Extent of the Voyage.
Dias, after hearing these statements, took the officers and some of the principal seamen on shore, where he administered an oath to them, after which he asked their opinion as to what was the best course to pursue for the service of the king. They replied with one voice, to return home, whereupon he caused them to sign a document to that effect. He then begged of them to continue only two or three days’ sail farther, and promised that if they should find nothing within that time to encourage them to proceed on an easterly course, he would put about. The crews consented, but in the time agreed upon they advanced only to the mouth of a river to which the commander gave the name Infante, owing to João Infante, captain of theSão Pantaleão, being the first to leap ashore. The river was probably the Fish, but may have been either the Kowie or the Keiskama as known to us. Its mouth was stated to be twenty-five leagues from the islet of the Cross, and to be in latitude 32⅔° S., which was very incorrect.
But now, notwithstanding this error, there should have been no doubt in any mind that they had reached the end of the southern seaboard, which in a distance of over nine hundred kilometres does not vary a hundred and seventy kilometres in latitude. The coast before them trended away to the north-east in a bold, clear line, free of the haze that almost always hung over the western shore. And down it, only a short distance from the land, flowed a swift ocean current many degrees warmer than the water on either side, and revealing itself even to a careless eye by its deeper blue. That current could only come from a heated sea in the north, and so they might have known that the eastern side of Africa had surely been reached.
Historical Sketches.
Whether the explorers observed these signs thePortuguese writers who recorded their deeds, though in a manner so incomplete as to cause nothing but regret to-day, do not inform us,[9]but from the river Infante the expedition turned back. At Santa Cruz Dias landed again, and bade farewell to the cross which he had set up there with as much sorrow as if he was parting with a son banished for life. In returning, the great headland was discovered, to which the commander gave the name Cabo Tormentoso—the Stormy Cape—afterwards changed by the king to Cabo de Boa Esperança—Cape of Good Hope—owing to the fair prospect which he could now entertain of India being at last reached by this route. What particular part of the peninsula Dias landed upon is unknown, but somewhere on it he set up another of the marble pillars he had brought from Portugal, to which he gave the name São Philippe. The country about it he did not explore, as his provisions were so scanty that he was anxious to get away. Keeping along the coast, after nine months’ absence the storeship was rejoined, when only three men were found on board of her, and of these, one, Fernão Colaça by name, died of joy upon seeing his countrymen again. The other six had been murdered by negroes with whom they were trading. Having replenished his scanty stock of provisions, Dias set fire to the storeship, as she was in need of refitting, and he had not men to work her; and then sailed to Prince’s Islandin the bight of Biafra, where he found some Portuguese in distress. A gentleman of the king’s household, named Duarte Pacheco, had been sent to explore the rivers on that part of the coast, but had lost his vessel, and was then lying ill at the island with part of the crew who had escaped from the wreck. Dias took them all on board, being very glad not only to relieve his countrymen but to obtain more men to work his ships, so many of those who sailed with him from Portugal having died, and, pursuing his course in a north-westerly direction, touched at a river where trade was carried on, and also at the fort of São Jorge da Mina, an established Portuguese factory,[10]of which João Fogaça was then commander. Here he took charge of the gold that had been collected, after which he proceeded on his way to Lisbon, where he arrived in December 1487, sixteen months and seventeen days from the time of his setting out.
Return of Dias to Portugal.
No other dates than those mentioned are given by the early Portuguese historians, thus the exact time of the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope and the coast onward to the mouth of the Infante river is doubtful, and it can only be stated as having occurred in the early months of 1487. The voyage surely was a memorable one, and nothing but regret can be expressed that more of its details cannot be recovered. Of the three pillars set up by Dias, two—those of the Holy Cross and São Philippe—disappeared, no one has ever been able to ascertain when or how; that of São Thiago at Angra Pequena remained where it was placed until it was broken down by some unknown vandals about the commencement of the nineteenth century.
Meantime the king sent two men named Affonso dePaiva, of Castelbranco, and João Pires,[11]of Covilhão, in another direction to search for Prester John. For this purpose they left Santarem on the 7th of May 1487, and being well provided with money, they proceeded first to Naples, then to the island of Rhodes, and thence to Alexandria. They were both conversant with the Arabic language, and had no difficulty in passing for Moors. At Alexandria they were detained some time by illness, but upon recovering they proceeded to Cairo, and thence in the disguise of merchants to Tor, Suakin, and Aden. Here they separated, Affonso de Paiva having resolved to visit Abyssinia to ascertain if the monarch of that country was not the potentate they were in search of, and João Pires taking passage in a vessel bound to Cananor on the Malabar coast. They arranged, however, to meet again in Cairo at a time fixed upon.
Historical Sketches.
João Pires reached Cananor in safety, and went down the coast as far as Calicut, after which he proceeded upwards to Goa. Here he embarked in a vessel bound to Sofala, and having visited that port, he returned to Aden, and at the time appointed was back in Cairo, where he learned that Affonso de Paiva had died not long before. At Cairo he found two Portuguese Jews, Rabbi Habrão, of Beja, and Josepe, a shoemaker of Lamego. Josepe had been in Bagdad, on the Euphrates, some years previously, and had there heard of Ormuz, at the mouth of the Persian gulf, and of its being the warehouse of the Indian trade and the point of departure for caravans to Aleppo and Damascus. He had returnedto Portugal and informed the king of what he had learned, who thereupon sent him and Habrão with letters of instruction to Affonso de Paiva and João Pires, directing them if they had not already found Prester John, to proceed to Ormuz and gather all the information they could there.
Travels of João Pires.
Upon receiving this order João Pires drew up an account of what he had seen and learned in India and on the African coast, which he gave to Josepe to convey to the king, and taking Habrão with him, he proceeded to Aden and thence to Ormuz. From Ormuz Habrão set out with a caravan for Aleppo on his way back to Portugal with a duplicate of the narrative sent to the king by Josepe. None of the early Portuguese historians who had access to the records of the country ever saw this narrative, so that probably neither of the Jews lived to deliver his charge. Not a single date is given in the early accounts of this journey, except that of the departure from Santarem, which De Goes fixes as May 1486[12]and Castanheda and De Barros as the 7th of May 1487. There is no trace of any knowledge in Portugal of the commerce of Sofala before the return of Vasco da Gama in 1499, but as such a journey as that described must in the fifteenth century have occupied several years, it is just possible that Josepe or Habrão reached Lisbon after that date.
