Most Reverend and Illustrious Lord: my only Lord, to you I most humbly
commend myself. Not long ago one of those five ships returned which
the emperor, while he was at Saragossa some years ago, had sent into
a strange and hitherto unknown part of the world, to search for the
islands in which spices grow. For although the Portuguese bring us a
great quantity of them from the Golden Chersonesus, which we now call
Malacca, nevertheless their own Indian possessions produce none but
pepper. For it is well known that the other spices, as cinnamon,
cloves, and the nutmeg, which we call muscat, and its covering
[mace], which we call muscat-flower, are brought to their Indian
possessions from distant islands hitherto only known by name, in
ships held together not by iron fastenings, but merely by palm-leaves,
and having round sails also woven out of palm-fibres. Ships of this
sort they call "junks," and they are impelled by the wind only when
it blows directly fore or aft.
Nor is it wonderful, that these islands have not been known to any
mortal, almost up to our time. For whatever statements of ancient
authors we have hitherto read with respect to the native soil of these
spices, are partly entirely fabulous, and partly so far from truth,
that the very regions, in which they asserted that these spices were
produced, are scarcely less distant from the countries in which it
is now ascertained that they grow, than we are ourselves.
For, not to mention others, Herodotus, in other respects a very good
authority, states that cinnamon was found in birds' nests, into which
the birds had brought it from very distant regions, among which birds
he mentions especially the Phoenix--and I know not who has ever seen
the nest of a Phoenix. But Pliny, who might have been thought to have
had better means of knowing the facts, since long before his time many
discoveries had been made by the fleets of Alexander the Great, and
by other expeditions, states that cinnamon was produced in Ethiopia,
on the borders of the land of the Troglodytes. Whereas we know now
that cinnamon is produced at a very great distance from any part of
Ethiopia, and especially from the country of the Troglodytes, _i.e._
dwellers in subterraneous caves.
Now it was necessary for our sailors, who have recently returned,
who knew more about Ethiopia than about other countries, to sail round
the whole world and that in a very wide circuit, before they discovered
these islands and returned to Europe; and, since this voyage was a very
remarkable one, and neither in our own time, nor in any former age, has
such a voyage been accomplished, or even attempted, I have determined
to send your Lordship a full and accurate account of the expedition.
I have taken much care in obtaining an account of the facts from the
commanding officer of the squadron, [221] and from the individual
sailors who have returned with him. They also made a statement to
the emperor, and to several other persons, with such good faith and
sincerity, that they appeared in their narrative, not merely to have
abstained from fabulous statements, but also to contradict and refute
the fabulous statements made by ancient authors.
For who ever believed that the Monosceli, or Sciapodes [one-legged
men], the Scyrites, the Spithamæi [persons a span--seven and one-half
inches--high], the Pigmies [height thirteen and one-half inches], and
such-like were rather monsters than men? Yet, although the Castilians
in their voyages westwards, and the Portuguese sailing eastwards,
have sought out, discovered, and surveyed so many places even beyond
the Tropic of Capricorn, and now these countrymen of ours have sailed
completely round the world, none of them have found any trustworthy
evidence in favor of the existence of such monsters; and therefore
all such accounts ought to be regarded as fabulous, and as old wives'
tales, handed down from one writer to another without any basis of
truth. But, as I have to make a voyage round the world, I will not
extend my prefatory remarks, but will come at once to the point.
Some thirty years ago, when the Castilians in the West, and the
Portuguese in the East, had begun to search after new and unknown
lands, in order to avoid any interference of one with the other,
the kings of these countries divided the whole world between them,
by the authority probably of Pope Alexander VI, on this plan, that a
line should be drawn from the north to the south pole through a point
three hundred and sixty leagues west of the Hesperides which they now
call Cape Verde Islands, which would divide the earth's surface into
two equal portions. All unknown lands hereafter discovered to the
east of this line were assigned to the Portuguese; all on the west
to the Castilians. Hence it came to pass that the Castilians always
sailed southwest, and there discovered a very extensive continent,
besides numerous large islands, abounding in gold, pearls, and other
valuable commodities; and have quite recently discovered a large inland
city named Tenoxtica [Mexico] situated in a lake like Venice. Peter
Martyr, [222] an author who is more careful as to the accuracy of
his statements than of the elegance of his style, has given a full
but truthful description of this city. But the Portuguese sailing
southward past the Hesperides [Cape Verde Islands] and the Fish-eating
Ethiopians [West Coast of Africa], crossed the Equator and the Tropic
of Capricorn, and sailing eastward discovered several, very large
islands heretofore unknown, and also the sources of the Nile and the
Troglodytes. Thence, by way of the Arabian and Persian Gulfs, they
arrived at the shores of India within the Ganges, where now there is
the very great trading station and the kingdom of Calicut. Hence they
sailed to Taprobane which is now called Zamatara [Sumatra]. For where
Ptolemy, Pliny, and other geographers placed Taprobane, there is now
no island which can possibly be identified with it. Thence they came
to the Golden Chersonesus, where now stands the well-peopled city of
Malacca, the principal place of business of the East. After this they
penetrated into a great gulf, as far as the nation of the Sinæ, who
are now called Schinæ [Chinese], where they found a fair-complexioned
and tolerably-civilized people, like our folks in Germany. They believe
that the Seres and Asiatic Scythians extend as far as these parts.
