with five ships on the tenth of August, in the year 1519, to go and
discover the Molucca Islands. We commenced our voyage from San Lucar
for the Canary Islands, and sailed south-west 960 miles, where we found
ourselves at the island of Tenerife, in which is the harbour of Santa
Cruz in twenty-eight degrees of north latitude. And from the island
of Tenerife we sailed southwards 1680 miles, when we found ourselves
in four degrees of north latitude. From these four degrees of north
latitude we sailed south-west, until we found ourselves at the Cape of
Saint Augustin, which is in eight degrees of south latitude, having
accomplished 1200 miles. And from Cape Saint Augustin we sailed south
and by south-west 864 miles, where we found ourselves in twenty degrees
of south latitude. From twenty degrees of south latitude, being at
sea, we sailed 1500 miles south-west, when we found ourselves near
the river, whose mouth is 108 miles wide, and lies in thirty-five
degrees of the said south latitude. We named it the river of Saint
Christopher. From this river we sailed 1638 miles south-west by west,
where we found ourselves at the point of the Lupi Marini, which is in
forty-eight degrees of south latitude. And from the point of the Lupi
Marini we sailed south-west 350 miles, where we found ourselves in the
harbour of Saint Julian, and stayed there five months waiting for the
sun to return towards us, because in June and July it appeared for
only four hours each day. From this harbour of Saint Julian, which is
in fifty degrees, we departed on the 24th of August, 1520, and sailed
westward a hundred miles, where we found a river to which we gave the
name of River of Santa Cruz, and there we remained until the 18th of
October. This river is in fifty degrees. We departed thence on the
18th of October, and sailed along the coast 378 miles south-west by
west, where we found ourselves in a strait, to which we gave the name
Strait of Victoria, because the ship _Victoria_ was the first that had
seen it: some called it the Strait of Magalhaens, because our captain
was named Fernando de Magalhaens. The mouth of this strait is in
fifty-three degrees and a half, and we sailed through it 400 miles to
the other mouth, which is in the same latitude of fifty-three degrees
and a half. We emerged from this strait on the 27th of November, 1520,
and sailed between west and north-west 9858 miles, until we found
ourselves upon the equinoctial line. In this course we found two
uninhabited islands, the one of which was distant from the other 800
miles. To the first we gave the name of Saint Peter, and to the other
the island of the Tiburones. Saint Peter is in eighteen degrees, the
island of the Tiburones in fourteen degrees of south latitude. From
the equinoctial line we sailed between west and north-west 2046 miles,
and discovered several islands between ten and twelve degrees of north
latitude. In these islands there were many naked people as well men
as women, we gave the islands the name of the Ladrones, because the
people had robbed our ship: but it cost them very dear. I shall not
relate further the course that we made, because we lengthened it not
a little. But I will tell you that to go direct from these islands of
the Ladrones to the Moluccas it is necessary to sail south-west a 1000
miles, and there occur many islands, to which we gave the name of the
Archipelago of Saint Lazarus. A little further there are the islands
of the Moluccas, of which there are five, namely, Ternate, Tidor,
Molir, Machiam, Bachian. In Ternate the Portuguese had built a very
strong castle before I left. From the Molucca Islands to the islands of
Banda there are three hundred miles, and one goes thither by different
courses, because there are many islands in between, and one must sail
by sight. In these islands until you reach the islands of Banda, which
are in four degrees and a half of south latitude, there are collected
from thirty to forty thousand cantaros of nutmegs annually, and there
is likewise collected much mastic; and if you wish to go to Calicut
you must always sail amidst the islands as far as Malacca, which is
distant from the Moluccas 2000 miles, and from Malacca to Calicut are
2000 miles more. From Calicut to Portugal there are 14,000 miles. If
from the islands of Banda you wish to round the Cape of Good Hope,
you must sail between west and south-west until you find yourself in
thirty-four degrees and a half of south latitude, and from there you
sail westward, always keeping a good look-out at the prow not to run
aground on the said Cape of Good Hope or its neighbourhood. From this
Cape of Good Hope one sails north-west by west 2400 miles, and there
finds the island of Saint Helena, where Portuguese ships go to take in
water and wood, and other things. This island is in sixteen degrees
south latitude, and there is no habitation except that of a Portuguese
man, who has but one hand and one foot, no nose, and no ears, and is
called Fornam-lopem.
