Chapter IX: Part 9

[79] This passage in Stanley reads as follows: “A beautiful young girl came one day inside the ship of our captain, where I was, and did not come except to seek for her luck: however, she directed her looks to the cabin of the master, and saw a nail, of a finger’s length, and went and took it as something valuable and new, and hid it in her hair, for otherwise she would not have been able to conceal it, because she was naked, and, bending forwards, she went away; and the captain and I saw this mystery.” The matter between the words “length” and “naked” is taken from MS. 24,224 (wrongly declared by Stanley to be the copy of his travels presented to the regent Louise by Pigafetta, the conclusion being based on the fact that some of the details are softened down), as Stanley considered the incident as told in MS. 5,650, the Italian MS. and the first French edition, as unfit for publication. Stanley cites the following (in the original) from the edition of 1536 which omits the above story: “At the first land at which we stopped, some female slaves whom we had brought in the ships from other countries and who were heavy with child, were taken with the pains of childbirth. Consequently, they went alone out of the ships, went ashore, and after having given birth, returned immediately to the ships with their infants in their arms.” He also cites the following passage from the first French printed edition, which also narrates the above story of the girl: “At the first coast that we passed, some slave women gave birth. When they were in travail, they left the boat, after which they immediately returned, and nursed their children.” Stanley adds that this story of the slave women is improbable, as women were not allowed to come aboard ship.

[80] MS. 5,650 gives the words of the Brazil as follows: “maiz, huy, pinda, taesse, chignap, pirame, itenmaraca, tum maraghatom.” Amoretti (see Stanley’s edition, p. 48) reads tacse as tarse and itanmaraca as Hanmaraca. Stanley mistranslates the French forcette (“scissors”) as “fork.”

[81] Eden says (p. 251): “xxxiiii. degree and a halfe toward the pole Antartike.”

[82] MS. 5,650 reads: “and to ask whether the others might come.”

[83] MS. 5,650 reads: “That place was formerly called Cape Saincte Marye and it was thought that one could pass thence to the sea of Sur, that is to say the South Sea, but it has not been ascertained that any ships have ever discovered anything farther on.” Eden (p. 251) reads: “Abowt the mouth of this ryuer are ſeven ilandes, in the byggeſt whereof, they founde certeyne precious ſtones, and cauled it the cape of Saynt Marie. The Spanyardes thought that by this ryuer they might haue paſſed into the ſouth ſea. But they were deceaued in theyr opinion. For there was none other paſſage than by the ryuer which is xvii. leagues large in the mouth.” This river was the Rio de la Plata. The “Roteiro” (Stanley, p. 2) says that Magalhães left Rio de Janeiro December 26, proceeding to the cape Santa María and the river which was called St. Christopher. There they remained until February 2, 1520. Albo (Navarrete, iv, p. 211) also mentions the river which he calls the “river of Solís.” The ships sent to look for a strait through the river were gone two days, and a careful exploration of the mouth of the river was made. Brito (Navarrete, iv, pp. 306, 307) says: “They left that place [i.e., Rio de Janeiro] and coasted along shore until they reached the river called Solís, where Fernando Magallanes thought that he could find a strait. They stayed there forty days. Magallanes ordered the ship ‘Santiago’ to sail forward for about 50 leguas to see whether there was any passage. Not finding a passage, he crossed the river which is about 25 leguas wide and found the [opposite] coast which runs northeast and southwest.” For early history of this region, see Dominguez’s Conquest of the River Plata.

[84] Juan Diaz de Solis, a famous Spanish navigator, was born at Lebrixa, in 1470. He is said, although without sufficient authority, to have discovered Yucatan with Pinzon in 1506. He was appointed chief pilot of Spain after the death of Amerigo Vespucci in 1512. In October, 1515, he sailed in command of an expedition in search of a southwest passage to India. He discovered Rio de la Plata which he explored as far as the region of the Charrua tribe, by whom he and some of his men were killed and eaten before September, 1516. The remnant of the expedition was conducted back to Spain by his brother-in-law.

[85] Eden adds (p. 251): “which ſum thynke to bee thoſe fyſſhes that wee caule pikes.” Below, the sea-wolf is described as having a head “of golden coloure.” They were probably some species of the Otariidæ or fur-seals (Giullemard, p. 160, note). The “geese” were penguins. Albo, Herrera, and others, also mention the “sea-wolves and ducks.” Kohl (Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde, xi, 362) says that this bay where the ships were laden with the seals and penguins is probably Desvelos Bay, but it is more probably Puerto Deseado (“Port Desire;” see Mosto, p. 57, note 2). Drake also secured fresh provisions from these “sea-wolves,” calling the bay where he secured them “Seale Bay.” See World Encompassed (Hakluyt Society edition), pp. 54, 55.

[86] Port St. Julian. The “Roteiro” pilot (Stanley, p. 3) says that they reached it on March 31, 1520, and places it in 49° 20´ south latitude. Albo (Navarrete, iv, p. 214) says: “We went to a port called San Julian, where we entered the last day of March, and where we stayed until the day of St. Bartholomew. The said port lies in a latitude of 49 and two-thirds degrees. We pitched the ships in that port.” Other writers give slightly different locations (see Mosto, p. 57, note 5). Antonio Brito, the Portuguese, whose MS. is preserved in the Torre do Tombo at Lisbon, writes in 1523 to the king of Portugal certain news obtained from some of the men of the “Trinidad.” His information as might be expected, is at times faulty. Of Port St. Julian, he says: “They coasted along shore until they reached a river called San Juan where they wintered for four months.”

[87] MS. 5,650 adds: “jumping up and down.” The only reference made to the Patagonians by Albo is as follows: “Many Indians came there, who dress in certain skins of the anta, which resemble camels without the hump. They have certain bows made from cane, which are very small and resemble turkish bows. The arrows also resemble Turkish arrows, and are tipped with flint instead of iron. Those Indians are very prudent, swift runners, and very well-built and well-appearing men.” (Navarrete, iv, pp. 214, 215). Cf. with Pigafetta’s account that given by Maximilianus Transylvanus, in Vol. I, pp. 303–337.

