Chapter X: Part 10

[172] MS. 5,650 reads: “now at the stern, now at the windward side, or otherwise.” Amoretti changes this passage completely, reading: “According to our measurement of the distance that we made with the chain astern, we ran from sixty to seventy leagues daily.” Many basing themselves on this passage of Amoretti, have believed that the log was in use at the time of the first circumnavigation. Dr. Breusing (Die Catena a poppa bei Pigafetta und die Logge, in “Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin,” 1869, iv, pp. 107–115) believes that the “stern chain (catena poppa) is not the log properly so-called, but an instrument for determining the angle of the ship’s leeway, an opinion accepted also by Gelcich in his La scoperta d’America e Cristoforo Colombo nella letteratura moderna (Gorizia, 1890). L’Vzielle (Studi bibliogr. e biogr. sulla storia della geogr. in Italia, Roma, 1875, part ii, introduction, pp. 294–296), combats that opinion, as well as the idea that the log is meant. The difficulty of the passage, he says, hinges on the word ho and whether it is interpreted as a verb or a conjunction. If it be a conjunction then the passage, means “estimating by sight, the rate of the ship from the ‘bow catena,’ or at the stern” (‘catena’ being a beam perpendicular to the ship’s axis at the point near the bow where it begins to curve inward; that is, at such a point that from that place to the stern, the direction of the apparent way is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the ship) his ship made fifty, sixty, or seventy leagues.” One might suppose, if ho be regarded as a verb, that Pigafetta called catena a cross beam of the stern (the passage reading “the catena that was at the stern”); or that the disjunctive ho, “or” is used in place of e, “and,” and that Pigafetta, dividing the distance between the stern and the bow catena by the time necessary for a fixed point of the sea to pass from the elevation of the bow to that of the stern, thus deduced the ship’s rate. See Mosto, p. 66, note 1. L’Vzielli’s opinion is the most probable, for although the log is mentioned by Purchas as early as 1607, its use did not become general until 1620. An instrument used to measure the rates of vessels is mentioned as early as 1577, but it was very deficient.

[173] The “Roteiro” (Stanley, p. 6) says that this cape, which he calls “cape of the virgins” was discovered on October 21, 1520, and lay in latitude about 52° south. Barros says that it was discovered on October 20; and Transylvanus and Oviedo, on November 27. See Mosto, p. 61, note 1.

[174] Regarding the reckonings Eden says: “In ſo much that it was neceſſarie to helpe the needle with the lode ſtone (commonly cauled the adamant) before they could ſaile therwith, bycauſe it moued not as it doothe when it is in theſe owre partes.” Eden also gives a cut of the “ſtarres abowt the pole Antartike.” The same author also (pp. 277–280) compiles from Amerigo Vespucci and Andreas de Corsali a treatise entitled “Of the Pole Antartike and the stars abowt the same and of the qualitie of the regions and disposition of the Elementes abowt the Equinoctiall line. Alſo certeyne ſecreates touching the arte of ſaylynge.” The former says: “The pole Antartike hath nother the great beare nor the lyttle as is ſeene abowte owre pole. But hath foure ſtarres whiche compaſſe it abowt in forme of a quadrangle. When these are hydden, there is ſeene on the lefte ſyde a bryght Canopus of three ſtarres of notable greatneſſe, whiche beinge in the myddeſt of heauen, repreſenteth this figure.” The latter says: “Here we ſawe a marueylous order of ſtarres, ſo that in the parte of heauen contrary to owre northe pole, to knowe in what place and degree the ſouth pole was, we tooke the day with the ſoonne, and obſerued the nyght with the aſtrolabie, and ſaw manifeſtly twoo clowdes of reaſonable bygneſſe mouynge abowt the place of the pole continually nowe ryſynge and nowe faulynge, ſo keepynge theyr continuall courſe in circular mouynge, with a ſtarre euer in the myddeſt which is turned abowt with them abowte. xi. degrees frome the pole. Aboue theſe appeareth a marueylous croſſe in the myddeſt of fyue notable ſtarres which compaſſe it abowt.... This croſſe is so fayre and bewtiful, that none other heuenly gne may be compared to it....” These are the Magallanic clouds (Nuebecula major and Nubecula minor) and the constellation of the Southern Cross or Crux. The Magellanic clouds resemble portions of the milky way, Nubecula major being visible to the naked eye in strong moonlight and covering about two hundred times the moon’s surface, while the Nubecula minor, although visible to the naked eye, disappears in full moonlight, and covers an area only one-fourth that of the former. They were first observed by the Arabians. The Portuguese pilots probably called them at first “clouds of the cape.” (Mosto, p. 66, note 2). The Southern Cross, which resembles a lute rather than a cross, was first erected into a constellation by Royer in 1679, although often spoken of before as a cross. Only one of its five principal stars belongs to the first magnitude. The cross is only 6° in extent north and south and less than that east and west.

The second chart of the plate at p. 92 represents the Ladrones Islands and occurs in the Italian MS. at this point (folio 16b). This chart is found on folio 25b in MS. 5,650, and is preceded by the inscription: “The island of the robbers and the style of their boats.”

[175] MS. 5,650 reads: “During that time of two months and twelve days.”

[176] Amoretti reads: “three degrees east of Capo Verde.” If the cape is meant, the correction is proper, but if the islands, the MS. is correct. See Mosto, p. 67, note 4.

[177] Cipangu is Japan, while Sumbdit Pradit may be the island of Antilia, called “Septe citade” on Martin Behaim’s globe (Mosto, p. 67, note 5). The locations given by Pigafetta prove that they did not see them, but that he writes only from vague reports. Europe first learned of Japan, near the end of the thirteenth century, through Marco Polo, who had been told in China fabulous tales of the wealth of Zipangu. This word is derived by Marco Polo from the Chinese Dschi-pen-Kuë or Dschi-pon, which the Japanese have transformed into Nippon or Nihon. See Travels of Marco Polo, book iii, ch. ii; and Rein’s Japan, p. 4.

[178] See Vol. I, pp. 208, 209, 210, 312, 336.

