Ferdinand Magellan was tough and stocky, stubborn and brave-just the sort of man fitted for life at sea five hundred years ago. He was born about the year 1480, and as a boy was sent to the court of the King and Queen of Portugal to become a page. He was taught music and dancing, but because King John of Portugal was interested in the sea, young Magellan and the other boys at court also had lessons in geography and navigation. He was excited, too, by the tale of daring Portuguese seamen, who sailed the Atlantic southward across the equator and round the southern end of Africa (soon to be named the Cape of Good Hope), so opening the way to new trade routes to the East. Magellan was nineteen when, in 1499, Vasco da Gama sailed b- ack into Lisbon harbour with a cargo of silks, pearls, opium and spices from India. By taking the route round Africa and across the Indian Ocean, he had also just completed the longest sea voyage up to that time. Magellan longed to go to sea himself, but luck, for the moment, was against him. King John was murdered, and was succeeded by his brother-in-law, Duke Manuel. The new king showed much less interest in sea exploration. He also seems to have disliked Ma- gellan. For six years King Manuel refused or ignored all young Magellan's pleas to be allowed to leave the court and become a sailor.