João Pires went from Ormuz by way of Aden to Abyssinia, where he was well received by the ruler of that country. Here, after all his wanderings he found a home, for as he was not permitted to leave again, he married and had children, living upon property given to him by the government. In 1515 Dom Rodrigo de Lima arrived in Abyssinia as ambassador of the king of Portugal, and found him still alive. With the embassy was a priest, Francisco Alvares by name, who wrote an account of the mission and of the statement made tohim by João Pires, and also gave such information on his return home as enabled the Portuguese historians to place on record the above details. As far as actual result in increase of geographical knowledge is concerned, this expedition of Affonso de Paiva and João Pires therefore effected nothing.
Historical Sketches.
In the laudable spirit of modern times, prompted by a desire to rectify error, men do not hesitate to question the accuracy of even the most renowned writers of old. But the great authority of De Barros requires that very substantial proof should be supplied before any date given by him is overturned, especially when that date is given three different times, and is indirectly corroborated by other contemporary historians. In an article entitledThe Voyages of Diogo Cão and Bartholomeu Dias 1482-88, by E. G. Ravenstein, in theGeographical Journal, Vol. XVI, July to December 1900, page 625, an attempt is made to substitute other dates for the voyages of Diogo Cam and Bartholomeu Dias than those given by João de Barros, but the arguments supplied do not seem to me to be of much weight.This is what Mr. Ravenstein says:“We do not know whether Cão was given the command of one or of more vessels, nor have the names of any of his officers been placed on record.“Cão was the first to carry padrões, or pillars of stone, on an exploring voyage. Up to his time the Portuguese had been content to erect perishable wooden crosses, or to carve inscriptions into trees to mark the progress of their discoveries. King John conceived the happy idea of introducing stone pillars surmounted by a cross, and bearing, in addition to the royal arms, an inscription recording in Portuguese, and sometimes also in Latin, the date, the name of the king by whose order the voyage was made and the name of the commander. The four padrões set up by Cão on his two voyages have been discovered in situ, and the inscriptions upon two of them (one for each voyage) are still legible, notwithstanding the lapse of four centuries and have been deciphered.“During the first voyage two padrões were set up—one at the Congo mouth, the other on the Cabo do Lobo in latitude 13° 26 S., now known as Cape St. Mary. The latter has been recovered intact. It consists of a shaft 1.69 m. high and 0.73 m. in circumference, surmounted by a cube of 0.47 m. in height and .33 in breadth. Shaft and cube are cut out of a single block of liaz, a kind of limestone or coarse marble common in the environs of Lisbon. The cross has disappeared, with the exception of a stump, from which it is seen that it also was of stone, and fixed by means of lead.“The arms of Portugal carved upon the face of the cube are those in use up to 1486; in which year João II, being then at Beja, caused the green cross of the Order of Avis, which had beenimproperly introduced by his grandfather, who had been master of that order, to be withdrawn and the position of the quinas, or five escutcheons, to be changed.Criticisms of the Account by Barros.“The inscription covers the three other sides of the cube. It is in Gothic letters and in Portuguese, and reads as follows: ‘In the year 6681 of the World, and in that of 1482 since the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, the most serene, most excellent and potent prince, King D. João II. of Portugal did order (mandou) this land to be discovered and these padrões to be set up by Dº Cão, an esquire (escudeiro) of his household.’ There is no inscription in Latin.“As the year 6681 of Eusebius begins on September 1, 1481, we gather from this inscription that the order for the expedition was given between January and August, 1482. Of course the departure may have been delayed, but the delay cannot have been a long one, as Cão was home again before April, 1484.“Cão came back to Lisbon probably in the beginning of 1484, and certainly before April of that year. The king, first of all, made him a ‘cavalleiro’ of his household. He then, on April 8, 1484, ‘in consideration of the services rendered in the course of a voyage of discovery to Guinea, from which he had now returned,’ granted him an annuity of ten thousand reals, to be continued to one surviving son; and a few days afterwards, on April 14, he separated his ‘cavalier’ from the common herd and made him noble, and gave him a coat-of-arms charged with the two padrões which he had erected on the coast of Africa.* * * * *“Far more useful for our purpose is the pillar which formerly stood on Cape Cross, and which Captain Becker of the Falke carried off to Kiel[13]in 1893. Dr. Scheppig has fully described the pillar.“The Portuguese inscription says—‘In the year 6685 of the creation of the world, and of Christ 485, the excellent, illustrious King D. João II. of Portugal did direct this land to be discovered, and this padrão to be set up by Dº Cão, a cavalleiro (knight) of his household.’“As the year 6685 of the Eusebian era begins on September 1, 1485, Cão must have departed after that day, and before the close of the year. As he had returned from his first voyage before April, 1484, his departure must have been delayed for reasons not known to us.“The Voyage of Bartholomeu Dias, 1487-88.“No sooner had Cão’s vessels returned to the Tagus than King John, whose curiosity had been excited by the reports about the supposed Prester John, brought home by d’Aveiro, determined to fit out another expedition to go in quest of him by doubling Africa, Friar Antonio of Lisbon and Pero of Montaroyo havingalready been despatched on the same errand by way of Jerusalem and Egypt. The command of this expedition was conferred upon Bartholomeu Dias de Novaes, a cavalier of the king’s household.... It certainly was our Bartholomew who commanded one of the vessels despatched in 1481 with Diogo d’Azambuja to the Gold Coast.Historical Sketches.“The appointment seems to have been made in October, 1486, for on the 10th of that month King John, ‘in consideration of services which he hoped to receive,’ conferred upon Bartholomeu Dias, the ‘patron’ of theS. Christovão, a royal vessel, an annuity of 6,000 reis.“The account which João de Barros has transmitted to us of the remarkable expedition which resulted in the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope is fragmentary, and on some points undoubtedly erroneous. Unfortunately, up till now no official report of the expedition has been discovered; but there are a few incidental references to it, which enable us to amplify, and in some measure to correct, the version put forward by the great Portuguese historian.