Magellan Passes to the Void
After five months and 20,000 kilometers, the expedition made landfall in the present-day Philippines in March 1521. Magellan intended to claim this land for Spain. He convinced most of the natives to convert to Christianity, but one tribe refused and Magellan decided to attack. Sure of his victory because of superior weapons, he and 15 of his men took on an army of hundreds. Magellan succumbed to wounds caused by a poison dart and his small troop was slaughtered on April 27.
"The captain had his right leg pierced by a poisoned arrow... there remained hardly six or eight of us...the bombards which we had in the boats were of no assistance to us, for the shoal water kept them too far from the beach...Thus we fought for more than an hour, Until an Indian succeeded in thrusting a cane lance into the captains (Magellan) face...Then the Indians threw themselves upon him, and ran him through with lances and scimitars, and the other arms which they had, that they deprived of Life our mirror, light, comfort, and true guide."
The First Voyage Around the World by Magellan by Antonio Pigafetta and Lord Stanley Alderley, April 27, 1521.