Great documentary on bbc4 last night all about Magellan who most people think was the first seaman to circumnavigate the globe. Unfortunately he was not as he died in the Philippines, where he is rembered for bringing Christianity to them. The one sailor who is recorded as circumnavigation of the globe, is one of the Spanish captain of the Victoria, a person called Elcano. He reached the spice islands and his ship was the only one to return to Spain with its cargo of cloves. His crew were all suffering from scurvy which could have been prevented had they known that cloves can prevent scurvy. Despite the cargo being worth a fortune the crew received no money as the Spanish government took all the proceeds of the sale of the cargo as payment for funding Magellan's expedition. Magellan first thought he had discovered the westward route to the spice islands around south America but had in fact sailed up the river plate. Undeterred he carried on south, over wintering among the islands at the southern tip of south America before eventually discovering the passage to the Pacific ocean.
Rgds
J.A.