Cape Verde, July 1522. Based on the first voyage around the world and the diary of Antonio Pigafetta.
The Victoria dropped anchor off the island of Santiago, in Cape Verde, leaking everywhere, her crew exhausted. Of the five ships that had sailed from Sanlúcar de Barrameda almost three years earlier, she was the only one still afloat. There was hardly any food left on board.
The islands were Portuguese, and the Portuguese must not find out where that ship had come from: her hold was full of cloves from the Moluccas, a spice worth a fortune that Portugal considered its own. So the captain, Juan Sebastián Elcano, sent a few men ashore in the ship’s boat with a made-up story: they would say they were coming from the Americas and had lost a mast crossing the equator. All they had to do was buy rice and come back.
Antonio Pigafetta, the Italian who kept the expedition’s diary, gave them one more errand: to ask what day it was. He had spent almost three years writing everything down, day after day, without skipping a single one. The pilot, Francisco Albo, also recorded every day in his logbook. The two of them agreed: on board, it was Wednesday.
The boat came back with the rice and with an answer that left everyone speechless: ashore, it was Thursday.
Pigafetta went through his diary page by page. Not a single day was missing. Albo went through his logbook. Nothing missing there either. The explanation lay in the route of the voyage itself: they had always sailed westwards, chasing the sun. And whoever chases the sun sees noon arrive a tiny bit later each day, as if their days were slightly longer than those on land. Just a few minutes each time. For almost three years. All the way round the world.
A few days later, on another trip ashore for more rice, the Portuguese uncovered the deception and arrested thirteen men from the boat. Elcano didn’t wait to see what would happen: he weighed anchor and set course for Spain with those still on board.
Activities
1 Detective Inference
Why was it Wednesday on board the Victoria and Thursday ashore? Tick the correct hypothesis.
- a) Pigafetta had skipped a day when writing his diary, and nobody on board noticed until they reached Cape Verde.
- b) The Portuguese on the island lied about the day of the week to confuse the newcomers and buy time.
- ✓c) By sailing around the world westwards, following the sun, the days on board were slightly longer and they ended up counting one fewer.
- d) Cape Verde used a different calendar from Spain’s, which is why the days of the week didn’t match those on board.
Which clue in the text explains it? Copy or summarise the clue from the text that proves it.
Correct hypothesis: c). Exactly. That’s why there was no mistake in the diaries.
Key clue: “Always sailing west, noon arrived a few minutes later each day; over almost three years and a full loop, those minutes added up to a whole day.” That’s the clue in the fifth paragraph. A few minutes a day, over a whole trip round the world heading west, add up to twenty-four hours.
2 The Loom Order of events
Put the events in the order they happened. Write the order number (1, 2, 3…) in each box.
- 5 The Portuguese arrest thirteen men from the boat.
- 2 The Victoria drops anchor off the island of Santiago.
- 4 They discover it’s Thursday ashore.
- 6 Elcano weighs anchor and heads for Spain.
- 1 Five ships sail from Sanlúcar de Barrameda.
- 3 The boat goes ashore to buy rice and ask the day.
Correct order:
- Five ships sail from Sanlúcar de Barrameda.
- The Victoria drops anchor off the island of Santiago.
- The boat goes ashore to buy rice and ask the day.
- They discover it’s Thursday ashore.
- The Portuguese arrest thirteen men from the boat.
- Elcano weighs anchor and heads for Spain.
They left Sanlúcar “almost three years earlier”. In Cape Verde, the boat goes ashore, comes back with the news that it’s Thursday and, “a few days later”, on another trip, the arrest takes place. Only then does Elcano leave.
3 The Missing Page Coherence
Which continuation fits everything we know? Tick only one option.
- ✓a) The Victoria reaches Spain with fewer men than she had when she anchored in Cape Verde, and there they confirm that Pigafetta’s diary is still a day behind.
- b) Elcano waits in Cape Verde until the Portuguese free the thirteen men, and the Victoria returns to Spain with her whole crew on board.
- c) When they reach Spain, Pigafetta’s diary already matches the date on land, because the mismatch has corrected itself over the last few weeks.
- d) To get food, Elcano sells some of the Moluccan cloves to the Portuguese merchants on Santiago and fills the hold with rice.
Answer: a). It fits: thirteen men were left under arrest in Cape Verde, and the lost day doesn’t vanish by itself: the diary is still out of step.
- b) Elcano didn’t wait: he weighed anchor as soon as he heard about the arrest.
- c) The mismatch came from sailing round the world westwards. A one-day difference doesn’t disappear by sailing a few more weeks.
- d) The whole point was that the Portuguese mustn’t find out they were carrying cloves from the Moluccas.
4 Spot the Contradiction Literal reading
Three statements don’t fit the story. Put an X next to the 3 statements that don’t fit the text.
- a) The Victoria was the only one of the five ships still afloat.That’s what the first paragraph says.
- ✗b) The men in the boat said ashore that they had come from the Moluccas.They said they had come from the Americas, to hide the cloves.
- c) Pigafetta had spent almost three years writing everything down, day after day.Without skipping a single one, according to the third paragraph.
- ✗d) Ashore, they were told it was Tuesday.They were told it was Thursday; on board it was Wednesday.
- e) Francisco Albo was the pilot and also recorded every day.The third paragraph says so.
- ✗f) After the arrest, Elcano waited on the island for his men to be released.He weighed anchor and set course for Spain with those who were left.
5 The Gallery Visualisation
In the game you choose the illustration that answers this question: “Which illustration shows the Victoria anchored off Santiago while the boat heads ashore?”. Here, you draw it yourself, with every detail the text gives you.
What should appear: A single ship, a July day off the island, and the boat heading ashore with a few men.
Reward drawings that include the details from the text, not artistic skill.
Ending
To read aloud once the answers have been checked.
On 6 September 1522, the Victoria sailed into Sanlúcar de Barrameda. Eighteen men came back. They had completed the first voyage around the world in history.
In Spain, they confirmed what they already knew in Cape Verde: Pigafetta’s diary was exactly one day behind. It wasn’t a mistake. By always sailing west, chasing the sun, each day on board had lasted a little longer than on land. When they closed the loop around the world, those minutes added up to twenty-four hours: a whole day the crew never lived.
Today that mismatch is solved by the International Date Line, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean: whoever crosses it heading west skips a day on the calendar, and whoever crosses it heading east repeats one. The Victoria was the first to discover it, without looking for it, over a handful of rice.
Suggested marking
Each activity is worth 2 points (10 in total). In 1, one point for the hypothesis and one for the clue. In 2, give one point if only a couple of events are swapped. In 4, half a point for each correct cross and minus half a point for each true statement crossed out.