[488] This passage of Pigafetta, had the Portuguese been aware of it,
would have effectually answered the Spaniards in their assertions of
priority of discovery in the Moluccas, in the celebrated Junta of
Badajoz (see VOL. I, pp. 165–221).
[489] Tristão de Meneses was sent by Aleixo de Menezes to Malacca, and
while on his way thither sailed among the islands of Java, Banda, and
the Moluccas. He is mentioned by Brito (Navarrete, iv, p. 306) as being
at Ternate.
[490] Diogo Lopes de Siqueira, a Portuguese naval officer, and
captain-general and governor of India (1518–22), was despatched from
Lisbon, April 5, 1508, with four ships on an expedition for the
discovery and exploration of Malacca. On his arrival at India he was
offered the position of chief-captain of India but declined. In
December, 1509, he left for Malacca, where his carelessness and sense
of security almost lost him his life because of Malay treachery. See
Birch’s Alboquerque, Guillemard’s Magellan, and Mosto, p. 96, note
1.
[491] Juda is the town of Jidda or Djeddah, the port of Mecca. The feud
between the Turks and Arabs and the Portuguese was of some years’
standing, for with the advent of the latter into the eastern world, the
former had suffered greatly in their commerce, which had been
extensive. Alboquerque fought against them at Aden (for descriptions
and history of which, see Varthema’s Travels, Hakluyt Society
edition, pp. 59–64; Birch’s Alboquerque, iv, pp. 10–14; and
Lucas’s Hist. geog. Brit. Col., i. pp. 53–62), and at Goa. Many men
were sent (1515) from Egypt to aid the Arabs at Aden, and the
Portuguese were in constant fear of attack.
[492] MS. 5,650 reads: “Francisque Sarie.” This is probably Pero de
Faria who was given command of a ship at Malacca by Alboquerque
(Birch’s Alboquerque, iii, p. 166), and who was sent by the governor
(Diogo Lopes de Siqueira) to build a fort at Maluco (Mosto, p. 96, note
4).
[493] The Banda, or Nutmeg Islands, which belong to the Dutch, are
small and ten in number, some of which are uninhabited. Banda (properly
Bândan) means in Javanese “the thing or things tied or united,” or
with the word “Pulo,” “united islands.” The group lies between
south latitudes 3° 50′ and 4° 40′. Sontar or the Great Banda is
the largest island, but the principal settlement is on Nera. They are
volcanic in origin and frequent eruptions and earthquakes have
occurred. The population is scant, and the raising of nutmegs
constitutes almost the entire source of revenue. Abreu was the first
Portuguese to visit them (in 1511, at the order of Alboquerque), but
Varthema (Travels, Hakluyt Society edition, pp. 243, 244) seems to have
visited them before that time. The Portuguese held the islands
peacefully until 1609, when the Dutch attempted to settle, but were
resisted by the natives, and many of the Dutch massacred, from which
followed a war of extermination until 1627. Most of the natives fled,
so that it became necessary for the Dutch to introduce slave labor for
the cultivation of the nutmegs. At the Dutch conquest the nutmeg
plantations were given to the persons taking part in it, and are still
held by their heirs, under the name of Parkeniers, on condition of
delivering the whole product to the government at a fixed and low rate.
See Crawfurd’s Dictionary, pp. 33–36.
[494] MS. 5,650 reads: “than the other weapons [bastons].”
[495] MS. 5,650 reads: “of the color of the fruit.” Cf.
Pigafetta’s description of the clove tree with those of Varthema
(Travels, Hakluyt Society edition, p. 246) and Linschoten’s Voyage
(Hakluyt Society edition), ii, pp. 81–84. See also Crawfurd’s
Dictionary, pp. 101–105, and VOL. XIV, p. 58, note 5. Crawfurd
remarks that Pigafetta’s account is even yet a good popular one.
[496] Probably Pottebackers Island to the south of Tidore.
[497] Cf. Pigafetta’s description of the nutmeg with those of
Varthema (Travels, Hakluyt Society edition), p. 245, and Linschoten’s
Voyage (Hakluyt Society edition), ii, pp. 84–86. See also
Crawfurd’s Dictionary, pp. 304–306, and VOL. XX, p. 258, note 48.
[498] This method of making cloth from tree-bark is also mentioned by
Combés (Historia, Madrid, 1667).
[499] MS. 5,650 adds: “and bruise.” There are supposed to be five
palms that produce the product called sago, which is probably the word
for the meal, as each of the palms has its own specific name. The most
frequently cultivated are the râmbiya, Sagus Konigii or Metroxylon
sago, and the bamban or Sagus lævis. The shell of each species is very
thin, and the yield of sago very abundant, as it comprises all the pith
of the tree. Sago trees grow throughout the Malayan archipelago and
Philippines as far as Mindanao. They require a boggy ground and
propagate by lateral shoots, as well as by seeds, so that a sago
plantation is perpetual. Three trees will yield more nutritive matter
than an acre of wheat, and six trees more than an acre of potatoes.
Sago is the sole bread of the Moluccas and New Guinea and its
neighboring islands, but of no other part of the Archipelago. In the
Malay countries it is only the food of the wild tribes, and is hardly
used by the Malays themselves. Only the poorer classes in Mindanao use
it, while in other islands, such as Java, where rice is abundant, it is
not used at all. It is the lowest kind of farinaceous food. The pearl
sago of commerce was introduced by the Chinese. The method of
preparation is essentially that described by Pigafetta. See
Crawfurd’s Dictionary, pp. 371, 372; and Official Handbook of
Philippines (Manila, 1903), pp. 115, 116.
[500] MS. 5,650 omits the remainder of this sentence. Stanley (p. 135,
note) says that the dress of the soldiers of Pigafetta’s time was
indecent.
[501] MS. 5,650 reads: “seven hundred and ninety.”
[502] These native names for cloves are “ghomodo” and
“Bongalauant” in MS. 5,650. The principal names current for the
clove in the eastern archipelago are foreign rather than native. In the
Moluccas they are called gaumedi, which is a Sanskrit word meaning
“cow’s marrow.” The most frequent name is cângkek which is said
to be a corruption of the Chinese name theng-hia, meaning
“odoriferous nails.” Another name is lawan to which the Malays
prefix the words “flower” or “fruit” (as Pigafetta’s
bongalauan), and is the name of the Telingas of India, who have always
conducted the largest trade between India and the Malayan countries.
Sec Crawfurd’s Dictionary, pp. 101, 102.
[503] Still so called and located to the south.
[504] MS. 5,650 adds: “Ala.”
[505] MS. 5,650 reads: “crown.”
[506] Spelled zzambachean in MS. 5,650. This is the word subhan,
“giving praise” (Stanley, p. 138).
[507] MS. 5,650 reads: “by Ala his god, and by his crown.”
[508] MS. 5,650 reads: “of that island.”
[509] MS. 5,650 reads: “the king of Bacchian.” These counselors
were those well affected to the Portuguese who hoped by such an act to
ward off Portuguese vengeance for the murder of the Portuguese at
Bachian because of their licentiousness (see p. 41).
[510] MS. 5,650 reads: “As we had no more cloth, we sent to ask the
king for three brasses of his cloth, which he gave to us.”
[511] MS. 5,650 reads: “some silk and other presents.”
[512] St. Barbara, the patroness of powder magazines, was a virgin who
was martyred at Heliopolis, December 4, 306.
[513] MS. 5,650 reads: “our fireports, fire-bombs, and rockets.”
[514] MS. 5,650 reads: “three sous.” The marcello was a silver
Venetian coin weighing sixty-three grams. Two marcelli equaled one
Venetian lira which was worth one and one quarter Italian lire. It was
later also the name given to a silver coin of Francesco III, duke of
Mantua, 1540–50. See Mosto, p. 98, note 7; and Hazlitt’s Coinage of
European Continent.
[515] MS. 5,650 says that a couple of drinking-cups were given to each
of the brothers.
[516] MS. 5,650 reads: “many pieces of artillery.”
[517] MS. 5,650 reads: “hagbuts and culverins.”
[518] MS. 5,650 reads: “relatives and friends.”
[519] MS. 5,650 reads: “as mistresses of the function, and arranged
everything.”
[520] MS. 5,650 adds: “for a jest;” but omits the remainder of the
sentence.
