IV.

Start of the Expedition

Magellan won the king’s approval for his voyage. A fleet of five vessels was outfitted and sailed from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain, with about 250 men on September 20, 1519. Magellan sailed through familiar waters along the west coast of Africa and then south to the equator. There the fleet turned south-southwest and crossed the Atlantic to a point near Recife in Brazil.

Magellan searched down the coast of South America for a passage through the continent. In December he stopped at Rio de Janeiro, where the sailors traded with the Native Americans for provisions. Continuing south, he explored every likely inlet, especially the mouth of the Río de la Plata, which he briefly thought was the passage because it was so wide. As the southern winter approached in April, the ships took shelter from storms in Port San Julián, now in Argentina. During five months there, Magellan suppressed a mutiny of his Spanish officers, who were jealous because Magellan was Portuguese. One ship was lost when it was driven ashore during an exploratory voyage.

In August the voyage resumed. The four small craft pressed farther south, past the 50th parallel to the Rio Santa Cruz, where additional provisions were acquired. Three days after leaving this refuge, they rounded a large cape and found a wide inlet. Against his sailors’ advice, Magellan sent out two ships to explore this body of water. After two days the vessels were thought to be lost, but then they returned to report that they had passed through two bays connected by narrow passages and had seen a third bay beyond.

Uncertain but hopeful, Magellan pressed on through the strait, which was dangerously narrow and winding in many places. On the other side of the third bay, two passages were sighted; Magellan ordered them to be explored. During the night one ship mutinied and sailed back to Spain. Undaunted, Magellan pressed on. To the south was a stark, forbidding land, dotted with fires, which he named Tierra del Fuego, Spanish for “Land of Fire.” After several days the western passage led into a long channel, running northwest, that opened onto a great ocean. The ships sailed forth on November 28, 1520, having taken 38 grueling days to negotiate 579 km (360 mi) of icy water lined with snow-clad mountains. The route they used is now known as the Strait of Magellan.