The Story of Magellan and The Discovery of the Philippines

Mesquita in his still prison, with the world against him, dreamed of Magellan, Del Cano, and the Italian historian. The half world separated them now.

In his dreams Mesquita saw the fleet coming back again, and he heard the shouting of the people and the ringing of the bells. The star of hope in his heart did not fail.

"Padre," he said, "the day of my vindication will come."

But the seasons came and went, and the light changed color in the window of his cell, and the birds sang their notes in the trees in spring and left their empty nests to silence in the retreating summer. The great Cathedral grew, and the achievement of Charles had begun to excite the world.

We now come to the tragedy of this wonderful expedition; to the tempest that rose out of the calm. The transition from these ideal scenes to what is to follow is sudden indeed.

CHAPTER XX

THE DEATH OF MAGELLAN

Magellan, as we have shown, had sought not wealth, nor glory, but the good of the world in his life. He was ever ready to put his own interest aside in the service of that which was best for others. He had sought welfare and not wealth, service and not self, and his life was about to end in the unselfish spirit in which it had lived.

On Friday, April 26, 1520, Zula, one of the great chiefs of the Island of Matan, sent to Magellan one of his sons and two goats as a present. He had promised his service to the King of Spain, but this surrender of royalty had been opposed by another chief named Silapalapa. This chief had declared with native spirit that Matan would never submit to the Spanish King.

"But I can overthrow Silapalapa," ran the Matan chief's message, "if I can have your help. Send me a boatload of men. Let them come to-morrow night."

Magellan received the message and the presents in a friendly feeling, and resolved to follow the chief's lead.

"I will not send another on this expedition so full of peril," he thought. "I will lead it myself."

So he set out from Zubu to Matan at midnight, with sixty men, in corselets and helmets. He took with him the Christian King, and the chief men of his new adherents.

The boats moved silently over the tropic waters under the moon and stars. Magellan had become a happy man. He could not doubt that he was on his way to new victories. Pigafetta, the Italian, always true to the Admiral, was with him.

The expedition arrived at Matan just before the dawn of the morning.

The mellow nature of Magellan came back to him on this short night journey. He had no wish to slaughter men.

So he spoke to a Moorish merchant.

"Go to the natives," he said, "and tell them if they will recognize a Christian King as their sovereign I will become their friend. If not, that they must feel our lances."

The Moorish ambassador was landed, and met the chiefs.

"Go tell your master," they said, "that if he has lances, so have we, and our lances are hardened by fire."

At the red dawn of the morning, the Admiral gave the order to disembark, and forty-nine men leaped into the water. They faced a fierce army, some fifteen hundred in number.

Magellan divided his followers into two bands. The musketeers and cross bowmen began the attack. But the firing was not effective. The black army moved down upon them like a cloud, throwing javelins and spears hardened with fire. Some of them singled out Magellan. They threw at him lances pointed with iron.

Magellan, seeing that the odds were against him in such a contest, sought to break their lines by firing their houses. Some thirty houses burst into flame.

The sight of the fire maddened the natives and rendered them furious. They discovered that the legs of the invaders were exposed, and that they could be wounded there with poisoned arrows.

A poisoned arrow was aimed at Magellan. It pierced him in the leg. He felt the wound, and knew its import.

He gave orders to retreat. A panic ensued, and his men took to flight.

The air was filled with arrows, spears, stones, and mud.

The Spaniards tried to escape to the boat. The islanders followed them and directed their fury to Magellan. They struck him twice on his helmet.

Magellan's thought now was not for himself, but for the safety of his men.

He stood at his own post fighting that they might make safe their retreat.

He thus broke the assault for nearly an hour, until he was almost left alone.

An Indian suddenly rushed down toward him having a cane lance. He thrust this into his face. Magellan wounded the Indian, and attempted to draw his sword. But he had received a javelin wound in his arm, and his strength failed.

Seeing him falter, the Indian rushed upon him and brought him down to the earth with a rude sword.

The Indians now fell upon him and ran him through with lances.

