the world, in the composition of which the skill and
knowledge of all her pilots and captains were sought.

Curiously enough, as it may appear, there is an open sea where the
Australian continent should be marked on this official map.

Are we to infer that no land had been sighted in that region?

Such a conclusion may be correct, but we must bear in mind that prior to
the year 1529, when this map was made,* the Spaniards had sailed along
250 leagues of the northern shores of an island which they called the
_Island of Gold_, afterwards named New Guinea, and yet there are no signs
of that discovery to be found on the Spanish official map. It is evident,
therefore, that this part of the world could not have been charted up to
date. This is not extraordinary, for it was not uncommon in those days,
nor was it deemed strange that many years should elapse before the
results of an expedition could be known at head-quarters. In order to
realise the nature of the delays and difficulties to be encountered, nay,
the disasters and sufferings to be endured and the determination required
for the distant voyages of the period, we have but to recall the fate of
Magellan's and Loaysa's expeditions.

[* See the Ribero Map.]

Those navigators were sent out in search of a western passage to the
Spice Islands, and with the object of determining their situation.

Of the five vessels which composed Magellan's squadron, one alone, the
_Victoria_, performed the voyage round the world.

The _S. Antonio_ deserted in the Straits which received Magellan's name,
seventy odd of the crew returning to Spain with her.

The _Santiago_ was lost on the coast of Patagonia.

The _Concepcion_, becoming unfit for navigation, was abandoned and burnt
off the island of Bohol, in the St. Lazarus Group, afterwards called the
Philippines.

The _Trinidad_ was lost in a heavy squall in Ternate Roads, and all hands
made prisoners by the Portuguese. Many of them died, and, years after,
only four of the survivors reached their native shores.

The _Victoria_, after an absence of three years all but twelve days,
returned to Spain with thirty-one survivors out of a total crew of two
hundred and eighty. The remaining one hundred and sixty or seventy had
perished. It is true that some of those shared the fate of Magellan, and
were killed in the war undertaken in the Philippines to help their
allies.

The fate of Loaysa's armada was still more disastrous. A short