[88] MS. 5,650 reads: “he began to marvel and to be afraid.”

[89] Guillemard, who follows the Amoretti edition, translates (p. 180) this passage: “His hair was short and colored white,” but this translation is borne out by neither the Italian MS. nor MS. 5,650. Guillemard presents a picture of a Patagonian, as does also Wilkes (Narrative of U. S. Exploring Expedition, 1838–1842), i, facing p. 95. The latter describes Indians, whom the officers of the expedition thought to be Patagonians, and who were taller than average Europeans, as follows: “They had good figures and pleasant looking countenances, low foreheads, and high cheekbones, with broad faces, the lower part projecting; their hair was course and cut short on the crown leaving a narrow border of hair hanging down; over this they wore a kind of cap or band of skin or woolen yarn. The front teeth of all of them were very much worn, more apparent, however, in the old than in the young. On one foot they wore a rude skin sandal. Many of them had their faces painted in red and black stripes, with clay, soot, and ashes. Their whole appearance, together with their inflamed and sore eyes, was filthy and disgusting.” They showed that they had had previous communication with white men. Their food was fish and shellfish, and they carried bows and arrows and had dogs. Brinton (American Race, New York, 1891) says that “The Patagonians call themselves Chonek or Tzoneca, or Inaken (men, people), and by their Pampean neighbors are referred to as Tehuel-Che, southerners.” Many of them are “from six to six feet four inches in height, and built in proportion. In color they are a reddish brown, and have aquiline noses and good foreheads.” Ramon Lista (Viage al pais de los Tehuel-Ches) gives the average height of the Patagonians as 1.854 m., hence the early accounts of their great stature are greatly exaggerated (Mosto, p. 57, note 6). See also the description of the Patagonians in the “Roteiro” (Stanley, p. 5); and World encompassed by Sir Francis Drake (Hakluyt Society edition), pp. 40, 56–61 (where the origin of the name “Patagonian” is wrongly given).

[90] The guanaco, a species of llama. See also Vol. II, p. 34, note 5*.

[91] Hence arose the name “Patagonians” or “men with big feet,” given by Magalhães, because of the awkward appearance of the feet in such coverings, which were stuffed with straw for greater warmth.

[92] The words “somewhat thicker than those of a lute” are lacking in MS. 5,650.

[93] This sentence is omitted by MS. 5,650.

[94] Eden (p. 251) says “two,” and following says that Magalhaes gave the giant “certeyne haukes belles and other great belles, with alſo a lookynge glaſſe, a combe, and a payre of beades of glaſſe.”

[95] MS. 5,650 adds: “on the face.”

[96] MS. 5,650 omits “face.”

[97] “For the smiths” is omitted by MS. 5,650.

[98] Maximilianus Transylvanus says that only one Patagonian was captured, but that he died shortly from self-starvation (Vol. I, pp. 314, 315). The “Roteiro” says (Stanley, p. 5) that three or four were captured, but all died except one, who went to Spain in the “San Antonio.” Pigafetta’s account, as given by an eyewitness, is to be preferred.

[99] MS. 5,650 reads: “for otherwise they could have caused some of our men trouble.” Below Stanley (p. 53) again mistranslates the French “forces” as “forks.”

[100] MS. 5,650 adds: “of malefactors,” and reads farther: “and their faces lighted up at seeing those manacles.”

[101] MS. 5,650 reads: “and they were grieved that they could not take the irons with their hands, for they were hindered by the other things that they were holding.” Eden (p. 252) says at the end of his account of the capture: “Being thus taken, they were immediately ſeperate and put in ſundry ſhyppes.”

[102] MS. 5,650 adds: “that is, the big devil.”

Arber in his introduction to The first three English books on America says that Shakespeare had access to The decades of the newe worlde of Eden, and created the character of Caliban (who invokes Setebos) in the Tempest from the description of the Patagonian giants. See also World encompassed by Sir Francis Drake (Hakluyt Society edition), p. 48, for mention of the god Settaboth.

[103] MS. 5,650 reads: “the wife of one of the giants who had remained behind in irons.”

[104] MS. 5,650 makes this plural.

[105] See ante, note 103.

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

[107] MS. 5,650 adds: “in their language.”

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

[109] MS. 5,650 reads “instead of taking medicine.” See Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents (Cleveland reissue) for examples of medicine and surgery as practiced by the North American Indians.

[110] MS. 5,650 reads “two feet or so.”

[111] MS. 5,650 reads “cut short and shaven like religious.” Hans Stade also notices the tonsure among the Indians who captured him (see Captivity of Hans Stade, Hakluyt Society edition, pp. 136–138, and note, from which it appears that this manner of wearing the hair, was practiced among many Tupi tribes).

[112] Stanley (p. 55) does not translate this sentence, but gives the original from MS. 5,650.

[113] In MS. 5,650 this sentence reads as follows: “They seem to be painted, and one of those enemies is taller than the others, and makes a greater noise and gives expression to greater joy than the others.”

[114] Mosto (p. 59) mistranscribes or misprints “Setebas.” Roncagli (Da punta arenas a Santo Cruz, in “Bollettino della Società geografica italiana,” 1884, p. 775) says that the Patagonians sacrificed to an evil spirit called “Wallichu.” Brinton, ut supra, p. 328, says: “They are not without some religious rites, and are accustomed to salute the new moon, and at the beginning of any solemn undertaking to puff the smoke of their pipes to the four cardinal points, just as did the Algonquins and Iroquois.”

[115] See ante, note 91. Stanley mistranscribes “Pataghoni” of MS. 5,650 as “Palaghom.”

