Misfortunes and Shipwrecks in the Seas of the Indies, Islands, and Mainland of the Ocean Sea (1513–1548): Book Fifty of the General and Natural History of the Indies

These dramatic tales of seafaring and shipwrecks have been translated into English for the first time from Oviedo’s sixteenth-century reports on the perils and disasters experienced by travelers to and from the New World. These narratives contain important information about colonial navigation, meteorology, geography, shipping, trade routes, and sociology.

Oviedo’s goal in writing about these events was not only to share these captivating stories with others but also "so that men may know the many perils that accompany sea travel."