“Most important among these independent witnesses is a marginal note on fol. 13 of a copy of Pierre d’Ailly’sImago mundi, which was the property of Christopher Columbus, and is still in the Columbine Library at Seville. This ‘note’ reads as follows:—“‘Note, that in December of this year, 1488, there landed at Lisbon Bartholomeu Didacus [Dias], the commander of three caravels, whom the King of Portugal had sent to Guinea to seek out the land, and who reported that he had sailed 600 leagues beyond the furthest reached hitherto, that is, 450 leagues to the south and then 150 leagues to the north, as far as a cape named by him the Cape of Good Hope, which cape we judge to be in Agisimba, its latitude, as determined by the astrolabe, being 45° S., and its distance from Lisbon 3100 leagues. This voyage he [Dias] had depicted and described from league to league upon a chart, so that he might show it to the king; at all of which I was present (in quibus omnibus interfui).’“The same voyage is referred to in a second ‘note’ discovered in the margin of theHistoria rerum ubique gestarumof Pope Pius II., printed at Venice in 1477. From this second note we learn that ‘one of the captains whom the most serene King of Portugal sent forth to seek out the land in Guinea brought back word in 1488 that he had sailed 45° beyond the equinoctial line.’“Las Casas (Historia de las Indias, lib. i. c. 7) assumed these notes to have been written by Bartholomew Columbus, whom, as the result of a misconception of the meaning of the concluding words of the note, he supposed to have taken part in this voyage. These assumptions, however, are absolutely inadmissible, for as early as February 10, 1488, Bartholomew had completed at London a map of the world for Henry VII. If we remember that Bartholomew was detained by pirates for several weeks before he reached England, he must have left Lisbon towards the end of 1487. He did not return to that place until many years afterwards.“On the other hand, the note is unhesitatingly recognized as in the handwriting of Christopher by such competent authorities as Varnhagen, d’Avezac, H. Harrisse, Asensio, and Cesare de Lollis.Criticism of the Account by Barros.“And if Christopher is the author of these notes, they must have been written in 1488, for it was in March, 1488, that King Manuel, in response to an application, cordially invited his ‘especial friend,’ Christopher Columbus, to come to Lisbon, promising him protection against all criminal and civil proceedings that might be taken against him. Columbus, when he received this royal invitation, was at Seville, where his son Ferdinand was born unto him on September 28, 1488. If he left Seville soon afterwards, he may certainly have been present on the memorable occasion, in December, 1488, when Bartholomeu Dias rendered an account to the king of the results of his hope-inspiring voyage.“If then, Bartholomeu Dias returned in December, 1488, after an absence (according to De Barros) of sixteen months and seventeen days, he must have started towards the end of July or in the beginning of August, 1487; and if the Bartholomeu Dias referred to in the royal rescript of October 10, 1486, is the discoverer of the Cape, which hardly admits of a doubt, he cannot have started in July, 1486, as usually assumed. He cannot have been in Lisbon in December, 1487.“This date (namely 1488) is further confirmed by Duarte Pacheco Pereira, the ‘Achilles Lusitano’ of Camoens, for in hisEsmeraldo de Situ Orbis, written soon after 1505, but only published in 1892, we are told that the Cape was discovered in 1488. And Pacheco is a very competent witness, for Dias, on his homeward voyage, met him at the Ilha do Principe.“A further statement respecting the date of the discovery of the Cape appears in theParecer, or ‘Opinion,’ of the Spanish astronomers and pilots already referred to. They say, ‘And beyond this [the Sierra Parda, where Cão died], Bartolomé Diaz, in the year 1488, discovered as far as the Cabo d’El-Rei, a distance of 350 leagues; and thence to the Cabo de boa Esperança, 250 leagues; and thence D. Vasco da Gama discovered 600 leagues.’”This evidence does not seem to me to be by any means conclusive.The marginal note supposed to have been made by Christopher Columbus I reject at once, as I cannot believe that the latitude named in it was given by Dias or recorded by Columbus.As for the work of Duarte Pacheco, it cannot for a moment be placed in the scale against Barros. Its author was born in Lisbon about 1451, and is believed to have died in poverty some time between the years 1524 and 1553. It was he who was rescued at Prince’s Island and taken to Lisbon, so that he must have been acquainted with the correct date, but as his original manuscript has perished and the copy made from it was done carelessly and certainly contains transcriber’s errors, I do not think much dependence can be placed on his statements. There are two manuscript copies of his work in existence. The oldest, now in the library at Evora, is supposed from the style of the writing to have been made about the close of the sixteenth century, and theother, now in the National Library in Lisbon, is merely a transcript of the first made at a much later date. The work was published at Lisbon in 1892 in a foolscap folio volume of xxxv+125 pages, and is divided into four books. It is entitledEsmeraldo de Situ Orbis, por Duarte Pacheco Pereira. Edição commemorativa da Descoberta da America por Christovão Colombo no seu quarto centenario, sob a direcção de Raphael Eduardo de Azevedo Basta, Conservador do Real Archivo da Torre do Tombo.Historical Sketches.I give here the two references to the voyage of Dias, from which the reader can see how little this work of Duarte Pacheco is to be depended upon. In a reference to the first voyage of Diogo Cam he states, as in the second of these, that the inscription on the cross was in three languages: Latin, Portuguese, and Arabic. That identical cross is still in existence, and there is no Arabic upon it. See also the confusion between the Penedo das Fontes and the Ilheo da Santa Cruz.Terceyro Liuro, pagina 90.Nom sem muita rasam se poz nome a este promontorio cabo da boa esperança por que Bartholomeu Dias que o descobrio por mandado delRey Dom Joham que Deos tem no anno de nosso senhor de mil quatrocentos & oitenta & oito annos veendo que esta costa & Ribeira do mar voltaua daly em diante ao norte & ao nordest....Terceyro Liuro, pagina 94.Item; sinco leguoas adiante dangra do Rico esta hum Ilheo pouco mais de mea leguoa de terra que se chama ho penedo das fontes o qual nome Ihe pos Bertholameu Dias que esta terra descobrio por mandado delRey Dom Joham que Deos tem por que achou aly duas fontes de muito boa augua doce & por outro nome se chama este penedo ho Ilheo da Cruz por que o mesmo Bertholameu Dias pos aly hum padram de pedra pouco mais alto que hum homem com huma cruz em sima & este padram tem tres letreyros.s. hum em latim & outro em harabiguo & outro em nossa lingua portugueza & todos tres dizem huma cousa.s. como elRey Dom Joham no anno de nosso senhor Jesus cristo de mil CCCC & oytenta & oyto annos & em tantos annos da creaçam do mundo mandou descobrir esta costa por Bertholameu Dias capitam de seus nauios; ...The remaining references seem to me equally weak, and until something more conclusive comes to light I think it would be well to adhere to the dates of Barros. I notice, however, that Mr. K. G. Jayne, in hisVasco da Gama and his Successors, has adopted the dates of Mr. Ravenstein.
