Note 476 — PRIMO VIAGGIO INTORNO AL MONDO (continued 4)

Francisco Serrão, brother of João Serrão, was Magalhães’s most intimate friend, and they had been close companions in the stirring years of early Portuguese operations in far eastern waters. In 1509, Serrão sailed on the fleet sent by Almeida to reconnoiter Malacca. Having been sent ashore with a large force, he was attacked by the Malays and only the prompt assistance headed by Magalhães saved him. In January, 1510, while returning from the expedition, he suffered shipwreck. In 1511 he was sent as captain of one of three ships under Antonio d’ Abreu to the Moluccas for purposes of exploration and trade, but the expedition failed to reach the islands, going only as far as the islands of Banda. On this expedition, Serrão’s ship was abandoned as unseaworthy, and the junk bought in its stead was wrecked on an island. Here pirates landing, Serrão and his men took possession of their boats and thus reached Amboina in safety. The opportunity offering, Serrão went to Ternate, where he espoused the cause of that king against the king of Tidore, by the latter of whom he was finally poisoned about the time of Magalhães’s death. A number of letters passed between Magalhães and Serrão, during the years spent by the latter in Ternate, and Magalhães made use of them to persuade Cárlos I to undertake the expedition. See Guillemard’s Magellan.