GUAM AND ITS rp:orLE. 41)7 



of the Bernice I'uuahd Bishop Museum of Hawaii for 11)00, the result 

 of the work of Mr. ALviirSeale, who collected on the island in IIHH). 



Discovery. — The island -of Guam was discovered by Magellan on 

 March (5, 1521, after a passage of three months and twenty days from 

 the strait which bears his name. Among the accounts w ritten of his 

 expedition, that of Antonio Pigafetta, of Vicenza, who accom})anied 

 him, is full of valuable and interesting details, Pigafetta tells of the 

 terrible suffering of his companions on their way across the waters of 

 the unexplon^d occ^an; lunv their food failed, until they had oidy 

 crumbling biscuit full of maggots to eat, all foul from the excrement 

 of rats; how they were forced to eat the rats themselves, which ])rought 

 a price of half a crown each, and, moreover, "enough of them could 

 not be got;" how they even resorted to sawdust of wood, and the ox- 

 hides used as chating gear in the rigging luider the main 3'ard, all 

 stiffened and hardened by sun, rain, and wind, soaking them for sev- 

 eral days in the sea, and then putting them "'"a little on the embers,''' 

 The water thej^ had to drink was yellow and stinking, and the gums 

 of nearly all were swollen with scurvy, and nineteen died, and twenty- 

 ffve or thirty others fell ill "of divers sicknesses, both in the arms 

 and legs and other plac(\s, in suih manner that ver}'^ few remained 

 healthy.*' 



Two islands were sighted. l)ut only birds and trees were fouiul upon 

 them and no su])plies could ]>e o))tained. These they called the Tnfor- 

 tunate Islands. Finally three other islands were sighted, covered with 

 rich vegetation and inhabited by many peopl(\ who came out to meet 

 them in wonderful canoes, which seem to fairly Hy over the water. 

 The sails were triangular-shaped mats woven of pandanus leaves and 

 were supported on a yard after the manner of lateen sails. The mast 

 was amidships. Instead of going about in tacking they simply shifted 

 the sheet of the sail from one end of the canoe to the other, so that 

 which had been the bow became the stern, and the stern ])ecame the 

 bow. Parallel to the fore-and-aft line tliert^ was an outrigger or log, 

 rigidly connected with the hull by cross pieces and resting upon the 

 surface of the water. This served, both by its weight and buoyancy, 

 to keep the nariow craft fiom <apsizing, and was kept always on the 

 windward side by shifting th(> sheet as descrii)ed above. All of the 

 boats were painted, some black and others red. They had paddles of 

 the form of hearth shovels, which could l»c used for steering oi' pro- 

 [)elling the boats." 



The ships came to anchor near a village on the soutiiernniost island, 

 and the natives brought them refreshment of fruits. The sails were 



" "llanno il tiiiione simile ad una ]>ala da fornaio, eior una pt'ttica con una tavola 

 in ciuia; e doppio essendo (juesto tinione o remo, fanuo a piacer loto di [mii^jwi 

 prora." — Pigafetta, Primo Viaggio intorno al Ciiobo Terniccjueo, ^Nliiauo, .MDC(/C, 

 p. 53. 



SM 1902 32 



