book XIII

.

“In the year 1276, Alfonso the Wise had defeated Yussuf, the Emperor of Marocco, and made peace with him with the assistance of Guzman: a tournament was held in Seville in celebration of it, and King Alfonso having asked who had most distinguished himself, was told D. Alonzo Perez. He asked which of them, and D. Juan Ramirez de Guzman replied: ‘Alonzo Perez de Guzman, my brother of profit.’ This answer seemed ill to all, and especially to Guzman, who saw that a slur was cast upon the illegitimacy of his birth, for at that time they named children of profit (_gananciu_), those who were born of unmarried women, and his mother had not been married. Guzman, irritated at being thus spoken of before the king and the court, then said: ‘You speak truth, I am a brother of profit, but you are and will be one of loss; and were it not for the respect due to the presence in which we stand, I would teach you the manner in which you should treat me; but you are not to blame for it, but rather he who has brought you up and taught you so ill.’ The king, against whom this complaint appeared to be directed, then said: ‘Your brother does not speak ill, for so it is the custom in Castile to name those who are not children of women married to their husbands.’ ‘So also,’ he replied, ‘is it the custom of the nobles of Castile, when they are not well treated by their sovereigns, to go abroad to seek those who will treat them well; I will do likewise; and I swear not to return until with truth they may call me a man of profit. Grant me, therefore, the term which the privilege of the nobles of Castile gives, that I may go out of the kingdom, for from this day I disnaturalise myself, and take leave of being your vassal.’ The king attempted to dissuade him, but his efforts being in vain, he had to grant him the term which he asked for; during which Guzman sold all that he had inherited from his father or acquired in the war, and went out from Castile, accompanied by thirty of his friends and servants.”—Quintana, _Vidas de Españoles Celebres_.

There seems to be some inconsistency on the part of those who refuse to admit of disnaturalisation, yet at the same time maintain that rebellion can be justified. If there is a justification of rebellion, the right of expatriation, or of withdrawal from amongst those who provoke rebellion, must exist; and there can be no doubt that the peaceable withdrawal of those who are oppressed or injured is preferable in the interests of all to armed insurrection. Even Bishop Osorio and Mariana would probably admit that the disnaturalisation of Prim and Serrano would have been better than their treason, which has plunged Spain in anarchy and bloodshed for so many years.[3] Rebellions have almost always been conducted by minorities; and as their justification does not depend upon the numerical importance of those engaged in them, it would follow that in the case of disnaturalisation, where numbers are not requisite, as in the case of armed insurrection, the right would exist equally even if the minority consisted only of one.

There are some writers on the Law of Nations, with whom I am agreed in general, who disapprove of the Naturalisation and Disnaturalisation Act of the Session of 1869. I am compelled to differ from them with respect to that measure, for the foregoing reasons, and also because it seems to me that they have lost sight of another circumstance which affects the question. So long as kingly power was a reality, personal allegiance and duty to the sovereign was a reality also. But now that modern innovation and corruption have substituted the rule of majorities for the kingly power, the feeling of the personal duty of the subject is almost lost; and the subject, or citizen, has become only one of an aggregation of individuals, or of an association of persons with equal rights; and each member of such an association has clearly the right to choose whether he will form part of it or not: so that whatever rights of expatriation may have existed in the times of Magellan, Grotius, and Vattel, have become much stronger at the present time, when the conscience of the subject is no longer considered by some as held bound by duty to the sovereign, who has become almost impersonal: instead of loyalty and fealty, we have the duty of fair dealing as between partners and associates on equal terms, as is exemplified by the argumentation of Condorcet in the passage quoted above. That this view is in accordance with the common sense and consent of mankind is shown by the general repudiation of the pretension of the northern portion of the United States to term the secession of the southern states a rebellion; and this pretension was seen to be especially illogical on the part of those who had repudiated the name of rebels when they departed from the duty of obedience to their lawful sovereign.

Magellan has not had the good fortune of Vasco da Gama, whose exploits have been narrated by Camoens and Gaspar Correa; he did not survive to give his own account of his great voyage, and the only accounts preserved were written by two Italians of very small literary capacity. There are, however, more documents concerning Magellan in existence than are to be found with respect to Gama.

The birth-place of Magellan is doubtful; according to his will executed in Lisbon, December 29th, 1504, in favour of his sister, Theresa de Magalhāes, wife of Joan da Sylva Telles, he was born at Villa de Sabroza, in the district of Villa Real, Traz os Montes; in his will of August 24th, 1519, he calls himself “Vezino de Porto,” or domiciled at Porto; documents quoted by M. Ferdinand Denis make him to be born at Villa de Figueiro in Portuguese Estremadura. His family was “hidalgo,” with a known coat of arms, of which a plate is given in this volume.

