Elcano and the First Circumnavigation of the World Book 2
Copyright© 2026 by Mark West
Chapter 6
As we had been informed that the fleet was almost ready to depart, we were ordered by Magellan to make our wills and other provision for our families in case we did not survive the voyage. This was a common feature of such voyages as so many men did not return to their families after setting sail for the New World. So, on August 1st 1519, I and two other Basques from the crew of the Concepción, Juan de Acurio, the contramaestre, and Domingo de Yarza, the carpenter, each granted powers of attorney in the Plaza de San Francisco in Sevilla before the notary Gómez Álvarez de Aguilera and two witnesses: Sancho de Heredia, notary of the Concepción, and Martín Ruiz de Iturbe, a resident of Bergara in Gipuzkoa. I stated that as I was now going to discover the Spice Islands, I granted powers to Juan de Acurio, Domingo de Yarza, my brothers Sebastián and Domingo de Elcano, and Francisco de Santacruz, a merchant and resident of Sevilla, all of them jointly and each of them individually, so that, for me and in my name, they may demand, collect, receive, and have and be paid, both in court and out of court, from all and any persons who are, and who have the right to, and from their property, neighbors and residents of this said city of Sevilla as well as from other parts and places, all maravedis and ducats and other things of any kind that are owed to me, as well as from the salary that the king, our lord, commands to give me for my departure and return to explore the Spice Islands, as well as from public contracts, appraisals, accounts, and freight, as well as from the merchandise that I have loaded on the ship.
Magellan knew how long it took for Portuguese ships to reach the Spice Islands by sailing around the tip of Africa and then across to India. From there, the route was well-known to their final destination where the ships loaded with spices. However, such a voyage lasted for at least a year each way, so the five ships of the fleet had been loaded with provisions that were intended to be sufficient for a voyage of two years. The main food was hard tack – a kind of dried double baked biscuit – and wine. However, the storekeepers went to the Triana market just before we sailed and bought a supply of cheese, nuts, beans, rice, lentils, honey, jams and jellies, dried figs and other fruits, a variety of salted meat and fish, vegetables and fresh meat, and even included live animals such as chickens, sheep, goats, pigs, and a few cows to provide milk and later to be slaughtered for their meat. These animals were kept on the decks, which is also where the crew slept and stored their belongings. The other stores of food were kept under lock in a store room and only the storekeeper had access to it. The storekeeper belonged to the lower officer rank, along with the contramaestre and the administrator, who was also responsible for legal opinions. The storekeeper was responsible for the food and water supplies and was the only one with keys to the hatch where these supplies were guarded and protected from the elements. Everything related to food control was of great importance to the expedition and was outlined in instructions which the king gave Magellan on May 8, 1519. One instruction stated that the storekeeper was responsible for keeping records of food and distributing it fairly. Another specified that rations should be distributed every two days: hard tack biscuits by weight and wine by measure. The king also ordered that Magellan and the other officers should visit the stores regularly to prevent food loss due to lack of control. It was also specified that the crew should not eat together, as was typical on voyages from Spain to the New World, but should do so in groups of friends or fellow countrymen, as they normally do on ships sailing from Portugal to India. This command was somewhat irksome as it did not follow the normal pattern of how meals were eaten on Spanish ships sailing to the New World. In fact, it was rumoured that this order from the king had been suggested by Magellan as being more suitable for strengthening bonds of friendship among the crew. However, in my opinion, it simply allowed crew members an opportunity to grumble and to voice their complaints to sympathetic ears, especially if the group spoke a language that was not familiar or understood by others. If a group of Basque sailors on any of the naos were unhappy they could speak in Euskara and the senior officers on those ships would not be able to understand them. It was also an early example of Magellan making a decision that affected everyone without consulting with his senior officers.
The decks of the ships were crammed with crates, bulkheads, ropes, crew chests, stoves, winches, rigging, live animals and a thousand other things which made the sailors live in overcrowded conditions. Each crew member had an average of 1.5 square metres of space. Therefore, it is not surprising that arguments and verbal fights were frequent, so the maestre and the contramaestre had to keep a watchful eye to make sure that grumbles did not lead to outright violence. The sailors worked, ate, fell ill, and died on deck, in the open air, in a state of discomfort and complete lack of privacy. Some protection was provided by the covered spaces at the bow and stern. The most basic toilet needs were carried out in full view of everyone. They took turns sleeping on deck, as hammocks had not yet been introduced aboard ships. And in the open air, they suffered the heat of the equator, the torrential rains of the tropics, the cold of the south, and terrible storms. If they were lucky or strong enough, they were able to sleep under the upturned longboat which each ship carried to ferry men and goods between ship and shore. This longboat could accommodate 20 men so, when it was upturned on deck, it provided some measure of comfort and privacy to those fortunate enough to be granted access to it. The crew members cooked in shifts or paid cabin boys to cook for them. They ate in groups, based on friendships or fellow countrymen, gathered on the deck in spaces defined by their chests or coffers. The senior officers ate separately and had higher-quality food. Fresh foods, such as vegetables and fruits, were consumed in the first few days, albeit in small quantities, but after this time, they disappeared from the diet for weeks. If the voyage was excessively long, the first symptoms of scurvy began to appear.