Pigafetta's Account of Magellan's Voyage

Antonio Pigafetta

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Anthony Pigafetta, Patrician of Vicenza, and Knight of Rhodes, to the very illustrious and very excellent Lord Philip de Villers Lisleaden, the famous Grand Master of Rhodes, his most respected Lord.

Since there are several curious persons (very illustrious and very reverend lord) who not only are pleased to listen to and learn the great and wonderful things which God has permitted me to see and suffer in the long and perilous navigation, which I have performed (and which is written hereafter), but also they desire to learn the methods and fashions of the road which I have taken in order to go thither, [and who do] not grant firm belief to the end unless they are first well advised and assured of the commencement. Therefore, my lord, it will please you to hear that finding myself in Spain in the year of the Nativity of our Lord, one thousand five hundred and nineteen, at the court of the most serene king* of the Romans, with the reverend lord, Mons. Francis Cheregato,† then apostolic proto-notary, and ambassador of the Pope Leon the Tenth, who, through his virtue, afterwards arrived at the bishopric of Aprutino and the principality of Theramo, and knowing both by the reading of many books and by the report of many lettered and well-informed persons who conversed with the said proto-notary, the very great and awful things of the ocean, I deliberated, with the favour of the Emperor and the above-named lord, to experiment and go and see with my eyes a part of those things. By which means I could satisfy the desire of the said lords, and mine also. So that it might be said that I had performed the said voyage, and seen well with my eyes the things hereafter written.

* Charles V was elected Emperor the 28th June, 1519.

† Chiericato. Milan edition.

Now in order to decypher the commencement of my voyage (very illustrious lord); having heard that there was in the city of Seville, a small armade [sic, armada] to the number of five ships, ready to perform this long voyage, that is to say, to find the islands of Maluco, from whence the spices come: of which armade the captain-general was Fernand de Magalianes, a Portuguese gentleman, commander of St. James of the Sword, who had performed several voyages in the ocean sea (in which he had behaved very bonourably as a good man), I set out with many others in my favour from Barcelona, where at the time the Emperor was, and came by sea as far as Malaga, and thence I went away by land until I arrived at the said city of Seville. there I remained for the space of three months, waiting till the said armade was in order and readiness to perform its voyage. And because (very illustrious lord) that on the return from the said voyage, on going to Rome towards the holiness of our Holy Father,* I found your lordship at Monterosa,† where of your favour you gave me a good reception, and afterwards gave me to understand that you desired to have in writing the things which God of His grace had permitted me to see in my said voyage; therefore to satisfy and accede to you desire,‡ I have reduced into this small book the principal things, in the best manner that I have been able.

* Clement VII (Medici) was elected Pontiff in 1523, and died in 1534.

† Monterosi. Milan edition.

‡ The Milan edition attributes this desire to the Pope.

Finally (very illustrious lord), after all provisions had been made, and the vessels were in order, the captain-general, a discreet and virtuous man, careful of his honour, would not commence his voyage without first making some good and wholesome ordinances, such as it is the good custom to make for those who go to sea. Nevertheless he did not entirely declare the voyage which he was going to make, so that his men should not from amazement and fear be unwilling to accomany him on so long a voyage, as he had undertaken in his intention. Considering the great and impetuous storms* which are on the ocean sea, where I wished to go,; and for another reason also, that is to say that the masters and captains of the other ships of his company did not love him: of this I do not know the reason, except by cause of his, the captain-general, being Portuguese, and they were Spaniards or Castilians, who for a long time have been in rivalry and ill will with one another. Notwithstanding this all were obedient to him. He made his ordinances such as those which follow, so that during the storms at sea, which often come on by night and day, his ships should not go away and separate from one another. These ordinances he published and made over in writing to each master of the ships, unless there were good and legitate excuses, and appearance of not having been able to do otherwise.

* Fortunes.

Finally, the said captain-general willed that the vessel in which he himself was should go before the other vessels, and that the others should follow it; therefore he carried by night on the poop of his ship a torch or faggot of burning wood, which they called farol, which burned all night, so that his ships should not lose sight of him. Sometimes he set a lantern, sometimes a thick cord of reeds* was lighted, which was called trenche.† This is made of reeds well soaked in the water, and much beaten, then they are dried in the sun or in the smoke, and it is a thing very suitable for such a matter. When the captain had made one of his signals to his people, they answered in the same way. In that manner they knew whether the ships were following and keeping together or not. And when he wished to take a tack on account of the chance of weather, or if the wind was contrary, or if he wished to make less way, he had two lights shown; and if he wished the others to lower their small sail,‡ which was a part of the sail attached to the great sail, he showed three lights. also by the three lights, notwithstanding that the wind was fair for going faster, he signalled that the studding sail should be lowered; so that the great sail might be quicker and more easily struck and furled when bad weather should suddenly set in, on account of some squall^ or otherwise. Likewise when the captain wished the other ships to lower the sail he had four lights shown, which shortly after he had put out and then showed a single one, which was a signal that he wished to stop there and turn, so that the other ships might do as he did.

*Jonq.

† Estrenque, made of esparta.

‡ Bonnette = stun sail, formerly added below the square sail.

^ Groupade.

Withal, when he discovered any land, or shoal, that is to say, a rock at sea, he made several lights be shown or had a bombard fired off. If he wished to make sail, he signalled to the other ships with four lights, so that they should do as he did, and follow him. He always carried this said lantern suspended to the poop of his vessel. Also when he wished the studding sail to be replaced with the great sail, he showed three lights. And to know whether all the ships followed him and were coming together, he showed one light only besides the farol, and then each of the ships showed another light, which was an answering signal.

Besides the above-mentioned ordinances for carrying on seamanship as is fitting, and to avoid the dangers which may come upon those who do not keep watch, the said captain, who was expert in the things required for navigation, ordered that three watches should be kept at night. The first was at the beginning of the night, the second at midnight, and the third towards break of day, which is commonly called La diane, otherwise the star of the break of day. Every night these watches were changed; that is to say, he who had kept the first watch, on the following day kept the second, and he who had kept the second kept the third; and so on they changed continually every night. The said captain commanded that his regulations both for the signals and the watches should be well observed, so that their voyage should be made with greater security. The crews of this fleet were divided into three companies; the first belonged to the captain, the second to the pilot or nochier, and the third to the master. These regulations having been made, the captain-general deliberated on sailing, as follows.

