A.
First Voyage Around the World by Magellan by Antonio
Pigafetta
Overview:
• The Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan led the first
voyage around the world, beginning in 1519, September 20.
• 5 ships, 270 crew members.
• Sailing southward along the coast of South America,
Magellan discovered the strait that today bears his name
and became the first European to enter the Pacific Ocean
from the east.
• Magellan died while exploring the Philippines ,
• but his ships continued west to complete the
circumnavigation of the globe.
• The following account of the difficult passage through the
Strait of Magellan was written by a member of the crew,
Antonio Pigafetta - an Italian nobleman
• March 16, 1521, Magellan's expedition landed on Homonhon
island in the Philippines.
• Rajah Humabon of Cebu was friendly with Magellan and
embraced Christianity, but their enemy, Lapu-Lapu was not.
• On April 17, 1521, Magellan sailed to Mactan and ensuing
battle killed Magellan by the natives lead by Lapu-Lapu.
• 300 men who left on the Magellan expedition in 1519,
• only one ship (the Victoria) and 18 men returned to
Seville, Spain on September 6, 1522
• later 35 after Magellan’s captured men from their different
stops.
These are the events from the travelogue that are worth
mentioning and discussing:
1. General impression of the Far East including their
experiences in the Visayas
• In Pigafetta’s account, their fleet reached what he called the
Ladrones islands or the “Islands of the Thieves”. (Islas
Ladrones)
He recounted: “These people have no arms, but use sticks,
which have a fish bone at the end. They are poor, but
ingenious, and great thieves, and for the sake of that we
called these three islands the Ladrones Islands”.
Pigafetta detailed in amazement and fascination the palm
tree which bore fruits called cochos and wine.
His description reads: “This palm produces a fruit named
cocho, which is a large as the head, or thereabouts:
its first husk is green, and two fingers in thickness,
in it they find certain threads, with which they make
the cords for fastening their boats.
Under this husk there is another very hard, and
thicker than that of a walnut. They burn this second
rind, and make it with a powder which is useful to
them.
Under this rind there is a white marrow of a finger’s
thickness, which they eat fresh with meat and fish, as
we do bread, and it has the taste of an almond, and if
anyone dried it he might make bread of it (p.72).”
The fleet went to Humunu Island (Homonhon island) and there
they found what Pigafetta referred to as the “Watering Place
of Good Signs”. It is in this place where Pigafetta wrote that
they found the first signs of gold in the island.
They named the island with the nearby islands as the
archipelago of St. Lazarus.
They left the island, then on March 25th, Pigafetta recounted
that they saw two ballanghai (balangay), a long boat full of
people in Mazzava/Mazaua. The leader, who Pigafetta referred
to as the king of the ballanghai (balangay), sent his men to the
ship of Magellan.
On March 31st, Easter Sunday, Magellan ordered the chaplain
to preside a Mass by the shore. The king heard of this plan and
sent two dead pigs and attended the Mass with the other king.
Pigafetta reported that both kings participated in the mass.
He wrote: “…when the offertory of the mass came, the two
kings, went to kiss the cross like us, but they offered
nothing, and at the elevation of the body of our Lord they
were kneeling like us, and adored our Lord with joined
hands.”
After seven days, Magellan and his men decided to move and
look for islands where they could acquire more supplies and
provisions. They learned of the islands of Ceylon (Leyte),
Bohol and Zubu (Cebu) and intented to go there. Raia
Calambu offered to pilot them in going to Cebu, the largest and
the richest of the islands
By April 7th of the same year, Magellan and his men reached
the port of Cebu. The king of Cebu, through Magellan’s
interpreter, demanded that they pay tribute as it was customary,
but Magellan refused as he was a captain of a king himself and
that it would be better to make friends with them than to forge
enmity. The king of Cebu consulted his council. By the next
day, Magellan’s men and the King of Cebu, together with
principal men of Cebu, met in an open space. There, the king
offered a bit of his blood and demanded that Magellan do the
same.
Pigafetta recounts: “Then the king said that he was
content, and as a greater sign of affection he sent him a
little of his blood from his right arm, and wished he should
do the like. Our people answered that he would do it.
Besides that, he said that all the captains who came to his
country had been accustomed to make a present to him,
and he to them, and therefore they should ask their captain
if he would observe the custom. Our people answered that
he would; but as the king wished to keep up the custom, let
him begin and make a present, and then the captain would
do his duty.”
April 14, the people gathered with the king and other principal
men of the islands and Magellan spoke to the king and
encouraged him to be a good Christian by burning all of the
idols and worship the cross instead. The king of Cebu was then
baptized as a Christian.
Pigafetta wrote: “To that the king and all his people
answered that thy would obey the commands of the
captain and do all that he told them. The captain took the
king by the hand, and they walked about on the
scaffolding,
and when he was baptized he said that he would
name him Don Charles (Carlos), as the emperor his
sovereign was named;
and he named the prince Don Fernand (Fernando),
after the brother of the emperor, and the King of
Mazavva, Jehan:
to the Moor he gave the name of Christopher, and to
the others each a name of his fancy.”
After eight days, Pigafetta counted that all of the island’s
inhabitant were already baptized. He admitted that they burned
a village down for obeying neither the king nor Magellan. The
Mass was conducted by the shore every day. When the queen
came to the Mass one day, Magellan gave her an image of the
Infant Jesus made by Pigafetta himself. When Magellan
reiterated that all of the newly baptized Christians need to burn
their idols, but the natives gave excuses telling Magellan that
they needed them to heal a sick man who was a relative to the
king. Magellan insisted that they should instead put their faith in
Jesus Christ. They went to the sick man and baptized him. After
the baptismal, Pigafetta recorded that the man was able to
speak again. He called this a miracle.
April 26, Zula, a principal man from the island of Matan
(Mactan) went to see Magellan and asked him for a boat full of
men so that he would be able to fight the chief named
Silapulapu (Lapulapu).
They numbered 49 in total and the islanders of Mactan were
estimated to number 1,500. The battle began.
Pigafetta recounted: “When we reached land we found the
islanders fifteen hundred (1500) in number,
drawn up in three squadrons; they came down upon
us with terrible shouts,
two squadrons attacking us on the flanks, and the
third in front.
The captain then divided his men in two bands. Our
musketeers and crossbow-men fired for half an hour
from a distance, but did nothing, since the bullets and
arrows, though they passed through their shields
made of thin wood, and perhaps wounded their arms,
yet did not stop them.
The captain shouted not to fire, but he was not
listened to. The islanders seeing that the shots of our
guns did them little or no harm would not retire, but
shouted more loudly, and springing from one side to
the other to avoid our shots, they at the same time
drew nearer to us, throwing arrows, javelins, spears
hardened in fire, stones and even mud, so that we
could hardly defend ourselves. Some of them cast
lances pointed with iron at the captain-general.”
Magellan died in that battle.
Pigafetta recounted the last moments of Magellan: “Whilst
the Indians were thus overpowering him, several times he
turned round towards us to see if we were all in safety, as
though his obstinate fight had no other object than to give
an opportunity for the retreat of his men.”
Features of the travelogue:
1. Description of pre-colonial Filipinos and their exotic culture.
2. Discriminatory perspective of the European writer on the natives’
amazement and illiteracy to the European artillery, merchandise
and other goods.
3. Narration of the Battle in Mactan that led to the death of Ferdinand
Magellan.