[116] A reference to the gypsies who had made their appearance in Italy as early as 1422, where they practiced various deceptions upon the credulous people. The name “Cingani” or Zingari, as they are generally called in Italy, comes from the Greek word t>asigqanoi, by which they were called by Byzantine writers of the ix–xii centuries; the same name appearing also in slightly different forms in Turkey, Bulgaria, Roumania, Hungary, Bohemia, and Germany. Their ancestral home was probably in northwestern India, whence they emigrated in successive waves. In many countries extreme and harsh measures were taken against them, especially in Germany, where they had appeared as early as 1417. They were never allowed a foothold in France, but have become a significant part of the population in Russia, Hungary, and Spain. In the latter country, where they are called Gitános (Egyptians), in spite of many severe laws passed against them until the reign of Cárlos III, they continued, more fortunate than the Jews, to thrive. They are mentioned by Cervantes in his Don Quixote (pt. i, chap, xxx), but the name Gitáno had first appeared in a Spanish document of 1499, where their customs are described. The few in Italy have been allowed to remain, and those in the Slavic countries and England were generally treated kindly. Their language is Aryan and was highly inflected; and while they have been given many names by the nations among whom they have lived, their own appellation is “Rom” “the man.” See New International Encyclopedia (New York, 1903).

[117] MS. 5,650 reads: “capae;” but Stanley has mistranscribed “capac.”

[118] “Albo (Navarrete iv, p. 215), the “Roteiro” (Stanley, p. 4), Transylvanus and Oviedo (Mosto, p. 59, note 3) give the date of departure from Port San Julian August 24, 1520; but the second errs in giving 5½ instead of 4½ months for the period for which the fleet remained there. Peter Martyr places the date of departure as August 21. Castanheda, who gives the same date says that the name “St. Julian” or “of the ducks” was given to that bay which he calls a river. Barros gives the date of arrival as April 2, and says that the place was called “river of Saõ Julião.” See Mosto, ut supra.

[119] A portion of the passage relating to the attempted mutiny reads as follows in MS. 5,650: “However the treason was discovered, and as a consequence the treasurer was killed by a dagger and then quartered. Gaspar de Casada was beheaded and then quartered. The overseer trying shortly after to lead another mutiny, was banished together with a priest and set ashore on that land of Pathagonia.” The Italian MS. is badly confused, while the above is more in accordance with the facts, and shows the hand of the translator and adapter. Eden (p. 252) says of the attempted mutiny: “They remayned fyue monethes in this porte of Sainte Iulian, where certeyne of the vnder capitaynes conſpirynge the death of theyr general, were hanged and quartered: Amonge whom the treaſurer Luigo of Mendozza was one. Certeyne of the other conſpirators, he left in the ſayd land of Patogoni.” See the short account of the mutiny given by Transylvanus in Vol. I, p. 317, and the account given in the same volume, pp. 297, 299. The Roteiro (Stanley, p. 3) says that three of the ships revolted against Magalhães” saying that they intended to take him to Castile in arrest, as he was taking them all to destruction;” but Magalhães subdued the mutiny by the aid of the foreigners with him. Mendoza was killed by Espinosa the chief constable of the fleet, and Gaspar Quesada was beheaded and quartered. Alvaro de Mesquita, Magalhães’s cousin, is wrongly reported to have been given command of one of the ships of those killed, but the command of the “San Antonio” that had previously been given to Antonio de Coca, after Magalhães had deprived Cartagena of it, had been given him before the real outbreak of the mutiny.

The narrative of the mutiny as given by Navarrete (Col. de viages, iv, pp. 34–38) which was compiled mainly from documents presented in the same volume and from Herrera, is as follows:

“March 31, the eve of Palm Sunday, Magallanes entered the port of San Julian, where he intended to winter, and consequently ordered the rations to be served by measure. In view of that and of the barrenness and cold of the country, the men asked Magallanes by various arguments to increase the rations or turn back, since there was no hope of finding the end of that country or any strait. But Magallanes replied that he would either die or accomplish what he had promised; that the king had ordered the voyage which he was to accomplish; and that he had to sail until he found that land or some strait which must surely exist; that in regard to the food, they had no reason to complain, since that bay had an abundance of good fish, good water, many game birds, and quantities of wood, and that bread and wine had not failed them, nor would fail them if they would abide by the rule regarding rations. Among other observations, he exhorted and begged them not to be found wanting in the valorous spirit which the Castilian nation had manifested and showed daily in greater affairs; and offering them corresponding rewards in the king’s name. By such means did he quiet the men.

“April 1, Palm Sunday, Magallanes summoned all his captains, officers, and pilots to go ashore to hear mass and afterward to dine in his ship. Alvaro de la Mezquita, Antonio de Coca, and all the men went to hear mass. Louis de Mendoza, Gaspar de Quesada, and Juan de Cartagena (the latter because he was a prisoner in Quesada’s keeping) did not go, however; and Alvaro de la Mezquita alone went to dine with Magallanes.

“During the night, Gaspar de Quesada and Juan de Cartagena with about thirty armed men of the ship ‘Concepcion’ went to the ‘San Antonio,’ where Quesada requested that the captain, Alvaro de la Mezquita, be surrendered to him, and told the crew of the ship to seize it, as they had already done with the ‘Concepcion’ and ‘Victoria.’ [He said] that they already knew how Magallanes had treated and was treating them, because they had asked him to fulfil the king’s orders; that they were lost men; and that they should help him make another request of Magallanes, and if necessary, seize him. Juan de Elorriaga, the master of the ‘San Antonio,’ spoke in favor of his captain, Alvaro de la Mezquita, saying to Gaspar de Quesada: ‘I summon you, in God’s name and that of the king, Don Cárlos, to go to your ship, for the present is no time to go through the ships with armed men; and I also summon you to release our captain.’ Thereupon Quesada replied: ‘Must our deed remain unaccomplished because of this madman?’ and drawing his dagger stabbed him four times in the arm, thus overawing the men. Mezquita was kept prisoner, Elorriaga was cared for, Cartagena went to the ship ‘Concepcion,’ while Quesada remained in the ‘San Antonio.’ Thus were Quesada, Cartagena, and Mendoza masters of the three ships, ‘San Antonio,’ ‘Concepcion,’ and ‘Victoria.’

“Thereupon, they sent a message to Magallanes to the effect that they held three ships and the small boats of all five at their disposal in order to require him to fulfil his Majesty’s provisions. They said that they had done that in order that he might no longer illtreat them as he had done thitherto. If he would agree to fulfil his Majesty’s orders, they would obey his commands, and [said] that if they had thitherto treated him as a superior, they would thenceforth treat him as a master, and would be most respectful to him.