[179] MS. 5,650 reads: “sixty.” Transylvanus (Vol. I, p. 322) names two islands of the Ladrones Inuagana and Acacan, but says that both were uninhabited. Guillemard (ut supra, p. 223) conjectures these names to be identical with Agana in Guam and Sosan in Rota. Hugues (Mosto, p. 67, note 7) believes the first island visited to have been Guam, and his conjecture is undoubtedly correct.

[180] MS. 5,650 adds: “called skiff.”

[181] MS. 5,650 adds: “of the said island.”

[182] MS. 5,650 has a new unnumbered chapter heading before the following paragraph.

[183] This phrase is omitted in MS. 5,650, as is also all the following sentence; but that MS. adds: “We left the said island immediately afterward, and continued our course.” This was on March 9, on which day the only Englishman in the fleet, “Master Andrew” of Bristol, died (Guillemard, ut supra, p. 226).

[184] Eden (p. 254) says: “two hundreth of theyr boates.”

[185] MS. 5,650 has a new chapter at this point, although the chapter is unnumbered.

When Loaisa’s expedition reached the Ladrones, they found still alive a Galician, one of three deserters from Espinosa’s ship (see Vol. II, pp. 30, 34, 35, 110). See the reception accorded Legazpi, and a description of one of those islands in 1565, Vol. II, pp. 109–113. The “Roteiro” (Stanley, p. 9) says that the expedition reached the Ladrones, March 6, 1521 (with which Albo, Navarrete, iv, p. 219 agrees); and that after the theft of the skiff, Magellan landed with fifty or sixty men, burned the whole village, killed seven or eight persons, both men and women; and that supplies were taken aboard. The anonymous Portuguese (Stanley, p. 31) says that the Ladrones (which lay in 10°–12° north latitude, were 2,046 miles by the course traveled from the equator. Brito (Navarrete, iv, p. 308) says: “Thence [i.e., the Unfortunate Islands] they laid their course westward, and after sailing 500 leguas came to certain islands where they found a considerable number of savages. So many of the latter boarded the vessels that when the men tried to restore order in them, they were unable to get rid of the savages except by lance-thrusts. They killed many savages, who laughed as if it were a cause for rejoicing.”

[186] MS. 5,650 adds: “or superior.”

[187] MS. 5,650 reads: “cloth.”

[188] At this point, MS. 5,650 begins a new sentence, thus: “There are found in that place.”

[189] MS. 5,650 reads: “Those women.”

[190] MS. 5,650 makes use of the Italian word store for stuoje or stoje meaning “mats,” and explains by adding: “which we call mats.”

[191] They also (according to Herrera) received the name Las Velas, “the sails” from the lateen-rigged vessels that the natives used (Mosto, p. 67, note 7). See also Vol. XVI, pp. 200–202.

[192] In MS. 5,650 this sentence reads as follows: “The pastime of the men and women of the said place and their sport, is to go in their boats to catch those flying fish with fishhooks made of fishbone.”

[193] Mosto (p. 68, note 5) says that these boats were the fisolere, which were small and very swift oared-vessels, used in winter on the Venetian lakes by the Venetian nobles for hunting with bows and arrows and guns. Amoretti conjectures that Pigafetta means the fusiniere, boats named after Fusine whence people are ferried to Venice.

[194] MS. 5,650 reads: “The said boats have no difference between stern and bow.” Albo (Navarrete, iv, p. 219), in speaking of the boats of the Chamorros, uses almost identically the same expression: “They went both ways, for they could make the stern, bow, and the bow, stern, whenever they wished.” The apparatus described by Pigafetta as belonging to these boats is the outrigger, common to many of the boats of the eastern islands.

[195] In the Italian MS., the chart of Aguada ly boni segnaly (“Watering-place of good signs”), Zzamal (Samar), Abarien, Humunu, Hyunagan, Zuluam, Cenalo, and Ybusson (q.v., p. 102) follows at this point. It is found on folio 29b of MS. 5,650 and is preceded by the following: “Here is shown the island of Good Signs, and the four islands, Cenalo, Humanghar, Ibusson, and Abarien, and several others.”

[196] “The tenth of March” in Eden, and the distance of Zamal from the Ladrones is given as “xxx. leagues.” Albo (Navarrete, iv, p. 220) says that the first land seen was called Yunagan, “which extended north and had many bays;” and that going south from there they anchored at a small island called Suluan. At the former “we saw some canoes, and went thither, but they fled. That island lies in 9° 40´ north latitude.” The “Roteiro” (Stanley, p. 10) says that the first land seen was in “barely eleven degrees,” and that the fleet “went to touch at another further on, which appeared first.” Two praus approached a boat sent ashore, whereupon the latter was ordered back, and the praus fled. Thereupon the fleet went to another nearby island “which lies in ten degrees, to which they gave the name of the ‘Island of Good Signs,’ because they found some gold in it.”

[197] This word is omitted in MS. 5,650.

[198] MS. 5,650 reads: “more than one foot long.”

[199] Since rice is an important staple among all the eastern islands, it is natural that there are different and distinctive names for that grain in the various languages and dialects for all stages of its growth and all its modes of preparation. Thus the Tagálog has words for “green rice,” “rice with small heads,” “dirty and partly rotten rice,” “early rice,” “late rice,” “cooked rice,” and many others. See also U. S. Philippine Gazetteer, pp. 70, 71.

[200] MS. 5,650 reads: “In order to explain what manner of fruit is that above named, one must know that what is called ‘cochi’ is the fruit borne by the palm-tree. Just as we have bread, wine, oil, and vinegar, which are obtained from different things, so those people get the above named substances from those palm-trees alone.” See Delgado’s Historia, pp. 634–659, for description of the useful cocoa palm; also, U. S. Philippine Gazetteer, pp. 72, 73, 75.

[201] MS. 5,650 reads: “along the tree.” Practically the method used today to gather the cocoanut wine. See U. S. Philippine Gazetteer, p. 75.

[202] In describing the cocoanut palm and fruit, Eden (p. 254) reads: “Vnder this rynde, there is a thicke ſhell whiche they burne and make pouder thereof and vſe it as a remedie for certeyne diſeaſes.” He says lower, that the cocoanut milk on congealing “lyeth within the ſhell lyke an egge.”

