Chapter VIII: Part 8

On Tuesday, November twelve, the king had a house built for us in the city in one day for our merchandise. We carried almost all of our goods thither, and left three of our men to guard them. We immediately began to trade in the following manner. For x brazas of red cloth of very good quality, they gave us one bahar of cloves, which is equivalent to four quintals and six libras; for fifteen brazas of cloth of not very good quality, one quintal and one hundred libras; for fifteen hatchets, one bahar; for thirty-five glass drinking-cups, one bahar (the king getting them all); for seventeen cathils of cinnabar, one bahar; for seventeen cathils of quicksilver, one bahar; for twenty-six brazas of linen, one bahar; for twenty-five brazas of finer linen, one bahar; for one hundred and fifty knives, one bahar; for fifty pairs of scissors, one bahar; for forty caps, one bahar; for x pieces of Guzerat cloth, [483] one bahar; for three of those gongs of theirs, two bahars; [484] for one quinta of bronze [metalo], one bahar. [Almost] all the mirrors were broken, and the few good ones the king wished for himself. Many of those things [that we traded] were from the abovementioned junks which we had captured. Our haste to return to Spagnia made us dispose of our merchandise at better bargains [to the natives] than we should have done. [485] Daily so many boatloads of goats, fowls, figs [i.e., bananas], cocoanuts, and other kinds of food were brought to the ships, that we were surprised. We supplied the ships with good water, which issues forth hot [from the ground], but if it stands for the space of an hour outside its spring, it becomes very cold, the reason therefor being that it comes from the mountain of cloves. This is quite the opposite from the assertion in Spagnia that water must be carried to Maluco from distant parts. [486]

On Wednesday, the king sent his son, named Mossahap, to Mutir, so that they might supply us more quickly. On that day we told the king that we had captured certain Indians. The king thanked God heartily, and asked us to do him the kindness to give him their persons, so that he might send them back to their land, with five of his own men, in order that they might make the king of Spagnia and his fame known. Then we gave him the three women who had been captured in the queen’s name for the reason already advanced. Next day, we gave the king all the prisoners, except those from Burne, for which he thanked us fervently. Thereupon, he asked us, in order thereby to show our love for him, to kill all the swine that we had in the ships, in return for which he would give us an equal number of goats and fowls. We killed them in order to show him a pleasure, [487] and hung them up under the deck. When those people happen to see any swine they cover their faces in order that they might not look upon them or catch their odor.

(Continued in Vol. XXXIV, page 39.)

NOTES

[Note: In the following notes, citations from Richard Eden are made from Arber’s reprint The first three English books on America (Birmingham, 1885), from the third book, entitled The decades of the newe worlde, first printed in London in 1555; from Mosto, from Il primo viaggio, intorno al globo di Antonio Pigafetta, by Andrea da Mosto (Roma, 1894), which was published as a portion of part v of volume iii of Raccolta di documenti e studi pubblicati dalla R. Commissione Colombiana pel quarto centenario dalla scoperta dell’America, appearing under the auspices of the Minister of Public Instruction; and from Stanley, from his First voyage round the world, by Magellan (Hakluyt Society publications, London, 1874), which was translated by Lord Stanley in part from the longer French MS. in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, and in part from the Amoretti publication (Milan, 1800) made from the Italian MS. in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana.]

[1] The greater part of the life of Antonio Pigafetta is shrouded in darkness. The Pigafetta family, who resided at Venice, and was formerly of Tuscan origin, dates back before him for several centuries. The Pigafetta escutcheon was white above and black below with a white transverse bar running from left to right. On the lower part were three red roses, one of them on the bar. The old family house is still standing and shows the motto Il nest rose sans espine, i.e., “No rose without a thorn,” which was probably carved in 1481, when the house was repaired, and not by Antonio Pigafetta after his return from his voyage as some assert. Antonio Pigafetta was born toward the close of the fifteenth century, but the date cannot be positively fixed, some declaring it to be 1491; but Harrisse who follows Marzari, gives the date as 1480. It is unknown who his parents were and some have asserted that he was a natural child, although this is evidently unfounded, as he was received into the military order of St. John. At an early age he probably became familiar with the sea and developed his taste for traveling. He went to Spain with the Roman ambassador Chieregato, in 1519, but in what capacity is unknown. Hearing details of Magalhães’s intended voyage he contrived to accompany him. Navarrete surmises that he is the Antonio Lombardo mentioned in the list of the captain’s servants and volunteers who sailed on the expedition, so called as his country was Lombardy. After the return of the “Victoria,” he journeyed in Spain, Portugal, and France, and returned to Italy probably in January, 1523. The relation presented by him to Cárlos I was probably a draft of his notes taken daily throughout the voyage. His Relation as we know it was undertaken at the request of the marchioness of Mantova, but its composition was arrested by an order from Clement VII to come to Rome, whither he went in December, 1523, or January, 1524, meeting Villiers l’Isle-Adam on his journey thither. He remained in the pope’s service but a short time, for in April, 1524, he was back in Venice. That same year he was granted a copyright on his Relation, which he intended to print, for twenty years. Pozzo says that he was received into the Order of St. John, October 3, 1524, but it was probably somewhat before that date. Between the dates of August, 1524, and August, 1530, his work was presented to Villiers l’Isle-Adam. Nothing further is known of him, though some say that he fought against the Turks as late as 1536, while others have placed his death in 1534 or 1535 and at Malta. In addition to his Relation Pigafetta wrote a Treatise on the art of navigation, which follows his Relation. This is not presented in the present publication, notwithstanding its importance, as being outside of the present scope. It is reproduced by Mosto. He has sometimes been confused with Marcantonio Pigafetta (a Venetian gentleman), the author of Itinerario da Vienna a Constantinopoli (London, 1585); and wrongly called Vincenzo Antonio Pigafetta, the “Vincenzo” being an error for “vicentino,” i.e., “Venetian.” See Mosto, Il primo viaggio ... di Antonio Pigafetta (Roma, 1894), pp. 13–30; Larousse’s Dictionnaire; and La grande Encyclopédie (Paris).

[2] The Order of St. John of Jerusalem. See Vol. II, p. 26, note 2. Throughout this Relation Pigafetta’s spelling of proper names is retained.