The book of noble genealogies of Portugal, by Bernardo Pimenta do Avelar Portocarrero, states, in the vol. M, done and copied in the year 1721, fo. 641, that Ruy de Magalhaēs, whose parents are unknown, was Alcaide-mōr of Aveiro. He married Alda de Mesquita, daughter of Martin Gonzalves Pimentel and Ignez de Mesquita. Antonio de Lima (another genealogist) represents her as the wife of Gil de Magalhaēs, fifth son of Gil de Magalhaēs; and he gives her the same children as others give to Ruy de Magalhaēs: who had

Genebra de Magalhaēs, wife of Pero Cāo.

Fernāo de Magalhaēs, who married Da. Brites Barbosa, daughter of his relation Diogo Barbosa, alcaidemōr of Seville, in the absence of D. Alvaro of Portugal; he had

Da. Anna de Magalhaēs, his heiress, the wife of D. Hernando de Henao e Avila, from whom his lineage continues. She was his only child.

This does not agree with the archives of Seville, from which it appears that Beatriz Barbosa was daughter of Diego Barbosa and Maria Caldera, and that Fernan Magalhaēs and Beatriz Barbosa had a son named Rodrigo; and that after the death of these three, Diego Barbosa became their heir; and he having died in 1525, his son Jayme inherited.

Fernan Magellan executed a will in Seville on the 24th day of August, 1519. He instituted by it a mayorazgo for his son, grandson, or relation, who should bear the name of Magallanes, and who should be bound to live in the kingdoms of Castille. He also bequeathed a sum of 12,500 maravedis to the Convent of N. S. de la Victoria in Triana.

Two facsimiles of the signature of Magellan are given, one taken from his signature to the protocol of the Council of War, held at Cochim in 1510; there is also a facsimile of the signature of another Magellan, taken from the book of Moradias or Palace stipends, attached to a receipt printed by Navarrete, who appears to have supposed it to have been that of the navigator: and a facsimile of the signature of Magellan’s brother-in-law Duarte Barbosa.

Gaspar Correa states, in his _Lendas da India_, tom. II, p. 28, that, in January of 1510, Alfonso d’Alboquerque despatched the ships from Cochim to the kingdom.

“Two ships of Bastian de Sousa and Francisco de Sá convoyed this fleet, and at night they both struck on the shoals of Padua, which are opposite the Maldive Islands, and remained aground, upright, and without breaking up. Upon this they prepared the boats as well as they could, and raised their sides, and put inside water and biscuit, and victuals which did not require cooking. The captains and pilots, and as many men as could, got into these boats and returned to Cochym. The people who remained in the ships set shores[4] on each side of the ships, with the yards, which they cut. All this was arranged and commanded by an honourable gentleman, who remained as overseer, named Fernan de Magalhaēs, who had been much wounded in Calecut. He took much care that the chests should not be broken, and that there should be no robbery, because the captains were going to request ships of the governor, with which to return to the ships to save what goods had not been wetted. These captains reached Cananor in eight days, from whence they sent a message to the governor, who at once sent Gonzalo de Crasto in a caravel, with two pilots; and they went to the ships and put the best things on board the caravel, until they could not load it any more, and having recovered all the men, they set fire to the ships, as they were already full of water. So they returned to Cochim. In this Fernan de Magalhāes worked hard, and did much service, and attended well to everything.”

“This Fernan de Magalhāes was of the king’s household, and came to India with the Viceroy Dom Francisco [d’Almeida], and he was in the action with the Turks; and he was always much wounded in the fleets and in Calecut; and in these ships he lost his small portion of property,[5] and he went away poor to Portugal, and went about with claims for his services, and begged of the king a hundred reis increase of his palace stipend,[6] which the king did not choose to grant, at which he was aggrieved, and went to Castile to live at Seville, where he married. As he had much knowledge of the art of navigation, and enterprise, and devoted himself to that, he came to an understanding with the directors of the House of Trade of Seville, so that the emperor gave him a fleet of five ships, with which he navigated, discovering a new way to Maluco, which was in the year 1519, as I will relate further on in its place; with which he caused great difficulties to Portugal.”