[203] MS. 5,650 reads: “By so doing they last a century.”

[204] Called “Suluan” by Albo (Navarrete, iv, p. 220). It is a small island southeast of Samar. See ante, note 196. Dr. David P. Barrows (Census of the Philippines, Washington, 1905, i, p. 413), says that the men from Suluan “were perhaps not typical of the rest of the population which Magellan found sparsely scattered about the coasts of the central islands, but ... were almost certainly of the same stock from which the present Visayan people are in the main descended.” These natives had probably come, he says, “in successively extending settlements, up the west coast of Mindanao from the Sulu archipelago. ‘Sulúan’ itself means ‘Where there are Suluges,’ that is, men of Sulu or Joló.”

[205] MS. adds: “seeing that they were thus well dispositioned.”

[206] MS. 5,650 adds: “into the sea.”

[207] Albo calls it (Navarrete, iv, p. 220) the island of Gada (i.e., Aguada, “watering-place”) “where we took on water and wood, that island being very free of shoals” (see ante, note 196). This island is now called Homonhón, Jomonjol, or Malhón. Its greatest dimensions are ten miles from northwest to southeast, and five miles from northeast to southwest. It is eleven miles southwest from the nearest point in Samar. It is called “Buenas Señas” on Murillo Velarde’s map.

[208] The “Roteiro” (Stanley p. 11) says that the archipelago was also called “Vall Sem Periguo,” or “Valley without Peril.” The name “Filipinas” was not applied to them until 1542 by Villalobos (see Vol. II, p. 48).

[209] Probably the jungle-fowl (Gallus bankiva) which is caught and tamed in large numbers by the natives of the Philippines and still used for crossing with the domestic fowl. See Guillemard (ut supra, p. 228, note 1).

[210] This sentence is omitted in MS. 5,650.

[211] MS. 5,650 reads: “In his ears he wore pendants of gold jewels, which they call ‘schione.’”

[212] MS. adds: “whom he had put ashore on that island that they might recruit their strength.”

[213] MS. 5,650 reads: “There is another island near the above island, inhabited by people.” Mosto says (p. 70, note 6) that picheti is from the Spanish piquete, “a small hole made with a sharp pointed instrument.” This custom of piercing the ears is quite general among savage, barbarous, and semi-barbarous peoples.

[214] Eden (p. 254) reads: “caphranita that is gentyles.” See Vol. III, p. 93, note 29.

[215] This word is omitted in MS. 5,650.

[216] Our transcript reads facine, and MS. 5,650 fascine, both of which translate “fascines.” Mosto reads focine, which is amended by Amoretti to foscine. This latter is probably the same word as fiocina, a “harpoon” or “eel-spear,” and hence here a “dart.”

[217] Stanley failed to decipher this word in MS. 5,650, which is the same as the word in the Italian MS. Mosto, citing Boerio (Dizion. veneziano), says of rizali: “Rizzagio or rizzagno, ‘sweepnet’ a fine thickly woven net, which when thrown into rivers by the fisherman, opens, and when near the bottom, closes, and covers and encloses the fish. Rizzagio is also called that contrivance or net, made in the manner of an inverted cone, with a barrel hoop attached to the circumference as a selvage. It has a hole underneath, through which if the eels in the ponds slyly enter the net, there is no danger of their escape.”

Fish are caught in the Philippines by various devices—in favorable situations by traps, weirs, corrals of bamboo set along the shore in shallow waters. Various kinds of nets and seines, the hook and line, and also the spear, are also used. See Census of the Philippine Islands (Washington, 1905), iv, p. 533.

[218] MS. 5,650 reads: “Hiunanghar.” Stanley has mistranscribed “Huinanghar.” It is difficult to identify the four islands of Cenalo, Hiunanghan, Ibusson, and Abarien with certainty. Mosto (p. 71, notes) suggests that they may be Dinagat, Cabugan, Gibuson, and Cabalarián. The first three are evidently correct, as those islands would naturally be sighted in the course followed. The last island is shown in Pigafetta’s chart to be north of Malhón, and the probability is that he names and locates it merely from hearsay, and that they did not see it. Its position seems to indicate Manicani rather than Cabalarián.

After this paragraph in the Italian MS. (folio 21a) follows the chart of the islands of Pozzon, Ticobon, Polon, Baibai and Ceilon (together forming the island of Leyte), Gatighan, Bohol, and Mazzana (sic) (q.v., p. 112). This chart in MS. 5,650 (on folio 36a) is preceded by: “Below is shown the cape of Gatighan and many other islands surrounding it.”

[219] Albo (Navarrete, iv, p. 220) says: “We departed thence [i.e., from Malhón] and went toward the west in order to strike a large island called Seilani [i.e., Leyte] which is inhabited and has gold in it. We coasted along it and took our course to the west southwest in order to strike a small island, which is inhabited and called Mazava. The people there are very friendly. We erected a cross on a mountain in that island. Three islands lying to the west southwest were pointed out to us from that island, which are said to possess gold in abundance. They showed us how it was obtained. They found pieces as large as chickpeas and beans. Masava lies in latitude 9 and two-thirds degrees north.” The “Roteiro” (Stanley, p. 11) says: “They ran on to another island twenty leagues from that from which they sailed [i.e., Malhón], and came to anchor at another island, which is named Macangor [i.e., Masaua], which is nine degrees; and in this island they were very well received, and they placed a cross in it.” See also Vol. I, pp. 322, 323.

[220] MS. 5,650 reads: “But they moved off immediately and would not enter the ship through distrust of us.” The slave who acted as interpreter is the Henrique de Malaca of Navarrete’s list.

[221] Bara: the Spanish word barra.

[222] MS. 5,650 reads: “to ask him to give him some food for his ships in exchange for his money.”

[223] MS. 5,650 reads: “The king hearing that came with seven or eight men.”

[224] For dorade, i.e., the dorado. MS. 5,650 adds: “which are very large fish of the kind abovesaid.”

[225] The ceremony of blood brotherhood. Casicasi means “intimate friends.” See Trumbull’s Blood Covenant (Philadelphia, 1898), which shows how widespread was the covenant or friendship typified by blood.

