The ship left this bay of Cobos, which is in 12° 10' N. latitude, on Tuesday, the 29th of January, and in going out we committed two bodies to the deep. By five in the afternoon we were well clear of the entrance, and left the island of San Bernardino, which is in the middle of the mouth, far astern. At night, near an island called Capul, we encountered a strong cross sea, caused by currents which are here very powerful, so that the ship was turned right round, and there was cause for thankfulness that she was not driven on shore. Next day several natives came out in barangais from a port on the island of Luzon called Nivalon. They brought quantities of fowls, pigs, wine and fruit; but the soldiers now had scarcely anything to barter with, and were able to buy little. We kept the island in sight all day, and in the night we were among many others, passing through places of which experienced pilots said afterwards that they could not understand how it was that we had not been lost among the numerous reefs which we never saw. The Lord was served in protecting us.

On Thursday, the first of February, the Governess, at a place called Galvan, sent her two brothers, with seven other men, in the boat, to seek for food. This business came to such a point that the Captain, Don Diego, ordered an arquebus to be fired at one of the sailors who went up the mizen mast. The Chief Pilot said to the Governess that to no one was it more important than to her that the expedition should end in peace. This was a foolish affair, and so it was left. The boat did not come back, although we waited for her all day. They went to Manilla, which was 15 leagues distant, by a certain strait in the island, to report our approach. On the next night, before dawn, the ship was so embayed among islands that no way out was visible, without a boat and without food, for the provisions taken in at the last port were consumed. We saw many natives in canoes; but they all fled from us, although we made signs to them. The reason was that, as this was not the time when ships arrive from New Spain, they thought the ship was English. For they remembered the ship of Thomas Cavendish, and the warning of the Governor to act thus. There was no want of anxiety about our condition, and much more that we could not see how to extricate the ship. We proceeded as well as we could, for it was nearly calm, and at last we saw a channel, so narrow that a stone might almost be thrown across it. The wind freshened and we made for it, coming out between the islands of Luzon and Caza, near a point which is called Azufre, in the wide sea of a great bay called Bombon.

Where there is hunger there is discontent. The soldiers stood menacingly round the hatchway, because the Governess would not give the order for their rations to be served out. The Chief Pilot, seeing this, asked the accountant to request the Governess to be so kind as to order food to be served out to the people. If she did not like to give it, the Chief Pilot would sign an obligation to pay her at Manilla what the cost of the provisions would be from that time; or, if that would not do, to give it her in specie. If she refused, it might be that the store-room would be broken into. For it was not just that, there being provision on board the ship, the crew should die for want of it. The Governess sent for him and said: “Sir Captain, have you spent 40,000 dols. as I have on this expedition, or have these people undertaken it at their own charge? The Adelantado is ill paid for the great things he expected.” The Chief Pilot replied to this: “My Lady, I spent my property, and each one spent what they had; many gave up their lives, and all expended all they knew. As for the Adelantado, I was a better servant to him than he was friend to me; but these passed memories do not oblige me to look favourably on present faults which give much trouble, as may well be known. These men have the same necessity to eat on one day as they have on another, and as we all have; and until we bring them to Manilla we are bound to give them to eat and drink. That which belonged to the Adelantado, and that which belongs to your Ladyship, must be used for the necessities of the voyage; and upon me falls the duty of guarding it, disposing of it faithfully, measuring the quantity, according to the time that this ship may spend with reference to the small amount of sail she is able to carry.” The Governess having been convinced, said that a calf might be killed that she had on board.

While this business was being arranged, two boats came in sight, each rowed by forty natives, twenty on each side.

A signal was made to the one which came in front. She turned, but did not care to wait. They ran into each other, and made fast to a line which was thrown to them. They were asked whence they came and whither they went. They replied that they were from Manilla, which was 20 leagues distant, speaking in the Castilian language, and that they were on their way to Zebu, the first settlement that was formed by the Spaniards in those parts, an island 100 leagues from Manilla. I asked for a native as a guide, because the ship had to pass some reefs called “Tuley” during the night. They gave one a wage of 3 dols. for his trouble. The Chief Pilot bought from them two large baskets of rice for two pair of shoes, which was divided among the people. The Governess wanted to buy two more, but she could not agree about the price; so, having given us the guide, they let go the line and proceeded on their way. A careful watch was kept during the night, and next morning we came in sight of the opening to the bay, which we kept nearing by coasting along the land of the island of Fortun. The wind was contrary for entering on the west side, for there was a breeze from the north-east.