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Transcriber's Notes:
(1) Typos, punctuation, and spelling errors have been corrected.
(2) Footnotes are marked [A], and placed at the end of the paragraph.
THE STORY OF MAGELLAN AND THE DISCOVERY OF THE PHILIPPINES
BY HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH.
Uniform edition. Each, 12mo, cloth, $1.50.
* * * * *
=The Story of Magellan.= A Tale of the Discovery of the Philippines.
Illustrated by F. T. Merrill and Others.
=The Treasure Ship.= A Story of Sir William Phipps and the Inter-Charter
Period in Massachusetts. Illustrated by B. West Clinedinst and Others.
=The Pilot of the Mayflower.= Illustrated by H. Winthrop Peirce and
Others.
=True to his Home.= A Tale of the Boyhood of Franklin. Illustrated by H.
Winthrop Peirce.
=The Wampum Belt:= _or, The Fairest Page of History._ A Tale of William
Penn's Treaty with the Indians. With 6 full-page Illustrations.
=The Knight of Liberty.= A Tale of the Fortunes of Lafayette. With 6
full-page Illustrations.
=The Patriot Schoolmaster.= A Tale of the Minutemen and the Sons of
Liberty. With 6 full-page Illustrations by H. Winthrop Peirce.
=In the Boyhood of Lincoln.= A Story of the Black Hawk War and the
Tunker Schoolmaster. With 12 Illustrations and colored Frontispiece.
=The Boys of Greenway Court.= A Story of the Early Years of Washington.
With 10 full-page Illustrations.
=The Log School-House on the Columbia.= With 13 full-page Illustrations
by J. Carter Beard, E. J. Austen, and Others.
* * * * *
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, NEW YORK.
[Illustration: Magellan planting the Cross in the Philippine Islands.]
THE STORY OF MAGELLAN
AND
THE DISCOVERY OF THE PHILIPPINES
BY
HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH
AUTHOR OF
THE TREASURE SHIP, THE PILOT OF THE MAYFLOWER,
TRUE TO HIS HOME, THE WAMPUM BELT,
IN THE BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN, ETC.
_ILLUSTRATED BY FRANK T. MERRILL
AND OTHERS_
[Illustration: Publishers' logo]
NEW YORK
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
1899
COPYRIGHT, 1899,
BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.
"Fired by thy fame,[A] and with his King in ire
To match thy deed, shall Magalhaes aspire.
"Along the regions of the burning zone,
To deepest South he dares the course unknown.
"A land of giants shall his eyes behold,
Of camel strength, surpassing human mould.
"Beneath the Southern star's gold gleam he braves
And stems the whirl of land-surrounded waves.
"Forever moved to the hero's fame,
Those foaming straits shall bear his deathless name."
CAMOENS.
[A] Vasco da Gama.
PREFACE.
I have been asked to write a story of Ferdinand Magellan, the value of
whose discoveries has received a new interpretation in the development
of the South Temperate Zone of America, and in the ceding of the
Philippine Islands to the United States. The works of Lord Stanley and
of Guillemard furnish comprehensive histories of the intrepid discoverer
of the South Pacific Ocean and the Philippine Islands; but there would
seem to be room for a short, picturesque story of Magellan's adventures,
such as might be read by family lamps and in schools.
To attempt to write such a story is more than a pleasure, for the study
of Magellan reveals a character high above his age; a man unselfish and
true, who was filled with a passion for discovery, and who sought the
welfare of humanity and the glory of the Cross rather than wealth or
fame. Among great discoverers he has left a character well-nigh ideal.
The incidents of his life are not only honorable, but usually have the
color of chivalry.
His voyages, as pictured by his companion Pigafetta, the historian, give
us our first view of the interesting native inhabitants of the South
Temperate Zone and of the Pacific archipelagoes, and his adventures with
the giants of Patagonia and with the natives of the Ladrone Islands,
read almost like stories of Sinbad the Sailor. The simple record of his
adventures is in itself a storybook.
Magellan, from his usually high and unselfish character, as well as for
the lasting influence of what he did as shown in the new developments of
civilization, merits a place among household heroes; and it is in this
purpose and spirit I have undertaken a simple sympathetic interpretation
of his most noble and fruitful life. I have tried to put into the form
of a story the events whose harvests now appear after nearly four
hundred years, and to picture truthfully a beautiful and inspiring
character. To the narrative of his lone lantern I have added some tales
of the Philippines.