[226] MS. 5,650 reads: “After that the said captain had one of his men-at-arms armed in offensive armor.” Stanley has translated harnois blanc literally as “white armor.”

[227] This passage may be translated: “Thereby was the king rendered almost speechless, and told the captain, through the slave, that one of those armed men was worth a hundred of his own men. The captain answered that that was a fact, and that he had brought two hundred men in each ship, who were armed in that manner.” Eden so understood it, and reads: “whereat the Kynge marualed greatly, and ſayde to th[e] interpretoure (who was a ſlaue borne in Malacha) that one of thoſe armed men was able to encounter with a hundreth of his men.” MS. 5,650 agrees with the translation of the text.

[228] Instead of this last phrase MS. 5,650 has: “and he made two of his men engage in sword-play before the king.”

[229] MS. 5,650 says only: “Then he showed the king the sea-chart, and the navigation compass.” Eden says (p. 348) that the first to use the compass was one “Flauius of Malpha, a citie in the kingdom of Naples.... Next vnto Flauius, the chiefe commendation is dew to the Spanyardes and Portugales by whoſe daylye experience, the ſame is brought to further perfection, and the vſe thereof better knowen; althowghe hytherto no man knoweth the cauſe why the iren touched with the lode ſtone, turneth euer towarde the north ſtarre, as playnely appeareth in euery common dyall.” He also says: “As touchynge the needle of the compaſſe, I haue redde in the Portugales nauigations that ſaylynge as farre ſouth as Cap. de Bona Speranza, the poynt of the needle ſtyll reſpected the northe as it dyd on this ſyde the Equinoctiall, ſauynge that it ſumwhat trembeled and declyned a lyttle, whereby the force ſeemed ſumwhat to be diminiſſhed, ſo that they were fayne to helpe it with the lode ſtone.” (See ante, p. 93). The compass was known in a rough form to the Chinese at early as 2634 B.C., and first applied to navigation in the third or fourth century A.D., or perhaps earlier. It was probably introduced into Europe through the Arabs who learned of it from the Chinese. It is first referred to in European literature by Alexander Neckam in the twelfth century in De Utensilibus. The variations from the true north were observed as early as 1269.

[230] Stanley says that the Amoretti edition represents the king as making this request and Magalhães as assenting thereto; but the Italian MS. reads as distinctly as MS. 5,650, that Magalhães made the request.

[231] MS. 5,650 omits the remainder of this sentence.

[232] MS. 5,650 adds: “that is, a boat.”

[233] The following passage relating to the meal reads thus in MS. 5,650: “Then the king had a plate of pork and some wine brought in. Their fashion of drinking is as follows. First they lift their hands toward the sky, and then take with the right hand the vessel from which they drink, while extending the fist of the left hand toward the people. The king did that to me, and extended his fist toward me, so that I thought that he was going to strike me. But I did the same to him, and in such wise did we banquet and afterwards sup with him using that ceremony and others.” See Spencer’s Ceremonial Institutions, especially chapter I.

[234] Eden reads (p. 255): “When the kynge ſawe Antonie Pigafetta write the names of many thinges, and afterwarde rehearſe them ageyne, he marualed yet more, makynge ſygnes that ſuche men deſcended from heauen.” Continuing he confuses the eldest son of the first king with the latter’s brother, the second king.

[235] A tolerably good description of the native houses of the present day in the Philippines. Cf. Morga’s description, Vol. XVI, pp. 117–119.

[236] MS. 5,650 begins a new unnumbered chapter at this point.

[237] This sentence to this point in MS. 5,650, is wrongly made to refer to the house of the king. The passage there reads: “All the dishes with which he is served, and also a part of his house, which was well furnished according to the custom of the country, were of gold.”

[238] MS. 5,650 omits this sentence.

[239] Butuan and Caraga in the northeastern part of Mindanao.

[240] This name is variously rendered: Mosto, Siain; MS. 5,650, Siaui; Stanley, Siani; and Amoretti and Eden, Siagu.

[241] MS. 5,650 reads: “the captain sent the chaplain ashore to celebrate mass.”

[242] MS. 5,650 says that they took only their swords; but the Italian MS. says distinctly that a signal was given to the ships from the shore by means of muskets, and again that the musketry was fired when the kings and Magalhães separated, both of which references are omitted by MS. 5,650. Eden reads: “The Captaine came alande with fyftie of his men in theyr beſt apparel withowte weapons or harneſſe, and all the reſydue well armed.”

[243] In Eden (p. 255): “damaſke water.”

[244] MS. 5,650 reads: “but they offered nothing.”

[245] MS. 5,650 says: “every one did his duties as a Christian and received our Lord.”

[246] MS. 5,650 adds: “for the people.”

[247] The Italian MS. reads literally and somewhat ambiguously: “they made immediate reverence;” MS. 5,650 says “to which these kings made reverence,” which is scarcely likely, as the latter would, until told by Magalhães, see nothing in the ceremony. Rather it was the Spaniards who made the reverence.

[248] MS. 5,650 reads: “whenever any ships came from Spain.”

[249] Cf. Morga, Vol. XVI, p. 132.

[250] MS. 5,650 reads: “men and ships to render them obedient to him.”

[251] MS. 5,650 reads: “to the middle of the highest mountain,” evidently confusing mezo di (“afternoon”) of the Italian MS. with mezo (mezzo; “middle”); for the cross was set up on the summit of the mountain. The passage in MS. 5,650 continues: “Then those two kings and the captain rested, and while conversing, the latter had them asked [not “I had them asked” as in Stanley, who mistranscribes jl (il) as je] where the best port was for getting food. They replied that there were three, namely, Ceylom, Zzubu, and Galaghan, but that Zzeubu was the largest and the best trading place.” These are the islands of Leyte (the Seilani of Albo, Navarrete, iv, p. 20; and the Selani of Transylvanus, Vol. I, p. 322), Cebú, and Mindanao (the Caraga district).

[252] 5,650 reads simply: “Then we descended to the place where their boats were.”

