After
Entertaining Them In Their Respective Palaces, The King And Prince Of
Buthuan Dismissed Pigafetta And His Companion With Noble
Presents,
filled with admiration of their guests, whom they believed to be men
above the rank of common mortals, being
Especially astonished at
Pigafetta's writing, and reading what he had written, which was too
mysterious for their comprehension.
[Footnote 9: Not one of these islands is known to modern geography; and
the whole of this voyage is related so loosely and unsatisfactorily,
that it is impossible to trace its course, except at well-known
places. - E.]
In this island, by sifting the earth of a certain mine, they procured
great lumps of gold, some as large as walnuts, and some even as big as
eggs; all the vessels used by the king at table being made of this
precious metal.[10] The king of this island was a very comely personage,
of an olive complexion, with long black hair, his body being perfumed
with the odoriferous oils of storax and benzoin, and painted with
various colours. He had gold-rings in his ears, and three rings of that
metal on each of his fingers. His head was wrapped round by a silken
veil or turban, and his body was cloathed to the knees in a cotton
wrapper, wrought with silk and gold. He wore at his side a sword or
dagger, with a haft of gold, and a scabbard of carved wood. This country
is so rich, that one of the natives offered a crown of massy gold in
exchange for six strings of glass beads; but Magellan would not allow
such bargains, lest the Spaniards might appear too greedy of gold.
[Footnote 10: These stories of gold in such wonderful abundance, are
obvious falsehoods contrived by Pigafetta, either to excite wonderment,
or to procure the command of an expedition of discovery; a practice we
have formerly had occasion to notice in the early Spanish conquests and
settlements in America. - E.]
The natives were active and sprightly, the common men being quite
naked, except painting their bodies; but the women are cloathed from the
waist downwards, and both sexes wore gold ear-rings. They all
continually chewed areka, a fruit like a pear, which they cut in
quarters, rolling it up in a leaf called betel, resembling a bay-leaf,
alleging that they could not live without this practice. The only
religious rite observed among them, was looking up to heaven, to which
they raised their joined hands, and calling on their god Abba.
Magellan caused a banner of the cross, with the crown of thorns and the
nails, to be exposed and publicly reverenced by all his men in the
king's presence; desiring the king to have it erected on the top of a
high mountain in the island, as a token that Christians might expect
good entertainment in that country, and also as a security for the
nation; since, if they prayed to it devoutly, it would infallibly
protect them against lightning and tempests, and other evils. This the
king promised should be done, knowing no better, and glad to be so
easily defended from thunderbolts.
Leaving this island, and conducted by the king's pilots, the Spaniards
came to the isles of Zeilon, Zubut, Messana, and Caleghan, of which
Zubut was the best, and enjoyed the best trade. In Massana, they
found dogs, cats, hogs, poultry, goats, rice, ginger, cocoa-nuts,
millet, panic, barley, figs, oranges, wax, and plenty of gold. This
island lies in lat. 9 deg. 40' N. and in long. 162 deg. from their first
meridian.[11] After remaining here eight days, they sailed to the N.W.
passing the islands of Zeilon, Bohol, Canghu, Barbai, and Caleghan;
in which last islands there are bats as large as eagles, which they
found to eat, when dressed, like poultry. In this island, among various
other birds, there was one kind resembling our hens, but having small
horns, which bury their eggs in the sand, where they are hatched by the
heat of the sun. Caleghan is about twenty miles W. from Messana; and
Zubut, to which they now directed their course, fifty leagues W. from
Caleghan. In this part of the voyage they were accompanied by the king
of Messana, whom Magellan had greatly attached to him by many
services.
[Footnote 11: This is 16 deg. of longitude beyond the Ladrones, which are in
216 deg. 30' W. and would consequently give the longitude of Zubut as 232 deg.
30' W. or 107 deg. 30' E. from Greenwich. Yet from what appears afterwards,
they seem to have been now among the Philippine islands, the most
easterly of which are in long. 126 deg. E. from Greenwich. - E.]
They entered the port of Zubut on the 7th April, and on coming near
the city all the great guns were fired, which put the inhabitants into
great consternation. This, however, was soon quieted, by the arrival of
a messenger at the city from the ships, who assured the king of Zubut
that this was an ordinary piece of respect to his dignity, whom they had
come to visit on their way to the Moluccas, hearing of his fame from the
king of Messana. The messenger also desired that the Spaniards might
be furnished with provisions, in exchange for their commodities. The
king then observed, that it was customary for all ships that came to his
port to pay tribute, which custom he expected they would comply with as
well as others. To this the messenger replied, that the Spanish admiral
was the servant of so powerful a sovereign, that he could make no such
acknowledgment to any prince whatever. That the admiral was willing to
be at peace with him, if he thought proper to accept his friendship: but
if otherwise, he should soon have his fill of war. A certain Moor, who
happened to be present, told the king that these people were certainly
the Portuguese, who had conquered Calicut and Malacca, and advised him
therefore to beware of provoking them to hostilities; whereupon the king
referred the matter to his council, promising to give an answer next
day, and in the meantime sent victuals and wine aboard the ships.
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