Two Longitudes, Both Wrong
Antonio Pigafetta, the Vicentine diarist who wrote the most comprehensive eyewitness account of Magellan's voyage, fixed the longitude of Mazaua at 162° East which would place the isle somewhere near today's Wake Island. Francisco Albo, who piloted the ship Victoria back to Guadalquivir in San Lucar de Barrameda on September 6, 1521, placed Mazaua at 106° 30' East locating it in today's South Vietnam near Tra Vinh. At the time, there was no precise way of determining longitude, a problem which was solved only with the perfection of John Harrison's chronometer by 1773.
The exact identity of Mazaua is still in question but there's no dispute that its longitude is somewhere between 125° 04' East and 125° 28' East.
Read more about this topic: Mazaua
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