Monday,§ the day of St. Lawrence, the 10th of August, in the year above mentioned {1519}, the fleet, provided with what was necessary for it, and carrying crews of different nations, to the number of two hundred and thirty seven men in all the five ships, was ready to set sail from the mole of Seville;§ and firing all the artillery, we made sail only on the foremast, and came to the end of a river named Betis, which is now called Guadalcavir.§§ In going along this river we passed by a place named Gioan de Farax, where there was* a large population of Moors, and there was a bridge over the river by which one went to Seville. This bridge was ruined, however there had remained two columns which are at the bottom of the water, on which account it is necessary to have people of the country of experience and knowledge to point out the convenient spot for safely passing between these two columns, from fear of striking against them. Besides that, it is necessary in order to pass safely by this bridge and by other places on this river, that the water should be rather high. After having passed the two columns we came to another place named Coria, and passing by many little villages lying along the said river, at last we arrived at a castle, which belongs to the Duke of Medina Sidonia, named St. Lucar, where there is a port from which to enter the ocean sea. It is entered by the east wind and you go out by the west wind. Near there is the cape of St. Vincent, which, according to cosmography, is in thirty-seven degrees of latitude, at twenty miles distance from the said port;Δ and from the aforesaid town to this port by the river there are thirty-five or forty miles. A few days afterwards the captain-general came along the said river with his boat, and the masters of the other ships with him, and we remained some days in this port to supply the fleet with some necessary things. We went every day to hear mass on shore, at a church named Our Lady of Barrameda, towards St. Lucar. There the captain commanded that all the men of the fleet should confess before going on any further, in which he himself showed the way to the others. Besides he did not choose that anyone should bring any married woman, or others to the ships, for several good considerations.

§ The Julian calendar for 1519 shows that 10 August was Wednesday.

Original and Current Placenames
Original Name (from Pigafetta's Account)	Current Name
Mole of Seville	(unnamed)
Guadalcavir	Guadalquivir
Betis (roman, Beatis)
Gioan de Farax	(unknown)
St. Lucar	Sanlúcar de Barrameda
Cape of St. Vincent	Cabo de São Vicente (Portugal)
Google Earth 3D view of listed locations

§ Thought to have been near the current Torre de Oro.

§§ Presumably, Pigafetta's “end of a river” refers to the mouth of Rio Guadalquivir, which the ships reached after passing by the other places mentioned above.

Δ Pigafetta's description of St. Vincent makes little or no sense. The nearest place with that name is Portugal's Cabo de São Vicente which, although at about 37° degrees latitude, is about 145 miles west of Sanlúcar de Barrameda. He also states that St. Vincent is “twenty miles distant” (from Sanlúcar), and immediately contradicts himself: “from the aforesaid town to this port by the river there are thirty-five or forty miles.”

* Milan edition adds here, formerly.

Tuesday, the 20th September of the said year,* we set sail from St. Lucar, making the course of the south-west otherwise named Labeiche;† and on the twenty-sixth of the said month we arrived at an island of great Canaria, named Teneriphe [ Santa Cruz de Tenerife], which is in twenty-eight degrees latitude; there we remained three days and a half to take in provisions and other things which were wanted. After that we set sail thence and came to a port named Monterose [ Montaña Roja, Isla Lanzarote], where we sojourned two days to supply ourselves with pitch, which is a thing necessary for ships. It is to be known that among the other isles which are at the said great Canaria, there is one, where not a drop of water is to be found proceeding from a fountain or a river, only once a day at the hour of midday, there descends a cloud from the sky which envelops a large tree which is in this island, and it falls upon the leaves of the tree, and a great abundance of water distils from these leaves, so that at the foot of the tree there is so large a quantity of water that it seems as if there was an ever-running fountain. The men who inhabit this place are satisfied with the water; also the animals, both domestic and wild, drink of it.

* 1519.

† Garbin and Libeccio [a south-westerly Adriatic wind].

Monday, the third of October of the said year, at the hour of midnight, we set sail, making the course auster, which the levantine marines call Siroc,* entering into the ocean sea. We passed Cape Verd and the neighboring islands in fourteen-and-a-half degrees, and we navigated for several days by the coast of Guinea or Ethiopia;§ where there is a mountain called Sierra Leona,§§ which is in eight degrees latitude according to the art and science of cosmography and astrology. Sometimes we had the wind contrary and at other times sufficiently good, and rains without wind. In this manner we navigated with rain for the space of sixty days until the equinoctial line, which was a thing very strange and unaccustomed to be seen, according to the saying of some old men and those who had navigated here several times. Nevertheless, before reaching this equinoctial line we had in fourteen degrees a variety of weather and bad winds, as much on account of squalls as for the head winds and currents which came in such a manner that we could no longer advance. In order that our ships might not perish nor broach to (as it often happens when the squalls come together), we struck our sails, and in that manner we went about the sea higher and thither until the fair weather came.

* South-east.

§ Although the modern Ethiopia is on the horn of Africa, in the past Ethiopia “… has been given as a general name to all the countries … from Guinea … to Abyssinia ….” [Source: The Works of Isaac Watts, D. D. London, 1753: T. & T. Longman, others (p. 445, para. 7)].

§§ Probably one of the mountains in Sierra Leone's Loma Mountain Range (not seen in Google Earth 3D view).

During the calm there came large fishes near the ships which they called Tiburoni (sharks), which have teeth of a terrible kind, and eat people when they find them in the sea either alive of dead. These fishes are caught with a device which the mariners call hamc [sic, hame], which is a hook of iron. Of these, some were caught by our men. However, they are worth nothing to eat when they are so large; and even the small ones are worth but little. During these storms the body of St. Anselme appeared to us several times; amongst others, one night that it was very dark on account of the bad weather, the said saint appeared in the form of a fire lighted at the summit of the mainmast, and remained there near two hours and a half, which comforted us greatly, for we were in tears, only expecting the hour of perishing; and when thay hold light was going away from us it gave out so great a brilliancy in the eyes of each, that we were near a quarter-of-an-hour like people blinded, and calling out for mercy. For without any doubt nobody hoped to escape from that storm. It is to be noted that all and as many times as that light which represents the said St. Anselme shows itself and descends upon a vessel which is in a storm at sea, that vessel never is lost. Immediately that this light had departed the sea grew calmer, and then we saw divers sorts of birds, amongst others there were some which had no fundament. There is also another kind of bird of such a nature that when the female wishes to lay her eggs she goes and lays them on the back of the male, and there it is that the eggs are hatched. This last kind have no feet and are always in the sea. There is another kind of bird which only lives on the droppings of the other birds, this is a true thing, and they are named Cagaselo, for I have seen them follow the other birds until they had done what nature ordered them to do; and after it has eat this dirty diet it does not follow any other bird until hunger returns to it; it always does the same thing.* There are also fish which fly, and we saw a great quantity of them together, so many that it seemed that it was an island in the sea.

