To the Edge of the World (19 page)

EPILOGUE

September 1522

On the sixth day of September, in the year of our Lord 1522, the
Victoria
hove to off the mouth of the Río Guadalquivir. Aboard we were twenty-one men. Eighteen men returning home and three natives. All that remained of two hundred seventy-seven men.

The voyage home, which we had thought would be swift, carefree almost, was as difficult as all that had come before. Why should we have believed it would be easy? Because the possibility of enduring more suffering was unthinkable. But again, unable to find food, ravaged by storms and rebuffed by contrary winds, many men had died, their fingers stretched toward home.

I saw the shocked looks on the faces of people as they rowed their boats out to greet us. Our ship was in tatters, her sails grayed and filthy, her hull thickened with barnacles, putrid with seaweed. And we, her crew, starved—at times so hungry we had eaten our spices. Our clothes hung in rags, our faces gaunt and white—the faces of skeletons.

We watched the boats approach.

“We are all that remains of the voyage of Magallanes!” cried our captain. “We sailed into the west and have returned from the east. We have been at sea three years less fourteen days. We have not the strength to tow ourselves upriver to Seville, and our longboat is gone.”

Whispers spread among the people like fire. They gazed at us with astonishment. And in that moment I realized the magnitude of what we had accomplished. It was a monumental achievement, a deed that would surely be remembered throughout all of history.

A longboat crew was quickly arranged to tow the
Victoria
upriver. We would leave in the morning. Meanwhile, food and wine were brought aboard. We feasted, wetting our bread with tears that would not cease falling. And we were not ashamed.

Two days later we arrived in Seville, where we fired our cannon in honor of our fallen shipmates and in honor of our captain-general, Magallanes.

Through the streets we shuffled, gaunt as sticks, mere shadows of men. Each of us carried a burning candle. We passed through the narrow passageways, shadows leaping from wall to wall, and arrived at the shrine of Nuestra Señora de la Victoria. We knelt before the altar. It was a promise we had made long ago, should we survive.

I held the candle.
It is my reflection
, I thought.
And in its flame I
can see myself. . . .

I have been forged with fire.

I have held dying friends in my arms. I have tasted grief and betrayal,
su fering and loneliness. And yet, I have known true honor, courage, love,
and the joy of brotherhood.

I knew not what my future held, only knowing that it opened before me like blossoms of fragrant, exotic flowers, that it burned as brightly as the candle in my hands. And I thanked God for the day a master-at-arms befriended a poor shepherd’s son who sang unnoticed in a dirty, noisy inn.

After much time, I rose to my feet, stiffened, aware of the clamor outside. I set my candle on the altar and left the shrine.

Crowds swarmed around me. I could scarce move, so great was the commotion. We were famous, invited to the king’s court, but I no longer cared for such things. I moved through the crowd, trying to shake them from me. Many strangers sought to touch me.

And then I saw him.

An ugly dog.

Spotted with mange, the dog lounged in the shadow of a nearby building, panting, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. Could it be? I stared for a moment, disbelieving, then motioned to him. He came immediately, sat on his haunches before me.

I knelt, wrapped my arms about him, and buried my face in his neck.

AFTERWORD

Except for Mateo, his parents, Aysó, and the people at the inn, all the characters in
To the Edge of the World
really existed. Even Rodrigo! Rodrigo Nieto was a servant for Cartagena aboard the
San Antonio
who later transferred to the
Trinidad
. Rodrigo was killed at the Battle of Mactan while defending Magellan. Another man who defended Magellan was Antonio Pigafetta. It was he who “suffered from the bite of a poisoned arrow, his face so swollen he could not open his eyes.” Fortunately for history, Pigafetta not only survived the voyage but also kept a journal. Many of his vivid descriptions are woven throughout the story, such as the one of the guanaco—the wild ancestor of the llama— having “the neck and body of a camel, the head and ears of a mule, and the tail of a horse.” Portions of the dialogue between Magellan and Cartagena were taken from eyewitness accounts.

Some have asked why the name Magallanes was used instead of Magellan. Ferdinand Magellan is the English translation of his Portuguese name, Fernão de Magalhães. However, I felt his native Portuguese tongue to be too intimidating for Western readers. Instead, I settled upon the Spanish translation, Fernando de Magallanes (the
g
is silent, sounding like an
h
), to give the novel added Spanish flavor, and in deference to our young Spanish narrator.

