rican coast, fitted out ships to be manned by the roughest class
of gold-hunters: so great were the abuses of this common licence that
it was withdrawn by Royal Decree of June 2, 1497.

It was the age of chivalry, and the restless cavalier who had won
his spurs in Europe lent a listening ear to the accounts of romantic
glory and wealth attained across the seas. That an immense ocean washed
the western shores of the great American continent was an established
fact. That there was a passage connecting the great Southern sea--the
Atlantic--with that vast ocean was an accepted hypothesis. Many had
sought the passage in vain; the honour of its discovery was reserved
for Hernando de Maghallanes (Portuguese, Fernao da Magalhaes).

This celebrated man was a Portuguese noble who had received the most
complete education in the palace of King John II. Having studied
mathematics and navigation, at an early age he joined the Portuguese
fleet which left for India in 1505 under the command of Almeida. He
was present at the siege of Malacca under the famous Albuquerque, and
accompanied another expedition to the rich Moluccas, or Spice Islands,
when the Islands of Banda, Tidor, and Ternate were discovered. It
was here he obtained the information which led him to contemplate
the voyage which he subsequently realized.

On his return to Portugal he searched the Crown Archives to see
if the Moluccas were situated within the demarcation accorded to
Spain. [14] In the meantime he repaired to the wars in Africa, where
he was wounded in the knee, with the result that he became permanently
lame. He consequently retired to Portugal, and his companions in arms,
jealous of his prowess, took advantage of his affliction to assail him
with vile imputations. The King Emmanuel encouraged the complaints,
and accused him of feigning a malady of which he was completely
cured. Wounded to the quick by such an assertion, and convinced of
having lost the royal favour, Maghallanes renounced for ever, by a
formal and public instrument, his duties and rights as a Portuguese
subject, and henceforth became a naturalized Spaniard. He then
presented himself at the Spanish Court, at that time in Valladolid,
where he was well received by the King Charles I., the Bishop of
Burgos, Juan Rodriguez Fonseca, Minister of Indian Affairs, and by
the King's chancellor. They listened attentively to his narration,
and he had the good fortune to secure the personal protection of