Chapter 13

[386]I need hardly direct the reader’s attention to the fact that the fustas of the Sabayo were foughtafterVasco’s return from Calecut, and that he visited neither Cochin nor Cananor in the course of this first voyage.

[387]A MS. in the Torre do Tombo quoted by Texeira de Aragão (Boletim,VI, 1886, p. 580), ornamented with the coloured coats of arms of theCountsof Vidigueira, and extending to 1641, seems to be identical in several respects with the MS. from which the above is quoted. The concluding portion, beginning with “returned to this kingdom”, is taken word for word from the earlierJornal. Vasco da Gama is stated to have gone in theS. Raphael, whilst Paulo’s vessel, theS. Gabriel, is said to have been destroyed on the homeward voyage near Cabo de S. Vicente.

[388]Paulo da Gama came back in this vessel, his own having been burnt by order of Vasco da Gama, off Tangáta. [Note by the author.]

[389]Pavia, a small town twenty miles to the north of Evora.

[390]The 7th of April was a Saturday (see p.34).

[391]The preceding dates agree with those in theJournal, but the anchorage, two leagues from Calecut (see p.48) was only reached on May 20th, and the stay at or off Calecut was certainly much longer than the seventy-four days allowed by Rezende. In fact, seventy-four days would only carry us from May 20th to August 1st.

[392]That is, the mouth of the Tagus.

[393]A sailing vessel occasionally propelled by oars.

[394]Henrique Lopes de Mendonça,Estudos sobre navios Portuguezes, Lisbon (Ac. Real), 1892, p. 58.

[395]A pilot, Fernando Rodriques Berrio, resided at Lagos in 1502, and there were other members of the same family (Varnhagen).

[396]Goes,Chronica do Rei D. Emanuel, 1790,I, p. 10.

[397]Only their type, for the legend below N. Coelho’s ship (“which they broke up”) shows that these are not portraits of the actual vessels, but fancy sketches. Coelho’s vessel was the first to return to Lisbon; it was the store-ship which was broken up.

[398]Obras de Luiz de Camões,VI.

[399]Stanley’sVasco da Gama, p. 26.

[400]Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis, Lisbon, 1892, p. 99.

[401]Esmeraldo, p. 99.

[402]A ton register is of a capacity of 100 cubic feet; a ton measurement is usually assumed to have a capacity of 40 cubic feet. Hence 400 tons measurement would be equivalent to 160 tons register, instead of 250 to 300.

[403]Le construzione navali (Raccolta Colombiana), Rome, 1893, p. 76.

[404]The palmo de goa was equal to 293 m.m., and thetonelconsequently measured 2.42 cubic metres or 85 cubic feet. “Goa” has nothing to do either withagoa, or with the town of that name in India, but is a corruption of “gouê”, a measure anciently used by shipbuilders in the Mediterranean (see Lopez de Mendonça,loc. cit., p. 118).

[405]Os Navios de Vasco da Gama, Lisbon, June, 1892.

[406]Noticia sobre e Não S. Gabriel, Lisbon, August, 1892.

[407]Captain Braz d’Oliveira gives the following dimensions: length, 106 ft.; keel, 54.5 ft.; beam, 20 ft.; draught, aft, 10.5 ft.; depth, 18 ft.

[408]This consists in multiplying length of keel, breadth and depth, and dividing by thirty. The result is expressed inbotte.

[409]See J. de Barros,Dec. I, l. vi, c. 3.

[410]Barros and Castanheda, in addition to bombards, mention spin-gards (wall-pieces) and one-pounder matchlocks. Correa (Stanley’sVasco da Gama) says that the ships, or some of them, in Vasco da Gama’s second voyage were armed with six heavy guns below, four smaller guns and four falconets on deck, and several swivel guns. The caravels, though only manned by thirty men, carried four heavy guns below, six falconets and twelve swivel guns.

[411]Note by Sir Clements R. Markham.

[412]D. Diogo Ortiz de Vilhegas was a native of Calçadinha, in Leon, and came to Portugal as father-confessor and spiritual director of that “excellent lady”, D. Joanna. King Manuel held him in high respect, and appointed him Bishop of Tangier in 1491. Jointly with Masters Rodriguez, the physician, and Jose Vizinho, he is responsible for reporting adversely on the bold projects of Columbus. In 1500, he was transferred to the See of Ceuta, and, in 1505, to that of Vizeu. He never resided in his African dioceses. When Gama took leave of the King at Montemór ó novo, Vilhegas is said to have celebrated Mass. He died in 1519 at Almeirim.—(Paiva Manso,Historia Ecclesiastica, Lisbon, 1872, I, pp. 40, 47, 62.)

