hemisphere (till they came) to the East. The thing seemed almost
impossible and useless, not because it was thought a difficult thing to
go from the west right to the east under the hemisphere, but because
it was uncertain whether ingenious nature, which has done nothing
without the greatest foresight, had not so dissevered the east from
the west, partly by sea and partly by land, as to make it impossible
to arrive there by either land or sea travelling. For it had not then
been discovered whether that great region which is called Terra Firma
did separate the western sea from the eastern; it was clear enough
that that continent, in its southern part, trended southwards and
afterwards westwards. It was clear, also, that two regions had been
discovered in the North, one of which they called Regio Bacalearum
(Cod-fish Land), from a new kind of fish; and the other Terra Florida.
And if these two were united to that Terra Firma, it was impossible
to get to the east by going from the west, as nothing had ever been
discovered of any channel through this land, though it had been sought
for most diligently and with great labour. And they considered it a
very doubtful and most dangerous enterprise to go through the limits
of the Portuguese, and so to the east. For which reason it seemed to
Cæsar and to his counsellors that these men were promising a thing from
which much was to be hoped, but still of great difficulty. When they
were both brought to an audience on a certain day, Magellan offered
to go himself, but Christopher offered to fit out a fleet at his own
expense and that of his friends, but only if it were allowed to sail
under the authority and protection of Cæsar. Whilst they both persisted
rather obstinately in their offers, Cæsar himself equipped a fleet of
five ships, and appointed Magellan its admiral. Their orders were, to
sail southwards along the coast of Terra Firma till they found either
its termination or some channel through which they might reach the
spice-bearing Moluccas. So Magellan set sail on the 10th of August,
1519, with five ships from Seville. A few days after he reached the
Fortunate Islands, which are now sometimes called the Canaries. Thence
they arrived at the Islands of the Hesperides,[440] from which they
took a south-western course towards that continent which we mentioned
before; and after some days’ fair sailing they sighted a promontory, to
which the name of Santa Maria has been given. Here Juan Ruy Diaz Solis
had been eaten, with some of his companions, by the anthropophagi, whom
the Indians call cannibals, whilst, by order of Ferdinand the Catholic,
he was exploring the coast of this continent with a fleet. Sailing
thence, our men coasted in an unbroken course along the coasts of this
continent, which extend a very long way south, and tend a little west,
so that they crossed the Tropic of Capricorn by many degrees. I think
that this continent should be called that of the Southern Pole. But it
was not so easy as I have said; for not till the last day of March of
the following year did they reach a bay, to which they gave the name
of Saint Julian. Here they found the Antarctic Pole star 49⅕ degrees
above their horizon, both by the altitude and declination of the sun
from the Equinoctial, and also by the altitude of the Antarctic (Pole
star) itself. This star our sailors generally make use of more than
of any other. They state also that the longitude was 56 deg. west of
the Fortunate Isles. For, as the ancient cosmographers, and specially
Ptolemy, reckoned the longitude from the Fortunate Islands eastward
to Catigara at 180 deg., so our men, sailing as far as they could
westward also, began to reckon another 180 deg. westward to Catigara,
as was right. Yet our sailors seem to me rather to be mistaken in the
calculation of the longitudes (of distances?) than to have fixed them
with any certainty, because in so long a voyage, and being so distant
from the land, they cannot fix and determine any marks or signs for the
longitude. Still I think that these accounts, whatever they be, should
not be cast aside, but rather accepted till more certain information be
discovered.
This Gulf of Saint Julian seemed very great, and had the appearance
of a channel. Wherefore Admiral Magellan ordered two ships to explore
the Gulf and anchored the rest outside. After two days, information was
brought to him that the Gulf was full of shoals, and did not extend
far inland. Our men, on their way back, saw some Indians picking up
shell-fish on the shore; for they call the natives of all unknown lands
Indians. They were of extraordinary height, that is to say, about ten
spans, were clothed in the skins of wild beasts, and seemed darker than
would be expected from the situation of the country. When some of our
men went on shore to them and showed them bells and pictures painted on
paper, they began a hoarse chant and an unintelligible song, dancing
round our men, and, in order to astonish them, they passed arrows
a cubit and a half long down their throats to the bottom of their
stomachs, and without being sick. And forthwith drawing them out again,
they seemed to rejoice greatly, as having shown their bravery by this
exploit.
