Christopher and Cosmas were two Japanese men, only known by their Christian names, who are recorded to have travelled across the Pacific on a Spanish

galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships developed in Spain and Portugal. They were first used as armed cargo carriers by Europe, Europeans from the 16th to 18th centuries during the Age of Sail, and they were the principal vessels dr ...

in 1587, and were later forced to accompany the English navigator

Thomas Cavendish Sir Thomas Cavendish (1560 – May 1592) was an English explorer and a privateer known as "The Navigator" because he was the first who deliberately tried to emulate Sir Francis Drake and raid the Spanish towns and ships in the Pacific and ret ...

to England, Brazil and the Southern Atlantic, where they disappeared with the sinking of his ship in 1592.

Western accounts

Pacific crossing on a Spanish galleon

They are first mentioned by the navigator Francis Pretty, in

Richard Hakluyt Richard Hakluyt (; 1553 – 23 November 1616) was an English writer. He is known for promoting the British colonization of the Americas, English colonization of North America through his works, notably ''Divers Voyages Touching the Discov ...

's account of the travels of Cavendish. He writes that on 4 November 1587 the 27-year-old Cavendish, with two ships the ''Desire'' (120 tons) and the ''Content'' (60 tons) intercepted a Spanish ship, a

Manila galleon The Manila galleon (; ) refers to the Spain, Spanish trading Sailing ship, ships that linked the Philippines in the Spanish East Indies to Mexico (New Spain), across the Pacific Ocean. The ships made one or two round-trip voyages per year betwe ...

named ''Santa Ana'', off the coast of

Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...

(at Bernabe Bay, some 20 miles east of

Cabo San Lucas Cabo San Lucas (, "Luke the Evangelist, Saint Luke Cape (geography), Cape"), also known simply as Cabo, is a Resort town, resort city at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, in the Mexican Political divisions of Mexico, state of Baja ...

). Cavendish disembarked the crew onshore, took the rich cargo, and put the ship on fire. But he also chose to keep with him several of the crew in view of his future voyages. In particular, he selected two young Japanese men:

On the 6th day of November following, we went into a harbour which is called by the Spaniards, Puerto Seguro. Here the whole company of the Spaniards, to the number of 190 persons were set onshore ... But before his departure, he took out of this great ship two young lads born in Japan, which could both write and read their own language.

The oldest one was about 20 years old and named Christopher (He is so named in English sources, but his original (Christian) name must have been Cristóbal or Cristóvão). The younger one was named Cosmas (probably Cosme or Gusmão) and was 16. Both of them were said to be very capable. They had converted to Catholicism back in Japan, where Iberian missions were flourishing since the 1540s. They were probably fluent to some degree in Portuguese or Castilian. (Under the Treaties of

Tordesillas Tordesillas () is a town and municipality in the province of Valladolid, Castile and León, central Spain. It is located southwest of the provincial capital, Valladolid at an elevation of . The population was c. 8,760 . The town is located on ...

and

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

, only Portuguese ships and mission could trade and establish in Asia. However, ships were crewed by Spaniards and Portuguese as both Kingdoms were under a

dynastic union A dynastic union is a type of union in which different states are governed beneath the same dynasty, with their boundaries, their laws, and their interests remaining distinct from each other. It is a form of association looser than a personal un ...

at the time). Among the Spanish crew which was put ashore was the explorer

Sebastián Vizcaíno Sebastián Vizcaíno (c. 1548–1624) was a Spanish soldier, entrepreneur, explorer, and diplomat whose varied roles took him to New Spain, the Baja California peninsula, the California coast and Asia. Early career Vizcaíno was born in ...

, who would later play an essential role in the development of relations between

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

and Japan.

Indian Ocean, Atlantic and England travels

Cavendish continued across the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean back to England. The two Japanese accompanied him all along, and probably stayed in England for about 3 years, since they are subsequently mentioned during the next mission of Cavendish to the Southern Atlantic, not in Hakluyt's ''Voyages'', but in the writings of

Samuel Purchas Samuel Purchas ( – 1626) was an England, English Anglican cleric who published several volumes of reports by travellers to foreign countries. Career Purchas was born at Thaxted, Essex, England, Essex, son of a yeoman. He graduated from St J ...

("The admirable adventures and strange fortunes of Master Antonie Knivet, which went with Master Thomas Candish in his second voyage to the South Sea. 1591").