Sailing 1600 miles north-west from this island of Saint Helena you
will find yourself upon the equinoctial line: from which line you
will sail 3534 miles north-west by north, until you find yourself in
thirty-nine degrees north latitude. And if you wish to go from these
thirty-nine degrees to Lisbon you will sail 950 miles eastward, where
you will find the islands of the Azores, of which there are seven,
namely, Terceira, San Jorge, Pico, Fayal, Graciosa, on the east, the
island of Saint Michael, and the island of Saint Mary, all are between
thirty-seven and forty degrees of north latitude. From the island of
Terceira you will then sail eastward 1100 miles, where you will find
yourself on the land of Lisbon.
NAVIGATION ET DESCOUUREMENT DE LA
INDIE SUPÉRIEURE FAICTE PAR MOY
ANTHOYNE PIGAPHETA, VINCENTIN,
CHEVALLIER DE RHODES.
+Anthony Pigapheta+, _Patrician of Vicenza, and Knight of
Rhodes, to the very illustrious and very excellent_
+Lord Philip de Villers Lisleaden+, _the famous
Grand Master of Rhodes, his most
respected Lord_.[137]
Since there are several curious persons (very illustrious and very
reverend lord) who not only are pleased to listen to and learn the
great and wonderful things which God has permitted me to see and suffer
in the long and perilous navigation, which I have performed (and which
is written hereafter), but also they desire to learn the methods and
fashions of the road which I have taken in order to go thither, [and
who do] not grant firm belief to the end unless they are first well
advised and assured of the commencement. Therefore, my lord, it will
please you to hear that finding myself in Spain in the year of the
Nativity of our Lord, one thousand five hundred and nineteen, at the
court of the most serene king[138] of the Romans, with the reverend
lord, Mons. Francis Cheregato,[139] then apostolic proto-notary,
and ambassador of the Pope Leon the Tenth, who, through his virtue,
afterwards arrived at the bishoprick of Aprutino and the principality
of Theramo, and knowing both by the reading of many books and by the
report of many lettered and well-informed persons who conversed with
the said proto-notary, the very great and awful things of the ocean, I
deliberated, with the favour of the Emperor and the above-named lord,
to experiment and go and see with my eyes a part of those things. By
which means I could satisfy the desire of the said lords, and mine own
also. So that it might be said that I had performed the said voyage,
and seen well with my eyes the things hereafter written.
Now in order to decypher the commencement of my voyage (very
illustrious lord); having heard that there was in the city of Seville,
a small armade to the number of five ships, ready to perform this long
voyage, that is to say, to find the islands of Maluco, from whence
the spices come: of which armade the captain-general was Fernand de
Magaglianes, a Portuguese gentleman, commander of _St. James of the
Sword_, who had performed several voyages in the ocean sea (in which he
had behaved very honourably as a good man), I set out with many others
in my favour from Barcelona, where at the time the Emperor was, and
came by sea as far as Malaga, and thence I went away by land until I
arrived at the said city of Seville. There I remained for the space of
three months, waiting till the said armade was in order and readiness
to perform its voyage. And because (very illustrious lord) that on the
return from the said voyage, on going to Rome towards the holiness of
our Holy Father,[140] I found your lordship at Monterosa,[141] where
of your favour you gave me a good reception, and afterwards gave me to
understand that you desired to have in writing the things which God
of His grace had permitted me to see in my said voyage; therefore to
satisfy and accede to your desire,[142] I have reduced into this small
book the principal things, in the best manner that I have been able.
Finally (very illustrious lord), after all provisions had been made,
and the vessels were in order, the captain-general, a discreet and
virtuous man, careful of his honour, would not commence his voyage
without first making some good and wholesome ordinances, such as it is
the good custom to make for those who go to sea. Nevertheless he did
not entirely declare the voyage which he was going to make, so that
his men should not from amazement and fear be unwilling to accompany
him on so long a voyage, as he had undertaken in his intention.
Considering the great and impetuous storms[143] which are on the ocean
sea, where I wished to go; and for another reason also, that is to say
that the masters and captains of the other ships of his company did
not love him: of this I do not know the reason, except by cause of
his, the captain-general, being Portuguese, and they were Spaniards or
Castilians, who for a long time have been in rivalry and ill will with
one another. Notwithstanding this all were obedient to him. He made his
ordinances such as those which follow, so that during the storms at
sea, which often come on by night and day, his ships should not go away
and separate from one another. These ordinances he published and made
over in writing to each master of the ships, and commanded them to be
observed and inviolably kept, unless there were great and legitimate
excuses, and appearance of not having been able to do otherwise.
Firstly, the said captain-general willed that the vessel in which he
himself was should go before the other vessels, and that the others
should follow it; therefore he carried by night on the poop of his
ship a torch or faggot of burning wood, which they called farol, which
burned all the night, so that his ships should not lose sight of him.