[521] St. James of Compostella, located in the Spanish province of
Galicia. Alboquerque, the great Portuguese viceroy of India, bequeathed
a large silver lampstand to St. James of Galicia, and a hundred
thousand reis (about £20 16s 8d), in cash for oil at his death. The
Portuguese convent of Palmela, located in Palmela, and under the charge
of the Augustinians was the head-quarters of Santiago or St. James in
Portugal. See Birch’s Alboquerque, iii, pp. 18, 19.
[522] MS. 5,650 reads: “hagbuts.”
[523] MS. 5,650 reads: “quill.”
[524] In Eden (p. 259) manuccodiata; and in Transylvanus, Mamuco Diata
(VOL. I, pp. 331, 332). This mention by the latter is perhaps the first
mention in European literature of the bird of paradise, the skins of
which seem to have been a regular article of commerce. These skins were
supposed to render the wearer safe and invincible in battle.
(Guillemard’s Magellan, pp. 285, 286). The method of hunting, as
described by Wallace (Malay Archipelago, New York, 1869) is by bow and
arrow, the latter with “a conical wooden cap fitted to the end as
large as a teacup, so as to kill the bird by the violence of the blow
without making any wound or shedding any blood.”
[525] MS. 5,650 reads: “sixty.”
[526] In place of the remainder of this sentence MS. 5,650 reads:
“and cast spells.”
[527] MS. 5,650 reads here in addition to what follows: “bewitch
and.”
[528] MS. 5,650 adds: “and shorter.”
[529] MS. 5,650 reads: “in lime and in large jars.” Cf. with
Pigafetta’s description of the ginger plant and root, that of
Varthema (Travels, Hakluyt Society edition, p. 58). See also the prices
quoted by Barbosa (East African and Malabar Coasts, Hakluyt Society
edition, pp. 220, 221), and Crawfurd’s Dictionary, p. 143.
[530] In Eden (p. 260) the “Trinidad” springs its leak in the
island of Mare, after stowing provisions and fuel for the return trip.
[531] Bomba: a Spanish word.
[532] MS. 5,650 reads: “‘Who will go,’” etc.
[533] MS. 5,650 adds: “and regard.”
[534] MS. 5,650 does not specify any number, but makes it general of
all who remained.
[535] MS. 5,650 adds: “and sadly.”
[536] MS. 5,650 reads: “afternoon.”
[537] MS. 5,650 reads: “fifty.” Juan Carvalho was later superseded
by Gonzalo Gomez de Espinosa the alguacil who had rendered so signal
service to Magalhães at the time of the mutiny at Port St. Julian.
Brito (Navarrete, iv, pp. 305, 306, 311) gives his connection with the
men of the “Trinidad” as follows:
“I have already written from Banda the news which I found there
regarding the Castilians, and sent the letters of one Pedro de Lorossa
who went with them. I left Banda May 2, 522, to ascertain whether I
could seize the ship which left last, as the other one had already left
about three months before. I reached Tidore May 13, 522, where the
Castilians had been, and where they laded two of the five ships that
sailed from Castilla. I learned that the first one had gone four months
before and the other one a month and a half. The second had not left
with the first because of a leak which had opened when they were on the
point of departing. [Accordingly] it was lightened of its cargo and
after it had been repaired it left. I found five Castilians, one a
factor, with merchandise, and another who was a gunner. I sent the
factor Rui Gaguo with a message to the king [of Tidore] demanding the
surrender of the Castilians, artillery, and property to me, and to ask
him why he had admitted Castilians since that region had been
discovered so long before by the Portuguese. He answered that he had
admitted them as merchants, and for fear rather than willingly. Next
day he sent me three Castilians and a small amount of their goods. I
had already taken another with me when I left Banda, whither he had
gone to get information of the country and of trade. The fifth
Castilian was absent in the island of Moro, 60 leguas from Maluco. The
following day the king came to see me. He announced himself as a good
vassal of your Highness, and had excuses for everything, all of which
was proved by the Castilians themselves. I had him give his testimony
in writing, in order to have a check on him at all times, for I assure
you that those Castilians had surrendered to his power as if they were
Christians and his natives. I found the whole country full of tin
crosses ([although] some were of silver), with a crucifix on one side
and our Lady on the other. They were selling bombards, muskets,
crossbows, swords, darts, and powder. I brought all those crosses above
mentioned to your Highness, which those people were selling with full
knowledge of what they were.
“After I had been there two days a bastard son of the king of Ternate
came to take me to his island. That man is the one who is governing in
the name of the heir, a child of eight or nine, whose father died seven
or eight months before my arrival. This island [of Ternate] is the
largest and chiefest of Maluco, and is the one where Francisco Serrano
always lived, as well as Don Tristan when he came here. Then the mother
of the king, who has more authority, came, and they proclaimed
themselves as your Highness’s vassals. I said nothing of a fortress
as I wished first to see all the islands. After I had seen them, I
thought it best to build the fort here as it is the largest and there
is no port in Tidor.
“While I was ashore my men fell sick, and within two months, I only
had 50 well men out of the 200 I had brought with me. About 50 of them
died, and with so few men the fortress was started.
“On October 22, I received news that a ship was off the back of these
islands. I thought it must be the Castilians, since they took that
course. I sent three ships with orders to bring it in, and they did so,
and with it 24 Castilians. They said that not caring to return by the
way they had come as it was so long a voyage, they had resolved to sail
to Darien. They found but light winds, for they could not take the
monsoon, and [accordingly] went to 40 degrees north. According to their
account they had made 900 leguas when they put back. When they left
they had 54 men, 30 of whom died at 40 degrees. The goods of the king
of Castilla were set down in writing, and the maps and astrolabes were
seized. The ship, which was old and leaking badly, was begun to be
lightened. In a week it opened and 40 bahars of cloves were lost. The
wood was used for the fortress and the equipment for the other ships
there....
“I sent seventeen Castilians with Don Garcia so that they might pay
what they owe to Jorge de Alburquerque, so that he might send them
thence to the chief captain of India according to the instructions
given me in your Highness’s orders. Those men are Gonzalo Gomez de
Espinosa, captain; Juan de Campos, factor, who remained with the goods
in Tidore; Alfonso de Costa, who was going to examine the trade in
Banda; Luis del Molino; Diego Diaz; Diego Martin; Leon Pancaldo, pilot
of the ship; Juan Roiz; Ginés de Mafra; Juan Novoro; San Remo; Amalo;
Francisco de Ayamonte; Luis de Veas; Segredo; Master Otans [the German
gunner, Hans Vargue]; and Anton Moreno.
“I left four here: 1st, the master of the ship, named Juan Bautista,
who is the most skilful of them all, and has sailed in ships belonging
to your Highness, and who is the one who took command, and who after
the death of Magallanes must have taken his fleet to Maluco; 2nd, the
clerk, who is a good sailor and pilot; 3d, the boatswain; and 4th, a
carpenter who is needed to repair this ship by which I am now sending
by way of Burneo....
“In regard to the master, clerk, and pilot, I am writing to the chief
captain that it will be more to the service of your Highness to order
them beheaded than to send them there. I detained them in Maluco
because it is an unhealthy country, with the intention of having them
die there, as I did not dare order them beheaded for I was ignorant
whether such action would meet your Highness’s approval. I am writing
to Jorge de Alburquerque to detain them in Malaca, which is also a
country that is very unhealthy.”
Navarrete describes the adventures of the “Trinidad” and the fate
of her crew in his Col. de viages, iv, pp. 98–107; for a translation
of which see Stanley’s First Voyage, pp. 237–241. Cf. also the
account in Guillemard’s Magellan, pp. 298–307, where many details
not in Navarrete are to be found. The mortality of the crew of the
“Trinidad” was terrible, and of the 53 men left with Juan Carvalho
at Tidore, only the following returned to Spain, and that only after a
number of years: Gonzalo Gomez de Espinosa, alguazil; Ginés de Mafra,
sailor; Leon Pancado [mentioned above by Brito], sailor; and Juan
Rodriguez of Seville, sailor. The German gunner, Hans Vargue, also
reached Lisbon with Espinosa and Ginés de Mafra, but died almost
immediately upon his arrival there, in prison. See Guillemard, ut
supra, pp. 338, 339.