Correa again refers to the incident of Magellan remaining with the wreck, in his tome II, p. 625, where he says:

“Fernan de Magalhāes, an honourable gentleman, who served in these parts in the time of the Viceroy Afonso d’Alboquerque, of whom I made mention in the first book, with respect to two ships which were going to the kingdom, which were lost on the shoals of Padua, and their captains went back to Cochym in their boats, and this Fernan de Magalhāes remained in the ships with the men taking care of the ships until caravels came from Cochim in which much property, belonging to the king and to private individuals, was saved. This Fernan de Magalhāes, on going to the kingdom and bringing before the king his services, asked in satisfaction for them that he should have an increase in his palace stipend of a hundred reis a month, which the king refused him, because he did not find favour with him, or because it was so permitted to be. Fernan de Magalhāes, offended at this, because he much entreated the king to do it, and he would not, asked his leave to go and live with whoever would show him favour, where he might obtain more good fortune than with him. The king told him to do as he pleased; for which he wished to kiss his hand, which the king did not choose to give him.”

Castanheda, in relating the wreck on the Padua banks, says (lib. III, cap. v):

“There were disputes as to who should go away with the captains from the grounded vessels, and Magellan said that it was clear that all could not go away, and that to avoid strife, which was commencing, let the gentlemen and chief men go away with the captains, and he would remain with the sailors and other common people, provided they would promise to return for him, or get the governor to send for him. This they swore to, and Fernan de Magalhāes stayed behind, the common people consented to remain, for otherwise there must have been strife. As Magalhāes was in the boat, when it was nearly ready to go away, a sailor, thinking that he repented himself of remaining, said to him: ‘Sir, did you not promise to remain with us?’ He replied: ‘Yes; and see, I am coming;’ and went to them and remained with them. In this he shewed great courage, and confidence in the men.” Barros relates the incident of the two vessels wrecked on the banks of Padua, and says that Antonio Pacheco was sent with a caravel to their assistance; and that:

“As much honour as Antonio Pacheco gained in the method with which he recovered these crews, with the differences which he had with them on account of some goods which the men took with them, so much honour also did Magellan gain by the good management of these men, which he shewed whilst waiting with them till they came to fetch them. And if he had had as much loyalty to his king and country, as he observed with a friend of his, on whose account he would not go away in company with Bastian de Sousa [the captain]; for they did not take away the other man, as he was not a man of much importance, perchance he would not have lost himself with a name of infamy, as will be seen further on.”—_Decad._ II, lib. IV, chap. i.

Thus Castanheda and Barros, who are both of them very hostile to Magellan, have preserved one of the finest traits of his life. Whether the motive of Magellan in remaining by the wreck was fidelity to the interests of his friend, or devotion to the common seamen, or the repugnance of an officer and a gentleman to abandon a ship which had not broken up, this trait is alone sufficient to show that he was incapable of disloyalty, or of being influenced by pique, as the Portuguese historians have represented.

The next mention we find of Magellan is in the following document, preserved in the archives of Lisbon, which contains an account of a Council of War held by Albuquerque respecting his attack on Goa. This document confirms what Correa says of Albuquerque’s departure from Cochym for Goa.

_Council held by Alfonso d’Albuquerque with the Captains with respect to going to Goa._

Torre do Tombo. Corpo Chron. Part 2_a_, Maç 23, Doc. 190.

Thursday, which was the tenth day of the month of October, of five hundred and ten, the captain-major ordered all the captains of the king our sovereign to be summoned in Cochim, in order to hold a council with them, to which council there came those named below, and no others. This council was as to whether, whilst the ships of burden remained in Cochim taking in their cargo, it seemed good to them to carry all their crews with them to the action of Goa, or not.

* * * * *

Fernan de Magalhāes said that it seemed to him that the captain-major ought not to take the ships of burden to Goa, inasmuch as if they went thither they could not pass this year to Portugal, since we are at the twelfth of October; and that, making their shortest course without touching at Cananor, nor at any other port, it was not possible to lay the fleet before the port of Goa before the eighth of November,* as the winds were now contrary for that place: and with respect to the crews, let his worship say whether it was well that they should go, that it seemed to him that he ought not to take them, since there did not remain time for them to lay out their money, nor to do anything of what was necessary for the voyage; and this said Fernan de Magalhāes.

