THE STRAIT OF MAGELLAN. 



413 



of vegetation and the evident marks of ruin along the mountain slopes warn the 

 mariner to avoid the neighborhood. In Gabriel Channel Captain King saw a 

 spot where the williwaws, bursting over the mountains on the south side, had 

 swept down the declivities, and then rushing against the foot of the opposite 

 hills, had again dashed upward with such fury as to carry away with them every 

 thing that could possibly be attached from the bare rock. 



It was a memorable day in the annals of maritime discovery (October 20, 

 1521) when Magellan reached the eastern entrance of the strait that was to lead 

 him, first of all European navigators, from the broad basin of the Atlantic into 

 the still wider expanse of the Pacific Ocean. It was the day dedicated in the 

 CathoHc calendar to St. Ursula and her eleven thousand virgins, and he conse 

 quently named the promontory which first struck his view " Cabo de las Vir- 

 gines." The flood tide, streaming violently to the west, convinced him that he 

 was at the mouth of an open channel, but he had scarcely provisions for three 

 months — a short allowance for venturing into an unknown world, and thus be- 

 fore he attempted the passage he convoked a council of all his ofiicers. Some 

 were for an immediate return to Europe, but the majority voted for the con- 

 tinuation of the voyage, and Magellan declared that should they even be re- 

 duced to eat the leather of their shoes he would persevere to the last, and with 

 God's assistance execute the commands of his imperial master Charles V. He 

 then at once gave orders to enter the strait full sail, and on pain of death for- 

 bade any one to say a word more about a return or the want of provisions. 



Fortunately the winds were in his favor, for had the usual inclemencies of 

 this stormy regi'on opposed him, there is no doubt that with such crazy ves- 

 sels, and such discontented crews, all his heroism would have failed to insure 

 success. It was the spring of the southern hemisphere, and the strait showed 

 itself in one of its rare aspects of calm. Many fish were caught, and, as Pi- 

 gafetti, the historian of the voyage, relates, the aromatic winter's bark which 

 served them for fuel " wonderfully refreshed and invigorated their spirits." 



The fires kindled by the savages on the southern side during the night in- 

 duced Magellan to give that part of the country the name of Tierra del Fuego, 

 or Fireland; while from their high stature and bulky frames, he called the m- 

 habitants of the opposite mainland Patagonians (patagon being the Spanish 

 augmentative of pata, foot). Although several days were lost in exploiing 

 some of the numerous passages and bays of the straits, its eastern mouth was 

 reached on November 28, and Magellan saw the wide Pacific expand before 

 him. 



In 1525 Charles Y. sent out a new expedition of six vessels, under Garcia, 

 de Loaisa, to circumnavigate the globe. The vice-admiral of the squadron was 

 Sebastian el Cano, who, after the death of Magellan, had brought the illustri- 

 ous navigator's ship safely back to Europe, and as a reward had been ennobled 

 with the globe in his coat of arms, and the motto, " Primus circumdedisti me." 

 Loaisa entered the strait on January 26, 1526, but he was beaten back by 

 storms as far as the River Santa Cruz. On April 8 he once more attempted the 

 passage, and emerged into the Pacific on May 25. Simon de Alcazaba, who in 

 1534 attempted to pass the Magellans with a number of emigrants for Peru, 



