FERDINAND MAGELLAN
The
first circumnavigation of the globe was led by Ferdinand Magellan (Fernão
Magalhaes). He was born in the spring of 1480 to a family of lower nobility.
Educated in the Portuguese court, Magellan proved himself in many battles
in the name of his country. Like Columbus before him, Magellan believed he
could get to the Spice Islands by sailing west. He knew he would have to sail
around or through the New World to do so. Like so many explorers before him,
he thought the earth was much smaller than it actually is. Snubbed by the
Portuguese king, Magellan easily convinced the teenaged Spanish king, Charles
I (also known as the Holy Roman emperor Charles V) that at least some of the
Spice Islands lay in the Spanish half of the undiscovered world.
King Charles approved Magellan's plan and granted him generous funds on March
22, 1518. With money from the king, the explorer was able to obtain five ships
(possibly naos) called the Trinidad, the San Antonio, the Concepcion, the
Victoria, and the Santiago. In September [1519], he set sail with 270 men.
A good deal of what we know of the voyage of Magellan came from an Italian
crew member, Antonio Pigafetta. Pigafetta kept a diary of the voyage and remained
a staunch supporter of the Portuguese explorer. Like Columbus, Magellan was
a foreigner in charge of Spanish captains, and like Columbus, his voyage was
fraught with problems. Spanish captains Juan de Cartegena of the San Antonio,
Gaspar de Quesada of the Concepcion, and Luis de Mendoza of the Victoria were
plotting to kill Magellan.
After a
brief stop at the Canary Islands, Magellan's fleet set sail for Brazil on
a southwest course. Cartegena, the ringleader of a mutiny attempt, was relieved
of his command of the San Antonio and held prisoner aboard the Victoria. After
crossing the equator on November 20, 1519, the crew sighted Brazil on December
6. Magellan thought it unwise to go near the Portuguese territory since he
was sailing under the Spanish flag. His fleet eventually anchored off the
coast of present-day Rio de Janiero, out of the way of the Portuguese, on
December 13th. After stocking up on fresh food and water, the fleet made its
way down the east coast of South America looking for a passage to the Pacific
Ocean. The farther south they sailed, the colder the weather. The weather
was so bad, the fleet decided to spend the winter in Patagonia. The area where
they settled on March 31, 1520, was called San Julian.
When Magellan
reached Patagonia (present-day Argentina), another mutiny was attempted. Cartegena,
released by captain Mendoza, attempted once again to take over the fleet and
have Magellan killed. The Portuguese explorer was able to put down the rebellion
by marooning Cartegena in the barren Patagonia, imprisoning some, and having
Quesada and other rebels executed.
During
the cold summer months, Magellan sent the Santiago on a reconnaissance mission
down the coast to look for a passage to the other side of the continent. Unfortunately
in May, the Santiago wrecked in rough seas. In the latter half of August,
Magellan decided it was time to move the remaining four ships south to look
for a passage. Finally in October, the fleet sighted a strait and started
through it. Magellan named it the strait of All Saints, but it later was named
after him. The strait was a tricky passage that took the fleet 38 days to
pass through. While sailing at night, the crew saw countless fires from distant
Indian camps. They called the land Tierra del Fuego (land of fire). During
the passage, the captain of the San Antonio sailed his ship back toward Spain,
taking with him most of the fleet's provisions. The loss of the San Antonio
was a severe blow to the men on the remaining ships. They had to double their
efforts to hunt game and fish to keep from starving.
During the last
week of November the three ships emerged from the strait to the open sea of
the Pacific. Magellan mistakenly thought the Spice Islands were a short voyage
away. He had no idea of the immense size of the ocean and thought he could
cross it in two to three days. The voyage took approximately four months.
Conditions
aboard the ships were abominable. The crew began to starve as food stores
were depleted. The water turned putrid and yellow in color. The crew survived
on sawdust, leather strips from the sails, and rats. Without the benefit of
vitamin C in fresh fruits and vegetables, the men also came down with scurvy.
Finally in January,
1521, the crew stopped off at an island to feast on fish, crabs, and seabird
eggs, but without fresh fruit and vegetables, scurvy still plagued the crew.
In March, the crew stopped in Guam and were able to supply the ships with
food including fresh fruit, vegetables, and water. They sailed on to the Philippines,
arriving on March 28. After befriending an island king, Magellan foolishly
got involved in the natives' tribal warfare and was killed in battle on [April
27, 1521].
Sebastian del
Cano took over the remaining three ships and 115 survivors. Because there
were not enough men to crew three ships, del Cano had the Concepcion burned.
The two remaining ships sailed from the Philippines on May 1 and made it to
the Moluccas (Spice Islands) in November. Both ships loaded with valuable
spices.
In an attempt
to guarantee that at least one ship would make it back to Spain, the Trinidad
went east across the Pacific, while the Victoria continued west. The Trinidad
did not make it back. The ship was seized by the Portuguese and most of her
crew were killed. The Victoria managed to elude the Portuguese as it crossed
enemy trade routes in the Indian Ocean and rounded the Cape of Good Hope.
On [September 6, 1522], almost three years from the day it began its historic
journey, the Victoria and 18 crew members, (Pigafetta among them) arrived
in Spain. It was the first vessel to circumnavigate the globe
source:
http://www.mariner.org