“Magallanes sent word to them to come to his ship, where he would hear them and do what was proper. They answered that they did not dare come lest he illtreat them, but that he should go to the ship ‘San Antonio,’ where they would all assemble and decide definitely on what the king’s orders commanded.

“Magallanes believing that boldness was more useful than meekness in the face of such actions, determined to employ craft and force together. He kept the small boat of the ship ‘San Antonio’ which was used for those negotiations, at his ship; and sent the alguacil, Gonzalo Gomez de Espinosa, in the skiff belonging to his ship, to the ‘Victoria,’ with six men armed secretly and a letter for the treasurer, Luis de Mendoza, in which he told the latter to come to the flagship. While the treasurer was reading the letter and smiling as if to say ‘You don’t catch me that way,’ Espinosa stabbed him in the throat, while another sailor stabbed him at the same instant on the head so that he fell dead. Magallanes, being a man with foresight, sent a boat under command of Duarte Barbosa, sobresaliente of the ‘Trinidad’ with fifteen armed men, who entering the ‘Victoria’ flung the banner to the breeze without any resistance. That happened on April 2. Then the ‘Victoria’ approached the flagship, and they together immediately approached the ‘Santiago.’

“On the following day, the ‘San Antonio’ and the ‘Concepcion’ which were held by Quesada and Cartagena tried to put to sea, but it was necessary for them to pass close to the flagship which stood farthest out. The ‘San Antonio’ raised two anchors, and being in danger with one, Quesada determined to free Alvaro de la Mezquita, whom he held a prisoner in his ship, in order to send him to Magallanes to arrange peace between them. Mezquita, however, told him that nothing would be obtained. Finally, they arranged that when they set sail, Mezquita should station himself forward and ask Magallanes as they approached his ship, not to fire and that they would anchor provided affairs would be settled favorably.

“Before setting sail in the ‘San Antonio,’ where they were endangered, as it was night and the crew were asleep, the ship dragged and ran foul of the flagship. The latter discharged some large and small shots and men leaped aboard the ‘San Antonio’ crying, ‘For whom are you?’ they responding, ‘For the king, our sovereign, and your Grace,’ surrendered to Magallanes. The latter seized Quesada, the accountant, Antonio de Coca, and other sobresalientes who had gone to the ‘San Antonio’ with Quesada. Then he sent to the ‘Concepcion’ for Juan de Cartagena and imprisoned him with them.

“Next day Magallanes ordered the body of Mendoza taken ashore and had it quartered, and Mendoza cried as a traitor. On the seventh, he ordered Gaspar de Quesada beheaded and quartered with a like cry. That was done by Quesada’s own follower and sobresaliente, Luis de Molino, in order to save himself from hanging, for that sentence had been passed on him. Magallanes sentenced Juan de Cartagena and the lay priest, Pedro Sanchez de la Reina, who had been active in causing the men to mutiny, to be marooned in that country. He pardoned more than forty men who merited death, as they were needed to work the ships, and so that he might not excite hard feelings by the severity of the punishment.”

Brito’s account of the mutiny (Navarrete, iv, p. 307) is very brief and unsatisfactory: “In that port the captains began to ask him where he was taking them, especially one Juan de Cartagena, who said that he had a royal cedula naming him as associate with Magallanes, as Rui Falero would also have been, had he been there. Then they tried to rise against Magallanes and kill him, and go back to Castilla or to Rodas. From that point they went to the river of Santa Cruz, where they endeavored to put their plan in execution. But when Magallanes discovered their ill-considered attempt, for the captains said that they would kill him or take him prisoner, he ordered his ship armed and Juan de Cartagena arrested. As soon as the other captains saw their chief arrested they thought no longer of prosecuting their attempt. Magallanes, however, seized them all, for most of the crew were in his favor. He sent the merino or alguacil to kill Luis de Mendoza with his dagger, for the latter refused to be arrested; while he had another named Gaspar Quesada beheaded. When they set sail, he left Juan de Cartagena together with a secular priest ashore at a place where there were no inhabitants.”

Correa (Stanley, pp. 247–250) gives a different and imperfect account of the meeting.

Cf. with these accounts the one given by Guillemard (Magellan), pp. 162–174. When the “San Antonio” deserted, Esteban Gomez is said to have rescued Cartagena and the priest. João Serrão (after the loss of the “Santiago”) was given command of the “Concepcion,” Mesquita of the “San Antonio,” and Duarte Barbosa of the “Victoria,” all Portuguese (Guillemard, ut supra, p. 179). It is rather singular that Sir Francis Drake should also have faced a mutiny in this same port, where Thomas Doughty was executed. That the history of Magalhães’s expedition was generally known is evident from the following: “The next day after, being the twentieth of June, wee harboured ourselues againe in a very good harborough, called by Magellan Port S. Julian, where we found a gibbet standing upon the maine, which we supposed to be the place where Magellan did execution upon some of his disobedient and rebellious company.” World encompassed (Hakluyt Society edition), p. 234.

[120] MS. 5,650 reads: “twenty-five leagues.”

[121] Instead of this last phrase, MS. 5,650 reads: “and very little of that.” The account of the shipwreck and rescue as given here is very confusing and inadequate. Cf. Guillemard, ut supra, pp. 175–179, and Navarrete, iv, pp. 38, 39. One man was lost, namely, the negro slave of João Serrão. The “Roteiro” (Stanley, p. 4) gives the briefest mention of it. Brito (Navarrete, iv, p. 307) says: “After this [i.e., the mutiny], they wintered for three months; and Magallanes again ordered the ship ‘Santiago’ to go ahead in order to explore. The ship was wrecked but all of its crew were saved.” Correa’s account (Stanley, p. 250) is very short, and mentions that only the hull of the vessel was lost.

[122] Mosto (p. 60, note 3) derives this word from the Spanish mejillon, a variety of cockle, which he thinks may be the Mytilus or common mussel.

