Page:First Voyage Round the World.djvu/324

This page has been validated.
238
THE CREW OF THE "TRINITY".

twenty leagues distant from it. This island was named Mao, and is to the north of the island Botaha; they are in 12 deg. and 13 deg. This island was three hundred leagues from the Moluccas, and they were a month and a half in getting there; many of the crew died. When they arrived and anchored at the first land, which was Zanufo, a vessel passed by which informed them that a fortnight after the Trinity sailed, five or seven Portuguese sail had arrived at Terrenate, whose captain was Antonio de Brito, and that they were building a fortress there. Barros states that the first stone of this was placed by Antonio de Brito June 24th, 1522. The captain of the Trinity begged the people of this vessel to take a man to Terrenate, who was Bartolome Sanchez, the clerk of the ship, by whom he sent a letter to the Portuguese captain, begging him, on the part of His Majesty, to send him succour to prevent the ship being lost, for his crew was sick and reduced in number. Gonzalo Gomez, seeing that this was delayed, weighed, and came to anchor in the port of Benaconora. Simon Abreu, and Duarte Roger, clerk of the King of Portugal's factory, came there, with other people, in a caracora, and after that came a fusta and caravel, with other armed Portuguese, who entered the Trinity, and gave to the captain a letter from Antonio de Brito in answer to his, dated October 21st, 1522, which only said that people were going to bring in his ship. By an order which they brought from Antonio Brito, they at once took from Gonzalo Gomez all the letters, astrolabes, quadrants, and log-books which he had made; they took the vessel and anchored her in the port of Talangomi. There were seventeen Castilians of sound and sick in the vessel, and they took those that were well with Gonzalo Gomez to the fortress, and next day took the sick to the hospital.

Gonzalo Gomez complained of the violence done in taking that which belonged to the emperor, and in his country.