At last three came as ambassadors, and prayed our men, by certain
signs, to go further inland with them, as if they would receive them
with all hospitality. Magellan sent seven men, well armed, with them,
to investigate as carefully as possible both country and people. When
they had gone with them about seven miles inland, they came to a thick
and pathless wood.
Here was a rather low hut, covered with skins of wild beasts. There
were two apartments in it; in one lived the women with their children,
in the other the men. There were thirteen women and children, and
five men. These received their guests with a (ferali apparatu[441])
barbarous pomp, which seemed to them a royal one. An animal was
slaughtered, which seemed to differ little from the onager, and they
served it up half roasted to our men, without any other food or drink.
Our men were obliged, contrary to their custom, to sleep under skins,
on account of the severity of the snow and wind. Wherefore, before they
slept, they set watch. The Indians did the same, and lay down near our
men, snoring horribly.
When the day had broken, our men asked them to return with them to
the ships, with the whole family. When the Indians had refused for a
considerable time, and our men had insisted upon it rather imperiously,
the men entered the den-like[442] women’s apartment. The Spaniards
thought that they were consulting with their wives concerning this
expedition; but they returned covered, from the sole of their feet to
the crown of their heads, with different horrible skins, and with their
faces painted in different colours, and equipped in this terrible and
horrible garb with bows and arrows for battle, and (seemingly?) of
much greater stature than before. The Spaniards, who thought that it
would come to a fight, ordered (a shot) to be fired. Though this shot
was harmless, still the giants, who looked just before fit to contend
with Jove, were so frightened by this sound, that they began forthwith
to speak of peace. The upshot was, that three men returned with our
fellows to the ships, having sent away the rest of the family. So they
started for the ships. But, as our men could not only not keep up with
these almost giants when the latter were running, but could not, even
by running, keep up with them walking, two of them escaped upon the
march, on the pretext of pursuing an onager, which they saw feeding
at a distance upon a mountain. The third was brought to the ship,
but died, within a few days, of fasting, which he had imposed upon
himself, according to the habit of the Indians, through homesickness.
And though the admiral sent again to that hut, in order to catch some
one of these giants to take to Cæsar on account of their novelty,
yet no one was found there, but all had gone elsewhere with the hut.
Whence it seems clear that that race is a wandering one, nor did our
men ever see another Indian on that coast, though they remained in
that bay for many days, as we shall mention farther on. They did not
think that there was anything in that region of sufficient importance
to justify their exploring it and the interior any farther. Though
Magellan perceived that any longer stay there was useless, yet, as the
sea for several days was stormy and the sky threatening, and the land
stretched continuously southwards, so that the farther they went the
colder they would find that region, his departure was necessarily put
off from day to day, till the month of May was close upon them, from
which time the winter there begins to be most severe, so that it became
necessary to winter at the very time when we have our summer. Magellan
foreseeing that the voyage would be a long one, ordered provisions
to be served out more sparingly among his crews, so that the stock
might last longer. When the Spaniards had borne this patiently for
some days, fearing the severity of the winter and the barrenness of
the country, they at last petitioned their admiral, Magellan, that, as
he saw that the land stretched uninterruptedly to the south, and that
no hope remained of its terminating or of the discovery of a strait
through it, and that a severe winter was imminent, and that many of
them were dead of starvation and hardships; and declared that they
could no longer bear the rule which he had made about the allowance
of provisions (lex sumptuaria), and begged that he would increase
the allowance of provisions, and think about going home; that Cæsar
never intended that they should too obstinately attempt what nature
itself and other obstacles opposed; that their exertions were already
sufficiently known and approved of,—for they had gone farther than
either the boldness or rashness of mortals had ever dared to go as yet;
and that they could easily reach some milder shore, if they were to
sail south (north?) for a few days, a south wind being then blowing.
But in reply, Magellan, who had already made up his mind either to die
or to complete his enterprise, said that his course had been laid down
for him by Cæsar himself, and that he neither could nor would depart
from it in any degree, and that he would in consequence sail till he
found either the end of the land or some strait (through it).
