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Philippine Quarterly of Culture & Society
28(2000} 90-109,
THE VOYAGE OF FERNAO DE MAGALHAES: THREE
LITTLE-KNOWN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS
Peter Schreurs, MSC
Introduction
‘The accounts usually quoted of Magellan's voyage are those of Anto-
nio Pigafetta (ca, 1525, 1905), Francisco Albo’s log book (found in Navar-
rete 1825-1837: 209-297), the roteiro (route guide or rutter) of a
mysterious “Genoese pilot” (Navarrete 1826),' and Maximilianus Tran-
sylvanus (1523, 1905, 1969). There are some other reports which have
remained unknown to most Filipino and other readers. Reports of this ad-
venture are the first entries into written Philippine history, and as such, it
is worthwhile to spread knowledge of all of them.
This paper is limited to those portions of these other relations which
deal with the Philippines and some adjacent regions: with the arrival of the
Spanish ships near Samar Island, their passage through the Strait of Suri-
ga0 and the events in Cebu and Mactan, and the continuation of their voy
age through the Sulu Sea up to the waters of Bomeo and further on to the
Moluccan island of Tidore and to Timor. It will be enlightening to read
them with Pigafetta’s (1905) travelogue at hand.
‘The Deposition of Martin de Ayamonte
First to be noted is a deposition made by Martin de Ayamonte who had
been with the expedition of Magellan. The Portuguese historian Neves
Aguas (1986: 189) reminds us that Pablo Pastells and Constantino Bayle
(1920) have published two documents wherein the name of Martin de
Ayamonte is mentioned, These ar:
Fr. Peter GH. Selueurs, MSC, Ph.D. can be reached at Bredaseweg 204, 5038 NK
Tilburg, Netherlandsof the men who travelled in the armada of Magellan.” The crew-
list of the ship Victoréa, also reproduced in Blair and Robertson (1905:
286), mentions “Martin de Ayamonte, common seaman.
(2) “List ofall those who died in the expedition of Magellan.
For the year 1522 we get the following additional information
(On Wednesday the fifth day of February 1522, the ship Victoria anchored before
the coast of Timor, where sandalwood is found, near a port called Labutara
Here, two men left the ship and disappeared unnoticed. They were the sailor
Martin de Ayamonte and Bartolome de Saldaf a soldier and cabin boy of cap-
tain Luis de Mendonga rp. (Aguas 1986: 189).
‘These fugitives were captured and entrusted to Alvaro Zusarte, the Portu-
{guese captain of a small junk that had come to Timor from Malacca to
load sandalwood. Zusarte was ordered to bring them to Malacca, where
Ayamonte made the deposition which we are using here.
This declaration, according to Aguas, was discovered by Antonio
Baio in Part II of the Corpo Cronolégico in the archives in Portugal
known as the Torre de Tombo, bundle 101, no. 87, referring to 1522, with
the following inscription:
“Certified account of the questions posed to two Spaniards who were brought to
the ort of Malacea and had come from the islands of Timor together with Al
vara Zucarte, captain of junk, and some others, et.”
He published this eyewitness account (Baio 1933).
‘The desertion at Timor, which Pigafetta mentioned only in passing
without stating names (Blair and Robertson 1905b: 147), happened while
the Victoria was continuing on its return voyage to Spain after having
stayed for some time at Tidore where it had been taking on cloves. Tidore
(adore in Pigafetta) is a small island, then a sultanate, in the northern
Moluccas in today's Indonesia. This whole area, including Timor and the
Moluccas (Maluco) was claimed, though (except for Ternate) not yet oc-
cupied, by Portugal. The commander at the Portuguese fort at Malacca on
the Malayan Peninsula, Jorge de Albuquerque, obviously considered it
part of his jurisdiction, and therefore intruding Spanish competitors were
absolutely not welcome there! Ayamonte and his companion were brought
to Malacca and Albuquerque submitted them on 1 June to an interrogation
of which a part was put on paper by a Portuguese secretary. The latter
‘opens it as follows (my translation):PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY
{In the year one thousand five hundred and twenty wo after the birth of our Lore
st, on the first day of June of this year, in the fort of Malacca, where
the fort Alvaro Zusarte, captain ofa small junk
Duarte Forreira, servants of the former, and also a certain Bris Barrewo. They
from the islands of Timor and were accompanied by some other
od there on orders of the captain of the
es de Sousa, captain of one ofthe other Junks which were in
and. He [Captain de Sousa] had discovered two Spaniards who wer
rion of a fsking-net and were also busy with some loading, He had ar-
rested these two Spaniards and ordered the aforesaid captain (Zusarte) and his
‘men to bring the twosome to Malacca because that would be in the service of
His Majesty. When they had finished loading, they did bring them to Malacca
‘where the captain ordered the two Spaniards to be brought before hin. He
‘asked them the ig questions hereund.