[3] Philippe de Villiers l’Isle-Adam, the forty-third grand master of the Order of the Knights of St. John (called Knights of Malta after 1530), was born of an old and distinguished family at Beauvais, in 1464, and died at Malta, August 21, 1534, at grief, some say, over the dissensions in his order. He was elected grand master of his order in 1521 and in the following year occurred his heroic defense of Rhodes with but four thousand five hundred soldiers against the huge fleet and army of Soliman. After six months he was compelled to surrender his stronghold in October, and refusing Soliman’s entreaties to remain with him, went to Italy. In 1524 he was given the city of Viterbe by Clement VII, where in June of 1527 he held a general chapter of his order, at which it was decided to accept the island of Malta which had been offered by Charles V. The gift was confirmed by the letters-patent of Charles V in 1530, and Villiers l’Isle-Adam Adam went thither in October of that year. He was always held in high esteem for his bravery, prudence, and piety. See Moreri’s Dictionaire, and Larousse’s Dictionnaire.

[4] The four MSS. of Pigafetta’s Relation are those known as the Ambrosian or Italian, so called from its place of deposit, the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan; no. 5,650, conserved in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, in French; no. 24,224, in the same library, also in French; and the Nancy MS. (also French) so called because it was conserved in Nancy, France, now owned by the heirs of Sir Thomas Phillips, Cheltenham, England. The MSS. of the Bibliothèque Nationale are both shorter than the Italian MS. The Nancy MS. is said to be the most complete of the French manuscripts. The best bibliographical account of these four MSS. that has yet appeared is by Mosto ut supra. A full bibliographical account of both the MSS. and printed books will be given in the volume on bibliography in this series.

There are a number of radical differences between the Paris MS. no. 5,650 (which will be hereafter referred to simply as MS. 5,650) and the Italian MS., these differences including paragraph structure and the division of MS. 5,650 into various chapters, although the sequence is on the whole identical. The most radical of the differences will be shown in these notes. MS. 5,650 contains the following title on the page immediately preceding the beginning of the relation proper: “Navigation and discovery of Upper Indie, written by me, Anthoyne Pigaphete, a Venetian, and knight of Rhodes.”

[5] The emperor Charles V; but he was not elected to that dignity until June, 1519. Pigafetta writing after that date is not explicit.

[6] Francesco Chiericati was born in Venice, in one of the most ancient and famous families of that city, at the end of the fifteenth century. He attained preëminence at Sienna in both civil and ecclesiastical law. Aided by Cardinal Matteo Lang, bishop of Sion, he was received among the prelates of the apostolic palace. Later he conducted several diplomatic missions with great skill. He left Rome for Spain in December, 1518, on a private mission for the pope, and especially to effect a crusade against the Turks who were then invading Egypt and threatening Christianity. His house at Barcelona became the meeting-place of the savants of that day who discussed literature and science. See Mosto, p. 19, note 3.

[7] MS. 5,650 adds: “scholars and men of understanding.”

[8] MS. 5,650 reads: “so that I might satisfy the wish of the said gentlemen and also my own desire, so that it could be said that I had made the said voyage and indeed been an eyewitness of the things hereafter written.”

[9] See Vol. I, p. 250, note 192 for sketch of Magalhães. The only adequate life of Magalhães in English is that of Guillemard.

[10] That is, the Order of Santiago. See Vol. I, p. 145, note 171. Magalhães and Falero were decorated with the cross of comendador of the order by Cárlos I in the presence of the royal Council in July, 1518. See Guillemard’s Ferdinand Magellan, p. 114.

[11] See Vol. I for various documents during the period of the preparation of the fleet; also Guillemard’s Magellan, pp. 114–116 and 130–134; and Stanley’s First Voyage, pp. xxxiv–xlvi.

[12] Pope Clement VII, who assumed the papacy November 19, 1523. Pigafetta was summoned to Rome very soon after Clement’s election, for he was in Rome either in December, 1523, or January, 1524.

[13] The Amoretti edition (Milan, 1800; a wofully garbled adaptation of the Italian MS.) wrongly ascribes this desire to Clement VII, instead of Villiers L’Isle-Adam. See Stanley, p. 36, note 3.

[14] MS. 5,650 reads: “Finally, most illustrious Lordship, after all provisions had been made and the ships were in readiness, the captain-general, a wise and virtuous man, and one mindful of his honor, would not commence his voyage without first making some good and suitable rules, such as it is the approved custom to make for those who go to sea, although he did not entirely declare the voyage that he was about to make lest those men, through astonishment and fear, should refuse to accompany him on the so long voyage that he had determined upon. In consideration of the furious and violent storms that reign on the Ocean Sea where he was about to sail, and in consideration of another reason also, namely, that the masters and captains of the other ships in his fleet had no liking for him (the reason for which I know not, unless because he, the captain-general, was a Portuguese, and they Spaniards or Castilians, who have for a long while been biased and ill-disposed toward one another, but who, in spite of that, rendered him obedience), he made his rules such as follow, so that his ships might not go astray or become separated from one another during storms at sea. He published those rules and gave them in writing to every master in the ships and ordered them to be inviolably observed and kept, unless for urgent and legitimate excuse, and the proof that any other action was impossible.”

[15] A Spanish word, meaning “lantern.”

[16] Mosto wrongly derives strengue from the Spanish trenza “braid” or “twist.” Instead it is the Spanish word estrenque, which denotes a large rope made from Spanish grass hemp (stipa)—known to the Spaniards as esparto. MS. 5,650 reads: “Sometimes he set out a lantern; at other times a thick rush cord which was lighted and was called ‘trenche’ [i.e., ‘estrenque,’ ‘rope of Spanish grass hemp’].” Barcio (Diccionario general etimológico) says that the origin of estrenque is unknown.

[17] MS. 5,650 reads: “If he wished the other ships to haul in a bonnet-sail, which was a part of the sail attached to the mainsail, he showed three lights. Also by three lights notwithstanding that the weather might be favorable for making better time, it was understood that the bonnet-sail was to be hauled in, so that the mainsail might be sooner and easier struck and furled when bad weather came suddenly in any squall or otherwise.”

[18] MS. 5,650 adds: “which he had extinguished immediately after;” and continues: “then showing a single light as a sign that he intended to stop there and wait until the other ships should do as he.”

[19] MS. 5,650 adds: “that is to say, a rock in the sea.”

[20] Stanley translates the following passage wrongly. Rightly translated, it is: “Also when he desired the bonnet-sail to be reattached to the sail, he showed three fires.”