That though they could not at present succeed whilst winter was against
them, yet that it would be easy in the summer of that region. But that,
if they would continue towards the Antarctic portion of this country,
the whole of its summer would be one perpetual day. That there were
means if they would only try them, by which they might avoid famine and
the rigour of the winter, inasmuch as there was abundance of wood, and
the sea provided shell-fish and many sorts of the very best fish. The
springs there were wholesome, and birdfowling and hunting would supply
many wants; and neither bread nor wine had as yet been lacking, nor
would they lack in future if they would only bear that they should be
served out when needed, or for health’s sake, and not for pleasure or
for luxury. They had done nothing as yet worthy of admiration, or which
could serve as an excuse for their return, inasmuch as the Portuguese
crossed the tropic of Capricorn by as much as 12 deg. not only every
year, but almost every day, when they were sailing eastwards. They
would be thought worthy of very little praise who had gone only 4 deg.
southwards. He had certainly made up his mind to endure the worst
rather than return ignominiously to Spain, and he trusted that all his
comrades, or at least those in whom the noble Spanish spirit was not
yet dead, would be of the same mind.
He advised them to bear at least the remainder of the winter
patiently, and said that their rewards would be the more abundant the
more difficulties and dangers they had endured in opening to Cæsar
a new unknown world, rich in spices and gold. Magellan thought that
the minds of his crews were soothed and cheered by this harangue, but
within a few days was harassed by a shameful and foul conspiracy.
For talking began amongst the crews about the old eternal hatred
between the Portuguese and the Spaniards, and about Magellan’s being
a Portuguese. He, they said, could do nothing more glorious for his
own country than to cast away this fleet, with so many men. Nor was it
credible that he should wish to discover the Moluccas, even if he were
able; but he would think it sufficient if he could hire Cæsar on for
some years with a vain hope, and meanwhile something new would turn up,
by which the Spaniards would for the future be diverted from the search
for spices. Nor even had their course begun to turn towards those happy
Moluccas, but rather to distant snows and ice, and to perpetual storms.
Magellan, very much enraged by these sayings, punished the men, but
rather more harshly than was proper for a foreigner, especially when
commanding in a distant country. So, having planned a conspiracy, they
seize upon a ship, and make ready to return to Spain. But he, with the
rest whom he had still obedient to his commands, attacked that ship,
and put to death the head man and the other ringleaders, those even
who could not lawfully be so treated sharing the same fate. For these
were certain servants of the king, upon whom no one but Cæsar and his
Council could lawfully pronounce a sentence of death. Nevertheless,
no one from that time dared to disparage the power of the commander.
Still, there were not wanting some who whispered that Magellan would,
in the same manner, murder all the Spaniards to the last man, until he,
having got rid of them all, might return with the few Portuguese with
the fleet to his own country. And so this hatred settled more deeply in
the hearts of the Spaniards.
As soon as ever Magellan saw the storminess of the sea and the rigour
of the winter mitigated, he set sail from the gulf of St. Julian on the
24th of August. And, as before, he followed the course of the coast
southwards for many days. A promontory was at last sighted, which
they called Santa Cruz, when a severe storm, springing from the east,
suddenly caught them, and one of the five ships was cast on shore, the
men being all saved, with the merchandise and equipment, except one
Ethiopian slave, who was caught and drowned by the waves. After this
the land seemed to bear a little east and south, and this they began
to coast along as usual, and on the 26th of November certain inlets
of the sea were discovered, which had the appearance of a strait.
Magellan entered them forthwith with the whole fleet, and when he saw
other and again other bays, he gave orders that they should be all
carefully examined from the ships, to see if anywhere a passage might
be discovered; and said that he would himself wait at the mouth of the
strait till the fifth day, to hear what might happen.
