of 110 ft. above the keel and flew the Royal Standard at its head,
whilst the captain’s scarlet flag floated from the crow’s-nest, nearly
70 ft. above deck. A similar crow’s-nest was attached to the foremast.
In the case of an engagement these points of vantage were occupied by
fighting men, who hurled thence javelins, grenades, and powder-pots
upon the enemy. The sails were square, with the exception of that of
the mizzen, which was triangular. When spread they presented 4,000
square feet of canvas to the wind; this was exclusive of the “bonnets”
which were occasionally laced to the leeches of the mainsail, and
served to some extent the same purpose as a modern studding-sail.[411]
The Cross of the Order of Christ was painted on each sail.
The anchors, two in number, were of iron, with a wooden stock and a
ring for bending the cable.
The hold was divided into three compartments. Amidships were the water
barrels, with coils of cable on the top of them—a very inconvenient
arrangement; abaft was the powder-magazine, and most arms and
munitions, including iron and stone balls, were kept there; the forward
compartment was used for the storage of requisites, including spare
sails and a spare anchor.
The lower deck was divided by bulkheads into three compartments, two
of which were set apart for provisions, presents, and articles of
barter. The “provisions”, according to Castanheda, were calculated to
suffice for three years, and the daily rations were on a liberal scale,
consisting of 1½ pounds of biscuit, 1 pound of beef or half a pound
of pork, 2½ pints of water, 1¼ pints of wine, one-third of a gill
of vinegar, and half that quantity of oil. On fast days, half a pound
of rice, of codfish, or cheese was substituted for the meat. There
were, in addition, flour, lentils, sardines, plums, almonds, onions,
garlic, mustard, salt, sugar and honey. These ships’ stores were
supplemented by fish, caught whenever an opportunity offered, and by
fresh provisions obtained when in port, among which were oranges, which
proved most acceptable to the many men suffering from scurvy.
The merchandise was not only insufficient in quantity, but proved
altogether unsuited to the Indian market. It seems to have included
_lambel_ (striped cotton stuff), sugar, olive-oil, honey, and coral
beads. Among the objects intended for presents, there were wash-hand
basins, scarlet hoods, silk jackets, pantaloons, hats, Moorish caps;
besides such trifles as glass beads, little round bells, tin rings
and bracelets, which were well enough suited for barter on the Guinea
coast, but were not appreciated by the wealthy merchants of Calecut. Of
ready money there seems to have been little to spare. All this is made
evident by the letters of D. Manuel and Signor Sernigi.
The scientific outfit of the expedition, it may safely be presumed,
was the best to be procured at the time. The learned D. Diogo Ortiz de
Vilhegas[412] furnished Da Gama with maps and books, including, almost
as a matter of course, a copy of Ptolemy, and copies of the information
on the East collected at Lisbon for years past. Among these reports,
that sent home by Pero de Covilhão found, no doubt, a place,[413] as
also the information furnished by Lucas Marcos,[414] an Abyssinian
priest who visited Lisbon about 1490.
The astronomical instruments were provided by Zacut, the astronomer,
and it is even stated that Vasco enjoyed the advantage of being trained
as a practical observer by that learned Hebrew. These instruments
included a large wooden astrolabe, smaller astrolabes of metal, and, in
all probability, also quadrants; and they were accompanied by a copy
of Zacut’s _Almanach perpetuum Celestium motuum cujus radix est 1473_,
a translation of which, by José Vizinho, had been printed at Leiria
in 1496.[415] These tables enabled the navigator to calculate his
latitudes by observing the altitude of the sun.
There was, of course, a sufficient supply of compasses, of sounding
leads and hour-glasses, and possibly also a _catena a poppa_, that is,
a rope towed at the stern to determine the ship’s leeway, and a _toleta
de marteloia_, a graphical substitute for our modern traverse tables,
both of them contrivances long since in use among the Italians. It
is also possible that Vasco was already provided with an equinoctial
compass for determining the time of high water at the ports he
visited, and with a variation compass. This instrument consisted of a
combination of a sun-dial with a magnetic needle. It had been invented
by Peurbach, _c._ 1460, was improved by Felipe Guillen, 1528, and by
Pedro Nunes, 1537, and used for the first time on an extensive scale
by João de Castro, during a voyage to India and the Red Sea, in
1538-41.[416] We are inclined to think that Vasco had such a variation
compass, for the Cabo das Agulhas, or “Needle Cape”, thus named because
the needle there pointed, or was supposed to point, due north, has
already found a place on Cantino’s Chart, and can have been named only
as the result of an actual observation, however inaccurate.
[Illustration: Cão’s Padrão at Cape Cross.]
Lastly, there remain to be noticed the Padrãos, or pillars of stone
which were on board the vessels, and three of which, by the king’s
express desire, were dedicated to S. Raphael, S. Gabriel, and S. Maria
(see p. 80). Barros and Castanheda tell us that these pillars resembled
those set up by Cão and Dias in the time of D. João II; and in a series
of pictures which D. Manuel desired to have painted in celebration of
the discovery of India, the Padrão to be shown at the Cape of Good
Hope, or “Prasum promontorium”, was to have been surmounted by a cross,
and to bear the Royal Arms and a Pelican, with an inscription giving
the date.[417]
Correa, on the other hand, affirms in his _Lendas_ that the pillar
set up at the Rio da Misericordia (the Rio dos Bons Signaes of the
_Roteiro_) was of marble, with two escutcheons, one of the arms of
Portugal, and the other (at the back) of a sphere, and that the
inscription was “Do senhorio de Portugal reino de Christãos”. The
pillar at Melinde had the same escutcheons, but the inscription was
limited to the words “Rey Manoel”.[418] As Correa had an opportunity of
seeing these pillars, his description of them may be correct, though he
is an arrant fabulator.