In the laudable spirit of modern times, prompted by a desire to rectify error, men do not hesitate to question the accuracy of even the most renowned writers of old. But the great authority of De Barros requires that very substantial proof should be supplied before any date given by him is overturned, especially when that date is given three different times, and is indirectly corroborated by other contemporary historians. In an article entitledThe Voyages of Diogo Cão and Bartholomeu Dias 1482-88, by E. G. Ravenstein, in theGeographical Journal, Vol. XVI, July to December 1900, page 625, an attempt is made to substitute other dates for the voyages of Diogo Cam and Bartholomeu Dias than those given by João de Barros, but the arguments supplied do not seem to me to be of much weight.
This is what Mr. Ravenstein says:
“We do not know whether Cão was given the command of one or of more vessels, nor have the names of any of his officers been placed on record.
“Cão was the first to carry padrões, or pillars of stone, on an exploring voyage. Up to his time the Portuguese had been content to erect perishable wooden crosses, or to carve inscriptions into trees to mark the progress of their discoveries. King John conceived the happy idea of introducing stone pillars surmounted by a cross, and bearing, in addition to the royal arms, an inscription recording in Portuguese, and sometimes also in Latin, the date, the name of the king by whose order the voyage was made and the name of the commander. The four padrões set up by Cão on his two voyages have been discovered in situ, and the inscriptions upon two of them (one for each voyage) are still legible, notwithstanding the lapse of four centuries and have been deciphered.
“During the first voyage two padrões were set up—one at the Congo mouth, the other on the Cabo do Lobo in latitude 13° 26 S., now known as Cape St. Mary. The latter has been recovered intact. It consists of a shaft 1.69 m. high and 0.73 m. in circumference, surmounted by a cube of 0.47 m. in height and .33 in breadth. Shaft and cube are cut out of a single block of liaz, a kind of limestone or coarse marble common in the environs of Lisbon. The cross has disappeared, with the exception of a stump, from which it is seen that it also was of stone, and fixed by means of lead.
“The arms of Portugal carved upon the face of the cube are those in use up to 1486; in which year João II, being then at Beja, caused the green cross of the Order of Avis, which had beenimproperly introduced by his grandfather, who had been master of that order, to be withdrawn and the position of the quinas, or five escutcheons, to be changed.
Criticisms of the Account by Barros.
“The inscription covers the three other sides of the cube. It is in Gothic letters and in Portuguese, and reads as follows: ‘In the year 6681 of the World, and in that of 1482 since the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, the most serene, most excellent and potent prince, King D. João II. of Portugal did order (mandou) this land to be discovered and these padrões to be set up by Dº Cão, an esquire (escudeiro) of his household.’ There is no inscription in Latin.
“As the year 6681 of Eusebius begins on September 1, 1481, we gather from this inscription that the order for the expedition was given between January and August, 1482. Of course the departure may have been delayed, but the delay cannot have been a long one, as Cão was home again before April, 1484.
“Cão came back to Lisbon probably in the beginning of 1484, and certainly before April of that year. The king, first of all, made him a ‘cavalleiro’ of his household. He then, on April 8, 1484, ‘in consideration of the services rendered in the course of a voyage of discovery to Guinea, from which he had now returned,’ granted him an annuity of ten thousand reals, to be continued to one surviving son; and a few days afterwards, on April 14, he separated his ‘cavalier’ from the common herd and made him noble, and gave him a coat-of-arms charged with the two padrões which he had erected on the coast of Africa.
* * * * *
“Far more useful for our purpose is the pillar which formerly stood on Cape Cross, and which Captain Becker of the Falke carried off to Kiel[13]in 1893. Dr. Scheppig has fully described the pillar.
“The Portuguese inscription says—‘In the year 6685 of the creation of the world, and of Christ 485, the excellent, illustrious King D. João II. of Portugal did direct this land to be discovered, and this padrão to be set up by Dº Cão, a cavalleiro (knight) of his household.’
“As the year 6685 of the Eusebian era begins on September 1, 1485, Cão must have departed after that day, and before the close of the year. As he had returned from his first voyage before April, 1484, his departure must have been delayed for reasons not known to us.
“The Voyage of Bartholomeu Dias, 1487-88.
“No sooner had Cão’s vessels returned to the Tagus than King John, whose curiosity had been excited by the reports about the supposed Prester John, brought home by d’Aveiro, determined to fit out another expedition to go in quest of him by doubling Africa, Friar Antonio of Lisbon and Pero of Montaroyo havingalready been despatched on the same errand by way of Jerusalem and Egypt. The command of this expedition was conferred upon Bartholomeu Dias de Novaes, a cavalier of the king’s household.... It certainly was our Bartholomew who commanded one of the vessels despatched in 1481 with Diogo d’Azambuja to the Gold Coast.
Historical Sketches.
“The appointment seems to have been made in October, 1486, for on the 10th of that month King John, ‘in consideration of services which he hoped to receive,’ conferred upon Bartholomeu Dias, the ‘patron’ of theS. Christovão, a royal vessel, an annuity of 6,000 reis.
“The account which João de Barros has transmitted to us of the remarkable expedition which resulted in the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope is fragmentary, and on some points undoubtedly erroneous. Unfortunately, up till now no official report of the expedition has been discovered; but there are a few incidental references to it, which enable us to amplify, and in some measure to correct, the version put forward by the great Portuguese historian.