Sometimes he set a lantern, sometimes a thick cord of reeds[144] was
lighted, which was called trenche.[145] This is made of reeds well
soaked in the water, and much beaten, then they are dried in the sun or
in the smoke, and it is a thing very suitable for such a matter. When
the captain had made one of his signals to his people, they answered
in the same way. In that manner they knew whether the ships were
following and keeping together or not. And when he wished to take a
tack on account of the change of weather, or if the wind was contrary,
or if he wished to make less way, he had two lights shown; and if he
wished the others to lower their small sail,[146] which was a part of
the sail attached to the great sail, he showed three lights. Also by
the three lights, notwithstanding that the wind was fair for going
faster, he signalled that the studding sail should be lowered; so that
the great sail might be quicker and more easily struck and furled when
bad weather should suddenly set in, on account of some squall[147] or
otherwise. Likewise when the captain wished the other ships to lower
the sail he had four lights shown, which shortly after he had put out
and then showed a single one, which was a signal that he wished to stop
there and turn, so that the other ships might do as he did. Withal,
when he discovered any land, or shoal, that is to say, a rock at sea,
he made several lights be shown or had a bombard fired off. If he
wished to make sail, he signalled to the other ships with four lights,
so that they should do as he did, and follow him. He always carried
this said lantern suspended to the poop of his vessel. Also when he
wished the studding sail to be replaced with the great sail, he showed
three lights. And to know whether all the ships followed him and were
coming together, he showed one light only besides the fanol, and then
each of the ships showed another light, which was an answering signal.
Besides the above-mentioned ordinances for carrying on seamanship as
is fitting, and to avoid the dangers which may come upon those who do
not keep watch, the said captain, who was expert in the things required
for navigation, ordered that three watches should be kept at night. The
first was at the beginning of the night, the second at midnight, and
the third towards break of day, which is commonly called _La diane_,
otherwise the star of the break of day. Every night these watches
were changed; that is to say, he who had kept the first watch, on the
following day kept the second, and he who had kept the second kept
the third; and so on they changed continually every night. The said
captain commanded that his regulations both for the signals and the
watches should be well observed, so that their voyage should be made
with greater security. The crews of this fleet were divided into three
companies; the first belonged to the captain, the second to the pilot
or _nochier_, and the third to the master. These regulations having
been made, the captain-general deliberated on sailing, as follows.
Monday, the day of St. Laurence, the 10th of August, in the year
above mentioned, the fleet, provided with what was necessary for it,
and carrying crews of different nations, to the number of two hundred
and thirty-seven men in all the five ships, was ready to set sail from
the mole of Seville; and firing all the artillery, we made sail only
on the foremast, and came to the end of a river named Betis, which
is now called Guadalcavir. In going along this river we passed by a
place named Gioan de Farax, where there was[148] a large population of
Moors, and there there was a bridge over the river by which one went to
Seville. This bridge was ruined, however there had remained two columns
which are at the bottom of the water, on which account it is necessary
to have people of the country of experience and knowledge to point out
the convenient spot for safely passing between these two columns, from
fear of striking against them. Besides that, it is necessary in order
to pass safely by this bridge and by other places on this river, that
the water should be rather high. After having passed the two columns we
came to another place named Coria, and passing by many little villages
lying along the said river, at last we arrived at a castle, which
belongs to the Duke of Medina Sidonia, named St. Lucar, where there is
a port from which to enter the ocean sea. It is entered by the east
wind and you go out by the west wind. Near there is the cape of St.
Vincent, which, according to cosmography, is in thirty-seven degrees
of latitude, at twenty miles distance from the said port; and from
the aforesaid town to this port by the river there are thirty-five or
forty miles. A few days afterwards the captain-general came along the
said river with his boat, and the masters of the other ships with him,
and we remained some days in this port to supply the fleet with some
necessary things. We went every day to hear mass on shore, at a church
named Our Lady of Barrameda, towards St. Lucar. There the captain
commanded that all the men of the fleet should confess before going on
any further, in which he himself showed the way to the others. Besides
he did not choose that anyone should bring any married woman, or others
to the ships, for several good considerations.
Tuesday, the 20th September of the said year,[149] we set sail
from St. Lucar, making the course of the south-west otherwise named
Labeiche;[150] and on the twenty-sixth of the said month we arrived at
an island of great Canaria, named Teneriphe, which is in twenty-eight
degrees latitude; there we remained three days and a half to take in
provisions and other things which were wanted. After that we set sail
thence and came to a port named Monterose, where we sojourned two days
to supply ourselves with pitch, which is a thing necessary for ships.
