In Pigafetta’s own words

501 years ago in the Philippines, according to the notes of Magellan’s diarist

Here are direct quotes from Antonio Pigafetta, Italian nobleman and diarist of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who led an expedition of five ships, the Armada de Maluco, a fleet of four carracks and one caravel, that sailed westward from Seville in Spain toward the Moluccas, circumnavigating the world for the first time.

It was a route no European had tried before, so, on Sept. 20, 1519, from Spain—through Cape Verde on the Atlantic off the western coast of Africa, through the eastern coastline of South America, through the Antarctic, and by way of a strait that would later be named after Magellan, into the Pacific, past the Islas Infortunadas (Flint and Puka Puka) on the Central Pacific Ocean, past the Marianas on the western North Pacific, and then what Spain would soon name Las Islas Filipinas—they sailed into the unknown in search of spices.   

On March 16, 1521, Magellan and what was left of his 270-strong crew, just three ships and about 160 men, the others having succumbed in failed mutinies, to scurvy and starvation, arrived in the Philippines, spotting the island Zamal (Samar), but opting instead to drop anchor on nearby Humunu (Homonhon), which appeared uninhabited,

Three days later, on March 19, 1521, aboard a boat from Zuluan (Suluan), nine islanders, whom Pigafetta described as “ornately adorned,” especially their chief, who “went immediately to the captain-general (Magellan), giving signs of joy because of our arrival.”

First impressions last and, in the case of Pigafetta, not quite wrong. Here are a few of his impressions on his first six days, from March 16 to 22, 1521, on what would be the Philippines, in his very own Italian, as translated by James Alexander Robertson for the 33rd volume of Project Gutenberg’s The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 by Antonio Pigafetta, edited by Emma Helen Blair.

Zamal, island of hope

At dawn on Saturday, March 16, 1521, we came upon a high land at a distance, an island named Zamal. The following day, the captain-general desired to land on another island, which was uninhabited in order to be more secure, and to get water and have some rest.

A brush with ‘reasonable’ men

Five of the most ornately adorned of them remained with us, while the rest went to get some others who were fishing, and so they all came. The captain-general seeing that they were reasonable men, ordered food to be set before them, and gave them red caps, mirrors, combs, bells, ivory, bocasine, and other things. When they saw the captain’s courtesy, they presented fish, a jar of palm wine, which they call uraca , figs more than one palmo long, and others, which were smaller and more delicate, and two cocoanuts. They had nothing else then, but made us signs with their hands that they would bring umay or rice, and cocoanuts and many other articles of food within four days.

‘When they were about to retire they took their leave very gracefully and neatly, saying that they would return according to their promise.’

Pleasant and ‘conversable’ people

Those people became very familiar with us. They told us many things, their names, and those of some of the islands that could be seen from that place. Their own island was called Zuluan and it is not very large.We took great pleasure with them, for they were very pleasant and conversable.

First signs of gold

The island where we were is called Humunu; but inasmuch as we found two springs there of the clearest water, we called it Acquada da li buoni Segnialli , for there were the first signs of gold, which we found in those districts.

The many uses of coconut

There is a clear, sweet water in the middle of that marrowy substance, which is very refreshing. When that water stands for a while after having been collected, it congeals and becomes like an apple. When the natives wish to make oil, they take that cocoanut, and allow the marrowy substance and the water to putrefy. Then they boil it and it becomes oil like butter. When they wish to make vinegar, they allow only the water to putrefy, and then place it in the sun, and a vinegar results like white wine. Milk can also be made from it for we made some. We scraped that marrowy substance and then mixed the scrapings with its own water which we strained through a cloth, and so obtained milk like goat’s milk.

The men came as they had promised

At noon on Friday, March 22, those men came as they had promised us in two boats with cocoanuts, sweet oranges, a jar of palm-wine, and a cock, in order to show us that there were fowls in that district. They exhibited great signs of pleasure at seeing us. We purchased all those articles from them. Their seignior was an old man who was painted . He wore two gold earrings in his ears, and the others many gold armlets on their arms and kerchiefs about their heads.

Sophisticated weaponry

They have very black hair that falls to the waist, and use daggers, knives, and spearsornamented with gold, large shields, fascines , javelins, and fishing nets that resemble rizali (sweepnet); and their boats are like ours. I wish I had space to run the entire Philippine segment of Pigafetta’s account of the circumnavigation. But I’d need room for nearly 20,000 words on that segment alone, so for now, in commemoration of the arrival of the Spain-sponsored expedition led by Magellan on March 16, 2015, we have only highlights—and not even all of them—of the Italian chronicler’s first week in the Philippines, all of which they spent in our modern-day Homonhon, a 20-kilometer-long island in Guiuan in Eastern Samar. You may read the entire e-book like an adventure book on guternberg.org.