While the events in
To the Edge of the World
are faithful to history, even so, it is important to understand that there are limited accounts available of the actual voyage. Most are contradictory and have a political agenda. Also, for the sake of economy, some of the voyage’s elements were abridged or omitted, since recounting the voyage in every detail was beyond the scope of this novel. In addition, whenever a historical event is recounted by a fictional character, the character will always color the story with his or her experiences, interactions, and interpretations.

During this period in history, values were in many instances very different from those we hold today, and punishments extreme. For example, like his contemporaries, Mateo considered anyone from a less advanced culture to be a “savage,” uncivilized by European standards. In capturing the two Patagonian natives, for instance, the Europeans probably believed they were doing the natives a favor. After all, in the eyes of the crew, the “savages” were just half-naked people, unfortunate enough to live in a frozen, bleak environment. Magellan could clothe them, teach them to speak properly, baptize them into Christianity, and introduce them to Europe. It would never have occurred to someone in that day that kidnapping a native was wrong. It is only now, looking back upon history, that we can see the wrong so clearly. Even Mateo did not think it was wrong.

It is also troubling for people of the twenty-first century to read about the forced religious conversions of native peoples by Magellan. But to understand Magellan, it is necessary to know the historical backdrop in which he operated. Magellan’s concept of religion was in great part a product of his time. For Christians, it was a time of religious intolerance, when it was believed that history would end and Christ would return only when all the world had converted to Christianity, namely Catholicism. (Within this theology lay huge economic advantage as well, as conversion to Catholicism usually coincided with trade treaties and economic loyalty to the sovereign state, and refusal to convert led to mass destruction and confiscation of all worldly possessions.) Under such a belief, the end justified the means, and all acts to bring about its fulfillment became “holy,” regardless of their morality. Crusaders were seen as devout soldiers for Christ, armed to defend Christendom against infidels and to conquer lands in the name of Christ. Spain saw herself as the champion of Christianity and instituted the Inquisition to establish religious unity. This unity was accomplished through the capture, torture, and trial of heretics, resulting in the deaths of thousands—Jews, Moors, Protestants—anyone who refused the Catholic faith. As an inheritor of this religious environment, then, Magellan felt the baptism of native populations to be a crucial element in annexing a new land for Spain. Compared to later conquistadors such as Francisco Pizarro and Hernándo Cortés, who exhibited gruesome—but accepted—rapaciousness toward the natives of the New World, Magellan stands as a paragon of virtue, fiercely loyal to the island chiefs with whom he’d made treaties of peace.

Nowadays, it also is difficult to understand the Europeans’ craze for spices. But in those days, there was no refrigeration. Pepper was essential in the preservation of foods and, pound for pound, was equal in value to gold. Spices also transformed a bland, tasteless diet into something palatable. Imagine eating food with no spices whatsoever! At that time, spices were available only from a certain part of the world—the Spice Islands, located in the Far East. Spices were transported overland from India to Europe, passing from one middleman to the next, ultimately selling for exorbitant prices.

After many failed attempts, a sea route to India was eventually established in 1497 by the Portuguese, via Africa’s Cape of Good Hope. The Portuguese then wrested the affluent spice trade out of Muslim hands, something Spain observed with an envious eye. Because Portugal had earlier been granted a monopoly on trade routes to the east by the pope, Spain was forced to turn to the west in search of a trade route, sending out such men as Christopher Columbus in 1492 and Ferdinand Magellan in 1519.

Magellan’s accomplishment in circumnavigating the globe cannot be overestimated. With the exception of the Vikings to the north, it wasn’t until the mid-1400s that European ships were stout enough to venture onto the open ocean. Prior to that, they had been limited to the Mediterranean Sea. It wasn’t until 1492 that the “southern continent” (South America) was discovered, and even then, the full scale of its enormousness was unknown. Likewise, in 1513, Europeans discovered the existence of the South Sea (Pacific Ocean), first viewed by Vasco Núñez de Balboa from the isthmus of Panama. Preservation of food for such extended voyages of exploration was not possible. Charts were inaccurate and incomplete. The vastness of the Pacific Ocean had been grossly underestimated. Longitude was impossible to calculate accurately and had to be estimated through “dead reckoning,” a method in which a mariner “reckoned” his ship’s speed by the use of a crude measuring device, enabling him to calculate how far he’d sailed. Over a three-year voyage, dead reckoning compounded error upon error. Above all, successful navigation of Magellan’s ships through unknown, uncharted waters is nothing short of astounding. Even today,
el
paso
—now known as the Strait of Magellan—is a maze of dead ends, dangerous currents, and contrary winds, a waterway avoided by all but the most experienced, or most foolish, of mariners.

