Magellan now set course west by south, and after only a week of easy sailing they sighted the Philippine islands and dropped anchor at Limasawa. No Europeans had ever set foot on the Philippines before that day, but Magellan met there traders from Siam, Sumatra and China, and he now realized the enormity of his achievement – West had finally met East by circling the globe, just as Columbus had set out to do. The Moluccas now lay within an easy sailing distance to the south. They had circled the Earth through its unknown parts; the rest of the voyage lay through familiar waters.
A few hours after their arrival, two barges filled with men approached, among them a local ruler known as Rajah Colambu. The chief refused to come aboard the Spanish ships, but he allowed his people to do so and Magellan showered them with gifts. The Rajah, in turn, offered the captain-general a solid bar of gold and a basket of ginger, both of which were politely refused. Magellan’s policy, which he impressed on all his men, was always to pretend that gold had little value to the Spaniards; he had long ago learned that whenever Europeans showed their greed for the metal, the prices soared. This policy was to prove effective wherever they went; after he refused to trade six strips of glass beads for a crown of massive gold, the Philippine natives began trading gold for iron at equal value.
After a week of relaxation, the fleet headed for the island of Cebu. There, at the advice of Rajah Colambu, Magellan went ashore to assure the local chief, Sultan Humabon, that they had come in peace, and that they simply wished to exchange merchandise for provisions. On that island, however, Magellan made another discovery – the sultan and his chiefs appeared anxious to adopt the obviously powerful religion of the white men. The captain-general, with typical European crusading zeal, had made a long speech describing the elements of Christianity had then invited the natives to be converted. He further added that if the girls were also baptized, his men could then enter sexual relations with them “without committing a very great sin.” It seems a peculiar argument for conversion to any faith, but the natives apparently were so much impressed by the strangers that they were eager to join them under almost any condition.
In less than a week’s time, huge bonfires had engulfed all the native idols and gods; a cross had been set up in the marketplace of Cebu, and a mass baptism was begun. Sultan Humabon now became Don Carlos, and over the next four days “we baptized 800 souls . . . all the persons of that island and some from other islands.” Where they met with resistance, the Spaniards imposed Christianity with the cross in one hand and the sword in the other. On a neighboring island they burned down an entire village “because it refused to obey the king or us.” That island was Mactan, and Mactan would not forget.
The stay at Cebu proved a most enjoyable one for the Spaniards. There was plenty to eat and drink, the trading proved profitable beyond their wildest imagination, and the women were eager to please, both before and after their conversion. Everyone felt that they had every reason to be proud of their accomplishments. They had circled the globe, had acquired a new and profitable province for Spain, and now they also had saved nearly a thousand souls from eternal damnation. If only they could have left well enough alone.
The newly christened Don Carlos had meanwhile decided to test the power of his adopted religion. If the Spaniards had become that great with the aid of Christianity, he could surely do the same. The sultan now demanded allegiance from all the chiefs of the neighboring islands; when the still unconverted rulers of Mactan refused, Don Carlos saw a clear case for a crusade against these pagans, and he appealed to his new ally, the captain-general of the Spanish fleet.
Magellan was not about to abandon his newly created flock, and the Spaniards now turned crusaders as quickly as they had turned missionaries. On the night of April 26, Magellan and about sixty of his men crossed over to Mactan. But this time the island’s natives were prepared; as soon as they had landed, the Spaniards were suddenly met by about 1,500 warriors, “shooting so many arrows and hurling so many bamboo spears that they were forced on the defensive.” After a desperate fight, the Spaniards tried to retreat to their boats, but the warriors pursued them into the water until Magellan decided to make a final stand. But by that time the white men were hopelessly outnumbered. During the fighting the Captain’s helmet was knocked off, his arm was pierced by a spear, but he “stood firmly like a good knight.” He might have saved himself by retreating with his men, but the old fighter decided to stand his ground. With more and more natives swarming around him, the end was inevitable. A sudden blow brought him down into the water, and then “the Indians threw themselves upon him with spears and every weapon they had, and they ran him through.”
That defeat of the white men and the death of Magellan was enough to convince the sultan that he had greatly overestimated the power of Christianity. In order to atone for the insults to the gods of his ancestors, Humabon now planned a terrible vengeance on the Spaniards. On May 1 he invited all the white men to a banquet, and about thirty of them accepted; but during the evening, while everyone was enjoying themselves on the meal and the palm wine, a horde of armed warriors suddenly fell over the Spaniards and began to butcher them like cattle. The crews aboard the ships watched helplessly as the bodies of their comrades were dragged to the shore and flung into the water. Horror-stricken, the sailors lost their heads; they hoisted anchors, and as the ships sailed off, the natives could be seen chopping down the cross and performing pagan ceremonies in atonement of their brief experiment with Christianity.
The massacre at Cebu was a heavy blow to the Spaniards. Of the 280 men who had set out from Spain, little more than a hundred were now left, and soon the Concepcion, no longer seaworthy, had to be abandoned as well. The Trinidad and Victoria now continued on through the southern Philippines and parts of Indonesia. They stopped at Brunei in northeastern Borneo and at Palawan Island, and continued through the Celebes Sea, and early in November entered the harbor of Tidore, the most important of the five Moluccas – the long-sought Spice Islands of the Indies, which had inspired the voyages of Columbus and hundreds of others. These Spice Islands are so tiny – Ternate measures little more than six miles across – that it is hard to believe that in the 16th century they inspired such momentous voyages, supported independent rulers in high state, and caused the deaths of thousands of Europeans fighting to control their fragrant wealth.
The Spaniards spent two relatively pleasant weeks in these islands and did some trading. Then it was discovered that the Trinidad had sprung a serious leak. The situation had suddenly become critical; much as during Columbus’ first voyage, when the Santa Maria was wrecked, no one at home had yet learned of their success. It was therefore decided that the Victoria should immediately sail for the Cape of Good Hope by herself and deliver the news to Spain. The Trinidad would meanwhile be thoroughly repaired, and would then to head for the Isthmus of Panama, which had already become the center of Spanish America. On December 21, the Victoria set course for the tip of Africa, commanded by Sebastian de Elcano, manned by a crew of 47 Spaniards and 13 natives.
The Trinidad did not get under way again until nearly four months later, with 53 surviving crewmembers aboard. They sailed into the Philippine Sea, struggled for several weeks against the northeasterly trade winds, and finally, nearly overcome by famine and scurvy, turned around again and ran back to the Moluccas. By the time they arrived there, 30 more men had died, the ship’s main mast was gone, and now all the survivors were captured by a Portuguese fleet. Of the entire crew aboard the Trinidad, only Captain Espinosa and three sailors lived long enough to see Spain again.
The little Victoria, meanwhile, with starvation and scurvy once again claiming still more lives, her foremast gone and badly leaking, had struggled around the Cape of Good Hope. Carried by a strong current, they passed the Equator three weeks later, and after a brief stop at the Cape Verde Islands sighted the coast of Spain. On September 6, 1522, almost three years after they had left, the battered ship limped into the harbor of Guadaquivir with 18 survivors aboard. The greatest achievement in ocean navigation had come to an end; the globe had been circumnavigated for the first time ever, though it was accomplished at a cost of more than 250 lives, including every one of the original officers and commanders.