One of the ships, which Alvarus Meschito, his nephew, commanded, was
carried back by the tide to the sea, to the very place where they
entered the gulf. But when the Spaniards perceived that they were
far away from the other ships, they made a plot to return home, put
Alvarus, their captain, in irons, bent their course northwards, and
were at last carried to the coast of Æthiopia (Guinea), and, having
victualled there, they reached Spain eight months after they had
deserted the rest. There they compel Alvarus to stand his trial in
chains (causam ex vinculis dicere faciunt quasi), for having, by
his counsel and advice, induced his uncle Magellan to practise such
harshness on the Spaniards.
But when Magellan had waited for this ship some days longer than the
time fixed, another returned, which had discovered nothing but a bay
full of shoals and shingle, and very lofty cliffs. The third ship,
however, reported that the largest bay had the appearance of a strait,
as in three days’ sail they had found no way out; but the farther they
had gone the narrower the sea was, and they had not been able to sound
the depth of it in many places by any length of line, and that they had
also noticed that the tide was rather stronger than the ebb, and that
so they were persuaded that a passage was open in that direction to
some other sea. He made up his mind to sail through it. This channel,
which they did not then know to be a channel, was at one place three
Italian miles wide, at another two, sometimes ten, and sometimes five,
and pointed a little westward. The altitude of the southern pole was
found to be 52 deg., and the longitude to be the same, as at St.
Julian’s Bay. The month of November was upon them (Aderat jam mensis
Novembris), the night was rather more than five hours long, and they
had never seen any human beings on the shore.
But one night a great number of fires were seen, mostly on their left
hand, from which they guessed that they had been seen by the natives
of the region. But Magellan, seeing that the country was rocky, and
also stark with eternal cold, thought it useless to waste many days in
examining it; and so, with only three ships, he continued on his course
along the channel, until, on the twenty-second day after he had entered
it, he sailed out upon another wide and vast sea. The length of the
channel they attest to be nearly a hundred Spanish miles.
There is no doubt that the land which they had upon their right was the
continent of which we have spoken, but they think that the land on the
left was not a mainland, but islands, because sometimes on that side
they heard on a still farther coast the beating and roaring of the sea.
Magellan saw that the continent stretched northwards again in a
straight line; wherefore, leaving that huge continent on the right
hand, he ordered them to sail through that vast and mighty sea (which
I do not think had ever seen either our or any one else’s ships) in
the direction whence the wind called Corus[443] generally blows—that
is, ’twixt north and west—so that he might, by going through west to
east, again arrive at the torrid zone; for he thought that it was
proved sufficiently clearly that the Moluccas were in the most remote
east, and could not be far from the equator. They kept this course
uninterruptedly, nor did they ever depart from it, except when rough
weather or violent winds compelled them to diverge; and when they had
in this manner been carried for forty days by a strong and generally
favourable wind, and had seen nothing but sea, and everywhere sea—when
they had almost reached the tropic of Capricorn once more, two islands
were sighted, but small and barren. These they found uninhabited when
they tried to land; still, they stopped there two days for their
health’s sake, and general recruiting of their bodies, for there was
very fair fishing there. They named these the Unfortunate Islands
by common consent. Then they again set sail thence, following their
original course and direction of sailing. And when, for three months
and twenty days, they had been sailing over this ocean with great good
fortune, and had traversed an immense part of the sea—more vast than
mind of man can conceive, for they had been driven almost continuously
by a very strong wind—they were now at last arrived on this side of
the equinoctial line, and at last they saw an island, called, as they
learnt afterwards, Inuagana by the natives. When they had approached
nearer, they discovered the altitude of the Arctic pole to be 11 deg.
The longitude they thought to be 158 deg. west of Gades. Then they
saw other and still more islands, so that they knew they had arrived
at some vast archipelago. When they reached Inuagana, the island was
discovered to be uninhabited. They then approached a rather small
island, where they saw two Indian canoes—for that is the name by which
this strange kind of boat is called by the Indians. The canoes are cut
and hollowed out of a single trunk of a tree, and hold one, or, at
most, two men; and they usually speak by gestures and signs, as if the
dumb were talking with the dumb.
They asked the Indians the names of the islands, and where they could
get provisions, of which they were in great want. They understood that
the island in which they had been was called Inuagana, and that the
one where they now were was Acaca, but both of them uninhabited. They
said that there was an island not far off, which was called Selani, and
which they almost showed with their finger, and that it was inhabited,
and that an abundance of everything necessary for life was to be found
there.
