The noted Augustinian Urdaneta [6] wrote an account of this disastrous
enterprise, and of subsequent events, covering the years 1525-1535;
this relation is the best and most succinct of all the early documents
regarding Loaisa's expedition. It bears date, Valladolid, February 26,
1537; and the original is preserved, as are the majority of the Loaisa
documents, in the Archivo general dé Indias in Seville. Urdaneta,
as befits an actor in the events, uses the first person, and gives a
very readable and interesting account of the expedition. He describes a
Patagonian thus: "He was huge of body, and ugly. He was clad in a zebra
skin, and on his head he bore a plume made of ostrich feathers; [7] he
carried a bow, and on his feet had fastened some bits of leather." He
describes, briefly and graphically, the storms that scattered the
ships and caused the foundering of the "Santi Spiritus." Shortly after
entering the strait, "a pot of pitch took fire on the commander's
ship, and the ship began to burn, and little was lacking that we did
not burn in it, but by God's help, and the great care exercised,
we put out the fire." "We left the strait in the month of May,
five hundred and twenty-six [_sic_] [8]--the commander's ship,
two caravels, and the tender. A few days afterward we had a very
great storm, by the violence of which we were separated from one
another, and we never saw each other again.... In these adversities
died the accountant Tejada and the pilot Rodrigo Bermejo. On the
thirtieth of July died the captain-general Fray Garcia de Loaisa,
and by a secret provision of his majesty, Juan Sebastian del Cano
was sworn in as captain-general ... On the fourth of August ... died
Juan Sebastian del Cano, and the nephew of the commander Loaisa,
[9] who was accountant-general." When they reached the Ladrones "we
found here a Galician ... who was left behind in this island with
two companions from the ship of Espinosa; and, the other two dying,