[413]Pero de Covilhão and Affonso de Paiva were despatched from Santarem in 1487 to spy out the countries of the east. Covilhão, in the course of his extensive travels, visited Hormuz, Calecut, and the east coast of Africa as far as Sofala. He ultimately reached the court of Prester John, and was never again allowed to leave it. These travellers, too, received a map and instructions from D. Diogo de Vilhegas. The best account of Covilhão’s adventures is that furnished by Alvarez, c. 103 (see Lord Stanley’s translation, published by the Hakluyt Society).

[414]Lucas Marcos visited Rome and Lisbon. The information furnished by him included a vocabulary.—(Barros,Da Asia,Dec. I, l. iii, c. 5.)

[415]Abraham ben Samuel Zacuto was professor of astronomy and mathematics in the University of Salamanca when King John II called him to Portugal in 1492, and appointed him Astronomer Royal. He is the author ofEphemerides, originally written in Hebrew, a Latin translation of which, by José Vizinho, one of his pupils, was first printed in 1496—on the eve of Vasco da Gama’s departure—although there can be no doubt that these useful tables previously circulated in MS. José Vizinho is perhaps identical with the physician José whom King John had charged, jointly with Master Rodrigo, to prepare tables of the declination of the sun, which would enable navigators to determine their latitude after they had lost sight of the Pole star. Rudolf Wolf (Geschichte der Astronomie, p. 97) credits Regiomontanus with having produced the first set of “practical” tables for the use of mariners. He does not even once mention Zacuto in his history, and states that the tables of the great German astronomer were those made use of by Dias and Vasco da Gama. As theEphemeridesof Regiomontanus were printed in 1474, they naturally became more widely known than those of Zacuto, which only circulated in MS., and they were, perhaps, brought to Portugal by Martin Behaim. It cannot, however, be doubted that the tables which Vasco da Gama took with him were those of Zacuto.For the contents of the first printed edition of Zacuto’sAlmanach Perpetuum, see Antonio Ribeiro dos Santos inMemorias de Litteratura Portugueza, 2 edição, VIII, p. 46; for later reprints of the Tables of the Declination of the Sun, see Luciano Cordeira in theBoletimof the Lisbon Geographical Society, 1883, p. 163.

For the contents of the first printed edition of Zacuto’sAlmanach Perpetuum, see Antonio Ribeiro dos Santos inMemorias de Litteratura Portugueza, 2 edição, VIII, p. 46; for later reprints of the Tables of the Declination of the Sun, see Luciano Cordeira in theBoletimof the Lisbon Geographical Society, 1883, p. 163.

[416]See Hellmann, inZeitschrift für Erdkunde, 1897. TheRoteirosof João de Castro, containing these observations, were published at Lisbon, 1833 and 1882.

[417]The description of this proposed series is of historical interest (seeAlguns documentos, 1892, p. 516).

[418]See Stanley’sVasco da Gama, pp. 73 and 144. The “Sphere” was a device bestowed upon D. Manuel by King João II. A coin called an “Esphera de Ouro” was coined in Portuguese India. M.B. Lopez Fernandes (Memoria das moedas, Lisbon, 1856, p. 121) had such a coin in his possession. It had the device on the face, and a royal crown with the wordMEAon the obverse. Manuel de Faria (Noticias de Portugal, Disc.IV, § 31) thinks thatMEAstands for “Mine”, meaning that the whole sphere was Manuel’s; but Fernandes is inclined to think that it stands forMEIA, that is, “Half”. The coin in his collection had an intrinsic value of about six shillings.The Pelican was the device of King João II. It may have been on the padrãos erected by Dias, but has not been discovered on those of Cão.

The Pelican was the device of King João II. It may have been on the padrãos erected by Dias, but has not been discovered on those of Cão.

[419]See Texeira de Aragão (Boletim,VI, 1886, p. 562).

[420]See Stanley’sVasco da Gama, pp. 38, 73, 94, 96.

[421]According to J. de Escalante de Mendoso (1575), quoted by D’Albertis,loc. cit., p. 84.

[422]In quoting authorities I refer to the following editions:—João de Barros,Da Asia, Lisbon, 1788; Castanheda,Historia da India, Lisbon, 1833; Manuel de Faria y Sousa,Asia Portuguesa, Lisbon, 1666; Gaspar Correa,Lendas da India, Lisbon, 1858-64; Damião de Goes,Chronica do Rei D. Manuel, 1790.