ITEM. The captain asked one ofthe two men, named Martin de Ayamonte,
son of Ferndo Martins and Marina Lourenco, residents ofthe place Ayamonte,
‘how he had come to these islands... (Agua )
‘The prisoner then related how Magellan’s expedition had been pre-
pared at Sevilla and departed from there to the Azores and “the land of
Brasil,” and through a strait leading to “a gulf that was part of a large and
wide sea.” The relation continues passing through the secretary
{In that sea they traveled on during five months with a favorable wind, until
they found two islands inhabited by wild people who subsisted only on coconuts
and who received them with arrows and by throwing stones at them. There was
nothing 10 gain here, because they were a bestia! kind of people. That was the
ly land which they sav in that vast sea. At wo hundred leagues from ther,
ered an archipelago of several ny proas
ople wearing much
‘As Ihave heard, that was a part of Maluco which was located inthe die
tion of Banda, At th in water, after which they saw an
ich was at a distance of ffy leagues further on.
ruler of that island who brought them from
there 10 Cebu where another ruler lived whose vassal he was. Ths ruler of Cebu
‘was at war with the one of Matam, which is another island. They said that there
‘was much gold in the island of Cebu, From what I came to know, the Borneans
trade with these islands, because on that island of
from Borneo. That King of Cebu asked Fernao de Magalhi
force that island of Matar into obedience. He aitacked them twice, and when he
returned a third time, the natives had armed themselves very well, and when
erto de Magal ‘men had go e of peopl
attacked them. Seeing this, they tri i a, bul then some of‘THE VOYAGE OF MAGELLAN
them fll into fossi and all of them were killed, a total of some twenty men,
‘among them also Fernio de Magathaes. When the king of Cebus heard about the
disaster of Magathies, he agreed with the ruler of Mata to kill all the rest and
capture the ships. He invited them for a meal, and they accepted that invitation,
after which some thirty men were killed. The rest of the men retired to the ships
‘and sailed away, but beeause they had lst so many men they burnt ane of ther
ships. From there they reached an island named Pulohamn.* which belonged 10
the king of Borneo. Here they overpowered two natives who (then) guided them
ta Borneo which is located in that part of the Moluccas (Aguas 1986. 194-195),
Then follows their visit to Borneo which began amicably but had a
multuous end, after which:
They repaired their ships on an unpopulated island and when that work was
finished they departed from there and met a boat of the chief of Palo
hham...From there they saw an island named Mindanao..from where a pilot
brought them to another island named Sanguim.* Here they forced another pilot
to bring them to Maluco, to the island of Tidare.
which, unlike the nearby Temate, was not yet occupied by the Portuguese.
They beftiended the local sultan and were able to load their ships with
cloves. At the point of sailing away, the Trinidad sprang a leak and
they were forced to leave it behind at Tidore with sixty men. They took a pilot
for the ship Victoria who would bring them to Timor Because the monsoon wind
‘was blowing. It was about the end of February wlien the ship departed for
Timor. Here Martin and one companion jumped ship
‘The account concludes with Ayamonte’s admission that at Timor his
real intention had been to
0 back to Maluco where a relative of his was living, but then Péro Soares de
Sousa had discovered him while he was busy fishing with a net.
To recall, Ayamonte’s name is included in the "List of all those who
died in the expedition of Magellan. ” He must have been in for bad times,
indeed, because the Portuguese had little mercy for Spanish competitors
intruding into “their” territory. Antonio de Brito, the Portuguese governor
‘Of Maluco who started fortifying Ternate in that same year of 1522, in-
formed the king of Portugal on 6 May 1523 that he had captured the survi-
vors of the ship Trinidad and kept them as prisoners, but that he would
much rather have killed them all. The subsequent fate of Ayamonte andPHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY
his companion was the same as what another Portuguese, Fernio Oliveira,
wrote at the end of his account (given below):
Captain de Espinosa of the Trinidad and some of his men went to Malacca and
from there to India. Here they dispersed and nearly all of them died. Only very
‘ow returned to Spain
‘The Eyewitness Testimony of Ginés de Mafra
Another rather little-known account of Magellan’s expedition is that
by Ginés de Mafra, He was born in Jerez de la Frontera in southem Spain
and was therefore one of the several Andalusians to join Magellan’s voy-
age to the Spice Islands. In 1519 he embarked at Sevilla in the ship Trini-
dad like Martin de Ayamonte.’ Aside from his own experiences, he drew
upon the diaries of Andrés de San Martin as a source; the later functioned
as pilot and astrologist aboard the ship San Antonio All of Mafra’s
documents and also those of the late San Martin were confiscated from
Mafra on his arrival in Portugal. The scribe? who compiled his account
typifies him at the end as:
now an old man of few but honest words whe, having been an eyewitness of it
all, prepared with is own hand a report about everything that had occurred in
the fleet of Magellan.
The whole report covers about thirty pages of Ad size.
We begin with events that occurred in the Strait of Surigao in March
1521."
After departing from Humun, they sailed on and reached a small island
with a circumference of some three or four leagues. It had a good harbor on its
western side and was populated. Afcr the fleet had anchored, the inhabitants
‘came out and grected them in a friendly way: Magellan noticed that there was
{gold on that litle island because the people were wearing it, and he said that
this was a place which he liked. He ordered one of the men whose name was
Heredia {this was Pigafetta] 1 go ashore together with an ind (the faroous En
rique] who said that he could serve ax interpreter because he was able o speak
Malay," « language which was widely understood im that region. But he was of
little use as an interpreter, because after coming ashore he was so well received
by the people that he got drunk from al the wine which they gave him."