[21] This passage is omitted in MS. 5,650.

[22] Hora de la modorra is in Spanish that part of the night immediately preceding the dawn. Mosto, p. 52, note 8.

[23] Contra maestro (boatswain) corresponding to the French contremaître and the Spanish contramaestre, was formerly the third officer of a ship’s crew. Nochiero (French nocher) was the officer next to contramaestre, although the name, according to Littré was applied to the master or seacaptain of certain small craft. The maestro (French maître) was a sub-officer in charge of all the crew. The pilot was next to the captain in importance. The translator or adapter who made MS. 5,650 confuses the above officers (see following note).

[24] The instructions pertaining to the different watches are as follows in MS. 5,650: “In addition to the said rules for carrying on the art of navigation as is fitting, and in order to avoid the dangers that may come upon those who do not have watches set, the said captain, who was skilled in the things required and in navigation, ordered three watches to be set. The first was at the beginning of the night; the second at midnight; and the third toward daybreak, which is commonly called the ‘diane’ [i.e., ‘morn’] or otherwise ‘the star of dawn.’ The abovenamed watches were changed nightly: that is to say, that he who had stood first watch stood second the day following, while he who had stood second, stood third; and thus did they continue to change nightly. The said captain ordered that his rules, both those of signals and of watches, be thoroughly observed, so that their voyage might be made with the greatest of safety. The men of the said fleet were divided into three divisions: the first was that of the captain; the second that of the pilot or boatswain’s mate; and the third that of the master. The above rules having been instituted, the captain-general determined to depart, as follows.”

[25] See Guillemard’s Magellan, pp. 329–336, and Navarrete, Col. de viages, iv, pp. 3–11, 162–188, for the stores and equipments of the fleet and their cost. The stores carried consisted of wine, olive oil, vinegar, fish, pork, peas and beans, flour, garlic, cheese, honey, almonds, anchovies, raisins, prunes, figs, sugar, quince preserves, capers, mustard, beef, and rice. The apothecary supplies were carried in the “Trinidad,” and the ecclesiastical ornaments in that ship and the “San Antonio.”

[26] The exact number of men who accompanied Magalhães is a matter of doubt. A royal decree, dated Barcelona, May 5, 1519, conserved in the papers of the India House of Trade in Archivo general de Indias at Sevilla, with pressmark est. 41, caj. 6, leg. 2–25, orders that only two hundred and thirty-five persons sail in the fleet. The same archives contain various registers of the fleet (sec Llorens Ascensio’s Primera vuelta al mundo, Madrid, 1903), one of which is published by Medina in his Colección (i, p. 113). Guillemard (Magellan, p. 326) says that at least two hundred and sixty-eight men went as is shown by the official lists and “the casual occurrence of names in the numerous and lengthy autos fiscales connected with the expedition.” Guillemard conjectures that the total number must have been between two hundred and seventy and two hundred and eighty. Mosto (p. 53, note 2) says: “Castanheda and Barros say that the crews amounted to 250 men, while Herrera says 234. Navarrete’s lists show a total of 265 men. At least 37 were Portuguese, and in addition to them and the Spaniards, the crews contained Genoese and Italians (thirty or more), French (nineteen), Flemings, Germans, Sicilians, English, Corfiotes, Malays, Negroes, Moors, Madeirans, and natives of the Azores and Canary Islands. But seventeen are recorded from Seville, while there are many Biscayans. (See Guillemard, ut supra, pp. 326–329.) The registers of men as given by Navarrete (Col. de viages, iv, pp. 12–26) are as follows.

Trinidad

(Flagship of 110 tons)

Capacity Name Nationality Chief captain Hernando de Magallanes Portuguese, citizen of the fleet of Oporto Pilot of his Esteban Gomez Portuguese Highness Notary Leon de Espeleta Master Juan Bautista de Cestre, on the Punzorol [1] Genoese shore Alguacil [2] Gonzalo Gomez de Espinosa Espinosa Contramaestre Francisco Albo [3] Axio, citizen of Rodas Surgeon Juan de Morales [4] Sevilla Barber Marcos de Bayas San Lucar de Alpechin Carpenter Master Antonio Genoese Steward Cristóbal Ros or Rodriguez Lepe Calker Felipe [5] Genoese, native of Reco Cooper Francisco Martin Sevilla Sailor Francisco de Espinosa De le Brizuela Sailor Ginés de Mafra Jerez Sailor Leon Pancaldo [6] Saona, in Génova Sailor Juan Ginovés [7] San Remó Sailor Francisco Piora Saona Sailor Martin Ginovés Cestre Sailor Anton Hernandez Huelva Colmenero Sailor Anton Ros, or Rodriguez Huelva Sailor Bartolomé Sanchez Huelva Sailor Tomas de Natia Cestre Sailor Diego Martin Huelva Sailor Domingo de Urrutia [8] Lequeitio Sailor Francisco Martin Huelva Sailor Juan Rodriguez Sevilla Gunner Master Andres, chief Bristol, in England gunner Gunner Juan Bautista Mompeller Gunner Guillermo Tañegui Lila de Groya Common seaman Antonio de Goa Loró Common seaman Anton de Noya [9] Noya in Galicia Common seaman Francisco de Ayamonte Ayamonte Common seaman Juan de Santandres [10] Cueto Common seaman Blas de Toledo [11] Almunia in Aragon Common seaman Anton [12] Black Common seaman Basco Gomez Gallego Portuguese Common seaman Juan Gallego Pontevedra Common seaman Luis de Beas [13] Beas in Galicia Common seaman Juan de Grijol Grijol in Portugal Boy Gutierrez Asturian from Villasevil Boy Juan Genovés [14] A port on the Genoese shore Boy Andres de la Cruz [15] Sevilla

Servants of the captain and sobresalientes [16]

Servant Cristóbal Rabelo Portuguese, native of Oporto Sobresaliente Joan Miñez or Martinez Sevilla Servant Fernando Portogues [17] Portuguese, native of Oporto Sobresaliente Antonio Lombardo [18] Lombardía Peti-Joan French, native of Angeo [i.e., Anjou] Gonzalo Rodriguez Portuguese Diego Sanchez Barrasa Sevilla Luis Alonso, Portuguese, citizen of de Gois [19] Ayamonte Duarte Barbosa Portuguese Albaro de la Mezquita Portuguese Servant Nuño Portuguese, native of Montemayor Nuevo Servant Diego San Lucar Captain’s boy Francisco [20] Portuguese, native of Estremiz Idem Jorge Morisco Lombardía Chaplain Pedro de Balderrama Ecija Merino Alberto [21] Merino Cordova Servant of the Pero Gomez Hornilla la Prieta alguacil Armorer Pero Sanchez [22] Sevilla Interpreter, a Henrique de Malaca [23] Malaca servant Lázaro de Torres Aracena