[253] This account is very much shortened in MS. 5,650, where it reads as follows: “As the captain intended to leave next morning, he asked the king for pilots in order that they might conduct him to the ports abovesaid. He promised the king to treat those pilots as he would them themselves, and that he would leave one of his men as a hostage. In reply the first king said that he would go himself to guide the captain to those ports and that he would be his pilot, but asked him to wait two days until he should gather his rice, and do some other things which he had to do. He asked the captain to lend him some of his men, so that he could accomplish it sooner, and the captain agreed to it.” At this point MS. 5,650 begins a new unnumbered chapter.

[254] The billon and afterward copper coin quattrino, which was struck in the mints of Venice, Rome, Florence, Reggio, the Two Sicilies, etc. The quattrino of the popes was often distinguished as “quattrino Romano.” The Venetian copper quattrino was first struck in the reign of Francesco Foscari (1423–57). See W. C. Hazlitt’s Coinage of European Continent (London and New York, 1893), p. 226.

[255] Doppione: a gold coin struck by Louis XII of France during his occupation of the Milanese (1500–1512). Hazlitt, ut supra, p. 196.

[256] Colona: possibly the name of some coin of the period.

[257] This entire paragraph is omitted in MS. 5,650. That MS. has another chapter division at this point.

[258] Stanley mistranslates the French gentilz as “gentle.”

[259] Probably the abacá, although it may be the cloth made from the palm. See Morga’s description of the Visayans, Vol. XVI, p. 112.

[260] Cf. Morga’s Sucesos, Vol. XVI, pp. 80, 81.

[261] MS. 5,650 greatly abridges this account, reading as follows: “They cut that fruit into four parts, and after they have chewed it a long time, they spit it out and throw it away.” Cf. the account in Morga’s Sucesos, Vol. XVI, pp. 97–99.

[262] MS. 5,650 omits this product. Cf. Morga’s Sucesos, Vol. XVI, pp. 84–97.

[263] In MS. 5,650, “Mazzaua;” in Eden, “Meſſana;” in Mosto, “Mazana,” while in the chart it appears as “Mazzana;” Transylvanus, “Massana;” and Albo, “Masava.” It is now called the island of Limasaua, and has an area of about ten and one-half square miles.

[264] Mosto mistranscribes the Italian word for “among” fra as prima “first.” The error arises through the abbreviation used, namely fa, Mosto mistaking it for pa, which would be prima.

[265] Stanley mistranscribes “Gatighan” from MS. 5,650 as “Satighan.” The names of the five islands as given by Eden are: “Zeilon, Bohol, Canghu, Barbai, and Catighan.” These are the islands of Leite, Bohol, Canigao (west of Leyte), the northern part of Leyte (today the name of a town, hamlet and inlet in Leyte), and possibly Apit or Himuquitan, or one of the other nearby islands on the west coast of Leyte. See chart of these islands on p. 112.

Albo (Navarrete, iv, pp. 220, 221) says: “We left Mazava and went north toward the island of Seilani, after which we ran along the said island to the northwest as far as 10 degrees. There we saw three rocky islands, and turned our course west for about 10 leguas where we came upon two islets. We stayed there that night and in the morning went toward the south southwest for about 12 leguas, as far as 10 and one-third degrees. At that point we entered a channel between two islands, one of which is called Matan and the other Subu. Subu, as well as the islands of Mazava and Suluan extend north by east and south by west. Between Subu and Seilani we spied a very lofty land lying to the north, which is called Baibai. It is said to contain considerable gold and to be well stocked with food, and so great an extent of land that its limits are unknown. From Mazava, Seilani, and Subu, on the course followed toward the south, look out for the many shoals, which are very bad. On that account a canoe which was guiding us along that course, refused to go ahead. From the beginning of the channel of Subu and Matan, we turned west by a middle channel and reached the city of Subu. There we anchored and made peace, and the people there gave us rice, millet, and meat. We stayed there for a considerable time. The king and queen of that place and many of the inhabitants readily became Christians.” The “Roteiro” (Stanley, p. 11) says that the king of Macangar (i.e., Mazaua) conducted the Spaniards “a matter of thirty leagues to another island named Cabo [i.e., Cebú], which is in ten degrees, and in this island Fernando de Magalhães did what he pleased with the consent of the country.” Brito says merely (Navarrete, iv, p. 308): “After that, after passing amid many islands, they reached one called Mazaba, which lies in 9 degrees. The king of Mazaba conducted them to another large island called Zubó.”

[266] MS. 5,650 reads: “only one of them.” Barbastili is a Venetian word for pipistrelli. These bats are the Pteropi or “flying foxes,” the large fruit-eating bats of which so many species inhabit the Malay Archipelago. Bats are especially found in Guimarás, Siquijor, and Cebú, and the skins of some are used as fur. See Guillemard (ut supra, p. 235). See also Delgado’s Historia, pp. 842, 843; and U. S. Philippine Gazetteer.

[267] Stanley mistranslates as “tortoises.” The “black birds with the long tail” are the tabón “mound-building Megapodes, gallinacious birds peculiar to the Austro-Malayan subregion” (Guillemard’s Magellan, p. 235). See also Vol. V, p. 167, note 14, and Vol. XVI, page 198, note 43; also Vol. XVI, p. 81, note 84.

[268] These are the Camotes, which lie west of Leyte, and their names are Poro, Pasijan, and Pansón. See Pigafetta’s chart showing these islands on p. 112.

[269] Following this point in the Italian MS. (folio 26a) is the chart of the islands of Bohol, Mattam, and Zzubu (q.v., p. 136).

MS. 5,650 presents this chart on folio 51a, preceded by the words: “Below are shown the islands of Zzubu, Mattan, and Bohól.”

[270] MS. 5,650 reads: “But the interpreter reassured them by telling them.”

[271] MS. 5,650 reads: “and he was going, by the orders of the said sovereign, to discover the islands of Mallucque.”

[272] MS. 5,650 reads: “Thereupon the abovesaid merchant said to the king in their language,” etc., without giving the original Malay words. Eden gives the phrase as catacaia chita.