The following day, which was Holy Thursday, the chief ofthat island came
aboard the ship and became very friendly with Magellan and the other men. He
made peace with them in the way which was customary in that land: he and Ma
gellan bled their breasts and mixed the blood with some wine im a cup, aftrTHE VOYAGE OF MAGELLAN
which each drank half of ie. Tis ceremony was a sign offirm flendship, but at
times some would not keep tit although others did respect it very much
Everybody was happy with that friendship, and the chief of the island now
offered the Spaniards as much rice and pork ashe had available. Years later, it
1543, when the island was visited by the fleet” of Admiral Rui Lopes de Villalo-
bos, the chief still remembered Magellan and showed thems some things which
the latter had piven him.
Afier Magellan had given some presents 10 the chief ofthat island which
was named Macagua, the fatter became very friendly with him and promised to
bring him to another island which was very big and called Cubu. Tt was well
Populated, and looked amply endowed: its chieftain was one of hs relatives
‘Magellan was much pleased, and after they had agreed onthe day of departure,
the fleet left for Cub
From this chief of Macagua, Magellan had heard that in a region named
‘Butuan, located in the northern part of the island of Mindanao, which is 15
leagues away from Magagua, there was much gold to be found, and that from
other places people came to obtain it together with other kinds of merchandise
From there, Mafra also relates the events that occurred at Cebu and Mac-
tan, and the wandering of the remaining ships in the Sulu Sea up to Bor-
neo and Tidore. As in Pigafetta (Blair and Robertson 190Sa: 222-223)
there was also an encounter with “the son of the king of Lozon” traveling
in a big junk to Bomeo where he was going to be married to a daughter of
a“king,” Later:
While our men were i Tidore....a Portuguese wo was residing in Ternate
‘came to our ships. He said that his name was Pedro Lorasa, and he told us that
rot long ago a certain Francisco Serrano {in fact Francisco Serrio} had died
there, who had told kim that he was waiting for Magellan to arrive in this land
af the Moluccas. He asked the men of our ships to come to Ternate where they
‘would find more supplies and cloves of a better quality
After the Trinidad had vainly attempted to return to Spain by sailing
eastward from Tidore to Panama, but near 40 degrees N had been forced
to tum back to the Moluccas, she came to a disastrous end near Ternate.
At Temate Mafra and his companions were captured by the Portuguese
and brought to India in 1523 where most of his companions died. Only he,
the ship’s captain Espinosa, the German gunner named Hans, and Leon
Pancaldo (probably the mysterious “Genoese pilot”) survived.'* Upon Ma-
fra being brought back to Lisbon, he was put in prison for some months
but then released through the intercession of the queen of Portugal, after
which he returned to Spain.PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY
In Volume IV of the Coleccién de los viages... of Navarrete (1825-
1837) we find that “in August 1527 the Council of the Indies took a sworn
testimony of Captain de Espinosa, then 48 years old, and of Ginés de Ma-
fra, 33...” This shows that de Mafra had been bom in 1494, Among the
Papeles de Maluco which Pastells compiled in the Archivo General de
Indias at Sevilla there is a document (Colin 1900a: 649) dated 12 April,
1527 at Valladolid, in which Mafra accused his wife of adultery during his
absence and of having squandered the properties which he had left to her
upon his departure, Such marital problems were probably not rare occur-
rences in those days when sailors had embarked on long and uncertain
voyages.
According to Aguas (1986: 201), in 1529 Mafra would “again have
departed for the Indies and presumably died there.” In its brevity, this
statement needs the supplementary information that in 1542 he joined the
expedition of Villalobos, as Aguas would have known very well since she
mentioned it elsewhere. The expedition departed from Mexico with the
aim of reaching Cebu and starting a Spanish settlement there. It was also
supposed to find the proper route for the return voyage to Mexico (see
Collecidn 1886). However, after it passed the “Coral Islands” there arose a
disagreement about the proper procedure to reach the entrance into the Su-
rigao Strait where Magellan had passed in 1521 (San Agustin 1975: 63-64,
Colin 1900b: 149-150). Only two vessels of Villalobos" fleet, with Mafra
on board of one, traveled west along 11 degrees N latitude and succeeded
in entering the strait and reaching Magagua (Limasawa). These ships
caused considerable trouble at “Abuyo, Tandaya and Magagua” and a
number of the crew were taken hostage by the inhabitants and had eventu-
ally to be ransomed. The other ships, having sailed too far south, missed
the entrance and drifted southward along the east coast of Mindanao to the
“pay of Malaga” (Lianga) and on to Sarangani where they ran into great
difficulties.
It was during these days that the central islands were given the name
Filipinas by Villalobos. It was Mafia’s second visit to Magagua.
