These are cloves, the aromatic unopened flower buds which are used for spice, whole or ground. You have seen them whole on baked ham and you have tasted them in pumpkin pies. You can find them these days in any market.

There was a time, however, when the primary sources of cloves and other spices were two islands in the Moluccas, Ternate & Tidore. These two islands, located almost on the equator, about 600 miles or so south by southeast of the Philippines, were originally owned by Portugal but are now part of Indonesia. There was such a demand in Europe for spices in the 16th and 17th centuries that ships laden with them were prized targets on the high seas for pirates and ships of other nations, most notably Spain and England.

Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese by birth, was in his country's service when he first sailed to the Moluccas by going to the southern tip of Africa to the Cape of Good Hope and then sailing eastward across the Indian Ocean to the Moluccas. Although he had distinguished himself in battle, both as a sailor and as a soldier, he fell in disfavor with the King of Portugal and was dismissed from its service.

In 1517, he entered into the service of Spain after becoming a citizen of that country. He was successful in persuading the King of Spain that he could find a different route to the Spice Islands by going west from Spain instead of east, as he had done earlier when he sailed for Portugal.

On September 20, 1519, an expedition of five ships under Magellan's command left Spain. Almost immediately, Magellan had trouble with the captains of the ships under him. They resented being under the command of a Portuguese.

It took the expedition over a year to round the southern tip of South America. By that time, Magellan had lost one ship in a wreck and another had deserted and returned to Spain. He also had to deal with a mutiny and his execution of some of the mutineers further alienated him from the crews of his remaining three ships whom he pushed unmercifully through stormy seas and severe cold near Antarctica. He was a driven man and while his mission was financed by the throne for the purpose of returning with spices, his actions indicated that he had his own agenda as a fearless and visionary navigator who wanted to prove that the earth was round.

By the time Magellan cleared the southern tip of South America and entered a new ocean, his men were on the verge of starvation and many were suffering the sailors most feared disease, scurvy. He found the new sea calm and peaceful and named it Oceano Pacifico for that reason. As he sailed northward to warmer weather, his ships caught the equatorial current just north of the equator which gave him the most precious gift for a sailor -- fair winds and a following sea.

The currents pushed the ships westward to the relief of the crew. Some accounts of this good fortune in the weather attributed it to divine intervention. On March 6, 1521, the expedition reached 13 north and 144 east and sighted Guam or was sighted first by the ancient Chamorros.

This painting, while artistically well done, portrays Magellan and his crew as hardy and healthy. A more likely scenario would be one that shows that the great navigator and his men were gaunt, emaciated, and diseased. From all accounts of the long journey which started about a year and a half earlier when the expedition left Spain, Magellan and his men were on the verge of starvation by the time they reached Guam. Upon landing on Guam, they were probably indiscriminately seizing whatever they could eat or drink instead of gathering ceremoniously in their finest attire for a meeting with the local chiefs, as often depicted in paintings of that era. In the chaos that ensued, the native Chamorros, in turn, helped themselves with what they wanted from Magellan's ships and paid dearly with casualties from musket fire. Magellan replenished his ships with fresh water, fruits, and other provisions within a few days and departed with a vengeance headed toward the Philippine Islands.

Although Magellan himself had initially named the Chamorro islands , Islas de Las Velas Latinas (the island of the lateen sails), owing to the triangular shape of the pandanus sails of the legendary proa, he changed the name to Islas Ladrones (island of thieves). This was in retaliation for the manner in which the natives appropriated items from his ships while he and his crew were replenishing their storerooms with fresh provisions from the islands harvest. The unflattering name, Ladrones, was to remain on maps and charts for almost three centuries

Magellan was subsequently killed in the Philippines in a battle with the Filipinos. His expedition lost one more ship due to damage and another was captured. Only one ship returned to Spain with the spices that were so treasured and for which so many lives were lost in payment.

While Magellan himself died in the Philippines, he had in fact, circumnavigated the globe, albeit in two phases: sailing east from Portugal as one of its navigators and then a few years later sailing west from Spain as a Spanish explorer. Although he was killed before he reached the Spice Islands which he had visited in an earlier expedition, he had actually sailed beyond them longitudinally when he reached the Philippines. While he did not sail around the world on one continuous journey, he did circumnavigate it one half at a time sailing under two flags - of Portugal and Spain.

On September 6, 1522, almost three years after the expedition left Spain, the only ship that returned was, ironically, the one named Victoria, under the command of Juan Sebastian de Elcano with only eighteen survivors of the original crew of 265 and one ship out of the original five. Juan Sebastian de Elcano became a hero but Magellan was essentially forgotten.

To this day, there are few memorials in Magellan's honor: one in Chile and another one at Umatac, Guam. In the Philippines, he shares a memorial with other notables but is completely overshadowed by statues and memorials honoring the Filipino who killed him in battle. The Magellan School in Umatac was renamed the Francisco Q. Sanchez School and the Plaza in Agana, the capital of Guam, which had been named Plaza de Magallanes became Plaza de Espana.

When Magellan first visited the Spice Islands while sailing under the Portuguese flag, he recruited a male servant whom he named Enrique who remained with him for years and accompanied him when he sailed for Spain. There are some who now claim that Enrique was a Filipino originally from Cebu and was, in fact, the first person to sail around the world, having preceded Magellan to the Spice Islands where he was recruited by the famous navigator.

While that debate is going on, there is no argument over the fact that in 1960, the U. S. Navy's largest submarine, the USS Triton, powered by the atom, entered the history books by circumnavigating the globe in Magellan's wake in two months -- submerged! On that epic trip was a young Navy man, born in Agat, Guam, his name is Edward Carbullido.

Magellan's incredible expeditions which proved that the earth was round is still recognized as one of the greatest sea navigational achievements of all time, if not the greatest. Our little island of Guam and our ancestors played a role, however briefly, in that great Age of Discovery that produced such extraordinary visionaries as Columbus, Vespucci, and Magellan. Their great courage and accomplishments changed the world.