And although there was a somewhat doubtful rumour afloat, that the
Portuguese had advanced so far to the east, that they had come to
the end of their own limits, and had passed over into the territory
appointed for the Castilians, and that Malacca and the Great Gulf
were within our limits, all this was more said than believed, until,
four years ago, Ferdinand Magellan, a distinguished Portuguese,
who had for many years sailed about the Eastern Seas as admiral
of the Portuguese fleet, having quarreled with his king, who he
considered had acted ungratefully towards him, and Christopher Haro,
brother of my father-in-law, of Lisbon, who had, through his agents
for many years carried on trade with those eastern countries, and
more recently with the Chinese, so that he was well acquainted with
these matters (he also, having been ill-used by the King of Portugal,
had returned to his native country, Castille), pointed out to the
emperor, that it was not yet clearly ascertained, whether Malacca
was within the boundaries of the Portuguese or of the Castillians,
because hitherto its longitude had not been definitely known; but
that it was an undoubted fact that the Great Gulf and the Chinese
nations were within the Castilian limits They asserted also that it
was absolutely certain, that the islands called the Moluccas, in which
all sorts of spices grow, and from which they were brought to Malacca,
were contained in the western, or Castilian division, and that it would
be possible to sail to them, and to bring the spices at less trouble
and expense from their native soil to Castille. The plan of the voyage
was to sail west, and then coasting the Southern Hemisphere round
the south of America to the east. Yet it appeared to be a difficult
undertaking, and one of which the practicability was doubtful. Not
that it was impossible, _prima facie_, to sail from the west round
the Southern Hemisphere to the east; but that it was uncertain,
whether ingenious Nature, all whose works are wisely conceived, had
so arranged the sea and the land that it might be possible to arrive
by this course at the Eastern Seas. For it had not been ascertained
whether that extensive region, which is called Terra Firma, separated
the Western Ocean [the Atlantic] from the Eastern [the Pacific]; but
it was plain that that continent extended in a southerly direction,
and afterwards inclined to the west. Moreover two regions had been
discovered in the north, one called Baccalearum from a new kind of
fish, [223] the other called Florida; and if these were connected
with Terra Firma, it would not be possible to pass from the Western
Ocean to the Eastern; since although much trouble had been taken to
discover any strait which might exist connecting the two oceans, none
had yet been found. At the same time it was considered that to attempt
to sail through the Portuguese concessions and the Eastern Seas would
be a hazardous enterprise, and dangerous in the highest degree.
The emperor and his council considered that the plan proposed by
Magellan and Haro, though holding out considerable advantages, was one
of very considerable difficulty as to execution. After some delay,
Magellan offered to go out himself, but Haro undertook to fit out
a squadron at the expense of himself and his friends, provided that
they were allowed to sail under the authority and patronage of his
majesty. As each resolutely upheld his own scheme, the emperor himself
fitted out a squadron of five ships, and appointed Magellan to the
command. It was ordered that they should sail southwards by the coast
of Terra Firma, until they found either the end of that country or
some strait, by which they might arrive at the spice-bearing Moluccas.
Accordingly on the tenth of August, 1519, Ferdinand Magellan with his
five ships sailed from Seville. In a few days they arrived at the
Fortunate Islands, now called the Canaries. Thence they sailed to
the islands of the Hesperides [Cape Verde]; and thence sailed in a
southwesterly direction towards that continent which I have already
mentioned [Terra Firma or South America], and after a favorable
voyage of a few days discovered a promontory, which they called
St. Mary's. Here admiral John Ruy Dias Solis, while exploring the
shores of this continent by command of King Ferdinand the Catholic,
was, with some of his companions, eaten by the Anthropophagi, whom the
Indians call Cannibals. Hence they coasted along this continent, which
extends far on southwards, and which I now think should be called the
Southern Polar land, then gradually slopes off in a westerly direction,
and so sailed several degrees south of the Tropic of Capricorn. But
it was not so easy for them to do it, as for me to relate it. For not
till the end of March in the following year, [1520] did they arrive at
a bay, which they called St. Julian's Bay. Here the Antarctic polestar
was forty-nine and one-third degrees above the horizon, this result
being deduced from the sun's declination and altitude, and this star
is principally used by our navigators for observations. They stated
that the longitude was fifty-six degrees west of the Canaries. [224]
For since the ancient geographers, and especially Ptolemy reckoned
the distance easterly from the Fortunate Islands [Canaries] as far
as Cattigara to be one hundred and eighty degrees, and our sailors
have sailed as far as possible in a westerly direction, they reckoned
the distance from the Canaries westward to Cattigara to be also one
hundred and eighty degrees. Yet even though our sailors in so long a
voyage and in one so distant from the land lay down and mark certain
signs and limits of the longitude; they appear to me rather to have
made some error in their method of reckoning of the longitude than
to have attained any trustworthy result.