[423]If Correa (I, p. 656) can be trusted, he still had a wife at Cochin in 1506. Sernigi (see p.136) credits him with a wife and children at Calecut.

[424]Barros,Dec. I,IV, c. 1; Goes, 1, c. 23; Castanheda, I, c. 2.

[425]Correa gives a circumstantial account of the embarkation in the King’s presence, but the description of the paintings which were to have been executed by the King’s order in illustration of the discovery and “conquest” of India, shows very conclusively that the King wasnotthere (Alguns documentos, p. 516).

[426]This, without a doubt, is the correct date. The author of our “Journal”, Barros, Goes, Castanheda, and Faria y Sousa, they all agree in this. Sernigi gives July 9th; Correa fixes upon March 25th as the day of departure.We may say, once for all, that the dates given in the “Journal” may confidently be accepted as correct, allowing for a fewlapsi calami(or errors of the copyist), which can fortunately be rectified in nearly every instance, as the Author names the day of the week, and often even the name of the Saint to whom the day is dedicated.

We may say, once for all, that the dates given in the “Journal” may confidently be accepted as correct, allowing for a fewlapsi calami(or errors of the copyist), which can fortunately be rectified in nearly every instance, as the Author names the day of the week, and often even the name of the Saint to whom the day is dedicated.

[427]This date is doubtful. See p.3, note 3. The wrong date is not August 18th, but August 22nd.

[428]The variation being about 19° E., according to João de Castro, the true course would have been nearly S. by E.

[429]See p.4, note 1.

[430]See Admiralty “Chart showing the tracks of sailing vessels with auxiliary steam power”; the valuable track-charts by Capt. A. Schück in theJahresberichtof the Hamburg Geographical Society, for 1874; Dr. G. Schott, “Die Verkehrswege” inZeitschrift für Erdkunde, 1895, with maps; the sailing directories of all ages since Duarte Pacheco wrote hisEsmeraldoin 1505.

[431]According to Barros, Bartholemeu Dias kept in his company until he took the direction of Mina.

[432]See, for instance,The Voyage of François Leguat, by Capt. Pasfield Oliver (Hakluyt Society, 1891), i, p. 25.

[433]Modern sailing vessels do much better. The passage from São Thiago to the Cape by way of Trinidad (5,140 miles) is made on an average in forty-six days, being a daily run of 125 miles, as compared with 54 miles daily, with which we have credited Vasco da Gama (see the Table at the end of this Appendix).

[434]One league of Columbus = 4 Italian miles = 3.38 nautical miles.

[435]In note 3, p. 3, we have assumed a somewhat shorter course, but after due consideration we now give the preference to the track laid down upon our chart. On an old map of Africa, by H. Moll, a “tract” passing to the east of Ascension and St. Helena is recommended as “a good course of sailing from Great Britain to the East Indies in the Spring and Fall”. What would Admiral Wharton say to this?

[436]These islands are distinctly shown on the Cantino Chart, but unfortunately not named. They are not, however, theYs. Tebasof Juan de la Cosa, as is supposed by the Editor of Spruner’sHistorical Atlas, for the chart of the Spanish pilot which contains this name was completed before Cabral’s return. If we can credit a statement of Correa (Stanley’sVasco da Gama, p. 825), who quotes Gaspar da Gama as his authority, Cabral also discovered Tristão da Cunha. He certainly must have been very near these islands when several of his vessels foundered.

[437]King Manuel, in his letter of 1505, to King Ferdinand of Castile (“Centenario do descobrimento da America”, Lisbon, 1892), says that João da Nova sailed to the Terra de Santa Cruz (Brazil), and thence to the Cape. He does not mention Ascension (Conceiçao). This, however, is not conclusive, for Kings, unlike Popes, are not infallible. Barros, Goes, and Galvão are our authorities for the discovery of the island of Concepçao in 8° S.

[438]There is no doubt that the island referred to by Thome Lopes (see Ramusio) as being 330 leagues from the Ilha dos Papagaios (Brazil), 775 leagues from the Ilha da Boa Vista (Cape Verdes), and 850 leagues from the Cape, is the island now known as Trinidad. This island, on early Portuguese charts, is called Ascenção menor.

[439]If the distance given by Giovanni da Empoli, who writes as an eye-witness, can be trusted, this must be the Ascenção menor (Trinidad), and not the island discovered by João da Nova, which is only 400 leagues from Cape Verde.

[440]On Canerio’s chart St. Helena’s Bay is placed 32° 30´ S., the true latitude being 32° 40´ S. Cantino, whoseoutlineis far more correct places the Bay in 31° S.