[273] Calicut, properly Kálíkot (said to be derived from two words meaning cock-crow, because the territory granted to the first king of Kálíkot was limited to the extent over which a cock could be heard to crow; or from Káli, one of the names of the goddess Gauri) is the name of a district and city on the Malabar coast. The king of all the Malabar coast from Goa to Cape Comorin, Samari Perymal, having adopted the Mahometan faith divided his kingdom into the kingdoms of Calicut, Cochin, Cananor, and Coulão, and gave them to his friends, on condition that the king of Calicut be termed “Zamorim” or “Samorim,” i.e., “Supreme emperor and God upon earth” (although the proper form is said to be “Tamurin” which is conjectured by some to be a modification of the Sanskrit “Samunri,” “seaking.” The city of Kálíkot, a noted emporium of trade, was built perhaps as early as 805 A.D., although the date 1300 A.D. is also given as that of its founding; and is described by Ibn Batuta in 1342 as one of the finest ports in the world. It was visited by Covilham in 1486, and Vasco da Gama’s ships were freighted there in 1498. The latter attacked the city in 1503 and 1510, and the Portuguese built a fortified factory there in 1513 which was destroyed by the governor in 1525 to avoid its falling into the enemy’s hands. The English established a factory in the city in 1616, which was captured in 1766 by Haidar Ali; but after a further series of capture and recapture, the city and district was permanently turned over to the British (1792). See Stanley’s Vasco da Gama (Hakluyt Society publications, London, 1869); Birch’s Alboquerque (Hakluyt Society publications, London, 1875–1884); Jones and Badger’s Ludovico di Varthema (Hakluyt Society publications, London, 1863), pp. 135–177; also Grey’s Travels of Pietro della Valle (Hakluyt Society publications, London, 1892), pp. 344, 345, note.

Malacca, or more correctly Mâlaka is the name of an ancient territory and city, which was probably first settled by Javanese, and is possibly derived from “Malayu” meaning in Javanese “to run” or “fugitive.” At an early period Malacca fell under the sway of the Siamese. The city, located on both sides of the Malacca River, and only one hundred and thirty miles northwest of Singapore (which has usurped the great volume of trade once centering at Malacca) was founded about 1250 A.D. The first European to visit the city was Varthema, about the year 1505. It was captured by the Portuguese under Albuquerque in 1511, and they held it (1580–1640 under Spanish control) until 1641 when it was captured by the Dutch, who had unsuccessfully besieged it, with the aid of the king of Jahor, in 1606. The English obtained possession of it in 1795, and still hold it, although the Dutch possessed it from 1818–1825. For descriptions and history of Malacca, see the following Hakluyt Society publications: Stanley’s East Africa and Malabar (London, 1866), pp. 190–195; Birch’s Alboquerque, iii, pp. 71–90 (and other citations); Burnell and Tiele’s Linschoten (London, 1885), i, pp. 104–106; Gray’s Voyage of François Pyrard (London, 1888), part i, p. ii. Also see Crawfurd’s Dictionary, pp. 238–249.

The terms India Major (Greater India) and India Minor (Lesser India) are differently applied by different authors. Schiltbergen applied the term Lesser India to the northern portion of the peninsula on this side of the Ganges, while the southern portion of the peninsula was termed Greater India. Marco Polo’s Lesser India extended from Makran to and including the Coromandel coast, and his Greater India extended from the Coromandel coast to Cochin China, while Middle India was Abyssinia. Mosto wrongly identifies India Major with the present Indian empire. See Telfer’s Johann Schiltberger (Hakluyt Society publications, 1879). Friar Jordanus (Wonders of the East, Hakluyt Society edition, London, 1863), describes (pp. 11–45) India the Less, India the Greater, and India Tertia. Yule points out that Jordanus’s Lesser India embraces Sindh, and probably Mekran, and India along the coast as far as some point immediately north of Malabar. Greater India extends from Malabar very indefinitely to the eastward, for he makes it include Champa. India Tertia is the east of Africa below Abyssinia. Thus Jordanus just reverses the Lesser and Greater Indias of Marco Polo. Ramusio who gives the Summary of Kingdoms of an old Portuguese geographer, ends First India at Mangalore, and Second India at the Ganges. Benjamin of Tudela speaks of “Middle India which is called Aden.” Conti divides India into three parts: the first extending from Persia to the Indus, the second from the Indus to the Ganges, and the third all the land beyond. Pliny discusses whether Mekran and other lands belonged to India or Ariana.

[274] MS. 5,650 adds: “and treat his subjects well.”

[275] This phrase is omitted in MS. 5,650.

[276] MS. 5,650 adds: “who was in the captain’s ship.”

[277] MS. 5,650 reads: “Thereupon the king told them that he was willing, and that as a greater token of his love, he would send the captain a drop of his blood from his right arm, and [asked] the captain to do the same.”

[278] MS. 5,650 reads: “Consequently they should ask their captain whether he intended to observe the custom.”

[279] MS. 5.650 reads: “he should commence by giving a present, whereupon the captain would do his duty.” This MS. begins another chapter at this point.

[280] MS. 5,650 reads: “so do our arms destroy the enemies of our faith.”

[281] MS. 5,650 adds: “of the ships.”

[282] MS. 5,650 reads: “and whether that prince who had come with them, was empowered to make peace.”

[283] MS. 5,650 omits these last two clauses.

[284] This phrase is omitted in MS. 5,650.

[285] MS. 5,650 adds: “and for love toward God.”

[286] MS. 5,650: “he would leave them the arms that the Christians use.”

[287] These last two clauses are omitted in MS. 5,650.

[288] MS. 5,650 adds: “of Sainct Jacques [i.e., Santiago].”

[289] This sentence is omitted in MS. 5,650.

[290] Called “drynking glaſſes of Venice woorke” in Eden (p. 257).

[291] MS. 5,650 reads: “He had his face painted with fire in various designs.” Eden reads: “and had the residue of his body paynted with dyuers coloures whereof ſum were lyke vnto flamynge fyre.”

[292] MS. 5,650 reads: “he had four jars full of palm-wine, which he was drinking through reed pipes.”

