A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume X Part 1

A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels.

Volume X.

by Robert Kerr.

PART II. (CONTINUED.)

BOOK IV.

CHAPTER I.

EARLY CIRc.u.mNAVIGATIONS, OR VOYAGES ROUND THE WORLD.

INTRODUCTION.

In this _fourth_ book of the _second_ part of our arrangement, it is proposed to give a history of the princ.i.p.al Circ.u.mnavigations, or Voyages Round the World, previous to the reign of our present venerable sovereign. This book, therefore, comprises a period of 226 years, from the year 1519, when Magellan sailed from Spain on the first circ.u.mnavigation of the globe, till the year 1744, when Commodore Anson returned to England from a similar expedition. The more recent circ.u.mnavigations, which have taken place since the year 1760, chiefly under the munificent and enlightened patronage of GEORGE III. or in imitation of these, and which have largely contributed to extend, and almost to render perfect, the geography and hydrography of the terraqueous globe, are intended to form a separate division, in a subsequent part of our arrangement.

The accurate knowledge which we now possess of the form and dimensions of this globe of earth and water which we inhabit, has been entirely owing to the superior skill of the moderns in the mathematical sciences, as applicable to the practice of navigation, and to the observation and calculation of the motions of the heavenly bodies, for the ascertainment of lat.i.tudes and longitudes. It would require more s.p.a.ce than can be conveniently devoted on the present occasion, to give any clear view of the geographical knowledge possessed by the ancients, together with a history of the progress of that science, from the earliest times, neither do the nature and objects of the present Collection of Voyages and Travels call for any such deduction, of which an excellent epitome will be found in the History of Geography, prefixed to Playfair's System of Geography.

The ancients laboured under almost absolute incapacities for making extensive voyages or discoveries by sea, proceeding from ignorance of the form and dimensions of the earth, and other causes. They were but indifferently versed in the practical part of astronomy, without which, and those instruments which have been invented almost exclusively by the moderns, for measuring the paths, distances, and relative positions of the heavenly bodies, it is impossible to launch out with any tolerable success or safety on the trackless ocean. They were ignorant also of that wonderful property of the magnet or loadstone, which, pointing invariably towards the north, enables the modern mariner to know his precise course, at all times of the day of night, though clouds and thick mists may hide the luminaries of heaven from his observation, which were the only means of direction known to the ancients.

Various systems and theories appear to have prevailed among the ancients respecting the figure and motion of the earth; some justly enough supposing it to be a ball or sphere, suspended in infinite s.p.a.ce, while others conceived it to be a flat surface, floating upon and surrounded by an interminable ocean. The just conceptions of some ancient philosophers, respecting the spherical figure of the earth, and its diurnal motion around its own axis, were superseded by others of a more popular nature, and forgotten for many ages. Lactantius and Augustine, two fathers of the catholic church, unfortunately adopted the idea of the earth being a flat surface, infinitely extending downwards; grounding this false notion upon a mistaken interpretation of the holy scriptures, or rather seeking a.s.sistance from them in support of their own unphilosophical conceptions. So strongly had this false opinion taken possession of the minds of men, in our European world, even after the revival of learning in the west, that Galileo was imprisoned by the holy inquisitors at Rome for a.s.serting the sphericity of the earth, and the doctrine of _antipodes_, and had to redeem his liberty and life, by writing a refutation of that heretical doctrine, which satisfied the inquisitors, yet convinced the world of its truth.

Columbus a.s.suredly grounded his grand discovery of America upon the knowledge of the earth being a sphere; and had not the new western world intervened, his voyage had probably been the first circ.u.mnavigation. In modern times, an idea has been advanced that Columbus only retraced the steps of some former navigator, having seen certain parts of the grand division of the world which he discovered, already delineated on a globe. It were improper to enter upon a refutation of this idle calumny on the present occasion; yet it is easy to conceive, that the possessor of that globe, may have rudely added the reported discoveries of Columbus, to the more ancient delineations. At all events, Columbus was the first person who conceived the bold idea that it was practicable to sail round the globe. From the spherical figure of the earth, then universally believed by astronomers and cosmographers, in spite of the church, he inferred that the ancient hemisphere or continent then known, must of necessity be balanced by an equiponderant and opposite continent. And, as the Portuguese had discovered an extensive track by sailing to the eastwards, he concluded that the opposite or most easterly coast of that country might certainly be attained, and by a nearer path, by crossing the Atlantic to the westwards. The result of this profound conception, by the discovery of America, has been already detailed in the _Second_ Book of this collection; and we now proceed in this _Fourth_ Book to detail the various steps of other navigators, in prosecution of this grand design of surrounding the globe, in which many curious and interesting discoveries have been made, and by which geographical knowledge and practical navigation have been brought to great degrees of perfection.

