⁶¹⁶ MS. 5,650 adds instead of the following sentence: “But the real musk comes from the blood abovesaid, and if that be made into little round pellets, it evaporates.”

⁶¹⁷ Mosto (p. 110, note 5) thinks it more probable that this passage refers to the animal Moschus moschiferus, or the musk deer, which is found in the high Himalayas, Tibet, and Eastern Siberia, rather than to the civet cat, which Pigafetta names. Castor is derived from the Sanskrit kasturi, which is used by the Malays and Javanese for the perfume of the civet cat (although they also use native and Arabic names). It is very probable that Pigafetta has confused musk and civet. However, Cosmas says also that the Kasturi produces the musk (see Yule’s Cathay, Hakluyt Society edition, i, p. clxxiv). Friar Jordanus gives a very superficial account of the musk deer and the preparation of musk (Wonders of the East, pp. 47, 48). Early descriptions of preparing musk and prices are given by Varthema (Travels, Hakluyt Society edition, p. 102), Barbosa (East African and Malabar Coasts, Hakluyt Society edition, pp. 186, 187, 222), who mentions the leeches, and Linschoten (Voyage, Hakluyt Society edition, i, p. 149, ii, pp. 94, 95), who also describes civet (ii, pp. 95, 96). Wallace (Malay Archipelago, p. 41) notes that leeches are very abundant and annoying on the peninsula of Malacca.

⁶¹⁸ Chienchii are probably the people of Chincheo (Chinchew; the modern Chwan-Chow-Foo), a name formerly often applied to a province of China. See VOL. III, p. 41, note 6.

⁶¹⁹ Bellemo, basing his assertion on the fact that the Peguans proper are called Mon, says (Mosto, p. 110, note 6) that Burmah is here referred to. It would seem rather to be one of the northern districts of China, possibly about the Yellow River, and Lechii may refer to the city of Linching. Mosto and Amoretti transcribe Moni, and MS. 5,650, Mon.

⁶²⁰ Cathay, at first restricted to the northern part of the country now called China, became later (in the Middle Ages) the name for the entire country. See Yule’s Cathay, i, preliminary essay.

⁶²¹ MS. 5,650 reads: “Hau.” Han was a small Chinese state which gave name to the first national Chinese dynasty, and it may be the Han referred to by Pigafetta. See Boulger’s Short History of China, p. 10.

⁶²² “Chetissirimiga” in MS. 5,650.

⁶²³ “Triagomba” in MS. 5,650.

⁶²⁴ These names appear before (see VOL. XXXIII, p. 321, note 177) where they are given as the name of one island.

⁶²⁵ Javanese for “South Sea.”

⁶²⁶ Sumatra, a name probably of Sanskrit origin, is first mentioned with that spelling by Varthema, but it had been visited previously by Marco Polo (who calls it Java the less); and probably by Nicolò de Conti, who calls it Sciumathera, and before him by the Arabian traveler Ibn Batûta (ca., 1330), who calls its capital Shumatrah or Sumatrah. Taprobane was the ancient name of Ceylon, not Sumatra. It is the most western of all the East India Archipelago, and next to Borneo and New Guinea the largest island proper, being about 1,000 miles long and having an area of about 128,560 square miles. The ancestral home of the Malay race was in the interior of Sumatra, in the region of Menangkaba, whence they colonized the coasts of Sumatra and spread to outlying islands. A number of tongues akin to the Malay and many dialects are spoken in the island. Neither the English nor the Dutch obtained any real foothold in the island until after 1816, since when the latter have entered upon a system of conquest. See Crawfurd’s Dictionary, Varthema’s Travels (Hakluyt Society edition); Cust’s Modern Languages; and Lucas’s Historical Geography British Colonies, i, pp. 98, 99, 101.

⁶²⁷ Eden (p. 261) reads: “Fearyng leaſt if they ſhuld ſayle toward the firm land, they myght bee ſeene of the portugales who are of great power in Malaccha.”

⁶²⁸ Pegu (with a capital of the same name) formerly wielded great influence in the East, but was eclipsed by the kingdoms surrounding it. Together with Bengal or Bengala and Orissa (Uriza), it forms a portion of British India. Bengal was incorporated with the Ghôrî or Patan empire of Hindustân toward the end of the twelfth century, and was formed into a separate province under the second emperor. It became an independent kingdom at least by 1340, continuing as an independent state until conquered by Akbar in 1573. Chelin is probably Coulam or Quilon in Malabar, once an important center of trade, but an insignificant place by the middle of the seventeenth century. Narsinga or Bijayanagar, now a ruined city, was formerly the capital of the ancient Brahminical kingdom of the Carnatic, which before the conquests of the Mahometans extended over the greater part of the peninsula between the Malabar and Coromandel coasts. Calicut, Cambay, Cananore, Goa, and Ormus (Armus) were all important centers of trade before and during Portuguese occupation in the East. MS. 5,650 reads: “Gon” and “Armux.” See Varthema’s Travels (Hakluyt Society edition), and Mosto (p. 111, notes 3–11).