[293] MS. 5,650 reads: “We made the due reverence to him while presenting to him the present sent him by the captain, and told him through the mouth of the interpreter that it was not to be regarded as a recompense for his present which he had made to the captain, but for the love which the captain bore him.” This MS. omits the following three sentences.

[294] The “Sinus Magnus” of Ptolemy, today the Chinese Gulf (Mosto, p. 76, note 3).

[295] This passage is considerably abbreviated in MS. 5,650, where it reads as follows: “The prince, the king’s nephew, took us to his house, where he showed us four girls who were playing on four very strange and very sweet instruments, and their manner of playing was somewhat musical. Afterward he had us dance with them. Those girls were naked except that they wore a garment made of the said palm-tree cloth before their privies and which hung from the waist to the knee, although some were quite naked. We were given refreshments there, and then we returned to the ships.” These gongs are used in many parts of the Orient.

[296] MS. 5,650 adds: “by the captain’s order.”

[297] MS. 5,650 reads: “we told him of the death of our man, and that our captain requested that he might be buried.”

[298] MS. 5,650 adds: “according to our manner.”

[299] MS. 5,650 reads: “The king took it under his charge, and promised that no trickery or wrong would be done the king. Four of our men were chosen to despatch and to sell the said merchandise.”

[300] MS. 5,650 reads: “They have wooden balances like those of Pardeca to weigh their merchandise.” Pardeca, as Stanley points out, is for par de ça de Loire which is equivalent to Langue d’oil, and denotes the region in France north of the Loire. Par de la meant Languedoc. This passage was adapted to the French understanding by the person who translated and adapted the Italian manuscript.

[301] This sentence is omitted in MS. 5,650. As Mosto points out the measure here mentioned would be one of capacity, and must have been the common measure for rice, perhaps the ganta.

[302] Lagan is a shellfish found in the Philippines which has a shell resembling that of the Nautilus pompilius that is used for holding incense or as a drinking vessel. This shell is very white inside, while the exterior is spotted a pale yellow color. It resembles mother-of-pearl, and is very common. Delgado says that most of the shellfish, are indigestible but highly esteemed. See Delgado’s Historia, p. 928.

[303] MS. 5,650 adds: “Which was of various strange kinds.”

[304] Eden says: “xvi. poundes weyght of iren.”

[305] MS. 5,650 reads: “The captain-general did not wish to take too great a quantity of gold, so that the sailors might not sell their share in the merchandise too cheaply, because of their lust for gold, and so that on that account he should not be constrained to do the same with his merchandise, for he wished to sell it at as high a price as possible.”

[306] MS. 5,650 adds: “or any other balls”

[307] MS. 5,650 makes the two armed men follow instead of precede the royal banner.

[308] MS. 5,650 adds: “and the natives of the country for their fear of it, fled hither and thither,” which is in place of the following sentence.

[309] This sentence is omitted in MS. 5,650.

[310] MS. 5,650 reads: “One covered with red and the other with velvet.”

[311] MS. 5,650 adds: “in the manner of the country.”

[312] The account of the baptism of the king is considerably abridged in MS. 5,650 where it reads as follows: “Then the captain began to address the king through the interpreter, in order that he might incite him to the faith of Jesus Christ. He told him that if he wished to become a good Christian (as he had signified on the preceding day), that he must have all the idols of his country burned and set up a cross in their place, which they were all to adore daily on both knees, with hands clasped and raised toward the heaven. The captain showed the king how he was to make the sign of the cross daily. In reply the king and all his men said that they would obey the captain’s commandment, and do all that he told them. The captain took the king by the hand, and they walked to the platform. At his baptism the captain told the king that he would call him Dom Charles, after the emperor his sovereign. He named the prince Dom Fernand, after the brother of the said emperor, and the king of Mazzaua, Jehan. He gave the name of Christofle to the Moro, while he called each of the others by names according to his fancy. Thus before the mass fifty men [sic: but an error of the French adapter for five hundred] were baptized. At the conclusion of mass, the captain invited the king and the others of his chief men to dine with him, but he would not accept. However, he accompanied the captain to the shore, where, at his arrival, the ships discharged all the artillery. Then embracing they took leave of one another.” Eden gives the number baptized as five hundred men.

[313] MS. 5,650 reads: “On seeing that, she expressed the greatest desire to became a Christian, and asking for baptism, she was baptized and given the name of Jehanne, after the emperor’s mother.”

[314] There are many cases of this wholesale baptism in the history of the Catholic missions in various countries, and it cannot be condemned entirely and regarded as devoid of good effects, for many instances reveal the contrary. See Jesuit Relations (Cleveland reissue).

[315] Those last six words are omitted in MS. 5,650. Mosto conjectures that solana means solecchio or solicchio signifying an apparatus to protect one from the sun. Pigafetta may have misapplied the Spanish word solana, which signifies a place bathed by the noontide sun or a place in which to take the sun.

[316] This last clause is omitted in MS. 5,650.

[317] MS. 5,650 adds: “and we gave it to her.” This was the image found by one of Legazpi’s soldiers in Cebú in 1565 (see Vol. II, pp. 120, 121, 128, 216, 217; and Vol. V, p. 41). Encarnación (Dic. bisaya-español, Manila, 1851), says: “The Cebuan Indians, both past and present, give the name of Bathála [God] to the image of the Holy Child, which is supposed to have been left by the celebrated Magallanes.”

[318] MS. 5,650 reads: “evening.”

[319] MS. 5,650 mentions only the artillery. The “tromb” or “trunk” was a kind of hand rocket-tube made of wood and hooped with iron, and was used for discharging wild-fire or Greek-fire (see Corbett’s Spanish War, 1585–87 [London], 1898, p. 335). At this point Stanley discontinues the narrative of MS. 5,650, and translates from Amoretti’s version of the Italian MS.

[320] MS. 5,650 reads: “to better instruct and confirm him in the faith.”

[321] Eden says the queen was preceded by “three younge damoſelles and three men with theyr cappes in theyr handes.”

[322] MS. 5,650 adds: “and presentation.”

[323] MS. 5,650 reads simply for this last clause: “and several others,” omitting all the names.

[324] MS. 5,650 reads: “and they all so swore.”

