Page:The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 01).djvu/266

 ." Antonio de Coca, accountant of the fleet, was a party to the conspiracy. Juan de Sebastian del Cano, master of the "Concepcion," was placed in command of the captured vessel, which was put in a state of defense, all guns being mounted in place. Mezquita asks for a thorough investigation of this case, so that the fleet may be cleared of traitors. The charges of wastefulness and cruelty preferred against him, he wishes examined; and, if he is worthy of punishment, let it be administered. This petition was presented on the fifteenth, and acknowledged on the seventeenth. The testimonies were given before a notary on and after April 19, and certified on the twenty-sixth. In the investigations the depositions were taken of the chaplain of the fleet, and of the notary, the pilot, a sailor, the boatswain, the steward, and the master of the "San Antonio." In the main they are all alike, exonerating Mezquita from all charges and condemning Quesada and his accomplices. On the return to Seville of the "Victoria" (in which Mezquita was carried a prisoner), these depositions were presented, through the efforts of Diego Barbosa, to the alcalde-in-ordinary (May 22, 1523). (No. xx, pp. 189–201.)

Seville, May 12, 1521. The accountant Juan Lopez de Recalde writes to the bishop of Búrgos on this date of the arrival of the "San Antonio" at the port of Seville, Las Muelas. The captain of the vessel now was "Gerónimo Guerra, a relative and servant of Cristobal de Haro, and its pilot Esteban, a Portuguese." "They brought as prisoner Alvaro de la Mezquita, eldest son of Magallánes's brother, who was appointed captain of this said ship in place of Juan de Cartagena." Mezquita was transferred to