Meanwhile, however this may be, until more certain results are arrived
at, I do not think that their statements should be absolutely rejected,
but merely accepted provisionally. This bay appeared to be of great
extent, and had rather the appearance of a strait. Therefore admiral
Magellan directed two ships to survey the bay; and himself remained
with the rest at anchor. After two days, they returned, and reported
that the bay was shallow, and did not extend far inland. Our men on
their return saw some Indians gathering shell-fish on the sea-shore,
for the natives of all unknown countries are commonly called
Indians. These Indians were very tall, ten spans high [seven feet
six inches], clad in skins of wild beasts, darker-complexioned than
would have been expected in that part of the world; and when some of
our men went on shore and showed them bells and pictures, they began
to dance round our men with a hoarse noise and unintelligible chant,
and to excite our admiration they took arrows a cubit and a half long,
and put them down their own throats to the bottom of their stomachs
without seeming any the worse for it. Then they drew them up again,
and seemed much pleased at having shown their bravery. At length three
men came up as a deputation, and by means of signs requested our men
to come with them further inland, as though they would receive them
hospitably. Magellan sent with them seven men well equipped, to find
out as much as possible about the country and its inhabitants. These
seven went with the Indians some seven miles up the country, and came
to a desolate and pathless wood. Here was a very low-built cottage
roofed with skins of beasts. In it were two rooms, in one of which
dwelt the women and children, and in the other the men. The women and
children were thirteen in number, and the men five. These received
their guests with a barbarous entertainment, but which they considered
to be quite a royal one. For they slaughtered an animal much resembling
a wild ass, and set before our men half-roasted steaks of it, but no
other food or drink. Our men had to cover themselves at night with
skins, on account of the severity of the wind and snow.
Before they went to sleep they arranged for a watch to be kept;
the Indians did the same and lay near our men by the fire, snoring
horribly. When day dawned, our men requested them to return with
them, accompanied by their families to our ships. When the Indians
persisted in refusing to do so, and our men had also persisted
somewhat imperiously in their demands, the men went into the women's
chamber. The Spaniards supposed that they had gone to consult their
wives about this expedition. But they came out again as if to battle,
wrapped up from bead to foot in hideous skins, with their faces painted
in various colours, and with bows and arrows, all ready for fighting,
and appearing taller than ever. The Spaniards, thinking a skirmish was
likely to take place, fired a gun. Although nobody was hit, yet these
enormous giants, who just before seemed as though they were ready to
fight and conquer Jove himself, were so alarmed at the sound, that
they began to sue for peace. It was arranged that three men, leaving
the rest behind, should return with our men to the ships, and so they
started. But as our men not only could not run as fast as the giants,
but could not even run as fast as the giants could walk, two of the
three, seeing a wild ass grazing on a mountain at some distance,
as they were going along, ran off after it and so escaped. The third
was brought to the ships, but in a few days he died, having starved
himself after the Indian fashion through homesickness. And although
the admiral returned to that cottage, in order to make another of the
giants prisoner, and bring him to the emperor, as a novelty, no one was
found there, as all of them had removed elsewhere, and the cottage had
disappeared. Hence it is plain that this nation is a nomad race, and
although our men remained some time in that bay, as we shall presently
mention, they never again saw an Indian on that coast; nor did they
think that there was anything in that country that would make it worth
while to explore the inland districts any further. And though Magellan
was convinced that a longer stay there would be of no use, yet since
for some days the sea was very rough and the weather tempestuous, and
the land extended still further southward, so that the farther they
advanced, the colder they would find the country, their departure was
unavoidably put off from day to day, till the month of May arrived,
at which time the winter sets in with great severity in those parts,
so much so, that, though it was our summer-time, they had to make
preparations for wintering there. Magellan, perceiving that the voyage
would be a long one, in order that the provisions might last longer,
ordered the rations to be diminished. The Spaniards endured this with
patience for some days, but alarmed at the length of the winter and
the barrenness of the land, at last petitioned their admiral Magellan,
saying that it was evident that this continent extended an indefinite
distance south-wards, and that there was no hope of discovering the
end of it, or of discovering a strait; that a hard winter was setting
in, and that several men had already died through scanty food and
the hardships of the voyage; that they would not long be able to
endure that restriction of provisions which he had enacted; that
the emperor never intended that they should obstinately persevere in
attempting to do what the natural circumstances of the case rendered
it impossible to accomplish; that the toils they had already endured
would be acknowledged and approved, since they had already advanced
further than the boldest and most adventurous navigators had dared to
do; that, if a south wind should spring up in a few days, they might
easily sail to the north, and arrive at a milder climate. In reply,
Magellan, who had already made up his mind either to carry out his
design, or to die in the attempt, said that the emperor had ordered
him to sail according to a certain plan, from which he could not and
would not depart on any consideration whatever, and that therefore
he should continue this voyage till he found either the end of this
continent, or a strait. That though he could not do this at present,
as the winter prevented him, yet it would be easy enough in the summer
of this region; that if they would only sail along the coast to the
south, the summer would be all one perpetual day; that they had means
of providing against want of food and the inclemency of the weather,
inasmuch as there was a great quantity of wood, that the sea produced
shell-fish, and numerous sorts of excellent fish; that there were
springs of good water, and they could also help their stores by hunting
and by shooting wild fowl; that bread and wine had not yet run short,
and would not run short in future, provided that they used them for
necessity and for the preservation of health, and not for pleasure
and luxury: that nothing had yet been done worthy of much admiration,
nor such as could give them a reasonable ground for returning; that
the Portuguese not only yearly, but almost daily, in their voyages
to the east, made no difficulty about sailing twelve degrees south
of the tropic of Capricorn: what had they then to boast of, when
they had only advanced some four degrees south of it; that he, for
his part, had made up his mind to suffer anything that might happen,
rather than to return to Spain with disgrace; that he believed that
his companions, or at any rate, those in whom the generous spirit of
Spaniards was not totally extinct, were of the same way of thinking:
that he had only to exhort them fearlessly to face the remainder
of winter; that the greater their hardships and dangers were, the
richer their reward would be for having opened up for the emperor a
new world rich in spices and gold.
