FERDINAND MAGELLAN (1480-1521)
Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese sea captain who led five Spanish ships
and 251 men in the first around-theworld sailing expedition. This voyage
was filled with challenges, disasters,
and tragedy, but it was one of the
most important events in the history of
exploration.
Finally, on September 6, 1522, they
reached Sanlucar de Barrameda in
Spain, nearly three years after the
voyage started. Five ships and 241
men began the journey. Only eighteen
survivors returned to the starting spot.
Those people completed the first
voyage around the world that started
with the dream of Magellan.
Magellan's expedition was the first to
circumnavigate the globe and the first to
navigate the strait in South America
connecting the Atlantic and Pacific
oceans. Magellan was killed en route.
Some of the things they discovered were:
-A 'camel without humps' (possibly the llama, guanaco, vicuña, or alpaca).
-A black 'goose' which had to be skinned instead of plucked, which is the penguin.
-Two of our closest galaxies, the Magellanic Clouds, visible from the Southern
Hemisphere.
-The extent of the Earth, their voyage was '14,460 leagues' (or 69,000 km).
-The need for an International date line; upon their return they observed a mismatch
of one day between their calendars and those who did not travel, even though they
faithfully maintained their ship's log
The following notes were read out by the Navigator of mv ‘Aurora’ during
our Round the World Cruise in 2002:
“It was in 1518 that Magellan set of westwards from Europe to find a route to the
East Indies. This voyage was to become the first circumnavigation of the world.
After 38 gruelling days his ships had discovered the 360 miles of icy water known as
the Straits of Magellan. They emerged into a great ocean. Because it was calm they
named it the Pacific.
Magellan’s route was too far north to encounter islands such as Samoa. After 98
days they made landfall at Guam, by which time they were starving. During
bargaining for supplies, the natives stole anything they could lay their hands on. So
Magellan named them Islas de Ladrones, Islands of Thieves.
They are now called the Mariana Islands, and we shall be there tomorrow”.
Footnote. Reference to my Article No 6 will show there is some evidence
that the Chinese had discovered the passage to the Pacific by 1421, and
that reasonably accurate charts were available to the great European
explorers.
©Graham Anthony, 2006.