* In reality this bird swallows the fish which it forces the fishing bird to disgorge.

After that we had passed the equinoctial line, towards the south, we lost the star of the tramontana, and we navigated between the south and Garbin, which is the collateral wind [or point] between south and west; and we crossed as far as a country named Verzin,§ which is in twenty-four degrees and a half of the antarctic sky.§§ This country is from the cape St. Augustine, which is in eight degrees in the antarctic sky.Δ At this place we had refreshments of victuals, like fowls and meat of calves,* also a variety of fruits, called battate, pigne (pine-apples), sweet, of singular goodness, and many other things, which I have omitted mentioning, not to be too long. The people of the said place gave, in order to have a knife, or a hook for catching fish, five or six fowls, and for a comb they gave two geese, and for a small mirror, or a pair of scissors, they gave so much fish that ten men could have eaten of it. And for a bell (or hawk's bell) they gave a full basket† of the fruit named battate; this has the taste of a chestnut, and is of the length of a shuttle. For a king of cards, of that kind which they used to play with in Italy, they gave me five fowls, and thought they had cheated me.

§ Brazil.

§§ Presumably, the modern Rio de Janeiro, at 22° 54' S (-22.9°).

Δ Now Cabo São Agostinho, at 8° 20' S (-8.3333°). This is the eastern coastal extremity of Brazil, whose northern coast is actually at about 4° N. latitude. Although Pigafetta's text may suggest that they arrived at Rio de Janeiro before Cabo São Agostinho, the Log-Book of Francisco Albo makes it clear that the opposite sequence is correct.

* The Milan edition has “flesh of the Anta, like that of a cow;” and a note says the anta is the tapir. See also an editor's footnote about the Anta in Falkner's Description of Patagonia.

† Coffin.

We entered into this port the day of Saint Lucy [18th December], before Christmas, on which day we had the sun on the zenith, which is a term of astrology. Ths zenith is a point in the sky, according to astrologers, and only in imagination, and it answers to over our head in a straight line, as may be seen by the treatise of the sphere,* and by Aristotle, in the first book, De Cœlo et Mondo.On the day that we had the sun in the zenith we felt greater heat, as much as when we were on the equinoctial line.

* Or of Lespere.

The said country of Verzin is very abundant in all good things, and is larger then France, Spain and Italy together. It is one of the countries which the King of Portugal has conquered [acquired]. Its inhabitants are not Christians, and adore nothing, but live according to the usage of nature, rather bestially than otherwise. Some of these people live a hundred, or a hundred and twenty, or a hundred and forty years, and more; they go naked, both men and women.§ Their dwellings are houses that are rather long, and which they call “boy,” they sleep upon cotton nets, which they call, in their language, “amache.” These nets are fastened to large timbers from one end of their house to the other. They make the fire to warm themselves right under their bed. It is to be known that in each of these houses, which they call “boy,” there dwells a family of a hundred persons, who make a great noiser. In this place they have boats, which are made of a tree, all in one piece, which they call “canoo.” These are not made with iron instruments, for they have not got any, but with stones, like pebbles, and with these they plane and dig out these boats. Into these thirty or forty men enter, and their oars are made like iron shovels; and those who row these oars are black people, quite naked and shaven, and look like enemies of hell. The men and women of this said place are well made in their bodies. They eat the flesh of their enemies, not as good meat, but because they have adopted this custom. Now this custom arose as follows: an old woman of this place of Verzim [sic, Verzin] had an only son, who was killed by his enemies, and, some days afterwards, the friends of this woman captured one of the said enemies who had put her son to death, and brought him to where she was. Immediately the said old woman, seeing the man who was captured, and recollecting the death of her child, rushed upon him like a mad dog, and hit him in the shoulder. However, this man who had been taken prisoner found means to run away, and told how they had wished to eat him, showing the bite which the said old woman had made in his shoulder. After that those who were caught on one side or other were eaten. Through that arose this custom in this place of eating the enemies of each other. But they do not eat up the whole body of the man whom they take prisoner; they eat him bit by bit, and for fear that he should be spoiled, they cut him up into pieces, which they set to dry in the chimney, and every day they cut a small piece, and eat it with their ordinary victuals in memory of their enemies. I was assured that this custom was true by a pilot, named John Carvagio, who was in our company, and had remained four years in this place; it is also to be observed that the inhabitants of this place, both men and women, are accustomed to paint themselves with fire, all over the body, and also the face.

§ Pigafetta contradicts himself in the next paragraph—see first footnote following the paragraph.

The men are shaven, and wear no beard because they pluck it out themselves, and for all clothing they wear a circle surrounded with the largest feathers of parrots, and they only cover their posterior parts, which is a cause of laughter and mockery.§ The people of this place, almost all, excepting* women and children, have three holes in the lower lip, and carry, hanging in them, small round stones, about a finger in length. These kind of people, both men and women, are not very black, but rather brown, and they openly show their shame, and have no hair on the whole of their bodies. The king of this country is called Cacich, and there are here an infinite number of parrots, of which they give eight or ten for a looking-glass; there are also some little cat-monkeys having almost the appearance of a lion; they are yellow, and handsome, and agreeable to look at. The people of this place make bread, which is of a round shape, and they take the marrow of certain trees which are there, between the bark and the tree, but it is not at all good, and resembles fresh cheese. There are also some pigs which have their navel on the back, and large birds which have their beak like a spoon, and they have no tongue. for a hatchet or for a knife they used to give us one or two of their daughters as slaves, but their wives they would not give up for anything in the world. According to what they say the women of this place never render duty to their husbands by day, but only at night; they attend to business out of doors, and carry all that they require for their husband's victuals inside small baskets on their heads, or fastened to their heads. Their husbands go with them, and carry a bow of vergin [sic?, verzin],† or of black palm, with a handful of arrows of cane. They do this because they are very jealous of their wives. These carry their children fastened to their neck, and they are inside a thing made of cotton in the manner of a net.