Magellan thought that by this address he had soothed and encouraged the
minds of his men, but within a few days he was troubled by a wicked
and disgraceful mutiny. For the sailors began to talk to one another
of the long-standing ill-feeling existing between the Portuguese and
the Castilians, and of Magellan's being a Portuguese; that there was
nothing that he could do more to the credit of his own country than
to lose this fleet with so many men on board: that it was not to be
believed that he wished to find the Moluccas, even if he could, but
that he would think it enough if he could delude the emperor for some
years by holding out vain hopes, and that in the meanwhile something
new would turn up, whereby the Castilians might be completely put out
of the way of looking for spices: nor indeed was the direction of
the voyage really towards the fertile Molucca islands, but towards
snow and ice and everlasting bad weather. Magellan was exceedingly
irritated by these conversations, and punished some of the men,
but with somewhat more severity than was becoming to a foreigner,
especially to one holding command in a distant part of the world. So
they mutinied and took possession of one of the ships, and began to
make preparations to return to Spain, but Magellan, with the rest
of his men who had remained faithful to him, boarded that ship,
and executed the ringleader and other leading mutineers, even some
who could not legally be so treated: for they were royal officials,
who were only liable to capital punishment by the emperor and his
council. However under the circumstances no one ventured to resist. Yet
there were some, who whispered to one another, that Magellan would go
on exercising the same severity amongst the Castilians, as long as one
was left, until having got rid of everyone of them, he could sail home
to his own country again with the few Portuguese he had with him. The
Castilians therefore remained still more hostile to the admiral. As
soon as Magellan observed that the weather was less stormy and that
winter began to break up, he sailed out of St. Julian's Bay on the
twenty-fourth of August, 1520, as before. For some days he coasted
along to the southward and at last sighted a cape, which they called
Cape Santa Cruz. Here a storm from the east caught them, and one of the
five ships was driven on shore and wrecked, but the crew and all goods
on board were saved, except an African slave, who was drowned. After
this the coast seemed to stretch a little south eastwards, and as
they continued to explore it, on the twenty-sixth of November [1520]
an opening was observed having the appearance of a strait; Magellan
at once sailed in with his whole fleet, and seeing several bays in
various directions, directed three of the ships to cruise about to
ascertain whether there was any way through, undertaking to wait for
them five days at the entrance of the strait, so that they might report
what success they had. One of these ships was commanded by Alvaro de
Mezquita, son of Magellan's brother, and this by the windings of the
channel came out again into the ocean whence it had set out. When
the Spaniards [225] saw that they were at a considerable distance
from the other ships, they plotted among themselves to return home,
and having put Alvaro their captain in irons, they sailed northwards,
and at last reached the coast of Africa, and there took in provisions,
and eight months after leaving the other ships they arrived in Spain,
where they brought Alvaro to trial on the charge that it had chiefly
been through his advice and persuasion that his uncle Magellan had
adopted such severe measures against the Castilians. Magellan waited
some days over the appointed time for this ship, and meanwhile one
ship had returned, and reported that they had found nothing but
a shallow bay, and the shores stony and with high cliffs; but the
other reported that the greatest bay had the appearance of a strait,
as they had sailed on for three days and had found no way out, but
that the further they went the narrower the passage became, and it
was so deep, that in many places they sounded without finding the
bottom; they also noticed from the tide of the sea, that the flow
was somewhat stronger than the ebb, and thence they conjectured
that there was a passage that way into some other sea. On hearing
this Magellan determined to sail along this channel. This strait,
though not then known to be such, was of the breadth in some places
of three, in others of two, in others of five or ten Italian miles,
[226] and inclined slightly to the west. The latitude south was found
to be fifty-two degrees, the longitude they estimated as the same as
that of St. Julian's Bay. It being now hard upon the month of November,
the length of the night was not much more than five hours; they saw no
one on the shore. One night however a great number of fires was seen,
especially on the left side, whence they conjectured that they had
been seen by the inhabitants of those regions. But Magellan, seeing
that the land was craggy, and bleak with perpetual winter, did not
think it worth while to spend his time in exploring it, and so with
his three ships continued, his voyage along the channel, until on the
twenty-second day after he had set sail, he came out into another
vast and open sea: the length of the strait they reckoned at about
one hundred Spanish miles. The land which they had to the right was
no doubt the continent we have before mentioned [South America]. On
the left hand they thought that there was no continent, but only
islands, as they occasionally heard on that side the reverberation
and roar of the sea at a more distant part of the coast. Magellan saw
that the main land extended due north, and therefore gave orders to
turn away from that great continent, leaving it on the right hand,
and to sail over that vast and extensive ocean, which had probably
never been traversed by our ships or by those of any other nation,
in a northwesterly direction, so that they might arrive at last at the
Eastern Ocean, coming at it from the west, and again enter the torrid
zone, for he was satisfied that the Moluccas were in the extreme east,
and could not be far off the equator. They continued in this course,
never deviating from it, except when compelled to do so now and then
by the force of the wind; and when they had sailed on this course for
forty days across the ocean with a strong wind, mostly favourable,
and had seen nothing all around them but sea, and had now almost
