hope of effecting an exchange. Force, however, was not so successful as stratagem, and it was with difficulty that nine of the strongest Spaniards threw them down. One of the savages broke loose even in spite of every effort to detain him; and in the end the plan failed, for the other made his escape, and Magellan lost one of his own men, who was shot with a poisoned arrow in the pursuit. His companions, who fired on the runaways, 66 were unable," says Pigafetta, "to hit any, on account of their not escaping in a straight line, but leaping from one side to another, and getting on as swiftly as horses at a full gallop."

On the 21st August, the fleet left Port San Julian, after taking possession of the country for the King of Spain by the customary ceremonial of erecting a cross, the symbol of salvation, so often degraded into an ensign of rapacity and cruelty in the fairest portions of the New World. Two months were afterwards passed at Santa Cruz, where the squadron was well supplied with wood and water; and, on the 18th October, standing southward, they discovered Cape de las Virgines, and shortly afterwards the desired strait. After careful examination of the entrance, a council was held, at which the pilot, Estevan Gomez, voted for returning to Spain to refit; while the more resolute spirits recommended that they should proceed and complete their discovery.* Magellan heard all in silence, and

*Gomez was by birth a Portuguese; and it has been alleged, that the insidious advice which he gave on this occasion, and his mutiny and desertion at a later period, were dictated by a desire to promote the interests of Portugal. See Memoir of Sebastian Cabot, p. 126.-Another motive for the treachery of Gomez has been assigned by Pigafetta, viz. that he had previously engaged

then firmly declared, that were he, instead of the slighter hardships already suffered, reduced to eat the hides on the ship's yards, his determination was to make good his promise to the emperor. On pain of death, every one was forbidden to speak of the shortness of provisions or of home,-which, though a somewhat unsatisfactory mode of stifling the pangs of hunger or the longings of affection, equally well answered the purpose of the captain-general. Pigafetta makes no mention of the council; but says the whole crew were persuaded that the strait had no western outlet, and would not have explored it but for the firmness of Magellan.

Two vessels were sent to examine the opening, and a hurricane coming on drove them violently thirty-six hours, during which they were in momentary alarm lest they should be forced ashore. The coasts more than once seemed to approach each other, on which the voyagers gave themselves up for lost; but new channels successively opened, into which they gladly entered. In this manner they were led on till they had penetrated the First and Second Gut, when the gale having abated, they thought it most prudent to retrace their course, and report what they had observed to the commander. Two days had already passed, and the captain-general was not without fear that his consorts must have been cast away in the tempest; while smoke being observed on shore, it was concluded to be a signal made by those who had had the good fortune to escape. Just at this instant, however, the ships

himself in the Spanish service, and had been appointed to, or promised the command of, a small squadron, to sail on a projected enterprise, which was laid aside on the arrival of Magellan in Spain.

were seen returning under full sail, with flags flying; as they came nearer, the crews fired their bombards and uttered shouts of joy. These salutations were repeated by their anxious companions; and, on learning the result of the search, the whole squadron advanced, having named the land where the smoke was seen Tierra del Fuego. On reaching the expanse into which the Second Gut opens, an inlet to the south-east was observed, and two vessels were despatched to explore it, while the others steered to the south-west. Estevan Gomez was pilot in one of the ships sent on the former service; and, knowing that Magellan no longer lay between him and the open sea, he incited the crew to mutiny, threw the captain into chains, and under the darkness of night put about the helm and shaped his course homeward. This recreant had on board with him one of the giants, whom he calculated upon being the first to present at the court of Spain; but the poor prisoner pined under the heat of the tropical regions, and died on approaching the line. In the mean time, the commander of the expedition pursued the channel to the south-west, and anchored at the mouth of a river, where he resolved to wait the arrival of the other vessels; he ordered a boat, however, to proceed and reconnoitre, and on the third day the sailors returned with the intelligence that they had seen the end of the strait, and the ocean beyond it. "We wept for joy," says Pigafetta, "and the cape was denominated Il Capo Deseado, for in truth we had long wished to see it." Public thanksgiving was also made; and after spending several days in a vain search for the deserter, and erecting several standards in conspicuous situations,

the three remaining ships stood towards the western mouth of the strait, which they reached thirty-seven days after discovering Cape de las Virgines. Magellan entitled this long-sought passage the Strait of the Patagonians,—a name which has been justly superseded by that of the discoverer. He found it to be so deep, that anchorage could only be obtained by approaching near to the shore; and estimated the length of it at 110 leagues. Pigafetta relates, that during the voyage he " talked with the Patagonian giant" on board of the captain-general's ship, and obtained some words of his native language, so as to form a small vocabulary, which, as far as subsequent inquiries afford the means of judging, is substantially correct.

It was the 28th of November when the small squadron gained the open sea, and held a northerly course, in order to reach a milder climate (the crews having already suffered severely from extreme cold), as well as to escape the storms usually encountered about the western opening of the strait.

On the 24th January 1521, they discovered an island, which was named San Pablo in memory of the Patagonian, who had died, after being baptized, it is alleged, at his own request; and on the 4th February another small island was seen, and called Tiburones, or Sharks' Island. The crews had now suffered so much from the want of provisions and fresh water, and from the ravages of the scurvy,* that, depressed

* As Pigafetta describes the effects of this disease without naming it, it is obvious that to its severity was then added the terror of a new and strange visitation. "Our greatest misfortune," he says, ❝ was being attacked by a malady in which the gums swelled so as to hide the teeth as well in the upper as the lower jaw, whence

by their condition and prospects, they named these discoveries Las Desventuradas, or the Unfortunate Islands. Their sufferings, for three months and twenty days after entering the Pacific, were painful in the extreme. Nineteen died of scurvy; and the situation of the remainder, reduced to chew the leather found about the ship, and to drink putrid water, was in the highest degree deplorable. Even sawdust was eaten, and mice were in such request as to sell for half a ducat a-piece. Their only solace was a continuance of delightful weather, and of fair winds which carried them smoothly onwards. To this circumstance the South Sea owes its name of Pacific,—a title which many succeeding seamen have thought it ill deserves. On the 6th of March were discovered three beautiful and apparently fertile islands, inhabited, and therefore likely to afford succour to the fleet. The Indians immediately came off in their canoes, bringing cocoa-nuts, yams, and rice. Their complexion was olive-brown, and their form handsome; they stained the teeth black and red, and some of them wore long beards, with the hair of their heads hanging down to the girdle. On these poor islanders, whose pilfering propensities obtained for this group the appellation of the Ladrones (or Thieves), the captaingeneral took signal vengeance for a small offence. A skiff was stolen from the stern of the capitana, or admiral's ship, upon which Magellan landed with

those affected thus were incapable of chewing their food. Besides those who died, we had from twenty-five to thirty sailors ill, who suffered dreadful pains in their arms, legs, and other parts of the body." Some years later, when the crews of Cartier were seized by the same disorder, it appeared to them also equally novel and loathsome. See Historical View of the Progress of Discovery on the more Northern Coasts of America, p. 64.