The following gave an opinion:

Nuno Vaz, captain of the Rumesa. Antonio da Costa ... Rei Pequeno. Duarte da Silva ... Galé Grande. *Simāo Martins. *D. Joāo de Lima ... Sta. Maria d’Ajuda. *Sebastian de Miranda ... Galé Pequeno. Fernan de Magalhāes.[8] Jeronimo Teixeira ... Sta. Maria do Campo. *Jorge da Silveira. Francisco de Sousa ... Boa Ventura. *Manuel da Cunha. *Garcia de Sousa ... Sta. Clara. Francisco Corvinel ... Sant-Iago. Lourenço de Paiva. Antonio Real, alcaìde-mór and captain of Cochim. Gonzalo de Sequeira, captain-major of the fleet which had just come from Portugal. Affonso d’Albuquerque said at the end what he determined to do.

(N.B. Albuquerque said at the end of these opinions that he was determined to sail on the following day, the eleventh of October, with the captains who wished to accompany him. Therefore, _we are at the twelfth of October_, means that that day was close at hand, and not that the council was held on that day.)

Gaspar Correa says, tome II, p. 138:

“When this was thus ended, the governor told all the captains that he was going immediately, and that he would sail from Cananor with all the ships and men that he could take, and go and take Goa, as he trusted in the Lord’s Passion that He would assist him; and he gave them notice that so he would act, and not occupy himself with anything else: and he gave them all this notice, because he trusted in the Lord, that he should be able to send news to the king in these ships, that he was taking his rest inside the city of Goa: and, as it was already October, whoever had the will to serve the king, and win such great honour, as it would be to find oneself in such a noble action, would still have time enough to witness the action and return to embark in his ship, carrying away so much honour from having been present in the action: and each one was to act according to his own will, for he would give an account of all to the king in his letters. But the captains, occupied with their profits of selling and taking in cargo, set little store by this, and the governor departed, saying that he was not going to take anyone away with him against his will.”

Albuquerque then went to Cananor, which G. Correa says he again left on the 3rd October for Goa (tom. II, p. 140); _tres_ is probably an error for _treze_, the 13th, which would be in accordance with the statement of the document that Albuquerque sailed from Cochim on the 11th of October. Gaspar Correa gives the following names of captains who accompanied Albuquerque against Goa.

*Joan de Lima. Jeronymo de Lima, his brother. Manuel de Lacerda. Fernan Peres d’Andrade. Simāo d’Andrade, his brother. Diogo Fernandes de Beja. *Manuel da Cunha. Duarte de Mello. Francisco de Tavora. Vasco Fernandes Coutinho. *Gracia de Sousa. Gaspar Cāo. Lopo Vaz de Sampayo. Ayres da Silva. Diniz Fernandes de Mello. Joan Serrano. Diogo Mendes de Vascogoncellos. Pero Coresma. Baltesar da Silva. Mice Vinete Cerniche. Antonio Raposo. *Simāo Martins. Gaspar de Paiva. Francisco Pantoja. *Bastian de Miranda, d’Azevedo. Afonso Pessoa. Jorge Martins de Liāo. Francisco Pereira. Twenty-eight ships, and 1,700 Portuguese.

* The names marked with an asterisk are among those who gave an opinion at the Council of War above mentioned.

He also mentions, p. 145, the following gentlemen as being with Albuquerque in the attack on Goa:

Fernan Gomez de Lemos. Nuno Vaz de Castello Branco. *Jorge da Silveira. Ruy de Brito. Luis Coutinho, brother of Vasco Fernandes. Simāo d’Andrade, brother of Fernan Peres. Gonzalo d’Almeida. Simāo Martins Henriques. Payo Rodrigues de Sousa. Diogo Pires de Miranda. Duarte de Mello. Alvaro Paçanha. Luis Preto. Pero d’Afonsequa. Antonio de Matos. Antonio Diniz. And other gentlemen.

The supposition may be hazarded that it was this opinion which Magellan gave at the Council of War in opposition to Alfonso d’Albuquerque, which set D. Manuel against him. Such opposition was enough to have made Albuquerque write unfavourably of Magellan to D. Manuel; and the ill-will of D. Manuel to Magellan, and his refusal to grant him a due recognition of his services is not otherwise sufficiently accounted for. On the other hand, Gaspar Correa, who was Albuquerque’s secretary at one time, does not indicate this; but Correa is the most friendly to Magellan of all the Portuguese historians, and does not appear, like the others, to have taxed Magellan with treason.