“Most important among these independent witnesses is a marginal note on fol. 13 of a copy of Pierre d’Ailly’sImago mundi, which was the property of Christopher Columbus, and is still in the Columbine Library at Seville. This ‘note’ reads as follows:—
“‘Note, that in December of this year, 1488, there landed at Lisbon Bartholomeu Didacus [Dias], the commander of three caravels, whom the King of Portugal had sent to Guinea to seek out the land, and who reported that he had sailed 600 leagues beyond the furthest reached hitherto, that is, 450 leagues to the south and then 150 leagues to the north, as far as a cape named by him the Cape of Good Hope, which cape we judge to be in Agisimba, its latitude, as determined by the astrolabe, being 45° S., and its distance from Lisbon 3100 leagues. This voyage he [Dias] had depicted and described from league to league upon a chart, so that he might show it to the king; at all of which I was present (in quibus omnibus interfui).’
“The same voyage is referred to in a second ‘note’ discovered in the margin of theHistoria rerum ubique gestarumof Pope Pius II., printed at Venice in 1477. From this second note we learn that ‘one of the captains whom the most serene King of Portugal sent forth to seek out the land in Guinea brought back word in 1488 that he had sailed 45° beyond the equinoctial line.’
“Las Casas (Historia de las Indias, lib. i. c. 7) assumed these notes to have been written by Bartholomew Columbus, whom, as the result of a misconception of the meaning of the concluding words of the note, he supposed to have taken part in this voyage. These assumptions, however, are absolutely inadmissible, for as early as February 10, 1488, Bartholomew had completed at London a map of the world for Henry VII. If we remember that Bartholomew was detained by pirates for several weeks before he reached England, he must have left Lisbon towards the end of 1487. He did not return to that place until many years afterwards.
“On the other hand, the note is unhesitatingly recognized as in the handwriting of Christopher by such competent authorities as Varnhagen, d’Avezac, H. Harrisse, Asensio, and Cesare de Lollis.
Criticism of the Account by Barros.
“And if Christopher is the author of these notes, they must have been written in 1488, for it was in March, 1488, that King Manuel, in response to an application, cordially invited his ‘especial friend,’ Christopher Columbus, to come to Lisbon, promising him protection against all criminal and civil proceedings that might be taken against him. Columbus, when he received this royal invitation, was at Seville, where his son Ferdinand was born unto him on September 28, 1488. If he left Seville soon afterwards, he may certainly have been present on the memorable occasion, in December, 1488, when Bartholomeu Dias rendered an account to the king of the results of his hope-inspiring voyage.
“If then, Bartholomeu Dias returned in December, 1488, after an absence (according to De Barros) of sixteen months and seventeen days, he must have started towards the end of July or in the beginning of August, 1487; and if the Bartholomeu Dias referred to in the royal rescript of October 10, 1486, is the discoverer of the Cape, which hardly admits of a doubt, he cannot have started in July, 1486, as usually assumed. He cannot have been in Lisbon in December, 1487.
“This date (namely 1488) is further confirmed by Duarte Pacheco Pereira, the ‘Achilles Lusitano’ of Camoens, for in hisEsmeraldo de Situ Orbis, written soon after 1505, but only published in 1892, we are told that the Cape was discovered in 1488. And Pacheco is a very competent witness, for Dias, on his homeward voyage, met him at the Ilha do Principe.
“A further statement respecting the date of the discovery of the Cape appears in theParecer, or ‘Opinion,’ of the Spanish astronomers and pilots already referred to. They say, ‘And beyond this [the Sierra Parda, where Cão died], Bartolomé Diaz, in the year 1488, discovered as far as the Cabo d’El-Rei, a distance of 350 leagues; and thence to the Cabo de boa Esperança, 250 leagues; and thence D. Vasco da Gama discovered 600 leagues.’”
This evidence does not seem to me to be by any means conclusive.
The marginal note supposed to have been made by Christopher Columbus I reject at once, as I cannot believe that the latitude named in it was given by Dias or recorded by Columbus.
As for the work of Duarte Pacheco, it cannot for a moment be placed in the scale against Barros. Its author was born in Lisbon about 1451, and is believed to have died in poverty some time between the years 1524 and 1553. It was he who was rescued at Prince’s Island and taken to Lisbon, so that he must have been acquainted with the correct date, but as his original manuscript has perished and the copy made from it was done carelessly and certainly contains transcriber’s errors, I do not think much dependence can be placed on his statements. There are two manuscript copies of his work in existence. The oldest, now in the library at Evora, is supposed from the style of the writing to have been made about the close of the sixteenth century, and theother, now in the National Library in Lisbon, is merely a transcript of the first made at a much later date. The work was published at Lisbon in 1892 in a foolscap folio volume of xxxv+125 pages, and is divided into four books. It is entitledEsmeraldo de Situ Orbis, por Duarte Pacheco Pereira. Edição commemorativa da Descoberta da America por Christovão Colombo no seu quarto centenario, sob a direcção de Raphael Eduardo de Azevedo Basta, Conservador do Real Archivo da Torre do Tombo.
Historical Sketches.
I give here the two references to the voyage of Dias, from which the reader can see how little this work of Duarte Pacheco is to be depended upon. In a reference to the first voyage of Diogo Cam he states, as in the second of these, that the inscription on the cross was in three languages: Latin, Portuguese, and Arabic. That identical cross is still in existence, and there is no Arabic upon it. See also the confusion between the Penedo das Fontes and the Ilheo da Santa Cruz.
Terceyro Liuro, pagina 90.
Nom sem muita rasam se poz nome a este promontorio cabo da boa esperança por que Bartholomeu Dias que o descobrio por mandado delRey Dom Joham que Deos tem no anno de nosso senhor de mil quatrocentos & oitenta & oito annos veendo que esta costa & Ribeira do mar voltaua daly em diante ao norte & ao nordest....
Terceyro Liuro, pagina 94.
Item; sinco leguoas adiante dangra do Rico esta hum Ilheo pouco mais de mea leguoa de terra que se chama ho penedo das fontes o qual nome Ihe pos Bertholameu Dias que esta terra descobrio por mandado delRey Dom Joham que Deos tem por que achou aly duas fontes de muito boa augua doce & por outro nome se chama este penedo ho Ilheo da Cruz por que o mesmo Bertholameu Dias pos aly hum padram de pedra pouco mais alto que hum homem com huma cruz em sima & este padram tem tres letreyros.s. hum em latim & outro em harabiguo & outro em nossa lingua portugueza & todos tres dizem huma cousa.s. como elRey Dom Joham no anno de nosso senhor Jesus cristo de mil CCCC & oytenta & oyto annos & em tantos annos da creaçam do mundo mandou descobrir esta costa por Bertholameu Dias capitam de seus nauios; ...
