ure from Spain. Of the two hundred and seventy
men who had started with the fleet, only eighteen returned in the
_Victoria_. According to the ship's reckoning they had arrived
on Sunday the 7th, and for some time it was a puzzle to account
for the day thus lost.

Meanwhile the _Trinidad_, which had been left behind at the Moluccas,
had attempted to sail back to Panama, and reached as far north as
43 deg., somewhere about longitude 175 deg. W. Here provisions failed them,
and they had to return to the Moluccas, where they were seized,
practically as pirates, by a fleet of Portuguese vessels sent specially
to prevent interference by the Spaniards with the Portuguese monopoly
of the spice trade. The crew of the _Trinidad_ were seized and made
prisoners, and ultimately only four of them reached Spain again,
after many adventures. Thirteen others, who had landed at the Cape
de Verde Islands from the _Victoria_, may also be included among
the survivors of the fleet, so that a total number of thirty-five
out of two hundred and seventy sums up the number of the first
circumnavigators of the globe.

The importance of this voyage was unique when regarded from the
point of view of geographical discovery. It decisively clinched
the matter with regard to the existence of an entirely New World
independent from Asia. In particular, the backward voyage of the
_Trinidad_ (which has rarely been noticed) had shown that there
was a wide expanse of ocean north of the line and east of Asia,
whilst the previous voyage had shown the enormous extent of sea
south of the line. After the circumnavigation of the _Victoria_
it was clear to cosmographers that the world was much larger than
had been imagined by the ancients; or rather, perhaps one may say
that Asia was smaller than had been thought by the mediaeval writers.
The dogged persistence shown by Magelhaens in carrying out his
idea, which turned out to be a perfectly justifiable one, raises
him from this point of view to a greater height than Columbus,
whose month's voyage brought him exactly where he thought he would
find land according to Toscanelli's map. After Magelhaens, as will
be seen, the whole coast lines of the world were roughly known,
except for the Arctic Circle and for Australia.

[Illustration: THE WORLD ACCORDING TO PTOLEMY OF 1548.]

The Emperor was naturally delighted with the result of the voyage.
He granted Del Cano a pension, and a coat of arms commemorating
his ser