Discovery of the Strait of Magellan

The fleet, carrying about 270 men, predominantly from Spain and Portugal but also from far-flung parts of Europe and North Africa, reached Tenerife in the Canary Islands on September 26, 1519, and set sail on October 3 for Brazil. Becalmed off the Guinea coast of Africa, it met storms before reaching the Equator; by November 29, having crossed the Atlantic successfully, it was 27 leagues southwest of Cape St. Augustine (Cabo de Santo Agostinho, Brazil). Rounding Cape Frio, Magellan entered the bay of Rio de Janeiro on December 13. He then sailed south to the Río de la Plata and vainly probed the estuary, seeking the strait. On March 31, 1520, he reached Port Saint Julian (San Julián, Argentina), where on Easter day at midnight Spanish captains led a serious mutiny against the Portuguese commander. With resolution, ruthlessness, and daring, Magellan quelled it: he executed one of the mutinous captains and left another to his fate ashore when, on August 24, 1520, the fleet left Saint Julian.

Ferdinand Magellan, colour engraving, 16th century. The Granger Collection, New York

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After reaching the mouth of the Santa Cruz River, near which the Santiago, surveying the area, had been wrecked earlier, Magellan started south again. On October 21, 1520, he rounded the Cape of the Virgins (Cabo Vírgenes, Argentina) and at approximately 52°50′ S entered the passage that proved to be the strait of his seeking, later to bear his name. The San Antonio having deserted, only three of his ships reached the western end of the passage. At the news that the ocean had been sighted, the iron-willed admiral reportedly broke down and cried with joy.

On November 28, 1520, the Trinidad, the Concepción, and the Victoria entered the “Sea of the South,” from their calm crossing later called the Pacific Ocean. Tortured by thirst, stricken by scurvy, feeding on rat-fouled biscuits, and finally reduced to eating the leather off the yardarms, the crews, driven first by the Peru Current and throughout the voyage by the relentless determination of Magellan, made the great crossing of the Pacific. Until December 18 they had sailed near the Chilean coast; then Magellan took a course northwestward. Not until January 24, 1521, was land sighted, probably Pukapuka Atoll in the Tuamotu Archipelago (now part of French Polynesia). Crossing the equinoctial line at approximately 158° W on February 13, the voyagers on March 6 made first landfall at Guam in the Mariana Islands, where they obtained fresh food for the first time in 99 days.

A statement sent to King Charles by Magellan before he left Spain suggests that he knew (probably partly from Serrão’s letters or perhaps from his own possible voyage there in 1511–12) the approximate position of the Moluccas. In sailing from the Marianas to the islands later called the Philippines, instead of heading directly to the Spice Islands, he was doubtless dominated by the idea of gathering provisions and the advantage of securing a base before visiting the Moluccas. Thus, leaving the Marianas on March 9, 1521, Magellan steered west-southwestward to the Philippines, where, in late March and early April, he secured the first alliance in the Pacific for Spain (at Limasawa Island) and the conversion to Christianity of the ruler of Cebu Island and his chief men. Weeks later, however, Magellan was killed in a fight with the people of nearby Mactan Island.