Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The voyage gave hard evidence that the world is indeed round and, in doing so, in-
troduced to Europe a questioning view of faith-based geography. The Bible says nothing
about a vast body of water somewhere to the east. Was it possible that Jerusalem was not
the center of the world? How was it possible that, by sailing west, one day of the week
should disappear, and the faithful indulge themselves with meat on Friday? Such doubts
helped the Middle Ages give way to the Renaissance. That, says a present-day admirer, is
the ultimate significance of Magellan's journey. And it is fitting that the Magellanic Clouds,
companions of the Milky Way, should be named after Magellan. “Like them, his memory
shines down on the world his voyage opened, illuminating it from infinity to eternity.” [30]
Figure 3.4. Ferdinand Magellan
(1810 Engaving, Library of Congress)
DRAKE'S PASSAGE
“In 1577, an English sailor, Francis Drake, would do what no other privateer had ever at-
tempted: he would lead an expedition through the Straits of Magellan and fall upon the
unguarded and unsuspecting Spanish settlements.” [31]
Loaded with Spanish loot, he sailed his ship, the Golden Hind, homeward from what
is now San Francisco to Plymouth Harbor. The expedition took three years and netted its
investors a 4,700 percent profit. Queen Elizabeth, a major investor in the voyage, used her
share of the profits to bolster the royal treasury. She also funded and chartered the Levant
Company, which in 1600 became the East India Company. Drake's voyage thus helped to
 
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