ENEMIES.--ESTEBAN GORMEZ.
No man living could better know what he needed for such a stupendous and
unprecedented undertaking than Magellan, who had already been to the
spicery of the Orient in the service of Albuquerque, the Portuguese
Viceroy. Under the royal sanction, the dockyards of Seville were at his
command. He repaired to Seville, and was there looked upon as one
destined to harvest the wealth of the Indies.
But as soon as it became known in Portugal that Magellan was to lead a
new expedition of discovery, the mistake that the King had made in
rejecting the proposal of the lame soldier, to whom he had refused
pension honors, became apparent. The court saw what this rejected man of
positive purpose and invaluable knowledge of navigation might
accomplish. Should his dreams be prophetic and his projects prove
successful, the glory would go to Spain, and the King would be held
responsible for another mistake like that which his predecessor had made
in the case of Columbus.
What must the court of Portugal do? The hammers were flying in Seville
on the ships loading for the voyage. Magellan was making up his crews.
Spain had faith in him, and he had faith in himself; never a man had
more.
Portugal must prevent the expedition. The Crown must appeal to Magellan
to withdraw from it. The King must ask young King Charles to dismiss
Magellan as an act of royal courtesy. If these efforts were not
successful, it was argued that the expedition must be arrested by force,
or Magellan must be murdered by secret spies of the court.
The fleet preparing was to consist of five ships with ample equipment.
These were named the Trinidad, the San Antonio, of one hundred and
twenty Spanish tons each; the Concepcion, of ninety Spanish tons; the
Victoria, of eighty-five tons; and the Santiago, of seventy-five. The
Victoria, the ship of destiny, was to circumnavigate the globe.
And now while the hammers were at work, the dull King of Portugal began
to arouse himself to arrest the plan, and the court, seeing his spirit,
acted with him.
In the bright days in Zaragoza Magellan had been warned that he was in
danger of being assassinated. But he did not take alarm. As his project
rose into public view at Seville he must have known that he was
surrounded by spies, but he did not heed them; he kept right on,
marching forward as it were after the inspiration that had taken
possession of his soul.
[Illustration: BEHAIM'S GLOBE. 1492.]
There was an India House in Seville, composed of merchants, and these
were favorable to the expedition. In Spain everything favored Magellan.
Aluaro da Costa was the Portuguese minister to the court of Spain. He
plotted against Magellan, and sought an interview with young Charles in
order to induce him to eliminate the Portuguese from the expedition.
Charles was about to become a brother-in-law to Dom Manoel, and Aluaro
da Costa could appeal to the King in this cause in many ways.
Full of diplomacy and craft, he met the King who had to weigh the
prospect of gold and glory against this personal argument. Gold
outweighed the family considerations, for Charles in his young days was
a man of powerful ambitions.
Aluaro da Costa wrote to Dom Manoel a graphic account of this interview.
It shows how politic ministers of state were in those days. We can not
give the reader a clearer view of some of the obstacles against which
Magellan had to contend in those perilous days in Spain than by citing
Aluaro's account to Dom Manoel of his interview with young Charles V in
his intrigue against Magellan:
"SIRE: Concerning Ferdinand Magellan's affair, how much I have done and
how I have labored, God knows, as I have written you at length; and now
I have spoken upon the subject very strongly to the King, putting
before him all the inconveniences that in this case may arise, and also
representing to him what an ugly matter it was, and how unusual for one
King to receive the subjects of another King, his friend, contrary to
his wish, a thing unheard of among cavaliers, and accounted both
ill-judged and ill-seeming. Yet I had just put your Highness and your
Highness's possessions at his service in Valladolid at the moment that,
he was harboring these persons against your will. I begged him to
consider that this was not the time to offend your Highness, the more so
in an affair which was of so little importance and so uncertain; and
that he would have plenty of subjects of his own and men to make
discoveries when the time came, without availing himself of those
malcontents of your Highness, whom your Highness could not fail to
believe likely to labor more for your disservice than for anything else;
also that his Highness had had until now so much to do in discovering
his own kingdoms and dominions, and in settling them, that he ought not
to turn his attention to these new affairs, from which dissensions and
other matters, which may well be dispensed with, may result.