⁶²⁹ In MS. 5,650 “Irauai,” “Poleni,” and “Poleai.” Stanley gives the first as “Franas.” The names of the castes as given by Varthema (Travels, pp. 141, 142) are as follows: “Brahmins (or priestly class), Naeri (or military class), Tiva (or artisans), Mechua (or fishermen), Poliar (who collect pepper, wine, and nuts), and Hirava (who sow and reap rice). There are only four main castes, viz.: the Brahman or Sacerdotal, which sprang from the mouth of Brahma; the warrior, styled Kshatriya, Ksettri, or Chuttree, and formerly the Rajputs, who sprang from the arms of Brahma; Vaisya or husbandmen class, who form the industrial class, and who sprang from the belly and thighs of Brahma; and the Sudra or servile class, who sprang from the feet of Brahma, and have no part in the sacred law. Each caste is further subdivided within its own ranks, and specific laws govern each branch. Under British rule and the influence of western civilization the rigidity of caste is gradually being relaxed. Pigafetta does not mention the priestly caste and confuses the various other divisions. For early descriptions of caste, see Barbosa’s East African and Malabar Coasts (Hakluyt Society edition), pp. 121–144; Linschoten’s Voyage (Hakluyt Society edition), i, pp. 278–284 (very defective and inadequate); Gray and Bell’s Voyage of François Pyrard de Laval (Hakluyt Society edition), ii, pp. 114, 115, 371–420; and Ball’s Travels in India by Jean Baptiste Tavernier (London and New York), ii, pp. 181–189.

⁶³⁰ MS. 5,650 reads: “and never enter any city.”

⁶³¹ Malayâlam for “go.” Linschoten (i, p. 281), and Pyrard de Laval (i, pp. 383, 384), make the Nairs give this warning cry instead of the lowest caste, in order that the latter may keep out of their path. Varthema and Barbosa agree with Pigafetta. The Brahmans also call out for the same reason (Linschoten, i, p. 281, note 1).

⁶³² Eden says (p. 261): “ſeuen weekes.”

⁶³³ Albo (Navarrete, iv) says under date of February 13, 1522, that the course was laid west southwest toward the Cape of Good Hope.

⁶³⁴ MS. 5,650 reads: “one thousand and sixty.”

⁶³⁵ The Portuguese occupation of Mozambique dates from 1498, when Vasco da Gama landed at the mouth of the Zambesi. A number of settlements were founded there in the first decade of the sixteenth century. Its present boundaries were fixed by agreement with Great Britain in 1891 and with Germany in 1886 and 1890. It has an area of 310,000 square miles, and has great vegetable and mineral wealth. Slavery was abolished in the colony in 1878. It is governed by a governor-general sent out by Portugal. John Pory in his preliminary translations prefixed to his translation of the history of the converted Moor Leo Africanus (Hakluyt Society edition, London, 1896) says (i, p. 58) that the kingdom of Mozambique was “so called of three small islets, situate in the mouth of the river Meghincate in fowerteene and a halfe or fifteene degrees of southerly latitude, which kingdome in ancient time by Ptolemy was called Promontorium Prassum.” Continuing he says that notwithstanding its unhealthful site, the chief of the three islands, where there was a secure port and where the Portuguese built a strong fort, became the most frequented Portuguese station on the way to the East Indies, and ships often wintered there. This must have been the settlement mentioned by Pigafetta. See also Three Voyages of Vasco da Gama (Hakluyt Society reprint, London, 1879), pp. 80–97.

⁶³⁶ MS. 5,650 adds: “and stank.”

⁶³⁷ On March 14, the crew of the “Victoria” worked at repairs on the ship until noon, and then set sail again. On the eighteenth they saw a lofty island (Amsterdam Island), which they tried in vain to make, and were compelled to lie to for further repairs. April 16, the course was altered to the north. Land was sighted on May 8, and on the following day they anchored on the rough coast. On the sixteenth the ship was further disabled by the loss of a mast. After many struggles they were finally clear of the cape on May 22, and directed their general course northward. See Albo’s log (Navarrete, iv), and Guillemard’s Magellan. Considering Albo’s date as correct, Pigafetta is in error by almost half a month in his date for the doubling of the cape.

⁶³⁸ Herrera takes pains to mention this phenomenon (Mosto, p. 111, note 15). The official list shows a record of fifteen deaths of Europeans on the high sea and the desertion of two others. The ship left Tidore with forty-seven Europeans and arrived at the Cape Verde Islands with thirty-one, a number that tallies if Pigafetta does not include himself in the forty-seven who left Tidore. Consequently six of the natives taken had died during the voyage. (Guillemard’s Magellan, p. 291, note).

⁶³⁹ Eden adds: (p. 261): “that is, ſaynte Iames Ilande, parteyning to the kyng of Portugale.” This is the island of Santiago, the largest and most southernmost of the Cape Verde Islands. Albo says (Navarrete, iv, p. 241): “On the ninth of the said month [i.e., July], I did not take the sun. We anchored in the port of Grande River, where we were given a hospitable reception, and as many provisions as we wished. That day was Wednesday, but they [i.e., the Portuguese] maintained that it was Thursday. Consequently, I believe that we were mistaken by one day. We stayed there until Sunday night, and then set sail for fear of the bad weather and the crossing of the port. In the morning we sent the ship’s boat ashore for more rice, of which we had need, while we sailed about on various tacks until its return.”

