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Ambon

(Encyclopedia)Ambon ämˈbōn [key], island, c.300 sq mi (775 sq km), E Indonesia, one of the Moluccas, in the Banda Sea. It is mountainous, well watered, and fertile. Corn and sago are...

Tanimbar Islands

(Encyclopedia)Tanimbar Islands tĕnĭmˈbär, tə– [key], group of about 30 islands, c.2,100 sq mi (5,440 sq km), E Indonesia, in the Banda Sea, between the Aru Islands and Timor, in the Moluccas. The largest of ...

Magellan, Ferdinand

(Encyclopedia)Magellan, Ferdinand məjelˈən [key], Port. Fernão de Magalhães, Span. Fernando de Magallanes, c.1480–1521, Portuguese navigator who sailed for Portugal and Spain. Born of a noble family, he was ...

Cano, Juan Sebastián del

(Encyclopedia)Cano, Juan Sebastián del käˈnō [key], c.1476–1526, Spanish navigator, the first to circumnavigate the globe. Under Magellan he commanded the Concepción and after Magellan's death in the Philipp...

nutmeg

(Encyclopedia)nutmeg, name applied to members of the family Myristicaceae. The true nutmeg (Myristica fragrans) is an evergreen tree native to the Moluccas but now cultivated elsewhere in the tropics and to a limit...

Dumont d'Urville, Jules Sébastien César

(Encyclopedia)Dumont d'Urville, Jules Sébastien César zhül sābästyăNˈ sāzärˈ dümôNˈ dürvēlˈ [key], 1790–1842, French navigator. While on duty (1819–20) in the E Mediterranean, he saw and recogni...

clove

(Encyclopedia)clove, name for a small evergreen tree (Syzygium aromaticum or Eugenia caryophyllata) of the family Myrtaceae (myrtle family) and for its unopened flower bud, an important spice. The buds, whose folde...

Francis Xavier, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Francis Xavier, Saint, 1506–52, Basque Jesuit missionary, called the Apostle to the Indies, b. Spanish Navarre, of noble parents. He studied in Paris (1525–34), where he became an associate of St....

Alvarado, Pedro de

(Encyclopedia)Alvarado, Pedro de älväräˈᵺō [key], 1486–1541, Spanish conquistador. He went to Hispaniola (1510), sailed in the expedition (1518) of Juan de Grijalva, and was the chief lieutenant of Herná...

Cabot, Sebastian

(Encyclopedia)Cabot, Sebastian, b. 1483–86?, d. 1557, explorer in English and Spanish service; son of John Cabot. He may well have accompanied his father on the 1497 and 1498 voyages, and he was for many years gi...

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