Ferniio Oliveira’s Account from an Unknown Mariner
Perhaps the least known report on Magellan's expedition, at least in
the anglophone world, is the one of Fernio Oliveira written in Portuguese
(Oliveira ca. 1550-1560). The only existing original manuscript is in the
University Library at Leiden, Holland (see Figures 1 and 2). We can only‘THE VOYAGE OF MAGELLAN
guess how it happened to get there, Probably it had something to do with
the interest the Dutch had in rivaling the Portuguese and the Spaniards in
the occupation of the Spice Islands. The manuscript came to the university
after the death of the owner, the Dutch bibliophile Isaac Vossius.
The author entitled it “The voyage of Ferdinand Magellan as written
by a man who travelled with him.” That man was not Oliveira himself, but
some unknown mariner who was with Magellan’s fleet. Oliveira, a Portu-
guese scholar, linguist and maritime expert, somehow obtained the report
from him. According to Professor Valiére of the University of Nantes in
France, the handwriting of the manuscript, and also of that of certain cor-
rections, is of Oliveira himself. Valiére published a critical study of it to-
gether with an annotated French translation of the Portuguese text (Valiére
1976).!5
From the contents of Oliveira’s report it appears that it is clearly based
con an authentic account. Nevertheless, compared with Pigafetta’s Primo
Viaggio entorno al mondo, it contains some important omissions (shared
with Transylvanus and others). But there are also some interesting addi-
tions, certain details of the massacre at Cebu after the Battle of Mactan,
which are not found in Pigafetta.
We take up Oliveira’s text from the moment when the expedition left
the “Ladrones” Islands till its arrival at Borneo.
From these islands they sailed on in a western direction at about three to
Four degrees southern latirude," always enjoying good weather, for about fif-
‘teen to twenty days which seems equal toa distance of three hundred leagues or
‘more, and without discovering land anywhere, After the passage of those days,
they discovered many islands inhabited by people who wore clothes and were
governed by kings lke the Malayans. Among these many islands they found a
big one named Cebu" where four kings were reigning. One of them governed
the eastern part where a port and a town named Caybo were located. Into this
‘port Magellan entered at the end of February 1521." As soon as he entered, he
‘ordered some cannons to be fired, afer which many people, armed with spears,
Shields and swords, came running to the shore. Te king, who was among thems
ordered an immediate inguiry of the captain as to who he was and from what
and and people he came and what was his intention. The captain answered hire
that he was Ferdinand Magellan, a captain of the king of Castle by whom he
‘had been sent 10 offer him peace and friendship so that they could be on good
terms. On his part, therking answered that he was very happy, but that if they
‘wished to conclude peace, the following was the custom in his land: both he and
the captain should bleed a vein of his chest and catch each other's blood in the
mouth, and in this way a lasting peace would be ensured. The captain answeredPHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY
that he agreed to do this, as they next did by which they became brothers and
friends. Inmediately after peace or friendship had been concluded, many provi-
sions were brought fo the ships. The captain ordered some wares to be taken on
land, so thatthe natives, by making thelr own choice, would determine which
was the best for rading. He also ordered that on the following Sunday a Mass
rust be said on land to enable all the expedition members to attend it and the
natives to be moved to devotion when seeing our way of offering. And so it came
to pass that on the next Sunday, through the goodness and grace of God, the
King and hs wife the queen with some ofthe leading citizens were converted and
asked for baptism. During the next week most ofthe inhabitants of the Kingdom
were also converted. And because Ferdinand Magellan considered this a good
‘opportunity for the conversion of the other kings, he informed them that they
‘must either become Christians or obey the authority ofthe newly converted king
If they refused, he would wage war on them and burn their villages and their
palm plantations which served them for their sustenance. Two of them pledged
obedience tothe Christian king when hearing what damage ke might do to them
But the third let him know that he would do nothing of what he had ordered him
to do and that, if he would wage war on him, he would defend himself When
Ferdinand Magellan had heard that answer, he thought that he might yet be
able to change his mind by inflicting that damage to him, and he decided to go
ashore with some armed men to aitack his territory. He did so indeed and
landed with sixty harquebusiers and started to buen their huts and fell their
ppalm trees. Then the king and many ofthe natives came rushing out to stop him
and started to fight with them. But as long as our mien stil had gunpowder, the
natives did not dare come near them, But when their powder had been con
sumed, they started to surround them on all sides. And because they were in
comparably greater in number, they were also much stronger. Our men, unable
to defend themselves or get anay, fought to exhaustion and some of them were
dalled, among whom there was also Ferdinand Magellan. Before, when he was
stil alive, he had refused that hs friend the king come to help him with some
‘men whom: the latter held ready for that purpose. He had said that the Chris-
tians, with the kelp of God, were strong enough to beat all that scum. But as
soon as he had been tilled, the king came 10 help the others who had been badly
‘wounded. He ordered that they be brought to the boats Because he was afraid
that all the rest of his enemies would unite and they be taken prisoners. Tao
days later, these enemies let the Christian King know that fhe didnot ally wath
them, they would destroy him. Therefore he was forced to join them and take
‘part in the treason which they planned 10 undertake against our men. That
treachery would be committed as follows: one day he should invite the captains
and the crew ofthe ships to have dinner with him on land, and then they should
suddenly attack and kill them, after which they should also get hold of the ships
and the cargo which they had on board.
