These Five Islands
Produce Cloves, But No Kind Of Food; And The Large Island Of
Batochina, Which Is 60 Leagues Long, Produces Food But No Cloves.
In
some of these islands, particularly Ternate, there are burning
mountains.
Their chief subsistence is of a kind of meal made from the
bark of certain trees resembling the palm[155]. There are certain canes
that have a liquor in their hollows between the joints, which is
delightful to drink. Though the country abounds in animals, the natives
eat very little flesh, but live chiefly on fish which their seas produce
inexhaustibly. They are very warlike and by no means affable, and are
most expert both in running and swimming. Their religion is idolatrous,
but we have no account whatever respecting their original. The Moors had
possessed themselves of this country not long before the coming of the
Portuguese, as a Mahometan priest who had come along with the first of
the Moorish invaders was still alive at the arrival of Brito.
[Footnote 154: The principal island of the Molucca group is Gilolo;
those in the text being small islands to the west of Gilolo. The large
island mentioned in the text under the name of Batochina, can be no
other than Gilolo. - E.]
[Footnote 155: This is obviously an erroneous account of Sago, an
alimentary substance procured from the pith of a tree of the palm
tribe, not from the bark. - E.]
Antonio de Brito was sent on this occasion to build a fort in the island
of Ternate, which had been long desired by its king Boylefe. His force
consisted of six ships and 300 soldiers, and was increased at the island
of Agacim by four sail under the command of Garcia Enriquez. On arriving
at Ternate, the old king Boylefe was dead, and the king of Tidore had
admitted the Spaniards to settle on his island; yet seeing that the
queen who governed Ternate during the minority of her son gave a
friendly reception to Brito, the king of Tidore visited him and offered
to deliver up the Spaniards to him if he would build the fort on Tidore
instead of Ternate. But Ternate was preferred as the most convenient,
Brito laying the first stone on the festival of St John the Baptist, the
28th of December 1521.
At this time a private correspondence was carried on between Francis
Serram, who resided in Ternate and Ferdinando de Magallanes in Portugal,
which turned to the advantage of Spain and the detriment of Portugal.
Magalanes, otherwise named Magellan, was a man of note and a knight of
St Jago, who had served with reputation at Azamor in Africa and in
several parts of India. Having solicited for a small allowance usually
given in reward of service, and which was refused, he left Portugal and
entered into the service of Spain. From his skill in sea affairs, and
the correspondence he held with Serram at Ternate, he concluded there
might be another way to India; and as the Spaniards had already tasted
the fruits of these islands, he wrote to Serram that he hoped soon to be
his guest at Ternate going thither by a new way[156]. He accordingly got
the command of five ships with 250 men, some of whom were Portuguese.
Sailing from the port of San Lucar de Barameda on the 20th of September
1519, after having renounced his country by a solemn act, he sailed
toward the south along the eastern coast of South America.
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