Chapter 7

On Sunday, August 9th 1519, the assembled crews of the five naos attended Mass in the church of Santa María de la Victoria, where the voyage was formally authorised and blessed by representatives of King Carlos and Pope Leo X.

On Monday morning of August 10th 1519, with all supplies and 237 crew on board, we set sail from Sevilla. The signal to depart was a shot fired by the Captain-General’s ship, and the other ships responded by also firing shots. Then, with only the sail on the mainmast hoisted, we began to move down the river Betis, which now is called the Guadalquivir. We passed the village called San Juan de Alfarache, which previously had been an important Arab town with a bridge across the river on the road to Sevilla. Now there are only two ruined pillars of the bridge in the river, and these present dangers to ships that pass, so it is necessary to know the river well and to steer carefully between the two sunken pillars. There are other areas of danger on the river, so it is necessary to navigate the river at high tide.

We then saw a village called Coria, and after that several others on both sides of the river until finally we reached Sanlucar which contains the castle of the Duke of Medina-Sidonia, and where there is a port that leads to the ocean. Cape San Vincente lies about 10 leagues to the west of the port on the parallel 37 degrees north. From Sanlucar to Sevilla is about 17 to 20 leagues by river. We waited at Sanlucar for Magellan and the other captains to join us as they had remained in Sevilla. Duarte Barbosa confided to me that the reason for our hurried departure from Sevilla was that a few men had already abandoned their ships and Magellan feared that more would be tempted to join them if we remained in Sevilla where there were many opportunities for sailors to seek employment on naos bound for destinations that were known and frequently visited. Even in Sanlucar one man deserted while we waited for favourable winds to blow that would take us on the first stage of our voyage.

During the 40 days that we remained there, the Captain-General travelled up and down the river visiting other villages in the company of the captains of the other ships. They visited various villages to buy food and other stores that were lacking in the fleet. Every day we went ashore to attend mass in a church called Our Lady of Barrameda, and before we continued on our journey, Magellan ordered everyone to confess their sins to a priest. Again I heard whispers about how Magellan was treating everyone like a child who needed guidance by insisting that we attend mass and confess our sins.

“Sin of pride,” I overheard someone mutter. When I looked to see who it was, I was not surprised to note that the person complaining was Juan de Cartagena, captain of the San Antonio, and he was complaining to Gaspar de Quesada, captain of the Concepción where I was maestre. But I held my peace and did not speak to anyone about what I had overheard, although I could only concur silently with this opinion of Magellan’s character.

As a precaution, the entry of women to the ships was forbidden. I believed that this was a mistake on the part of Magellan because we did not know when we would make safe landfall again, and the sailors and men-at-arms would be deprived of female company perhaps for months and this would not be good for morale. The sailors and men-at-arms were confined to their ships apart from the daily visit to church and this led to boredom and gave rise to petty arguments and even some fights. If Magellan had allowed the crew to visit the local brothels or allowed women to come on board, there would have been less cause for men to engage in disputes because of being confined to their ships.