Page:First Voyage Round the World.djvu/136

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58
PASSAGE OF THE STRAITS.

length on shore. This strait was a round place surrounded by mountains, as I have said, and the greater number of the sailors thought that there was no place by which to go out thence to enter into the peaceful sea. But the captain-general said that there was another strait for going out, and said that he knew it well, because he had seen it by a marine chart of the King of Portugal, which map had been made by a great pilot and mariner named Martin of Bohemia.[1] The captain sent on before two of his ships, one named St. Anthony and the other the Conception, to seek for and discover the outlet of this strait, which was called the Cape de la Baya. And we, with the other two ships, that is to say, the flagship named Trinitate, and the other the Victory, remained waiting for them within the Bay, where in the night we had a great storm, which lasted till the next day at midday, and during which we were forced to weigh the anchors and let the ships go hither and thither about the bay. The other two ships met with such a head wind[2] that they could not weather[3] a cape which the bay made almost at its extremity; wishing to come to us, they were near being driven to beach the ships.[4] But, on approaching the extremity of the bay, and whilst expecting to be lost, they saw a small mouth, which did not resemble a mouth but a corner,[5] and (like people giving up hope[6]) they threw themselves into it, so that by force they discovered the strait. Seeing that it was not a corner, but a strait of land, they went further on and found a bay, then going still further they found another strait and another bay larger

  1. Martin Behaim, who lived at Fayal and Nuremberg. A globe was constructed at Nuremberg under the instructions of Martin Behaim in 1492, and given by him to the town of Nuremberg. This globe disproves the idea that Martin Behaim or his maps had indicated to Magellan any straits, for the whole continent of America is absent from it.
  2. "Trauerse."
  3. "Chevaucher."
  4. "Entrer à sec."
  5. "Canton."
  6. ("Comme abandonnans.")