The expedition arrived off the coast of South America early
in December 1519. This is summertime in countries south of the
equator. They anchored in the bay of what is now Rio de Janeiro,
near the beautiful Sugar Loaf Mountain. The crews carried out
repairs, took aboard fresh food and water, and made friends w-
ith the local Indians. Magellan always made friendly approaches
towards the people of the countries he visited -unlike most e-
xplorers of the time, who were bent only on conquest and posse-
ssion.
He was also full of hope, when they got under way again, on
Christmas day. Although most of South America was still unknown,
geographers estimated that the continent was about the same size
and shape as Africa, and that it occupied about the same positi-
on north and south of the equator. If this were so, then Magell-
an was well on the way to finding a passage round the southern
end of South America.
Geographers also believed that another large land mass existed
even further south, which they called Terra Australis Incognita
(the Unknown Southern Land) and Magellan Hoped to find it.
In January 1520, sailing southward, the fleet reached a po-
int where the coast did indeed swing round to the west as far as
the eye could see - just as John of Lisbon had described it. T-
his, thought Magellan, must be ��El Paso��. He dispatched the S-
antiago the follow the coast round, while he sailed on with the
others, sure also that he would soon locate Terra Australis.
The truth came as a bitter disappointment. What appeared to
be ��El Paso�� was just one side of the very wide estuary of t-
he River Plate. On the far side of the estuary, the coast conti-
nued southward, where Terra Australis ought to have been !