Page:The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 01).djvu/96

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THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS
[Vol. 1

authorizes Falero and Magalhães to undertake their expedition of discovery. A letter from Cárlos to King Manuel of Portugal (February 28, 1519) assures him that nothing in this enterprise is intended to infringe upon Portuguese rights. A document written (April 6, 1519) to Juan de Cartagena, appointed inspector-general of Magalhães's fleet, gives detailed instructions as to his duties in that office, especially in regard to the equipment of the fleet, its trading operations in the Orient, the royal share of profits to be derived therefrom, and the current accounts of the enterprise; he is also charged with the necessary arrangements for the colonization of lands to be discovered, and commanded to furnish to the King information as to the treatment of the natives by their Spanish conquerors, and the general conduct of the officers of the expedition, etc. The fleet is ordered (April 19, 1519) to proceed directly to the Spice Islands, and all persons belonging to it are exhorted to obey Magalhães. A letter (1522) to the King of Spain gives information about Magalhães's death, obtained from some Spanish ship-boys who had found their way to the Portuguese posts in India. The earliest published account of this noted expedition is the letter written (October 24, 1522) to Matthæus Lang, archbishop of Salzburg, by a natural son of his named Maximilian Transylvanus (then a student at Valladolid), relating the events of Magallanes's voyage to the Moluccas (1519–21), his death at the hands of hostile natives, and the further experiences of his followers in the Philippine archipelago and on their homeward voyage. The small remnant of this expedition—the ship "Victoria," and eighteen men—reach Spain on September 6,