It is to be known that among the other isles which are at the said
great Canaria, there is one, where not a drop of water is to be found
proceeding from a fountain or a river, only once a day at the hour of
midday, there descends a cloud from the sky which envelops a large tree
which is in this island, and it falls upon the leaves of the tree, and
a great abundance of water distils from these leaves, so that at the
foot of the tree there is so large a quantity of water that it seems as
if there was an ever-running fountain. The men who inhabit this place
are satisfied with this water; also the animals, both domestic and
wild, drink of it.
Monday, the third of October of the said year, at the hour of
midnight, we set sail, making the course auster, which the levantine
mariners call Siroc,[151] entering into the ocean sea. We passed
the Cape Verd and the neighbouring islands in fourteen-and-a-half
degrees, and we navigated for several days by the coast of Guinea or
Ethiopia; where there is a mountain called Sierra Leona, which is in
eight degrees latitude according to the art and science of cosmography
and astrology. Sometimes we had the wind contrary and at other times
sufficiently good, and rains without wind. In this manner we navigated
with rain for the space of sixty days until the equinoctial line, which
was a thing very strange and unaccustomed to be seen, according to the
saying of some old men and those who had navigated here several times.
Nevertheless, before reaching this equinoctial line we had in fourteen
degrees a variety of weather and bad winds, as much on account of
squalls as for the head winds and currents which came in such a manner
that we could no longer advance. In order that our ships might not
perish nor broach to[152] (as it often happens when the squalls come
together), we struck our sails, and in that manner we went about the
sea hither and thither until the fair weather came. During the calm
there came large fishes near the ships which they called _Tiburoni_
(sharks), which have teeth of a terrible kind, and eat people when
they find them in the sea either alive or dead. These fishes are
caught with a device which the mariners call hamc, which is a hook of
iron. Of these, some were caught by our men. However, they are worth
nothing to eat when they are large; and even the small ones are worth
but little. During these storms the body of St. Anselme appeared to
us several times; amongst others, one night that it was very dark on
account of the bad weather, the said saint appeared in the form of a
fire lighted at the summit of the mainmast,[153] and remained there
near two hours and a half, which comforted us greatly, for we were in
tears, only expecting the hour of perishing; and when that holy light
was going away from us it gave out so great a brilliancy in the eyes
of each, that we were near a quarter-of-an-hour like people blinded,
and calling out for mercy. For without any doubt nobody hoped to escape
from that storm. It is to be noted that all and as many times as that
light which represents the said St. Anselme shows itself and descends
upon a vessel which is in a storm at sea, that vessel never is lost.
Immediately that this light had departed the sea grew calmer, and then
we saw divers sorts of birds, amongst others there were some which had
no fundament.[154] There is also another kind of bird of such a nature
that when the female wishes to lay her eggs she goes and lays them on
the back of the male, and there it is that the eggs are hatched. This
last kind have no feet and are always in the sea. There is another kind
of bird which only lives on the droppings of the other birds, this is
a true thing, and they are named Cagaselo, for I have seen them follow
the other birds until they had done what nature ordered them to do;
and after it has eat this dirty diet it does not follow any other bird
until hunger returns to it; it always does the same thing.[155] There
are also fish which fly, and we saw a great quantity of them together,
so many that it seemed that it was an island in the sea.
After that we had passed the equinoctial line, towards the south, we
lost the star of the tramontana, and we navigated between the south
and Garbin, which is the collateral wind [or point] between south and
west; and we crossed as far as a country named Verzin, which is in
twenty-four degrees and a half of the antarctic sky. This country is
from the cape St. Augustine, which is in eight degrees in the antarctic
sky. At this place we had refreshments of victuals, like fowls and
meat of calves,[156] also a variety of fruits, called battate, pigne
(pine-apples), sweet, of singular goodness, and many other things,
which I have omitted mentioning, not to be too long. The people of the
said place gave, in order to have a knife, or a hook[157] for catching
fish, five or six fowls, and for a comb they gave two geese, and for a
small mirror, or a pair of scissors, they gave so much fish that ten
men could have eaten of it. And for a bell (or hawk’s-bell)[158] they
gave a full basket[159] of the fruit named battate; this has the taste
of a chestnut, and is of the length of a shuttle.[160] For a king of
cards, of that kind which they used to play with in Italy, they gave me
five fowls, and thought they had cheated me. We entered into this port
the day of Saint Lucy[161] [13th December], before Christmas, on which
day we had the sun on the zenith,[162] which is a term of astrology.
This zenith is a point in the sky, according to astrologers, and only
in imagination, and it answers to over our head in a straight line,
as may be seen by the treatise of the sphere,[163] and by Aristotle,
in the first book, _De Cælo et Mondo_. On the day that we had the sun
in the zenith we felt greater heat, as much as when we were on the
equinoctial line.