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WESTERN ACCOUNTS Pacific crossing on a Spanish galleon > They are first mentioned by the navigator Francis Pretty , in Richard Hakluyt 's account of the travels of Cavendish. He writes that on 4 November 1587 the 32 year old Cavendish, with two ships the ''Desire'' (120 tons) and the ''Content'' (60 tons) intercepted a Spanish ship, a Manila Galleon named Santa Ana , off the coast of Baja California (at Bernabe Bay , some 20 miles east of Cape San Lucas ). Cavendish disembarked the crew onshore, took the rich cargo, and put the ship on fire. But he also chose to keep with him several of crew in view of his future voyages. In particular he selected two young Japanese men:
The oldest one was about 20 years old, and named Christopher (He is so named in English sources, but his original name must have been Cristobal). The younger one was named Cosmas, and was 16. Both of them were said to be very capable. Among the Spanish crew which was put ashore was the explorer Sebastian Vizcaino , who would later play an important role in the development of relations between New Spain and Japan. Indian Ocean, Atlantic and England travels Cavendish continued across the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean back to England . The two Japanese accompanied him all along, and probably stayed in England for about 3 years, since they are subsequently mentioned during the next mission of Cavendish to the Southern Atlantic , not in Hakluyt's ''Voyages'', but in the writings of Samuel Purchas ("The admirable adventures and strange fortunes of Master Antonie Knivet, which went with Master Thomas Candish in his second voyage to the South Sea. 1591"). Brazil and the Southern Atlantic Cavendish indeed left Plymouth for Brazil on August 1591, on a trip in which he would eventually lose his life. Parchas describes the role the two Japanese played in the hanging of a Portuguese man accompanying them on the ship:
Christopher further appears in Knivet's diaries:
It is unclear from this passage whether Christopher actually tried to steal the gold from Knivet, or if the event resulted from a misunderstanding. From this point, Christopher and Cosmas are not mentioned again in any sources. Cavendish and his ship ''Lester'' nearly met with disaster in the Strait Of Magellan . Upon returning to Brazil they had a battle with the Portuguese, in which most of the men under Cavendish were killed. Cavendish took ''Lester'' across the ocean to Saint Helena , but his ship then disappeared. Christopher and Cosmas probably died as well during these events. By going as far as the Strait of Magellan, Christopher and Cosmas came close to completing the first Japanese Circumnavigation of the world. This would finally not happen until 1837 with the travels of Otokichi . OTHER JAPANESE TRAVELS Christopher and Cosmas represent the first mention of the travels of Japanese men across the Pacific An earlier Jesuit embassy, led by Mancio Ito is known to have travelled to Europe in 1584 . They illustrate the participation of Japanese sailors to the trans-Pacific trade of the Manila galleons, and also the willingness of contemporary ships to take on board sailors of various nationalities. Numerous voyages would follow during the following century. Between 1598 and 1640 , Red Seal Ship s would ply the Pacific for Asian trade, and embassies on Japanese-built Western-style ships would be sent to the Americas, in the persons of Tanaka Shosuke (1610) and Hasekura Tsunenaga (1614). In the end, following the first contacts with the West in 1543, the Japanese acquired the skills of transoceanic voyages and Western shipbuilding, before losing them with the closing of the country ( Sakoku ) in 1640. REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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