He tried to rise up, to see if his men were safe. He did not call for assistance, but to the last sought to secure the safety of his men. In fact, he never seemed to so much as think of himself in the whole contest. It was thus that his life went out, and his heart ceased to beat. He was left dead on the sand, on April 27, 1521. The natives refused to surrender his body. Eight of his own men and four Indians, who had become Christians, perished with him.

There was one man who was true to the Admiral to the end. He was wounded with him, but survived. He it was that saw that the Admiral had forgotten himself at the hour of the final conflict. It was Pigafetta, the Italian, whose narrative we are following.

This hero of the pen says of him to whom he gave his heart:

"One of his principal virtues was constancy in the most adverse fortune."

"It was God who made me the messenger of the new heavens and new earth, and told me where to find them," said Columbus. "Maps, charts, and mathematical knowledge had nothing to do with the case."

As sublime an inspiration is seen in the words of Pigafetta in regard to Magellan:

"No one gave to him the example how to encompass the globe." His sight was the inner eye, the pure vision of a consecrated purpose in life.

No hero of the sea has ever been more noble! His purpose in life was everything; he had the faith of a Christian Knight; he was as nothing to himself, but to others all, and he died giving his own body for a shield to his men. His name will always be associated with what is glorious in the history of the Philippines.

Magellan was dead, but a good purpose lives in others. Magellan dead, Del Cano yet lives, and the Italian historian has other scenes to record.

The farol of Magellan will go on; it will never cease to shine, and the cast-out name of the Christian Knight will become a fixed star amid the lights that have inspired the world.

CHAPTER XXI

THE SPICE ISLANDS. – WONDERFUL BIRDS. – CLOVES, CINNAMON, NUTMEGS, GINGER. – THE SHIPS OVERLOADED

The massacre at Matan caused the Spaniards to lose credit in the eyes of the natives. The King of Seba turned against them, thus throwing a shadow on the glory of Magellan's missionary work. The Spaniards were, however, much to blame for the change that took place in the King's heart.

Their ships were becoming unseaworthy.

They were reduced to two ships, the Victoria and the Trinidad, and these shaped their course for the Moluccas, or Spice Islands, by the way of Borneo. Del Cano began to represent the spirit of Magellan among the crews.

They came to the Bornean city, Brunei, "a collection of houses built on piles over the water, where were twenty-five thousand fires or families." On the shore was the palace of a voluptuous Sultan, its walls hung with brocades of silk. Here was also one of the most curious markets in all the world, carried on at high tide, when there gathered a great army of canoes.

On November 8, 1521, the two ships anchored off Tidor on the Spice Islands, saluting the King of the place with a broadside.

They concluded a treaty of peace with the King, and began to load the two ships with spice, and especially with cloves, a kind of spice at that time regarded as a great luxury in Spain.

If Pigafetta had desired above all things to see the wonders of the ocean world, he must again have been gratified here at some of the presents sent to the ships by the natives. Columbus had brought to Spain gorgeous parrots or macaws. But the King of Batchian sent to him a bird whose plumage surpassed anything that he had ever seen.

"It is the bird of Paradise," said the agent of the royal almoner.

The Italian did not doubt it. He wished to learn the history of this superb inhabitant of the air.

He did in a way that excited his wonder beyond measure.

The bird, after the Mohammedan account, was born in Paradise. It came down from Heaven where dwelt departed souls, who had died true to the Moslem faith.

These birds were found dead, and they had no feet. If Pigafetta inquired the cause of this, he doubtless was answered:

"They do not need feet; they never alight on the ground."

But as greatly as the Chevalier must have wondered, he was not induced to accept the Moslem faith.

They overcrowded the ships while receiving the favors of the Sultan of Tidor.