San Antonio

(120 tons)

Capacity Name Nationality Captain and Juan de Cartagena supervisor of the fleet Accountant Antonio de Coca Notary Hierónimo Guerra His Majesty’s pilot Andres de San Martin Pilot of his Juan Rodriguez de Mafra Highness Master Juan de Elorriaga [24] Guipúzcoa Boatswain Diego Hernandez Sevilla Barber Pedro Olabarrieta [25] Bilbao Steward Juan Ortiz de Bilbao Gopegar [26] Calker Pedro de Bilbao Bilbao Carpenter Pedro de Sabtua Bermeo Calker Martin de Goytisolo Baquio Cooper Joan de Oviedo Sevilla Sailor Sebastian de Olarte Bilbao Sailor Lope de Uguarte Sailor Joanes de Segura Segura in Guipúzcoa Sailor Joan de Francia Ruan [i.e., Rouen] Sailor Jácome de Mecina Mesina Sailor Christóbal García From Palos Sailor Pero Hernandez Rivadesella Sailor Antonio Rodríguez, Sevilla Calderero [i.e., blacksmith] Sailor Hernando de From Moguer Morales [27] Sailor Francisco, Marinero Citizen of Huelva [i.e., a sailor] Sailor Francisco Ros, or From Huelva Rodriguez Sailor Pedro de Laredo Portogalete Sailor Simon de Asio Axio Gunner Master Jacques, chief From Tierra Lorena gunner [i.e., land of Lorraine] Gunner Rojer Dupict Monaym Gunner Joan Jorge Silvedrin Common seaman Luis, [28] Grumete Galicia [i.e., a common seaman] Common seaman Martin de Aguirre Arrigorriaga Common seaman Columbazo Bolonia [i.e., Bologna] Common seaman Lucas de Mecina Mesina Common seaman Lorencio Rodriguez From Moguer Common seaman Miguel Pravia, in Astúrias Common seaman Joanes de Irun Iranzo Irun Iranza in Guipúzcoa Common seaman Joan Ginoves Saona Common seaman Joan de Orue Munguia Common seaman Alonso del Puerto [29] Puerto de Santa María Boy Diego, son of Cristóbal From Palos Garcia Boy Diego, son of Juan Rodriguez de Mafra

Servants and sobresalientes

Chaplain Bernardo Calmeta Laytora in France Sobresaliente Joan de Chinchilla Murcia Sobresaliente Anton de Escobar Talavera Sobresaliente Francisco de Angulo Moron Servant to the captain Francisco de Molino Baeza Servant to the captain Roque Pelea Salamanca Servant to the captain Rodrigo Nieto, a Orense Galician Servant to the captain Alonso del Rio Búrgos Servant to the captain Pedro de Balpuesta Citizen of Búrgos Servant to the captain Joan de Leon Leon Servant to the captain Gutierre de Tuñon [30] Tunon in Astúrias Servant to the captain Joan de Sagredo, [31] Revenga, in the merino land of Búrgos Servant to the captain Joan de Minchaca, a Bilbao crossbowman Captain’s servant Antonio Hernandez; Ayamonte interpreter Servant to the Juan Gomez de Espinosa Espinosa accountant Servant to the Pedro de Urrea Brujas accountant

Concepcion

(90 tons)

Captain Gaspar de Quesada Notary Sancho de Heredia Pilot of his Joan Lopez Caraballo Portuguese Highness Master Joan Sebastian de Elcano [32] Guetaria Boatswain Joan de Acurio Bermeo Barber Hernando de Bustamente [33] Mérida Calker Antonio de Basazabal [34] Bermeo Carpenter Domingo de Iraza [35] Deva Steward Joan de Campos Alcalá de Henares Cooper Pero Perez Sevilla Sailor Francisco Rodriguez [36] Sevilla Sailor Francisco Ruiz Moguer Sailor Mateo de Gorfo [37] Gorfo Sailor Joan Rodriguez [38] Huelva Sailor Sebastian Garcia [39] Huelva Sailor Gomez Hernandez Huelva Sailor Lorenzo de Iruna [40] Socavila in Guipúzcoa Sailor Joan Rodriguez, [41] el sordo Sevilla [i.e., the deaf man] Sailor Joan de Aguírre Bermeo Sailor Joan de Ortega Cifuentes Gunner Hans Vargue, [42] chief German gunner Gunner Master Pedro Bruselas Gunner Roldan de Argote Flandes, in Brujas Common seaman Joan de Olivar [43] Common seaman Guillermo de Lole [44] Common seaman Cristóbal de Costa [45] Jerez Common seaman Guillen Galvey Common seaman Gonzalo de Vigo Vigo Common seaman Pedro de Muguertegui Muguertegui Common seaman Martin de Isaurraga Bermeo Common seaman Rodrigo Macias Sevilla Common seaman Joan Navarro [46] Pamplona Common seaman Joanes de Tuy Boy Juanillo [47] Galbey Boy Pedro de Churdurza [48] Bermeo

Sobresalientes

Captain’s servant Luis del Molino Baeza Captain’s servant Antonio Fernandez Portuguese, of Sevilla Captain’s servant Alonso Coto [49] Genoese Captain’s servant Francisco Diaz de Madrid Madrid Merino Martin de Judicibus Genoese Juan de Silva Isla Graciosa, in Azores Blacksmith Gonzalo Hernandez Santa María del Puerto Martin de Magallayns Portuguese, of Lisboa Joan de la Torre Almonaster, a boundary of Sevilla

Victoria

(85 tons)

