CHAPTER XXVI

    Of what happened to the President Vaca de Castro, after he left the city of Panamá to go to Peru.

AFTER leaving Panamá all went well in the vessel¹ on board of which Vaca de Castro and his friends had embarked², and the vessels³ accompanying her, until they came to a rocky islet called by the sailors "Mal Pelo." Thence they sailed along the coast until they sighted the Island of La Gorgona, which is near the river of San Juan. After that the winds were contrary, and the rains frequent. Then the sea became tempestuous⁵, bearing on its waves the vessels that had come from Panamá. After some days they sighted the Island of El Gallo, whither the pilot and captain ordered the sailors to steer⁶, as they wished to renew their supply of water. Pedro Luis Cabrera, Hernán Mejía and some others landed. While they were on shore, the hawser⁷ which secured the vessel carried away, and those who had gone on shore were only got on board again with great difficulty. At length they were able to continue the voyage, and arrived at the Ancón de Sardinas. On the night of their arrival there arose a furious gale⁸, insomuch that they thought they were lost. All the vessels put to sea, but when daylight came the galleon⁹ was alone, no[86] other vessel being in sight. When the pilot saw this he wanted to return to Ancón de Sardinas, but was unable to, as the vessel had drifted too far to leeward¹⁰. Night coming on, and being near the land, the pilot anchored the vessel with good cables so as to ride through the night without drifting, with the contrary wind, from the place into which they had come. But after a short time a sailor cried out that they were driving on shore. They slipped the anchor and stood out to sea under the foresail, so, in spite of the efforts of the pilot, they were unable to hold their own. They ran for the island of El Gallo, where they found a ship at anchor. They believed she was one of those which had started with them; but it was not so, she had come from Nicaragua.

Vaca de Castro ordered Merlo to go to that vessel in the boat, and to require those in command on board to come and appear before him. There came one named Pedro Orejón, who was married to a daughter of the Governor Rodrigo de Contreras, and another named Juan de Qui?ones, a settler in the city of León. As soon as they learnt that Vaca de Castro was on board the galleon they came to pay their respects. He asked them to keep him company, as he had lost touch with the vessels which left Panamá with him. They answered that they would do so. So they got up their anchors and left that place, to sail on along the coast. But although they used all their skill to gain southing they could not do so, by reason of the adverse¹¹ weather which would in no wise allow them to proceed. When Vaca de Castro saw how difficult it was to make way against the contrary winds, and reflected how desirable it was to reach his destination speedily, to prevent trouble between the respective parties of Chile and of Pachacama, he consulted with those on board. They agreed that, as the contrary winds were so persistent¹², and there was a deficiency of cables and gear, it would be better to make for the port of Buenaventura, whence they could march to[87] the city of Cali, where they would find all the outfit¹³ necessary for a journey to Peru. Vaca de Castro and those on board both the vessels having come to this decision they steered¹⁴ for the Isle⁴ of Palms. No one on board either ship knew the port of Buenaventura, it being situated¹⁵ between rivers, with very dense¹⁶ forests on either side; so that to make no mistake it is necessary to know it well. I myself, having once gone to Panamá to negotiate certain business with the Royal Chancellery, returned to the province by way of this port. Though I had a pilot with me, named Martín Hernández, who had been there twice before, we missed our mark and thought we had lost ourselves, because one has to enter by two or three branches of the rivers to get into the one by which vessels are brought up to the port by the tide. We were eleven days in those rivers seeking for the port and never able to find it; nor should we have got there at all, if it had not been for a skipper who was coming out in a small vessel on a fishing cruise. He piloted us into the branch of the river which leads to Buenaventura. I mention this because Vaca de Castro had much trouble in finding the port, as there is much risk in trying to enter, for those who have never seen it before.

Having arrived at the Isle of Palms they were very puzzled over the means to be adopted for finding the port. They found an inscription¹⁷ cut in large letters on a rock in the island, to the following effect: Whoever comes in search of the port of Buenaventura should sail for six leagues to the west, and on the beach at which he will arrive he will see a large cross, and on digging at the foot of it will find a calabash containing a letter which tells where the port is. They were all much pleased at finding this writing, and Vaca de Castro ordered a sailor who understood navigation to go in the boat and seek for the letter at the cross, for then they could not possibly go wrong. He ordered Merlo to go with him in the boat. They started, and presently arrived where the[88] letters on the rock directed. They found the cross cut down by the coast Indians, but, after a diligent¹⁸ search, could not find the letter. As the cross had been cut down, they decided¹⁹ to go towards a bay or roadstead that the coast forms. They wandered about for eight days without being able to find anything, nor any sign of a port. After those eight days the boat returned to the galleon, where the crew had suffered much from hunger, and must have succumbed²⁰ if it had not been for the Nicaraguan ship which supplied them out of the stores she had brought.

1 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

2 embarked   

乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• We stood on the pier and watched as they embarked. 我们站在突码头上目送他们登船。
• She embarked on a discourse about the town's origins. 她开始讲本市的起源。

3 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 isle   

n.小岛，岛

参考例句：

• He is from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.他来自爱尔兰海的马恩岛。
• The boat left for the paradise isle of Bali.小船驶向天堂一般的巴厘岛。

5 tempestuous   

adj.狂暴的

参考例句：

• She burst into a tempestuous fit of anger.她勃然大怒。
• Dark and tempestuous was night.夜色深沉，狂风肆虐，暴雨倾盆。

6 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

7 hawser   

n.大缆；大索

参考例句：

• The fingers were pinched under a hawser.手指被夹在了大缆绳下面。
• There's a new hawser faked down there.有条新铁索盘卷在那里。

8 gale   

n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等）

参考例句：

• We got our roof blown off in the gale last night.昨夜的大风把我们的房顶给掀掉了。
• According to the weather forecast,there will be a gale tomorrow.据气象台预报，明天有大风。

9 galleon   

n.大帆船

参考例句：

• The story of a galleon that sank at the start of her maiden voyage in 1628 must be one of the strangest tales of the sea.在1628年，有一艘大帆船在处女航开始时就沉没了，这个沉船故事一定是最神奇的海上轶事之一。
• In 1620 the English galleon Mayfolwer set out from the port of Southampton with 102 pilgrims on board.1620年，英国的“五月花”号西班牙式大帆船载着102名

10 leeward   

adj.背风的；下风的

参考例句：

• The trees all listed to leeward.树木统统向下风方向倾。
• We steered a course to leeward.我们向下风航驶。

11 adverse   

adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的

参考例句：

• He is adverse to going abroad.他反对出国。
• The improper use of medicine could lead to severe adverse reactions.用药不当会产生严重的不良反应。

12 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

13 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。

14 steered   

v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导

参考例句：

• He steered the boat into the harbour. 他把船开进港。
• The freighter steered out of Santiago Bay that evening. 那天晚上货轮驶出了圣地亚哥湾。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

16 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

17 inscription   

n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文

参考例句：

• The inscription has worn away and can no longer be read.铭文已磨损，无法辨认了。
• He chiselled an inscription on the marble.他在大理石上刻碑文。

18 diligent   

adj.勤勉的，勤奋的

参考例句：

• He is the more diligent of the two boys.他是这两个男孩中较用功的一个。
• She is diligent and keeps herself busy all the time.她真勤快，一会儿也不闲着。

19 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

20 succumbed   

不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的过去式和过去分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死

参考例句：

• The town succumbed after a short siege. 该城被围困不久即告失守。
• After an artillery bombardment lasting several days the town finally succumbed. 在持续炮轰数日后，该城终于屈服了。