‘And 0 he did, inviting them for a meal which, as he said, was a banguet
before they departed, as a sign of the friendship which he had concluded with
them. Moreover, he wished to give them a precious gift which they should bring
to his brother the king of Spain in return for the gifts which they kad given kim‘THE VOYAGE OF MAGELLAN
in his name. He also said that the captains and the other officers of the ships
should attend this banquet. For that reason, and also because they wished 10
elect another eaptain-general to take the place of Ferdinand Magellan who had
heen killed, the captains, the leading officers, the pitots and other men of rank
came together and elected Duarte Barbosa as captain-general. He (Barbosa)
said that he considered it proper that they goto the place where the king had in-
vited them to dine with him and accept the gift which he had promised them. But
Johan Serrano, the captain of the Concepcién said that in his opinion it was not
proper to leave the ships in suck an uncertain situation when they could not
trust anybody. Especially not ata time when it were better to mourn the death of
their captain than to accept invitations to banquets and make merry, because
they might be blamed for that, especially he, Duarte Barbosa, since he was a
brother-in-law of Magellan. To which Duarte de Barbosa answered: “Mr.
rrano, I believe that this is a case of “achaques al viernes por no ayunarle™® [it
sounds more lke fear than like something else)
When Johan Serrano heard this, he replied: “Mr. Duarte Barbosa, I shalt
be the first to go, so that you may not harbor such an opinion about me!” ancl
immediately he jumped into the sloop. All went ashore, accompanied by only
‘fourteen men, not more, because all of them were more inclined (0 believe the
‘opinion of Johan Serrano that it was not good to go on land. Only those wanted!
to go who thought that i was a pity to forsake the rich gift which the king
wished 10 give them. Moreover, such a good man, so much befriended with
them, could not possibly be a traitor! When they reached the shore, the king re-
ceived them in a very friendly manner and immediately ordered food for them.
But while they were eating, a great number of armed men attacked them and
killed then all (but one]. Only Johan Serrano was left alive, and they brought
him tothe beach, naked and with bound hands. When the men inthe sloops saw
him, they asked what had Rappened. He answered that al the others were dead
‘and thatthe natives asked two cannon as ransom for him. The helmsman of his
‘own ship, Johan Carvallo, replied that he would glacly give them, and immedi-
ately he ordered that two hand-cannon be brought and put in the sloop. But
when those heathen saw them, they said that they were 100 small and that they
asked in addition some fathoms of cloth. Our men answered that they would give
‘anything they wanted, but meanwhile they must first bring the man 10 a safe
place where they could not capture him again. but they refused to do this. Them
they began to suspect that it was all treachery. Johan Serrano told them also
that it seemed wo him that they were waiting for some help coming from sea anel
‘from land 50 that they could get hold of the ships. Therefore, they should get
‘away, because it would be beter that he die alone than that all of them perish?
For the reason that they were aware of the danger in which they found them.
selves, and to prevent all of them from being killed, our men immediately raiseel
the sails and then traveled all day and night. On the morning of the following
day, they anchored near another island. Here they assembled and elecied the
hhelmsman Joan Carvallo as captain-general, while they made Gonzalo de Espi-
rosa, the auditor of the fleet, captain ofthe other ship. And because the crew
who now numbered a litle over one hundred, were too few for three ships, theyJUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY
abandoned one of them and burnt it, after distributing the men and the cargo
among the two other vessels. With only these two ships they sailed away from
there in search of the Molucean Islands which, as they knew by now, were nat
far away.
While sailing westwards, and without knowing to whick land, they came
within a few days toa large island named Borneo,
Discussion
These non-standard accounts mention most of the major events found
in Pigafetta, with some noteworthy exceptions. However, those who have
read the complete diary of Antonio Pigafetta will realize that these others
are very much abbreviated and that certain details are at some variance
with those found in Pigafetta or even totally missing. Such variances and
omissions (especially the complete events in the Surigao Strait and at
Mazaua) could already be noticed in the very first published report De
Moluccis Insulis (1523) by Maximilianus Transylvanus. This author was
not an eyewitness but had merely interviewed the survivors of Magellan's
expedition upon its return to Spain in 1522. Transylvanus was the first to
compress the events in the Strait of Surigao after Homonhon into one (and
that even partly incorrect) sentence: “They were driven to another island
called Massana where the king of three islands resides. From this island
they sailed to Subuth....” This absence of details about the passage
through the strait is also found in Ayamonte and Oliveira. As we know
from experience, even statements made by eyewitnesses about the details
of certain events will, even after a short time, differ from person to person.
Undoubtedly this also happened with the survivors whom Transylvanus
interviewed right after their return. Going through the other accounts
about Magellan’s expedition makes one often sigh, “it is good that we
have Pigafetta!”
Nevertheless, Ayamonte’s deposition deserves the description of “pri-
mary eyewitness account” wherein we clearly recognize the major
chronological events that occurred from the day of Magellan's departure
from Sevilla that we also find in Pigafetta. These are depicted in broad
strokes and with occasional discrepancies and errors. But there are also, in
the earlier sections of the deposition not recounted here, supporting evi-
dence concerning the attempted mutinies, treasons, and desertions, the se-
vere punishments meted out by Magellan to the leading mutineers before
they had passed through the Strait of Magellan, and the internal frictions,
deceit, hatred and even desertion of one ship inTHE VOYAGE OF MAGELLAN
It is interesting that Ayamonte differs from Pigafetta regarding events
on Mactan and Cebu. For example, he states that Magellan went chree
times to attack the people of Lapulapu.?
