The Journey Around The World(Magellan)
Magellan proposed a journey through the Spice Islands to King Manuel I . He was convinced that this could be quickly achieved by sailing south of South America rather than through Africa and the Indian Ocean.But King Manuel refused him. He continued to study astronomy and navigation in preparation for this trip which he hoped would be financed by the King of Spain.He convinced Charles I of Spain to support his voyage and the planning began.
On Sept. 20, 1519, Magellan set sail from Sanlucar de Barrameda in southern Spain. Magellan commanded a total of about 240 men and a fleet of five ships, the Concepcion, San Antonio, Santiago, Trinidad, and Victoria. Dissatisfaction among the crew plagued the voyage from the beginning, and hostility among the Spaniards toward Magellan grew rapidly. About a month after the voyage began, the Spanish captain of the San Antonio challenged Magellan's authority, and Magellan had the captain arrested.
In September 1520 , Magellan's fleet rounded a promontory, and on October 21 he sighted what he guessed to be the sought-for strait. Two ships went ahead and reported that the strait led to an ocean beyond. The fleet proceeded. What they had thought to be the ocean, however, proved to be only a large bay in the strait. At a council with his navigators Magellan decided to go on.
For more than a month he battled his way through the stormy 360-mile (580-kilometer) passage that now bears his name. One vessel was wrecked, and another sailed back to Spain. Nevertheless, Magellan insisted on going ahead. On November 28 he reached the ocean that Balboa had discovered seven years before. Because the ocean now looked so calm, Magellan named it the Pacific. At first the voyage on the Pacific went well. After a month of sailing, however, terrible hardships struck the fleet. The food ran low, and the sailors were reduced to eating the leather fittings of the ship. There was a scarcity of drinking water, and many of the crew died of scurvy. The fleet sailed about 100 days before arriving at the islands that are now called the Philippines.
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Biography................Ferdinand Magellan
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