestation that the 

 issue cannot be anything but a monster: they must either winter in Acapulco or start from there so 

 late that they are condemned to a stormy voyage or, to speak plainly, shipwreck. They cannot sail 

 until April, when the brisas are on the point of dying out. The course is well known: they lower the 

 latitude to 11 degrees in search of the trade- wind and, in doing this, they encounter swell, headwind, 

 and calm, which are the usual things off this coast. Twenty days or so elapse in this way; and if in 

 the course of this time it is possible to make a solar observation, they find themselves, as bas been 

 said, at a distance of 11 degrees north of the Line, where the sun is at the zenith. The consequences of 

 this are well known: they are complete calm rather than storm, especially in the neighbourhood of 

 the coast, and of ten terrible sickness breaks out; as occurred in the case of the ship "San Luis" in 

 1642, when över eighty persons were committed to the deep, and in the case of the ships "Nuestra 

 Senora del Rosario" and "Nuestra Seiiora de la Concepcion" in 1643, when the number of those whose 

 fäte it was to receive the same kind of burial amounted to more than a hundred. In one way or other 

 the month of April passes like this, and the voyage is delayed to such a degree that, even with the very 

 best management, it is not possible to come within sight of the coast near the Embocadero before the 

 end of July, a time when the hostile wind has already taken the field, the vendaval has set in, and 

 the entrance is inaccessible; the ships, ill-equipped and in bad repair, have to lie to now on one tack and 

 now on the other, with damaged cordage, shattered masts, and broken yards, and finally to find it 

 impossible to steer a middle course between the two extreme points. Cape de Engano and Boronga, 

 and in the end they are overtaken by such disasters as experience shows to await them. 



This is the fäte that attends those who sail too late 



The point of time which, in my opinion, is most suitable, so that the ships shall be able to take 

 advantage of the south-west monsoon and to make safe voyages, is to sail from this port on 15 June. 

 By this means, they can save the days which the delay in Bantan causes those who sail at the end of 

 July. Aided by the sea-winds (los virazones) they can sail to the roads of Mindoro, and there anchor 

 to complete their preparations : stow a way the cargo, make the ship clean, take in water and wood and 

 other things that are necessary for the voyage. With the firat vendaval or with the sea-wind they then 

 weigh anchor and continue their voyage to the Embocadero. In case they should not be able to run 

 out immediately, they can come to anchor at the island of Ticao, and there take in refreshments; which 

 contributes not a little to save and strengthen the seamen, provided that they do not lose time in the 

 roads or at Ticao, but are always ready to continue the voyage at any moment. As soon as the firat 

 puff of the vendaval is felt, they run out gladly with this wind about 15 July. They then have summer 

 with them for the voyage towards the north, and can keep so near the Tropic of Cancer that they 

 scarcely need to turn aside from it perceptibly. It is here that our ships ought to sail, with favourable 

 winds and without the troubles that pursue those that pass the Embocadero at the beginning of 

 September. Those who travel under such fortunate circumstances have the advantage över those that 

 sail late of being 50 leagues f urther back, or on this side of the Ladrones, in case they are attacked by 

 the brisa; they can then tack about in 14 to 16 degrees and keep that latitude and ride out the adverse 

 wind in the hope that, even if there should be a lack of rain that year, they will not miss some preci- 

 pitation if they continue some 30 leagues towards the east without materially increasing the latitude. 