After this, Magellan appears to have left India, and to have been stationed at Azamor in Morocco, where, in a skirmish with the Arabs, he was wounded in the leg by a javelin, which left him somewhat lame. After that, some disputes arose as to the distribution amongst the townsmen of some cattle that had been captured from the Arabs. When João Soarez, Captain of Azamor, left that place, and was succeeded by D. Pedro de Sousa, Magellan left Azamor without leave from D. Pedro de Sousa, and came to Portugal; his petition with regard to the increase of his palace stipend had already been sent to D. Manuel; but D. Pedro de Sousa having written to the king of Magellan having left Azamor without leave of absence, and of the complaints made about the cattle, the king refused to receive Magellan, and commanded him to return at once to Azamor, and there give himself up as he was accused. When he arrived there, as Barros says, either because he was free from blame, or, as was mostly asserted, because the frontier officers of Azamor, in order not to vex him, would not accuse him, he received a sentence of acquittal, and returned with it to Portugal; but the king always bore ill-will to him, and, Magellan’s requests not being granted, he set about that business of which he had written to his friend Francisco Serrano, who was in Maluco.

After Magellan had disnaturalised himself, he took refuge in Spain, accompanied by the astrologer Ruy Faleiro, and having arrived at Seville on the 20th of October, 1517, he entered upon negotiations with the ministers of Charles V; and the King of Portugal did his utmost, through his agents, to thwart him; Osorio says that the king would have succeeded in dissuading Charles V from employing Magellan, had not the Spanish nobles persuaded him not to lose such an opportunity of increasing the Spanish empire. Charles V then ordered ships to be provided for Magellan, by which he might discover a new way to the east.

Here follows an abstract of documents, copies of which are contained in the Torre do Tombo, relating to the appointment of Magellan, and the privileges and powers conferred upon him: these documents are dated in the spring of 1518, more than a year before Magellan sailed; and it appears that delay was caused partly through the procrastination of the Spanish authorities in Seville, who were charged with equipping the fleet, and partly by the intrigues of the agents of the King of Portugal. These intrigues appear to have been partially successful, and to have caused delay. A final order for the departure of Magellan was given in Barcelona, April 19th, 1519. The original of this document is preserved in the Lisbon archives, and it was probably carried out with the fleet, and fell into the possession of the Portuguese in the Moluccas after Magellan’s death; a translation of this order is given below, and the text is in the Appendix.

After this document, translations are given of two letters (the text of which is given in the Appendix) from Alvaro da Costa, the Portuguese ambassador in Spain, and from Sebastian Alvarez, the Portuguese factor, about the efforts made by them to prevent Magellan’s expedition. M. Ferdinand Denis, in the _Biographie Universelle_, mentions that Alvaro da Costa is said to have pushed his zeal to the extremity of wishing to assassinate Magellan, and even his poor associate, Ruy Faleiro; this, with regard to the latter, seems hardly probable, judging from Costa’s own letter. Navarrete states that the Portuguese agents succeeding in exciting the mob of Seville against Magellan on the 22nd of October, 1518, under the empty pretext that he was substituting the arms of Portugal for those of Castile in his ships. Faria y Sousa, in his _Europa Portuguese_, tom. II, pt. IV, cap. I, p. 543, says:

“D. Fernando de Vasconcellos, Bishop of Lamego, alone expressed the desire that the King of Portugal should either grant favours to him (Magellan) or else have him killed, because his intentions were most dangerous to the kingdom. The result of this (counsel) was that the kingdom received a great disappointment, and Magellan glorious and everlasting fame; since, whilst the world endures it will endure in the monument of his name, which has remained applied to all the South Sea and to his Straits.”

Que nunca se vera tāo forte peito, Do Gangetico mar ao Gaditano; Nem das Boreaes ondas ao Estreito, Que mostrou o aggravado Lusitano.

_Camoens_, Canto II, 55.

And never will their prowess find its mate, No, not from Ganges to the Gadite shore, Not from Arcturus to the Southern Strait Which first an injured Lusian will explore.

_Quillinan._

Eis aqui as nóvas portas do Oriente, Que vosoutros agora ao mundo dais, Abrindo a porta ao vasto mar patente, Que com tam forte peito navegais: Mas he tambem razaō, que no ponente De hum Lusitano hum feito inda vejais, Que de seu Rey monstrandose agravado, Caminho ha de fazer nunqua cuidado.

_Camoens_, Canto X, 138.

Thus hast thou all the regions of the East, Which by thee giv’n unto the world is now: Opening a way with an undaunted breast, Through that vast sea which none before did plough. But it is likewise reason, in the West That of a Lusian too one action thou Shouldst understand, who (angry with his king) Achieves a great and memorable thing.

_Fanshaw._

_Contract and Agreement made by the King of Castile with Fernan Magellan for the discovery which he was to make, a copy of which he carried with him, signed by the Officers of the King of Castile, and made by his Secretary Fernan de los Cobos, and copied word for word._[9]

Gav. 18, Maço 10, No. 4.