H. BUTTERWORTH.
28 WORCESTER STREET, BOSTON, MASS.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
I.--A STRANGE ROYAL ORDER 1
II.--FRIENDS WITH A PURPOSE 9
III.--PRINCE HENRY THE NAVIGATOR AND VASCO DA GAMA 15
IV.--THE ENTHUSIASTS CARRY THEIR PLANS TO THE KING 24
V.--ABOUT THE HAPPY ITALIAN WHO WISHED TO SEE THE
WORLD.--BEAUTIFUL SEVILLE! 38
VI.--ENEMIES.--ESTEBAN GORMEZ 43
VII.--"MAROONED" 52
VIII.--"THE WONDERS OF NEW LANDS."--PIGAFETTA'S TALES OF
HIS ADVENTURES WITH MAGELLAN.--THE STORY OF "THE
FOUNTAIN TREE."--"ST ELMO'S FIRE" 60
IX.--PINEAPPLES, POTATOES, VERY OLD PEOPLE 70
X.--THE FIRST GIANT.--THE ISLANDS OF GEESE AND
GOSLINGS.--THE DANCING GIANTS 76
XI.--CAPTURING A GIANT.--MAGELLAN'S DECISION 84
XII.--THE MUTINY AT PORT JULIAN.--THE STRAITS.--1519 91
XIII.--"THE ADMIRAL WAS MAD!" 99
XIV.--THE PACIFIC.--THE DEATH OF THE GIANTS 103
XV.--WELCOME TO THE PHILIPPINES! 108
XVI.--THE VISIT OF THE KING.--PIGAFETTA VISITS THE KING 116
XVII.--EASTER SUNDAY.--MAGELLAN PLANTS THE CROSS 122
XVIII.--CHRISTIANITY AND TRADE ESTABLISHED.--THE
BAPTISM OF THE QUEEN 129
XIX.--HALCYON DAYS 136
XX.--THE DEATH OF MAGELLAN 139
XXI.--THE SPICE ISLANDS.--WONDERFUL BIRDS.--CLOVES,
CINNAMON, NUTMEGS, GINGER.--THE SHIPS OVERLOADED 144
XXII.--MESQUITA IN PRISON 157
XXIII.--STRANGE STORIES.--THE WISE OLD WOMEN.--THE
WALKING LEAVES.--THE HAUNTED SANDALWOOD TREES.--THE
EMPEROR OF CHINA.--THE LITTLE BOY AND THE GIANT BIRD 161
XXIV.--THE LOST DAY 173
XXV.--IN THE CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF VICTORY.--PIGAFETTA 176
SUPPLEMENTAL 182
LIST OF FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS.
FACING
PAGE
Magellan planting the Cross in the Philippine Islands _Frontispiece_
Lisbon, from the south bank of the Tagus 4
Ferdinand Magellan 6
"He is a renegade. His arms must come down!" 18
Barcelona 34
Night after night the ships followed Magellan's lantern 55
Interior of the Alcazar of Seville 60
The dancing giant 80
Mount Mayon, on the Island of Luzon 125
The death of Magellan 142
Pigafetta presenting the history of the voyage to the
King of Spain 179
Map of the Philippine Islands 187
Native houses in Manila 190
Hong Kong 202
Iloilo 206
Boats on the River Pasig 218
THE STORY OF MAGELLAN.
CHAPTER I.
A STRANGE ROYAL ORDER.
I am to tell the story of a man who had faith in himself.
The clouds and the ocean bear his name. Lord Stanley has called him "the
greatest of ancient and modern navigators."
That was a strange royal order, indeed, which Dom Manoel, King of
Portugal, issued in the early part of the fifteenth century. It was in
effect: "Go to the house of Hernando de Magallanes, in Sabrosa, and tear
from it the coat of arms. Hernando de Magallanes (Ferdinand Magellan)
has transferred his allegiance to the King of Spain."
The people of the mountain district must have been very much astonished
when the cavaliers, if such they were, appeared to execute this order.
As the arms were torn away from the ancient house, we may imagine the
alcalde of the place inquiring:
"What has our townsman done? Did he not serve our country well in the
East?"
"He is a renegade!" answers the commander.
"But he carried his plans for discovery to our own King first before he
went to the court of Spain."
"Say no more! Spain is reaping the fruits of his brain, and under his
lead is planting her colonies in the new seas, to the detriment of our
country and the shame of the throne. His arms must come down. Portugal
rejects his name forever!"
The officers of the King tore down the arms. They thought they had
consigned the name for which the arms stood to oblivion. As the Jewish
hierarchy said of Spinoza: "Let his name be cast out under the whole
heavens!" That name rose again.
Years passed and a nephew of Magellan inherited one of the family
estates. He was stoned in the streets on account of his name. This man
fled in exile from Portugal to Brazil. He died there, and said: "Let no
heir or descendant of mine ever restore the arms of my family."