An account of their voyage about the Spice Islands, "most delightful to read," as we are told in the title, was written by one Maximilianus Transylvanus, from which we gather the following incidents (Hakluyt Society) of great pearls and strange men:

"They came to the shores of the Island of Solo, where they heard that there were pearls as big as dove's eggs, and sometimes as hen's eggs, but which can only be fished up from the very deepest sea. Our men brought no large pearl, because the season of the year did not allow of the fishery. But they testify that they had taken an oyster in that region, the flesh of which weighed forty-seven pounds. For which reason I could easily believe that pearls of that great size are found there; for it is clearly proved that pearls are the product of shellfish. And to omit nothing, our men constantly affirm that the islanders of Porne told him that the King wore in his crown two pearls of the size of a goose's egg.

"Hence they went to the Island of Gilo, where they saw men with ears so long and pendulous that they reached to their shoulders. When our men were mightily astonished at this, they learnt from the natives that there was another island not far off where the men had ears not only pendulous, but so long and broad that one of them would cover the whole head if they wanted it (cum exusu esset). But our men, who sought not monsters but spices, neglecting this nonsense, went straight to the Moluccas, and they discovered them eight months after their Admiral, Magellan, had fallen in Matan. The islands are five in number, and are called Tarante, Muthil, Thidore, Mare, and Matthien; some on this side some on the other, and some upon the equinoctial line.

"One produces cloves, another nutmegs, and another cinnamon. All are near to each other, but small and rather narrow."

The world to-day thinks little of spices, for commerce has made common the luxuries of the Indian Ocean. Cloves, nutmegs, allspice, cinnamon, ginger are found in every home in all civilized lands, and even children make few inquiries about them.

This was not so in the early days of the Viceroys of India. Spices which were gathered and sold by Arabian merchants, were held in Europe as a gift of Arabia, and esteemed to be the greatest, or among the greatest of luxuries. A ship laden with spices was hailed in the ports of the Iberian peninsula as next to a ship freighted with gold, as the Golden Hynde was welcomed in the days of Sir Francis Drake. It used to be said that the odors of the spice ships from the East Indies could be breathed through the breezes that wafted them toward the land.

The principal Spice Islands were the Moluccas, or the islands of the East India Archipelago between Celebes on the west and New Guinea on the east, Timor on the south and the open Pacific Sea on the north. They are distributed over a wide ocean area. Of these the Moluccas form the principal group. Here are the paradises of the seas.

It was to these islands where could be procured the products of "Araby the Blessed" that Magellan had hoped to find a new way. There were brighter shores than Spain, and to these he sought the shortest routes over which ships could travel.

The Peruvian adventurers wished to find gold; the voyagers to the Antilles, magical waters and new productions of the earth; but Magellan's dream was of the spiceries of the Indian seas. They all found what they sought, except Ponce de Leon, who hoped to find the Fountain of Eternal Youth.

Transylvanus speaks of another wonderful bird that only alighted at death, and whose feathers were believed to possess magic powers.

"The kings of Marmin began to believe that souls were immortal a few years ago, induced by no other argument than that they saw that a certain most beautiful small bird never rested upon the ground nor upon anything that grew upon it; but they sometimes saw it fall dead upon the ground from the sky. And as the Mohammedans, who traveled to those parts for commercial purposes, told them that this bird was born in Paradise, and that Paradise was the abode of the souls of those who had died, these kings (reguli) embraced the sect of Mohammed, because it promised wonderful things concerning this abode of souls. But they call the bird Mamuco Diata, and they hold it in such reverence and religious esteem that they believe that by it their kings are safe in war, even though they, according to custom, are placed in the forefront of battle."

He continues his narrative:

"But, our men having carefully inspected the position of the Moluccas and of each separate island, and also having inquired about the habits of the kings, went to Thedori, because they learnt, that in that island the supply of cloves was far above that of the others, and that its King also surpassed the other kings in wisdom and humanity. So, having prepared their gifts they land, and salute the King, and they offer the presents as if they had been sent by Cæsar. He, having received the presents kindly, looks up to Heaven, and says:

"'I have known now for two years from the course of the stars, that you were coming to seek these lands, sent by the most mighty King of Kings. Wherefore your coming is the more pleasant and grateful to me, as I had been forewarned of it by the signification of the stars.