Captain and Luis de Mendoza treasurer of fleet Pilot of his Basco Gallego Portuguese Highness Notary Martin Mendez Citizen of Sevilla Master Anton Salomon Trápana in Sicilia Boatswain Miguel de Rodas Rodas Alguacil Diego de Peralta Peralta in Navarra Steward Alonso Gonzales Portuguese Calker Simon de la Rochela From La Rochela Carpenter Martin de Griate [50] From Deva Sailor Miguel Benesciano Bresá Sailor Diego Gallego Bayona in Galicia Sailor Lope Navarro Tudela Sailor Nicolas Ginoves Génova Sailor Nicolao de Nápoles Nápoles de Romanía Sailor Miguel Sanchez Rodas Sailor Nicolao de Capua Capua Sailor Benito Genovés Arvenga Sailor Felipe de Rodas Rodas Sailor Esteban Villon [51] Troya Sailor Joan Griego Nápoles de Romanía Gunner Jorge Aleman [i.e., From Estric the German], chief gunner Gunner Filiberto de Toriana Torres [52] Gunner Hans, a German [53] Agan Common seaman Joanico, [54] a Somorostro Viscayan Common seaman Joan de Arratia [55] Bilbao Common seaman Ochote [56] Bilbao Common seaman Martin de Ayamonte Common seaman Pedro de Tolosa Tolosa in Guipúzcoa Common seaman Sebastian Ortiz Gelver Common seaman Antonio Baresa in Génova Common seaman Bernal Mahuri [57] Narbona Common seaman Rodrigo Gallego [i.e., Coruña a Galician] Common seaman Domingo Portogues Coimbra [i.e., a Portuguese] Boy Juan de Zuvileta, the Baracaldo son of Basco Gallego

Sobresalientes

The captain’s Francisco Carvajal Salamanca servant Captain’s servant Joan Martin [58] Aguilar de Campo Captain’s servant Simon de Burgos Portuguese Captain’s servant Bartolomé de Saldaña Palos Blacksmith Gonzalo Rodriguez Blacksmith Pero Garcia de Ciudad Real Herrero [59] Blacksmith Joan Villalon Antequera Blacksmith Alonso de Mora, or Mora, in Portugal de Ebora [60] Cooper Joan de Córdoba Sanlúcar Cooper Diego Diaz Sanlúcar

Santiago

(75 tons)

Captain and pilot Joan Serrano Citizen of Sevilla of his Highness Notary Antonio de Costa Master Baltasar Ginoves Ribera de Génova [i.e., the Genoese shore] Boatswain Bartolomé Prior [61] San Malo Steward Gaspar Diaz Isla Graciosa, in the Azores Calker Joan García Génova Carpenter Ripart [62] Bruz in Normandia [i.e., Normandy] Sailor Antonio Flamenco [i.e., Enveres a Fleming] Sailor Luis Martinez Huelva Sailor Bartolomé García Palos Sailor Joan García Palos Sailor Agustin Saona Sailor Bocacio Alfonso [63] Bollullos Sailor Pedro Gascon [64] Burdeos [i.e., [i.e., a Gascon] Bordeaux] Sailor Domingo [65] Sailor Diego García de Trigueros Trigueros Gunner Lorenzo Corrat Talesa in Normandia [i.e., Normandy] Gunner Joan Macia [66] Troya Common seaman Pedro Diaz [67] Huelva Common seaman Antonio Hernandez [68] Palos Common seaman Juan, [69] a negro Common seaman Joan Breton [i.e., a Cruesic in Bretaña Breton] [i.e., Brittany] Common seaman Pedro Bello [70] Palos Common seaman Hierónimo Garcia [71] Sevilla Common seaman Pero Arnaot Horrai Common seaman Pero Garcia Trigueros Boy Joan Flamenco [i.e., a Enveres Fleming] Boy Francisco Paxe [72]

Sobresalientes

Merino Joan de Aroche Aroche, boundary of Sevilla
Martin Barrena Villafranco in Guipúzcoa
Hernan Lorenzo Aroche

The total number of men for the ships as above given is 235. Navarrete made his list from the list conserved in Archivo general de Indias, and notes of Juan Bautista Muñoz, and various other sources. The obstacles in the way of a correct register were the abbreviation of names and places, the custom prevalent of naming people from their native town or province, and the fact that the various registers were made between 1519 and 1525. From some of these registers, it appears that the following men were also in the fleet.

Capacity Name Nationality Carpenter Aroca Viscayan Steward Blas Alfonso Portuguese Calker Juan Gutierrez Maestre Pedro [73] Sailor Bautista Genovés Génova Common seaman Perucho de Bermeo Common seaman Domingo Alvarez Common seaman Domingo Gonzalez Common seaman Domingo de Zubillan [74] Portuguese Common seaman Andres Blanco Common seaman Antonio Gomez Axio Common seaman Juan Portugués [i.e., a Portuguese] Common seaman Juan Bras Common seaman Gonzalo Gallego Common seaman Rodrigo de Hurrira Sebastian Portugués [i.e., a Portuguese] Juan de Ircepais

Sobresalientes

Secular priest Pero Sanchez de Reina
Licentiate Morales
Hernando Rodriguez
Hartiga
Diugurria
Soldier Diego Arias Sanlúcar
Blacksmith Juan Hernandez Triana
Servant of Luis Hernando de Aguilar
de Mendoza
The negro of the pilot Juan
Carballo

In addition there were probably others, this list being still three short of Guillemard’s figures, 268. Harrisse (Disc. of N. Amer., London and Paris, 1892, pp. 714 et seq.) gives a partial list.

[27] The Moorish name of Guadalquivir (from Arabic Wâd-al-Kebir, “the great river”), superseded the Roman name of Bætis. The Romans formed all Southern Spain into one province called Bætica after the name of the Bætis. By the town Gioan dal Farax is meant San Juan de Aznalfarache (from Moorish Hisn al-Faradj). Its Gothic name was Osset and its Roman name Julia Constantia. It is a favorite resort of the inhabitants of Sevilla. Coría was once a Roman potters’ town and is still celebrated for its jars. San Lúcar de Barrameda was named in honor of St. Luke. It was captured from the Moors in 1264 and granted to the father of Guzman el Bueno. It attained importance after the discovery of America because of its good harbor. The house of Medina-Sidonia was founded by Alfonso Pérez de Guzman, a famous captain.

[28] The original of this passage is obscure. The distance given (ten leagues; and both MS. 5,650 and Eden agree substantially with it) is far too short for the distance between San Lucar and Cape St. Vincent, which is over one hundred miles. Pigafetta may have forgotten the actual distance, or it may have been an error of his amanuensis. It is possible to translate as follows: “which lies in 37 degrees of latitude, [that parallel being] x leguas from the said port;” for “longui” may be taken as agreeing with “gradi.” In all rendering of distances, the Spanish form will be used in preference to the Italian; and the same will apply to the names of Spanish coins.

