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CHAPTER XXVI

NOTABLE VOYAGES INTO THE PACIFIC

THE world's great voyages have been for the most part into the Pacific. Jason in search of the Golden Fleece, and Columbus in search of the other side of India, made famous voyages but not great ones. Vasco da Gama and his successors, following the lead of Prince Henry of Portugal, and before any of them the Northmen in their navigations to New England, made most important voyages and discoveries, coasting Iceland and Greenland, coasting Africa and rounding the cape of Good Hope into the Indian ocean; and there have been some serious doings by ships and sailors at the Arctic and Antarctic ends of the earth; but neither the adventures of the Argonauts, nor the sailings of the Scandinavian SeaKings, nor the efforts in the Atlantic to find India, nor the searches in the ice for the north pole can compare in thrilling interest and romance with the voyages for discovery and piracy, for circumnavigation and possession, of the world's most famous navigators into and upon the broad Pacific.

The first of these, not counting the feeble attempts of Vasco Nuñez at the Pearl islands, or of Pedrarias Dávila at Panamá, or of Gil Gonzalez at Nicaragua, was that begun in 1519 by Fernando de Magalhaens, called Magellan by English writers, and completed in 1522 by Sebastian del Cano. Magellan was a Portuguese sailing for Spain; it was the first voyage of circumnavigation, and as one of the world's great adventures it has never been surpassed.

The expedition sailed westward round Cape Horn to the Philippine islands, where Magellan lost his life, and returned via the cape of Good Hope, all that was left of it. The story is thrilling, and not without its lessons, made up as it is of glorious successes and sad failures. I will give it as briefly as possible.

Born of noble parentage, about 1480, Magellan while yet a boy lost his father and took service with his native sovereign the king of Portugal. It was at a time when all the world was astir with new thought and adventure. The noble work of Prince Henry of Portugal was bearing its fruits, and the Portuguese were at that time first among maritime nations. Imagine the effect upon a young and ardent nature of the voyages of Vasco da Gama, the discoveries of Columbus, the writings of Amerigo Vespucci, and the adventures of Vasco Nuñez de Balboa! Little wonder then that when in 1504 Francisco d'Almeida fitted out a fleet for the East Indies, where the Portuguese then held sway, Magellan went with him.

Seven years the young man spent in India, while his physical and moral sinews were knitting into strength to meet the emergencies of the future. During this time an expedition was sent from India to the Moluccas for a cargo of spices, in which Magellan joined, touching at Sumatra, and coming to anchor in the port of Malacca, which was crowded with shipping; for this was the eastern gate of the Pacific, and a great mart for the merchandise of that region, where were found gathered Arabs, Persians, Javanese, Chinese, and natives of the Philippine islands. A plot was laid by the king of this country to capture and kill the Portuguese, and so, frustrate their further attempts at trade in this direction; but the deed was prevented, partly by the watchfulness of Magellan, who distinguished himself in various ways during the voyage. This visit to the eastern border of the Pacific led in time to the grandest results; for when the report of Balboa's discovery of an ocean on the other side of America reached Europe, Magellan bethought him if peradventure those great waters did not reach even to the Moluccas, where he had been gathering spices, and he resolved then that some day he would adventure a voyage westward and prove if his imaginings were true.

It was at the busy city of Seville, the headquarters in Spain of New World adventure and discovery, that preparations for the voyage were made. Other disaffected Portuguese, like Magellan, had come thither to take service with the king of Spain, then the grand monarch of the world. His friend Faleiro was there, and Juan de Serrano, Sebastian del Cano,

Juan de Cartagena, and others, and with the assistance of Cristobal de Haro, of the great Antwerp firm of India traders, the Rothschilds of that epoch, five ships were obtained and equipped under the usual regulations. It was stipulated by Charles V that discoveries made for Spain should not encroach on Portuguese rights, as determined by Pope Alexander's bull dividing the undiscovered world between the two powers. The fleet comprised the San Antonio, 120 tons, Juan de Cartagena, commander; the Trinidad, 110 tons, in command of Magellan, captain-general and admiral; Concepcion, 90 tons, Captain Gaspard Quesada; Vitoria, 85 tons, Luis de Mendoza captain; and the Santiago, 75 tons, Juan de Serrano, commander. The officers and crews were a mixture of Spanish and Portuguese, suspicious, jealous, and constitutionally treacherous. With them went Antonia Pigafetta, an Italian, who wrote an account of the expedition.

Magellan was in the prime of manhood, educated in all the geographical science of the day, a skilful navigator, and thoroughly seasoned by experience. He was ambitious, of iron will, and fearless of danger. Next to Prince Henry the Navigator, and Vasco da Gama, the discoverer of a new route to India, he was the most illustrious Portuguese of the Renaissance. Though by no means faultless, his nature was chivalrous; like Prince Henry, he preferred active usefulness to ignoble ease.

