When Christopher Columbus (kris´to fer kō-lum´bus) discovered America, in the year 1492, he set all Europe talking about the unknown lands that lay beyond seas.

At that time little was known of geography. Most people believed that the world was flat, and that if a man were to reach the edge he could jump off into space. Some people thought, too, that this great, flat earth rested on the backs of four huge tortoises, and that the movements of these creatures caused earthquakes.

Sailors believed that somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean Satan lived. When a ship was wrecked they thought that Satan had reached out an awful hand and dragged the ship down into the sea. Even learned captains believed this, and declared that they had seen ships drawn under in this manner. To them the great, dashing waves in a storm must have looked like huge hands, and so they made this mistake.

The sea was full of terror to those sailors of long ago; yet they braved it. They went forth in frail little ships, such as a modern sailor would hardly risk a voyage in. Until a short time before Columbus’s day they even had no compass, but were guided by the winds and the stars. They made long voyages in their tiny ships, and little by little they began to see that those who said that the world is round, and not flat, must be right.

In the year 1513, a little over twenty years after Columbus’s discovery, a Spanish captain named Balboa (bäl bō´ä) reached Central America. With his soldiers he crossed the Isthmus of Darien (dā rē ȧn´), and discovered the great ocean which washes the western coast of America. This ocean he named the “Southern Sea.”

Men were in those days slowly groping their way across seas to the new lands. Of course, as soon as they knew of this ocean, they wanted to find a way to sail into it from the Atlantic Ocean. They knew that if they could do this they would have a shorter route from Europe to the famed “spice islands” which were believed to be in the South Seas.

About this time there came to Spain a great soldier and sea-captain named Ferdinand Magellan (fêrd´ī nänd m̤a jel´̤an). He was a Portuguese noble, a clever man of much learning. While yet a very young man he became an officer in the Portuguese navy, and fought for his king in many far countries.

During a war which Portugal waged in Africa, Magellan was badly wounded in one knee, so that he was ever after lame. On his return to Portugal from Africa, other captains of the king became jealous of his fame and tried to belittle all that he had done.

They told the king untrue tales about him, and made the sovereign believe evil against him. Among other things, they said that he was pretending to suffer from a malady of which he had once been a victim, but of which he was really cured. They said that he did this because he did not wish to serve the king any longer. So they stirred up the king’s mind against the brave captain, and Magellan was very badly treated. At last, deeply hurt by the king’s unfairness, he left the country. He went to Spain, and became a subject of King Charles I.

The king of Spain gave Magellan a warm welcome. He was glad to have him at court, and listened eagerly to what Magellan had to say about certain rich islands that lay in the Southern Sea. Many sailors from Spain and from Portugal had heard of these islands, and when they returned from their voyages to the Malay Peninsula in the East, they told how they had seen, in Malacca harbor, dusky traders from that unknown land. None of them knew, however, just where these islands lay.

At last King Charles I. made a compact with Magellan. He made the captain a cavalier of Spain, and fitted out a fleet for him. Magellan pledged himself to spend ten years trying to find the southern islands for Spain, and the king gave to him and to his heirs the governorship of all islands that he might discover and conquer.

It was on August 10, 1519, that Magellan’s fleet, flying the royal standard of Spain, left San Lucar de Barrameda (sän lö´cär dā bär rä mā´thä). There were five ships, La Trinidad (lä trē´nē däth), San Antonio (sän än tō´nē ō), Victoria (vik tō´rē ä), Santiago (sän tē ä´gō), and Concepcion (kōn thep´thē ōn). They sailed southward, from San Lucar de Barrameda toward the Canary Islands, and on the 13th of December reached Rio de Janeiro (rē´ō dā zhä nā´rō).

From there they went along down the eastern coast of South America, trying every opening which they thought might be a passage into the sea they sought. They lost a good deal of time sailing up the Rio de la Plata (rē´ō dā lä plä´tä), and at last had to come back to the Atlantic. By this time it was late in winter, and the weather was very cold.

