Island of Tidore. The Spice Islands. December 21, 1521
We finally reached our one true goal: the Spice Islands. Both ships have been loaded with a cargo of cloves worth a king's ransom back in Europe, but misfortune has at least one last trick to play on us. The sound of the Victoria's gun has faded and her sails have vanished over the horizon while the lonely Trinidad remains trapped on this island. And I have said what may well be a final farewell to my friend Antonio Pigafetta, who has departed with the only other remaining ship of Magellan's once proud fleet.
We completed the repairs by September 27 and left our temporary sanctuary once again in search of the fabled Spice Islands. But, while morale was improved by Carvalho's being deposed, discipline and our mission seemed to be forgotten. Our two ships were little more than pirate vessels, raiding the local seaways forever in need of supplies and foodstuff.
Aboard one of the junks we took was a rajah, Tuan Maamud, who readily paid our ransom of four hundred measures of rice, twenty swine, twenty goats, and one hundred fifty fowl in addition to coconuts, bananas, sugar cane and palm wine. When the ransom was delivered the hostages were released, their weapons given back to them, and they were given several bolts of cloth, banners and robes. We sailed on in early October loaded with our fresh supplies.
Passing straits, reefs and islands we searched for information about the Spice Islands. We encountered a flat calm and while we were stalled, a large native vessel was sighted. Unable to close with it, our commanders sent two boats in pursuit of the craft. Although the natives defended themselves well with their scimitars and shields, they were taken prisoner. It was from these people that we gained a solid lead about the location of the islands we sought. We changed our course from northeast to southeast and continued skirting islands searching for our goal.
After several days we anchored in a small harbor. The locals were curious about us and among those that paid us a visit was an old man who claimed to know the way to the Spice Islands. He and two of his friends agreed to guide us but on the appointed day, only his two companions appeared. Despite their wish to now remain on their island, they were forced to stay with the fleet. One managed to escape by jumping overboard, but the other remained our captive navigator. Despite his captivity with us, he proved an excellent navigator, warning us of dangerous natives on islands we passed and guiding our course toward the islands we sought.
It was on Friday, November 8, 1521, that a tall peak appeared above the horizon. It was Ternate, one of the islands we had sought for so long and sacrificed so much to behold. After twenty-seven months, the once proud fleet of five ships and two hundred sixty-five men had been reduced to two leaky vessels and one hundred seven men. But we had survived to see the fabled islands where clove tree grow, half way around the world from where we started.
The islands had excellent anchorage and we dropped anchor in twenty fathoms of water quite close to the shore. As our anchors plunged into the azure waters, the cannons fired a salute. The next day, a prau carrying the island's rajah under a silken awning approached our ships. The commanders, anxious to make a good impression, dispatched a delegation in one of the boats to greet him.
"Welcome travelers," the Sultan, Almansor, greeted us. "Some time ago I dreamed that strange ships would come to my island from distant lands. Your arrival is the fulfillment of that dream." The rajah and his entourage were invited aboard our ships and honored with many gifts. "You are welcome ashore," Almansor proclaimed, "as if in your own homes."
We had expected to be greeted by a Portuguese adventurer named Francisco Serrão, an old friend of Magellan's, who was serving as military advisor to the Sultan of the neighboring island of Ternate. When we inquired after him, we learned he had become involved in a dispute between the rulers of the two islands. Trying to bring about peace, Serrão forced Almansor to give one of his daughters in marriage to Boleyse, the Sultan of Ternate. Eight months before our arrival, Almansor invited the adventurer to a banquet...and poisoned him. Ten days later Boleyse, Serrão's former patron, was poisoned by his own daughter who was the wife of another Sultan with whom he father had quarreled. Needless to say, we all were relieved when Almansor didn't invite us to a banquet.
On Monday, two praus appeared from the direction of Ternate. They carried the red velvet robed son of the dead Rajah Boleyse accompanied by Serrão's widow and two sons. After a somewhat tricky diplomatic situation, the visit proved very valuable, for among the visiting entourage was a Christian native who spoke Portuguese. Called Manuel, he was the servant of another Portuguese trader, Pedro de Lorosa, who had come to Ternate from Banda after Serrão's demise. Manuel was invited back to our ships where he explained that, although the sultans were at odds with each other, they were all sick of the Portuguese and would be willing to ally themselves with Spain.
