document, dated November 2 of that year. Before leaving Pernambuco he
desires that a testimony of everything that has happened since his
departure from Spain until his arrival at Pernambuco be taken down
by the notary-public, this testimony being taken from the men who had
come with him, "and the Frenchmen who were present at my undoing, and
others who heard it from persons who were in the ships of the French
who destroyed me." Acuña desires this in case any accident befall him
while on the way to Portugal, and "that the emperor may be informed of
the truth, and that I may give account of myself." This testimony is
much the same as that contained in the other documents. (Nos. xxiii,
pp. 225-241; and no, xv, pp. 313-323.)

June 11, 1528. Hernando de la Torre, captain-general and governor
in the Moluccas, sends the king a log of the fleet up to June 1,
1526, followed by the adventures of the flagship, "Sancta Maria de
la Victoria," after its separation from the rest of the fleet, with a
description of the lands and seas in its course. The log was made by
the pilot of the "Victoria," Martin de Uriarte. De la Torre prefaces
these accounts with a letter in which he asks for aid, "of which we are
in sore need." He says "all the captains of the ships, caravels, and
the tender, seven in number; the treasurer, accountants, and officials,
both general and private, ... are dead or lost, until now only the
treasurer of one of the ships is left" and he [de la Torre] has been
elected captain, "not because they found in me any good qualifications
for the office, but only a willing spirit." He gives account to the
king "of all that has happened, as I am obliged to do, and because
of my office it is more fitting for me than any other to do so." Some
notable events mentioned in the log are: the entrance into the Santa
Cruz River on January 18, 1526; their arrival on the twenty-fourth at
the cape of Las Virgines, near which Juan Sebastian del Cano's ship