Let's hear it for Henry the Black!

Tweet

What - you haven't heard of Henry the Black? He was the first person ever to travel right round the world. Or was he? His proper name was Enrique de Malaca. He was born in what is now Malaysia and he was sold as a slave to the explorer Ferdinand de Magellan in 1511. Magellan had journeyed from Portugal and returned, with Henry on board, by the same route. In 1519 Magellan set off on a voyage that crossed both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans - crossing from one to the other via what is now known as the Magellan Strait. Magellan always took Henry with him on his voyages, and on this trip - which aimed to circumnavigate the globe - Henry's role would includes that of interpreter. When the expedition reached the Far East, Henry had therefore travelled right round the world - which no-one else had ever done - albeit in two stages several years apart. Magellan was killed in the Philippines, although the voyage continued without him and reached Portugal, although only 18 of the original 264 sailors survived. Henry was not among their number. He escaped in the Philippines and nobody knows what happened to him after then. So is it really correct to say that Henry the Black travelled round the world? The Philippines is further east than Malaya, so there would appear to be gap in the circumnavigation! One thing we know for certain is that the first round-the-world sailor was not Ferdinand Magellan. A far better claim could be made by the 18 surviving sailors on board his ship.