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SEA CHALLENGE by Elotse Engle

SEA CHALLENGE

By

Publisher: Hammond

The author has reconstructed Magellan's voyage from the Journal of Antonio Pigafetta, one of the original crew members. She has assigned fictitious names to several unidentified characters, two of whom are the heroes of this account. Having escaped from the gypsies, Sancho and Antonio joined the famous fleet of five ships which left Seville in the 10th century. The internal strife and rivalry that characterized the voyage and the lawlessness that replaced the strict disciplinary code of Magellan after his death are painted to vivid strokes. A crew which might have been able to withstand the attacks of islanders and return triumphant to their native land is destroyed by opportunism and jealousy. Historical events are all here, but the plot is too unaccented and loosely knit to gather full momentum.