TRAVELS THROUGH ASIA
1. INTRODUCTION
THIS book is to be the story of our travels through the grand division of Asia. Each one who reads it is to be a member of the party, and we shall go together across the oceans and over the mountains, valleys, and plains, noting for ourselves the many strange things and peoples we see. Our journey will be a long one. We shall travel in a westerly direction, and clear around the world before we get back to our homes.
The first men to make the trip round the globe started out about four hundred years ago. They embarked from Seville, Spain, in five little sailing vessels under the command of Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese, who had entered the service of King Charles V of Spain. The first stage of their journey was across the Atlantic Ocean to Rio de Janeiro, where they discovered its beautiful bay. They then coasted along the eastern shores of South America to the Strait of Magellan, which was named after their leader. Passing through that strait, they came into the Pacific Ocean, and crossing it landed in the Philippine Islands.
That was almost two years after starting, and the fleet had suffered many disasters. One of the ships was lost before reaching the Strait of Magellan; and, shortly after
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