§ Pigafetta wrote in the previous paragraph that they go naked, both men and women.

* Fabre's French printed edition, and the Italian editions of 1536, both include the women and children.

† Milan edition calls it wood of Brasile.

I omit relating many other strange things, not to be too prolix; however, I will not forget to say that mass was said twice on shore, where there were many people of the said country, who remained on their knees, and their hands joined in great reverence, during the mass, so that it was a pleasure and a subject of compassion to see them. In a short time they built a house for us, as they imagined that we should remain a long time with them, and, at our departure thence, they gave us a large quantity of verzin. It is a colour which proceeds from the trees which are in this country, and they are in such quantity that the country is called from it Verzin.

It is to be known that it happened that it had not rained for two months before we came there, and the day that we arrived it began to rain, on which account the people of the said place said that we came from heaven, and had brought the rain with us, which was great simplicity, and these people were easily converted to the Christian faith. Besides the above-mentioned things which were rather simple, the people of this country showed us another, very simple; for they imagined that the small ships' boats were the children of the ships, and that the said ships brought them forth when the boats were hoisted out to send the men hither and thither; and when the boats were alongside the ship they thought that the ships were giving them suck.

A beautiful young girl came one day inside the ship of our captain, where I was, and did not come except to seek for her luck: however, she directed her looks to the cabin of the master, and saw a nail of a finger's length, and went and took it as something valuable and new, and hid it in her hair, for otherwise she would not have been able to conceal it, because she was naked, and, bending forwards, she went away; and the captain and I saw this mystery.*

* This passage is from MS. No. 68, the Regent Louisa's copy, for whom it appears to have been adapted; that in No. 5650, and in Amoretti and Fabre's editions, is less fit for publication: the words from * to 2 are omitted in No. 68 (shown here in sans-serif font). The 1536 edition omits the story of the girl, and instead says:—

“At the first land at which we stopped, some female slaves whom we had brought in the ship from other countries and who were heavy with child, were taken with the pains of childbirth. Consequently, they went alone out of the ships, went ashore, and after having given birth, returned immediately to the ships with their infants in their arms.”

    Fabre says:—

“At the first coast that we passed, some slave women gave birth. When they were in travail, they left the boat, after which they immediately returned, and nursed their children.”This story is improbable, as women were not allowed to come on board ship. Fabre then relates the story of the young girl.§

§ The Hakluyt editor reproduces the 1536 paragraph above in Italian, and Fabre's account in French, both left untranslated. The translations seen here are from footnote 79 in the 1906 Clark edition.

Some Words of the People of Verzin.
(English)	(French)	Verzin	Milan Edition
Millet	Au mil	Maize
Flour	Farine	Huy
A hook	Ung haim {sic, Une hame §}	Pinda
A knife	Ung coutteau {sic, couteau}	Taesse	Tarse
A comb	Ung peigne	Chignap	Chipag
A fork	Une forcette	Pirame
A bell	Une sonnette	Itemnaraca	Hanmaraca
Good, more than good	Bon, plu que bon	tum maraghatom
§ Assuming “Une hame” is the fish hook mentioned above.

We remained thirteen days in this country of Verzin, and, departing from it and following our course, we went as far as thirty-four degrees and a third towards the antarctic pole; there we found, near a river,§ men whom they call “cannibals,” who eat human flesh, and one of these men, great as a giant, came to the captain's ship to ascertain and ask if the others might come. This man had a voice like a bull, and whilst this man was at the ship his companions carried off all their goods which they had to a castle further off, from fear of us. Seeing that, we landed a hundred men from the ships, and went after them to try and catch some others; however they gained in running away. This kind of people did more with one step than we could do at a bound. In this same river there were seven little islands, and in the largest of them precious stones are found. This place was formerly called the Cape of St. Mary,§§ and it was thought there that from thence there was a passage to the Sea of Sur; that is to say, the South Sea. And it is not found that any ship has ever discovered anything more, having passed beyond the said cape. And now it is no longer a cape, but it is a river which has a mouth seventeen leagues in width, by which it enters into the sea. In past time, in this river, these great men named Canibali ate a Spanish captain, named John de Sola,* and sixty men who had gone to discover land, as we were doing, and trusted too much to them.

§ Rio de la Plata.

§§ In the Hakluyt edition, Pigafetta's “formerly called” and “it is no longer a cape, but it is a river” phrases are puzzling. The cape at the river's mouth of course remains a cape to this day, and is still known as Cabo de Santa María. Presumably Pigafetta knew de Solis had named the river and the cape as Rio Dulce and Cabo de Santa María, respectively. The former was never called by the name of the latter, and stating that a cape is now a river makes no sense at all. A clearer (and more succinct) explanation may be found in Magellan's Voyage Around the World, John Alexander Robertson, editor. Cleveland, OH. Arthur H. Clark (vol. I, p. 47):

Now the name is not a cape, but a river, with a mouth 17 leguas in width.

* Solis.

Afterwards following the same course towards the Antarctic pole, going along the land, we found two islands full of geese and goslings, and sea wolves, of which geese the large number could not be reckoned; for we loaded all the five ships with them in an hour. These geese are black, and have their feathers all over the body of the same size and shape, and they do not fly, and live upon fish; and they were so fat that they did not pluck them, but skinned them. They have beaks like that of a crow. The sea wolves of these two islands are of many colours, and of the size and thickness of a calf, and have a head like that of a calf, and the ears small and round. They have large teeth, and have no legs, but feet joining close on to the body, which resemble a human hand; they have small nails to their feet, and skin between the fingers like geese. If these animals could run they would be very bad and cruel, but they do not stir from the water, and awim and live upon fish. In this place we endured a great storm, and thought we should have been lost, but the three holy bodies, that is to say, St. Anselmo, St. Nicolas, and Sta. Clara, appeared to us, and immediately the storm ceased.

