A WAR OF EXTERMINATION. 



311 



To this Mendana did not accede, but, landing his men, pro- 

 ceeded to found a colony. 



At this point the details furnished by the several chroniclers 

 of the expedition become vague and unsatisfactory. It appears 

 that Malope was killed in a skirmish ; that the natives were not 

 content with merely lamenting his death, but withheld all supplies 

 from the Spaniards ; that Mendana caused two mutineers to be 

 beheaded and another to be hung. A war of extermination 

 now commenced, and a state of sedition, misery, and want 

 ensued, which brought Mendana rapidly to the grave. He 

 died of disappointment and regret, in October, 1595. His suc- 

 cessor, being wounded, died in November. The crew, worn out 

 with fatigue and sickness, and being reduced to such an extent 

 that twenty resolute Indians could have destroyed them, re- 

 solved to suspend the enterprise and re-embark. They took in 

 wood and water, and sailed on the 7th of November. Quiros 

 maintained discipline among a mutinous crew, and, after almost 

 superhuman efforts to navigate his crazy ships upon an unknown 

 sea, arrived with the remains of the expedition at Manilla. 

 From thence Quiros — whose adventures and discoveries we 

 shaL soon have occasion to narrate — returned to Acapulco, in 

 Mexico, and thence to Lima, where he petitioned the viceroy for 

 the means of continuing the researches of Mendana. As he 

 d:? not set sail till 1606, we must first attend to the various 

 enterprises undertaken in the interval. 



