the cause of the failure of the expedition, and we may also attribute to
his refusal of the sole command, the fact that his name has hitherto
remained ignored not only in connection with this initiatory voyage, but
also in connection with the further voyages of Mendana, Queiroz and
Torres.

Sarmiento, however, stipulated that he should have the conduct of the
discovery and navigation, and that no course should be altered without
his consent.

The two ships of the expedition sailed from Callao, the port of Lima, in
Peru, on the day of the feast of Santa Ysabel, the 19th of November,
1567, and Santa Ysabel became the patroness saint of the expedition.

Sarmiento intended to steer W.S.W. until he reached the tropic of
Capricorn,* and this direction was kept until the 28th of November.

[* Sarmiento, and after him Torres, both endeavoured to keep in the
latitude of the tropic of Capricorn. In the charts of the period a port
or bay was marked on the coast of Java-Major in that latitude. See "Baye
Perdue," in the Lusitano-Spanish charts.]

On that day the chief pilot, Hernando Gallego, altered the course without
Sarmiento's permission, and in defiance of the instructions, being
supported by Mendana in so doing.

So it happened that, notwithstanding Sarmiento's protests and constant
remonstrances, Gallego and Mendana, persisted in this more northerly
course for forty days, evidently with the intention of making for the
better known seas that surround the Caroline and Philippine Islands.