Certificate given in Seville that the commendador Fernan de Magallanes, and the bachelor Ruy Faleiro, Portuguese, presented themselves at the Audiencia on the fourth of May, of 1518, before Dr. Sancho de Matienzo, the contador Juan Lopez de Ricalde, and the factor Juan de Aranda, judges and fiscals of their Highnesses, of the India House, residing in this city, in the presence of Juan Gutierrez Calderon, clerk of their H.H., and his Notary public, on behalf of Diego de Porras, chief clerk in civil and criminal causes of the said India House; and they presented to the judges two capitulations written on paper and signed by his Highness, and one sealed with a seal of coloured wax at the back and other necessary signatures, and two royal orders (_cedulas_) of H.H. signed with his royal name, all written by the secretary Fernan de los Cobos, the tenour of all which, one after another, is as follows.

The King:

“Since you, Fernando de Magallanes, a knight, native of the Kingdom of Portugal, and the bachelor Ruy Faleiro, also a native of that kingdom, wish to render us a great service in the limits which belong to us in the ocean within the bounds of our demarcation, we order the following capitulation to be established with you for that purpose.”

“Firstly: That you are to go with good luck to discover the part of the ocean within our limits and demarcation, and because it would not be in reason that, while you go to do the above mentioned, that other persons should cross you to do the same, and taking into consideration that you undertake the labour of this enterprise, it is my favour and will, and I promise that for the first ten following years we will not give leave to any person to go and discover by the same road and course by which you shall go; and if anyone desire to undertake it and should ask our leave for it, before giving it, we will let you know of it in order that if you should be ready to make it in that time in which they offer, you should do so, providing an equal sufficiency and equipment, and as many ships as the other persons who may wish to make the said discovery: but, be it understood that, if we please to send to discover, or to give leave for it to such other persons as we please by way of the south-west in the parts of the islands and mainland, and all other parts which are discovered towards the part where they are to seek the strait of those seas (para buscar el estrecho de aquellas mares),[10] we may order it to be done, or give leave to other persons to do it, both of the mainland by the South Sea, which is discovered, or from the island of S. Miguel, if they wish to go and discover, they may do so. Also, if the governor and people who are now, by our orders, or may in future be in the said mainland, or other of our subjects may wish to discover in the South Sea, they may do so, notwithstanding the above, or any section or clause of this capitulation. Also, you may discover in any of those parts what has not yet been discovered, so that you do not discover nor do anything in the demarcation and limits of the most serene King of Portugal, my very dear and well-beloved uncle and brother, nor to his prejudice, but only within the limits of our demarcation.”

In consideration of their good-will and services, the next paragraph grants the right to levy upon any isles or countries settled by them after the expenses have been paid, a twentieth part, with the title of our Adelantados and Governors of the said countries and isles, “you, and your sons and rightful heirs for ever, so that they remain for us and the kings that may come after us, and your sons and heirs being natives of our realms and married in them; and of this we will send you your formal letter of privileges.”

The next paragraph grants the right to invest in goods each year the value of a thousand ducats, cost price, to sell in the islands and countries, and bring back the returns, paying only a twentieth in duty to the king without other payment. This only after the return from the voyage, not during it.

Also to grant them greater favour, if more than six islands should be discovered; after six have been set apart for the king, they might mark out two from which they might take the fifteenth part of all the net profits and duties of the king after the expenses had been deducted.

Also of all the net profit that there may be for the king on the return of the fleet, after this first voyage, deducting its expense, they may take a fifth part.

“In order that you may better carry this out, I will order the equipment of five ships, two of one hundred and thirty tons each, and two others of ninety, and another of sixty tons, provided with men, victuals, and artillery; that is to say, that the said ships shall be supplied for two years, and there shall go in them two hundred and thirty-four persons for their management: amongst masters, mariners, ship-boys, and all other people that are of necessity, according to the memorial, and this we will order to be carried out by our officers in Seville.”

Also if either of them died, this agreement was to be kept with, and by the other, as it would have been kept with both if they were alive.

The next paragraph says that a factor, a treasurer, an accountant, and clerks of the said ships, shall keep the accounts of all the expenses of the fleet.

“All which I promise and plight my faith and royal word that I will order it to be observed to you, in all and for all, according as is contained above, and upon it I have ordered this present to be given, signed with my name. Dated in Valladolid, the twenty-second day of March, of five hundred and eighteen years.”

“Yo el Rey. By order of the King, +Francisco de los Cobos+.”

