Nicolás de Cardona facts for kids
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Nicolás de Cardona was a Spanish businessman and explorer from Seville. He was very involved in exploring the western coast of North America.
In 1610, Nicolás sailed from Spain to the Americas. He was a captain in General Juan Gutiérrez de Garibay's fleet. Nicolás commanded six ships along with Captain Francisco Basilio.
Pearl Hunting Adventures
On August 13, 1611, Nicolás's uncle, Tomás de Cardona, and two other men from Seville, Sancho de Merás and Francisco de la Paraya, received special permission. This permission allowed them to collect pearls along the California coast. Before this, Sebastián Vizcaíno had tried to do this but wasn't successful.
Nicolás was put in charge of this exploration. He traveled to Acapulco at the end of 1614. There, he built three small ships called frigates: the San Antonio, San Francisco, and San Diego.
For the next few years, Nicolás tried hard to start a pearl business, but it didn't work out well. He also had to fight against Dutch ships led by Joris van Spilbergen who were trying to enter the area.
Return to Spain and His Book
Nicolás lost a lot of money. So, he went back to Spain to get more help and money. He wanted to try the pearl business again. The King gave him new orders in May 1618 to continue his work.
He finally returned to Spain for good in 1623. In 1624, he published a very important book. It was called Hydrographic and Geographic Descriptions of Many northern and Southern Lands and Seas in the Indies, Specifically of the Discovery of the Kingdom of California. This book described the lands and seas he explored.
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