[123] See Vol. II, p. 34, note 5*.

[124] Eden (p. 252) says: “52. degree ... lackynge a thyrde parte.”

[125] MS. 5,650 omits: “and the holy bodies,” and has in its place: “by His grace.”

[126] MS. 5,650 omits these last two words. The Italian form braccio is retained in view of these words; for the Spanish braza is a measure about equivalent to the English fathom, while the braccio, although varying in different cities, is near three palmos (spans) in length. The term is, however, translated brasse (“fathom”) in MS. 5,650. Mosto (p. 60, note 8), conjectures this fish to be the Eliginus maclovinus. Of this fish, Theodore Gill, the well-known ichthyologist, says in a letter of May 22, 1905: “The Italian editor gave a shrewd guess in the suggestion that the fish in question was what was formerly called Eliginus maclovinus. The only vulgar name that I have been able to find for it is ‘robalo,’ and this name is applied to it by the Spanish-speaking people of both sides of South America. Like most popular names, however, it is very misleading. ‘Robalo’ is the Spanish name for the European bass, which is nearly related to our striped bass or rock bass. To that fish the robalo of South America has no affinity or real resemblance, and belongs to a very different family peculiar to the southern hemisphere—the Nototheniids. The so-called Eliginus maclovinus (properly, Eliginops maclovinus) is the most common and widely distributed species and probably the one obtained by the fleet of Magalhães.”

[127] Of the river Santa Cruz and the stay there, Albo (Navarrete, iv, p. 215) says: “We left that place [i.e., Port San Julian] on the 24th of the said month [of August] and coasted along to the southwest by west. About 30 leguas farther on, we found a river named Santa Cruz, which we entered on the 26th of the same month. We stayed there until the day of San Lucas, the 18th of the month of October. We caught many fish there and got wood and water. That coast extends northeast by east and southwest by west, and is an excellent coast with good indentations.” The “Roteiro” (Stanley, p. 4) places the river Santa Cruz twenty leagues from San Julian and in about 50°. That narrative says that the four remaining boats continued to pick up the wreckage of the “Santiago” until September 18. The name Santa Cruz was said to have been given to the river because they entered it on September 14, the day of the exaltation of the holy cross (see Stanley, p. 4, note 4, and Mosto, p. 60, note 7), but Kohl (Mosto, ut supra) attributes the name to João Serrão who was near that river on May 3, 1520, the day on which the church celebrates the feast of the finding of the holy cross. Navarrete (iv, p. 41) cites Herrera as authority for an eclipse of the sun that happened while at this river on October 11, 1520. Guillemard (ut supra, pp. 187, 188) is disinclined to believe the report, although he mentions an annular eclipse of the sun on October 20, 1520, which was however not visible in Patagonia. Navarrete (ut supra) says that Magalhães gave instructions to his captains here “saying that he would follow those coasts until finding a strait or the end of that continent, even if he had to go to a latitude of 75°; that before abandoning that enterprise, the ships might be twice unrigged; and that after that he would go in search of Maluco toward the east and east northeast, by way of the cape of Buena Esperanza and the island of San Lorenzo.”

A new chapter begins at this point in MS. 5,650, being simply headed “chapter.”

[128] The anonymous Portuguese who accompanied Duarte Barbosa says 53° 30´; Barros, 52° 56´; Elcano, 54°; and Albo, 52° 30´. Mosto, p. 60, note 9.

[129] MS. 5.650 has the words in brackets.

[130] Eden (p. 252) says of the strait: “they founde the ſtraight nowe cauled the ſtraight of Magellanus, beinge in ſum place C.x. leagues in length: and in breadth ſumwhere very large and in other places lyttle more than halfe a league in bredth.” Stanley (p. 57) is uncertain of the French et quasi autant de largeur moins de demye lieue, which is (translated freely) simply “something like almost a half-league wide.” The “Roteiro” (Stanley, p. 7) says that the channel “at some places has a width of three leagues, and two, and one, and in some places half a league.” Transylvanus (Vol. I, p. 320) gives the width as two, three, five, or ten Italian miles; Gomara, two leagues or so; Barros, one league at the mouth, and the strait, from a musket or cannon shot to one and one and one-half leagues; Castanheda, at the mouth as wide as two ships close together, then opening up to one league; Peter Martyr, a sling-shot’s distance in places. (Mosto, p. 61, note 2.)

[131] Proise or Proi (proy, proic) is an ancient Catalonian word meaning the “bow moorings;” Cf. Jal, Glossaire nautìque (Mosto, p. 61, note 3). The old Spanish word is “proís,” which signifies both the thing to which the ship is moored ashore, and the rope by which it is moored to the shore.

[132] This passage is as follows in MS. 5,650: “The said strait was a circular place surrounded with mountains (as I have said), and the majority of the sailors thought that there was no exit from it into the said Pacific Sea. But the captain-general declared that there was another strait which led out, and that he knew that well, for he had seen it on a marine chart of the king of Portugal. That map had been made by a renowned sailor and pilot, named Martin de Boesme. The said captain sent two of his ships forward—one named the ‘Sainct Anthoine,’ and the other the ‘Conception’—in order that they might look for and discover the exit from the said strait, which was called the cape de la Baya.”

Martin de Behaim (Beham, Behem, Behemira, Behen, Bœhem), Bhm) was born about 1459 (some say also in 1430 or 1436) of a family originally from Bohemia, in Nuremberg, Germany, and died at Lisbon, July 29, 1506. He was a draper in Flanders, 1477–1479, after which he went to Lisbon (1480) where he became acquainted with Columbus. In 1484 he was chosen geographer of Diego Cam’s expedition to Western Africa. On his return, he received the order of knighthood in the military order of Christ of Portugal; after which he went to the island of Fayal in the Azores where he became interested in colonization and agriculture, and married the daughter of the governor. In 1491 he returned to Germany, where he lived at Nuremberg until 1493, and where, at the request of his townsmen, he constructed an immense globe on the information of Ptolemy, Strabo, and others, which contains many errors (see facsimile in Guillemard), In 1493 he returned to Lisbon, and in 1494 to Fayal, where he remained until 1506, when he went to Lisbon. Many myths sprung up about him, such that he had visited America before Columbus and the straits of Magellan before Magalhães, the latter of whom he may have known at Lisbon. See Rose, New Biographical Dictionary (London, 1848); Grande Encyclopédie (Paris, Lamirault et Cie.); and Guillemard, pp. 73, 74.