The goods left and accumulated in Tidore by the Spaniards is thus given
by Brito (Navarrete, iv, p. 310): “The goods which remained in Tidor
belonging to the Castilians amounted to 1,125 quintals 32 libras of
copper, 2,000 libras of quicksilver, two quintals of iron, three
bombards with iron blocks (one is a pasamuro and two are roqueiras), 14
iron culverins without any chamber, three iron anchors (consisting of a
fugareo, one large one, and one broken one), 9 crossbows, 12 muskets,
32 breast-plates, 12 serveilheras, 3 helmets, 4 anchors, 53 iron bars,
6 iron culverins, 2 iron falconets, 2 large iron bombards with four
chambers, and 1,275 quintals of cloves.”
[538] So Pigafetta calls the minister in charge of the religious
matters of Tidore, which had embraced the Mahometan worship.
[539] MS. 5,650 adds: “was forty-five years old.”
[540] MS. 5,650 omits mention of the camotes. The comulicai becomes
comulicar in MS. 5,650. Eden reads: “and a marueilous coulde frute
which they name Camulicai.” The comulicai is perhaps a species of
Anona. The fruit like the peach called guava is evidently the mango or
manga (Mangifera Indica). See Crawfurd’s Dictionary, p. 263 (who
fails to note that Pigafetta mentions this fruit as existing in the
Moluccas). It is mentioned by the Italian traveler Varthema (Travels,
Hakluyt Society edition, pp. 159, 160).
[541] The generic name for “parrot” is loony. Its correct Malay
form is noyras (Crawfurd, Dictionary, p. 221, nuri and Javanese nori).
The corruption nori began to be common in the seventeenth century. (See
Linschoten’s Voyage, Hakluyt Society edition, i, p. 307). Nicolò
de’Conti says that there are three species of parrots in Banda. The
first two species are both known by the name of nori, “bright,” and
are about the size of doves, one species having red feathers and a
saffron-colored beak and the other being of various colors. The third
species are white and as large as the common domestic fowl, and are
called cachi, “better.” They imitate human speech better than the
others. Bellemo says that the lori [i.e., nori] are parrots with red
feathers, giachi those which speak more easily, while the white ones
cockatoos which do not speak (Mosto, p. 100, note 3).
[542] The modern names of the Moluccas are Ternate, Tidor, Mortier,
Makian, and Batjian; or in a more correct orthography, Târnati,
Tidori, Mortir, Makiyan, and Bachian (see Crawfurd’s Dictionary, p.
283). Albo (Navarrete, iv, p. 225) includes Gilolo among the Moluccas.
[543] In describing the five Moluccas Islands, Eden (p. 260) says that
Tidore lies in 171 degrees of longitude. “Terenate, is vnder the
Equinoctial line foure minutes vnder the pole Antartike.... Theſe
Ilandes are lyke foure ſharpe mountaynes, except Macchian which is not
ſharpe. The byggeſt of all theſe, is Bacchian.”
Main events while at the Moluccas, are related substantially the same
by the “Roteiro” (Stanley, pp. 23–25) as by Pigafetta, although
much shorter. The “Roteiro” says however that the king of Tidore
sent twenty-five divers to locate the leak of the “Trinidad.” The
anonymous Portuguese (Stanley, pp. 31, 32) names the five Moluccas and
mentions the island of Banda. See A. Bastian’s Indonesian oder die
Inseln des Malayischen Archipel, which contains sections entitled: Die
Mölukken (Berlin, 1884); Timor and umliegende Inseln (Berlin, 1885):
and Borneo und Celebes (Berlin, 1889).
[544] MS. 5,650 omits this vocabulary; as does Stanley. Mosto has
mistranscribed a few of the Malay words. This vocabulary is the most
ancient specimen of Malay extant, for in that language there exist
neither old inscriptions nor old manuscripts; and it is wonderfully
accurate. See Crawfurd’s Dictionary, p. 352; also R. N. Cust’s
Modern Languages of the East Indies (London, 1878); and Wallace’s
East India Archipelago, pp. 608–625.
[545] Naceran is evidently a corruption of an Arabian word meaning
“Nazarene;” in some of the following words used to denote worship,
one may see traces also of words brought in with the conquering
religion of Mahomet.
[546] See VOL. XXXIII, p. 315, note 160.
[547] See VOL. XXXIII, p. 349, note 391.
[548] At this point in the original Italian MS. are shown two charts:
1. On folio 68b, the islands of Laigoma, Caioian, Giogi, Sico, Labuac,
Caphi (with the inscription “The Pigmies live in this island”),
Tolyman, Tabobi, Bachiam, Latalata, Batutiga, Maga, and a number of
unnamed islands (q.v., p. 104); shown on folio 84a of MS. 5,650,
preceded by the words: “Chart of the islands of Bacchian, Toliman,
Sico, Caioan, Laigoma, Gioggi, Caphi, Labuan, etc.” 2. On folio
69a, the islands of Sulach, Lumatola, Tenetum, Buru, Ambalao, Ambon,
and a number of unnamed islands (q.v., p. 110); in MS. 5,650 shown on
folio 84b, preceded by the words “Below is shown the chart of the
islands of Ambalao, Ambon, Buru, and others.”
[549] A number of these and succeeding islands are spelled slightly
differently in Eden (p. 260). Mosto (p. 104, note 1) conjectures that
Caioan is the Cayoan of Albo (Navarrete, iv, p. 224), which he seeks to
identify with the island of Kayoa or Kiou; Laigoma is Laigama, one of
the islands among the Molucca group; Sico is Siku; Giogi is perhaps
Gumorgi; and Caphi is Gafi. See Mosto, p. 104, notes 1–5.
[550] Throughout the remainder of his narrative, it is seen that
Pigafetta has often lent a credulous ear to the Malayan pilots of the
ships and to current report. Marco Polo (book iii, xiii), explodes the
belief in pigmies, which he declares to have been cleverly made for
trade purposes. Pigafetta’s account may possibly refer to an
aboriginal people, although more probably it is a reference to the
orang-outang.
[551] MS. 5,650 spells some of these islands differently (Labuan,
Toliman, and several others), but in general the changes in spelling
are very slight, consisting in a change of vowel or a doubling of a
consonant. Labuan corresponds to Laboeha, the southern part of the
island of Batchian; Toliman is Twali Bezar; Titameti is perhaps Tawalie
Ketijl; Latalata is Latta-latta; Tabobi is perhaps Tappi; Maga is
perhaps Loemang; Batutiga is perhaps Oby Major, a headland of which is
called Aijer Batoe Geggok. See Mosto, p. 104, notes 6–12.
[552] Called “Sulan” by Albo (Navarrete, iv, p. 225). It is one of
the Xulla Islands (see Guillemard’s Magellan, p. 289, and Mosto, p.
104, note 13).
[553] It is impossible to identify these names with complete assurance.
The first four probably correspond to the group of islands near
Amboina, which contains those of Honimoa, Moelana, Oma, and Noesfa
Laut; Leitimor (Ley-timur) is a peninsula of Amboina; Tenetun (called
“Tenado” by Albo-Navarrete, iv. p. 225) is perhaps one of the Xulla
islands; the last four correspond perhaps to the group east of Ceram
known as Bonoa, Babi, Kelang, Manipa, Toeban, and Smangi. Benaia is
again named lower down, and two other islands in its group. See Mosto,
pp. 104, 105, notes.
[554] Albo (Navarrete, iv, p. 225) calls it Lumutola. It is perhaps the
island of Lisamatula. See Mosto, p. 105, note 2.
554* MS. 5,650 reads: “a food made of figs [i.e., bananas], almonds,
and honey, wrapped in leaves and smoke dried, which is cut into rather
long pieces and called canali.” That MS. omits the remainder of this,
and the following six sentences.
[555] MS. 5,650 reads: “sixty-five.” On modern maps this name is
given as Boeroe. It is called Buró by Albo (Navarrete, iv, p. 225),
and he says that it was “necessary to coast along its eastern
side.” This was on December 27.
[556] The native name of Amboina is Ambun, which is said to be derived
from its chief town, the island itself being called by its inhabitants
Hitoe or Hitu. The inhabitants have been converted to Christianity and
belong to the Dutch Lutheran church. They attend public schools and are
taught to read and write the Malay language in Roman characters.
Crawfurd’s Dictionary, p. 11.
[557] MS. 5,650 gives this name as “Undia.” It is probably the
Bidia of Albo (Navarrete, iv, p. 225).
