Of a very extensive armament which was fitted out by Alvarado in the year 1537.
Here I must not pass by in silence the vast armament which Alvarado fitted out in the year 1537, in the harbour of Acaxatla, lying on the coast of the South Sea, in the province of Guatimala, of which he was then governor.
This expedition was fitted out according to an agreement he had entered into with the crown during his stay in Spain, by which he bound himself down to fit out a certain number of vessels at his own expense, for the express purpose of discovering some western passage to China, the Moluccas, or to other of the Spice islands. In consideration of which he was promised a certain portion of the lands he should discover, or of the annual rents that should arise from them; however, as I never saw this agreement myself, I am unable to give any further particulars about it.
Alvarado, who had always proved himself a most faithful servant to his majesty, both during the conquest of New Spain and in the campaigns of Peru, and, with his four brothers, had taken every opportunity to promote the interests of the crown, was desirous on this occasion to surpass every armament which Cortes had fitted out before him. He therefore equipped thirteen vessels of considerable burden, all well provided with ammunition, provisions, and water, and care was taken to select the best sailors and the most experienced pilots. As the harbour where he built these vessels lay above 800 miles from Vera Cruz, all the ironwork and the greater part of the building materials had to be transported thither from the latter port by land; and all this proved so expensive to him, that he might have built eighty vessels of the same size