6th May, 1521, commanded by Geronimo Guerra, a relation and servant of Christoval do Haro, and of the execution of Gaspar de Quesada and others. This letter relates the story of the mutineers and those who turned back from difficulty and danger, and is naturally unfavourable to Magellan.
According to Navarrete, the desertion of Magellan's fleet by the ship S. Antonio, was caused by Esteban Gomez, a Portuguese pilot, who, from rivalry with Magellan, and envy at seeing others promoted instead of himself, after the executions, got up a conspiracy on board the S. Antonio, and proposed to return to Spain. The mutineers put Alvaro de Mezquita in irons; they then went to the coast of Guinea, and thence to Spain. When the S. Antonio arrived at Seville, Alvaro de Mezquita was handed over to the authorities and kept in prison until the ship Victoria arrived. Esteban Gomez, Juan de Chinchilla, Geronimo Guerra, and Francisco Angelo, were also arrested; and Magellan's wife and family were put under surveillance to prevent their going away to Portugal. According to Herrera, Juan de Cartagena and the priest, who were left behind, did not come away with the S. Antonio, and orders were given to send and look for them.
More ample details of the suppression of the mutiny are given by Gaspar Correa in the following account of Magellan's voyage, in his Lendas da India (tome ii, cap. xiv):—
"Ferdinand Magellan went to Castile to the port of Seville, where he married the daughter of a man of importance, with the design of navigating on the sea, because he was very learned in the art of pilots, which is that of the sphere. The emperor kept the House of Commerce in Seville, with the overseers of the treasury, with great powers, and much seafaring traffic, and fleets for abroad. Magellan, bold with his knowledge, and with the readiness which he had to annoy the King of Portugal, spoke to the overseers of this House