[29] MS. 5,650 reads: “And after passing many small villages along the said river, we at last reached a chateau belonging to the duke of Medinacidonia, and called Sainct Lucar, where there is a port with an entrance into the Ocean Sea. One enters that port by the east wind, and leaves by the west. Nearby is the cape of Sainct Vincent, which, according to cosmography, lies in a latitude of thirty-seven degrees at a distance of twenty miles from the said port. From the said city [of Sevilla] to the said port by the river abovesaid, the distance is thirty-five or forty miles.” This passage might be cited as a proof that Pigafetta did not translate or write the French version, but that the work was done by another, who takes various liberties with his original.

[30] MS. 5,650 reads: “furnish the fleet.”

[31] Ninguna in original, a Spanish word.

[32] MS. 5,650 adds: “otherwise called ‘labeiche.’” Labech (Italian libeccio) is simply a name for the southwest wind. This is another instance in which the French adapter adds an explanation to the Italian, thus explaining the Italian term garbino, “southwest.”

[33] MS. 5,650 reads wrongly: “sixteenth.” The so-called Genoese pilot (the author of the “Roteiro,” by which name his account will be hereafter designated, and concerning whom, see Guillemard’s Magellan, p. 145, and Mosto, p. 32, and note 4) gives the date of departure as September 21 (with which Barros agrees) and the arrival at Tenerife as the twenty-ninth (see Stanley, p. 1). Peter Martyr, Gomara, and Oviedo agree with Pigafetta, while Castanheda makes the departure in January, 1520. Hughes observes that if one keep in mind the circumstance that the day of the arrival coincided with the day dedicated by the Church to St. Michael, the date September 29 seems more admissible. However, one may reconcile the two dates of the arrival by observing that the ships stopped at Tenerife until October 2; while Herrera says that the ships fetched Montaña Roja (the Monte rosso of the text) on September 29. See Mosto, p. 53, notes 4 and 5. It should be noted that Gomara and Oviedo are not entirely trustworthy authorities, and that many times they have simply copied from authorities, such as Maximilianus Transylvanus, who is not always to be relied upon.

[34] The Canaries were known to the ancients under the names of Islands of the Blest, Fortunate Islands, and the Hesperides. The Moors knew of them under the name of Islands of Khaledat, but had no practical acquaintance with them. In the fourteenth century these islands began to be known to Europeans, especially through the Portuguese. In 1402, the Frenchman Jean de Bethencourt went there, and shortly after began their conquest under the auspices of the crown of Castile. In consequence of the settlements made by Bethencourt, the islands were definitely ceded to Spain in 1481 (see Birch’s Alboquerque, London, 1875–1884, Hakluyt Society Publications, ii, p. vi). The inhabitants of the islands were known as Guanches or Guanchinet, the latter meaning “men of Tenerife.” The inhabitants of this island, holding out longer than the others, were not subdued until 1496. See also Conquest of Canaries (London, 1877); and History and Description of Africa (London, 1896), i, pp. 99–101: both publications of the Hakluyt Society. The island of Tenerife was formerly called Nivana and by some the Island of Hell. Like all the other islands of the Canaries it is volcanic in formation, and its peak, the Teyde, is one of the largest volcanic cones known. Its latitude is 28° 15′.

[35] Guillemard conjectures that this is Punta Roxa, located at the south end of Tenerife.

[36] MS. 5,650 adds: “which is a substance needed by ships.” Herrera says that they waited three days at the port awaiting a caravel that was laden with pitch for the fleet (Mosto, p. 53, note 8).

[37] MS. 5,650 reads: “water coming from spring or river.”

[38] Eden (p. 250) adds to this account which he greatly abridges: “The lyke thynge is alſo ſcene in the Iland of ſaynt Thomas, lyinge directly vnder the Equinoctiall lyne.” Of this island of Hierro, Pory (History and description of Africa, Hakluyt Society edition, p. 100) says: “Hierro hath neither spring nor well, but is miraculously furnished with water by a cloud which over-spreadeth a tree, from whence distilleth so much moisture, as sufficeth both for men and cattel. This cloud ariseth an hower or two before the sunne, and is dissolued two howers after sunne rising.” This is an old story and is related by Pliny and founded upon fact “for both in Madeira and the Canaries the laurel and other heavy-foliaged evergreens condense abundant water from the daily mists” (Guillemard’s Magellan, p. 149). Gregorio Chil y Naranio (Estudios históricos ... de las islas Canarias, 1879) believes Pigafetta means here the island of Palma, and that the first navigators visited only the coast and so did not see the lake in the interior (Mosto, p. 53, note 9).

[39] MS. 5,650 adds: “which the sailors of the east call ‘Cyroc’” This is the Italian sirocco, which is the name for the southeast wind instead of the south. Herrera says they left the port October 2 (Mosto, p. 54, note 2).

[40] Eden (p. 250) reads incorrectly: “In this coaſt they had no maner of contrary wynds but a great calme and fayre wether for the ſpace of three ſcore and tenne dayes, in the which they came vnder the Equinoctiall lyne.”

[41] MS. 5,650 adds: “and of those persons who have sailed there often.”

[42] MS. 5,650 reads: “And in order that our ships might not be wrecked or broach to (which often happens when the squalls come together).”

[43] This last phrase, as well as the two following sentences are missing in MS. 5,650. The third sentence following begins: “During the calm weather, large fish called tiburoni,” etc. The word tiburoni, “sharks” is from the Spanish tiburon, which comes from the French tibéron (tiburin, tiburon).—Echagaray’s Diccionario Etimológico (Madrid, 1889).

[44] MS. 5,650 reads: “The said fish are caught by means of a contrivance which sailors call ‘hame’ which is an iron fishhook.” Hame (ain) is the French form of the Italian Amo, meaning “fishhook.”

[45] MS. 5,650 adds: “because of the bad weather.”

[46] MS. 5,650 reads “a quarter of an hour,” and the same duration of time is given by Eden (p. 250).

