FROM MAGELLAN TO MITI: PACIFIC RIM ECONOMIES AND PACIFIC ISLAND ECOLOGIES SINCE 1521

Late in 1520 Ferdinand Magellan left the Chilean coast with three ships. After ninety-nine days at sea they made land at Guam. A month’s sailing brought them to the Philippines, where Magellan soon met his death. While probably not the first mariner to cross the Ocean, nonetheless Magellan’s voyage inaugurated a new era for the Pacific, pioneering the connections between the Americas and Asia that would solidify after the establishment of the Manila Galleons in 1565 and the foundation of Manila in 1571 (Flynn and Giraldez 1995).