reached again the Tropic of Capricorn, they came in sight of two
islands, [227] small and barren, and on directing their course to
them found that they were uninhabited; but they stayed there two
days for repose and refreshment, as plenty of fish was to be caught
there. However they unanimously agreed to call these islands the
Unfortunate Islands. Then they set sail again, and continued on the
same course as before. After sailing for three months and twenty days
with good fortune over this ocean, and having traversed a distance
almost too long to estimate, having had a strong wind aft almost the
whole of the time, and having again crossed the equator, they saw an
island, which they afterwards learnt from the neighboring people was
called Inuagana. [228] When they came nearer to it, they found the
latitude to be eleven degrees north; the longitude they reckoned to
be one hundred and fifty-eight degrees west of Cadiz. From this point
they saw more and more islands, so that they found themselves in an
extensive archipelago, but on arriving at Inuagana, they found it was
uninhabited. Then they sailed towards another small island, where they
saw two Indian canoes, for such is the Indian name of these strange
boats; these canoes are scooped out of the single trunk of a tree,
and hold one or at most two persons; and they are used to talk with
each other by signs, like dumb people. They asked the Indians what the
names of the islands were, and whence provisions could be procured,
of which they were very deficient; they were given to understand that
the first island they had seen was called Inuagana, that near which
they then were, Acacan, [229] but that both were uninhabited; but that
there was another island almost in sight, in the direction of which
they pointed, called Selani, [230] and that abundance of provisions
of all sorts was to be had there. Our men took in water at Acacan, and
then sailed towards Selani, but a storm caught them so that they could
not land there, but they were driven to another island called Massana,
[231] where the king of three islands resides. From this island they
sailed to Subuth [Zebu], a very large island, and well supplied, where
having come to a friendly arrangement with the chief they immediately
landed to celebrate divine worship according to Christian usage--for
the festival of the resurrection of Him who has saved us was at
hand. Accordingly with some of the sails of the ships and branches
of trees they erected a chapel, and in it constructed an altar in
the Christian fashion, and divine service was duly performed. The
chief and a large crowd of Indians came up, and seemed much pleased
with these religious rites They brought the admiral and some of the
officers into the chief's cabin, and set before them what food they
had. The bread was made of sago, which is obtained from the trunk of a
tree not much unlike the palm. This is chopped up small, and fried in
oil, and used as bread, a specimen of which I send to your lordship;
their drink was a liquor which flows from the branches of palm-trees
when cut, some birds also were served up at this meal; and also some
of the fruit of the country. Magellan having noticed in the chief's
house a sick person in a very wasted condition, asked who he was and
from what disease he was suffering. He was told that it was the chief's
grandson, and that he had been suffering for two years from a violent
fever. Magellan exhorted him to be of good courage, that if he would
devote himself to Christ, he would immediately recover his former
health and strength. The Indian consented and adored the cross, and
received baptism, and the next day declared that he was well again,
rose from his bed, and walked about, and took his meals like the
others. What visions he may have told to his friends I cannot say;
but the chief and over twenty-two hundred Indians were baptized and
professed the name and faith of Christ. Magellan seeing that this
island was rich in gold and ginger, and that it was so conveniently
situated with respect to the neighboring islands, that it would be
easy, making this his headquarters, to explore their resources and
natural productions, he therefore went to the chief of Subuth and
suggested to him, that since he had turned away from the foolish and
impious worship of false gods to the Christian religion, it would be
proper that the chiefs of the neighboring islands should obey his rule;
that he had determined to send envoys for this purpose, and if any of
the chiefs should refuse to obey this summons, to compel them to do
so by force of arms. The proposal pleased the savage, and the envoys
were sent: the chiefs came in one by one and did homage to the chief
of Subuth in the manner adopted in those countries. But the nearest
island to Subuth is called Mauthan [Matan], and its king was superior
in military force to the other chiefs; and he declined to do homage
to one whom he had been accustomed to command for so long. Magellan,
anxious to carry out his plan, ordered forty of his men, whom he could
rely on for valor and military skill, to arm themselves, and passed
over to the island Mauthan in boats, for it was very near. The chief
of Subuth furnished him with some of his own people, to guide him
as to the topography of the island and the character of the country,
and, if it should be necessary, to help him in the battle. The king of
Mauthan, seeing the arrival of our men, led into the field some three
thousand of his people. Magellan drew up his own men and what artillery
he had, though his force was somewhat small, on the shore, and although
he saw that his own force was much inferior in numbers, and that his
opponents were a warlike race, and were equipped with lances and other
weapons, nevertheless thought it more advisable to face the enemy with
them, than to retreat, or to avail himself of the aid of the Subuth
islanders. Accordingly he exhorted his men to take courage, and not
to be alarmed at the superior force of the enemy; since it had often
been the case, as had recently happened in the island [peninsula]
of Yucatan, that two hundred Spaniards had routed two or even three
hundred thousand Indians. He said to the Subuth islanders, that he
had not brought them with him to fight, but to see the valour and
military prowess of his men. Then he attacked the Mauthan islanders,
and both sides fought boldly; but as the enemy surpassed our men
in number, and used longer lances, to the great damage of our men,
at last Magellan himself was thrust through and slain. [232] Although