[558] Now Amblau. It has an area of about seventy square geographical
miles, and a small population. It lies in latitude 3° 15´ south, and
longitude 125° 15´ east.
Following this paragraph in the original Italian MS. (folio 72a) is
shown the chart of the islands of Bandam, namely, Lailaca, Pulurun,
Manuca, Baracha, Unuvero, Palach, Saniananpi, Chelicel, Man, Meut,
Rossoghin, and Zoroboa (q.v., p. 114). This chart is shown on folio 85b
of MS. 5,650, preceded by the words, “Chart of the islands of Bandan,
Rossonghin, Man, Zzorobua, and others.”
[559] The names of the ten islands comprising the Banda group are Banda
(“United”), Pulo Nera (“the island of Palm Wine”), Lontar
(“Palm”), Pulo Ai (properly Pulo Wai; “Water Island”), Pulo
Pisang (“Banana Island”), Pulo Run (Rung; “Chamber Island”),
Pulo Suwanggi (“Sorcery Island”), Gunung-api (“Fire Mountain”
or “Volcano”), Pulo Kapal (“Ship Island” or “Horse
Island”), and Rosingen (the Rosoghin of Pigafetta, and the
Rosolangium of Barros, which Crawfurd conjectures to be derived from
the Malay words roso, “strength” and langgâng, “firm,”
“assured”). See Crawfurd’s Dictionary, p. 33; and ante, note 493.
[560] At this point (folio 73a) of the original Italian MS. follows the
chart of the islands, of Mallua, Batuombor, Galiau, Zolot, and
Nocemamor (q.v., p. 118). This chart is shown on folio 87a of MS.
5,650, preceded by the words: “Chart of the islands of Zzolot,
Galliau, Nocemamor, Batuanbor, and Mallua.”
[561] These are the islands of Solor, Nobokamor Rusa, and Lomblen
(Mosto, p. 105, notes 6–8). Guillemard (Magellan, p. 289, note) says
that the passage taken by the “Victoria” was either Flores or
Boleng Strait.
[562] MS. 5,050 reads: “little horns.” The Italian is corniolli.
[563] MS. 5,650 reads: “They have a kind of sack made from the leaves
of trees, in which they carry their food and drink. When their women
saw us they came to meet us with bows,” etc. Stanley following
Amoretti says the same. The Italian MS. will allow this translation,
although the most natural translation both in the structure and the
sense is the one of our text. This might be recorded as another piece
of carelessness on the part of the adapter of the Italian to the
French.
[564] MS. 5,650 reads: “in order to inspect and overhaul.”
[565] MS. 5,650 mentions only the long pepper here, though the round
variety is also described as in the Italian MS.
[566] MS. 5,650 omits this sentence, and in the succeeding sentence,
compares the leaves of the pepper plant to those of the mulberry.
Gatelle (Gattelli), the diminutive of Gatto “cat,” is the vulgar
name for amento, the botanical name for the first flowers of the
walnut-tree, hazelnut-tree, and other trees.
[567] MS. 5,650 reads: “lubi.” Crawfurd (Dictionary, p. 335) says
that the long pepper (Piper longum) is called chave by the Javanese and
lada panjang of the Malays. It is probably a native of Java, although
grown in other parts of the archipelago. It is not named by Barbosa.
Linschoten (Voyage, Hakluyt Society edition, p. 73) says that the long
pepper is grown only in Bengala and Java, and calls it Pepelini (from
the Sanskrit pippali).
[568] The black pepper (Piper nigrum), called lada in Malayan, lada in
the Philippines, and maricha (pure Sanskrit) in Javanese, was probably
introduced into the archipelago from Malabar. It is not found wild in
any of the Malayan islands, but abundantly so in the mountains and
valleys of most of the countries of the western side of India. It is
produced in some parts of the Philippines, but little is exported, as
sufficient attention has not been paid to it to enable the Philippine
product to compete with that raised in other parts of the East Indies.
See Crawfurd’s Dictionary, pp. 333–335; and Official Handbook of
Philippines, p. 114. See also Yule’s Jordanus (Hakluyt Society
edition), p. 27 (who confuses the long with the black pepper);
Varthema’s Travels (Hakluyt Society edition), pp. 156, 157;
Barbosa’s East African and Malabar Coasts (Hakluyt Society edition),
p. 219; Linschoten’s Voyage (Hakluyt Society edition), ii, pp.
72–75; and VOL. III, p. 77.
[569] They reached this island on January 8, 1522, the day of the
storm. See Albo’s log (Navarrete, iv, p. 226).
At this point in the original Italian MS. (folio 74a) is the chart of
the islands of Botolo, Chendam, Nossocamba, Samaute, and Timor (q.v.,
p. 124). This chart appears on folio 89a of MS. 5,650, preceded by the
words: “Chart of the island of Timor and of its four settlements, and
four other islands.”
[570] Mosto (p. 106, note 4) conjectures that Arucheto is one of the
Aru Islands or the island of Haruku, east of Amboina. Eden (p. 260)
says of the island of Arucheto (Arucetto): “But owr men wolde not
ſayle thyther, bothe bycauſe the wynde and courſe of the ſea was
ageynſte theym, and alſo for that they gaue no credite to his
reporte.” This last reason may have been obtained from Maximilianus
Transylvanus.
[571] Amoretti reads erroneously: “Saturday, January 25, at 22
o’clock;” and Stanley (p. 151), reproducing his error, explains
this as the Italian method of reckoning time.
[572] MS. 5,650 omits the date.
[573] MS. 5,650 reads: “beef,” here and throughout this paragraph,
and elsewhere.
[574] The large island was Timur, and Amaban and Balibo were villages
located on its coast. Albo (Navarrete, iv, p. 226) says that they
coasted along Timor “to the village of Manvay, first arriving at the
village of Queru.”
[575] MS. 5,650 reads: “linen, silk and cotton cloth, knives,
scissors, mirrors, and other things.”
[576] MS. 5,650 reads: “adorned with gold,” and the last sentence
of the paragraph reads: “Some of them wear other gold ornaments in
their ears.” Guillemard conjectures from Pigafetta’s description
that these people were of Papuan origin (Magellan, p. 290). His
translation of this passage is not exact.
[577] The white sandal wood (Santalum album) is a low tree resembling a
large myrtle, although belonging to another family. It is a native of
several islands in the Malay Archipelago, but more especially of Timur
and Sumba (Sandal Wood Island). It is also found in the South Sea
islands and in Malabar. The Malays and Javanese call it “chandana”
(a Sanskrit word, written “sandana” by the Filipinos, but used
there for another tree), and it was probably first made known to the
natives of the archipelago by the Hindu traders. Both Varthema and
Barbosa mention it as an article of commerce, and the latter gives
prices. The greatest users of sandal-wood as a perfume, incense, or
fancy wood are the Hindus and Chinese, especially the latter.
Crawfurd’s Dictionary, p. 375.
[578] MS. 5,650 omits mention of beans.
[579] MS. 5,650 reads “steel” instead of “hatchets.”
[580] MS. 5,650 reads: “one hundred and sixty-four and one-half.”
[581] Timur is wrongly classed with the chain of islands called the
Sunda, being different in location, structure, fauna, and botany. It is
mountainous and rather desolate. Its inhabitants are Malayans and
Negritos, and two languages are spoken there—Timourese in the west,
and Teto or Manatoto in the east. The religion is a sort of demonology.
An annual sacrifice of a virgin to the sharks and alligators was made
until recent times, when the practice was abolished by the Dutch. It is
about 370 miles long by 50 broad in its widest part and contains about
9,808 square geographical miles. The island belongs to the Dutch and
Portuguese. See Crawfurd’s Dictionary, pp. 432–435, and Cust’s
Modern Languages of the East Indies (London, 1878), p. 143.
[582] MS. 5,650 reads: “St. Job,” and “for franchi.” Eden (p.
260) says of this disease: “In al the Ilandes of this Archipelagus,
rayneth the diſeaſe of ſaynt Iob (whiche wee caule the frenche poxe)
more then in any other place in the worlde.” Evidently this passage
of Pigafetta is a reference to the disease of syphilis. This disease
was not first introduced in the Orient by the Portuguese as Crawfurd
claims, nor first discovered in America, for Varthema found it in
Calicut in 1505, and it was observed in China long before it was
noticed in Europe. Littré discovered a mention of it in a work of the
thirteenth century, and it is mentioned in Sanskrit medical books prior
to 1500 under the name of upadamça. It is doubtless an old disease.