Before commencing the narrative appropriated for this division of our arrangement, it is proper to give the following complete table of all the circ.u.mnavigators, within the period a.s.signed to the present portion of this collection; with the names of the ports from which they sailed, and the dates of their respective voyages, and returns.--Ed.

_Sailed from_ _Returned_.

1. Ferdinand, Seville, Aug. 10, 1519. Sept. 8, 1522.

Magellan, in Spain, 2. Sir Francis Plymouth Sound, Dec. 30, 1577. Sept. 16, 1580.

Drake, 3. Sir Thomas Plymouth, July 25, 1586. Sept. 9, 1588.

Candish, 4. Oliver van Goeree, Sept. 13, 1598. Aug. 26, 1601.

Noord, 5. George Texel, Aug. 8, 1614. July 1, 1617.

Spilbergeny, 6. Shouten and Texel, June 24, 1615. July 1, 1617.

LeMair, 7. Na.s.sau Goeree, April 29, 1623. Jan. 21, 1626.

fleet, 8. Cowley,[A] Achamack, in Aug. 23, 1683. Oct. 12, 1686.

Virginia, 9. William Achamack, Aug. 28, 1683. Sept. 16, 1691.

Dampier,[A] 10. Dampier and the Downs, Aug. 9, 1703. Aug. 1706.

Funnel, ll. Wood Rogers, Bristol, June 15, 1708. Oct. 1, 1711.

and Courtney, 12. John Plymouth, Feb. 15, 1719. June, 1722.

Clapperton, 13. George Plymouth, Feb. 15, 1719. Aug. 1, 1722.

Shelvocke 14. Roggewein, Texel, July 17, 1721. July 11, 1723.

15. George St Helens, Sept. 18, 1740. June 15, 1744.

Anson,

[Footnote A: These two are conjoined in Chap. VIII. of this book, for reasons which will appear there sufficiently obvious.--E.]

CHAPTER I.

VOYAGE OF FERDINAND MAGELLAN ROUND THE WORLD, IN 1519--1522.[1]

SECTION I.

_Some Account of Magellan, precious to the Commencement of his Voyage._

Owing to the discoveries made under the authority of the sovereign of Castile, the Portuguese were excessively jealous of the safety of their possessions in the East Indies. At length, after various negociations, the authority of the pope was interposed, then considered as supreme among the princes of Europe who were in communion with the church of Rome. By a bull or papal decree, all countries discovered, or to be discovered, in the East, were declared to belong to the crown of Portugal, and all that were found in the west were to be the property of Spain. Yet this measure rather smothered than extinguished the flames of contention; as both courts readily listened to any proposals that tended to aggrandise the one at the expence of the other. This spirit of contention between the courts of Spain and Portugal, gave occasion to several men of enterprise, who happened to be dissatisfied by the delays or refusal of either of these courts, in countenancing their projects, to apply themselves for employment to the other. Among those who took this method of advancing their fortunes, was Ferdinand Magalhaens, now generally known by the name of Magellan. He was a gentleman of good family in Portugal, who had addicted himself from his youth to maritime affairs, and had acquired great skill both in the theory and practice of navigation. He seemed formed by nature for the achievement of great exploits, having all the qualities requisite to compose the character of a truly great man. With a courage which no danger could appal, he possessed the utmost calmness of temper and sweetness of disposition, by which all who conversed with him were engaged to love and esteem his character. He was naturally eloquent, both in ill.u.s.trating and proving the reasonableness of his own opinions, and in converting others from their erroneous preconceived notions. Above all, he possessed that steady and persevering resolution, which not only enabled him to vanquish the greatest difficulties, but gave such appearance of success to every thing be promised or undertook, as secured the confidence of all who were under his command. As these extraordinary qualities would have distinguished him in any station of life, so they were remarkably useful in the present enterprise, by which he gained immortal reputation, although he lost his life before its completion.

[Footnote 1: Harris' Collection, I. 6. The utmost pains have been taken to narrate this expedition in the clearest manner, by comparing all the different relations of the Spanish and Portuguese writers. We regret much, however, the loss of a large history of this voyage, by P. Martyr, which was burnt in the sack of Rome, when taken by the Constable de Bourbon.--_Harris_.]

Don Ferdinand Magellan had served with much credit in India, under the famous Albuquerque, and thought that he merited some recompence for his services; but all his applications were treated with coldness and contempt by the great, which was intolerable to a person of his spirit.

He a.s.sociated, therefore, with men of like fortunes, whose merits had been similarly neglected, and particularly with one Ray Falero, a great astronomer, whom the Portuguese represented as a conjuror, retiring along with him to the Spanish court, where be made propositions for new discoveries to Cardinal Ximenes, who was then prime minister of Spain.

