Quotes from Laurence Bergreen

clever way of donating a portion of the expedition's profits to the Church.

Serrano attempted to head into the wind and ride out the storm, but overpowering gusts tore the sails

Estêvão Gomes, reassigned as the pilot of San Antonio, strongly dissented. Now that they had found

In 1518, the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan

and, to his astonishment, the king replied that Magellan was free to do as he

and we have known someone who had ten women; they are jealous of them, and if it happens that one of these women is unfaithful, he punishes her and beats her.

until the device failed to respond. Santiago was now out of control

the strait, he argued, they should sail back to Spain to assemble a better-equipped fleet.

persuaded Charles V of rival Spain to back the project.

And when Magellan knelt to kiss the king's hands, as custom dictated, King Manuel concealed them behind his cloak and turned his back

More troubling, the Indians practiced cannibalism and human sacrifice in the course of their battles

Officers ranked just above the sailors and specialists in the fleet's hierarchy.

the storm gathered force, and the winds pushed the helpless ship toward the rocky coast

Magellan led a fleet of five little ships and 258 sailors from a variety of nations

The humiliating rejection proved to be the making of Ferdinand Magellan.

I have found here a new world richer and greater than that of Vasco da Gama," he wrote.

and when they fight they do so very cruelly, and that side which is lord of the battlefield

One tier consisted of the steward, charged with keeping an eye on the food supply;

nightmare as razor-sharp rocks sawed into her hull, and she began taking on water.

By October 20, 1517, he had arrived in Seville

beg you to join me here, that you may sample for yourself the delights that surround me.

bury their own, but the enemy dead they cut up and eat. Those whom they capture they take home as slaves

the boatswain, or contramaestre; the boatswain's mate; and the alguacil.

Santiago washed ashore before breaking up.