 Contrary to old textbook depictions of Ferdinand Magellan arriving in the

Philippines to invade the country, the actual purpose of Magellan’s voyage

waste prove that Earth is not flat by circumnavigating the world by
traveling westward to get to the East.
 After crossing the Pacific Ocean, a name coined by Magellan for its tranquil
waters, the expedition team sighted the highest peak on Samar Island on
March 16, 1521. On Magellan’s orders, the crew waited until the following
day until they landed on the beach of Homonhon, an uninhabited island.
When they landed on Homonhon, Magellan's crew was detected by Rajah Humabon,
the chief of a nearby island called Limasawa. Humabon sent scouts to Homonhon to
investigate. Pigafetta details how the Filipino natives approached their beach settlement
from a boat. “We saw a boat coming toward us with nine men in it. Therefore, the
captain-general [Magellan] ordered that no one should move or say a word without his
permission.
When those men reached the shore, their chief went immediately to the captain-
general, giving signs of joy because of our arrival.” Magellan presented the natives with
mirrors, bells, red caps, combs, and ivory. In exchange, the natives offered the
foreigners fish, wine, and bananas, which the Spaniards mistook for figs. “
 One of the “kings” with whom Magellan forged a close friendship was
Rajah Humabon of the small island of Limasawa. Humabon was a rival of
one of the chiefs on Mactan Island, Lapu-Lapu. Another chief in
Mactan, Datu Zula, was also wary of Lapu-Lapu.

 Pigafetta writes, “On Friday, April twenty-six, Zula, a chief of the island of
Matan, sent one of his sons to present two goats to the captain-general,
and to say that he would send him all that he had promised, but that he had
not been able to send it to him because of the other chief Cilapulapu (Lapu-
Lapu), who refused to obey the king of Spagnia.” Because of this, Magellan
promised to eliminate the “king” who would not recognize the superiority
of Spanish crown.
In one of their encounters with datus aboard the Victoria, Magellan
demonstrated the superiority of Spanish armor and weapons, to the
amazement of the locals.
“Then the captain-general had a man armed as a soldier, and placed him in the midst of
three men armed with swords and daggers, who struck him on all parts of the body,”
wrote Pigafetta. “Thereby was the king rendered almost speechless? The captain-
general told him through the slave that one of those armed men was worth one
hundred of his own men.”
 Magellan fervently believed that his men were so superior to the natives that the
allowed 49 of his crew to face off against a force of 1,500 enraged natives. He
 was so confident that he refused the help of his allies, Rajah Humabon and Datu
Zula, and asked them to just watch how they fought.
The Christian king [Humabon] would have aided us,” wrote Pigafetta, “butthe captain
told him before we landed, not to leave his balanghai, but to stay to see how we
fought.”
According to Pigafetta, they arrived at the shores of Mactan three hours before sunrise.
Magellan sent a message to the natives saying that if they still refused to recognize the
Spanish king and pay them tribute, they would demonstrate how effective their swords
were at wounding people.
In reply, Lapu-Lapu’s men told Magellan that although the Spaniards had lances, they,
too, were armed with bamboo and stakes hardened with fire. The natives requested
Magellan’s party to wait until morning before attacking so they could gather more
warriors, to which Magellan obliged.
 “When we reached land, those men had formed in three
divisions to the number of more than one thousand five hundred
persons. When they saw us, they charged down upon us with exceeding
loud cries, two divisions on outflanks and the other on our front,” wrote
Pigafetta. Against spears, bows, and arrows, Magellan’s muskets and
armor proved worthless. The musket took one minute to reload and fire,
while the bow and arrow took one or two seconds to shoot between two
arrows

 Realizing that they were no match for the natives they so underestimated,
Magellan became desperate, so he ordered some of his crew to distract the
natives by burning their houses. The wounded Magellan ordered his
men to retreat more slowly but the enraged natives were relentless at
the pursuit.