The Voyage of Magellan - The Pacific 1

As they exited the strait, they headed north along the coast of Chile, keeping a safe distance offshore. On December 19, on reaching 33 degree S, they altered course to northwest, turning away from the coastal land. On their northwesterly sail, they encountered a couple of islands, but they did not make an effort to land on the islands to replenish provisions and water, for Magellan was certain Moluccas was not far away. The food remaining in the ships' stores spoiled and the water turned putrid. Nineteen sailors died of scurvy while crossing the Pacific. The Patagonian they captured earlier also died of scurvy. The other Patagonian, who was kept separately in the San Antonio, the deserted ship, also perished in the tropics. With fair skies and steady wind astern, the ships crossed the equator on February 13, 1521, at about 160 degree W longitude. On March 6, nearly a hundred days after they had passed the strait, the sailors saw an island rising above the horizon. It was Guam.

As Magellan's ships sailed closer to investigate, a swarm of incredibly swift, small, outrigger canoes came out to meet them. The curious Guamanians, also known as Chamorros, clambered aboard, not at all intimidated by the gaunt, starving Europeans. Innocent of any notion of private property, they eagerly appropriated all the fascinating objects in the ships. When they gaily made off with a longboat from the stern of the Trinidad, Magellan was infuriated. He resolved to teach the thieving scoundrels a lesson, sending a well-armed force to the beach. The Guamanians hurled stones and spears at the Spaniards, but frightened by the sound of the Spaniards' arquebuses, they scattered. The Spaniards then burned up the houses and killed several villagers with their crossbows, which were so powerful that the crossbow bolts passed completely through one side of body to the other. With agonizing pain, the Guamanians died of the wounds. The landing spot of the Magellan's ships was known as Umatac, and in that small village the first skirmish between the Chamorros and the Spainards was believed to have taken place. For the next four hundred years, the island was controlled by Spain, then the United States after the Spanish-American War. For a brief period of time, Japan took control of the island during the World War II, where the legendary Japanese soldier, Schoichi Yokoi, survived the war and hid himself in a underground tunnel of a bamboo grove in the thickets of the jungle in Talofofo for twenty eight years. Today, a good portion of the northern part of the island is used as a U.S. airbase. Punishing the Guamanians and retrieving the stolen longboat, the landing force loaded their boats with coconuts and fruit, and filled their water casks from a stream. On March 9, the three ships weighed anchor and departed Guam. With the wind on their starboard quarter, the squadron drove westward at a brisk speed. The lush, green mountains of Guam soon sank below the horizon.

A beautiful view of modern-day Guam. The cliff in the middle is Two Lovers Point.