Departing thence as far as forty nine degrees and a half in the Antarctic heavens (as we were in the winter), we entered into a port to pass the winter,§ and remained there two whole months without ever seeing anybody. However, one day, without anyone expecting it, we saw a giant, who was on the shore of the sea, quite naked, and was dancing and leaping, and singing, and whilst singing he put the and and dust on his head. Our captain sent one of his men towards him, whom he charged to sing and leap like the other to reassure him, and show him friendship. This he did, and immediately the sailor led this giant to a little island where the captain was waiting for him; and when he was before us he began to be astonished, and to be afraid, and he raised one finger on high, thinking that we came from heaven, he was so tall that the tallest of us only came up to his waist;* however he was well built. He had a large face, painted red all round, and his eyes also were painted yellow around them, and he had two hearts painted on his cheeks; he had but little hair on his head, and it was painted white. When he was brought before the captain he was clothed with the skin of a certain beast, which skin was very skilfully sewed. This beast† has its head and ears of the size of a mule, and the neck and body of the fashion of a camel, the legs of a deer, and the tail like that of a horse, and it neighs like a horse. There is a great quantity of these animals in this same place. This giant had his feet covered with the skin of this animal in the form of shoes, and he carried in his hand a short and thick bow, with a thick cord made of the gut of the said beast, with a bundle of cane arrows, which were not very long, and were feathered like ours, but they had no iron at the end, though they had at the end some small white and black cut stones, and these arrows were like those which the Turks use. The captain caused food and drink to be given to this giant, then they showed him some things, amongst others, a steel mirror. When the giant saw his likeness in it, be was greatly terrified, leaping backwards, and made three or four of our men fall down.

§ Pigafetta gives the name of the port {San Julián } below.

* Falkner (1774, Hereford) in his account of Patagonia, says he saw men among the Puelches seven feet six inches high [sic, “seven feet and some inches”].

† The guanaco, a kind of Lama [sic, llama].

After that the captain gave him two bells, a mirror, a comb, and a chaplet of beads, and sent him back on shore, having him accompanied by four armed men. One of the companions of this giant, who would never come to the ship, on seeing the other coming back with our people, came forward and ran to where the other giants dwelled. These came one after the other all naked, and began to leap and sing, raising one finger to heaven, and showing to our people a certain white powder made of the roots of herbs, which they kept in earthen pots, and they made signs that they lived on that, and that they had nothing else to eat than this powder. Therefore our people made them signs to come to the ship and that they would help them to carry their bundles. Then these men came, who carried only their bows in their hands; but their wives came after them laden like donkeys, and carried their goods. These women are not as tall as the men, but they are very sufficiently large. When we saw them we were all amazed and astonished, for they had the breasts half an ell long, and had their faces painted, and were dressed like the men. But they wore a small skin before them to cover themselves. They brought with them four of those little beasts of which they make their clothing, and they led them with a cord in the manner of dogs coupled together. When these people wish to catch these animals with which they clothe themselves, they fasten one of the young ones to a bush, and afterwards the large ones come to play with the little one, and the giants are hid behind some hedge, and by shooting their arrows they kill the large ones. Our men brought eighteen of these giants, both men and women, whom they placed in two divisions, half on one side of the port, and the other half at the other, to hunt the said animals. Six days after, our people on going to cut wood, saw another giant, with bis face painted and clothed like the above-mentioned, he had in his hand a bow and arrows, and approaching our people he made some touches on his head and then on his body, and afterwards did the same to our people. And this being done he raised both his hands to heaven. When the captain-general knew all this, he sent to fetch him with his ship's boat, and brought him to one of the little islands which are in the port, where the ships were. In this island the captain had caused a house to be made for putting some of the ships' things in whilst he remained there. This giant was of a still better disposition than the others, and was a gracious and amiable person, who liked to dance and leap. When he leapt he caused tho earth to sink in a palm depth at the place where his feet touched. He was a long time with us, and at the end we baptised him, and gave him the name of John. This giant pronounced the name of Jesus, the Pater noster, Ave Maria, and his name as clearly as we did: but he had a terribly strong and loud voice. The captain gave him a shirt and a tunic of cloth, and seaman's breeches, a cap, a comb, some bells, and other things, and sent him hack to where he had come from. He went away very joyous and satisfied. The next day this giant returned, and brought one of those large animals before mentioned, for which the captain gave him aomo other things, so that he should bring more. But afterwards he did not return, and it is to be presumed that the other giants killed him because he had come to us.

Fifteen days later we saw four other giants, who carried no arrows, for they had hid them in the bushes, as two of them showed us, for we took them all four, and each of them was painted in a different way. The captain retained the two younger ones to take them to Spain on his return; but it was done by gentle and cunning means, for otherwise they would have done a hurt to some of our men. The manner in which he retained them was that be gave many knives, forks, mirrors, bells, and glass, and they held all these things in their hands. Then the captain had some irons brought, such as are put on the feet of malefactors: these giants took pleasure iu seeing the irons, but they did not know where to put them, and it grieved them that they could not take them with their hands, because they were hindered by the other things which they held in them. The other two giants were there, and were desirous of helping the other two, but the captain would not let them, and made a sign to the two whom he wished to detain that they would put those irons on their feet, and then they would go away: at this they made a sign with their heads that they were content. Immediately the captain had the irons put on the feet of both of them, and when they saw that they were striking with a hammer on the bolt which crosses the said irons to rivet them, and prevent them from being opened, these giants were afraid, but the captain made them a sign not to doubt of anything. Nevertheless when they saw the trick which had been played them, they began to be enraged, and to foam like bulls, crying out very loud Setebos,* that is to say, the great devil, that he should help them.

* Setebos, though represented by tbe Spaniards as a demon, would, no doubt, be the Patagonian name of the Deity. Shakespeare has twice brought in Setebos in the Tempest, as invoked by Caliban. There can be no doubt of his having got the name of Setebos from the account of Magellan's voyage.

The hands of the other two giants were bound, but it was with great dificulty; then the captain sent them back on shore, with nine of his men to conduct them, and to bring the wife of one of those who had remained in irons, because he regretted her greatly, as we saw by signs. But in going away one of those two who were sent away, untied his hands and escaped, running with such lightness that our men lost sight of him, and he went away where his companions were staying; but he found nobody of those that he had left with the women because they had gone to hunt. However he went to look for them, and found them, and related to them all that had been done to them. The other giant whose hands were tied struggled as much aa he could to unfasten himself, and to prevent his doing so, one of our men struck him, and hurt him on the head, at which he got very angry; however he led our people there where their wives were. Then John Cavagio,* the pilot who was the chief conductor of these two giants, would not bring away the wife of one of the giants who had remained in irons on that evening, but was of opinion that they should sleep there, because it was almost night. During this time the one of the giants who had untied his hands came back from where he had been, with another giant, and they seeing their companion wounded on the head, said nothing at that moment, but next morning they spoke in their language to the women, and immediately all ran away together, and the smallest ran faster than the biggest, and they left all their chattels. Two of these giants being rather a long way off shot arrows at our men, and fighting thus, one of the giants pierced with an arrow the thigh of one of our men, of which he died immediately. Then seeing that he was dead, all ran away. Our men had cros-bows and guns, but they never could hit one of these giants, becanse they did not stand still in one place, but leaped hither and thither. After that, our men buried the man who had been killed, and set fire to the place where those giants had left their chattels. Certainly these giants run faster than a horse, and they are very jealous of their wives.