Another copy of the same document has the heading:—

Doña Juana and Don Carlos, her son, by the grace of God, Queen and King of Castile, Leon, Aragon, the two Sicilies, and Jerusalem, of Navarra, Granada, Toledo, Valencia, Galicia, the Mallorcas, Seville, Sardinia, Cordova, Corsica, Murcia, Jaen, the Algarves, of Aljazira, Gibraltar, of the Canary Isles, of the Indies, isles and mainland of the Ocean-sea, Counts of Barcelona, Lords of Biscay and Molina, Dukes of Athens and Neopatria, Counts of Roussillon and Cerdaña, Marquises of Euristan and Gociano, Archdukes of Austria, Dukes of Bergoña and Brabant, Counts of Flanders and Tirol, etc.

Another letter, also dated Valladolid, March 22nd, 1518, and signed by the king, and the secretary Francisco de los Cobos, and signed at the back by Joanes Beijamanse, Fonseca Archiepiscopus, Episcopus, registered, Johan de Samana, Guillermo Chancellor, confers upon Magellan the power of deciding and executing short and summary justice by sea or land in case of suits or disputes arising in the fleet.

Another royal letter of the same date as the above orders the officers of the India House to provide Magellan with five ships, crews, provisions, etc., according to the memorial which is signed by our chancellor of Bargonha and by the Archbishop of Rosano and Bishop of Burgos; and bids them use all dispatch.

Another royal letter, dated Aranda, 17th of April, 1518, to Magellan and Ruy Faleiro, says that if, after they shall have sailed, either or both of them should die, and that they should have given to the people in the fleet instructions and orders which should be necessary for the discovery; and if they, profiting by them, should discover the isles and parts which they were going to discover, then their heirs and successors should enjoy the favours and privileges contained in the said capitulations.

The document then states that Magellan and Ruy Faleiro having presented the capitulations and letters and royal orders of his highness to the said judges, they summoned and required them to fulfil them according to their contents, and they requested this in the presence of the witnesses, Francisco de Santa Cruz, alguazil Lorenzo Pinelo, and Francisco de Collantes, porter of the Audiencia of the said House. Then the judges took the letters in their hands, and kissed them, and put them on their heads, as the orders of their king, and natural sovereign, whom may God suffer to live and reign many years; and they would answer more at length in complying with the orders. Witnesses the above-named.

After that, on Monday, at the Audiencia de la Nona, on the thirty-first day of May of 1518, the said judges, Dr. Sancho de Matienzo and the contador Juan Lopez de Ricalde, appeared before me, the said Juan Gutierrez Calderon, the above-mentioned clerk and notary, and presented an answer signed with their names to the presentation made by the Portuguese captains of the royal orders and letters. And this reply is as follows.

The said judges state, in reply, that the king’s letters order them to provide five ships, and men and provisions as may be necessary, in conformity with a memorial which the captains bring, signed by the great Chancellor of Burgundy and by the very Reverend Archbishop of Rosano and Bishop of Burgos, which said memorial up to this time has not been shown to us, and without it we cannot undertake anything; so let his Highness send us orders according to that the said despatch signed, as has been said, by the chancellor and bishop; and we are ready to fulfil the orders which his Highness sends, having at the time moneys of his Highness in our power. This they said, and gave as their answers, and signed it with their names, Doctor Matienzo, Juan Lopez de Ricalde.

Magellan and Ruy Faleiro asked from Juan Gutierres Calderon, Clerk and Notary Public, a certificate and legalised copy of what had passed for the conservation of their rights, which he accordingly gave him, dated on the said day and month (31st May) of 1518.

The letter, the text of which is given in the Appendix No. III, the original of which appears to have fallen into the hands of the Portuguese at the Moluccas, is as follows:

The King:

Fernando de Magallam̄s and Ruy Faleiro, Knights of the Order of St. James, our captains-general of the fleet, which we command to be equipped to go to discover, and the other separate captains of the said fleet, and pilots, masters, quarter-masters, and seamen of the said fleet: Inasmuch as I know for certain, according to the much information which I have obtained from persons who have seen it by experience, that there are spices in the islands of Maluco; and, chiefly, you are going to seek them with this said fleet, and my will is that you should straightway follow the voyage to the said islands in the form and guise which I have said and commanded to you, the said Ferdinand de Magallam̄s; moreover, I command you all and each one of you that in the navigation of the said voyage you follow the opinion and determination of the said Ferdinand de Magallam̄s, in order that first and foremost, before any other part, you should go to the said islands of Maluco, without there being any shortcoming in this, because thus it is fitting for our service, and after this done, the rest that may be convenient may be sought for according to what you have been commanded, and one and all neither do nor let them do anything else in anywise, under pain of losing their goods and their persons, at our discretion. Done in Barcelona, nineteenth day of April, year of one thousand five hundred and nineteen.