Our men, having taken in water in Acaca, sailed towards Selani; here
a storm took them, so that they could not bring the ships to that
island, but were driven to another island called Massaua, where lives a
king of (the?) three islands, after that they arrived at Subuth. This
is an excellent and large island, and, having made a treaty with its
chieftain, they landed immediately to perform divine service, according
to the manner of Christians, for it was the feast of the resurrection
of Him who was our salvation. Wherefore they built a small chapel of
the sails of the ships, and of boughs, and in that they built an altar
according to the Christian rites, and performed service after their
home fashion. The chieftain came up with a great number of Indians, who
seemed in every way delighted by this worship of the gods. They led the
admiral and some of the officers to the chief’s hut, and put before
them whatever food they had. Their bread, which they call sago, was
made of the trunk or wood of a tree, rather like a palm. This, when cut
in pieces, and fried in oil in a pan, supplies them with bread, a small
piece of which I send to your reverence. Their drink was a liquor which
flows and trickles from the boughs of the palm-trees when cut. Fowling,
too, supplied the feast, and the rest was the fruit of that region.
Magellan beheld, in the chief’s hut, one sick, and almost at the last
gasp. He asked who he was, and what illness he was suffering from. He
learnt that he was the chief’s grandson, and had now suffered for two
years from a raging fever. But he told him to be of good cheer, and
that he would immediately recover his health and former strength, if he
would only become a Christian. The Indian accepted the condition, and,
having adored the Cross, he received baptism, and the next day declared
that he was well, rose from his bed, walked, and took food like the
rest. He told I know not what visions to the Indians. What need I say
more? The chief himself, with two thousand two hundred Indians, was
baptized, and professed the name and religion of Christ. But Magellan,
judging this island to abound in gold and ginger, and, besides, to be
convenient from its position with respect to the neighbouring islands,
for exploring with ease their wealth and produce of the earth, goes to
the Chief of Subuth, and persuades him that as he had abandoned that
vain and impious worship of the gods, and had turned to the religion
of Christ, it was only fair that the kings of the neighbouring isles
should be subject to his rule and command; and he said that he had
resolved to send ambassadors concerning this, and compel by arms those
who did not listen to his command.
This proposition pleased the savage, and the ambassadors were sent.
The chiefs came in one by one, and did homage. The nearest island was
called Mauthan, the king of which excelled the others in number of
soldiers and in arms, and he refused to do homage to one whom he had
been accustomed for so long to command.
Magellan, who desired to finish what he had once begun, gave orders
that forty of his men, whose bravery and prowess he had proved, should
arm, and he crossed over to Mauthan in boats, for the island was very
near. The Chief of Subuth added some of his own men to show him the
situation of the island, and to fight, if matters came to that. The
King of Mauthan, seeing our men coming, draws up about three thousand
of his subjects in the field, and Magellan draws up his on the shore,
with their guns and warlike engines, though only a few; and though he
saw that he was far inferior to the enemy in number, yet he thought it
better to fight this warlike race, which made use of lances and other
long weapons, than either to return or to use the soldiers from Subuth.
So he orders his men to be of good cheer and brave hearts, and not to
be alarmed at the number of the enemy, for they had often seen, as
formerly, so in quite recent times, two hundred Spaniards in the island
of Yucatan put sometimes two or three hundred thousand men to flight.
But he pointed out to the Subuth islanders that he had brought them,
not to fight, but to watch their bravery and fighting power (robur in
acie). So, having charged the enemy, both sides fought valiantly: but,
as the enemy were more numerous, and used longer weapons, with which
they did our men much damage, Magellan himself was at last thrust
through and slain. But the rest of our men, though they did not seem
quite conquered, yet retreated, having lost their leader. And the enemy
dared not follow them, as they were retreating in good order.
So the Spaniards, having lost their admiral, Magellan, and seven of
their comrades, returned to Subuth, where they chose another commander,
John Serrano, a man not to be despised. He immediately renewed with
fresh gifts the alliance that had been made with the King of Subuth,
and promised to subdue the King of Mauthan.