The Portuguese amba.s.sador used all imaginable pains to counteract these designs, and solicited the court to deliver up Magellan and his companion as deserters, even representing Magellan as a bold talkative person, ready to undertake any thing, yet wanting capacity and courage for the performance of his projects. He even made secret proposals to Magellan, offering him pardon and great rewards to desist from his present purpose, and to return to the service of his own sovereign. All these arts were unavailing, as the Spanish ministry, now competent judges of these matters, were satisfied of the probability of the discoveries proposed by Magellan and his coadjutor Falero, who were both received into favour, made knights of the order of St Jago, and had their own terms granted to them.

The grounds on which this expedition was founded were as follow. The opinion advanced by Columbus, of the possibility of reaching the East Indies by sailing to the west, was a.s.sumed as certainly well founded, though he had not been able to accomplish it; and it was a.s.serted, that it could not be attended with any insuperable difficulty to sail from the South Sea, then recently discovered, to the Molucca Islands. The grand desideratum was to find a pa.s.sage westwards, from the Atlantic Ocean into the new-found South Sea, which they expected might be met with through the Rio de la Plata, or by some other opening on that eastern coast of South America. Should this succeed, Spain might then reap the benefit of both the Indies; since, if this discovery were made by way of the _west_, it would then fall expressly within the grant of the papal bull to Spain.

In consequence of these proposals, it was agreed that Magellan and the other adventurers were to be furnished by the crown of Spain with five s.h.i.+ps, manned by 234 men, with provisions for two years; and that the adventurers should reap a twentieth part of the clear profit, the government of any islands they might discover to be vested in them and their heirs for ever, with the t.i.tle of Adelantado. The agreed, fleet of five s.h.i.+ps was accordingly fitted out for the expedition at Seville, consisting of the Trinidada, in which Magellan sailed as admiral, and having a Portuguese pilot named Stephen Gomez; the Santa Vittoria, commanded by Don Luis de Mendoza; the St Antonio, Don Juan de Carthagena; the St Jago, Don Juan Serrano; and the Conception, Don Gaspar de Quixada. According to some authors, the number of men in these five s.h.i.+ps amounted to 237, though by most they are said to have been 250, among whom were thirty Portuguese, upon whom Magellan chiefly depended for naval skill; as he likewise did greatly upon Serrano, who had left the service of Portugal in like manner with himself, after having served for many years in India, and some time in the Moluccas, of which islands they were now going in search.

SECTION II.

_Proceedings of the Voyage from Seville to Patagonia, and wintering there_.

Great hopes of success were entertained from this voyage, from the known experience of the commanders, although its real object was carefully concealed by Magellan, who merely gave out to the other adventurers that it was intended for the discovery of new countries, by which they believed themselves bound to the certain acquisition of gold. They set sail from Seville, in high expectations of acquiring riches, on the 10th of August, 1519. The 3d October, the fleet arrived between Cape Verd and the islands of that name. After being detained by tedious calms on the coast of Guinea for seventy days, they at last got to the south of the line, and held on their course to the coast of Brazil, of which they came in sight in about the lat.i.tude of 23 S. They here procured abundant refreshments of fruits, sugar-canes, and several kinds of animals.

Proceeding about 2 1/2 degrees farther south, they came into a country inhabited by a wild sort of people, of prodigious stature, fierce and barbarous, and making a strange roaring noise, more like the bellowing of bulls, than human speech. Notwithstanding their prodigious bulk, these people were so nimble that none of the Spaniards or Portuguese were swift enough to overtake them. At this place there was a fine river of fresh water, the mouth of which was fully seventeen leagues wide, in which there were seven islands, the largest of which they named the island of St Mary, where they procured some _jewels_.[2] Proceeding along this coast towards the south, they fell in with two islands so abounding in seals and penguins, that they might have laden all their five s.h.i.+ps with them in a short time. The penguins are a black, heavy, unwieldy fowl, extremely fat, covered with a sort of down instead of feathers, and having a bill like that of a raven; drawing their entire subsistence from the sea, as fish is their only food.

[Footnote 2: These jewels may possibly have been a few pearls. The indications in the text are too vague to afford even a guess at the situation of the river and its seven islands; only it may be mentioned, that the most northern part of the coast of Patagonia is in lat. 38 S.

and that no river answering the description in the test is to be found on all that coast--E.]

They next advanced to about the lat.i.tude of 49 30' S. where they were forced to remain for five months, owing to the severity of the weather, it being now winter in these southern parts. They here pa.s.sed their time very unpleasantly, and for a long time believed the country to be uninhabited, but at length a savage came to visit them. He was a brisk jolly fellow, very merrily disposed, and came towards them singing and dancing. On coming to the sh.o.r.e of the haven in which the s.h.i.+ps had taken refuge, he stood there for some time, throwing dust upon his head.