Stanley (p. 153) following Amoretti, wrongly believes the leprosy to be
meant by this passage. From the fact that the Filipinos had a name for
the disease (see vol. i, p. 189), it is conjectured that its existence
was well known. See Linschoten’s Voyage (Hakluyt Society edition), i,
p. 239.
The following information is received from Walter G. Stern, M. D., of
Cleveland, Ohio, regarding this disease: “The maladie de Job is
considered by many authors to be syphilis (lues venerea). At least all
of the symptoms complained of by Job can be readily explained upon the
theory that Job was afflicted with this disease. That syphilis is as
old as mankind, there can be no doubt, although for centuries popular
belief and tradition claimed that it was introduced by Columbus who
brought it from the West Indies. The coincidence of the terrible
epidemic of malignant syphilis with the discovery of the New World, the
ignorance of the medical profession of those times, and the silence of
the popular medical writers of former ages as to the previous existence
of such a complex contagion as syphilis strengthened this belief into
an axiom. The finding of undoubted syphilitic bone lesions in skeletons
of the most remote historic periods is undisputed evidence of the
antiquity of syphilis. The sexual excesses of the ancients, the Baal
and Astarte worship of the Assyrians, the Venus, Bacchus, and Priapus
cult of the Romans, were at least most favorable means of spreading
venereal diseases. Not taking into account references in Roman and
Grecian mythology, the old Syrian cuneiform epic Izdebar and the
“papyrus Ebers,” we find the first reference to syphilitic disease
in Indian literature of the Brahman period (800 B. C.). There is also a
reference in the Chinese work of Musi-King, which very possibly dates
from 2637 B. C.; also one in a Japanese MS. Daido-rui-shim-ho of about
810 B. C. Hippocrates, Celsus, and Pliny also mention a disease with
the characteristics of syphilis, while the Roman satirists describe
venereal afflictions identical to it. It is specifically mentioned by
the medical writers of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, when it
was of a very mild type—endemic, as seen at the present day in Bosnia
and Turkey. Its place of origin is unknown. It probably came from
India, where it has been endemic at least from 800 B. C., and brought
by the Assyrians, Phœnicians, and Carthaginians to Greece and Rome and
the rest of Europe. (See Neuman’s Syphilis, Wien, 1899).” Dr.
Alexander F. Chamberlain, in “The American Antiquarian and Oriental
Journal” for January and February, 1905, has the following note:
“American origin of syphilis. In his ‘Das erst Auftreten der
Syphilis (Lustseuche) in der europäischen Kulturwelt’ (Jena, 1903,
p. 35) Iwan Bloch sustains the thesis of its pre-Columbian existence in
America and transference to Europe in the wake of the discovery of the
new world. Bloch had previously published another work on syphilis
‘Der Ursprung der Syphilis’ (1901), in which he set forth similar
views. The new work contains data concerning the first appearance of
this terrible malady in Europe, and of a like sexual disease among the
American Indians.”
[583] In the original Italian MS. at this point (folio 76a) follows the
chart of Laut Chidol, that is, Great Sea (q.v., p. 124). This chart is
given on folio 89b of MS. 5,650, without other inscription than that of
the chart itself, which is the same as the above.
[584] Endé, also called Floris and Mangarai, lies between latitudes
7° and 9° south, and longitudes 120° and 123° east. It is two
hundred miles long and its breadth ranges from forty-two to fifty
miles. It is volcanic in origin. It is said to possess six distinct
languages, and the natives are intermediate between Malayan and Papuan.
See Crawfurd’s Dictionary, p. 138, and Cust, ut supra, p. 143.
[585] Tanabutun—Mani (in MS. 5,650, “Moiu,” and in Mosto
“Main”) inclusive, probably refer to the islands between Endé or
Floris and Sumbawa. Zumbaua is Sumbawa, which is so called from its
principal people. It is the fifth island of the Sunda chain from the
westward. Its length is 140 miles, greatest breadth, 50, and its area
about 278 square geographical leagues. The island belongs to the Dutch,
but the more civilized people are Mahometans, while some of the
mountaineers are still pagans. Three languages or dialects are found
there. Lomboch or Lomboc is the second island due east of Java. The
name is taken from the Javanese word for capsicum. By the natives
Lomboc is now called Sasak (in Malay and Javanese, “a raft” or
“temporary bridge”), and sometimes Selaparang. It is volcanic and
mountainous, contains numerous small and unnavigable rivers, and a
number of mountain lakes. The vegetation resembles that of Java, but
its fauna is considerably different. The inhabitants call themselves
Sasak, who are Mahometans and subject (along the seacoast) to the
Balinese who profess Hinduism (a unique example of a nation professing
Mahometanism being held in permanent subjection by another professing
Hinduism). The language of the Sasaks is similar to that of the western
end of Sumbawa. Chorum is perhaps Bali, the island just east of Java.
See Mosto, p. 107, notes 6–9; Crawfurd’s Dictionary, and Cust’s
Modern Languages of East Indies.
[586] Java (a Dutch dependency), the most important island of the East
Indies, is correctly called Jawa, a name derived from its principal
people. It was first named among Europeans by Marco Polo. Varthema’s
account of the island is almost worthless, but Barbosa, who never
visited it, describes it accurately, while Pigafetta’s account is
still more accurate. The botany of Java is rich and diversified, and
the island is extremely fertile. The fauna is proportionally as varied
as the botany. The people whether Javanese or Sundanese are Malayan.
The Javanese are industrious and honest, and are only semi-Mahometan.
The Sundanese who inhabit the mountainous districts of the western part
are Mahometans. The language of the former is the chief language of the
island, and is one of the most copious languages in the world. The
Javanese are the most civilized of all Malayan peoples and could boast
of civilization before the advent of Europeans in the Orient. They have
cultivated certain of the arts and have many industries. They have a
literature that is sufficiently abundant in both the ancient and modern
languages. See Crawfurd’s Dictionary, pp. 165–192; Cust’s Modern
Languages of the East Indies, pp. 137, 138; and Lucas’s Historical
Geography of British Colonies (Oxford, 1888), i, p. 99.
[587] The name of the king of Megepaher seems to be given as
“Patiunus Sunda” in MS. 5,650. That manuscript continues:
“Considerable pepper grows there. The other cities are.” Magepaher
is the ancient capital Majapait; Sunda is probably the western district
of Java, occupied by the Sundanese (it must be remembered that
Pigafetta’s information is derived orally from the Malay pilots);
Daha is the ancient Javanese kingdom of Däa; Cipara is Japara; Sidaiu
is Sidayu; Tuban is the same; Chessi is Gressik or Gârsik (the first
place in Java visited by the Portuguese d’Abreu); and Cirubaia is
Surabaya. See Crawfurd’s Dictionary, p. 166.
[588] Balli is not properly a city of Java, but the island of Bali,
located about 1–1/2 miles east of Java. The name in Javanese and
Malay signifies “to return.” Its area is about 1685 square
geographical miles, and it is lofty and mountainous. Its numerous
rivers are navigable for native vessels only, and as far as the reach
of the tide; and its mountain lakes ensure a constant water supply. The
people live in villages of from five hundred to three thousand
inhabitants, surrounded by walls built of clay, without stone or brick.
They are said to be more skilful agriculturists than the Javanese. The
religion is Brahmanical and Buddhist, although blended with Pagan forms
and beliefs. The caste idea prevails among them. Their dialect is
called Balinese, and although rude and simple is above those of the
Sundanese and Madurese. Writing is on the palm-leaf only. See
Crawfurd’s Dictionary, pp. 28–31; and Cust’s Modern Languages,
pp. 138, 139.
[589] Eden reads (p. 260): “Giaua the leſſe, is as bygge as the
Ilande of Madera, and is but half a leaque diſtante from Giaua
maior;” thus confusing the island of Madura with the Portuguese
island of Madeira. Madura has the same formation, vegetation, and
manners and character of its inhabitants, as Java. The name is derived
from the Hindu legend, which represents it as the kingdom of the hero
and demi-god Baladewa, and is a corruption of the Sanskrit Mathura. The
greatest length of the island is about ninety miles. The language
although poorer and ruder than the Javanese, resembles the latter. It
has one dialect, termed Sumanap. Many of its inhabitants have emigrated
to Java. See Crawfurd’s Dictionary, pp. 233, 234; and Cust’s Modern
Languages, p. 138.