Brazil and the Southern Atlantic

Cavendish indeed left

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

for

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

in August 1591, on a trip in which he would eventually lose his life. Parchas describes the role the two Japanese played in the hanging of a Portuguese man accompanying them on the ship:

The two Japanese whom Cavendish brought from his first voyage plotted to kill a poor Portuguese man in the following way (they denounced him to the Admiral out of jealousy). The Portuguese had mistakenly put his trust on them, as fellow Catholics -and, to some degree, Portuguese or Spanish speakers- kidnapped by English pirates. As the Admiral was seated having diner, the two Japanese came to his cabin, and speaking in a loud voice so that everybody could hear them, explained that the Portuguese man sailing with them was a traitor, who had repeatedly proposed them to flee to Brazil. And that he told them that, if God allowed the Admiral's desire to conquer the city of Santos, he would guide them to the southern seas, where they could get considerable reward in exchange for information. Based on this denunciation, the poor Portuguese man was hanged.

Christopher further appears in Knivet's diaries:

From our departure from England to our arrival in Santos, I had a very friendly relationship with the Japanese Christopher. This is because he had such an interesting personal history. This Indian and myself became very intimate with each other, so that we did not hide anything from each other. Since I had been trusting him for a long time, I told him about the gold I had found under the bed of a monk uring the attack of Santos He also talked about the gold he had found. We decided to split our money in two, by the grace of God. After four days, when time came to leave, he told me that the season was not good for sailing, and that we should hide our money ashore and leave it there. I became convinced, and agreed to what he was recommending. Secretly, we decided that, the day we were supposed to leave, he would go in a canoe with the gold, and hide it ashore. That morning, I gave him all my money, and he promised that he would return within two hours. I waited for five hours, and I thought I would have to wait for all my life. It finally turned out that he had already returned to the boat instead. Things finally turned out well, I obtained my money back, but our friendship was over from that day.

It is unclear from this passage whether Christopher actually tried to steal the gold from Knivet, or if the event resulted from a misunderstanding. From this point, Christopher and Cosmas are not mentioned again in any sources. Cavendish and his ship ''Lester'' nearly met with disaster in the

Strait of Magellan The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and the Tierra del Fuego archipelago to the south. Considered the most important natura ...

. Upon returning to Brazil they had a battle with the Portuguese, in which most of the men under Cavendish were killed. Cavendish took ''Lester'' across the ocean to

Saint Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...

, but his ship then disappeared. Christopher and Cosmas probably died as well during these events. By going as far as the Strait of Magellan, Christopher and Cosmas came close to completing the first Japanese

circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first circumnaviga ...

of the world. This would not happen until 1837 with the travels of

Otokichi , also known as and later known as John Matthew Ottoson (1818 – January 1867), was a Japanese castaway originally from the area of Onoura near modern-day Mihama, Aichi, Mihama, on the west coast of the Chita Peninsula in Aichi Prefecture. ...

. (In 1804, the crew members of the Wakamiya-maru, who were castaways on

Unalaska, Alaska The City of Unalaska (; ) is the main population center in the Aleutian Islands. The city is in the Aleutians West Census Area, a regional component of the Unorganized Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Unalaska is located on Unalaska Islan ...

, unintentionally accomplished this feat via

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

with

Nikolai Rezanov Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov (, – ), a Russian nobleman and statesman, promoted the project of Russian colonization of Alaska and California to three successive Emperor of All Russia, Emperors of All Russia—Catherine the Great, Paul, and Alexa ...

Other Japanese travels

Christopher and Cosmas represent one of the first mentions of the travels of Japanese men across the Pacific.An earlier Jesuit embassy, led by Mancio Ito is known to have travelled to Europe in 1584 They illustrate the participation of Japanese sailors to the trans-Pacific trade of the Manila galleons, and also the willingness of contemporary ships to take on board sailors of various nationalities. Numerous voyages would follow during the following century. Between 1598 and 1640, red seal ships would ply the Pacific for Asian trade, and embassies on Japanese-built Western-style ships would be sent to the Americas, in the persons of Tanaka Shōsuke (1610) and

Hasekura Tsunenaga was a kirishitan Japanese samurai and retainer of Date Masamune, the daimyō of Sendai. He was of Japanese imperial descent with ancestral ties to Emperor Kanmu. Other names include Philip Francis Faxicura, Felipe Francisco Faxicura, and Ph ...

(1614). In the end, following the first contacts with the West in 1543, the Japanese acquired the skills of transoceanic voyages and Western shipbuilding, before losing them with the closing of the country (

sakoku is the most common name for the isolationist foreign policy of the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate under which, during the Edo period (from 1603 to 1868), relations and trade between Japan and other countries were severely limited, and almost all ...

) in 1640. The next Japanese to reach England were likely the trio of Iwakichi, Kyukichi, and

in 1835, who had drifted across the Pacific in 1834 after being blown off course.

References

External links

The sacking of the galleon Santa Ana
(Japanese) {{DEFAULTSORT:Christopher and Cosmas 16th-century births 16th-century deaths 16th-century Mexican people Japanese explorers