It took Magellan's crew a full month to negotiate the straight that would come to bear his name. Strong currents, fog, a tortuous course, dangerous rocky outcrops and shifting gales slowed progress and a mutiny on the San Antonio, the main supply ship, cut the fleet to three boats by the time they entered the Pacific in late November, 1520.
Having no concept of the great distance that still lie ahead, Magellan sailed northward, paralleling the coast of South America as far as present-day Santiago, Chile. Then angling to the WNW, his ships caught the trade winds and enjoyed pleasant weather for the next three months. Unfortunately, since maps of the Pacific had not yet been created by Europeans, the fleet could not "island hop" to restore supplies; malnutrition and scurvy took a significant toll on the crew before they finally reached Guam in early March, 1521. There they encountered friendly natives whom they managed to mistreat and kill despite receiving life-saving food and water.
By mid March, the fleet reached the Philippines, having crossed the Pacific Ocean in three and a half months. Today, we know that their goal of reaching the Spice Islands (Indonesia) was nearly realized but, in 1521, with no maps of Southeast Asia available, Magellan and his crew were as lost as they were at the Strait.
Note: As mentioned in the last two posts, these brief summaries are taken from Over the Edge of the World, by Laurence Bergreen. Interested readers are encouraged to obtain that highly-detailed but easily read account of Magellan's Journey.
See also: Polynesian Migration for perspective on pre-European colonization of the Western Pacific.
Having no concept of the great distance that still lie ahead, Magellan sailed northward, paralleling the coast of South America as far as present-day Santiago, Chile. Then angling to the WNW, his ships caught the trade winds and enjoyed pleasant weather for the next three months. Unfortunately, since maps of the Pacific had not yet been created by Europeans, the fleet could not "island hop" to restore supplies; malnutrition and scurvy took a significant toll on the crew before they finally reached Guam in early March, 1521. There they encountered friendly natives whom they managed to mistreat and kill despite receiving life-saving food and water.
By mid March, the fleet reached the Philippines, having crossed the Pacific Ocean in three and a half months. Today, we know that their goal of reaching the Spice Islands (Indonesia) was nearly realized but, in 1521, with no maps of Southeast Asia available, Magellan and his crew were as lost as they were at the Strait.
Note: As mentioned in the last two posts, these brief summaries are taken from Over the Edge of the World, by Laurence Bergreen. Interested readers are encouraged to obtain that highly-detailed but easily read account of Magellan's Journey.
See also: Polynesian Migration for perspective on pre-European colonization of the Western Pacific.