[590] MS. 5,650 omits the remainder of this sentence.
[591] This ceremony, as it was practiced in the island of Bali (the
only one of the East Indies to preserve the custom) is described by
Crawfurd (Dictionary, pp. 30, 140–142). “The ordinary funeral rites
of the Balinese much resemble those of the Buddhists of Siam and Ava,
and the concremation is a modification of the Hindu Suttee, and the
bloody ceremony of krising, a barbarism peculiar to the people of Bali
themselves.” In that island, unless the dead man were of great
wealth, the woman sacrificing herself was stabbed to death with a kris,
instead of being burned with her husband’s corpse, as the expense
accompanying the burning was so great. Barbosa (East African and
Malabar Coasts, Hakluyt Society edition, p. 93) mentions this custom of
one of the countries of India. See also Linschoten (Voyage, Hakluyt
Society edition, pp. 249, 250, and note).
[592] MS. 5,650 adds: “of their vagina.”
[593] MS. 5,650 adds: “and more pleasantly.” This custom is also
mentioned by Barbosa (ut supra, p. 184) in connection with the people
of Pegu. His account, which is left untranslated by Stanley, is as
follows:
“They are very voluptuous, and have certain round hawk’s-bells sewn
and fastened in the head of their penis between the flesh and the skin
in order to make them larger. Some have three, some five, and others
seven. Some are made of gold and silver, and others of brass, and they
tinkle as the men walk. The custom is considered as quite the proper
thing. The women delight greatly in the bells, and do not like men who
go without them. The most honored men are those who have the most and
largest ones. I will say nothing more of this custom, for it is a
shameful one.” Stanley says that this custom is also mentioned by
Nicolo Conti in the fifteenth century.
[594] In MS. 5,650 and in Mosto: “Ocoloro.” Yule (Book of Ser Marco
Polo, ii, p. 395) conjectures that this is the modern island of Engano.
[595] In MS. 5,650 “caiu paugganghi,” and “bua paugganghi.”
Stanley (p. 155, note 2) says that garuda is Sanskrit and Malay for
“griffin,” and (note 1) that campong anghin means “the place of
wind.” Yule (Cathay, Hakluyt Society edition, ii, p. 511, note) says:
“Garuda is a term from the Hindu mythology for the great bird that
carries Vishnu; its use among the Malays is a relic of their ancient
religion.... To an island of the Indian Sea also Kazwini attributes a
bird of such enormous size, that, if dead, the half of its beak would
serve for a ship.” De Gubernatis (Memorie intorno ai viaggiatori
italiani nelle Indie orientali, Firenze, 1867) says that the tree of
the text is perhaps the mythical tree, whose fruit gives felicity in
the Hindu paradise; and the bird is the one with the golden feathers,
into which Vishnu or the sun is transformed in the Hindu mythology.
Mosto, p. 108, note 5.
[596] Probably Point Romania, at the southeastern extremity of the
peninsula of Malacca.
[597] Cinghapola is Singapore or Singapura, so called from the Sanskrit
singa, “lion,” and pura, “city.” It is an island and town
located at the extremity of the Malacca Peninsula, and is a busy mart
of trade. Pahan is Pahang (called Pam by the Portuguese, and properly
spelt Päang), which is a city and district or province of the eastern
part of the Malacca Peninsula. Calantan (Kalantan) and Patani are
districts of the eastern part of the peninsula of Malacca whose chief
towns have the same names. Both states were from early times tributary
to Siam. Lagon is the Siamese province of Ligor (called Lâkon by the
Siamese). Phran is perhaps the same name as seen today in the Pran
River. Cui figures on the maps of Ortelius and Mercatorius; and
Valentyn gives an island “Couir.” Brabri is perhaps Bangri, and
Bangha, Bang-kok. India (error of ancient amanuensis for Iudia) is
Yuthia, which became the Siamese capital in 1350. Mosto believes that
Jandibum, Sanu, and Langhonpifa are also the names of Siamese kings,
but they are probably the names of cities. MS. 5,650 makes Zacabedera
the name of a city, but it appears later as part of a sovereign’s
name. Stanley (following Amoretti, who mistranscribed) has Bradlini,
Trombon, Joran (for Phran), Laun (in MS. 5,650 “Lauu”), and
Langonpifa. See Crawfurd’s Dictionary, and Mosto (p. 109, notes
1–8).
[598] MS. 5,650 reads: “the rest.”
[599] MS. 5,650 reads: “Cameggia.” This is the country of Cambodia
or Camboja (Kamboja), called also Champa by the Malays. See
Crawfurd’s Dictionary, pp. 80, 81.
[600] Champa, the name of an ancient Malay settlement on the eastern
side of the gulf of Siam, in the country of Cambodia. Stanley makes the
name of its king “Brahami Martu.” Mosto (p. 109, note 10) makes
Chiempa, Binh-Thuan in Anam. See preceding note; and Crawfurd’s
Dictionary, p. 93.
[601] Stanley (p. 156, note) says: “Pigafetta has confounded rhubarb
with the decayed wood of a tree found in Siam, which, when burnt, gives
a very sweet perfume, and which sells at a high price.”
[602] MS. 5,650 confuses this country with the cocoanut, and translates
accordingly: “Cocoanuts are found there.” It is, of course, the
country of Cochin. MS. 5,650 also makes the Seribumni (Scribumni, in
Mosto) Pala (Seribumnipala, in MS. 5,650) the ruler of Champa, although
a ruler has already been named for that country.
[603] This king is known in Chinese history as Chitsong, of the Ming
dynasty, who succeeded to Woutsong in 1519 and reigned for forty-five
years. See Boulger’s Short History of China (London, 1900, pp.
94–96).
[604] In Eden (p. 260) the names of these Chinese cities are
“Canthan, Nauchin, and Connulaha.” The last is the city of Peking
which was called Khan-palik (the city of the Khan) by the Mongols, a
form which was changed into Cambalu in the accounts of those times. See
Williams, Middle Kingdom, i, p. 55.
[605] MS. 5,650 reads: “great and little.” See VOL. XXXIII, p. 331,
note 273.
[606] Eden (p. 261) calls the Chinese emblem a “linx;” an allusion
doubtless to the Chinese emblem, the dragon, called lung. See Williams,
Middle Kingdom, ii, p. 267.
[607] MS. 5,650 continues from this point: “so that he may furnish an
example.” See Williams, Middle Kingdom, i, pp. 408–420, for modes
of Chinese punishments (the obeisance made by criminals being mentioned
on p. 315). The zonghu of the text is perhaps the simplest ceremonial
form called kung shau, which consists in joining the hands and raising
them before the breast (ii, p. 68).
[608] MS. 5,650 adds: “also artificially made.” Naga in Sanskrit is
the name of a fabulous snake or dragon, and is found in all the
cultivated languages throughout the Indian Archipelago. See
Crawfurd’s Dictionary, p. 290.
[609] This passage reads as follows in MS. 5,650: “Each circle or
enclosure of the wall has a gate. At the first is a porter who holds in
his hand a large stout iron club called satu horan. In the second is a
dog called satu hain; in the third a man with an iron mace called satu
horan with pocun bessin; in the fourth a man with a bow in his hand
called satu horan with anach panan; in the fifth a man with a lance
called satu horan with satu tumach; in the sixth a lion called satu
hurimau; and in the seventh, two white elephants called two gaggia
pute.” Mosto has houman for the horiman of our text and the hurimau
of MS. 5,650; while Stanley has hurimau. Mosto also prints the word con
meaning “with,” as a part of the various Malayan words. The meaning
of these words as given by Stanley and corroborated by Mosto are as
follows: satu orang, “one man;” anjing, a “dog;” pokoh bisi,
“club of iron;” panah, a “bow;” tombak, a “lance;” horiman,
a “tiger.”
[610] MS. 5,650 omits the remainder of this sentence; and continuing
reads: “If one stops to examine the palace thoroughly, he finds four
halls, where the principal men go at times to visit and converse with
the king.” Eden (p. 261) says: “In this pallaice are lxxix. haules,
in the which is an infinite number of women that ſerue the kynge
hauynge euer lyght torches in theyr handes for the greater
magnifycence.”