"I also presented to him the bad appearance that this would have at the
very moment of the marriage--the ratification of friendship and
affection. And also that it seemed to me that your Highness would much
regret to learn that these men asked leave of him to return,[A] and that
he did not grant it, the which are two faults--the receiving them
contrary to your desire, and the retaining them contrary to their own.
And I begged of him, both for his own and for your Highness's sake, that
he would do one of two things: either permit them to go, or put off the
affair for this year, by which he would not lose much; and means might
be taken whereby he might be obliged, and your Highness might not be
offended, as you would be were this scheme carried out.
[A] This statement there is every reason to believe was a pure
fiction of Da Costa.
"He was so surprised, sire, at what I told him, that I also was
surprised; but he replied to me with the best words in the world, saying
that on no account did he wish to offend your Highness, and many other
good words; and he suggested that I should speak to the Cardinal, and
confide the whole matter to him.
"May the Lord increase the life and dominions of your Highness to his
holy service. From Saragoca, Tuesday night, the 28th day of September.
"I kiss the hands of your Highness,
"ALUARO DA COSTA."
Court intrigue against Magellan did not avail. There was one thing
statecraft could do. It could set spies on Magellan on board his own
ships. This it succeeded in doing.
There was in Spain at this time a Portuguese adventurer and navigator by
the name of Estevan or Esteban Gormez--Stephen Gormez.
He was a student of navigation, and was restless to follow the examples
of Columbus and Vasco da Gama. He had applied to the court of
Spain--probably to Cardinal Ximenes, for a commission to go on a voyage
of discovery and he had received a favorable answer, and was preparing
to embark, when Magellan appeared at court and promised to find the
Spice Islands by way of South America.
Magellan's scheme was so much larger and definite than that of Gormez
that the court canceled its favors to the lesser plans, and Gormez had
to abandon his prospects of sailing under the royal favors of Spain.
The eyes of Spain were now fixed on Magellan.
"I will find a way to the Spice Islands by South America or by the
West," said Magellan to the ministers of the King, "or you may have my
head."
These were bold words. Magellan had not only been to the Spice Islands,
but he had gone out on the very voyage that discovered some of them. He
had behaved heroically on the voyage. So his application to the court
superseded the plan of Gormez and the latter sunk out of sight.
In his despondency at the failure of his plans, Gormez came to Magellan.
"My countryman," said Gormez, "your schemes have supplanted mine and
turned my ships into air. I was the first to plan a voyage to the
Moluccas out of the wake of hurricanes and monsoons. I do not feel that
I have been treated rightly. Something surely is due to me."
Magellan was a man of generous impulses. He saw that Gormez had a case
for moral appeal.
"My friend," said he, "you shall have a place in my expedition."
He could but think that the inspiration and knowledge of navigation of
his countryman would be useful to him, and he pitied him for his
disappointment, knowing how he himself would feel were his plans to be
set aside.
So Gormez, the Portuguese, was made the pilot of the Antonio.
Magellan, had he reflected, must have seen that this man would carry
with him envy and jealousy, passions that are poisons. But Estefano, or
Esteban, or Stephen Gormez, took his place at the pilot house of the
Antonio to follow the lantern of Magellan, but the hurt in his heart at
being superseded never healed.
On the ships also was one Juan de Carthagena, captain of the Concepcion,
a spy, and one of the "malapots" of the expedition. He was called the
_veedor_, or inspector. He inspected Magellan, and Magellan inspected
him, as we shall see.
And now the flags arose in the clear air, and the joyful fleet cleared
the Guadalquivir and leaped into the arms of the open sea, amid the
acclamations of gay grandees and a happy people.
It was September 20th when the anchors were lifted, of which probably
one was destined to come back in triumph after an immortal voyage that
encompassed the earth, and gave to Spain a new ocean.
And the King of Portugal ordered the coat of arms to be torn down from
the house of Magellan, as we have pictured at the beginning of our
narrative.