* Carvalho.

When these giants have a stomach-ache, instead of taking medicine they put down their throats an arrow about two feet long; then they vomit a green bile mixed with blood: and the reason why they throw up this green matter is because they sometimes eat thistles. When they have headaches tbey make a cut across the forehead, and also on the arms and legs, to draw blood from several parts of their bodies. One of the two we had taken, and who was in our ship, said that the blood did not choose to remain in the place and spot of the body where pain was felt. These people have their hair cut short and clipped in the manner of monks with a tonsure: they wear a cord of cotton round their head, to this they hang their arrows when they go a-hunting. . . .

When one of them dies, ten or twelve devils appear and dance all round the dead man. It seems that these are painted, and one of these enemies is taller than the others, and makes a greater noise, and more mirth than the others: that is whence these people have taken the custom of painting their faces and bodies, as has been said. The greatest of these devils is called in their language Setebos, and the others Cheleule. Besides the above-mentioned things, this one who was in the ship with us, told as by signs that he had seen devils with two horns on their heads, and long hair down to their feet, and who threw out fire from their mouths and rumps. The captain named this kind of people Pataghom,* who have no houses, but have huts made of the skins of the animals with which they clothe themselves, and go hither and thither with these huts of theirs, as the gypsies do; they live on raw meat, and eat a certain sweet root, which they call Capac. These two giants that we had in the ship ate a large basketful† of biscuit, and rats without skinning them, and they drank half a bucket of water at each time.

* On account of their large feet.§

§ See Some Place Names … for a more-likely explanation of the word.

† Coffin.

We remained in this port, which was called the port of St. Julian, about five months, during which there happened to us many strange things, of which I will tell a part.

{See Notes page for details about the differing accounts immediately below.}

Hakluyt translation from French ms.	Burney translation from Milan Ambrosian ms.
One was, that immediately that we entered into this port, the masters of the other four ships§ plotted treason against the captain-general, in order to put him to death. These were thus named; John of Carthagine, conductor* of the fleet; the treasurer, Loys de Mendoza; the conductor, Anthony Cocha; and Caspar de Casada. However, the treason was discovered, for which the treasurer was killed with stabs of a dagger, and then quartered. This Gaspar de Casada had his head cut off, and afterwards was cut into quarters; and the conductor having a few days later attempted another treason, was banished with a priest, and was put in that country called Pattagonia.† The captain-general would not put this conductor to death, because the Emperor Charles had made him captain of one of the ships {the San Antonio}.	We had scarcely anchored in this port, when the captains of the four ships§ conspired to kill the Captain General. These traitors were Juan de Cartagena, Louis de Mendoza, Antonio Cocca, accomptant, and Gaspard de Casada. The conspiracy was discovered: the first was quartered; the second was poignarded. Gaspard de Casada was pardoned; but, a few days after, he plotted new treasons. The Captain General, who dared not take his life, as he had been appointed captain by the Emperor, set him on shore, with a priest his accomplice.
* Milan edition calls him “vehadore”, overseer or purveyor. † Maximillian, the Transylvanian, relates that when Gomez § abandoned Magellan in the Straits, he returned by this spot and picked up these two men. § Estevan Gomez, Pilot of the Trinidad. There is no known record of Maximillian ever relating such an incident.	§ The captains of only three ships (Concepción, San Antonio, Victoria) were involved, as correctly reported by Mestre Bautista.

Pigafetta's sketch map of Patagonia and Strait of Magellan

One of our ships, named Santiago, was lost in going to discover the coast; all the men, however, were saved by a miracle, for they were hardly wet at all. Two men of these, who were saved, came to us and told us all that had passed and happened, on which the captain at once sent some men with sacks full of biscuit for two months. So, each day we found something of the ship of the other men who had escaped from the ship which was lost; and the place where these men were was twenty-five leagues from us, and the road bad and full of thorns, and it required four days to go there, and no water to drink was to be found on the road, but only ice, and of that little. In this port of St. Julian there were a great quantity of long capres,* called Missiglione; these had pearls in the midst. In this place they found incense, and ostriches, foxes, sparrows, and rabbits a good deal smaller than ours. We set up at the top of the highest mountain which was there a very large cross, as a sign that this country belonged to the King of Spain; and we gave to this mountain the name of Mount of Christ.

* “Capres,” mussels or oysters; the Milan edition adds, that they were not eatable.

Departing thence, we found in fifty-one degrees less one-third (50° 40' S.), in the Antarctic, a river of fresh water, § which was near causing us to be lost, from the great winds which it sent out; but God, of his favour, aided us. We were about two months in this river, as it supplied fresh water and a kind of fish an ell long, and very scaly, which is good to eat. Before going away, the captain chose that all should confess and receive the body of our Lord like good Christians.

§ Rio Santa Cruz

---

CHAPTER *

* The MS. is thus divided, but without numbers to the chapters.§

§ Notwithstanding the above footnote, numbered chapters (I-CXIV) are found throughout the Yale University ms. [See Notes page for further details.] In this online excerpt from an unidentified ms., the word “CHAPTER” appears only at three locations corresponding to the following places in the Yale University ms.:

• Chapter X, first paragraph, first sentence,
• Chapter XV, first paragraph, third sentence,
• Chapter XV, second paragraph, first sentence.

After going and taking the coarse to the fifty-second degree of the said Antarctic sky, on the day of the Eleven Thousand Virgins [October 21], we found, by a miracle, a strait which we called [The Strait of]§ the Cape of the Eleven Thousand Virgins, this strait is a hundred and ten leagues long, which are four hundred and forty miles, and almost as wide as less than half a league, and it issues in another sea, which is called the peaceful sea; it is surrounded by very great and high mountains covered with snow. In this place it was not possible to anchor with the anchors, because no bottom was found, on which account they were forced to put the moorings of twenty-five or thirty fathoms length on shore.