See Guillemard (ut supra, pp. 189–198) for a discussion of knowledge regarding the existence of a strait to the south of the American continent, prior to Magalhães’s discovery and passage of it. Guillemard, after weighing the evidence for and against, decides that there may have been a “more or less inexact knowledge of the existence of some antarctic break “that would allow access to the eastern world.

[133] Possession Bay, according to Mosto, p. 61, note 5, but Guillemard (pp. 199, 200) thinks it may have been Lomas Bay.

[134] Probably Anegada Point to the northwest of Cape Orange.

[135] The “First Narrows” or Primera Garganta, just beyond Anegada Point.

[136] Lago de los Estrechos, St. Philip’s Bay, or Boucant Bay.

[137] The “Second Narrows” and Broad Reach.

[138] MS. 5,650 does not mention the smoke signals.

[139] MS. 5,650 reads: “When near us they suddenly discharged a number of guns, whereat we very joyously saluted them with artillery and cries.”

[140] The first is the passage east of Dawson Island, which extends to the northeast into Useless Bay and to the southeast into Admiralty Sound. The second opening was the passage between the western side of Dawson Island and Brunswick Peninsula.

[141] Esteban Gomez was an experienced Portuguese navigator and pilot with ambitions only less than those of Magalhães, his kinsman (Guillemard, p. 203). His desertion occurred probably in the first part of November, and was perhaps directly due to pique at what he considered lack of appreciation from Magalhães. Conspiring with Gerónimo Guerra, the notary, who was elected captain of the “San Antonio” they made off with that ship, and after imprisoning Alvaro de Mezquita, returned to Spain, anchoring at Sevilla May 6, 1521. There Gomez was imprisoned after the return of the “Victoria,” but was liberated, and in 1524 proposed an expedition to discover a northwest passage. An expedition having been fitted out by Cárlos I, he coasted Florida and the eastern coast, as far as Cape Cod, and returned to Spain in 1525. See Grande Encyclopédie; Navarrete, iv, pp. 42–45, and 201–208; and Guillemard, ut supra, pp. 203–205.

Brito’s story of the exploration of the strait and the loss of the “San Antonio” (Navarrete, iv, pp. 307, 308) is as follows: “They left that place [i.e., the river of Santa Cruz] on October 20, and went to enter a strait of which they had no knowledge. The entrance of the strait extends for about 15 leguas; and after they had entered, it seemed to them that it was all land-locked, and they accordingly anchored there. Magallanes sent a Portuguese pilot named Juan Carballo ashore with orders to ascend a mountain in order to ascertain whether there was any outlet. Carballo returned saying that it appeared land-locked to him. Thereupon Magallanes ordered the ships ‘San Antonio’ and the ‘Concepcion’ to go in advance in order to explore the strait. After having gone ahead for about 30 leguas, they returned to tell Magallanes that the river went farther but that they could not tell where it would take them. Upon receiving that information Magallanes weighed anchor with all three ships, and advanced along the strait until reaching the point to which the others had explored. Then he ordered the ‘San Antonio’ of which Alvaro de Mezquito, his cousin, was captain, and Esteban Gomez, a Portuguese pilot, to go ahead and explore a southern channel that opened in the strait. That ship did not return to the others and it is not known whether it returned to Castilla or whether it was wrecked. Magallanes proceeded with his remaining ships until he found an exit.” Correa’s account of the desertion of the “San Antonio” is as usual with him, inadequate, and evidently based on hearsay evidence (see Stanley, p. 250).

[142] Literally “brother;” but to be understood probably as the expression cugino germano, “cousin german.”

[143] MS. 5,650 begins this sentence as follows: “But that ship lost its time, for the other.”

[144] Guillemard (p. 206) conjectures from the records of Albo, Pigafetta, and Herrera that the river of Sardines is Port Gallant which is located on the Brunswick Peninsula, opposite the Charles Islands. Albo (Navarrete, iv, p. 215) says that after taking the course to the northwest they sailed about 15 leagues before anchoring.

[145] Albo (Navarrete, iv, p. 216) says that the two capes at the exit of the strait were called Fermosa and Deseado, this latter being Cape Pillar (see Guillemard, map facing p. 198).

[146] MS. 5,650 adds: “which were on the other side.”

[147] João Serrão, the brother of Magalhães’s staunchest friend Francisco Serrão, and a firm supporter of the great navigator. Pigafetta errs in calling him a Spaniard (see p. 183), though he may have become a naturalized Spaniard, since the register speaks of him as a citizen of Sevilla. One document (Navarrete, iv, p. 155) calls him a Portuguese pilot, and Brito (Navarrete, iv, p. 308) a Castilian. He was an experienced navigator and captain, and had served under Vasco da Gama, Almeida, and Albuquerque. Vasco da Gama (on his second voyage, 1502–1503) made him captain of the ship “Pomposa” which was built in Mozambique where he was left to attend to Portuguese affairs. On this expedition he saw the coast of Brazil for the first time, for Vasco da Gama’s fleet, ere doubling the Cape of Good Hope, crossed to the Brazilian coast, which they followed as far as Cape Santo Agostinho. He fought bravely in the battle of Cananor under Almeida (March 16, 1506, in which Magalhães also participated). He was chief captain of three caravels in August, 1510, in Eastern water, and was in the Java seas in 1512, but must have returned to Portugal soon after that, for he was there in 1513; although he seems to have been appointed clerk at the fortress of Calicut in the latter year. He embarked with Magalhães as captain and pilot of the “Santiago,” but after the wreck of that vessel near port San Julian was given command of the “Concepcion,” in which he later explored the strait. Failing to dissuade Magalhães from attacking the natives of Matan, he became commander, with Duarte Barbosa, of the fleet at Magalhães’s death, and was murdered by the Cebuans after the treacherous banquet given by them to the fleet. See Guillemard (ut supra), and Stanley’s Three voyages of Vasco da Gama (Hakluyt Society publications, London, 1869).

