Uttermost Part of the Earth

In 1519 Ferdinand Magellan, the Portuguese explorer, became the first European to navigate a wild and remote channel linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Sailing for the Spanish crown in search of a westward route to the Spice Islands, Magellan sighted many fires along the coastline. His sailors christened this uncharted area “Tierra Del Fuego”, or ‘the Land of Fire’. Sailing the same waters in 1577, now named the Magellan Strait, Sir Francis Drake described this southern tip of South America as “the uttermost part of the earth towards the South Pole”. The crew of the Golden Hinde, became the first British to set eyes on penguins, describing them as “foule which could not flie, of the bignesse of geese”.