Page:The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 01).djvu/322

 the meanwhile something new would turn up, whereby the Castilians might be completely put out of the way of looking for spices: nor indeed was the direction of the voyage really towards the fertile Molucca islands, but towards snow and ice and everlasting bad weather. Magellan was exceedingly irritated by these conversations, and punished some of the men, but with somewhat more severity than was becoming to a foreigner, especially to one holding command in a distant part of the world. So they mutinied and took possession of one of the ships, and began to make preparations to return to Spain, but Magellan, with the rest of his men who had remained faithful to him, boarded that ship, and executed the ringleader and other leading mutineers, even some who could not legally be so treated: for they were royal officials, who were only liable to capital punishment by the emperor and his council. However under the circumstances no one ventured to resist. Yet there were some, who whispered to one another, that Magellan would go on exercising the same severity amongst the Castilians, as long as one was left, until having got rid of everyone of them, he could sail home to his own country again with the few Portuguese he had with him. The Castilians therefore remained still more hostile to the admiral. As soon as Magellan observed that the weather was less stormy and that winter began to break up, he sailed out of St. Julian's Bay on the twenty-fourth of August, 1520, as before. For some days he coasted along to the southward and at last sighted a cape, which they called Cape Santa Cruz. Here a storm from the east caught them, and one of the five ships was driven on shore and wrecked, but the crew and all goods on board were saved,