ed the conditions, and a hut was built on shore in
which to say Mass. Then he disembarked with his followers, and the
King, Queen, and Prince came to satisfy their natural curiosity. They
appeared to take great interest in the Christian religious rites and
received baptism, although it would be venturesome to suppose they
understood their meaning, as subsequent events proved. The princes
and headmen of the district followed their example, and swore fealty
and obedience to the King of Spain.

Maghallanes espoused the cause of his new allies, who were at war with
the tribes on the opposite coast, and on April 25, 1521, he passed
over to Magtan Island. In the affray he was mortally wounded by an
arrow, and thus ended his brief but lustrous career, which fills one
of the most brilliant pages in Spanish annals.

Maghallanes called the group of islands, so far discovered, the Saint
Lazarus Archipelago. In Spain they were usually referred to as the
Islas del Poniente, and in Portugal as the Islas del Oriente.

On the left bank of the Pasig River, facing the City of Manila, stands
a monument to Maghallanes' memory. Another has been erected on the
spot in Magtan Island, where he is supposed to have been slain on
April 27, 1521. Also in the city of Cebu, near the beach, there is
an obelisk to commemorate these heroic events.

It was perhaps well for Maghallanes to have ended his days out of
reach of his royal master. Had he returned to Spain he would probably
have met a fate similar to that which befell Columbus after all his
glories. The _San Antonio_, which, as already mentioned, deserted the
fleet at the Magellan Straits, continued her voyage from New Guinea to
Spain, arriving at San Lucar de Barrameda in March, 1521. The captain,
Alvaro Mesquita, was landed as a prisoner, accused of having seconded
Maghallanes in repressing insubordination. To Maghallanes were ascribed
the worst cruelties and infraction of the royal instructions. Accused
and accusers were alike cast into prison, and the King, unable to
lay hands on the deceased Maghallanes, sought this hero's wife and
children. These innocent victims of royal vengeance were at once
arrested and conveyed to Burgos, where the Court happened to be,
whilst the _San Antonio_ was placed under embargo.

On the decease of Maghallanes, the supreme command of the expedition in
Cebu Island was assumed by Duarte de Barbosa, who, with twenty-six of
his followers, was slain at a banqu