the survivors did not consider themselves fairly beaten, yet, as they
had lost their leader, they retreated; but, as they retreated in good
order, the enemy did not venture to pursue them. The Spaniards then,
having lost their admiral, Magellan, and seven of their comrades,
returned to Subuth, where they chose as their new admiral John Serrano,
a man of no contemptible ability. He renewed the alliance with the
chief of Subuth, by making him additional presents, and undertook to
conquer the king of Mauthan. Magellan had been the owner of a slave,
a native of the Moluccas, whom he had formerly bought in Malacca;
and by means of this slave, who was able to speak Spanish fluently,
and of an interpreter of Subuth, who could speak the Moluccan language,
our men carried on their negotiations. This slave had taken part in
the fight with the Mauthan islanders, and had been slightly wounded,
for which reason he lay by all day intending to nurse himself. Serrano,
who could do no business without his help, rated him soundly, and
told him that though his master Magellan was dead, he was still a
slave, and that he would find that such was the case, and would get
a good flogging into the bargain, if he did not exert himself and do
what was required of him more zealously. This speech much incensed
the slave against our people: but he concealed his anger and in
a few days he went to the chief of Subuth, and told him that the
avarice of the Spaniards was insatiable: that they had determined,
as soon as they should have defeated the king of Mauthan, to turn
round upon him, and take him away as a prisoner; and that the only
course for him [the chief of Subuth] to adopt was to anticipate
treachery by treachery. The savage believed this, and secretly came
to an understanding with the king of Mauthan, and made arrangements
with him for common action against our people. Admiral Serrano,
and twenty-seven of the principal officers and men, were invited to
a solemn banquet. These, quite unsuspectingly, for the natives had
carefully dissembled their intentions, went on shore without any
precautions, to take their dinner with the chief. While they were
at table, some armed men, who had been concealed close by, ran in
and slew them. A great outcry was made: it was reported in our ships
that our men were killed, and that the whole island was hostile to
us; our men saw, from on board the ships, that the handsome cross,
which they had set up in a tree, was torn down by the natives and cut
up into fragments. When the Spaniards, who had remained on board,
heard of the slaughter of our men, they feared further treachery:
so they weighed anchor and began to set sail without delay. Soon
afterwards Serrano was brought to the coast a prisoner; he entreated
them to deliver him from so miserable a captivity, saying that he
had got leave to be ransomed, if his men would agree to it. Although
our men thought it was disgraceful to leave their commander behind
in this way, their fear of the treachery of the islanders was so
great, that they put out to sea, leaving Serrano on the shore in vain
lamenting and beseeching his comrades to rescue him. The Spaniards,
having lost their commander and several of their comrades, sailed on
sad and anxious, not merely on account of the loss they had suffered,
but also because their numbers had been so diminished, that it was
no longer possible to work the three remaining ships.
On this question they consulted together, and unanimously came to the
conclusion, that the best plan would be to burn one of the ships,
and to sail home in the two remaining. They therefore sailed to a
neighboring island, called Cohol [Bohol], and having put the rigging
and stores of one of the ships on board the two others, set it on
fire. Hence they proceeded to the island of Gibeth. [233] Although
they found that this island was well supplied with gold and ginger
and many other things, they did not think it desirable to stay there
any length of time, as they could not establish friendly relations
with the natives; and they were too few in number to venture to use
force. From Gibeth they proceeded to the island of Porne [Borneo]. In
this archipelago there are two large islands: one of which is called
Siloli [Gilolo], whose king had six hundred children. Siloli is larger
than Porne, for Siloli can hardly be circumnavigated in six months,
but Porne in three months. Although Siloli is larger than Porne,
yet the latter is more fertile, and distinguished as containing a
large city of the same name as the island. And since Porne must be
considered to be more important than the other islands, which they
had hitherto visited, and it was from it that the other islanders
had learnt the arts of civilized life, I have determined to describe
briefly the manners and customs of these nations. All these islanders
are Caphrae or Kafirs, _i.e.,_ heathens, they worship the sun and moon
as gods; they assign the government of the day to the sun, and that
of the night to the moon; the sun they consider to be male, and the
moon female, and that they are the parents of the other stars, all
of which they consider to be gods, though little ones. They salute,
rather than adore, the rising sun, with certain hymns. Also they
salute the bright moon at night, from whom they ask for children,
for the increase of their flocks and herds, for an abundant supply of
the fruits of the earth, and for other things of that sort. But they
practice piety and justice: and especially love peace and quiet, and
have great aversion to war. As long as their king maintains peace, they
show him divine honours: but if he is anxious for war, they never rest
till he is slain by the enemy in battle. When the king has determined
on war, which very seldom happens, his men set him in the front rank,
where he has to stand the whole brunt of the combat; and they do not
exert themselves vigorously against the enemy, till they know that
the king has fallen: then they begin to fight for liberty and for
their new king: nor has any king of theirs entered on a war without
being slain in battle. For this reason they seldom engage in war, and
they think it unjust to extend their frontiers. Their chief care is to
avoid giving offence to the neighboring nations or to strangers. But if
at any time they are attacked, they retaliate; and yet, lest further
ill should arise, they at once endeavor to come to terms. They think
that party acts most creditably, which is the first to propose terms
of peace; that it is disgraceful to be anticipated in so doing; and