By now the officers and sailors on all save Magellan’s own ship had become rebellious. They were sure that no passage could be found into the Southern Sea, and they wanted to go back to Spain. This rebellion grew until Magellan had to put it down by the use of force. He was able to win over the sailors, but the officers still made trouble, and at last their revolt was so serious that the fleet could not go on until this matter was ended. One captain even made an attack on La Trinidad, the ship which Magellan commanded. Not until one of the rebellious captains, with a companion, was put ashore, another killed, and a third executed for mutiny, was order restored so that the fleet could continue the voyage.

But the way was long and trying. The sailors began to lose courage again, and only the bravery and strong will of Magellan kept the fleet together. One ship, the Santiago, was wrecked in a great gale, and while off the coast of New Guinea (nö gin´nē) the crew and most of the officers of the San Antonio mutinied. They put their captain in irons and sailed back to Spain.

There they lodged a complaint against their captain and against Magellan. They accused the latter of great cruelty, and raised much ill feeling against him. Magellan’s wife and family were put into prison, and if the cavalier himself had been in Spain, it would have gone hard with him.

But Magellan was very far from Spain. With the three remaining ships he was still sailing in search of a passage into the sea which Balboa had discovered. On the 28th day of October, 1520, the fleet reached the seaway now known as the Straits of Magellan, between Patagonia (pat ä gō´nē ä) and Tierra del Fuego (tē er´rä del fwā´gō).

Hardly daring to hope that this was the passage they sought, they entered it and sailed on. Nearly a month later, on November 26, 1520, they passed out of the Straits and found themselves on the broad, blue Southern Sea. This sea was so quiet, so fair and beautiful, that Magellan at once named it the “Pacific,” or “peaceful,” Ocean.

The longed for seaway was discovered, and they were the first to sail through it! We may be sure that the hearts of the little company were glad. There was no more doubt; no more grumbling; no more rebellion against their leader. They knew, at last, that he was a great captain, and they followed him willingly across the unknown sea. They were now full of hope for the success of their voyage. They were eager to reach the rich spice islands which they were sure lay before them, and the ships sailed bravely forward over the beautiful Pacific.

On March 16, 1521, they came to the Ladrone (lä drōne´) Islands. To these Magellan gave the name Islas de las Velas (ēs läs dā läs vā´läs). It was Miguel de Legaspi (mē gā´el dā lā gäth´pē) who, when he visited them in 1564, called them the Ladrones. The expedition did not linger here, however, but soon sailed away toward the southwest, where the Spaniards hoped to find the spice islands which they sought.

They held steadily to their westward course, and in due time reached Jomohol (hō mō hōl´), now called Malhon (mäl hōn´), in the Straits of Suragao (sö rä gä´ō), between Samar (säm´är) and Dinegat (dē nā gät´). Here they touched, but did not remain. They sailed on along the coast of Mindanao (mēn dä nä´ō), instead, and early in Easter week came to the mouth of the Butuan (bö tö än´) River.

They were nearly out of food and water by this time, so they landed to see what supplies they could find. The chief of Butuan and his people were at first frightened by the sight of these white strangers. The Spaniards wore armor and carried firearms. They must have seemed strange to those simple people, who had never before seen such men or such weapons. The natives welcomed the strangers, and brought them fresh food and water. They helped the Spaniards to load these on their ships, and were in every way friendly.

Afterwards Magellan claimed the country for King Charles I. of Spain, and raised the Spanish flag. The chief looked on during this act, and consented to it; but it is not likely that he knew what Magellan was doing. Then Magellan named the country the San Lazarus (sän lāth´är ůs) Isles.

Magellan learned from the Butuan people that a rich and fertile island called Cebu (sā´bö) lay to the north, and to this island he wished to go. The chief of Butuan then offered to go with him and show him the way; so, with the chief and some of his people, the fleet sailed to Cebu. They reached harbor there April 7, 1521.

At first the Cebuans (sā´bö äns) were very unfriendly toward the strangers, and, but for the chief of Butuan, would have driven them away. He answered for the Spaniards, however. He told the king of Cebu that they wished to be friends, and at last the Spaniards were allowed to land.

Magellan must have had the good gift of making friends, for he soon won over the king of Cebu just as he had won over the chief of Butuan. He and the king swore friendship, and each drank blood drawn from the breast of the other. This they did for a sign that thereafter they were to be brothers. Magellan also made a treaty with the king in the name of King Charles I. of Spain.