‘Ayamonte has nothing to say about any role played by “Enrique de
Malacca.” It is intriguing that Pastells (1920) includes Enrique as among
those massacred at Cebu in a chapter entitled “Relacion de todas las per-
sonas que fallecieron en la expedicién de Magallanes.” He could have
obtained this either from Navarrete (1825-1837: 66-67), as did Blair and
Robertson (1905a: 342), or from the travel account of the anonymous
“Genose pilot” (Navarrete 1826), who related that after the burning of the
Concepcién, when the remaining two ships were wandering in the Sulu
Sea, the sailors could not converse with the local people “because they had
xno more interpreter since he had been killed [in Cebu] together with Ma-
gellan.” A second view is seen in Ginés de Mafta’s account, in a section
not included here. He stated that Enrique was still functioning as inter-
preter when the expedition had reached Borneo! Probably most correct is a
third scenario, found in Giacomo Fabre’s text (1925: 73): “...all had been
killed except the interpreter.” It seems improbable that Enrique had been
killed by the Cebuanos. In view of Pigafetta’s more complete account
(Blair and Robertson 1905a: 183-185), Enrique was their co-conspirator,
even instigator. That may have been why he was not reported anymore as
present in subsequent events of the expedition. It is just possible that he
disappeared among the natives of Cebu, even though Pigafetta lasts men-
tions him as having returned on board, “where he showed that he was
‘more cunning (Italian sasente) than before.”
Tuming now to some points that emerge from Mafra’s account, the
first to be noted is the encounter with “the son of the king of Lozon” as
that prince was traveling in a big junk to Borneo where he was going to be
married to a daughter of another ruler. This is supporting evidence for the
same incident that was mentioned in Pigafetta (Blair and Robertson 1905a:
222-223), Tangentially, it is interesting to note that when the existence of
Luzon at this point was mentioned in Fabre’s version of Pigafetta (abbre-
viated 1925) and in Mafra’s text, European mapmakers felt obliged to
show it as lying somewhere in the general region in which the encounter
was mentioned, and so they depicted it wrongly. Gastaldi (1561), Merca-
tor (1569) and Ortelius (1570) showed it as a tiny islet (“Lozon”) situated
near the present-day Basilan,* despite the fact that both in Albo's log
book (Navarrete 1825-1837: 209-293) and in Pigafetta it was said that this
Luzon was a “very big island” (Italian “isola grande dette Lozon,” seePHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY
Blair and Robertson 190Sa: 206-207). This tiny island of Lozon in the
Sulu Sea disappeared from maps after the Spaniards had occupied the
northern Philippines, and it was replaced by the real Luzon.*
Mafra states clearly that on Magagua (Limasawa) “Magellan had heard
that in a region named Butuan, located in the northern part of the island of
Mindanao, which is 15 leagues away from Magagua, there was much gold
to be found...” This supports the general impression given by Pigafetta
(Bernad 1981, Schreurs 1981, Scott 1982) that the expedition at that point
‘was not at Butuan itself and never went there, Even Mafra, an ordinary
“sailor” (Blair and Robertson 190Sa: 279) knew where he was and had
leamed that Macagua and Butuan were quite distant from each other. He
referred to Magagua as a “small island” with “a good harbor on its western
side” (today’s barangay Triana).
‘Along the way, Mafra provides us with another interesting insight on
the question of Magellan's real destination. It has been stated as if it were
absolute truth that he was intentionally looking for a famous place in
northern Mindanao which he had already known about, that “he sailed
where he wanted to go” and that he was purposefully heading for the
“kingdom” of Butuan in Mindanao (Zaide n.d.a: 29, Zaide n.d.b: 43). His
arrival in the Philippines was “not a coincidence....he knew about the cul-
ture existing in the Philippines...and the geographical condition of the
place to where he sailed his ships” (Tormo Sanz 1975: 405)
‘Against this, it should be pointed out that, among other things, the cor-
respondence between Magellan and his Portuguese friend Francisco Ser-
ro, who at that time was in Temnate, the sultanate in the northern
Moluccas not far from Tidore, clearly indicates that Magellan had prom-
ised to come to see Serrio at Ternate by way of the “western route,” ice.
the Pacific. This intended destination is clearly evidenced by all the re-
ported details of the ships’ odyssey up to Tidore, and of events in Tidore
involving Pedro Lorosa as described by Mafra above beginning with the
phrase “while our men were in Tidore....” This correspondence between
Magellan and Serrio was found among Serrdo’s possessions after his
death by poisoning at the instigation of the sultan of Tidore (Blair and
Robertson 190Sa: 256-259). Magellan never knew that his friend Serio
had been assassinated two months before his own arrival at Cebu.”*THE VOYAGE OF MAGELLAN
ENDNOTES
This pilot is mentioned in footmote 32 of the “Notes,” p. 291, to Blair and Robertson
(1905a),
The frequent adjectives “said” and “aforesaid” (Portuguese aos sobreditos and
dito senhor) are omitted where they actualy interfere with English comprehension—ed.