[47] MS. 5,650 adds: “It is to be noted that whenever that fire that represents the said Saint Anselme ascends and descends the mast of a ship while in a storm at sea, that the said ship is never wrecked.” Herrera (cited by Mosto, p. 54, note 5) says that St. Elmo appeared on the masthead with a lighted candle and sometimes two during the storms encountered along the coasts of Guinea, and that the sailors were greatly comforted thereby, and saluted the saint as is the custom of seamen. When he appeared, he remained a quarter of an hour; and at his departure a great flash of light occurred which blinded all the men. Eden (p. 250) calls it the fire of St. Helen. Continuing, Eden injects into his abridgment of the first circumnavigation a description of St. Elmo’s fire by Hieronimus Cardanus in the second book of De Subtilitate. He says: “Of the kynde of trewe fyer, is the fyer baule or ſtarre commonly cauled ſaynt Helen which is ſumtyme ſeene abowt the maſtes of ſhyppes, beinge of ſuche fyery nature that it ſumetyme melteth braſen veſſels, and is a token of drownyng, foraſmuch as this chaunceth only in great tempeſtes. For the vapoure or exhalation whereof this fyre is engendered, can not bee dryven togyther or compacte in forme of fyre, but of a groſe vapoure and by a great poure of wynde, and is therfore a token of imminent perell.” The fires called after St. Peter and St. Nicholas are on the contrary, he says, good omens, and are generally to be seen on the cables, after a storm. Being little and swift moving they can do no damage as they could do if massed and of slow movement. St. Elmo’s fire is the popular name for the atmospheric electricity that gathers in the form of a star or brush about the masthead of ships and on the rigging. It was sometimes accompanied by a hissing noise and was considered as a good omen by sailors. The Greeks who observed this phenomenon wove it into the Castor and Pollux myth; and the French edition of Pigafetta’s relation published by Simon de Colines has the passage (see Mosto, p. 54): “They saw the fires called Sainct Eline and Sainct Nicolas like blazing torches (whom the ancients called Castor and Pollux).” “Elmo” is said by some to be a corruption of “Helena,” the sister of Castor and Pollux, and the name “Hellene” or “Helen” was often given to the fire when only one light was visible. It is, however, more probably derived from St. Elmo, bishop of Formine who died about 304, and who is invoked by sailors on the Mediterranean. The phenomenon is also called fire of “St. Elias,” “St. Clara,” “St. Nicolas,” and “composite,” “composant,” and “corposant (i.e., corpus sanctum).”

[48] The second bird mentioned is the stormy petrel (of the family Laridæ and genus Thalassidroma), which is found along all the Atlantic coasts and on some of the Pacific. The tale of the text was current among sailors (see Wilkes, U. S. Exploring Expedition, viii, pp. 402, 403). The cagassela (“cagaselo” in MS. 5,650) is the Stercorarius parasiticus, called also the jaeger, and by sailors “boatswain,” “teaser,” and “dung-hunter.” The last name arose from the belief, long held even by scientists, that this bird fed on the dung of gulls and terns. In reality it pursues the latter birds and compels them to disgorge the fish that they have swallowed. The flying-fish is either a species of Exocœtus, or the Scomberesox saurus of Europe and America, both of which feed in large schools and jump from the water to escape their enemies. See Riverside Natural History (Boston and New York).

[49] MS. 5,650 adds: “which is the collateral wind between the south and the west;” and below reads: “twenty-four and one-half degrees;” while Eden (p. 250) reads: “xxii degrees and a halfe.”

[50] Verzino, the etymology of which is unknown (see Varthema’s Travels, Hakluyt Society edition, p. lxxviii, note, and 205 note), is the Italian name for brazil-wood, from which Brazil, which was first visited by Vicente Pinzon, Diego Lope, Pedro Alvares Cabral, and Amerigo Vespucci, was named. The first names of the country were Vera Cruz and Santa Cruz. Cape Santo Agostinho, mentioned below, lies in 8° 21´ south latitude, and is the most eastern headland of South America. It was the first land of that continent to be discovered, being sighted at least as early as 1500 by Pinzon. Before sighting the above cape, Magalhães arrested Juan de Cartagena for insubordination and gave the command of the “San Antonio” to Antonio de Coca (see Guillemard’s Magellan, p. 153). Albo’s log begins slightly before the sighting of the point, his first entry being November 29. See Burton’s “Introduction” in his Captivity of Hans Stade (Hakluyt Society publications, London, 1874).

[51] MS. 5,650 reads: “veal.” The anta is the tapir, once very plentiful in South America, but now rare in the well civilized districts. See Burton’s Captivity of Hans Stade, p. viii. Albo, however, seems to designate the llama by this name, for he says when speaking of the stay at Bay St. Julian: “and many Indians came there, who are clad in certain skins of antas, which resemble camels without the hump.” (Navarrete, Col. de viages, iv, p. 214).

[52] Stanley mistranslates the French phrase of MS. 5,650 et est de la longueur dun naveau, “and is of the length of a shuttle,” confusing naveau with navette, “shuttle.” Naveau here is equivalent to navet, “turnip” or navette, “rape,” a plant of the turnip class, as is proved by the Italian.

[53] MS. 5,650 reads: “And for a king of cards, of the kind which are used to play with in Italy, they gave me five fowls.” The four suits of Italian playing cards are called spade (“swords”), bastoni (“clubs”), danari (literally: “money;” “diamonds”), and coppe (“cups”).

[54] MS. 5,650 reads: “five.”

[55] MS. 5,650 adds: “which is an astrological term. That zenith is a point in the sky, according to astrologers, but only in the imagination, and is in a straight line over our head, as can be seen by the treatise of the sphere, and in Aristotle, in the first book De caelo et mondo.” By the treatise of the sphere is evidently meant the treatise of Pigafetta which follows his relation, and which is not reproduced here as being outside the scope of the present work. In the flyleaf of the Italian original is the following: “Notices concerning the new world, with the charts of the countries discovered, written by Antonio Pigafeta, Venetian and knight of Rodi. At the end are added some rules for finding the longitude and latitude of places east and west.” In the Italian MS. this treatise occupies the last twelve folios. Stanley translates Amoretti’s version of the Treatise, which is greatly abridged. Mosto (p. 35) conjectures that the treatise is the fruits of his three-years’ experience during the expedition.