§ The bracketed insertion is from text in the margin of one of the French editions [Le detroict du cap des unze mille vierges.] Notwithstanding the awkward “Strait of the Cape of …” name, the insertion resolves the puzzle of finding a strait, and calling it a cape. The Milan Ambrosian ms. has a clearer account. See the “Strait of Magellan” first footnote on the Place Names page for more details.

This strait was a round place surrounded by mountains, as I have said, and the greater number of the sailors thought that there was no place by which to go out thence to enter into the peaceful sea. But the captain-general said that there was another strait for going out, and said that he knew it well, because he had seen it by a marine chart of the King of Portugal which map had been made by a great pilot and mariner named Martin of Bohemia.* The captain sent on before two of his ships, one named San Antonio and the other the Concepción, to seek for and discover the outlet of this strait, which was called the Cape de la Baya. And we, with the other two ships, that is to say, the flagship named Trinidad, and the other the Victoria, remained waiting for them within the Bay, where in the night we had a great storm, which lasted till the next day at midday, and during which we were forced to weigh the anchors and let the ships go hither and thither about the bay. The other two ships met with such a head wind that they could not weather a cape which the bay made almost at its extremity; wishing to come to us, they were near being driven to beach the ships. But, on approaching the extremity of the bay, and whilst expectiug to be lost, tbey saw a small mouth, which did not resemble a mouth but a corner, and (like people giving up hope) they threw themselves into it, so that by force they discovered the strait. Seeing that it was not a corner, but a strait of land, they went further on, and found a bay, then going still further they found another strait and another bay larger than the first two, at which, being very joyous, they suddenly returned backwards to tell it to the captain-general. Amongst us we thought that they had perished: first, because of the great storm; next, because two days had passed that we had not seen them. And being thus in doubt we saw the two ships under all sail, with ensigns spread, come towards us: these, when near us, suddenly discharged much artillery, at which we, very joyous, saluted them with artillery and shouts. Afterwards, all together, thanking God and the Virgin Mary, we went to seek further on.

* Martin Behaim, who lived at Fayol and Nuremberg. A globe was constructed at Nuremberg under the instructions of Martin Behaim in 1492, and given by him to the town of Nuremberg. This globe disproves the idea that Martin Behaim or his maps had indicated to Magellan any straits, for the whole continent of America is absent from it.§

§ Magellan may have been told of the strait by João de Lisboa, who visited the Rio de la Plata area a few years before Magellan, and may have sailed as far south as the strait.

After having entered inside this strait we found that there were two mouths, of which one trended to the Sirocco (S.E.), and the other to the Garbin (S.W.). On that account the captain again sent the two ships, San Antonio and Concepción, to see if the mouth which was towards Sirocco had an outlet beyond into the said peaceful sea. One of these two ships, named San Antonio, would not wait for the other ship, because those who were inside wished to return to Spain: this they did, and the principal reason was on account of the pilot* of the said ship being previously discontent with the said captain-general, because that before this armament was made, this pilot had gone to the Emperor to talk about having some ships to discover countries. But, on account of the arrival of the captain-general, the Emperor did not give them to this pilot, on account of which he agreed with some Spaniards, and the following night they took prisoner the captain of their ship, who was a brother† of the captain-general, and who was named Alvar de Meschite; they wounded him, and put him in irons. So they carried him off to Spain. And in this ship, which went away and returned, was one of the two above-mentioned giants whom we had taken, and when he felt the heat he died. The other ship, named the Concepción, not being able to follow that one, was always waiting for it, and fluttered hither and thither. But it lost its time, for the other took the road by night for returning. When this happened, at night the ship of the captain and the other ship went together to discover the other mouth to Garbin (S.W.), where, on always holding on our course, we found the same strait. But at the end we arrived at a river which we named the River of Sardines, because we found a great quantity of them. So we remained there four days to wait for the other two ships.

A short time after we sent a boat well supplied with men and provisions to discover the cape of the other sea: these remained three days in going and coming. They told us that they had found the cape, and the sea great and wide. At the joy which the captain-general had at this he began to cry, and he gave the name of Cape of Desire {Cabo Deseado } to this cape, as a thing which had been much desired for a long time. Having done that we turned back to find the two ships which were at the other side, but we only found the Concepción, of which ship we asked what had become of her companion. To this the captain of the said ship, named John Serrano (who was pilot of the first ship which was lost ) as has been related),§ replied that he knew nothing of her, and that he had never seen her since she entered the mouth. However, we sought for her through all the strait, as far as the said mouth, by which she had taken her course to return. Besides that, the Captain-General sent back the ship named the Victoria as far as the entrance of the strait to see if the ship was there, and he told the people of this ship that if they did not find the ship they were looking for, they were to place an ensign on the summit of a small hill, with a letter inside a pot placed in the ground near the ensign, so that if the ship should by chance return, it might see that ensign, and also find the letter which would give information of the course which the captain was holding. This manner of acting had been ordained by the captain from the commencement, in order to effect the junction of any ship which might be separated from the others. So the people of the said ship did what the captain had commanded them, and more, for they set two ensigns with letters; one of the ensigns was placed on a small hill at the first bay, the other on an islet in the third bay, where there were many sea wolves and large birds. The captain-general waited for them with the other ship near the river named Isles: and he caused a cross to be set upon a small island in front of that river, which was between high mountains covered with snow. This river comes and falls into the sea near the other river of the Sardines.§§

§ Serrano (João Serrão) had been captain and pilot of the ship (Santiago) which was lost.

* His name was Estevan Gomez.

† Cousin.

§§ The “river named Isles” is the place where Magellan wrote his “Order of the Day.” Since it is “near the other river of the Sardines,” it is probably near Isla Carlos III, at location [j] on the NASA image in Uriarte's account of the Loaysa expedition. This location is also mentioned in Guillemard's Life of Magellan, where he writes (p. 206, footnote 3) that “Port Gallant and Port S. Miguel most probably correspond to the River of Sardines and the River of Isles.”
Mantellero Ognio provides the following descriptions and coordinates for these placenames (and for Bahía Cordes):

Gallant, Caleta y Cabo	N. E. of Isla Charles, paso Inglés	53° 42' S. {-53.7°}	72°01' W {-72.0166667°}
San Miguel, Caleta	In the interior of Bahía Cordes		71°54' W {-72.9°}
Bahía Cordes	S. W. coast of Brunswick Peninsula	53° 43' S. {-53.716667°}	71°55' W {-72.916667°}

If we had not found this strait the captain-general had made up his mind to go as far as seventy-five degrees towards the antarctic pole; where at that height in the summer time there is no night, or very little: in a similar manner in the winter there is no day-light, or very little, and so that every one may believe this, when we were in this strait the night lasted only three hours, and this was in the month of October.

