Antonio Pigafetta

“ To take tare means to take spice for less than what it weighs, and the reason of this is because when they are fresh, every day they diminish in weight. As these were the first cloves which we took on board, and the principal object of our voyage, we fired our bombards for joy. Cloves are called Gomode in this place; in Sarangani where we took the two pilots they are called Bonglavan, and in Malacca Chianche. [240]
Tuesday the 26th November the King came to tell us that for us he had done what a King never does here, that was to leave his own island ”

“ He is very rich in gold, and inhabits the interior of the island. There grow here among the rocks bamboos as thick as a man's leg, full of water, which is very good to drink. We purchased many of them.
On Saturday the Moorish King of Giailolo came to the ships with many prahus, and we made him a present of a green damask robe, two ells of red cloth, some looking-glasses, scissors, knives, combs, and two gilt goblets, which things pleased him very much, and he said to us that, as we were friends of the King of Tadore, we were also his friends, since he loved that king like one of his own sons. ”

“ It sometimes grows by sowing, and sometimes spontaneously; but that which is sown is the more valuable. Its grass is like that of the saffron, and its root is almost the same too, and that is ginger. Our men were kindly treated by the chiefs in turn, and they, too, submitted freely to the rule of Cæsar, like the King of Thidori. But the Spaniards, who had but two ships, resolved to bring some of each (spice) home, but to load the ships with cloves, because the crop of that was most abundant that year, and our ships could contain a greater quantity of this kind of spice. ”

“ During the night, Gaspar de Quesada and Juan de Cartagena with about thirty armed men of the ship ‘Concepcion’ went to the ‘San Antonio,’ where Quesada requested that the captain, Alvaro de la Mezquita, be surrendered to him, and told the crew of the ship to seize it, as they had already done with the ‘Concepcion’ and ‘Victoria.’ [He said] that they already knew how Magallanes had treated and was treating them, because they had asked him to fulfil the king’s orders; that they were lost men ”

“ On the contrary, there is an increase to be observed in families where the husband is a Moro and the wife a pagan, who come in order to beg the religious to baptize their son and make him a Christian; for they do not at all object to each one living according to the belief that he likes best. For all the Moros who live in these islands have been Moros for but few years back. Many of them, such as those of Luçon, have nothing except the name, and the fact that they do not eat pork ”

“ The king of the Gentiles is as powerful as the king of the Moors, but he is not so proud; and it seems that it would not be so difficult to introduce the Christian religion into his country.⁠ [343]
As we could not get back our men, we retained on board sixteen of the chiefs, and three ladies whom we had taken on board the junks, to take them to Spain. We had destined the ladies for the Queen; but Juan Carvalho kept them for himself.
The Moors of Burné go naked like the other islanders. They esteem quicksilver very much, and swallow it. ”

“ There is no robbery among them, and no murder. No one but his wives and children may speak to the king, except by means of canes, which they place to his ear from a distance, and whisper what they wish through them. They say that man, after his death, has no feeling, as he had none before his birth. They have small houses, built of logs and of earth, partly roofed with rubble, and partly with palm leaves. [Ædes habent exiles ex lignis & terra constructas, partim rudere, partim palmatis frondibus coopertas.] It is, though, quite certain that in Porne there are twenty thousand houses. ”

“ For no citizen would have dared to leave his wife and children in order to rejoin his company or the guardhouse and arsenal to which he belonged, without first having secured his house by killing the Chinese. They on their part being in so great number, and being so fearful and apprehensive of us, and thinking that we wished to kill them, could not have done otherwise than to cause a great insurrection, and endangered the majority of the Spaniards ”

“ Friday, the 26th of April, Zula, who was one of the principal men or chiefs of the island of Matan, sent to the captain a son of his with two goats to make a present of them, and to say that if he did not do all that he had promised, the cause of that was another chief named Silapulapu, who would not in any way obey the King of Spain, and had prevented him from doing so: but that if the captain would send him the following night one boat full of men to give him assistance, he would fight and subdue his rival. ”

“ Many islands and villages are devastated and almost wiped out, partly by the Spaniards or because of them, and partly by famines of which, or at the beginning of them, the Spaniards were the reason; for either by fear or to get rid of the Spaniards the natives neglected their sowing, and when they wished to sow then anguish came upon them, and consequently, many people have died of hunger.
Many injuries have been and are still practiced on the Indians by the Spaniards or by their encomenderos themselves. Even murders have been committed ”

“ This is false, for on the contrary, it is impossible to find support in this manner, for everything is being destroyed [by this manner of acting] ; and the natives are becoming so exhausted because they are not left for an instant. However, they all desire peace in an extraordinary manner and to live under the protection of your Majesty and to pay the tribute. They would give the sum asked of them, if they thought that no evil was to be done them. But today they are made friends and on the morrow they are robbed. Many of them have been killed and many villages burned. ”

“ There then appeared on the beach Juan Serrano, in his shirt, wounded and bound, who entreated us, as loudly as he could, not to fire any more, or else he would be massacred. We asked him what had become of his companions and the interpreter, and he said that all had been slain except the interpreter. He then entreated us to ransom him with some merchandise; but Juan Carvalho, although he was his gossip, joined with some others, refused to do it, and they would not allow any boat to go ashore, so that they might remain masters of the ships. ”

