Page:The story of geographical discovery.djvu/120

 116 lar, the backward voyage of the Trinidad (which has rarely been noticed) had shown that there was a wide expanse of ocean north of the line and east of Asia, whilst the previous voyage had shown the enormous extent of sea south of the line. After the circumnavigation of the Victoria it was clear to cosmographers that the world was much larger than had been imagined by the ancients; or rather, perhaps one may say that Asia was smaller than had been thought by the mediæval writers. The dogged persistence shown by Magelhaens in carrying out his idea, which turned out to be a perfectly justifiable one, raises him from this point of view to a greater height than Columbus, whose month's voyage brought him exactly where he thought he would find land according to Toscanelli's map. After Magelhaens, as will be seen, the whole coast lines of the world were roughly known, except for the Arctic Circle and for Australia.

The Emperor was naturally delighted with the result of the voyage. He granted Del Cano a pension, and a coat of arms commemorating his services. The terms of the grant are very significant: or, two cinnamon sticks saltire proper, three nutmegs and twelve cloves, a chid gules, a castle or; crest, a globe, bearing the motto, "Primus circumdedisti me" (thou wert the first to go round me); supporters, two Malay kings crowned, holding in the exterior hand a spice branch proper. The castle, of course, refers to Castile, but the rest of the blazon indicates the importance attributed to the voyage as resting mainly upon the visit to the Spice Islands. As we have already seen, however, the Portuguese recovered their position in the Moluccas