[56] Albo (Navarrete, iv, p. 210) says that the fleet continued to coast southwest from November 29 until arriving at St. Lucy’s bay on December 13 (St. Lucy’s day). Of the coast he says: “The mountains are peaked and have many reefs about them. There are many rivers and ports in the said Brasil and San Tomé, and some six leguas down the coast there are many bays running two leguas into the land. But the coast runs northeast and southwest to Cape Frio, and has many islands and rivers. Cape Frio is a very large river.... At the entrance of the said bay is a very large bay, and at the mouth a very low island, and inside it spreads out extensively and has many ports ... and is called the bay of Santa Lucía.... In the said bay, one finds a well-disposed and numerous race, who go naked and trade for fishhooks, mirrors, and hawk’s bells with food.... We entered that place on the very day of St. Lucy, and stayed there until the day of St. John, namely, the twenty-seventh of the said month of December. On that day we went and took our course west southwest, and found seven islands. To the right of them is a bay called the bay of Los Reyes [i.e., the Kings] which has a good entrance.” The “Roteiro” (Stanley, p. 1) says: “as soon as they sighted the other coast of Brazil, he steered to the south-east [sic] along the coast as far as Cabo-frio, which is in twenty-three degrees south latitude; and from this cape he steered to the west, a matter of thirty leagues, to make the Rio de Janeiro, which is in the same latitude as Cabo-frio, and they entered the said river on the day of St. Lucy, which was the 13th December, in which place they took in wood, and they remained there until the first octave of Christmas, which was the 26th of December of the same year.” Brito (Navarrete, iv, p. 306) says: “Setting sail thence [i.e., from Tenerife], the first land sighted was the cape of the shoals of Ambas. They descended the coast as far as the river called Janeiro, where they stayed 15 or 16 days.”

[57] Eden (p. 251) says: “bygger then all Spayne, Portugale, Fraunce, and Italie.”

[58] MS. 5,650 adds: “more like beasts than anything else.”

[59] MS. 5,650 reads: “And some of those people live to the age of one hundred, one hundred and twenty, one hundred and forty, or more.” Eden (p. 251) says: “C.xx. and C.xl. yeares.” For description of the Brazil Indians, and their manners and customs, see Captivity of Hans Stade (Hakluyt Society edition), pp. 117–169.

[60] Wrongly transcribed by Stanley as “boy.”

[61] MS. 5,650 reads: “You must know that a family of one hundred persons, who make a great racket, lives in each of those houses called boii.” One of these houses (called Oca, in Tupi) is described by Wilson (Transactions of Ethnological Society, new series, vol. i) as being “60 or 70 feet long, divided into rooms for several families by rush mats, and provided with a central fire whose smoke passed through the roof. Some of them contained 200 head.” See Burton’s Captivity of Hans Stade, pp. 59, 60, note. The Indians described by Pigafetta are probably the Tamoyos of the Tupi or Guarani stock (Mosto, p. 56, note 1; see also Burton, ut supra, pp. lxi-lxxvi).

[62] Amoretti makes this passage read: “Their boats, called canoes, are hollowed out from the single trunk of a huge tree;” understanding maschize as massiccio “huge.” Mosto prefers to read maschize as two words ma schize (notwithstanding that it is one word in the original), for ma schiacciate, “but flattened.” Accepting this, the translation would be: “They have boats made from one single tree, only flattened.” Amoretti’s interpretation is to be preferred.

[63] MS. 5,650 reads: “and one would believe them to be enemies from hell.”

[64] MS. 5,650 adds: “of the said country of Verzin.”

[65] MS. 5,650 reads: “daily.” Amerigo Vespucci says in a letter (Mosto, p. 55, note 6): “I saw human flesh salted and suspended from the beams, in the same way as we are wont to hang up bacon and swine’s flesh.” See Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents (Cleveland reissue), for instances of cannibalism among the North American Indians. See also Captivity of Hans Stade (Hakluyt Society edition), pp. 151, 155–159; and Dominguez’s Conquest of the River Plate (Hakluyt Society publications, London, 1891), pp. 129, 130.

[66] For Carvagio, as in MS. 5,650, and later in the Italian; an error of the amanuensis. This was João Carvalho (the Juan Lopez Caraballo of the register—see note 26, ante). Carvalho was a Portuguese, of none too scrupulous morals, even in his age, as appears later in Pigafetta’s narrative. After the fatal banquet in the island of Cebú, he became the leader of the remaining men of the fleet, but was later deposed (see post, note 441). He remained behind with the ill-fated “Trinidad,” and never returned to Europe. His son, borne to him by a native woman of Brazil, was left behind in Borneo. See Stanley, pp. 252–255, for Correa’s account of the actions of Carvalho after the death of Magalhães.

[67] The early French edition and the Italian edition of 1536 both include the women and children.—Stanley.

[68] It is a widespread (perhaps universal) characteristic of the American Indian to pull out the hair of the body. See Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents (Cleveland reissue).

[69] Eden (p. 45), defines gatti mammoni as monkeys. Monkeys of the genus Cebus are probably meant (Mosto, p. 55, note 8).

[70] MS. 5,650 reads: “fresh cheese.” Pigafetta may here refer to the bread made from the casava or manioc root. See Burton’s Captivity of Hans Stade, pp. 130–132, for a description of the method of preparing this root.

[71] The swine mentioned by Pigafetta is the Tayasu (Tagaçu), or peccari (Dicotyles torquatus), which has quills resembling those of the porcupine, and is generally of a whitish color. It is tailless and very fierce and difficult to domesticate. The flesh was eaten; and the teeth were worn by some of the chiefs as necklaces. Burton (ut supra), p. 160, note.

[72] The Platalea ajaja or rosy spoonbill, belonging to the family of the Plataleidæ, whose habitat extends through all of tropical and subtropical America, including the West Indies, south to the Falkland Islands, Patagonia and Chile, and north to the southern part of the United States.

[73] Hans Stade (Burton, ut supra) testifies to the chastity of the people of Eastern Brazil among whom he lived as a prisoner.

[74] MS. 5,650 reads: “The women attend to the outside affairs, and carry everything necessary for their husband’s food in small panniers on the head or fastened to the head.”

[75] MS. 5,650 adds: “and compassion.”

[76] MS. 5,650 reads: “When we departed they gave us a very great quantity of verzin;” and adds: “That is a color which comes from trees which grow in the said country, and so abundantly, that the country is called Verzin from it.”

[77] MS. adds: “which was a piece of great simplicity.”

[78] This sentence is preceded by the following in MS. 5,650: “Besides the abovesaid which proclaims their simplicity, the people of the above place showed us another very simple thing.”