"'And, as I know that nothing ever happens to any man which has not been fixed long before by the decree of fate and the stars, I will not be the one to attempt to withstand either the fates or the signification of the stars, but willingly and of good cheer, will henceforth lay aside the royal pomp and will consider myself as managing the administration of this island only in the name of your King. Wherefore draw your ships into port, and order the rest of your comrades to land; so that now at last, after such a long tossing upon the seas, and so many dangers, you may enjoy the pleasures of the land and refresh your bodies. And think not but that you have arrived at your King's kingdom.'

"Having said this, the King, laying aside his crown, embraced them one by one, and ordered whatever food that land afforded to be brought. Our men being overjoyed at this, returned to their comrades, and told them what had happened. They, pleased above measure with the friendly behavior and kindness of the King, take possession of the island. And when their health was completely restored, in a few days, by the King's munificence, they sent envoys to the other kings, to examine the wealth of the islands, and to conciliate the other kings."

His description of the clove trees is very pleasing:

"Tirante was the nearest, and also the smallest, of the islands; for it has a circumference of a little more than six Italian miles. Matthien is next to it, and it, too, is small. These three produce a great quantity of cloves, but more every fourth year than the other three. These trees only grow on steep rocks, and that so thickly as frequently to form a grove. This tree is very like a laurel (or bay tree) in leaf, closeness of growth, and height; and the gariophile, which they call clove from its likeness to a nail (clavus), grows on the tip of each separate twig. First a bud, and then a flower, just like the orange flower is produced.

"The pointed part of the clove is fixed at the extreme end of the branch, and then growing slightly longer, it forms a spike. It is at first red, but soon gets black by the heat of the sun. The natives keep the plantations of these trees separate, as we do our vines. They bury the cloves in pits till they are taken away by the traders."

He also describes the cinnamon tree:

"Muthil, the fourth island, is not larger than the rest, and it produces cinnamon. The tree is full of shoots, and in other respects barren; it delights in dryness, and is very like the tree which bears pomegranates. The bark of this splits under the influence of the sun's heat, and is stripped off the wood; and, after drying a little in the sun, it is cinnamon."

Also the nutmeg tree:

"Near to this is another island, called Bada, larger and more ample than the Moluccas. In this grows the nutmeg, the tree of which is tall and spreading, and is rather like the walnut tree, and its nut, too, grows like the walnut; for it is protected by a double husk, at first like a furry calix, and under this a thin membrane, which embraces the nutlike network. This is called the Muscat flower with us, but by the Spaniards mace, and is a noble and wholesome spice. The other covering is a woody shell, like that of a hazelnut, and in that, as we have already said, is the nutmeg."

And ginger:

"Ginger grows here and there in each of the islands of the archipelago. It sometimes grows by sowing, and sometimes spontaneously; but that which is sown is the more valuable. Its grass is like that of the saffron, and its root is almost the same too, and that is ginger."

While sailing among these bowery ocean gardens, and gathering their odorous products, the poetic Maximilianus was presented with one of the immortal birds that protected a hero in battle, "the bird of God."

He thus speaks of the rare present:

"Our men were kindly treated by the chiefs in turn, and they, too, submitted freely to the rule of Cæsar, like the King of Thidori. But the Spaniards, who had but two ships, resolved to bring some of each (spice) home, but to load the ships with cloves, because the crop of that was the most abundant that year, and our ships could contain a greater quantity of this kind of spice. Having, therefore, loaded the ships with cloves, and having received letters and presents for Cæsar from the Kings, they make ready for their departure. The letters were full of submission and respect. The gifts were Indian swords, and things of that sort. But, best of all, the Mamuco Diata; that is, the bird of God, by which they believe themselves to be safe and invincible in battle. Of which five were sent, and one I obtained from the Captain (congran prieghi), which I send to your reverence, not that your reverence may think yourself safe from treachery and the sword by means of it, as they profess to do, but that you may be pleased with its rareness and beauty. I send also some cinnamon and nutmeg and cloves, to show that our spices are not only not worse, but more valuable than those which the Venetians and Portuguese bring, because they are fresher."