⁶⁴⁰ This clause is lacking in MS. 5,650.

⁶⁴¹ These four words are omitted in MS. 5,650.

⁶⁴² MS. 5,650 reads: “and that we did not dare to go to Spain.”

⁶⁴³ Albo (Navarrete, iv, p. 241) further recounts events at the island of Santiago as follows: “On Monday, the fourteenth, we sent the ship’s boat ashore for more rice. It returned next day, and went back for another load. We waited until night, but it did not return. Then we waited until next day, but it never returned. Then we went nearer the port to discover the reason of the delay, whereupon a vessel came out and demanded our surrender, saying that they would send us with the ship that was coming from the Indias, and that they would place their men in our ship, for thus had their officials ordered. We requested them to send us our men and ship’s boat. They replied that they would bear our request to their officials. We answered that we would take another tack and wait. Accordingly we tacked about and set all our sails full, and left with twenty-two men, both sick and well. That happened on Tuesday, the fifteenth of the month of July.” See also Transylvanus’s account, VOL. I, pp. 336, 337. The names of the men detained at this island are given as follows by Navarrete (Col. de viages, iv, p. 94):

Cf. the corrected list given by Guillemard (Magellan, p. 338, and note 5) who mentions thirteen men (the number given by Pigafetta). These men were shortly released and sent to Seville (Guillemard, ut supra, p. 337).

⁶⁴⁴ Eden says (p. 262) that it was the seventh. Albo (Navarrete, iv, pp. 246, 247), says that Cape St. Vincent was sighted on September 4, 1522.

⁶⁴⁵ The official death list records two desertions, which must have been the ones mentioned by Pigafetta. Gomara mentions a mutiny at Timur: “There was a mutiny and conflict, in which a considerable number of the crew were killed.” Oviedo says also: “Some were beheaded in the island of Timor for their crimes.” Guillemard conjectures that both accounts are borrowed from this passage in Pigafetta (Guillemard, p. 291, note). The survivors of the “Victoria” who reached Spain, as given by Navarrete (Col. de viages, iv, p. 96) from a document conserved at Archivo general de Indias, were as follows:

Cf. the list as given by Guillemard (Magellan, pp. 337, 338), who attempts to correct the various lists, and which shows several differences from Navarrete’s list. Navarrete (ut supra, iv, pp. 96, 97) basing his assertion on Herrera, says: “Among the Indians who reached land safely and desired to see the emperor and these kingdoms, was one so sharp that his first action was to ask how many reals made one ducado, how many maravedis one real, and how much pepper was given for one maravedi, informing himself from shop to shop of the value of spices. That furnished a reason for his not returning to his country, although the others did.” See also Guillemard’s Magellan, p. 296.

⁶⁴⁶ The value of the spices brought to Spain by the “Victoria” exceeded the cost of the other four vessels and their entire equipment by about £200. The cargo consisted of cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, and sandalwood. The “Victoria” afterward made one voyage safely to Cuba, but was lost on a second. See Guillemard’s Magellan, pp. 297, 310.

⁶⁴⁷ Eden (p. 262) says that on disembarking they went to give thanks “to almyghtie god who had brought them ſafe to theyr owne countrey, and reſtored them to theyr wyues and chyldren.”

⁶⁴⁸ The account of the voyage given by Pigafetta to the emperor was probably only his brief records as set down from day to day, and not in any sense the relation as here published. The relation is known to have been compiled after Pigafetta’s return to Italy. Stanley (p. xiv, appendix) gives the original petition made by Pigafetta to the doge and council of Venice, asking permission to print his relation. Its translation is as follows:

“M.D. xxiv. of the month of August.

“Most Serene Prince, and your Excellencies:

“Petition of me, Antonio Pigafetta, Venetian knight of Jerusalem, who desiring to see the world, have sailed, in past years, with the caravels of his Cesaræan Majesty, which went to discover the islands in the new Indies where the spices grow. On that voyage I circumnavigated the whole world, and since it is a feat which no man had [before] accomplished, I have composed a short narration of all the said voyage, which I desire to have printed. For that purpose, I petition, that no one may print it for xx years, except myself, under penalty to him who should print it, or who should bring it here if printed elsewhere, of a fine of three lire per copy besides the loss of the books. [I petition] also that the execution [of the penalty] may be imposed by any magistrate of this city who shall be informed of it; and that the fine be divided as follows: one-third to the arsenal of your Highness, one-third to the accuser, and one-third to those who shall impose it. I humbly commend myself to your kindness. August v.” The docket follows.

⁶⁴⁹ Ramusio says that Pigafetta presented one of his books to the regent Louise, and that she had it translated into French by Jacques Fabre (see volume on Bibliography, at end of this series). Stanley is wrong in his conjecture that MS. 22,224 of the Bibliothéque Nationale is the copy above mentioned, as it is in fact even later than MS. 5,650.

⁶⁵⁰ The signature in MS. 5,650 is “Anthoyne Pigaphete.”