In the early sixteenth century, a Portuguese noble, soldier, and sailor named Ferdinand Magellan performed what has been designated the greatest single human achievement on the sea. Magellan had spent long years in Asia and he often gazed across the wide expanse of the Pacific Ocean and asked himself a question. "How far away from here are the lands discovered by Columbus? If I sailed to the New World, could I find a passage to the Pacific Ocean and the rich Spice Islands?" Magellan hoped to find answers to his questions as well as obtain a large cargo of rare and costly spices. When the Portuguese king refused to assist him, he turned to Spain for help.
In 1519, Magellan sailed from Spain with five ships and a crew of almost three hundred sailors. He navigated the Atlantic and when he reached the New World, he followed the coast of South America until he found the straits that connected the two oceans. It took Magellan thirty-eight days to sail through the stormy straits to the Pacific Ocean, and during that difficult time one ship was wrecked and one headed back to Spain. Once in the Pacific Ocean, Magellan turned north and traveled for months without sighting land.
The voyage was filled with extreme hardship. At one point several resentful Spanish captains initiated a rebellion against their Portuguese admiral. Magellan defeated the rebels and left two of them on shore to die. Several times the ships ran low on supplies, and with little food and water, the sailors begged to turn back, but Magellan would not allow this. At one point he declared that they would continue the voyage even if they had to eat the leather rigging of the ships. Disease and starvation claimed many of the crew, but mindful of the fate of the earlier rebels, no one opposed Magellan's will.
Magellan finally reached the islands of the Pacific, but he was unfortunately killed in a skirmish with some natives. One of his ships became unseaworthy and the other was wrecked. The remaining vessel with only seventeen of the original crew members sailed west through the Indian Ocean and around the southern tip of Africa. When they limped into a Spanish port, they had been gone three years! Although Magellan did not live to see the conclusion of the voyage, he and his crew accomplished what no one had ever done before. They had circumnavigated, or sailed around, the world. Magellan would never know that he had proved what Columbus had correctly predicted, that the lands of the East could be reached by sailing west.
ในศตวรรษแรก โปรตุเกสโนเบิล ทหาร และทหารเรือชื่อเจลลันเฟอร์ดินานด์ทำอะไรได้ถูกกำหนดความสำเร็จเดียวมนุษย์มากที่สุดในทะเล เจลลันได้ใช้เวลานานปีในเอเชีย และเขามักจะจ้องในความกว้างใหญ่ไพศาลของมหาสมุทรแปซิฟิก และถามตัวเองคำถาม "วิธีไกลออกไปจากที่นี่เป็นดินแดนที่ค้นพบ โดยโคลัมบัส ถ้าฉันแล่นไปโลกใหม่ อาจจะหาทางมหาสมุทรแปซิฟิกและหมู่เกาะเครื่องเทศรวย" เจลลันหวังที่จะค้นหาคำตอบของเขา ตลอดจนรับขนส่งสินค้าขนาดใหญ่ของเครื่องเทศที่มีราคาแพง และหายาก เมื่อกษัตริย์โปรตุเกสปฏิเสธการช่วยเหลือเขา เขาหันไปสเปนเพื่อช่วยใน 1519 เจลลันแล่นจากสเปนกับห้าเรือและลูกเรือของเรือเกือบสามร้อย เขาสำรวจมหาสมุทรแอตแลนติก และเมื่อมาถึงโลกใหม่ ตามชายฝั่งของทวีปอเมริกาใต้จนกระทั่งเขาพบช่องแคบที่เชื่อมต่อสองมหาสมุทร เอาเจลลันสามสิบแปดวันแล่นผ่านช่องแคบพายุมหาสมุทรแปซิฟิก และในช่วงเวลาที่ยากหนึ่งเรือได้อับปาง และหนึ่งหัวกลับไปสเปน ครั้งเดียวในมหาสมุทรแปซิฟิก เจลลันเปิดเหนือ และเดินทางเดือนโดยไม่ต้องแตะดินThe voyage was filled with extreme hardship. At one point several resentful Spanish captains initiated a rebellion against their Portuguese admiral. Magellan defeated the rebels and left two of them on shore to die. Several times the ships ran low on supplies, and with little food and water, the sailors begged to turn back, but Magellan would not allow this. At one point he declared that they would continue the voyage even if they had to eat the leather rigging of the ships. Disease and starvation claimed many of the crew, but mindful of the fate of the earlier rebels, no one opposed Magellan's will.Magellan finally reached the islands of the Pacific, but he was unfortunately killed in a skirmish with some natives. One of his ships became unseaworthy and the other was wrecked. The remaining vessel with only seventeen of the original crew members sailed west through the Indian Ocean and around the southern tip of Africa. When they limped into a Spanish port, they had been gone three years! Although Magellan did not live to see the conclusion of the voyage, he and his crew accomplished what no one had ever done before. They had circumnavigated, or sailed around, the world. Magellan would never know that he had proved what Columbus had correctly predicted, that the lands of the East could be reached by sailing west.
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