[441]See Stanley’sVasco da Gama, p. 48. Compare Introduction, p. xviii.

[442]See Stanley’sVasco da Gama, pp. 62, 67, 270.

[443]The History of the Portuguese during the Reign of Emmanuel, London, 1752, 1, p. 48.

[444]Roteiro, first edition, p. 143.

[445]For a discussion of these sites, see p.18,note.

[446]Africa Pilot, iii, p. 241.

[447]Vasco da Gama thus took 24 days to cross from Melinde to India. Cabral, João da Nova, Estevão da Gama and Affonso de Albuquerque effected this passage in from 15 to 18 days. They crossed in August, when the S.-W. monsoon blows freshly.

[448]The Discoveries of the World(Hakluyt Society), p. 93.

[449]These “Flats” are a submerged coral reef lying between 12° 30´ and 13° 40´ N. The native name is Maniyal Par.

[450]According to the author of Add. MS. 20901 (British Museum), Vasco da Gama “cast anchor in front of the most noble and rich city of Calecut on May 22”. The date of this MS. is about 1516.

[451]On page80, note 2, we have identified the island upon which this padrão was placed with Pigeon Island, 14° 1´, on the ground of its answering better to the description given by the author of theRoteiro; but we see reasons for accepting the general opinion that one of the islands off Mulpy (perhaps Coco Nut Island) must be meant, although none of these islets is more than a mile from the coast, instead of two leagues. Barros (Dec. 1, l. iv, c. ii.) locates the Ilhéos de Santa Maria between Bacanor and Baticala.

[452]Cabral, on his homeward voyage in 1501, reached Lisbon from Cape Verde in twenty days, but Juan Sebastian del Cano, in theVictoria, took fifty-seven days to reach San Lucar from the Cape Verde Islands.

[453]In converting legoas into nautical miles we have assumed 100 legoas to be the equivalent of 338 miles. SeeLeaguein Index and Glossary.

[454]Or thirty miles, if we exclude the five days wasted in a vain effort to stem the Agulhas current (see p.15).

[455]No account is taken of the four days lost in an attempt to sail north (see p.28).

[456]This includes a delay of fifteen (?five) days when burning theS. Raphael.

[457]Charts on a larger scale, but of a later date, are available, and enable us to trace the physical features of the coast, but their nomenclature is not always that of the original discoverers. Nor are we so fortunate as to possess such full descriptions of the coast as are to be found in the “Africa Pilot”, for theEsmeraldo de Situ Orbis(1505) of the famous Duarte Pacheco Pereira stops short at the Rio de Infante; whilst works such as Linschoten’sItinerarium ofte Schipvaert, belong either to a much later epoch, or are of too general a nature to prove of use when attempting to identify the more obscure place-names. I think it was Admiral Ignacio da Costa Quintella, the author of theAnnaes da marinha Portugueza, who regretted that the task of writing the history of Portuguese exploration should have devolved almost exclusively upon landsmen, who neglected to give satisfactory accounts of the routes followed by the early navigators. This regret we fully share.

[458]See, for instance, A. Mori, inAtti IIoCongresso Geogr. Italiana, Rome, 1895, who describes maps by him in a “Ptolemy” in the Biblioteca Nazionale at Florence.

[459]The late Dr. Kohl published a facsimile of this map in theZeitschrift für Erdkunde, I, 1856, but it is not very accurate. That portion of the map which lies between the Guinea islands and Dias’s furthest accompanies my Paper on “Cão, Dias and Behaim”, in theGeographical Journal.

[460]A legend (near the southern tropic and on the meridian of Lisbon) refers to Santa Cruz as “ysla descubierta por portugal”.

[461]There are flags at Abaran, c. etiopico and quinonico.

[462]A fine facsimile of this map was published at Madrid, in 1892, by Antonio Cánovas Vallego and Prof. Traynor, together with a biographical sketch of Juan de la Cosa by Antonio Vasáno.

[463]A. Galvano,The Discoveries of the World, London (Hakluyt Society), 1862, p. 98; andThe Letters of Vespucci, translated by Sir C. R. Markham,ib.1894.

[464]This carries us almost to Hawaii.

[465]The words “questo avemo visto”, to the south of Moçambique, point to the use of an original sailing chart.

[466]Reproduced in Sir Clements R. Markham’sJournal of Christopher Columbus, London, 1893, where also see Cantino’s letters.

[467]Die topographischen Capitel des Indischen Seespiegels Mohit, von Dr. M. Bittner, Vienna, 1897, with thirty maps by Dr. Tomaschek.

