Tales from Expedition 2: Death in the tropics

1492
August 3

We are leaving the ports of Palos, In addition to the crew granted by the crown, I hired and bought full equipment for 5 archers and 5 men-at-arms. I am also bringing 5 expert wood workers with me. May God bless our trip. We have supplies in excess for about four months.

August 15

We have the coast of Africa at sight.

August 31

We have been becalmed for about a week now. We are confident the wind will blow tomorrow

September 1

Strong blows hit our beam, we depart from Africa at mid speed.

September 17

A storm has made us make landfall into the Canary Islands. We have supplies for about two months and a half.

September 18

We borded back our ships, running behind the storm to the west

September 26

We have gone past all of the Canary Islands, we are into the unknown now. The wind blows strong behind us

September 28

We have made great advancement the last two days! we are now about 210 miles away from Palos, at lat 24 north

October 12

It’s been almost a month since we left the Canary Islands, strong winds propel us 340 miles westward, we have supplies for almost two months.

October 13

We are amidst dark seas, with storms surrounding us. We take a southerly course

October 14

Despite our best efforts, we are caught on a storm! Luckily for us, it doesn’t take long and our ships are left almost undamaged.

October 23

Our ships need repair if we intend to survive enough to find land. We are now about 721 miles west of Palos and at 11 degrees north, which is about as south as the Portugese Navigator go when they circurvent Africa. The Indias should be about 20 degrees south. We continue with a southwesterly course. The crew begins to feel restless.

November 1

With supplies for just about one month, we see some shallow water banks to the west, which is a good sign!

November 2

Amidst the heavy rain, we see land to the southwest, the crew blesses the heavens! without any delay, we proceed southward and begin establishing our settlement. I’m leaving the ships’ crew and the carpenters at the ships. We are at lat 5N, and about 883 miles west of Palos.

November 16

We have built a plaza and four houses, I will name this settlement the Spanish Indias. I am also leaving 19 sailors and 19 rogues to inhabit this settlement and make it grow, they are now on their own.

November 17

We only have supplies for about two weeks, which is not enough to make it back to Spain. I decided we had to build another two houses and leave our 20 warriors. We had to chop some wood from around the spanish indias

November 28

Even after leaving most of the crew at the Spanish Indias, our barrels are far too empty to make it to Spain. I’m leaving on an expedition inland with my three explorers and captains, hoping to find some supplies… we are carrying what’s left of our armory and have supplies for about one month.

December 5

We have sighted an Indian settlement, they seem to be a basic farming town. I prayed to God they were willing to exchange our weapons for supplies… unfortunately they refused to trade and threatened us into leaving. I decided to head back into the ships.

December 6

We found another, similar village, which also refused to trade, and even sent a group of angry warriors after us. We managed to avoid conflict, escaping into the jungle.

December 18

On a desperate attempt, we board our ships and travel north, hoping to find a tribe to trade our weapons with within a week, else we will be doomed.

December 27

Sailing northwest was a very bad choice: with the winds against us, we managed to make almost no advance. We have left our ships on a small gulf at 5N, 931 leagues west. It rains heavily… I am leaving southward with just my three explorers, and carrying all goods I have left. We will manage to survive one week at most. Pray for us.