There were a number of Spanish friars with the fleet. These at once began to teach the people, and before long the king was baptized as King Charles I. of Cebu. Many of his people were baptized also. Magellan then promised the Cebuans to help them in a war which they were having with the people of Mactan (mäk´tän), an island near Cebu. To keep this promise, Magellan crossed to Mactan with forty of his men in the evening of April 25th. He would not let any of the Cebuans go with him, as he wished to show them how quickly Spanish soldiers would defeat such a foe.

The Spanish landed at night, and as soon as it was light the people of Mactan came down to the beach in great numbers. A fierce battle was fought, in which the Europeans, being greatly outnumbered, were defeated. One old Spanish account says that the Spanish soldiers sprang into the water and swam to the ships, leaving their leader on shore. Magellan was a skillful swordsman, and killed many of the enemy. At last, however, a savage, who fought with a huge club, struck him a blow that crushed both his helmet and his skull. He died, there by the sea, on the island of Mactan, and a monument to his memory now stands on the spot where it is supposed that he fell.

On the right bank of the River Pasig (pä´sig), in Manila, near the bridge of Spain, is another monument in honor of this brave nobleman and soldier. Ferdinand Magellan ranks with the great sailors of the world. Not even Columbus was wiser or more skillful than he. The discovery of the passage between the two great oceans, and the long, dangerous journey across seas to these islands, are feats that make him worthy of a high and honorable place in the world’s history.

After the death of Magellan, Captain Duarte Barbosa (dö är´tā bär bo´thä) took command of the fleet. The king of Cebu had not sworn friendship with him, however, and the chief of Butuan had gone back to his home, so the Spanish had no strong friend in the island. The king invited Barbosa and his men to a feast on the island, and at this feast the captain and twenty-six of his men were killed. The Cebuans offered to give up a Spanish sailor named Juan Serrano (hō än´ sā rä´nō) for two cannons from one of the ships, but the Spanish would not come inshore to bring the cannons and take their shipmate on board. They sailed away and left him to his fate.

In all, thirty-two Spaniards were killed at Cebu. This left them so short of men that they could not get the three ships away. So, as the Concepcion was the poorest of the three, they sunk her in Cebu harbor. After doing this they made haste to get away from the scene of their ill fortune. Captain Juan Caraballo (kär ä bäl´yō) was now made commander of the expedition, and with less than a hundred men all told, the two ships went on to Borneo.

Summary.—Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese noble, leaving his own country because of ill treatment, became a subject of Spain. King Charles I. fitted out a fleet for him, and Magellan agreed to spend ten years seeking for islands in the Southern Sea, to conquer for Spain. On August 10, 1519, the fleet sailed from San Lucar de Barrameda, southward. Magellan sailed down the eastern coast of South America, seeking a passage into the ocean which Balboa had discovered and named the Southern Sea. They had many hardships. One ship was wrecked and one deserted; but on October 28, 1520, they reached the passage now known as the Straits of Magellan. This passage is between Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. They sailed through the Straits, and on November 26, 1520, entered the Southern Sea. Magellan named this sea the Pacific Ocean. On March 16, 1521, the fleet reached the Ladrone Islands. They did not remain long, but sailed toward the southwest. They touched at Malhon, and went on along the coast of Mindanao. They landed at the mouth of the Butuan River, and were well received by the chief and his people. Magellan claimed the country for Spain. The chief of Butuan went with the Spanish to Cebu. Magellan swore friendship with the king of Cebu, and the latter was baptized. Magellan, with forty Spaniards, offered to fight the people of Mactan, who were at war with the Cebuans. Magellan was killed, however, and the Spaniards were driven back. The new Spanish leader was killed, with twenty-six of his men, at a feast given by the king of Cebu on shore. The Spanish sunk one of their ships; and the other two, with all the Spaniards left, sailed for Borneo.

Questions.—What did people believe in the time of Columbus about the shape of the earth? What did they think about the sea? What European first saw the Pacific Ocean? How did he reach it? Who was Magellan? How did he come to take service with the king of Spain? When did Magellan’s fleet leave Spain? What course did it take? Tell when he discovered the Straits. Where did Magellan go after entering the Pacific? Give an account of his landing at Butuan. Where did he go next? How did he die? What then became of the fleet?