*Because the manuscript at the Torre do Tombo in Lisbon is difficult to decipher in
‘many passages, Iam using the printed Portuguese text of Aguas.
“Pigafetia's Italian term (Blair and Robertson 1905a: 176, 177): these were pits dug
to trap enemies and probably spiked with fie-hardened bamboo stakes.
SPuloham=Palawan,
“Senguim=Sangihe
in Blair and Robertson (1905a: 279) Ginés de Mafra is listed as a “sailor.”
As reported by Pigafetta, San Martin was killed in the massacre on the mainland of
(Cebu after the death of Magellan on Mactan (Blair and Robertson 190Sa: 184-187)
"This anonymous scribe was just a “persona curiosa que hacia 1542 hizo una copia
que forma parte de un libro que contiene los relates de otras expediciones,” according to
Blazquez and Delgado's prologue (1920). The following account, as does the previous
cone, has thd person passages that probably can be attributed to the scribe’s way of re-
cording Mafra's relation.
"Because of a certain distorted quotation of Mafra which was published in Butuan in
March 1977, Tam simultaneously consulting the Spanish text published in 1920 in Ma-
drid by Antonio Blazquez and Delgado Aguilera (pp. 182-212), and the Portuguese
translation of Aguas (1986), According to Blazquez and Aguilera (my translation): “The
account i taken from a manuscript in a mid-16* century handwriting extant in the Bib-
lioteca Nacional of Madrid. This isnot the original but a copy which some investigative
person made about 1542 and which is part of a book which contains also accounts of
other expeditions." According to the Biblioteca Nacional, the copyrights of the manu:
script are with the Consejor Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas in Madrid.
"Mafra wrote here, “the intended interpreter sabia hablar Malaya, que es lengua
(gue en todas aguellas partes es muy commun.
"This anecdote is also found in Pigafetta’s account (Blair and Robertson 1905a
1204121)PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY
"Actually, only two ships ofthe fleet went there
"Thus the names of Mafia, Espinoss, the gunner Hans, and Pancaldo are not found
on the memorial slab at San Lucas de Barameda (but the name of another Hans is) (see
photograph in Schreurs 1996: 83)
"She first complete English translation of this study has been prepared by me and
submitted to the Academia de Marinka (Lisbon) for publication with the permission of
the author and the French publisher. Permission for the inclusion here of a passage in
English has been obtained also from Professor Valitre.
“This course, and by implication the location of the Ladrones, is at variance with all
other reports. Pigafetta placed the Ladrones at “12 degrees.”
"Note that all the events in the Surigao Strait and at Pigafetta’s Mazaua have been
omitted.
This should be 7 April 1521, according to Pigafeta.
"A Spanish expression meaning “(feigning) sickness on Friday to avoid having to
in other words, one finds a pretext for not having to do what one does not want to
™pigafetta writes on the contrary about this episode that Serrano urgently begged
them not to leave because the natives would certainly kill him, that he even invoked a
curse on Barbosa that would go into effect should he be left behind (Blair and Robertson
19058: 187),
2 The unknown mariner did not mention whether o not they were able to take the
‘hand-cannon with them.
Note that Pigafetta (Blair and Robertson 190Sa: 175) had written that Magellan de-
cided to go to Mactan “with three boattoads.”
2 am not confusing this with “Solo(s),” “Zolo” or “Xolo” which are indicated sepa-
rately.
3455 Quirino (1963: 82) we see that as late as 1652 the French cartographer Sanson
Abbeville locates Calegan, Buthuan and Messane (Caraga, Butuan and Limasawa) as
three tiny islands on the doorstep of Cebu. Skelton (1963: x) quite accurately says that on
Gastaldi's map “as in many other maps deriving their content from textual sources, the
nomenclature is rich but the geographical delineation confused
54 brief biography of Sertlo is provided in footnote 476 of Blair and Robertson
19052360)
(1905a: 3THE VOYAGE OF MAGELLAN
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‘Aguas, Neves
1986 Estudos e Documentos, No, 224. Liria, Portugal: Publicagoes Eu-
ropa-America
Baio, Antonio
1933 ‘A Viagem de Ferndo de Magathies, por uma testemunka presen-
cial” (The Voyage of Ferdinand Magellan as told by an eyewit-
ness), Archivo Histérico de Portugal, Vol. 1, maco (bundles) 5 and
6
Bemad SJ, Miguel A.
1981 “The Site of the First Mass in the Philippines: Butuan or Lima-
sawa? A Rexamination of the Evidence,” Kinaadman 3: 1-46,
Blair, Emma Helen and James Alexander Robertson (eds. and annotators)
1905a The Philippine Islands 1493-1898, Volume 33. Cleveland: Arthur
HL, Clark Co,
19056 The Philippine Islands 1493-1898, Volume 34. Cleveland: Arthur
H. Clark Co.
Blazquez, Antonio and Delgado Aguilera
1920 Libro que trata de! descubrimiento del estrecho de Magallanes.
Madrid: Real Sociedad Geografica.
