passage became, and it was so deep, that in many places they sounded without finding the bottom; they also noticed from the tide of the sea, that the flow was somewhat stronger than the ebb, and thence they conjectured that there was a passage that way into some other sea. On hearing this Magellan determined to sail along this channel. This strait, though not then known to be such, was of the breadth in some places of three, in others of two, in others of five or ten Italian miles,[1] and inclined slightly to the west. The latitude south was found to be fifty-two degrees, the longitude they estimated as the same as that of St. Julian's Bay. It being now hard upon the month of November, the length of the night was not much more than five hours; they saw no one on the shore. One night however a great number of fires was seen, especially on the left side, whence they conjectured that they had been seen by the inhabitants of those regions. But Magellan, seeing that the land was craggy, and bleak with perpetual winter, did not think it worth while to spend his time in exploring it, and so with his three ships continued his voyage along the channel, until on the twenty-second day after he had set sail, he came out into another vast and open sea: the length of the strait they reckoned at about one hundred Spanish miles. The land which they had to the right was no doubt the continent we have before mentioned [South America]. On the left hand they thought that there was no continent, but only islands,
- ↑ The measure of length known as a mile varies greatly in different countries. The geographical or nautical mile (one-sixtieth of a degree of the equator, and equal to 1.153 English statute miles) is used by mariners of all nations. The milha of Portugal is equivalent to 1.2786 English miles; the Italian miglio varies from 0.6214 to 1.3835 English miles; the legua (league) of Spain amounts to 4.2151 English miles.