that it is scandalous and detestable to refuse peace to those who ask
for it, even though the latter should have been the aggressors: all
the neighboring people unite in destroying such refusers of peace as
impious and abominable. Hence they mostly pass their lives in peace
and leisure. Robberies and murders are quite unknown among them. No
one may speak to the king but his wives and children, except at a
distance by hollow canes, which they apply to his ear, and through
which they whisper what they have to say. They think that at death
men have no perception as they had none before they were born. Their
houses are small, built of wood and earth, covered partly with rubble
and partly with palm-leaves. It is ascertained that there are twenty
thousand houses in the city of Porne. They marry as many wives as
they can afford to keep; they eat birds and fish; make bread of rice;
and drink a liquor drawn from the palm tree--of which we have spoken
before. Some carry on trade with the neighbouring islands, to which
they sail in junks, some are employed in hunting and shooting, some in
fishing, some in agriculture: their clothes are made of cotton. Their
animals are nearly the same as ours, excepting sheep, oxen, and asses:
their horses are very slight and small. They have a great supply of
camphor, ginger, and cinnamon. On leaving this island our men, having
paid their respects to the king, and propitiated him by presents,
sailed to the Moluccas, their way to which had been pointed out to
them by the king. Then they came to the coast of the island of Solo,
[234] where they heard that pearls were to be found as large as doves'
eggs, or even hens' eggs, but that they were only to be had in very
deep water. Our men did not bring home any single large pearl, as they
were not there at the season of the year for pearl-fishing. They said
however that they found an oyster there the flesh of which weighed
forty-seven pounds. Hence I should be disposed to believe that pearls
of the size mentioned would be found there; for it is certain that
large pearls are found in oysters. And, not to forget it, I will add
that our men reported that the islanders of Porne asserted that the
king wore two pearls in his crown as large as goose eggs. After this
they came to the island of Gilona, where they saw some men with such
long ears, that they reached down to their shoulders; and when they
expressed their astonishment, the natives told them, that in an island
not far off, there were men, who had such long and wide ears, that one
ear could, when they liked, cover the whole of their heads. But as our
men were not in search of monsters but of spices, they did not trouble
themselves about such rubbish, but sailed direct for the Moluccas,
where they arrived in the eighth month after their admiral Magellan had
been slain in the island of Mauthan. The islands are five in number,
and are called, Tarante, Muthil, Thedori, Mare, and Matthien, [235]
situated partly to the north, partly to the south, and partly on the
equator; the productions are cloves, nutmegs, and cinnamon: they are
all close together, but of small extent. A few years ago the kings [of]
Marmin began to believe that the soul is immortal. They were induced
to believe this solely from the following reason, that they observed
that a certain very beautiful small bird never settled on the earth,
or on anything that was on the earth; but that these birds sometimes
fell dead from the sky to the earth. And when the Mohammedans, who
visited them for trading purposes, declared that these birds came from
Paradise, the place of abode of departed souls, these princes adopted
the Mohammedan faith, which makes wonderful promises respecting this
same paradise. They call this bird Mamuco Diata; and they venerate it
so highly, that the kings think themselves safe in battle under their
protection, even when, according to their custom, they are placed in
the front line of the army in battle. The common people are Kafirs,
and have much the same manners and customs as the islanders of Porne,
already spoken of; they are much in need of supplies from abroad,
inasmuch as their country only produces spices, which they willingly
exchange for the poisonous articles arsenic and sublimated mercury,
and for the linen which they generally wear; but what use they make of
these poisons has not yet been ascertained. They live on sago-bread,
fish, and sometimes parrots; they live in very low-built cabins: in
short, all they esteem and value is peace, leisure, and spices. The
former, the greatest of blessings, the wickedness of mankind seems to
have banished from our part of the world to theirs: but our avarice
and insatiable desire of the luxuries of the table has urged us to
seek for spices even in those distant lands. To such a degree has
the perversity of human nature persisted in driving away as far as
possible that which is conducive to happiness, and in seeking for
articles of luxury in the remotest parts of the world. Our men having
carefully examined the position of the Moluccas, and of each separate
island, and also into the characters of the chiefs, sailed to Thedori,
because they understood that this island produced a greater abundance
of cloves than the others, and also that the king excelled the other
kings in prudence and humanity. Providing themselves with presents
they went on shore, and paid their respect to the king, and handed
him the presents as the gift of the emperor. He accepted the presents
graciously, and looking up to heaven said, "It is now two years since
I learnt from observation of the stars that you were sent by the great
King of kings to seek for these lands. Wherefore your arrival is the
more agreeable to me, inasmuch as it has already been foreseen from the
signification of the stars. And since I know that nothing happens to
man, which has not long since been ordained by the decree of Fate and
of the stars, I will not be the man to resist the determinations of
Fate and the stars, but will spontaneously abdicate my royal power,
and consider myself for the future, as carrying on the government
of this island as your king's viceroy. So bring your ships into the
harbour, and order the rest of your companions to land in safety, so
that now after so much tossing about on the sea, and so many dangers,
you may securely enjoy the comforts of life on shore, and recruit your
strength; and consider yourselves to be coming into your own king's
dominions." Having thus spoken, the king laid aside his diadem, and
