The name of Magellan, or Magalhaens, is more familiar to the general reader than some of those which have preceded it in this chapter. He was a Portuguese of noble birth, and had served honourably in India. When he made the offer of his services to his own sovereign, there is no doubt that the undertaking he proposed—viz., to determine the question whether the shores of South America were washed by an open sea—had been mooted before. To him however, belongs the credit of having brought that question to an issue. His own king would have nought to do with his project, and dismissed him with a frown. Magellan, accompanied by Ruy Falero, an astrologer (the astrologers were in part the astronomers of those days), who was associated with him in the enterprise, next made his proposals to the Spanish Emperor, Charles V., by whom he was received with attention and respect. Articles of agreement were drawn up, to this effect: the navigator agreed to reach the Moluccas by sailing to the west; [pg 316]they were to enjoy for ten years the exclusive right to the track (!), and to receive the twentieth part of all profits accruing from their discoveries, with some special privileges in regard to the merchandise of the first voyage. Moreover, the Emperor agreed to furnish five vessels, and victual them for two years—an unusual act of liberality in those days, when the monarchs usually contented themselves with conferring patents, privileges, and titles merely, which cost them nothing, and yet were often the means of subsequently enriching them. The sailing of the expedition was retarded by the machinations of the Portuguese king, who now professed a willingness to employ Magellan, and, failing in this, is said to have spread reports that “the King of Spain would lose his expenses, for Fernando Magellan was a chattering fellow, and little reliance could be placed in him, and that he would never execute that which he promised.” But at last, on the 20th September, 1519, the squadron got under weigh.
In the month of December following Magellan anchored in a port on the coast of Brazil, which he named Santa Lucia. The natives appeared a confiding and credulous race, and readily bartered provisions for the merest trifles; “half a dozen fowls were exchanged for a king of spades” (card). Putting again to sea, Magellan sailed southward, touching at various points till he came to anchor in a harbour which he named San Julian, and where he made a stay of five months. Here discontent, and at length open mutiny, broke out, the ringleaders being certain Spanish officers who felt mortified at serving under a Portuguese commander. Magellan was not a man to stand any nonsense, and was utterly unscrupulous. He despatched a person with a letter to one of the captains, with orders to stab him whilst he was engaged in reading it. This commission being rigorously executed, and followed up by other stringent measures, his authority was re-established through the mutineers’ knowledge and fear of his determined character.
In October of the next year, after various minor discoveries, he arrived at the entrance of the great strait which now bears his name. After careful examination of the opening, a council was held, at which the pilot, Estevan Gomez, voted for returning to refit, while the more enterprising wished to complete their discovery. Magellan listened patiently and silently, and then firmly declared that were he reduced to eat the hides on the yards—which were, in fact, the sails—he would keep his faith with the Emperor. It was forbidden to speak of home or scarcity of provisions on pain of death!
Two vessels were sent to reconnoitre in advance, and these were driven violently by a gale into the straits, where the two coasts more than once seemed to join, and the mariners thought all was lost, when a narrow channel would disclose itself, into which they would gladly enter. They returned, and made their report to Magellan, who ordered the whole squadron to advance. On reaching the open expanse of water into which the second gut opens, an inlet to the south-east was observed, and Estevan Gomez was sent in charge of one of two vessels to explore it. He took the opportunity to incite a mutiny, threw the captain into chains, and steered back for Spain. When the western or Pacific end of the straits was reached,[53] and they saw a grand open ocean beyond, they named the headland at the entrance, Il Capo Descado—[pg 317]the “Longed-for Cape”—and spent some days in erecting standards in conspicuous places, and in rejoicing over their discovery. On the 28th November, 1520, the small squadron reached the open sea, and took a northerly course towards the equator, in order to reach a milder climate, the sailors having suffered much in and about the straits.
FERDINAND DE MAGELLAN.
Magellan, besides minor discoveries, is fairly credited with that of the Philippine Islands, where he was treated in a most friendly manner. At Zebu he acted after the manner of his time; for, finding the people submissive and respectful, he exacted a tribute, which seems to have been willingly paid. One king, or chief, alone refused, which so incensed Magellan that he resolved to punish him. He accordingly landed with forty-nine of his followers, clothed in mail, and began an attack on 1,500 Indians. The battle raged some hours, but at last numbers prevailed, and only some seven or eight Spaniards remained with Magellan, the rest being either already killed or utterly routed. He himself was wounded in the limbs by a poisoned arrow, and his sword-arm being disabled he could no longer defend himself, and so fell a martyr to overweening ambition and greed. The voyage home was completed, and those of his men who remained had achieved the proud distinction of having been the first circumnavigators of the globe.
Before leaving the subject of remarkable voyages, a few supplementary remarks are necessary. The great epoch just mentioned was followed by great commercial activity, owing to the important discoveries of new lands made, and, of course, the map of the world was by degrees filled in with details which earlier explorers had overlooked. In some previous chapters, notably those referring to the history of shipping and shipping interests, many of the more important voyages following those just described have been sufficiently noticed. In effect, the many subjects treated in connection with The Sea naturally intertwine, and the same voyages are in the course of this work occasionally mentioned more than once, though in different ways, and for different reasons.
No explorer’s name, after those recently considered, shines with more effulgency than [pg 318]that of the celebrated Captain Cook, already mentioned in two separate connections. Born in 1728, the son of an agricultural labourer and farm bailiff, he early showed an irresistible inclination for the sea, and could not be chained down to the haberdasher’s counter, for which his father had destined him. He commenced his seafaring life as an apprentice on a collier, but soon rose to be mate. He next entered the royal navy, where, from able seaman, his promotion was rapid. Some charts and observations drawn up by him while marine surveyor of the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador brought him much notice from scientific quarters, and the Royal Society offered him the command of an expedition to the Pacific, to make an observation of the transit of Venus. This was the first of his three great voyages, during which he re-discovered New Zealand,[54] practically took possession of Australia, proved that New Guinea was a separate island, made discoveries in the Antarctic, discovered the Sandwich Islands, and made the northern explorations also mentioned previously. He met his death on the island of Hawaii (Sandwich Islands), in the tragical manner known almost to every schoolboy.
It would appear that, previous to the fatal day, there had been some little trouble with the natives. One day, the officer who had commanded a watering-party returned to the ship, stating that some chief had driven away the natives employed in rolling the casks to the beach, work which had been gladly performed before for trifling payments. A marine, with side-arms only, was sent back with him, when it was noticed that the islanders were arming with stones, and two others with loaded muskets were sent off to the watering party’s assistance, which for the moment quieted the matter. Captain Cook gave orders that, if the natives should venture to attack his men, they should in the future fire on them with balls, instead of small shot, as hitherto. And not long after a volley proceeding from the Discovery, fired after a retreating canoe, announced that his orders were being carried into execution. Ignorant that some stolen goods were thereupon returned, Cook himself, with an officer and a marine, chased these natives on shore, but fruitlessly. Meantime, the officer who had recovered the stolen goods, thinking that he might retaliate, took possession of a canoe on the beach, which act the owner naturally resented, and a scuffle ensued, during which he was knocked down by a blow from an oar. The natives returned the attack with a shower of stones, and would have destroyed the pinnace but for the interference of the very man who had just been knocked on the head, who was, however, still friendly inclined towards the English.