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fied an official enquiry that the appalling loss of ships and men was
not the result of bad leadership. In fact, neither the politicians nor
the businessmen who had backed the expedition had cause for com-
plaint. Spain had staked her claim to colonisation and trade in the
Orient and the cargo brought back by the little Victoria more than
made up for the losses of the other vessels. The fifty tons of cloves,
cinnamon, mace, nutmegs and sandalwood were worth, ounce for
ounce, more than gold in a Europe where the rich paid handsomely
to acquire flavourings for insipid or over-salted food.
Risk of capital is always better rewarded than risk of life and
limb. Elcano's recompense was modest. He was granted a royal pen-
sion of five hundred ducats a year (which, in fact, was never paid
during his lifetime) and the right to a coat of arms. Appropriately, the
shield was surmounted by a crest, incorporated in which was a ter-
restrial globe and the legend Primus Circumdedisti Me.
And Ferdinand Magellan? He was forgotten. Neither in Portugal
nor Spain was there any interest in a man who had sailed half-way
round the world.
* Despite the oddly precise numbering, Pigafetta almost certainly exagger-
ates. He certainly could not have known the strength of the enemy with such pre-
cision. It is, moreover, extremely unlikely that Magellan would, knowingly, have
faced odds of 21 to 1.
* There is no direct evidence that he reached the Moluccas in his service of
the Portuguese king. 3
* The first European sighting of New Guinea was that of the Portuguese An-
tonio d'Abreu in 1512.
Later (1535), Faleiro's ideas were published in the Tractado del Espheray
del arte del marear: con el regemieto de las alturas: coalguas reglas nueuemete
ascritas muy necessartas.
 
 
 
 
 
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