The land of this strait on the left hand side looked towards the Sirocco wind, which is the wind collateral to the Levant and South; we called this strait Pathagonico. In it we found at every half league a good port and place for anchoring, good waters, wood all of cedar, and fish like sardines, missiglioni, and a very sweet herb named appio (celery). There is also some of the same kind which is bitter. This herb grows near the springs, and from not finding anything else we ate of it for several days. I think that there is not in the world a more beautiful country, or better strait than this one. In this ocean sea one sees a very amusing chase of fish, which are of three sorts, of an ell or more in length, and they call these fish Dorades, Albacores, and Bonitos; these follow and pursue another sort of fish which flies, which they call Colondriny,* which are a foot long or more, and are very good to eat. When these three sorts of fish find in the water any of these flying fish, immediately they make them come out of the water, and they fly more than a cross bow-shot, as long as their wings are wet; and whilst these fishes fly the other three run after them under the water, seeing the shadow of those that fly: and the moment they fall into the water they are seized upon and eaten by the others which pursue them, which is a thing marvellous and agreeable to see.

* Golondrina in Spanish, a swallow.

Vocables des Geants Pathagoniens.

(Vocabulary of the Patagonian Giants)

There is a two-page list here of French words, along with their apparent Patagonian equivalents. Since the significance of the list is close to incomprehensible, it is not reproduced here.

All these words are pronounced in the throat, because they pronounce them thus.

These words were given me by that giant whom we had in the ship, because he asked me for capac, that is to say bread, since they thus name that root which they use for bread, and oli that is to say water. When he saw me write these names after him, and ask for others he understood (what I was doing) with my pen in my hand. Another time I made a cross and kissed it in showing it to him; but suddenly he exclaimed Setebos! and made signs to me that if I again made the cross it would enter into my stomach and make me die. When this giant was unwell he asked for the cross, and embraced and kissed it much, and he wished to become a Christian before his death, and we named him Paul. When these people wish to light a fire they take a pointed stick and rub it with another until they make a fire in the pith of a tree which is placed between these sticks.

Wednesday, the twenty-eighth of November, 1520, we came forth out of the said strait, and entered into the Pacific sea, where we remained three months and twenty days without taking in provisions or other refreshments, and we only ate old biscuit reduced to powder, and full of grubs, and stinking from the dirt which the rats had made on it when eating the good biscuit, and we drank water that was yellow and stinking.

{Voyage continues across the Pacific Ocean.}

Account of Magellan's Death
In (this) Pigafetta ms.	In Correa's ms.
As they {the natives} knew the captain they aimed specially at him, and twice they knocked the helmet off his head. … Thus we fought for more than an hour, until an Indian succeeded in thrusting a cane lance into the captain's face. He then, being irritated, pierced the Indian's breast with his lance, and left it in his body, and trying to draw his sword he was unable to draw it more than half way, on account of a javelin wound which he had received in the right arm. The enemies seeing this all rushed against him, and one of them with a great sword, like a great scimetar, gave him a great blow on the left leg, which brought the captain down on his face, then the Indians threw themseleves upon him, and ran him through with lances and scimetars, and all the other arms which they had, so that they deprived of life our mirror, light, comfort, and true guide. … This fatal battle was fought on the 27th of April of 1521.”	The Christian king, like a brutal man, consented to the treachery, and prepared a great feast and banquet … to which he invited Magellan, who went to the banquet with thirty men, of the most honourable and well dressed; while they were enjoying themselves at the banquet, the armed enemies entered, and killed Magellan, and all the Castilians, and none of them escaped,
We then elected in the place of the captain, Duarte Barbosa, a Portuguese, and a relation of the captain's, and Juan Serrano, a Spaniard.
There then appeared on the beach Juan Serrano, in his shirt, wounded and bound, who entreated us, as loudly as he could, not to fire any more, or else he would be massacred. We asked him what had become of his companions and the interpreter, and he said that all had been slain except the interpreter. He then entreated us to ransom him with some merchandise; but Juan Carvalho, … joined with some others, refused to do it, and they would not allow any boat to go ashore, so that they might remain masters of the ships. Serrano continued his entreaties and lamentations, saying, that if we departed and abandoned him there, he would soon be killed; and after that he saw his lamentations were useless, he added that he prayed God to ask for an account of his life at the day of Judgment from Juan Carvalho. Notwithstanding, we sailed immediately, and I never heard any more news of him.	and they stripped Serrano, and dragging him along, brought him to the beach, where they executed him, and killed him thrown down on the ground.

• • • • •

“Wednesday morning, the 1st of May, the Christian king … invited them to come that same day to dine with him. {Later} There then appeared on the beach Juan Serrano … and he said all had been slain except the interpreter … if we departed and abandoned him there, he would soon be killed. … Notwithstanding, we sailed immediately; and I never heard any more news of him.”

• • • • •

We burned the Concepción after transporting into the other two all that it contained that was serviceable.

• • • • •

Friday, the 8th of November of 1521, three hours before sunset, we entered a port of the island called Tadore,* and having gone on shore, we cast anchor in twenty fathoms, and discharged all our artillery.”

* Tidore.

• • • • •

Saturday, the 21st December, day of St. Thomas the Apostle, the King of Tadore came to the ships and brought us the two pilots, whom we had already paid, to conduct us out of these islands. They said the weather was then good for sailing at once, but, having to wait for the letters of our companions who remained behind, and who wished to write to Spain, we could not sail till midday. Then the ships took leave of one another by a mutual discharge of bombards. … {The Trinidad and} Juan Carvalho remained at Tadore with fifty-three of our men.

• • • • •

At length, by the aid of God, on the 6th of May, we passed that terrible cape {of Good Hope}, but we were obliged to approach it within only five leagues distance, or else we should never have passed it.

• • • • •