A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 10 | Page 7

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
latitude 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_.
Again resuming the voyage, they proceeded along the eastern shore of
Patagonia to the latitude of 52° S. when the entrance into the famous
straits still known under the name of Magellan were discovered,
through which the squadron continued its voyage, finding these straits
about 110 leagues in length, from east to west, with varying breadths,
in some places very wide, and in others not more than half a league
across; the land on both sides being high, rugged, and uneven, and the
mountains covered with snow. On reaching the western end of these
straits, an open passage was found into the great South Sea, which sight
gave Magellan the most unbounded joy, as having discovered that for
which he had gone in quest, and that he was now able practicably to
demonstrate what he had advanced, that it was possible to sail to the
East Indies by way of the West. To the point of land from which he
first saw this so-long-desired prospect, he gave the name of _Cape
Desiderato._ This prospect was not, however, so desirable to some of
his followers; for here one of his ships stole away, and sailed
homewards alone.
Magellan entered the great South Sea on the 28th November, 1620, and
proceeded through that vast expanse, to which he gave the name of the
Pacific Ocean, for three months and twenty days, without once having

sight of land. During a considerable part of this period they suffered
extreme misery from want of provisions, such as have been seldom
heard of. All their bread and other provisions were consumed, and they
were reduced to the necessity of subsisting upon dry skins and leather
that covered some of the rigging of the ships, which they had to steep
for some days in salt water, to render it soft enough to be chewed. What
water remained in the ships was become putrid, and so nauseous that
necessity alone compelled them to use it. Owing to these impure and
scanty means of subsistence, their numbers daily diminished, and those
who remained alive became exceedingly weak, low-spirited, and sickly.
In some, the gums grew quite over their teeth on both sides; so that
they were unable to chew the tough leathern viands which formed their
only food, and they were miserably starved to death. Their only
comfort under this dreadful state of famine was, that the winds blew
them steadily and gently along, while the sea remained calm and almost
unruffled, whence it got the name of Pacific, which it has ever since
retained.
In all this length of time, they only saw two uninhabited islands, which
shewed no signs of affording them any relief Sometimes the needle
varied extremely, and at other times was so irregular in its motions, as
to require frequent touches of the loadstone to revive its energy. No
remarkable star was found near the south pole, by which to ascertain
the southern ordinal point, or to estimate the latitude. Instead of an
antarctic polar star, two clusters of small stars were observed, having a
small space between them, in which were two stars of inconsiderable
size and lustre, which seemed to be at no great distance from the pole,
by the smallness of the circle they described in their diurnal course.
When at the distance of 20° from the south pole, they saw a high island
to which they gave the name of _Cipangue_; and at 15° another equally
high, which they named Sinnodit.[4] They sailed in one gulf; or stretch
of sea, at least 4000 leagues, and made their longitude, by estimation or
reckoning, 120° W. from the place of their original departure. By this
time they drew near the equinoctial line, and having got beyond that
into 13° N. latitude, they made for the cape called Cottigare by old
geographers; but missing it in that old account of its latitude, they
understood afterwards that it is in the latitude of 12° N.[5]

[Footnote 4: The text is evidently here erroneous, as Magellan entered
the Pacific Ocean in lat. 47° S. and there is not the smallest reason to
suspect he had been forced into the latitudes of 70° and 75° S. Instead
therefore of the south pole, we ought probably to understand the
equator. As these two islands were uninhabited, the names given them
must have been