[325] MS. 5,650 reads from this point: “Then they swore, and thus the captain caused the king to swear by that image, by the life of the emperor his sovereign, and by his habit, to ever remain faithful and subject to the emperor,” thus ascribing this oath to the king instead of to Magalhães. The words “by his habit” can refer only to Magalhães, who wore that of Santiago, and not to any habit worn by the barbaric ruler of Cebú.

[326] MS. 5,650 adds: “and hang.”

[327] MS. 5,650 adds: “and deck.”

[328] MS. 5,650 adds: “and demolished.”

[329] MS. 5,650 adds: “and overthrew.”

[330] There is a strange difference between the Italian MS. and MS. 5,650 in regard to these names. The latter reads to this point: “There are a number of villages in that island, whose names and those of their chiefs are as follows: Cinghapola, Cilaton, Ciguibucan, Cimaningha, Cimaticat, and Cicambul; another, Mandaui, and its chief and seignior, Lambuzzan; another Cot-cot, and its chief, Acibagalen; another, Puzzo, and its chief, Apanoan; another, Lalan, and its chief, Theteu; another, Lulutan, and its chief, Tapan [Amoretti, followed by Stanley, says Japau, and Mosto, Iapan]; another Cilumay; and also Lubucun.” Amoretti, who places this list after the disastrous battle and consequent treachery of the Cebuans, and Stanley, have “Lubucin: its chief is Cilumai.” Mandaui is Mandaue; Lalan may be Liloan; Cot-cot is on the east coast; Lubucun may be Lubú, but Mosto (p. 78, note 3) conjectures it to be Lambusan. An examination of the Nancy MS. may reveal the source of this difference.

[331] MS. 5,650 adds after the word borchies: “instruments so called.”

[332] Probably cotton cloth. See Stanley’s East African and Malabar Coasts, p. 65: “They make there [i.e., in Cambay] many cloths of white cotton, fine and coarse, and other woven and colored fabrics, of all kinds and colours.”

[333] MS. 5,650 adds: “and closed.”

[334] MS. 5,650 reads: “She who has killed the hog, puts a lighted torch in her mouth, which she extinguishes, and which she holds constantly alight with her teeth during that ceremony.”

[335] Cf. the ceremonies of the baylanes described by Loarca, Vol. V, pp. 131, 133, and by Chirino, Vol. XII, p. 270.

[336] Otorno: Mosto, p. 79, mistranscribes otoro, and queries Attorno in a note.

[337] MS. 5,650 omits the description of this custom, giving only the first and last sentence to this point. Stanley omits the translation to this point. See Vol. V, p. 117, and Vol. XVI, p. 130, where Loarca and Morga describe this custom.

[338] Valzi: Mosto queries vasi, “jars,” which appears probable.

[339] MS. 5,650 adds: “made in the manner abovesaid;” but this was crossed out, showing that the writer or adapter of that MS. had at first intended to narrate the custom that is given in the Italian MS.

[340] This word is omitted in MS. 5,650.

[341] MS. 5,650 reads: “The other women sit about the dead chamber sadly and in tears.”

[342] Pigafetta uses the present and imperfect tenses rather indiscriminately throughout this narration, but we have translated uniformly in the present. Cf. Loarca’s description of burial and mourning customs among the Visayans, Vol. V, pp. 129, 135, 137–141; Plasencia’s description among the Tagálogs, Vol. VII, pp. 194, 195; and Morga, Vol. XVI, p. 133.

[343] MS. 5,650 reads: “five or six hours.”

[344] Eden in describing the island of Matan confuses the Pigafetta narrative. He says: “Not farre from this Ilande of Zubut, is the Hand of Mathan, whoſe inhabitauntes vſe maruelous ceremonies in theyr ſacrifices to the ſoone and burying the deade. They were rynges of gold abowt theyr priuie members.” In the description of the battle in Matan, Eden says that each of the three divisions of the islanders contained “two thouſand and fiftie men armed with bowes, arrowes, dartes and iauelins hardened at the poyntes with fyer.”

[345] To this point the Italian MS. and MS. 5,650 agree approximately. The story of the battle in the latter MS., however, is much abridged and much less graphic. It is as follows: “They replied that they had bamboo spears and stakes burned and hardened in the fire, and that we could attack them when we wished. At daybreak, forty-nine of us leaped into the water, in the place whither we had thus gone, at a distance of more than three [sic] crossbow flights before we could reach shore, for the boats could not approach nearer because of the rocks and reefs which were in the water. Thus we reached land, and attacked them. They were arranged in three divisions, of more than one thousand five hundred persons. We shot many arrows at them from a distance, but it was in vain, for they received them on their shields. They leaped hither and thither in such a way that scarce could we wound one of them. On the other hand, our artillery in the boats was so far away from us that it could not aid us. Those people seeing that, and that the captain had had some of their houses burned in order to inspire them with terror, and having become more enraged, threw so many iron pointed spears at us, and shot so many arrows even at the captain himself that we could defend ourselves with difficulty. Finally, having been driven by them quite down to the shore, and while our captain was fighting bravely although wounded in the leg with an arrow, one of those Indians hurled a poisoned bamboo lance into his face which laid him stiff and dead. Then they pressed upon us so closely that we were forced to retire to our boats and to leave the dead body of the captain-general, with our other killed.” The eulogy on the dead commander is approximately the same in both MSS., except at the end, where MS. 5,650 reads: “Eight of our men died there with him, and four Indians, who had become Christians. Of the enemy fifteen were killed by the artillery of the ships, which had at last come to our aid, while many of us were wounded.”

Brito (Navarrete, iv, p. 308) says of the stay at Cebú and the death of Magalhães: “They stayed there about one month, and the majority of the people and the king became Christians. The king of Zubó ordered the kings of the other islands to come to him, but inasmuch as two of them refused to come, Magallanes, as soon as he learned it, resolved to go to fight with them, and went to an island called Mathá. He set fire to a village, and not content with that, set out for a large settlement, where he, his servant, and five Castilians were killed in combat with the savages. The others, seeing their captain dead, went back to their boats.”

[346] Terciado: a Spanish word.