CHAP. XVI - VOYAGES TO THE SOUTH SEA

Summary

The ardour of discovery which had prompted the court of Spain to despatch the well-prepared armaments of Magellan and Loyasa, was much abated by the indifferent success of these expeditions. The embarrassments of European politics, and the exhaustion of his treasury, prevented the emperor from taking energetic measures to extend or develope his distant possessions; and notwithstanding the difficulty with which the Spanish settlements in South America communicated overland, the attempts made by the government to open the navigation and establish an intercourse by the Straits of Magellan were few and ineffectual.

In 1534, Alcazava with two ships attempted to reach Peru by this course. On arriving at the western entrance of the strait, he saw a cross, supposed to have been erected there by Magellan; and the remains of a wreck, probably of a ship of Loyasa's fleet. The severity of the weather, and the want of water, caused much discontent among the crews; and Alcazava, with a facility which eventually proved fatal to him, yielded to the importunities of his officers, and returned to the port De Leones y Lobos (of (sea) Lions and Wolves, i.e. seals), on the coast of Patagonia. To employ the men, he planned an expedition up the country; but as the weak state of his health did not permit him to conduct it himself, he placed it under the command of Roderigo de la Isla.