tive point of the expedition, the Philippines being considered as only secondary thereto. Speaking of the Ladrones and their inhabitants, Urdaneta says: "The islands of the Ladrones are many, and thirteen[1] of them are said to be inhabited. The inhabitants are naked and poor. They eat rice, have many cocoa palms, and use salt. They fish with hooks made from tortoise-shell, being destitute of articles made from iron. They place a counterweight in one end of their canoes, and rig on them lateen-like sails made of palm-mats. It is quite important to explore this island thoroughly, or any of the others, in order to discover and ascertain accurately the navigation that has been made up to that point, and their distance from Maluco and the Filipinas Islands… Those islands are somewhat less than three hundred and seventy leagues from Botaba [one of the Ladrones]." The "modern maps that have come to this Nueva España," are in his opinion incorrect, as certain coasts are drawn more extensive than is actually the case. Calms must be avoided and the trade winds caught, in order to facilitate navigation. The errors of former expeditions must be avoided, as well as a protracted stay at the Philippines—" both because of the worms that infest that sea, which bore through and destroy the vessels; and because the Portuguese might learn of us, during this time, and much harm
- ↑ The Ladrones or Marianas number in all sixteen islands, and are divided into two groups of five and eleven islands respectively. They extend north and south about nine hundred and fifty kilometers, lying between thirteen degrees and twenty-one degrees north latitude, and one hundred and forty-eight degrees and one hundred and forty-nine degrees forty minutes longitude east of Madrid. They are but thinly populated; their flora resembles that of the Philippines. The largest and most important of these islands, Guam, is now the property of the United States.