The captains were delighted and sent Manuel back to his master with an invitation to visit our ships. In the afternoon of November 13, Lorosa came to the Trinidad and brought with him the first news of Europe we had heard since the fleet sailed from the Canaries two years before. We learned that a year before our arrival, a large ship had come to Ternate from Malacca for cloves. Its captain informed Lorosa that King Manuel had learned of our departure and had dispatched warships to intercept us. One sailed to the Cape of Good Hope in case we went east and one was sent to Cape Santa María should Magellan search for a western passage.
When both failed to locate the fleet, King Manuel ordered Diogo Lopes de Sequiera, the commander of all Portuguese naval forces in India, to send six warships to catch us at the Spice Islands. But Sequiera's forces were already committed to battling the Turks in the Red Sea and he could only send one ship in search of us. He also ordered other Portuguese vessels to keep alert for news of our fleet. A Portuguese vessel had left Tidore only days before we arrived.
So enthralled were we with Lorosa's news that no one noticed the hours passing by. The commanders convinced the Portuguese trader to return with his family to Spain where he would be handsomely paid for his knowledge and services. Lorosa readily agree and they continued to speak until three in the morning.
In the days that followed, Espinosa kept everyone on a tight leash, not wanting relations with the natives to turn against us. As a result, the crews were better behaved since before Magellan was killed.
The next visitor to our ships was an elderly rajah named Halmabea who ruled the island of Gilolo. A great warrior in his younger days, he was very curious about our weapons and the commanders were only too happy to demonstrate them. Obviously very impressed, this rajah returned two days later with a signed peace treaty. Within the month, we had also signed treaties with the rajah of Makian and the princes of Ternate.
As always, Antonio wanted to go ashore and learn about the locals. The niño and I were almost always his traveling companions. I have received much the same reactions to the boy and his medal as I had on Cebu. The people seemed to recognize the symbols engraved on its surface and related it to a legend among these islands.
Where did he come from? His father appeared to be a European, but why did these people tell stories of this medallion? Could he have sailed across the Pacific? I held the centerpiece of the medallion, considering the possibilities when I heard a very familiar and very unwelcome voice over my shoulder.
"Well, Mendoza, what do you have there?." Carvalho! I turned quickly trying to hide the centerpiece but to no avail. The officer took the golden disk from my hands and examined it. "What a strange piece. Where did you get this from?" I remained silent, not wanting to tell the navigator anything. To my horror, he shifted his gaze from me to the niño, or more specifically, the crescent part of the medallion that hung from his neck. He took hold of its cord and pulled over the boy's head. The niño began to wail but Carvalho paid no attention. As I watched, he slipped the center bit back into place. "Well, so this is where it belongs!" He looked back to me. "Stealing from babies, Mendoza? I didn't know you were capable of such things." He clucked his tongue in disapproval.
"If you are so dismayed by it, why don't you return the medallion to its proper owner?" I nodded at the boy who was pawing at the Portuguese navigator. Carvalho looked annoyed and pushed the boy away.
"As an officer of the fleet, it is my duty to report this theft to the Captains! Unless..."
"Unless what?" I asked carefully.
Carvalho smiled unpleasantly. "Unless you give this piece to me," he stated simply.
That was enough. I wasn't about to be blackmailed by this pathetic excuse for a seaman. I strode forward and took the medallion from him. "You can do what you like. I'd rather get the lash than give this to you."
"You fool!" he snarled furiously. But the snarl turned into a racking cough.
I didn't wait around for the pilot to regain his breath and quickly picked up the niño. I left without another word or a backward glance. I returned the crescent part of the medallion to the boy but the centerpiece remains in my possession. I couldn't give it up!
To my amazement, I received neither the lash nor a reprimand for, as things turned out, Carvalho couldn't give away my secret. The very day of our confrontation, he took ill and died three days later. I was safe.
