some, the gums grew quite over their teeth on both sides; so that they
were unable to chew the tough leathern viands which formed their only
food, and they were miserably starved to death. Their only comfort under
this dreadful state of famine was, that the winds blew them steadily and
gently along, while the sea remained calm and almost unruffled, whence
it got the name of Pacific, which it has ever since retained.

In all this length of time, they only saw two uninhabited islands, which
shewed no signs of affording them any relief Sometimes the needle varied
extremely, and at other times was so irregular in its motions, as to
require frequent touches of the loadstone to revive its energy. No
remarkable star was found near the south pole, by which to ascertain the
southern ordinal point, or to estimate the latitude. Instead of an
antarctic polar star, two clusters of small stars were observed, having
a small space between them, in which were two stars of inconsiderable
size and lustre, which seemed to be at no great distance from the pole,
by the smallness of the circle they described in their diurnal course.
When at the distance of 20 deg. from the south pole, they saw a high island
to which they gave the name of _Cipangue_; and at 15 deg. another equally
high, which they named _Sinnodit_.[4] They sailed in one gulf; or
stretch of sea, at least 4000 leagues, and made their longitude, by
estimation or reckoning, 120 deg. W. from the place of their original
departure. By this time they drew near the equinoctial line, and having
got beyond that into 13 deg. N. latitude, they made for the cape called
_Cottigare_ by old geographers; but missing it in that old account of
its latitude, they understood afterwards that it is in the latitude of
12 deg. N.[5]

[Footnote 4: The text is evidently here erroneous, as Magellan entered
the Pacific Ocean in lat. 47 deg. S. and there is not the smallest reason to
suspect he had been forced into the latitudes of 70 deg. and 75 deg. S. Instead
therefore of the south pole, we ought probably to understand the
equator. As these two islands were uninhabited, the names given them
must have been imposed by Magellan or his associates. Cipangue is the
name given to Japan by Marco Polo, and is of course a singular blunder.
The other is unintelligible, and the voyage is so vaguely expressed, as
even to defy conjecture.--E.]

[Footnote 5: This cape Cottigare in the South Sea, in lat. 12 deg. or 1