A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels | Page 7

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 imposed by Magellan or his associates. Cipangue is the name given to Japan by Marco Polo, and is of course a singular blunder. The other is unintelligible, and the voyage is so vaguely expressed, as even to defy conjecture.--E.]
[Footnote 5: This cape Cottigare in the South Sea, in lat. 12�� or 13�� N. is utterly unintelligible, unless it refer to the southern part of Guam, Guaham, or Goad, one of the Ladronea, which they soon discovered, and which is actually in 13�� N.--E.]
On the 6th March, 1521, they fell in with a cluster of islands, being then in lat. 12�� N. and 146�� of west longitude from the place of their first setting out.[6] These islands were called by Magellan Islas de los Ladrones, or the islands of