[468]Even Ptolemy seems to have been in possession of some of these Indian sailing charts, and Dr. Tomaschek suggests that the monstrous size of his Taprobana, or Ceylon, is due to his having mistaken the horizontal lines crossing these charts for parallels drawn at intervals of a degree.

[469]Africa to the north of Mozambique measures 28° across on Canerio’s chart, and 25° on Cantino’s, the actual breadth being 26°.

[470]Le Portulan de Nicolas de Canerio(Bulletin de la Soc. de Géogr. de Lyon, 1890).

[471]Geographie du Moyen Age, ii, p. 143.

[472]In Nordenskiöld’sAtlaswill be found facsimiles of these maps.

[473]Instead of a full translation of the two documents on this subject, which are printed as an appendix to the original edition of theRoteiro, we have given abstracts of all the available documents bearing upon it. Most of these will be foundin extensoin Teixeira de Aragão’sVasco da Gama e a Vidigueira(Boletim, Lisbon Geogr. Soc., 1886, pp. 541-702); Luciano Cordeiro’sDe come e quando foi feito Conde Vasco da Gama(Boletim, 1892, pp. 257-303); and Cordeiro’sO Premio da Descoberta, Lisbon, 1897.

[474]The original document bestowing this title is not available, but the King makes use of it in his Order of Nov. 19th, 1501.

[475]Compare Document 18 at end of this Appendix.

[476]See also Documents 10 and 11.

[477]Peragallo,Carta de El-Rei D. Manuel ao Rei Catholico, Lisbon, 1892, p. 89. Leonardo Masser describes the Admiral as being ill-tempered and unreasonable, and as exhibiting but little gratitude in return for the favours conferred upon him by the King.

[478]Peragallo,loc. cit., p. 92. The highest incomes were enjoyed by the Duke of Coimbra (16,000 cruz.), the Duke of Bragança (16,000 cruz.), the Bishop of Evora (12,000 cruz.), the Marquis of Villa Real and the Archbishop of Lisbon (10,000 cruz. each).

[479]Cordeiro,Boletim, 1892, p. 285.

[480]Quoted by teixeira de Aragão, p. 572, from a document in the Torre do Tombo.

[481]teixeira de Aragão, p. 573.

[482]This document was first printed as an Appendix to the second edition of theRoteiro, and has since been published as an Appendix to Lord Stanley of Alderley’sVasco da Gama, and inAlguns Documentos, p. 127. Its provisions were confirmed in favour of D. Francisco da Gama by King John III, May 4th, 1526 (Cordeiro,O Premio da Descoberta, pp. 48-55.

[483]In 1434 (not 1433) Gil Eanes doubled Cape Bojador.

[484]In 1482 Diogo Cão discovered the Congo. We ought evidently to read 1488, for the Congo is only 1,240 leagues from Lisbon, whilst the 1,885 leagues actually carry us to the Rio do Infante. The name is thus spelt in this document as if the river had been named in honour of Prince Henry, and not after João Infante, the companion of Dias.

[485]Publishedin extensoin the 2nd edition of theRoteiro, p. 175.

[486]Departure from Lisbon, February 10, 1502; return, September 1, 1503.

[487]About£900. The King had this gold converted into a “custodia”, which he presented to the church of Belem.

[488]Cordeiro, Boletim, 1892, p. 287.

[489]Teixeira de Aragão, p. 675.

[490]Leonardo da Chá Maser calls him “discreet and experienced, although quite illiterate” (see Peragallo,Carta de El-Rei D. Manuel, Lisbon, 1892, p. 89).

[491]This Gama was the third son of the first Vasco, and consequently an uncle of the Admiral. He was Comptroller of the Revenues (“casa da fazenda”) of the Order.

[492]Cordeiro,Boletim, 1892, p. 287.

[493]A town on the Tejo, 20 miles above Lisbon.

[494]Cordeiro,Boletim, 1892, p. 288. ThisAlvarówas confirmed by King John, June 17, 1522 (Cordeiro,O Premio da Descoberta, p. 45).

[495]Cordeiro,O Premio da Descoberta, p. 46.

[496]Roteiro, Appendice, p. 175.

[497]Niza, a town in the district of Portalegre, about 100 miles to the N.E. of Lisbon. When the 5th Count da Gama was raised to the dignity of a “Marquis” in 1648, he took his title from this town.

[498]Cordeiro,Boletim, 1892, p. 289.

[499]Cordeiro,Boletim, 1892, p. 292.

[500]Cordeiro,Boletim, 1892, pp. 278, 291.

[501]Cordeiro, pp. 274, 295.

Back to Index Next