[148] MS. 5,650 reads as follows: “Such was the method ordered by the captain from the beginning, in order that the ship that happened to become separated from the others might rejoin the fleet.” Then it adds: “Thereupon the crew of the said ship did what the captain had ordered them and more, for they set two banners with their letters,” etc.

[149] “The island of Santa Magdalena (Mosto, p. 62, note 11).

[150] According to Guillemard the river of Isleo (or “of Islands”) is located on Brunswick Peninsula, and is identified with the port of San Miguel, just east of the “River of Sardines;” the island where the cross was planted would be one of the Charles Islands.

[151] The “Roteiro” (Stanley, p. 3) mentions that the day at the port of San Julian was about seven hours long; while the anonymous Portuguese (Stanley, p. 30) says that the sun only appeared for some “four hours each day” in June and July. Transylvanus says the nights in the strait were not longer than five hours.

[152] MS. 5,650 adds: “which is the collateral wind between the east and south.”

[153] MS. 5,650 adds: “and anchorages.”

[154] Various kinds of these umbelliferous parsley plants are still to be found in Patagonia, where they are highly esteemed (Mosto, p. 63, note 3).

[155] MS. 5,650 reads: “I do not believe that there is a more beautiful country or a better strait than that.” See Albo’s description of the strait, in Vol. I, pp. 264–265; that of Transylvanus, Vol. I, pp. 319–321; and that in World encompassed (Hakluyt Society edition), pp. 236, 237 (this last account also mentioning the difficulty of finding water sufficiently shallow for anchoring). The anonymous Portuguese (Stanley, p. 31) says that the strait was called the “Strait of Victoria, because the ship ‘Victoria’ was the first that had seen it: some called it the Strait of Magalhaens because our captain was named Fernando de Magalhaens.” Castanheda says that Magalhães gave it the name of “bay of All Saints” because it was discovered on November 1; and San Martin in his reply to Magalhães’s request for opinions regarding the continuance of the expedition calls it “channel of All Saints:” but this name was first applied to only one gulf or one branch and later extended to the entire channel. This name is found in the instructions given for the expedition of Sebastian Cabot in 1527, and in the map made that same year at Sevilla by the Englishman Robert Thorne. Sarmiento de Gamboa petitioned Felipe II that it be called “strait of the Mother of God.” It was also called “strait of Martin Behaim.” The anonymous Portuguese (Stanley, p. 31) says that the strait is 400 miles long. The “Roterio” (Stanley, pp. 7, 8) says that it is 100 leagues in length, and that in traversing it, they “sailed as long as it was daylight, and anchored when it was night.” Transylvanus (Vol. I, p. 320) gives the length as 100 Spanish miles; Oviedo, 100 or 110 leagues; Herrera, 100 leagues, and twenty days to navigate; Gomara, 110 to 120 leagues; Peter Martyr, 110 leagues. See Mosto, p. 60, note 10, and p. 62, note 2; and ante, note 130.

[156] These fish are: a species of Coryphæna; the Thymnus albacora, and the Thymnus plamys.

[157] From the Spanish golondrina, the sapphirine gurnard or tubfish (Trigla hirundo).

[158] MS. 5,650 reads: “one foot or more.”

[159] At this point in the original Italian MS., which ends a page, occurs the heading of the following page Sequitur Vocabuli pataghoni, that is, “Continuation of Patagonian words.”

[160] Literally: “for the nature of women.”

[161] MS. 5,650 presents the following differences in the list of Patagonian words from the Italian MS.

Eyes ather
Eyelashes occhechl
Lips schiane
Hair ajchir
Throat ohumer
Shoulders peles
Penis scachet
Testicles scaneos
Rump schiachen
Arm mar
Pulse ohon
Legs choss
Feet teche
Heel there
Sole of the foot cartscheni
Fingernails colini
To scratch ghecare
Young man calemi
Water oli
Smoke jaiche
We chen
Yes zei
Petre lazure secheghi
Sun calexcheni
To eat mecchiere
To look conne
To walk rhei
Ship theu
To run haim
Ostrich eggs jan
The powder of the herb
which they eat capae
Red cloth terechai
Black amel
Red theiche
To cook jrecoles
A goose chache
Their little devils Cheleult

In the above list, chen corresponds in the Italian MS. to ehen, the equivalent of “no;” theu is “ship” in the above, and “snow” in the Italian; courire (the equivalent of covrire or coprire, “to cover”) in the Italian, becomes courir (“to run”) in MS. 5,650. All are to be regarded as errors of the French. Certain words are left in Italian in MS. 5,650, which are as follows: la copa; alcalcagno; (Italian MS. al calcagno); homo squerzo (Italian MS. sguerco); a la pignate (Italian MS. pigniata); alstruzzo vcelo (Italian MS. al seruzo ucelo); and alcocinare (Italian MS. al coçinare). Stanley offers this as proof that MS. 5,650 was written by Pigafetta, and not translated from his Italian, but it furnishes no evidence that Pigafetta even saw the French version of his relation. It must be remembered that Stanley did not himself see the Italian MS. but only the Amoretti mutilation of it (from which, and from MS. 5,650, he reproduces the vocabulary, without English translation); and hence bases his observations on that and the conjectures of its editor. Stanley points out the fact that Amoretti has omitted several words of this list, but they are all in the Italian MS. A sad blunder has been made by Stanley in his transcription of La pouldre dherbe qui mangent whose Patagonian equivalent is capac. He transcribes as follows: la pouldre d’herbe with Patagonian equivalent qui (which it is to be noted is only the wrong form of the French relative), and mangent with Patagonian equivalent capac, explaining mangent in a footnote as “Food, the root used as bread.” Stanley also makes the following mistranscriptions: orescho for oresche (“nostrils”); canneghin for caimeghin (“palm of the hand”); ochy for ochii (“bosom”); scancos for scaneos (“testicles”); hou for hoii (“buttocks”); ohoy for ohon (“pulse”); cartschem for cartscheni (“sole of the foot”); chol for thol (“heart”); om for oni (“wind”); aschame for aschanie (“earthen pot”); oamaghei for oamaghce (“to fight”); amet for amel (“black”); and ixecoles for jrocoles (“to cook”). Amoretti has also made many errors (see Stanley’s First Voyage, pp. 62, 63). Mosto, who is on the whole a faithful transcriber, has sacancos as the Patagonian equivalent of a li testiculi; om jani for a li sui, the correct forms of the latter being jani and a li sui oui; and tcrechai for the equivalent of “red cloth.” Eden (p. 252) gives only the following words: “breade, Capar: water, Oli: redde clothe, Cherecai: red colour, Cheiche: blacke colour, Amel.”