The remaining references seem to me equally weak, and until something more conclusive comes to light I think it would be well to adhere to the dates of Barros. I notice, however, that Mr. K. G. Jayne, in hisVasco da Gama and his Successors, has adopted the dates of Mr. Ravenstein.
First Voyages of the French and English to the Eastern Seas. And a Sketch of the Early History of the Netherlands and of the Establishment of the Dutch in India.
First Voyages of the French and English to India. Early History of the Netherlands.
Thedebt which the world owes to the Portuguese for weakening the Mohamedan power and thus preventing the subjugation of a larger portion of Eastern Europe than was actually overrun by the Turks should not be forgotten, but long before the close of the sixteenth century they had ceased to be participants in the great progressive movement of the Caucasian race. Upon a conquering nation rests an enormous responsibility: no less than that of benefiting the world at large. Was Portugal doing this in her eastern possessions to such an extent as to make her displacement there a matter deserving universal regret? Probably her own people would reply that she was, for every nation regards its own acts as better than those of others; but beyond her borders the answer unquestionably would be that she was not. Rapacity, cruelty, corruption, have all been laid to her charge at this period, and not without sufficient reason. But apart from these vices, her weakness under the Castilian kings was such that she was incapable of doing any good. When an individual is too infirm and decrepit to manage his affairs, a robust man takes his place, and so it is with States. The weak one may cry out that might is not right, but such a cry finds a very feeble echo. India was not held by the Portuguese under the only indefeasible tenure: that of making the best use of it; and thus it could be seized by a stronger powerwithout Christian nations feeling that a wrong was being done.
Historical Sketches.
Before recounting in brief the rise of the Northern Netherlands to a proud position among European states, and the commencement of the Dutch conquests in the eastern seas, a glance may be given to the earliest acts of other nations, and especially to those of our own countrymen, in those distant regions.
The French were the first to follow the Portuguese round the Cape of Good Hope to India. As early as 1507 a corsair of that nation, named Mondragon, made his appearance in the Mozambique channel[14]with two armed vessels, and plundered a ship commanded by Job Queimado. He also captured and robbed another Indiaman nearer home. On the 18th of January 1509 a fleet commanded by Duarte Pacheco Pereira fell in with him off Cape Finisterre, and after a warm engagement sank one of his ships and captured the other. Mondragon was taken a prisoner to Lisbon, where he found means of making his peace with the king, and he was then permitted to return to France.
Twenty years later three ships, fitted out by a merchant named Jean Ango, sailed from Dieppe for India. The accounts of this expedition are so conflicting that it is impossible to relate the occurrences attending it with absolute accuracy. It is certain, however, that one of the ships never reached her destination. Another was wrecked on the coast of Sumatra, where her crew were all murdered. The third reached Diu in July 1527. She had a crew of forty Frenchmen, but was commanded by a Portuguese named Estevão Dias, nicknamed Brigas, who had fled from his native country on account of misdeeds committed there, and had taken service with the strangers.The ruler of Diu regarded this ship with great hostility, and as he was unable to seize her openly, he practised deceit to get her crew within his power. Professing friendship, he gave Dias permission to trade in his territory, but took advantage of the first opportunity to arrest him and his crew. They were handed over as captives to the paramount Mohamedan ruler, and were obliged to embrace his creed to preserve their lives. They were then taken into his service and remained in India.
Early Voyages of the French.
Early in 1529 two ships commanded by Jean and Raoul Parmentier, fitted out partly by Jean Ango, partly by merchants of Rouen, sailed from Dieppe. In October of the same year they reached Sumatra, but on account of great loss of life from sickness, on the 22nd of January 1530 they turned homeward. As they avoided the Portuguese settlements, nothing was known at Goa of their proceedings except what was told by a sailor who was left behind at Madagascar and was afterwards found there. This expedition was almost as unsuccessful as the preceding one. On their return passage the ships were greatly damaged in violent storms, and they reached Europe with difficulty.
From that time until 1601 there is no trace of a French vessel having passed the Cape of Good Hope. In May of this year theCorbinandCroissant, two ships fitted out by some merchants of Laval and Vitré, sailed from St. Malo. They reached the Maldives safely, but there theCorbinwas lost in July 1602, and her commander was unable to return to France until ten years had gone by. TheCroissantwas lost on the Spanish coast on her homeward passage.
On the 1st of June 1604 a French East India Company was established on paper, but it did not get further. In 1615 it was reorganised, and in 1617 the first successful expedition to India under the French flag sailed from a port in Normandy. From that date onward ships of this nation were frequently seen in the eastern seas. Butthe French made no attempt to form a settlement in South Africa, and their only connection with this country was that towards the middle of the seventeenth century a vessel was sent occasionally from Rochelle to collect a cargo of sealskins and oil at the islands in and near the present Saldanha Bay.
Historical Sketches.
The English were the next to appear in Indian waters. A few individuals of this nation may have served in Portuguese ships, and among the missionaries, especially of the Company of Jesus, who went out to convert the heathen, it is not unlikely that there were several. One at least, Thomas Stephens by name, was rector of the Jesuit college at Salsette. A letter written by him from Goa in 1579, and printed in the second volume of Hakluyt’s work, is the earliest account extant of an English voyager to that part of the world.[15]It contains no information of importance.
The famous sea captain Francis Drake, of Tavistock in Devon, sailed from Plymouth on the 13th of December 1577, with the intention of exploring the Pacific ocean. His fleet consisted of five vessels, carrying in all one hundred and sixty-four men. His own ship, named the Pelican, was of one hundred and twenty tons burden. The others were theElizabeth, eighty tons, theMarigold,thirty tons, a pinnace of twelve tons, and a storeship of fifty tons burden. The last named was set on fire as soon as her cargo was transferred to the others, the pinnace was abandoned, theMarigoldwas lost in a storm, theElizabeth, after reaching the Pacific, turned back through the straits of Magellan, and thePelicanalone continued the voyage. She was the first English ship that sailed round the world. Captain Drake reached England again on the 3rd of November 1580, and soon afterwards was made a knight by Queen Elizabeth on board his ship. ThePelicandid not touch at any part of the South African coast, but there is the following paragraph in the account of the voyage:—
First Englishmen in the East.