The vessels were all well armed, and carried a quantity of trading goods,-knives, fish-hooks, woollen cloth, velvet, ivory, quicksilver, combs, mirrors, brass bracelets, and 20,000 bells. Setting sail on the 20th of September, the fleet touched at Teneriffe, then crossed to America and coasted Brazil to Santa Lucia, where it remained a fortnight to take in fresh provisions, and for purposes of trade. As the navigators continued their way southward, they entered and examined every estuary, seeking a passage through the land to the sea of Vasco Nuñez, and to the Moluccas. And thus they sailed along, suffering now from short rations and now from disaffection, until they came to Port San Julian near the long sought strait. Here in all its rank deformity broke forth mutiny, which indeed had long been brewing. It is worthy of remark, as characteristic of the age and race, that scarcely a voyage of any considerable importance was made without

treachery and mutiny. It seemed to be almost universal with the Latin nations, from monarch to sailor. Call to mind the experiences of Columbus, of Cortés, Pizarro, and Vasco Nuñez, and a host of others. Nor was the voyage of Magellan an exception. Treachery had been present from the beginning. It came out afterward that there was a prearranged conspiracy on the part of certain officers not to obey the captain-general.

But that human nature may not be allowed to sink too low in our estimation, we may truthfully say that in every episode displaying the baseness of some, the nobleness of others shines forth with added lustre. Magellan himself knew not the extent of his own courage and genius before the test of his resources in time of danger which was here made.

Storms were frequent, the cold became severe, and more restricted rations became necessary, so that matters grew worse and worse. The demand was openly made that the expedition should turn back. "There is no strait," they said. "We are entering a region of eternal cold; or even if we find a passage through, what will it advantage us without food?"

Slights and insults were placed upon the captain-general, small at first, so small as rather to be felt than seen, gradually becoming so pronounced that Magellan could no longer ignore them. Among those who from the first had manifested evil designs was Juan de Cartagena; and when one day some time previous he had been summoned to the flag-ship with the other captains to attend the court-martial of an insubordinate sailor presuming on the long-continued patience of his superior officers, he broke forth in open abuse of the captain-general as to the course he was pursuing. But the captain of the San Antonio little suspected the presence of the lion he was rousing. "Traitor and villain," cried Magellan as he sprang upon him and seized him single-handed by the throat, "You are my prisoner." In vain Cartagena appealed to those present; he was ironed, and passed to the custody of Mendosa of the Vitoria for safe keeping.

The time was not then ripe for general insurrection; but now at Port San Julian, cold and hunger impelling them, half the fleet or more were determined to abandon the enterprise and return home. It was an unhappy moment for Ma

gellan; almost all his officers against him, and the men would only too gladly follow them. What cared they? Upon the captain-general would fall the loss and ignominy of failure. And the commander was alone. He soon became aware that he could trust no one, and that his life was in danger. If he would not turn back they would kill him; so they said; and he would not turn back.

Easter-day was approaching, and it was ordered that all should then go ashore and attend mass, after which service the captains would dine at the admiral's table. Since the degradation of Cartagena, Alvaro de Mesquita, a cousin of Magellan, had been appointed to the command of the San Antonio. Quesada and Mendoza both declined to attend mass, and Mesquita was the only captain present at his kinsman's feast.

Magellan slept that night on board the Trinidad, retiring to rest in an uneasy frame of mind. There was likewise little rest on board the ships of the conspirators. Yet all was still until the middle watch, when Cartagena, who had been released by Mendoza of the Vitoria, with Quesada, Sebastian del Cano, and thirty armed men, silently boarded the San Antonio, and bursting into the captain's cabin seized Mesquita and put him in irons. Roused by the noise, Juan de Lorriaga, the maestre, a faithful Basque and no mutineer, attempted to stir up the seamen to resistance, but was fatally stabbed by Quesada's dagger. Such others as offered opposition were ironed, and command of the ship given to del Cano, who mounted the artillery and cleared the deck for action.

All unconscious of what had been done during the night, Magellan awoke next morning. Requiring water, he sent a boat to the San Antonio for men; but the crew was told to keep away, for Quesada, not Magellan, gave orders there. Well knowing what that meant, and determined to ascertain the worst at once, Magellan ordered the boat to go the rounds and demand of every captain for whom he declared. "For the king and myself," Quesada said. And so said they all, except the captain of the Santiago.

Here, then, was a situation which might cause the stoutest heart to quail. Three large ships, their captains and crews, arrayed against the admiral; only one, the smallest, besides his own remaining faithful. They were Spaniards all, these

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