viceroy, so that he may arrange what is most suitable according to his orders." (Tomo ii, no. xvi, pp. 118, 119.)
Nueva España, February 9, 1561. The viceroy writes to the king concerning the fleet. Two ships and one small vessel are being built, and will be provisioned for the trip to the Western Islands and the return to New Spain. They will be fully equipped by about the end of the present year. "It is necessary that your majesty have two pilots sent me for this expedition—men skilled and experienced in this navigation of the Ocean Sea; for, although I have three, I need two more, so that they may go two and two in the ships. … I have appointed Miguel Lopez de Legazpi,[1] a native of the province of Lepuzcua, and a well-known gentleman of the family of Lezcano, as the general and leader of those embarking in these vessels—who all told, soldiers, sailors, and servants, number from two hundred and fifty to three hundred people. He is fifty years old[2] and has spent more than twenty-nine years in this Nueba España. He has given a good account of the offices he has held, and of the important affairs com-
- ↑ Miguel Lopez de Legazpi who, with Andrés de Urdaneta, rediscovered and conquered the Philippine Islands, was born in Zubarraja in Guipúzcoa in the early part of the sixteenth century, of an old and noble family. He went to Mexico in 1545, where he became chief clerk of the cabildo of the City of Mexico. Being selected to take charge of the expedition of 1564, he succeeded by his great wisdom, patience, and forbearance, in gaining the good will of the natives. He founded Manila, where he died of apoplexy August 20, 1572. He was much lamented by all. He was succeeded as governor of the Philippines by Guido de Lavezaris.
- ↑ Navarrete says (Bibl. Marit., tomo ii, p. 492), that Legazpi was fifty-nine years old when the fleet set sail in 1564, which makes him six years older than the age given above. See Col. doc. inéd. Ultramar, tomo ii, p. 116, note.