In his will he wrote:
"I desire that the arms of my family (Magellan) should remain forever
obliterated, as was done by order of my Lord and King, _as a punishment
for the crime_ of Ferdinand Magellan, because he entered the service of
Castile to the injury of our kingdom."
It is the history of this same Ferdinand Magellan, whom Portugal and
his own family sought to crush out from the world, that we are now about
to trace.
Following his highest inspiration, he shut his eyes to the present, and
followed the light of the star of destiny in his soul. His discovery
seems to open to the West the doors of China.
He was filled from boyhood with a passion for finding unknown lands and
waters; he was haunted by ideals and visions of noble exploits for the
good of mankind. His own country, Portugal, would not listen to his
projects at the time that he offered them to the court; so, like
Columbus, Vespucci, and Cabot, he sought the favor of another country.
Nothing could stand before the high purpose of his soul. "If not by
Portugal, then by Spain," he said to an intimate friend; meaning that,
if his own country denied him the favor of giving him an opportunity for
exploration, he would present his cause to the court of Spain, which he
did.
This man, whose real name was Fernao de Magalhaes, was born about the
year 1480, at Sabrosa, in Portugal, a wintry district where the hardy
soil and the "gloomy grandeur" of the mountain scenery produced men of
strong bodies and lofty spirit. He belonged to a noble family, "one of
the noblest in the kingdom." His boyhood was passed in the sierras. He
had a love of works of geography and travel, and he dreamed even then
of sunny zones, undiscovered waters, and unknown regions of the world.
Henry the Navigator and his school of pilots, astronomers, and
explorers, had left the country full of the spirit of new discoveries
which yet lived.
He went to the capital of Portugal to be educated, and was made a page
to the Queen. He was yet a boy when Columbus returned, bringing the
enthralling news of a new world. Spain was filled with excitement at the
event; her cities rang with jubilees by day and flared with torches at
night. Portugal caught the new spirit of her late King, Henry the
Navigator, and was ambitious to rival the discoveries of Spain. She had
already established herself in the glowing realms of India.
In 1509 Magellan went to the West Indies in the service of the
Portuguese Government. He joined the expedition that discovered the
Spice Islands of Banda, and it became his conviction that these islands
could be reached by a new ocean way.
A great vision arose in his mind. It was a suggestion that never left
him until he saw its fulfillment in an unexpected way on seas of which
he never had dreamed.
This view was that he could sail around the world and reach the Spice
Islands by the way of the West.
[Illustration: Lisbon, from the south bank of the Tagus.]
In the service of the King against the Moors in one of the Portuguese
wars, he received a wound which healed, but left him lame for life. He,
like other officers, sent in his claim for the pension due to such
service. He received answer from the parsimonious King (Dom Manoel):
"Your claim is not good. Your wound has healed."
He was wounded more deeply by this insult than he could have been by any
poisoned dart from the Moors. That he should have been refused the
recognition of those who had shed blood in his country's cause rankled
in his heart, especially as he saw his comrades paraded in honor and
pensioned for lesser disabilities. He left Portugal, as an exile, and
went to Spain.
Here the high aspirations of the lame soldier met with recognition, and
it was this service that caused the Portuguese King to issue the strange
order which has introduced the young and high-spirited grandee to the
readers of this story.
If he had faults--as far as history records he had no vices--his high
aim overcame them. He had caught the spirit of Portuguese Henry the
Navigator, and his soul had glowed when the fame of Columbus first
thrilled Spain. He had learned the history of Vasco da Gama, whose name
was the glory of Portugal. He had educated himself for action.
[Illustration: Ferdinand Magellan. After a painting by Velasquez.]
It was the age of opportunity. He saw it; he could not know the way,
but he knew the guide that was in him. As a son of the Church, which he
then was, he consecrated all he had to her glory. What was fame, what
was wealth, what was anything to becoming a benefactor of the world, and
living forever in the heart of all mankind?
So his deserted house crumbed in Sabrosa, and his coat of arms did not
there reappear until centuries had followed the course of his genius,
and the whole world came to know his worth.
In view of recent events his character becomes one of the most
interesting of past history.
After nearly four hundred years that cast-out name rises like a star!
Why, in the view of to-day, was that name cast out?
Because Magellan saw his duty in a larger life than in the restrictions
of a provincial court. The lesson has its significance. He who sinks
self and policy, and follows his highest duty and enters the widest
field, will in the final judgment of man receive the noblest and best
reward.
We love a lover of mankind, and it strengthens faith and hope to follow
the keel of such a sailor on any sea.