“We ran hard aboard the Cape, finding the report of the Portuguese to be most false, who affirm that it is the most dangerous cape of the world, never without intolerable storms and present danger to travellers who come near the same. This cape is a most stately thing, and the fairest cape we saw in the whole circumference of the earth, and we passed by it on the 18th of June.”
In 1583 four English traders in precious stones, acting partly on their own account and partly as agents for merchants in London, made their way by the Tigris and the Persian gulf to Ormuz, where at that time people of various nationalities were engaged in commerce. John Newbery, the leader of the party, had been there before. The others were named Ralph Fitch, William Leades, and James Story. Shortly after their arrival at Ormuz they were arrested by the Portuguese authorities on the double charge of being heretics and spies of the prior Dom Antonio, who was a claimant to the throne of Portugal, and under these pretences they were sent prisoners to Goa. There they managed to clear themselves of the first of the charges, Story entered a convent, and the others, on finding bail not to leave the city, were set at liberty in December 1584, mainly through the instrumentality of the Jesuit father Stephens and Jan Huyghenvan Linscheten, of whom more will be related in the following pages. Four months afterwards, being in fear of ill-treatment, they managed to make their escape from Goa. After a time they separated, and Fitch went on a tour through India, visiting many places before his return to England in 1591. An account of his travels is extant in Hakluyt’s collection, but there is not much information in it, and it had no effect upon subsequent events.
Historical Sketches.
Thomas Candish sailed from Plymouth on the 21st of July 1586, with three ships—theDesire, of one hundred and twenty tons, theContent, of sixty tons, and theHugh Gallant, of forty tons—carrying in all one hundred and twenty-three souls. After sailing round the globe, he arrived again in Plymouth on the 9th of September 1588, having passed the Cape of Good Hope on the 16th of May.
The first English ships that put into a harbour on the South African coast were thePenelope,Merchant Royal, andEdward Bonaventure, which sailed from Plymouth for India on the 10th of April 1591, under command of Admiral George Raymond. This fleet put into the watering place of Saldanha, now called Table Bay, at the end of July. The crews, who were suffering from scurvy, were at once sent on shore, where they obtained fresh food by shooting wild fowl and gathering mussels and other shell-fish along the rocky beach. Some inhabitants had been seen when the ships sailed in, but they appeared terrified, and at once moved inland. Admiral Raymond visited Robben Island, where he found seals and penguins in great numbers. One day some hunters caught a Hottentot, whom they treated kindly, making him many presents and endeavouring to show him by signs that they were in want of cattle. They then let him go, and eight days afterwards he returned with thirty or forty others, bringing forty oxen and as many sheep. Trade was at once commenced, the price of an ox being two knives, that of a sheep one knife. So many men had died of scurvy that it was considered advisable to sendtheMerchant Royalback to England weak handed. ThePenelope, with one hundred and one men, and theEdward Bonaventure, with ninety-seven men, sailed for India on the 8th of September. On the 12th a gale was encountered, and that night those in theEdward Bonaventure, whereof was master James Lancaster—who was afterwards famous as an advocate of Arctic exploration, and whose name was given by Bylot and Baffin to the sound which terminated their discoveries in 1616—saw a great sea break over the admiral’s ship, which put out her lights. After that she was never seen or heard of again.
The Beginning of Dutch History.
The appearance of these rivals in the Indian seas caused much concern in Spain and Portugal. There was as yet no apprehension of the loss of the sources of the spice trade, but it was regarded as probable that English ships would lie in wait at St. Helena for richly laden vessels homeward bound, so in 1591 and again in 1593 the king directed the viceroy to instruct the captains not to touch at that island.
At this time a new state, the republic of the United Netherlands, had recently come into existence in Europe. It was a state full of life and vigour, though its territory was even smaller than that of Portugal. Constantly battling with the ocean that threatened to submerge the land, breathing an invigorating air, coming from an energetic and self-respecting stock, its people were the hardiest and most industrious of Europeans. They were also attached to freedom, and ready to part with property and life itself rather than submit to tyranny or misrule. A brief outline of their history will show how they came to contend with Portugal at the close of the sixteenth century and the beginning of the seventeenth for the commerce of the Indian seas.[16]
The territory that now forms the kingdom of the Netherlands was the last part of the continent of Europe to be occupied by human beings. For untold ages the Rhine, the Maas, and the Schelde had been carrying down earth and the ocean had been casting up sand, until at last a tract of swampy but habitable ground appeared where previously waves had rolled. That was not many centuries before the commencement of the Christian era, and so no traces of palæolithic man are found there such as are found in all other parts of Europe, and in great abundance in some parts of modern Belgium close by. The most ancient relics of man discovered in the northern Netherlands are comparatively recent flint implements, tumuli containing funeral urns, and the so-called hunebedden, sepulchres of men of note, roughly built of stone taken from boulders carried from the Scandinavian peninsula by ice in glacial times, and deposited on the banks not yet risen to the surface of the sea. These hunebedden are found chiefly in the present province of Drenthe, and may not date much further back than Roman times.
Historical Sketches.
The Batavi, a Nether Teuton tribe, driven westward by war, about a century before the birth of Christ found their way into the island enclosed by the North sea and the extreme forks of the Rhine, which was then a waste of morasses, lakelets, and forests. It had previously been occupied by a Celtic population, that had abandoned it not long before on account of disasters from floods. The position of the forks of the Rhine was probably differentfrom what it is to-day, for the whole face of the country has undergone a great change since the Batavians first saw it. Large tracts of land have been reclaimed, and still larger tracts have been lost by the sea washing over them. Thus in the thirteenth century of our era the very heart of the country was torn out by the ocean, and villages and towns and wide pastures were buried for ever under the deep waters since termed the Zuider Zee. In 1277 the Dollart was formed between Groningen and Hanover, and in 1421 the Biesbosch between Brabant and Holland took the place of habitable land.
Different Races in the Netherlands.
Farther north than the Batavians, the Frisians, also a Nether Teuton people, occupied a great extent of country, but it is impossible to say when they first took possession of it. These Batavians and Frisians were the nearest blood relations of the Angles and Saxons who at a later date conquered England and part of Scotland, and their language was so nearly the same that our great Alfred could with little difficulty have understood it.
