The Great Events by Famous Historians [Volumes 1-14]

When the two ships were already laden and about to unfurl their sails, the flag-ship sprung a large leak, and, the King of the country learning this, he sent them twenty-five divers to stop the leak, which they were unable to do. They settled that the other ship should depart, and that this one should again discharge all its cargo and unload it; and as they could not stop the leak, the King promised that they, the people of the country, should give them all that they might be in need of. This was done, and they discharged the cargo of the flag-ship; and when the said ship was repaired, they took in her cargo, and decided on making for the country of the Antilles, and the course from Molucca to it was two thousand leagues, a little more or less. The other ship, which set sail first, left on December of the said year, and went out to sea for the Timor, and made its course behind Java, two thousand fifty-five leagues, to the Cape of Good Hope.

ANTONIO PIGAFETTA

In order to double the Cape of Good Hope, we went as far as 42° south latitude, and we remained off that cape for nine weeks, with the sails struck, on account of the western and northwestern gales, which beat against our bows with fierce squalls. The Cape of Good Hope is in 34° 30' south latitude, sixteen hundred leagues distant from Cape of Molucca, and it is the largest and most dangerous cape in the world.

Some of our men, and among them the sick, would have liked to land at a place belonging to the Portuguese called Mozambique, both because the ship made much water and because of the great cold which we suffered; and much more because we had nothing but rice-water for food and drink, all the meat of which we had made provision having putrefied, for the want of salt had not permitted us to salt it. But the greater number of us, prizing honor more than life itself, decided on attempting at any risk to return to Spain.

At length, by the aid of God, on the 6th of May, we passed the terrible cape, but we were obliged to approach it within only five leagues' distance, or else we should never have passed it. We then sailed toward the northwest for two whole months without ever taking rest; and in this short time we lost twenty-one men, between Christians and Indians. We made then a curious observation on throwing them into the sea; that was that the Christian remained with the face turned to the sky, and the Indians with the face turned to the sea. If God had not granted us favorable weather, we should all have perished of hunger.

Constrained by extreme necessity, we decided on touching at the Cape Verd island named St. James. Knowing that we were in an enemy's country and among suspicious persons, on sending the boat ashore to get provision of victuals, we charged the seamen to say to the Portuguese that we had sprung our foremast under the equinoctial line—although this misfortune had happened at the Cape of Good Hope—and that our ship was alone, because while we tried to repair it our captain-general had gone with the other two ships to Spain. With these good words, and giving our merchandise in exchange, we obtained two boat-loads of rice.