Magellan thought that by this address he had soothed and encouraged the minds of his men, but within a few days he was troubled by a wicked and disgraceful mutiny. For the sailors began to talk to one another of the long-standing ill-feeling existing between the Portuguese and the Castilians, and of Magellan's being a Portuguese; that there was nothing that he could do more to the credit of his own country than to lose this fleet with so many men on board: that it was not to be believed that he wished to find the Moluccas, even if he could, but that he would think it enough if he could delude the emperor for some years by holding out vain hopes, and that in the meanwhile something new would turn up, whereby the Castilians might be completely put out of the way of looking for spices: nor indeed was the direction of the voyage really towards the fertile Molucca islands, but towards snow and ice and everlasting bad weather. Magellan was exceedingly irritated by these conversations, and punished some of the men, but with somewhat more severity than was becoming to a foreigner, especially to one holding command in a distant part of the world. So they mutinied and took possession of one of the ships, and began to make preparations to return to Spain, but Magellan, with the rest of his men who had remained faithful to him, boarded that ship, and executed the ringleader and other leading mutineers, even some who could not legally be so treated: for they were royal officials, who were only liable to capital punishment by the emperor and his council. However under the circumstances no one ventured to resist. Yet there were some, who whispered to one another, that Magellan would go on exercising the same severity amongst the Castilians, as long as one was left, until having got rid of everyone of them, he could sail home to his own country again with the few Portuguese he had with him. The Castilians therefore remained still more hostile to the admiral. As soon as Magellan observed that the weather was less stormy and that winter began to break up, he sailed out of St. Julian's Bay on the twenty-fourth of August, 1520, as before. For some days he coasted along to the southward and at last sighted a cape, which they called Cape Santa Cruz. Here a storm from the east caught them, and one of the five ships was driven on shore and wrecked, but the crew and all goods on board were saved, except an African slave, who was drowned. After this the coast seemed to stretch a little south eastwards, and as they continued to explore it, on the twenty-sixth of November [1520] an opening was observed having the appearance of a strait; Magellan at once sailed in with his whole fleet, and seeing several bays in various directions, directed three of the ships to cruise about to ascertain whether there was any way through, undertaking to wait for them five days at the entrance of the strait, so that they might report what success they had.