Coleceién
1886 Documentos Ineditos de Ultramar (Filipinas), Tomo Il. Madrid:
Sucesores de Rivadeneyra por La Real Academia de la Historia
(Offset reprint in 1969 by the National Historical Commission,
Manila.)
Colin SI, Francisco
1900a(1663) Labor Evangelica... Volume |. Barcelona: Imprenta y Litografia
de Henrich y Compa
19008 (1663) Labor Evangelica., Volume TI, document 139. Barcelona: Im-
prenta y Litografia de Henrich y Compafia,
Fabre, Giacomo
1925 ‘Magellan, le premier voyage autour du monde par le navire la
Victoire. Abbreviated and edited by Jean-Paul Alaux. Paris: Geor-
ges Servant,PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY
Gastaldi, Giacomo di
1561
Mercator, Gerard
1569
1 disegno della terza Parte dell” Asia. Map, reproduced in Yohan-
nes Keuning, De Tweede Schipvaart der Nederlandes naar Oost-
indie... Volume Il, XI, p. 56 (1949). s'Gravenhage. (Information
from Quirino 1963.)
Welt-Karte BI. 12. Duisburg. Map, reproduced in Drei Karten von
G. Mercator. Berlin (1891). (Information from Quirino 1963.)
‘Navarrete, Martin Fernandez de
Ortelius, Abraham
1570
Oliveira, Femio
cca, 1550-1650
Coleccién de los Viages y Descubrimientos cue Hicieron por Mar
os Espafoles, Volume 4. Madrid: Imprenta Nacional.
Coleccaa de noticias para a Historia e Geografia das Nagdes Ut
tramarinas, que virem nos Dominios Portugeuzes, ou thes sdo
vizinhas, tomo 'V, no. 1 Lisbon: Acedemia Geral das Sciencias.
Asiae Nova Descriptio. Antwerp. Reproduced in Blair, Emma
Helen and James Alexander Robertson (eds. and annotators), The
Philippine Islands 1493-1898, Volume 3: 86-87. (Information
from Quirino 1963),
“Viagem de Fernao de Magalhdes escrita por um homem que foi
‘na companhia,” Codex Voss Lat. F 41, folios 239'-254". Found in
the University Library, Leiden.
Pastells, Pablo and Constantino Bayle
1920
Pigafetta, Antonio
ca, 1525
1905
Quirino, Carlos
1963
El Descubrimiento del Estrecho de Magallanes. Madrid: Sucesores
de Rivadeneyra
Primo viaggio intorno al mundo. Manuscript in the Biblioteca
Ambrosiana, Milan Italy
First Voyage Around the World (trans. James Alexander Robert-
son), in Blais, Emma Helen and James Alexander Robertson (eds.
and annotatots), The Philippine Islands 1493-1898, Volume 33:
25-367 and Volume 24: 38-180,
Philippine Cartography (1320-1899). Second Revised Edition
Amsterdam: N. IsraelTHE VOYAGE OF MAGELLAN
San Agustin, Gaspar de
1975 (1698) Conguistas de las Islas Philippinas..... Madrid: Consejo Superior
de Investigaciones Cientifias.
Schreurs MSC, Peter
1981 “The First Mass Site Revisited,” Philippine Quarterly of Culture
and Society 93): 192-216.
1996 “The Search for Pigafetta’s ‘Mazaua’,” Kinaadman 18(1): 1-97,
Scott, William Henry
1982 ‘Why Then the Butuan Tradition?" Kinaadman 4: 163-165,
Skelton, RA.
1963 “Philippine Cartography in the British Museum,” in Quirino, Car
los, Philippine Cartography (1320-1899). Second Revised Edition,
pp. xxiii
‘Tormo Sanz, Leandro
1975 ‘A Viagem de Ferndo de Magathies ¢ a Questdo das Moluccas,
in the conference papers Actos do Cologuio Luso-Espariol de
historia Ultramarina. Lisbon.
Transylvanus, Maximilianus
1523 De Moluccis Insults. Cologne, Paris, and Rome.
1905 “De MotuccisInsuls,” in Blair, Emama Helen and James Alexan-
der Robertson (editors and annotators), The Philippine Islands
1493-1898, Volume 1, pp. 303-337. Cleveland: Arthur H. Clark
©.
1969 First Voyage Around the World and De Moluceis Insulis. Manila:
Filipiniana Book Guild,
Valitre, Pierre
1976 Le Voyage de Magellan raconté par un homme qui fut en sa cam=
pagnie, Paris: Centro Cultural Portugues Caluste Gulbenkian,
Zaide, Sonia M.
nda “The First Kingdom in Mindanao,” ina collection of papers on the
“gst mass in the Philipines” controversy. 41 pp. (Place and pub-
lisher not stated)
“Restoration of the Historial Location of the First Mass and First
Kingdom in Butuan,” report for the symposium-workshop “Where
‘Was the First Mass in the Philippines?” 4 pp. Thursday, Nov. 9,
1995, Buruan CityPHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY
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sity of Leiden, Holland.‘THE VOYAGE OF MAGELLAN
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