The southern part of what is now the kingdom of Belgium and the adjoining districts of France were inhabited at this time by a Celtic people, who had long before replaced the early palæolithic savages. Between them and the Batavians and Frisians was a broad tract occupied by Teutons and Celts mixed together, who do not appear, however, to have blended their blood to any great extent. This was the condition of the country at the beginning of the Christian era, and it was its condition more than fifteen centuries later, when Philippe II was king of Spain and Elizabeth Tudor was queen of England.
Cæsar conquered the Celts and compelled the Frisians to pay tribute, but he admitted the Batavians to an alliance, and thereafter for hundreds of years they voluntarily supplied the Roman army with its bravest soldiers. They gave their blood for Rome, and in return received civilisation. During this period they learned toconstruct dykes to prevent the ocean and the rivers from overflowing the land, to dig canals, to make highways, and to build bridges.
Historical Sketches.
Then came the outpouring of the northern nations upon the western empire, and when it ceased the power that had overshadowed the earth had gone. In its stead the Franks were masters of the Celtic portion of the Netherlands, where the Latin tongue was spoken, and tribes akin to the Frisian had mixed with the occupants of the north. The Batavians remained, but their distinctive name had disappeared, and so the racial division of the land was as it had been before.
Some of the Frisians had been converted to Christianity by Anglo-Saxon missionaries, and inA.D.750 the whole of them, after a crushing defeat by Charles Martel, accepted that religion. InA.D.785 their conquest was completed by Charlemagne, and the whole region then became a section of the dominions of that able and powerful ruler. The bishopric of Utrecht was founded at this time. Extensive domains were attached to the see, and the bishop, besides the ecclesiastical authority which he exercised over the whole of the Frisians, was temporal ruler of a territory constantly varying in size, sometimes covering several of the modern provinces.
Charlemagne left the local customs of the people of the Netherlands undisturbed, and sent officials to govern them according to their own laws, though in his name. Under his feeble successors the country was broken up into a number of practically petty sovereignties by the descendants of his officials, who now claimed hereditary authority and ruled as despots. They called themselves dukes, counts, marquises, or lords, and often quarrelled with each other. Most of them nominally admitted the precedence in rank of the head of the Holy Roman Empire, as the counts of Flanders and Artois did that of the kings of France, but this was the full extent of their submission.
The Scandinavian pirates sailed up the rivers and made frequent attacks upon the towns and villages on their banks, they plundered and murdered many of the people, but they did not form permanent settlements as they did in the more attractive lands of Normandy and Sicily.
Growth of the Towns.
The country not being capable of supporting its inhabitants by agriculture and cattle breeding alone, manufactures and commerce were necessary, and in addition the fisheries became a means of living for many. They traded with England, buying wool, with the coast of the Baltic, selling woollen and linen cloths, and with all north-western Europe, selling Indian products, of which Bruges was the emporium for the Italian merchants. So towns grew and prospered, and in course of time obtained municipal charters from their sovereigns. In A.D. 1217 the first of these in the present kingdom of the Netherlands was granted by Count William the First of Holland and Countess Joanna of Flanders to the town of Middelburg in Zeeland. It did not indeed confer great privileges, but it was the beginning of a system which had most important effects upon the country. The crusades tended to hasten this movement. The petty sovereigns who took part in them were very willing to sell privileges for ready money, which they needed for their equipment, and their subjects were quite as willing to buy.
So the towns grew in number and in size, and succeeded in obtaining, usually by purchase, a large amount of self-government and the right of sending deputies to the estates or parliaments, who sat with the nobles to confer upon general affairs. Just as the various kings of the Saxon states in England, the petty sovereigns were continually quarrelling with each other, and their number varied from time to time, as one or other got the mastery over his neighbours. Not the least prominent or quarrelsome among them was the bishop of Utrecht, whose dominions contracted or expanded with the fortunes of diplomacy or war. The estates of his province consistedof deputies from the towns, the nobles, and abbots, over whom he presided as a sovereign. In some of the little dominions the privileges of the towns were much greater than in others, in several indeed the cities were practically little short of being independent republics. Unfortunately they were so jealous of each other that they could not unite in carrying out any policy that would have benefited the whole province, and there was no tie whatever that bound the different provinces together. Each city with a little domain around it stood alone, and though it might enjoy self-government, its position was precarious, for it could not depend upon anything outside of itself to assist it if necessary to maintain its rights against an aggressor.
Historical Sketches.
This was the condition of affairs political when, owing partly to the extinction of some of the ruling families, partly to purchase, and partly to fraud and force, in 1437 a majority of the provinces—among them Holland and Zeeland—came under the dominion of Philippe, the powerful duke of Burgundy. They continued, however, to be independent of each other, and were governed by him as distinct states, of one of which he was termed duke, of another count, and so on, though he established a council at Mechlin, which acted as a court of appeal for them all. He was married to the youngest daughter of João I of Portugal and Philippa of Lancaster, Isabella by name, whose nephew, Affonso V, in 1466 made her a present of the Azores or Western Islands. A considerable number of families from the Netherlands, whose descendants can still be distinguished there, then migrated to the Flemish islands, as they were long thereafter termed. These dependencies shared the fate of the other dominions of the house of Burgundy until 1640, when they reverted to Portugal.
Philippe suppressed much of the freedom that had been gained, but he encouraged and protected commerce and manufactures, and under his rule the provinces increased greatly in material wealth. He died in 1467, andwas succeeded by his son Charles the Headstrong, a perfectly reckless and unprincipled ruler, who endeavoured to crush out all the acquired freedom of the people, and nearly succeeded in establishing himself as an absolute despot. His first wife was Catherine of Valois, by whom he had only one daughter. After her death he married, on the 3rd of July 1468, Margaret of York, sister of Edward IV of England, but had no children by her. Like his father, he governed the Netherlands by means of officials termed stadholders, who acted as his representatives and carried out his instructions. The first standing army in the country was stationed there by him. Charles was killed in battle with the Swiss in 1477, and as he left no son, his daughter, Mary of Burgundy, claimed the right of succeeding him as sovereign of all the provinces he had ruled over.