Mosto (p. 63, note 8) gives the following words from the vocabulary of the Tehuel-ches compiled by the second lieutenant of the ship “Roncagli,” which correspond almost exactly with those given by Pigafetta.

English Roncagli Pigafetta
Nose or or
eye óthel other
hand tzén chene
ear sha sane
ostrich óyue hoi hoi

Brinton (American Race, p. 328) cites Ramon Lista (Mis exploraciones y descubrìmientos en Patagonia, Buenos Ayres, 1880) in proof that the language of the Patagonians has undergone but slight change since the time of Pigafetta. See also lists of words in Brinton (ut supra), p. 364, from the Patagonian and Fuegian languages. The vocabularies given by Horatio Hale (Wilkes’s U. S. Exploring Expedition, 1838–1842, Philadelphia, 1846, viii, pp. 651–656) bear no resemblance to Pigafetta’s vocabulary. Hale says that guttural sounds are frequent among the Indians of the Patagonian district.

[162] MS. 5,650 reads: “capae.”

[163] Cf. with the methods of fire-making used by the North American Indians in Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents (Cleveland reissue); see also Captivity of Hans Stade (Hakluyt Society edition), p. 126.

At this point (folio 14a) in the original Italian MS. occurs the first chart, representing the straits of Magellan (see p. 86). The cardinal points in all of Pigafetta’s charts are the reverse of the ordinary, the north being below and the south above. MS. 5,650 precedes this chart (which there occupies folio 21a) by the words: “Below is depicted the strait of Patagonie.” Immediately following this chart in the Italian MS. (folio 15a) is the chart of the Ysole Infortunate (“Unfortunate Isles;” see p. 92). These islands are shown in MS. 5,650 on folio 23a, with the following notice: “Here are shown the two islands called ‘Unfortunate Islands.’” The charts in the Italian MS. are brown or dull black on a blue ground.

[164] The “Roteiro” (Stanley, p. 9) says that Magalhães left the strait November 26 (having entered it October 21); the anonymous Portuguese (Stanley, p. 31) and Peter Martyr (Mosto, p. 65, note 1), November 27.

[165] MS. 5,650 reads: “And we ate only biscuits that had fallen to powder, which was quite full of worms, and stank from the filth of the urine of rats that covered it, and of which the good had been eaten.” Eden (p. 252) reads: “And hauynge in this tyme conſumed all theyr byſket and other vyttales, they fell into ſuche neceſſitie that they were inforced to eate the pouder that remayned therof beinge nowe full of woormes and ſtynkynge lyke pyſſe by reaſon of the ſalte water,” Herrera (Navarrete, iv, p. 51) says that the rice was cooked with salt water.

[166] A curious coincidence in view of Magalhães’s answer to Esteban Gomez at a council called in the strait to discuss the continuance of the voyage that “although he had to eat the cowhide wrappings of the yardarms, he would still persevere and discover what he had promised the emperor” (Navarrete, iv, p. 43; cited from Herrera). At that council André de San Martin, pilot in the “San Antonio,” advised that they continue explorations until the middle of January, 1521, and then return to Spain; and urged that no farther southward descent be made, and that navigation along so dangerous coasts be only by day, in order that the crew might have some rest (Navarrete, iv, pp. 45–49).

[167] MS. 5,650 reads: “enough of them.”

[168] This was the scurvy. Navarrete (iv, p. 54) following a document conserved in Archivo general de Indias, says that only eleven men died of scurvy during the voyage from the strait to the Ladrones.

[169] The anonymous Portuguese says (Stanley, p. 31) that after sailing west and northwest for 9,858 miles, the equator was reached. At the line (“Roteiro,” Stanley, p. 9), Magalhães changed the course in order to strike land north of the Moluccas, as “he had information that there were no provisions” there.

[170] MS. 5,650 reads: “It is well named Pacific.”

[171] MS. 5,650 adds: “which is a large fish called tiburoni.” The anonymous Portuguese (Stanley, p. 31), says that the Unfortunate Islands were met before the line was reached and were eight hundred miles distant from one another. One was called St. Peter (in 18°) and the other the island of Tiburones (in 14°). Transylvanus (Vol. I, p. 321), Herrera, and Oviedo, say that the three vessels stopped two days at those islands for supplies, but Albo’s journal (Navarrete, iv, p. 218) indicates that no stop was made there. The “Roteiro” (Stanley, p. 9), gives the latitude of these islands as 18° or 19° and 13° or 14°. Albo (Navarrete, iv, p. 218) says that the first was discovered January 24 in 16° 15´, and was called San Pablo, because that was the date of St. Paul’s conversion; and the island of Tiburones was discovered February 4, in 10° 40´, at a distance of 9° (sic) from the former. Eden (p. 253) says that the second island lay in 5°. These two islands were probably Puka-puka (the Honden Eyland of the Dutch atlases) of the Tuamotu group, located in latitude 14° 45´ south, and longitude 138° 48´ west; and Flint Island of the Manihiki group, located in latitude 11° 20´ south and longitude 151° 48´ west. The latter is still uninhabited, but the former contains a population of over four hundred. See ante, note 163. See Guillemard, p. 220, and Mosto, p. 65, note 6.