way out, but that the further they went the narrower
the passage became, and it was so deep, that in many
places they sounded without finding the bottom; they
also noticed from the tide of the sea, that the flow
was somewhat stronger than the ebb, and thence they
conjectured that there was a passage that way into
some other sea. On hearing this Magellan determined
to sail along this channel. This strait, though
not then known to be such, was of the breadth in some
places of three, in others of two, in others of five
or ten Italian miles, [226] and inclined slightly
to the west. The latitude south was found to
be fifty-two degrees, the longitude they estimated
as the same as that of St. Julian’s Bay.
It being now hard upon the month of November, the
length of the night was not much more than five hours;
they saw no one on the shore. One night however
a great number of fires was seen, especially on the
left side, whence they conjectured that they had been
seen by the inhabitants of those regions. But
Magellan, seeing that the land was craggy, and bleak
with perpetual winter, did not think it worth while
to spend his time in exploring it, and so with his
three ships continued, his voyage along the channel,
until on the twenty-second day after he had set sail,
he came out into another vast and open sea: the
length of the strait they reckoned at about one hundred
Spanish miles. The land which they had to the
right was no doubt the continent we have before mentioned
[South America]. On the left hand they thought
that there was no continent, but only islands, as
they occasionally heard on that side the reverberation
and roar of the sea at a more distant part of the coast.
Magellan saw that the main land extended due north,
and therefore gave orders to turn away from that great
continent, leaving it on the right hand, and to sail
over that vast and extensive ocean, which had probably
never been traversed by our ships or by those of any
other nation, in a northwesterly direction, so that
they might arrive at last at the Eastern Ocean, coming
at it from the west, and again enter the torrid zone,
for he was satisfied that the Moluccas were in the
extreme east, and could not be far off the equator.
They continued in this course, never deviating from
it, except when compelled to do so now and then by
the force of the wind; and when they had sailed on
this course for forty days across the ocean with a
strong wind, mostly favourable, and had seen nothing
all around them but sea, and had now almost reached
again the Tropic of Capricorn, they came in sight of
two islands, [227] small and barren, and on directing
their course to them found that they were uninhabited;
but they stayed there two days for repose and refreshment,
as plenty of fish was to be caught there. However
they unanimously agreed to call these islands the
Unfortunate Islands. Then they set sail again,
and continued on the same course as before. After
sailing for three months and twenty days with good