embraced each of our men, and directed such refreshments as the country
produced to be set on table. Our men, delighted at this, returned
to their companions, and told them what had taken place. They were
much delighted by the graciousness and benevolence of the king, and
took up their quarters in the island. When they had been entertained
for some days by the king's munificence, they sent envoys thence
to the other kings, to investigate the resources of the islands,
and to secure the good will of the chiefs. Tarante was the nearest;
it is a very small island, its circumference being a little over six
Italian miles. The next is Matthien, and that also is small. These
three produce a great quantity of cloves, but every fourth year
the crop is far larger than at other times. These trees only grow
on precipitous rocks, and they grow so close together as to form
groves. The tree resembles the laurel as regards its leaves, its
closeness of growth, and its height; the clove, so called from its
resemblance to a nail [Latin, _clavus_] grows at the very tip of
each twig; first a bud appears, and then a blossom much like that of
the orange; the point of the clove first shows itself at the end of
the twig, until it attains its full growth; at first it is reddish,
but the heat of the sun soon turns it black. The natives share groves
of this tree among themselves, just as we do vineyards: they keep the
cloves in pits, till the merchants fetch them away. The fourth island,
Muthil, is no larger than the rest. This island produces cinnamon; the
tree is full of shoots, and in other respects fruitless, it thrives
best in a dry soil, and is very much like the pomegranate tree. When
the bark cracks through the heat of the sun, it is pulled off the
tree, and being dried in the sun a short time becomes cinnamon. Near
Muthil is another island, called Bada [Badjan or Batchian], more
extensive than the Moluccas; in it the nutmeg grows. The tree is
tall and wide-spreading, a good deal like a walnut tree; the fruit
too is produced just in the same way as a walnut, being protected
by a double covering, first a soft envelope, and under this a
thin reticulated membrane which encloses the nut. This membrane we
call Muskatblüthe, the Spaniards call it mace, it is an excellent
and wholesome spice. Within this is a hard shell, like that of a
filbert, inside which is the nutmeg properly so called. Ginger also
is produced in all the islands of this archipelago: some is sown,
some grows spontaneously; but the sown ginger is the best. The plant
is like the saffron-plant, and its root, which resembles the root of
saffron, is what we call ginger. Our men were kindly received by the
various chiefs, who all, after the example of the King of Thedori,
spontaneously submitted themselves to the imperial government. But
the Spaniards, having now only two ships, determined to bring with
them specimens of all sorts of spices, etc., but to load the ships
mainly with cloves, because there had been a very abundant crop of it
this season, and the ships could contain a great quantity of this kind
of spice. Having laden their ships with cloves, and received letters
and presents from the chiefs to the emperor, they prepared to sail
away. The letters were filled with assurances of fidelity and respect:
the gifts were Indian swords, etc. The most remarkable curiosities
were some of the birds, called Mamuco Diata, that is the Bird of God,
with which they think themselves safe and invincible in battle. Five of
these were sent, one of which I procured from the captain of the ship,
and now send it to your lordship--not that you will think it a defence
against treachery and violence, but because you will be pleased with
its rarity and beauty. I also send some cinnamon, nutmegs, and cloves,
that you may see that our spices are not only not inferior to those
imported by the Venetians and Portuguese, but of superior quality,
because they are fresher. Soon after our men had sailed from Thedori,
the larger of the two ships [the Trinidad] sprang a leak, which let
in so much water, that they were obliged to return to Thedori. The
Spaniards seeing that this defect could not be put right except with
much labor and loss of time, agreed that the other ship [the Victoria]
should sail to the Cape of Cattigara, thence across the ocean as far
as possible from the Indian coast, lest they should be seen by the
Portuguese, until they came in sight of the southern point of Africa,
beyond the tropic of Capricorn, which the Portuguese call the Cape of
Good Hope, for thence the voyage to Spain would be easy. It was also
arranged that, when the repairs of the other ship were completed,
it should sail back through the archipelago and the Vast [Pacific]
Ocean to the coast of the continent which we have already mentioned
[South America], until they came to the Isthmus of Darien, where
only a narrow neck of land divides the South Sea from the Western
Sea, in which are the islands belonging to Spain. The smaller ship
accordingly set sail again from Thedori, and though they went as far
as twelve degrees south, they did not find Cattigara, [236] which
Ptolemy considered to lie considerably south of the equator; however
after a long voyage, they arrived in sight of the Cape of Good Hope,
and thence sailed to the Cape Verde Islands. Here this ship also,
after having been so long at sea, began to be leaky, and the men,
who had lost several of their companions through hardships in the
course of their adventures, were unable to keep the water pumped
out. They therefore landed at one of the islands called Santiago, to
buy slaves. As our men, sailor-like, had no money, they offered cloves
in exchange for slaves. When the Portuguese officials heard of this,
they committed thirteen of our men to prison. The rest, eighteen
in number, being alarmed at the position in which they found
themselves, left their companions behind, and sailed direct to
Spain. Sixteen months after they had sailed from Thedori, on the sixth
of September 1522 they arrived safe and sound at a port [San Lucar]
near Seville. These sailors are certainly more worthy of perpetual
fame, than the Argonauts who sailed with Jason to Colchis; and the
ship itself deserves to be placed among the constellations more than
the ship Argo. For the Argo only sailed from Greece through the Black
Sea; but our ship setting put from Seville sailed first southwards,
then through the whole of the West, into the Eastern Seas, then back
again into the Western.