I, the King. By order of the King, +Frᶜᵒ de los Covos+.

(_Docket_).—In order that those of the fleet may follow the opinion and determination of Magallan̄s, in order that first and before anything else they go to the spices.

+Translation.+

_Letter of Alvaro da Costa, giving an Account to the King Dom Manuel of what passed with the King of Castile, to dissuade him from the discovery which he determined to order the execution of, by Fernan de Magalhaes._

Torre do Tombo. Gav. 18, Maço 8, No. 38.

Sire,

With respect to the business of Fernam de Magalhaes, I have done and laboured very much, as God knows, as I have written to you at length; and now, Xebres being ill, I have spoken on this matter very firmly to the king, laying before him all the objections that there were in it, and besides other matters, setting forth how ill-seeming and unusual a matter it was for a king to receive the vassals of another king his friend, against his will; which was a thing which was not usual amongst knights, and was held to be a great fault, and a very ill-looking thing: also that I had just before offered to him in Valladolid the services of your royal self, and kingdom and lordships, while he was already receiving these men against your pleasure; and I begged him to look well that this was not a time for causing discontent to your Highness, especially in a matter of such little importance to him, and of such little certainty, and that he had many vassals and men for making discoveries when the time came, without making use of those who came away from your Highness discontented, and that your Highness could not fail to suspect that these men would labour more to do you a dis-service than for anything else; and that his Highness had now so much to do with discovering his own kingdoms and lordships, and settling them, that such novelties ought hardly to come into his recollection, from which scandals might follow, and other things which might well be dispensed with. I also laid before him how ill this appeared in the year and period of the marriage, and increase of family duty and affection, and that it seemed to me that your Highness would feel deeply the knowledge that these men asked his leave to return, and that he did not give it; which would be two evils, the receiving them against your will, and the retaining them against their own wills: and I begged him on account of what was fitting for his service, and for that of your Highness that of two things he should do one, either give them leave to go, or lay aside this business for this year, by which much would not be lost, and such means might be taken that he might be served without your Highness receiving displeasure from the manner in which this should be done.

He, Sire, remained so surprised at what I said to him, that I was amazed; and he replied to me with the best words in the world, and that on no account did he desire that anything should be done, by which your Highness should be displeased, and many other good words; and he told me to speak to the Cardinal, and to relate everything to him. I, Sire, had already talked it all well over with the Cardinal, who is the best thing here, and this business does not seem good to him, and he promised me to labour as much as he could to avoid speaking to the king; and for this purpose they summoned the Bishop of Burgos, who is the person who upholds this business, and so two of the Council again made the king believe that in this he was not in fault towards your Highness, because he was not sending to make discoveries except within his limit, and very far off from the affairs of your Highness; and that your Highness ought not to take it ill that he made use of two of your vassals, men of little substance, while your Highness was making use of the services of many natives of Castile; and they alleged many other arguments: lastly, the Cardinal told me that the Bishop and those men used so much urgency in this, that at present the king could not take any other determination.

As long as Xebres was well I continued to set this business before him, as I have said, and much more. He puts the blame upon these Castilians who lead the king into this matter, and withal that, he will speak to the king. Some days past I entreated him much about this business, and he never took a determination, and I think that he will do likewise now. It appears to me, Sire, that your Highness might get back Fernam de Magalhāes, which would be a great buffet to these people. I do not reckon the bachelor [Ruy Faleiro] for much, for he is almost out of his mind. I took steps with Dom Jorge[11] with respect to the going there of his alcaide, and he says that he will go at any rate; so, Sire, as this is in this manner, for all that, I will never desist from striving in this to the extent of my power.

Let not your Highness consider that I said much to the king in what I did say to him, because, besides what I said being all true, these people, as I say, do not feel anything, neither has the king liberty up to this time to do anything of himself, and on this account what he does (_his affairs_) need to be felt less. The Lord increase the life and State of your Highness for His holy service. From Saragoça, Tuesday at night, the twenty-eighth of September [1518].[12]

I kiss the hands of your Highness.

+Alvaro da Costa.+

_Letter from Sebastian Alvarez, Factor of Dom Manuel, to the King, dated Seville, July 18, 1519._

(Torre do Tombo. Corp. Chronol.,