Whatever happened to the largest ship of the fleet, the
San
Antonio,
which vanished in the strait? Instead of exploring the strait as ordered, there was a mutiny aboard. The ship’s pilot, Gómez, harbored a grudge against Magellan, having been turned down by the king for a similar expedition several years prior. Under Gómez’s influence, the crew overpowered the
San Antonio
’s captain, a relative of Magellan’s, and set a course for Spain. For unknown reasons, the
San Antonio
did not return to Port San Julián to fetch Cartagena. Cartagena was never heard from again.

Once the
San Antonio
arrived in Spain, Gómez testified against Magellan, listing many atrocities. In response to Gómez’s testimony and in response to the marooning of Cartagena, government officials cast the captain of the
San Antonio
into prison and placed Magellan’s wife and son under house arrest.

A more balanced truth was revealed, however, when the survivors of the
Victoria
returned home a year and a half later. They were called to testify regarding Gómez’s allegations against Magellan. The survivors denied Gómez’s charges, and the captain of the
San Antonio
was released from prison. It was too late for Magellan’s wife and child, however, as they had died before the
Victoria
’s return.

What of the Trinidad’s crew? Following months of repairs, the
Trinidad
attempted to sail eastward across the Pacific Ocean. But repelled by the winds, after many months she arrived back where she started at the Spice Islands. This time, however, the Portuguese had assembled in force. They captured the crew of the
Trinidad
and imprisoned them in India. Of the Trinidad’s crew, only four lived to see Spain again. One of those four was Espinosa. Carvalho died of illness while the
Trinidad
was undergoing repairs.

As for the
Victoria,
she was lost with all hands in the mid-Atlantic on a subsequent voyage.

In terms of spices, of riches, the expedition failed. The strait was impossible to navigate. Later expeditions found it easier to go around the cape, not many leagues south. The westward route was too long, too tortuous, and the price in human lives too costly. All Spanish claims to the Spice Islands were sold to Portugal in 1529 for three hundred fifty thousand golden ducats. But in terms of human achievement, of exploration, Magellan’s circumnavigation of the world remains unsurpassed.

GLOSSARY

aft
- Toward the rear of the vessel.

armada
- A fleet of ships.

astern
- Behind the ship.

atoll
- A ring-shaped coral reef or a string of closely spaced small coral islands.

ballast
- Weight placed low inside a ship, necessary to balance the ship upon the waters.

Basque
- A person from the Basque province in northern Spain.

bilge
- An enclosed section at the bottom of the ship where seawater collects.

bow
- The front of the ship.

bulkhead
- A wall-like structure inside a ship.

bulwarks
- The built-up sidewalls above the deck of a ship.

capstan
- A barrel-like mechanism, designed for hauling in heavy loads such as an anchor. The capstan is rotated circularly by pushing long handles that extend like spokes out of the top of the capstan.

careen
- To lay a ship on its side for repairs, caulking, and cleaning.

Castile
- A former kingdom in central Spain covering most of its interior.
Castile
means “castle” in Spanish.

caulk
- To plug the seams of a boat with oakum or other waterproof materials; to make the ship watertight.

chanteys
- Songs sung by sailors while at work.

ducat
- A gold coin, worth about forty-two U.S. dollars today.

ebb tide
- The flowing of water back into the sea, resulting in a low tide onshore (the opposite of flood, which results in a high tide).

el paso
- “The passage” in Spanish. Today this difficult passage through the South American continent is known as the Strait of Magellan.

flagrante delicto
- In the very act of committing the offense.

fo’c’sle
- (abbreviation and proper pronunciation for forecastle) The forward section of the ship, directly behind the bow and forward of the foremast. In the ships, these were raised decks, accessible by a companionway or ladder. In later vessels, the crew’s sleeping quarters were enclosed under the fo’c’sle.

gangplank
- A movable platform that extends from the gangway of a ship to a dock, pier, or shore, used by the crew to embark and disembark.

gangway
- The place at a ship’s side where people embark and disembark.

garrote
- A former method of execution in Spain. An iron collar was placed around the condemned person’s neck and tightened by means of screws. Death occurred by strangulation.

gunwale
- The upper edge of a ship’s side.

halyards
- The ropes and lines used to hoist sails, yards, flags, etc.

