Acapulco, The Homecomer Settles in

To the amazement of many. Fray Andres de Urdaneta returned to Acapulco on October 8, 1565. Was he to be left with the humilliation suffered at the hands of Legazpi, a year earlier, when the latter ignored his recommendations, and sailed from Barra de Navidad instead of Acapulco? Thanks to Urdaneta’s stubborn determination -he was a Basque, after all- Acapulco was to be the anchorage of the Manila galleons. Under orders of the Mexican Audience, the port “Christmas” or Navidad -it had been thus christened by Antonio de Mendoza on December 25, 1540- was dismantled in 1585.

If the crossing to Asia had been accomplished in what amounted to a straight Sine, cutting across the Pacific at its widest point on a westerly course, the return, on the ship commanded by Legazpi’s eighteen-year-old grandson, Felipe Salcedo, aided by Urdaneta’s cautious navigational supervision, turned out to be far more difficult. At least sixteen men died of starvation, thirst and especially scurvy. But, as they headed northeast of the Philippines, toward the Japanese latitudes, and followed the Kuro-Shiva currents east, they found themselves in the course of the streams that for centuries had dragged remains of ships and other debris from Asian waters toward the desolate landing at Mal Arrimo, in the Bay of Sebastian Vizcaino, in Baja California. From there they headed for the Upper California coast and descended to the southeast along the route of the whale migrations, anchoring finally at Acapulco, thus establishing the sealane from Asia to Mexico which was to be used for the coming two and a half centuries by the China Clipper. The achievement was acknowledged as the product of the wisdom and experience of the monk-navigator Andres de Urdaneta, who was later to be received with honors in Valladolid, and presented to the cosmographers council, presided over by Philip II.

On May 1, 1566, the vessel San Jeronimo sailed from Acapulco harbor, the first of the navigational trade line to ply the seas between Mexico and the Philippines. Sixty days later it would reach the Isle of Cebu. It was mid-1571, then, the city of Manila having been just recently founded, that the celebrated ships began their round-trip voyages. On occasion, their precious cargo would be intercepted on the high seas by traders headed for Peru; later, the pirates, like sharks, would be cruising in quest of these stores. The Manila Ships carried silver, in coin and ingot, as well as an assortment of Mexican minerals. And they returned to Acapulco with a vast array of delightful merchandise originating in Persia, India, China, Japan and the Malay Peninsula. Dry goods and clothing were also to be found among the Oriental stuffs to reach Acapulco, including the kerchiefs from Paliacate, an ancient settlement on the coast of India; and these would finally become synonimous with Mexico, though they never lost their paisley design.

The ship was nicknamed ‘The China Clipper” because to Mexico the term “China” covered everything that was exotic in all of Asia, and anyone with slanted eyes and prominent cheekbones. A Filipino or a Malay were just as “Chinese” as the Chinese themselves, or the Indians or the Japanese. No one could tell the difference. When Lopez de Legazpi announced his expedition, “a shout went up that they were off to China”, as Suarez de Peralta recalled in 1598, commenting on the adventures of his neighbor from Mexico City, giving to understand that “China” meant Asia. He even spoke of the “Chinese Philippines.”