As the fleet sailed on, it ran into violent thunderstorms. T-
hese created a strange effect, known to sailors as St. Elmoˇ¦s
Fire. Masts glowed and flicked with a ghostly light. This is
caused by electricity in the atmosphere, but in those days sai-
lors knew nothing of electricity and they believed the light
meant that St. Elmo, patron saint of seamen, was protecting t-
hem.
Then they drifted into the doldrums, a region of almost wi-
ndless calm near the equator. For over three weeks Magellanˇ¦s
ships lay becalmed, while the sun blazed down. Tar melted in
the timbers, causing the ships to spring leaks. Water and wine
casks burst and food went rotten.
Thankfully, ocean currents slowly carried the ships across
the doldrums, until at last they began to pick up the brisk no-
rth-east trade winds. The shipsˇ¦ sails filled again, and they
were back on course, heading for the American continent.