Balboa had made the important discovery that the barrier of land was comparatively narrow. This gave the impression that North America, too, was narrower than it proved to be, and the search for the passage to the Indies was pushed with greater vigor. MAGELLAN. A Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama, had really won the race begun by Prince Henry's navigators and Columbus for India, the land of cloves, pepper, and nutmegs. He had won in 1497 by going around the Cape of Good Hope. Another explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, finally, reached the Indies in a long westward voyage lasting two years, from 1519 to 1521. [Illustration: FERDINAND MAGELLAN] THE BEGINNING OF MAGELLAN'S VOYAGE. Magellan, himself a Portuguese, tried in vain like Columbus to persuade the king of Portugal to aid him in his project. He succeeded better in Spain, and sailed from there in 1519 with a small fleet given him by the young king Charles. The five ships in his fleet were old and in bad repair, and the crews had been brought together from every nation. They sailed directly to South America, and spent the first year searching every inlet along the coast for a passage. [Illustration: THE STRAIT OF MAGELLAN] They found that the natives of South America used for food vegetables that "looked like turnips and tasted like chestnuts." The Indians called them "patatas." In this way the potato, one of the great foods of to-day, was found by Europeans. A whole winter was passed on the cold and barren coast of Patagonia. Magellan called the natives "Patagones," the word in his language meaning big feet, from the large foot-prints which they left on the sand. THE STRAIT OF MAGELLAN. Magellan finally found a strait, since named for him the Strait of Magellan, and sailed his ships through it amid the greatest dangers. The change from the rough waters of the strait to the calm sea beyond made the word Pacific or Peaceful Sea seem the most suitable name for the vast body of water which they had entered. THE FIRST VOYAGE ACROSS THE PACIFIC. From the western coast of South America Magellan struck boldly out into the Pacific Ocean on his way to Asia. The crews suffered untold hardships. The very rats which overran the rotten ships became a luxurious article of food which only the more fortunate members of the crews could afford. The poorer seamen lived for days on the ox-hide strips which protected the masts. These were soaked in sea-water and roasted over the fire.