[611] See description of Peking with map showing the palace in
Williams, Middle Kingdom, i, pp. 55–66.
[612] Eden (p. 261) reads: “They haue the croſſe in ſum
eſtimation, but knowe not the cauſe whye.”
[613] The remainder of this sentence is omitted in MS. 5,650.
[614] “Commaru” in MS. 5,650.
[615] MS. 5,650 reads: “Then it is steeped in the urine of the said
cat.”
[616] MS. 5,650 adds instead of the following sentence: “But the real
musk comes from the blood abovesaid, and if that be made into little
round pellets, it evaporates.”
[617] Mosto (p. 110, note 5) thinks it more probable that this passage
refers to the animal Moschus moschiferus, or the musk deer, which is
found in the high Himalayas, Tibet, and Eastern Siberia, rather than to
the civet cat, which Pigafetta names. Castor is derived from the
Sanskrit kasturi, which is used by the Malays and Javanese for the
perfume of the civet cat (although they also use native and Arabic
names). It is very probable that Pigafetta has confused musk and civet.
However, Cosmas says also that the Kasturi produces the musk (see
Yule’s Cathay, Hakluyt Society edition, i, p. clxxiv). Friar Jordanus
gives a very superficial account of the musk deer and the preparation
of musk (Wonders of the East, pp. 47, 48). Early descriptions of
preparing musk and prices are given by Varthema (Travels, Hakluyt
Society edition, p. 102), Barbosa (East African and Malabar Coasts,
Hakluyt Society edition, pp. 186, 187, 222), who mentions the leeches,
and Linschoten (Voyage, Hakluyt Society edition, i, p. 149, ii, pp. 94,
95), who also describes civet (ii, pp. 95, 96). Wallace (Malay
Archipelago, p. 41) notes that leeches are very abundant and annoying
on the peninsula of Malacca.
[618] Chienchii are probably the people of Chincheo (Chinchew; the
modern Chwan-Chow-Foo), a name formerly often applied to a province of
China. See VOL. III, p. 41, note 6.
[619] Bellemo, basing his assertion on the fact that the Peguans proper
are called Mon, says (Mosto, p. 110, note 6) that Burmah is here
referred to. It would seem rather to be one of the northern districts
of China, possibly about the Yellow River, and Lechii may refer to the
city of Linching. Mosto and Amoretti transcribe Moni, and MS. 5,650,
Mon.
[620] Cathay, at first restricted to the northern part of the country
now called China, became later (in the Middle Ages) the name for the
entire country. See Yule’s Cathay, i, preliminary essay.
[621] MS. 5,650 reads: “Hau.” Han was a small Chinese state which
gave name to the first national Chinese dynasty, and it may be the Han
referred to by Pigafetta. See Boulger’s Short History of China, p.
10.
[622] “Chetissirimiga” in MS. 5,650.
[623] “Triagomba” in MS. 5,650.
[624] These names appear before (see VOL. XXXIII, p. 321, note 177)
where they are given as the name of one island.
[625] Javanese for “South Sea.”
[626] Sumatra, a name probably of Sanskrit origin, is first mentioned
with that spelling by Varthema, but it had been visited previously by
Marco Polo (who calls it Java the less); and probably by Nicolò de
Conti, who calls it Sciumathera, and before him by the Arabian traveler
Ibn Batûta (ca., 1330), who calls its capital Shumatrah or Sumatrah.
Taprobane was the ancient name of Ceylon, not Sumatra. It is the most
western of all the East India Archipelago, and next to Borneo and New
Guinea the largest island proper, being about 1,000 miles long and
having an area of about 128,560 square miles. The ancestral home of the
Malay race was in the interior of Sumatra, in the region of Menangkaba,
whence they colonized the coasts of Sumatra and spread to outlying
islands. A number of tongues akin to the Malay and many dialects are
spoken in the island. Neither the English nor the Dutch obtained any
real foothold in the island until after 1816, since when the latter
have entered upon a system of conquest. See Crawfurd’s Dictionary,
Varthema’s Travels (Hakluyt Society edition); Cust’s Modern
Languages; and Lucas’s Historical Geography British Colonies, i, pp.
98, 99, 101.
[627] Eden (p. 261) reads: “Fearyng leaſt if they ſhuld ſayle
toward the firm land, they myght bee ſeene of the portugales who are
of great power in Malaccha.”
[628] Pegu (with a capital of the same name) formerly wielded great
influence in the East, but was eclipsed by the kingdoms surrounding it.
Together with Bengal or Bengala and Orissa (Uriza), it forms a portion
of British India. Bengal was incorporated with the Ghôrî or Patan
empire of Hindustân toward the end of the twelfth century, and was
formed into a separate province under the second emperor. It became an
independent kingdom at least by 1340, continuing as an independent
state until conquered by Akbar in 1573. Chelin is probably Coulam or
Quilon in Malabar, once an important center of trade, but an
insignificant place by the middle of the seventeenth century. Narsinga
or Bijayanagar, now a ruined city, was formerly the capital of the
ancient Brahminical kingdom of the Carnatic, which before the conquests
of the Mahometans extended over the greater part of the peninsula
between the Malabar and Coromandel coasts. Calicut, Cambay, Cananore,
Goa, and Ormus (Armus) were all important centers of trade before and
during Portuguese occupation in the East. MS. 5,650 reads: “Gon”
and “Armux.” See Varthema’s Travels (Hakluyt Society edition),
and Mosto (p. 111, notes 3–11).
[629] In MS. 5,650 “Irauai,” “Poleni,” and “Poleai.”
Stanley gives the first as “Franas.” The names of the castes as
given by Varthema (Travels, pp. 141, 142) are as follows: “Brahmins
(or priestly class), Naeri (or military class), Tiva (or artisans),
Mechua (or fishermen), Poliar (who collect pepper, wine, and nuts), and
Hirava (who sow and reap rice). There are only four main castes, viz.:
the Brahman or Sacerdotal, which sprang from the mouth of Brahma; the
warrior, styled Kshatriya, Ksettri, or Chuttree, and formerly the
Rajputs, who sprang from the arms of Brahma; Vaisya or husbandmen
class, who form the industrial class, and who sprang from the belly and
thighs of Brahma; and the Sudra or servile class, who sprang from the
feet of Brahma, and have no part in the sacred law. Each caste is
further subdivided within its own ranks, and specific laws govern each
branch. Under British rule and the influence of western civilization
the rigidity of caste is gradually being relaxed. Pigafetta does not
mention the priestly caste and confuses the various other divisions.
For early descriptions of caste, see Barbosa’s East African and
Malabar Coasts (Hakluyt Society edition), pp. 121–144; Linschoten’s
Voyage (Hakluyt Society edition), i, pp. 278–284 (very defective and
inadequate); Gray and Bell’s Voyage of François Pyrard de Laval
(Hakluyt Society edition), ii, pp. 114, 115, 371–420; and Ball’s
Travels in India by Jean Baptiste Tavernier (London and New York), ii,
pp. 181–189.
[630] MS. 5,650 reads: “and never enter any city.”
[631] Malayâlam for “go.” Linschoten (i, p. 281), and Pyrard de
Laval (i, pp. 383, 384), make the Nairs give this warning cry instead
of the lowest caste, in order that the latter may keep out of their
path. Varthema and Barbosa agree with Pigafetta. The Brahmans also call
out for the same reason (Linschoten, i, p. 281, note 1).
[632] Eden says (p. 261): “ſeuen weekes.”
[633] Albo (Navarrete, iv) says under date of February 13, 1522, that
the course was laid west southwest toward the Cape of Good Hope.
[634] MS. 5,650 reads: “one thousand and sixty.”
[635] The Portuguese occupation of Mozambique dates from 1498, when
Vasco da Gama landed at the mouth of the Zambesi. A number of
settlements were founded there in the first decade of the sixteenth
century. Its present boundaries were fixed by agreement with Great
Britain in 1891 and with Germany in 1886 and 1890. It has an area of
310,000 square miles, and has great vegetable and mineral wealth.
Slavery was abolished in the colony in 1878. It is governed by a
governor-general sent out by Portugal. John Pory in his preliminary
translations prefixed to his translation of the history of the
converted Moor Leo Africanus (Hakluyt Society edition, London, 1896)
says (i, p. 58) that the kingdom of Mozambique was “so called of
three small islets, situate in the mouth of the river Meghincate in
fowerteene and a halfe or fifteene degrees of southerly latitude, which
kingdome in ancient time by Ptolemy was called Promontorium Prassum.”