harquebus
- A long gun, resembling a rifle, operating with a matchlock or wheel-lock mechanism. Developed in mid-fifteenth-century Spain, it preceded the musket.

hove to
- The past tense of the verb phrase “heave to,” meaning “to bring a ship to a stop.”

hull
- The main body of a ship.

islet
- A very small island.

javelin
- A lightweight spear.

junk
- A square-rigged ship used mostly in the waters around China.

lance
- A long wooden spear tipped with steel.

larboard
- The left side of a vessel when facing forward. The term
larboard
was officially replaced by the current term
port
in 1844 to prevent confusion with
starboard
. The term was also used to designate one of the watches.

league
- Three miles.

leeward
- The side of the ship away from the direction of the wind (the opposite of windward). Fires were lit on the leeward (or lee) side to keep smoke and hot embers away from the sails and rigging.

longboat
- The largest boat carried by a sailing ship; any of the various two-masted vessels used for sailing or rowing in coastal waters. About twenty-three feet long, it was towed behind the ship. A longboat could transport cannon, anchors, and many men.

mace
- A spice consisting of the fibrous layer between the nutmeg’s shell and husk. Mace has a fragrance like that of nutmeg and a slightly warm taste.

mange
- A parasitic skin disease in animals characterized by loss of hair and scabby eruptions.

Mar Pacifico
- The “Peaceful Sea” in Spanish. The first European to sight the Pacific Ocean was Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513. At that time it was called Balboa’s Sea or the South Sea. Magellan and his men were the first Europeans to sail upon its waters, and impressed by its calmness, Magellan named it the Pacific.

oakum
- A fiber obtained by untwisting old ropes. Used in caulking a ship’s timbers.

pace
- The distance of a man’s stride, approximately two and a half feet.

padre
- “Priest” in Spanish.

palm
- A unit of measure based on the width or length of the palm of the hand. When based on the width, the palm is between three and four inches. When based on the length, the palm is between seven and ten inches. Using the length of the palm as the calculation for the height of the giant native, he would have been anywhere between five feet ten inches and eight feet four inches tall.

pestilence
- In past centuries it referred to the bubonic plague.

pike
- A wooden spear tipped with steel.

pilot
- The officer responsible for a ship’s navigation.

plague
- Scurvy. In sixteenth-century Europe, the names and causes of diseases were unknown. What we know today as scurvy was then only called the plague. (What we call today the bubonic plague was then called the pestilence.)

poop
- A raised deck at the stern of a ship.

quarterdeck
- The deck immediately below the stern deck, or sterncastle.

rajah
- A chieftain or prince in India and areas of Southeast Asia.

real
- (pronounced ray-AHL) A silver coin worth, at that time, about one-eighth of a U.S. dollar.

rigging
- The lines and ropes of a vessel used to support the masts and work the yards and sails.

río
- “River” in Spanish.

San Elmo
- Saint Elmo, the patron saint of sailors. What the crews experienced was called Saint Elmo’s fire. During an electrical storm, an electrical discharge glows from the tips of masts and the yardarms. To the sailors, it was a visible sign that Saint Elmo was watching over them.

Santiago
- “Saint James” in Spanish.

scabbard
- A sheath in which to store a sword.

scuppers
- Openings cut through the bulwarks to drain seawater.

scurvy
- A disease caused by vitamin C deficiency characterized by swelling and bleeding of the gums.

scuttle
- To deliberately sink a ship.

Sed Preso
- “You are under arrest” in Spanish.

shrouds
- The lines and ropes that stretch from the top of the mast (the masthead) to the sides of the vessel to support the mast. Sailors climbed the shrouds if they needed to go aloft. The shrouds had horizontal rope rungs called ratlines (pronounced RAT-lins).

skiff
- A boat small enough for sailing or rowing by one person.

starboard
- The right side of a vessel when facing forward. Also the designation of one of the watches.

stern
- The back of the ship.

sterncastle
- (or aftercastle) Located at the stern of the ship and consisting of a raised deck under which was usually a cabin that housed the captain and sometimes other officers.

swivel gun
- A mounted gun able to swivel and fire in any direction.

waist deck
- The portion of decking in the waist, or center, of a vessel. In many ships this was open to the elements, enclosed on both fore and aft sides by raised decks.

wake
- The swirling water that appears behind a moving vessel.

weevil
- A type of beetle that feeds especially on grain, nuts, and fruit.

yard
- The horizontal beam attached to the mast to support the sails.

yardarm
- The end of the yard.