While most of the crew was willing to part with any of their few possessions for the valuable spices, the commanders waited to conduct the official trading with Almansor. Their patient paid off for is wasn't long before the Sultan visited our ships and told us that many bales of cloves had been gathered, ready to be loaded aboard our ships. Good to his word, we began loading the spices onto the Trinidad two days later while Almansor looked on.
"It is our custom to celebrate the loading of the first cloves with a feast," the Sultan said. "Would you and your crew be my guests ashore?"
"Regretfully, Your Majesty," Espinosa said, undoubtedly remembering Serrão's fate, "we must depart as soon as the cloves are loaded. We would be honored if Your Highness would visit us again before we depart."
The Sultan was shocked. "Of course I will come again but please, my friend, you must not leave us so soon!" To our surprise he seemed to be on the verge of tears. "I swear on the Holy Koran that I will always be faithful to the King of Spain! Please stay!"
He seemed so sincerely distressed that Espinosa agreed to stay another fortnight. He also presented Sultan Almansor with a royal standard and a banner bearing the royal seal to serve as symbols of his fealty to our King. Espinosa also said he would leave five of our crew behind to operate our trading post.
On December 17, we were ready to set out on the homeward journey. Each ship had been given fresh sails with a newly painted cross of Santiago and the inscription Ésta es la enseña de nuestra buenaventura.1The holds were crammed with the rich cargo of spices.
Almansor came to see us off and he was given several arquebuses, a few small cannons, and four barrels of gunpowder. As he was about to leave the Trinidad, the observant ruler noted, "It might not be wise to fire your cannons in salute when you depart our harbor. The shock may open the seams of your ships." Although we headed his warning, no one noticed that the hulls had already been weakened.
The following morning, the Victoria got underway first and waited for the Trinidad outside the harbor. As the Trinidad prepared to sail, our anchor was snagged and as we struggled to free it, the hull groaned. The seams burst below the water line and water began to seep at an alarming rate into the bilge. Puzzled by the delay, the Victoria sailed back into the harbor as we desperately unloaded the precious cargo and worked at the pumps. The Trinidad was heeled over as far as possible in an attempt to slow the leak, but the water continued to rise. Almansor learned of our troubles and sent divers to attempt to discover the source of the inflow, but even this was unsuccessful.
That night Espinosa called a counsel to determine what should be done. "It is obvious now that the Trinidad will have to undergo extensive and lengthy repairs before she is sea worthy again," he began.
"But we cannot wait," del Cano objected. "The monsoon will soon shift. If we do not leave before this, our entry into the Indian Ocean will be blocked by the northwest monsoon. It would be months before we could travel the Cape route."
They sat in silence for sometime before Espinosa spoke again. "We have no choice," he said quietly. He looked to the others. "The Victoria should set out for home by way of the Cape as soon as possible."
"But what will the Trinidad do?"
"I will not wait for the monsoon to shift again. We will recross the Pacific and attempt to land at Darien."2
The others were surprised to say the least. "You want to cross that hellish ocean again?"
"We have little choice," Espinosa countered. "The longer we remain here, the greater the risk that we will encounter the Portuguese. I believe we can make the crossing again."
"The danger is great in both routes," del Cano said thoughtfully. "I will have to sail far south in order to avoid the Portuguese shipping lanes. How can we divide the crews?"
The trio considered for a few moments. "The only fair way to divide them is by lot."
And so it was done. One by one each man came forward and chose their fate...and friends were parted. I was to stay with the Trinidad and Antonio was to sail with the Victoria.
This morning the Victoria was ready to sail, but they delayed until midday to allow those staying behind time to write letters home and say goodbye to the shipmates. We had become like brothers although we were all of different nationalities and spoke different tongues. Our sufferings and triumphs had brought us unity. Finally, the Victoria raised anchor and began to pull away. Some followed in boats for a while, but the wind filled her sails and she pulled away.
The Victoria has disappeared and the Trinidad is alone.
1 This is the sign of our good fortune.
2 Panama