He also relates the disasters which fell to one of the overloaded ships:

"When our men had set sail from Thedori, one of the ships, and that the larger one, having sprung a leak, began to make water, so that it became necessary to put back to Thedori. When the Spaniards saw that this mischief could not be remedied without great labor and much time, they agreed that the other ship should sail to the Cape of Cattigara, and afterward through the deep as far as possible from the coast of India, lest it should be seen by the Portuguese, and until they saw the promontory of Africa which projects beyond the tropic of Capricorn, and to which the Portuguese have given the name of Good Hope; and from that point the passage to Spain would be easy.

"But as soon as the other ship was refitted it should direct its course through the archipelago, and that vast ocean toward the shores of the continent which we mentioned before, till it found that coast which was in the neighborhood of Darien, and where the southern sea was separated from the western, in which are the Spanish Islands, by a very narrow piece of land. So the ship sailed again from Thedori, and, having gone twelve degrees on the other side of the equinoctial line, they did not find the Cape of Cattigara, which Ptolemy supposed to extend even beyond the equinoctial line; and when they had traversed an immense space of sea, they came to the Cape of Good Hope and afterward to the Islands of the Hesperides.

"And, as this ship let in water, being much knocked about by this long voyage, the sailors, many of whom had died by hardships by land and by sea, could not clear the ship of water. Wherefore they landed upon one of the islands, which is named after Saint James, to buy slaves.

"But as our men had no money, they offered, sailor fashion, cloves for the slaves. This matter having come to the ears of the Portuguese who were in command of the island, thirteen of our men were thrown into prison. The rest were eighteen in number.

"Frightened by the strangeness of this behavior, they started straight for Spain, leaving their shipmates behind them. And so, in the sixteenth month after leaving Thedori, they arrived safe and sound on the 6th of September, at the port near Hispalis (Seville). Worthier, indeed, are our sailors of eternal fame than the Argonauts who sailed with Jason to Colchis. And much more worthy was their ship of being placed among the stars than that old Argo; for that only sailed from Greece through Pontus, but ours from Hispalis to the South; and after that, through the whole West and the Southern hemisphere, penetrating into the East, and again returned to the West."

His subscription is interesting:

"I commend myself most humbly to your reverence. Given at Vallisoleti, on the 23d of October, 1522.

"Your most reverend and illustrious lordship's

"Most humble and constant servant,

"Maximilianus Transylvanus."

When the spice ship began to fill with water, the officers sent for native divers. But these, although very skillful, could not find the place or the cause of the leak.

Let us change our view to a different scene, across the wide tropical world.

CHAPTER XXII

MESQUITA IN PRISON

While the little ship Victoria, which had sought for Mesquita in vain, was sailing around the world, and was returning laden with spice, Mesquita himself remained shut out from the sun by the shadows of prison walls. His lite became more and more silent and neglected.

We know not by what authority he was held in a dungeon for advising the supposed crimes of his cousin Magellan. It could not have been that of Juana, who was still watching over the tomb from which she expected her husband to rise, nor by good Cardinal Ximenes, and possibly not by Charles V himself, but perhaps by one of his ministers. It may have been by the direction of Charles, for his imprisonment implies doubt; otherwise with such an array of testimony against him, we might expect he would have been executed.

Two years had passed over beautiful Seville, and the India House there must have began to doubt the story of Gormez as not one of the other ships returned. These ships might have been cast away in the wintry seas that Gormez and his crew described, or the flag of Spain that the daring Portuguese had set toward the Spice Islands of the East by the way of the South might be seen again some day, rising over the Guadalquivir.

Mesquita believed in his cousin Magellan; not only in him as a true man, but as one who had a divine calling to fulfill; as one whom destiny had allotted to lead the decisive events of mankind. He still felt that he would prove another Columbus or Vasco da Gama.

The two priests whom Magellan had marooned had honestly thought Magellan mad. But Mesquita had his own confessor, and we can easily fancy how the prisoner must have opened his heart to him.