the name by which history was to know them,--these documents, which
for lack of space cannot be here fully presented, deserve a fuller
synopsis than do those pertaining to the preceding expeditions of
Magalhães, Loaisa, and Saavedra. The documents thus abstracted are to
be found in _Col. doc. inéd. Ultramar,_ ii, part 1, pp. 1-94; and in
_Col. doc. inéd. Amér. y Oceanía,_ v, pp. 117-209, xiv, pp. 151-165.]

Jalisco, March 28, 1541. The _adelantado_ of Guatemala, Pedro de
Alvarado, [17] writes the king, Felipe II, regarding his contract
with the viceroy of New Spain, Antonio de Mendoza [18] for expeditions
of discovery along the coast and among the Western Islands. Alvarado
with eleven vessels has called at one of the ports of New Spain, "to
excuse the differences and scandals that were expected between Don
Antonio de Mendoza ... and myself, in regard to the said discovery,
because of his having sent Francisco Vasquez to the said provinces [of
the West] with a fleet." They have agreed to make their discoveries,
both by land and sea, in partnership "in the limits and demarcation,
contained in the agreement that was made with me, considering it as
certain that, because of the many ships and people, and the great
supply of provisions at our command, we shall know and discover
everything that is to be seen in those regions, and bring it to the
knowledge of God our Lord, and to the dominion of your majesty." It
is determined to divide the fleet into two parts, "one to go to the
Western Islands, which should make a hurried trip among them, noting
their products; and the other should coast along Tierra-firme." Three
large ships and a galley, with a crew of three hundred skilled men
under command of Ruy Lopez de Villalobos, "a man of great experience
in matters of the sea," are destined for the voyage to the Western
Islands. This fleet is to set out within three months to prosecute
its discovery, "for all this time has been and is necessary to repair