This being observed, some persons were sent ash.o.r.e to him in a boat, and making similar signs of peace; and he came along with them on board, without any appearance of fear or hesitation. The size and stature of this person was such as in some measure ent.i.tled him to be deemed a giant, the head of one of the ordinary-sized Spaniards only reaching to his waist, and he was proportionally large made. His body was painted all over, having a stag's horn delineated on each cheek, and large circles round the eyes. The natural colour of his skin was yellow, and his hair was white. His apparel consisted of the skin of a beast, clumsily sewed together, covering his whole body and limbs from head to foot. The beast of which this was the skin, was as strange as the wearer, being neither mule, horse, nor camel, but partaking of all three, having the ears of a mule, the tail of a horse, and the body shaped like a camel. The arms of this savage consisted of a stout bow, having for a string the gut or sinew of that strange beast; and the arrows were tipped with sharp stones, instead of iron heads.

The admiral made this man be presented with meat and drink, of which he readily partook, and seemed to enjoy himself very comfortably, till happening to see himself in a mirror which was given him among other toys, he was so frightened that he started back and overturned two of the men, and did not easily recover his composure. This giant fared so well, that several others came to visit the s.h.i.+ps, and one of them behaved with so much familiarity and good humour, that the Europeans were much pleased with him. This person shewed them one of the beasts in the skins of which they were cloathed, from which the foregoing description must have been taken.[3] Being desirous to make prisoners of some of these giants, Magellan gave orders for this purpose to some of his crew. Accordingly, while amusing them with toys, they put iron shackles on their legs, which at first they conceived had been fine ornaments like the rest, and seemed pleased with their jingling sound, till they found themselves hampered and betrayed. They then fell a bellowing like bulls, and imploring the aid of _Setebos_ in this extremity, whom they must therefore have conceived some good and compa.s.sionate being, as it is not to be conceived they would crave relief from an evil spirit. Yet the voyagers reported strange things, of horrible forms and appearances frequently seen among these people, such as horned demons with long s.h.a.ggy hair, throwing out fire before and behind: But these seem mere dreams or fables.

[Footnote 3: This must have been a Lama, Paca, or Chilihueque, of the camel genus, vulgarly called Peruvian sheep.--E.]

Most of the natives of this country were dressed in the skins of beasts, similarly to the one who first visited them. Their hair was short, yet tied up by a cotton lace or string. They had no fixed dwellings, but used certain moveable huts or tents, constructed of skins similar to those in which they were cloathed, which they carry with them from place to place, as they roam about the country. What flesh they are able to procure, they devour quite raw without any kind of cookery, besides which their chief article of food is a sweet root, which they name _capar._ The voyagers report that these savages were very jealous of their women; yet do not mention having seen any. Their practice of physic consists in bleeding and vomiting: The former being performed by giving a good chop with some edge tool to the part affected; and the latter is excited by thrusting an arrow half a yard down the throat of the patient. These people, to whom Magellan gave the name of _Patagons_, are so strong, that when one only was attempted to be made prisoner of by nine Spaniards, he tired them all; and, though they got him down, and even bound his hands, he freed himself from his bonds, and got away, in spite of every endeavour to detain him. Besides _capar_, the name of a root already mentioned, and which likewise they applied to the bread or s.h.i.+p's biscuit given them by the Spaniards, the only words reported of their language are _ali_ water, _amel_ black, _cheiche_ red, _cherecai_ red cloth; and _Setebos_ and _Cheleule_ are the names of two beings to whom they pay religious respect, _Setebos_ being the supreme, and _Cheleule_ an inferior deity.

The haven in which they remained there five months, was named by Magellan, Port St Julian, of which and the surrounding country they took solemn possession for the crown of Spain, erecting a cross as a signal of sovereignty. But the princ.i.p.al reason of this long stay was in consequence of a mutiny which broke out, not only among the common men, but was even joined or fomented rather by some of the captains, particularly by Don Luis de Mendoza, on whom Magellan had placed great reliance. On this occasion Magellan acted with much spirit; for, having reduced the mutineers to obedience, he brought their ringleaders to trial for plotting against his life; hanged Don Luis de Mendoza and a few others of the most culpable; leaving Don Juan de Carthagena and others, who were not so deeply implicated, among the Patagons. The weather growing fine, and the people being reduced to obedience, Magellan set sail from Port St Julian, and pursued his course to the lat.i.tude of 51 40' S. where finding a convenient port, with abundance of fuel, water, and fish, he remained for two months longer.

SECTION III.

_Prosecution of the Voyage, till the Death of Magellan_.