“ Having been sent ashore with a large force, he was attacked by the Malays and only the prompt assistance headed by Magalhães saved him. In January, 1510, while returning from the expedition, he suffered shipwreck. In 1511 he was sent as captain of one of three ships under Antonio d’ Abreu to the Moluccas for purposes of exploration and trade, but the expedition failed to reach the islands, going only as far as the islands of Banda. On this expedition, Serrão’s ship was abandoned as unseaworthy, and the junk bought in its stead was wrecked on an island. ”

“ And to omit nothing, our men constantly affirm that the islanders of Porne told them that the king wore in his crown two pearls of the size of a goose's egg. Hence they went to the island of Gilo, where they saw men with ears so long and pendulous, that they reached to their shoulders. When our men were mightily astonished at this, they learnt from the natives that there was another island not far off where the men had ears not only pendulous, but so long and broad, that one of them would cover the whole head, if they wanted it (cum ex usu esset) . ”

“ More than five hundred Indians came to make peace, among them an uncle of the king who acted as his master-of-camp. At that juncture it was the Lord’s will that all the men of our camp commenced to fall sick so that there was almost no man in the camp who could perform sentinel duty, and many died. It was thought to be caused by an herb which the natives put into the food or which they had thrown into the water. The governor was, therefore, forced to abandon the settlement and return to Manila. The Moro king returned to his city and rebuilt his mosque and fort. ”

“ In this island the black man [104] ran away. Thence they sailed to make the land of Camafo, and as soon as they sighted it they had calms, and the currents carried them away from the land; and afterwards they had a little wind, and they made for the land, but could not fetch it; they then went to anchor between the islands of Domi and Batechina, and while at anchor, a parao passed by them with some men who belonged to the King of an island named Geilôlo, [105] and they gave them news that the Portuguese were in Maluco making a fortress. ”

“ It is considered as an occasion for just war by the War Council and a village may be destroyed and all those captured may be enslaved, if any Spaniard has been killed in the village; although the occasions that the dead man might have given or the wrongs that he might have committed are not considered, as is neither the fact that those natives do not understand or have anyone whom they can ask to avenge them unless it be God and their justice. They formerly had no king or ruler from whom to ask satisfaction. ”

“ The junks had sailed to Bachian to load cloves, with seven Portuguese on board. These men, who did not respect the wives of the inhabitants, nor even those of the king, notwithstanding the warning they had received from the king himself, were all killed. The men of the caravel, on hearing of this, returned in haste to Malacca, abandoning the junks with four hundred bahars of cloves and as much merchandise as would have purchased another hundred bahars. He also related that every year many junks go from Malacca to Bandan to buy mace and nutmeg, and go thence to Maluco to purchase cloves. ”

“ But the King of Tadore never forgave Serrano in his heart; and he having come several years later to Tadore to traffic in cloves, the king had him poisoned with some betel leaves, so that he survived hardly four days. The King of Tarenate wished to have him buried according to their own usage, but three Christian servants that Serrano had with him did not consent to it. In dying he left a little son and a little girl that he had of a lady he had taken in Java major, and two hundred bahars of cloves. ”

“ However, they are so evilly inclined a race in respect to this that when occasion offers they do not keep faith with their friend. Since the coming of the Spaniards to this land there has been another kind of slaves who have sold themselves very cheaply in times of famine in order to live during the famine—the father to his son, the brother to his brother, the uncle to his nephew, and others likewise—in which he who bought showed charity to the one purchased. Such slaves were never sold unless by such an one who could not live through his own efforts. ”

“ If he had detained him, the King Siripada would have given anything to get him back, that captain being exceedingly dreaded by the Gentiles who are most hostile to the Moorish king.
And, with respect to that, it is well to know and understand that in that same port where we were, beyond the city of the Moors of which I have spoken, there is another inhabited by Gentiles, larger than this one, and also built in the salt water. So great is the enmity between the two nations that every day there occurs strife. ”

“ Then, seeing that the strait was prolonged and offered an outlet to the ships, they returned with the good news to Magellan, who was waiting for them, and on seeing him, they fired off all their artillery and shouted for joy. The fleet then sailed together as far as the third bay, and as they found two channels, Magellan despatched the two vessels, S. Antonio and Conception, to examine whether the channel, which took the S.W. direction, would issue into the Pacific sea. ”

“ It is a fact that entrance must be made in your royal name, and by force of arms. We are not well equipped, and consequently, it is necessary that the aid that we are now sending to ask from Nueva España be sent with promptness. In the matter of the ginger it is already clear to your Majesty, that I brought it and that Don Francisco did not treat in my favor as he ought to have done, and that I was notably injured in this, and that the three hundred pesos de minas in acquittances have not been collected because of the difficulty in doing so. ”

“ From this island they took a man, whom they carried away with them, and they navigated further on, tacking about with contrary winds, until they reached forty-two degrees North latitude.
When they were in this neighbourhood, they were short of bread, wine, meat, and oil; they had nothing to eat only water and rice, without other provisions; and the cold was great, and they had not sufficient covering, the crews began to die, and seeing themselves in this state, they decided on putting back in the direction of Maluco, which they at once carried into effect. ”

“ He spent the years 1501–1516 in the Orient, the result of that stay being his Livro emque dà relação do que viu e ouviu no Oriente, which was first published at Lisbon in 1813 in vol. vii of Collecçao de noticias para a historia et geographia das nações ultramarinas, and its translation by Stanley, A description of the coasts of East Africa and Malabar (Hakluyt Society publications, London, 1866) . He became a clerk in the Portuguese factory at Cananor under his uncle Gil Fernandez Barbosa, and became so expert in the Malabar language that he was said to speak it even better than the natives. ”