Quotes from Laurence Bergreen

Mendoza returned to Victoria, where he and the other captains resumed plotting against Magellan

The gallows that Magellan had erected still cast a shadow over a hill

Preparations for the voyage continued, but the flag incident served as a warning to Magellan that his men

mass, only Magellan's cousin, Álvaro de Mesquita, the recently appointed captain of San Antonio, came aboard Trinidad

they are suspected of dismembering and devouring the body of Amelia Earhart

especially the Spaniards, posed a danger as great as the sea itself.

Magellan realized that the empty chairs made for an ominous sign.

The giant crabs, despite their horrifying appearance, became an essential source of food for the sailors.

Magellan capitalized on a piece of luck. The longboat belonging to Concepción's captain, Gaspar de Quesada

On April 6, 1519, the king sent orders to another officer, Juan de Cartagena

lost its way in the strong current while ferrying conspiratorial messages between the rebel ships

A single specimen "was sufficient to satisfy four hungry men at a dinner

orders that became the most controversial aspect of the entire expedition—to serve as the inspector general of the fleet

dismay of the men aboard, found itself drifting helplessly toward the flagship and Magellan himself

being a very good and restorative meat," said Fletcher, who compared its taste and texture to lobster.

Prince Henry offered a bold reply, "You cannot find a peril so great that the hope of reward will not be greater.

under the command of the two Portuguese commanders.

one individual they did not want to encounter at that moment.

The giant coconut crab (Birgus latro) is the largest land-based arthropod:

In pursuit of his goal, he attracted navigators, shipwrights, astronomers, pilots, cosmographers, and cartographers

equipped with crew, food, and artillery, to wit that the said ships are to go supplied for two years

Yet his salary was considerably more than Magellan's, the highest of any in the fleet:

Sailing into these shallow, sediment-rich waters, Magellan thought he might have been entering the waterway leading

The fleet would be called the Armada de Molucca, after the Indonesian name for the Spice Islands. The ships were mostly black—pitch black.