Continuing he says that notwithstanding its unhealthful site, the chief
of the three islands, where there was a secure port and where the
Portuguese built a strong fort, became the most frequented Portuguese
station on the way to the East Indies, and ships often wintered there.
This must have been the settlement mentioned by Pigafetta. See also
Three Voyages of Vasco da Gama (Hakluyt Society reprint, London, 1879),
pp. 80–97.
[636] MS. 5,650 adds: “and stank.”
[637] On March 14, the crew of the “Victoria” worked at repairs on
the ship until noon, and then set sail again. On the eighteenth they
saw a lofty island (Amsterdam Island), which they tried in vain to
make, and were compelled to lie to for further repairs. April 16, the
course was altered to the north. Land was sighted on May 8, and on the
following day they anchored on the rough coast. On the sixteenth the
ship was further disabled by the loss of a mast. After many struggles
they were finally clear of the cape on May 22, and directed their
general course northward. See Albo’s log (Navarrete, iv), and
Guillemard’s Magellan. Considering Albo’s date as correct,
Pigafetta is in error by almost half a month in his date for the
doubling of the cape.
[638] Herrera takes pains to mention this phenomenon (Mosto, p. 111,
note 15). The official list shows a record of fifteen deaths of
Europeans on the high sea and the desertion of two others. The ship
left Tidore with forty-seven Europeans and arrived at the Cape Verde
Islands with thirty-one, a number that tallies if Pigafetta does not
include himself in the forty-seven who left Tidore. Consequently six of
the natives taken had died during the voyage. (Guillemard’s Magellan,
p. 291, note).
[639] Eden adds: (p. 261): “that is, ſaynte Iames Ilande, parteyning
to the kyng of Portugale.” This is the island of Santiago, the
largest and most southernmost of the Cape Verde Islands. Albo says
(Navarrete, iv, p. 241): “On the ninth of the said month [i.e.,
July], I did not take the sun. We anchored in the port of Grande River,
where we were given a hospitable reception, and as many provisions as
we wished. That day was Wednesday, but they [i.e., the Portuguese]
maintained that it was Thursday. Consequently, I believe that we were
mistaken by one day. We stayed there until Sunday night, and then set
sail for fear of the bad weather and the crossing of the port. In the
morning we sent the ship’s boat ashore for more rice, of which we had
need, while we sailed about on various tacks until its return.”
[640] This clause is lacking in MS. 5,650.
[641] These four words are omitted in MS. 5,650.
[642] MS. 5,650 reads: “and that we did not dare to go to Spain.”
[643] Albo (Navarrete, iv, p. 241) further recounts events at the
island of Santiago as follows: “On Monday, the fourteenth, we sent
the ship’s boat ashore for more rice. It returned next day, and went
back for another load. We waited until night, but it did not return.
Then we waited until next day, but it never returned. Then we went
nearer the port to discover the reason of the delay, whereupon a vessel
came out and demanded our surrender, saying that they would send us
with the ship that was coming from the Indias, and that they would
place their men in our ship, for thus had their officials ordered. We
requested them to send us our men and ship’s boat. They replied that
they would bear our request to their officials. We answered that we
would take another tack and wait. Accordingly we tacked about and set
all our sails full, and left with twenty-two men, both sick and well.
That happened on Tuesday, the fifteenth of the month of July.” See
also Transylvanus’s account, VOL. I, pp. 336, 337. The names of the
men detained at this island are given as follows by Navarrete (Col. de
viages, iv, p. 94):
Martin Mendez ship’s accountant
Pedro Tolosa steward
Ricarte de Normandia carpenter
Raldan de Argote gunner
Master Pedro
Juan Martin sobresaliente
Simon de Burgos sobresaliente
Felipe de Rodas sailor
Gomez Hernandez sailor
Socacio Alonso sailor
Pedro Chindurza common seaman
Vasquito Gallego boy
Cf. the corrected list given by Guillemard (Magellan, p. 338, and note
5) who mentions thirteen men (the number given by Pigafetta). These men
were shortly released and sent to Seville (Guillemard, ut supra, p.
337).
[644] Eden says (p. 262) that it was the seventh. Albo (Navarrete, iv,
pp. 246, 247), says that Cape St. Vincent was sighted on September 4,
1522.
[645] The official death list records two desertions, which must have
been the ones mentioned by Pigafetta. Gomara mentions a mutiny at
Timur: “There was a mutiny and conflict, in which a considerable
number of the crew were killed.” Oviedo says also: “Some were
beheaded in the island of Timor for their crimes.” Guillemard
conjectures that both accounts are borrowed from this passage in
Pigafetta (Guillemard, p. 291, note). The survivors of the
“Victoria” who reached Spain, as given by Navarrete (Col. de
viages, iv, p. 96) from a document conserved at Archivo general de
Indias, were as follows:
Juan Sebastian de Elcano captain
Francisco Albo pilot
Miguel Rodas master
Juan de Acurio boatswain
Martin de Yudicibus merino
Hernando de Bustamente barber
Aires gunner
Diego Gallego sailor
Nicolao de Nápoles sailor
Miguel Sanchez de Rodas sailor
Francisco Rodriguez sailor
Juan Rodriguez de Huelva sailor
Anton Hernandez Colmenero sailor
Juan de Arratia common seaman
Juan de Santander common seaman
Vasco Gomez Gallego common seaman
Juan de Zubileta boy
Antonio Lombardo sobresaliente
Cf. the list as given by Guillemard (Magellan, pp. 337, 338), who
attempts to correct the various lists, and which shows several
differences from Navarrete’s list. Navarrete (ut supra, iv, pp. 96,
97) basing his assertion on Herrera, says: “Among the Indians who
reached land safely and desired to see the emperor and these kingdoms,
was one so sharp that his first action was to ask how many reals made
one ducado, how many maravedis one real, and how much pepper was given
for one maravedi, informing himself from shop to shop of the value of
spices. That furnished a reason for his not returning to his country,
although the others did.” See also Guillemard’s Magellan, p. 296.
[646] The value of the spices brought to Spain by the “Victoria”
exceeded the cost of the other four vessels and their entire equipment
by about £200. The cargo consisted of cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace,
and sandalwood. The “Victoria” afterward made one voyage safely to
Cuba, but was lost on a second. See Guillemard’s Magellan, pp. 297,
310.
[647] Eden (p. 262) says that on disembarking they went to give thanks
“to almyghtie god who had brought them ſafe to theyr owne countrey,
and reſtored them to theyr wyues and chyldren.”
[648] The account of the voyage given by Pigafetta to the emperor was
probably only his brief records as set down from day to day, and not in
any sense the relation as here published. The relation is known to have
been compiled after Pigafetta’s return to Italy. Stanley (p. xiv,
appendix) gives the original petition made by Pigafetta to the doge and
council of Venice, asking permission to print his relation. Its
translation is as follows:
“M.D. xxiv. of the month of August.
“Most Serene Prince, and your Excellencies:
“Petition of me, Antonio Pigafetta, Venetian knight of Jerusalem, who
desiring to see the world, have sailed, in past years, with the
caravels of his Cesaræan Majesty, which went to discover the islands
in the new Indies where the spices grow. On that voyage I
circumnavigated the whole world, and since it is a feat which no man
had [before] accomplished, I have composed a short narration of all the
said voyage, which I desire to have printed. For that purpose, I
petition, that no one may print it for xx years, except myself, under
penalty to him who should print it, or who should bring it here if
printed elsewhere, of a fine of three lire per copy besides the loss of
the books. [I petition] also that the execution [of the penalty] may be
imposed by any magistrate of this city who shall be informed of it; and
that the fine be divided as follows: one-third to the arsenal of your
Highness, one-third to the accuser, and one-third to those who shall
impose it. I humbly commend myself to your kindness. August v.” The
docket follows.
[649] Ramusio says that Pigafetta presented one of his books to the
regent Louise, and that she had it translated into French by Jacques
Fabre (see volume on Bibliography, at end of this series). Stanley is
wrong in his conjecture that MS. 22,224 of the Bibliothéque Nationale
is the copy above mentioned, as it is in fact even later than MS.
5,650.
[650] The signature in MS. 5,650 is “Anthoyne Pigaphete.”