FRIENDS WITH A PURPOSE.
Souls kindle kindred souls, and the inspirations of friendship commonly
form a part of the early history of beneficent lives.
One of Magellan's early friends was Francisco Serrao, who sailed with
him for Malacca, a great mart of merchandise in the East. It was to him
that Magellan wrote that he would meet him again in the East, "if not by
the way of Portugal, by that of Spain;" words of signal import, which we
have already quoted.
Serrao had a very curious, romantic, and pathetic history. He lived in
the times of the Portuguese Viceroys of India. He was made captain of a
ship which sought to explore the Spice Islands, which were then held to
be the paradise of the East. Cloves and nutmegs then were luxuries, and
when brought to Portugal bore the flavor of the sun lands of the far-off
mysterious seas.
At Banda ships were loaded with spices. On sailing there Serrao suffered
shipwreck and was cast upon a reef and found refuge on a deserted
island. The place was a resort of pirates or wreckers. Some pirates
sighted the wreck of the ship and sought to plunder the wreckage.
"We have no ship, and the island is without food or water," said Serrao
to his men. "Hide under the rock and obey me, and we will soon have a
ship and water and food."
The men hid among the caverns of the reef. The pirates landed, and left
their ship for the wreckage.
Serrao rushed through the surf, followed by his men, and boarded the
pirates' vessel.
The wreckers were filled with terror when they saw what would be their
fate if left there, and they begged to be taken on board, and were
received by Serrao as prisoners.
Serrao traded for many years among the Spice Islands and was advanced to
high positions, but was poisoned at last, as is supposed, by an intrigue
of the King of Tidor.
One of the most inspiring of Magellan's friends was Ruy Faleiro, who had
wonderful instincts and a wide vision, but who became a madman. Faleiro
was a Portuguese who, like Magellan, was out of favor with the court. He
was an astronomer, a geographer, and an astrologer. He had a fiery and
impulsive temper, but with it a passion for discovery, and so was drawn
into Magellan's heart by gravitation. The two journeyed together,
studied together, and started at about the same time for Spain. At
Seville they met in a club of famous discoverers, students, and
refugees.
They had one vision in common, that there was a short route to the
Moluccas by the way of the West. The route was not what they dreamed it
to be; but there was a new way to the Spice Islands by the West and
East, a way that probably no voyager from Europe had ever seen, and
their vision was decisive of one of the greatest events--the
circumnavigation of the world. The angle of vision was not true in their
private meetings, nor had Magellan's been before they met; but another
angle leading from it was true, and would cause a change of the
conception of the world when poor Ruy Faleiro's brain was losing its
hold on such entrancing hopes.
"We can reach Molucca by a short voyage to the West," said Ruy Faleiro.
"I am sure that I can do this, if I can have an expedition such as the
King of Spain can give me," said Magellan.
"You must never communicate this secret to any man," said Ruy.
"I will never mention the subject to any but you," said Magellan, "until
we can act together."
The vision of finding the East by a short passage to the West, involved
so great a prospect of human progress and glory that it would not let
Magellan rest at any time. It haunted him wherever he went. He began to
talk about it under restraint, and friends came to see what was on his
mind and to take advantage of it.
[Illustration: The earliest map of the world. By Hecataeus of Miletus
(sixth century B.C.). Probably copied in part from Anaximander, inventor
of map drawing.]
The fiery Ruy Faleiro, when he found that his friend had opened their
confidential secret, partly broke friendship with him. Magellan could
only acknowledge his error, and say that he never meant in his heart to
betray the secrets of his friend, the cosmographer.
Faleiro dreamed on, but his mind weakened.
The popular legend about this unhappy man was, that being an astrologer
he cast his own horoscope, and found that the expedition that he hoped
to command would be lost, and so feigned madness. This is only a story.
Faleiro died in Seville about 1523.
It would be interesting to know if he lived to hear of the great
discovery of his old friend Magellan, and if he joined in the general
rejoicing over it. It is probable that he lived to see the strange ways
by which his countryman had been led, not over a short passage, but over
far-distant seas. His was a pitiable fate; but his name merits honorable
mention among men, who, like Miranda in South America, have inspired
great deeds which they themselves could not accomplish.
Men of vision and men of action are essential to each other; for many
men can see what only a few others can perform.
Magellan married Beatriz Barbosa about the year 1518. He was the father
of one son. His wife died shortly after hearing the news of his great
discovery of the Pacific and the new way to the East.
He was now prepared to go to Charles V, King of Spain, son of the
demented Queen Joanna, the daughter of Isabella, and to lay before him a
plan of opening a short way to the East by sailing West. This purpose
more and more absorbed his soul--he himself was nothing, discovery was
everything. The frown of Portugal no longer cast any deep shadow over
his life; it was his mission to _find_. He heard in the acclaim of
Columbus a prophecy of what his own name would one day be.