APPENDIX E.
[Illustration: VASCO DA GAMA.
(_From A. Morelet’s French version of the “Roteiro”, 1864._)
After a Portrait formerly the property of Conde de Farrobo, now in the
_Museu das Bellas Artes_, Lisbon.]
MUSTER-ROLL OF VASCO DA GAMA’S FLEET.
The officers and men in Vasco da Gama’s _armada_ were carefully
selected. Several of them had been with Bartholomeu Dias round the
Cape; all of them, as appears from this “Journal”, justified by their
conduct under sometimes trying circumstances the selection which had
been made.
Authorities widely differ as to the number of men who embarked. Sernigi
(p. 124) says there were only 118, of whom 55 died during the voyage
and only 63 returned. Galvão says there were 120, besides the men in
the store-ship. Castanheda and Goes raise the number to 148, of whom
only 55 returned, many of them broken in health. Faria y Sousa and
San Ramon say there were 160, and the latter adds that 93 of these
died during the voyage, thus confirming a statement made by King
Manuel in his letter of February 20th, 1504, to the effect that less
than one-half returned.[419] According to Barros there were 170 men,
including soldiers and sailors. Correa raises the number to 260, for he
says that in each of the three ships there were 80 officers and men,
including servants, besides six convicts and two priests.[420] He says
nothing of the store-ship. By the time Vasco da Gama had reached the
Rio da Misericordia only 150 out of this number are said to have been
alive.
Correa, no doubt, exaggerates. On the other hand, Sernigi’s numbers
seem to us to err quite as much on the other side. It is quite true
that a Mediterranean merchantman of 100 tons, in the sixteenth century,
was manned by 12 able and 8 ordinary seamen;[421] but in the case of
an expedition sent forth for a number of years and to unknown dangers,
this number would no doubt have been increased. We are, therefore,
inclined to believe that the number given by De Barros—namely, 170—may
be nearer the truth, namely 70 men in the flag-ship, 50 in the _S.
Raphael_, 30 in the caravel, and 20 in the store-ship. The men in the
flag-ship may have included 1 captain, 1 master, 1 pilot, 1 assistant
pilot, 1 mate (contramestre), 1 boatswain (guardião), 20 able seamen
(marinheiros), 10 ordinary seamen (grumetes), 2 boys (pagens), 1
chief gunner or constable, 8 bombardiers, 4 trumpeters, 1 clerk or
purser (escrivão), 1 storekeeper (dispenseiro), 1 officer of justice
(meirinho), 1 barber-surgeon, 2 interpreters, 1 chaplain, 6 artificers
(ropemaker, carpenter, calker, cooper, armourer and cook), and 10
servants. One or more of these servants may have been negro slaves. The
“Degradados”, or convicts on board, to be “adventured on land” (p. 48),
are included in the total. Whether private gentlemen were permitted to
join this expedition as volunteers history doth not record.
The following “muster-roll” contains short notices of all those who
are stated to have embarked at Lisbon in Vasco da Gama’s fleet, or who
subsequently joined it, either voluntarily or upon compulsion.
Apart from natives, thirty-one persons are mentioned, and with respect
to twenty-six of these no reasonable doubt can be entertained that they
were actually members of the ships’ companies.
Those among them whose names appear in the “Journal” are distinguished
by an asterisk.[422]
CAPTAINS.
*_Vasco da Gama_, Captain-Major in the _S. Gabriel_.
*_Paulo da Gama_, his brother, commanding the _S. Raphael_.
*_Nicolau Coelho_, Captain of the _Berrio_ or _S. Miguel_. He
subsequently went out to India with Cabral (1500), and for a third time
with Francisco d’Albuquerque, in 1503.
On February 24, 1500, the King granted him a pension of 70,000 reis.
He also received a coat-of-arms, viz.: a field _gules_, charged with a
lion rampant between two pillars (_padrãos_), _silver_, standing upon
hillocks by the sea _vert_; and two small escutcheons charged with five
_bezants_ (Severim de Faria, _Noticias de Portugal_, Disc. 3, § 15).
He seems to have been dead in 1522, for on December 19 of that year,
his son, Francisco, begged the King to transfer the pension of his late
father to himself.—(Cunha Rivara, _Arch. Port. Oriental_, fasc. v, p.
254; and Texeira de Aragão, _Boletim_, 1886, p. 573.)
_Gonçalo Nunes_, Captain of the store-ship (Barros, I, pt. 1, p. 279;
Castanheda, I, p. 7). Castanheda, 1st edition, erroneously calls him
Gonçalo Gomez. He was a retainer of Vasco da Gama.
PILOTS AND MASTERS.
*_Pero d’Alenquer_, pilot of the _S. Gabriel_ (Barros, I, pt. 1, p.
279; Castanheda, I, p. 7; Goes, I, 69; Faria y Sousa, p. 29). He had
been with Dias in the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, and with the
Congo mission in 1490.
*_João de Coimbra_, pilot of the _S. Raphael_ (Barros, I, pt. 1, p.
279). A negro slave belonging to him deserted at Moçambique (see p. 30).
_Pero Escolar_, pilot of the _Berrio_ (Barros, _ib._; Faria y Sousa,
p. 29). On February 18, 1500, the King granted him a pension of 4,000
reis. He went as pilot with Cabral.
_Gonçalo Alvares_, master of the _S. Gabriel_ (Barros, _ib._). He
subsequently held the office of pilot-major of India (Correa, _Lendas_,
I, p. 570). On January 26, 1504, the King granted him a pension of
6,000 reis (Texeira de Aragão, _Boletim_, 1886, p. 674).
_André Gonçalves._ According to Correa (_Lendas_, I, p. 148), he had
been with Vasco da Gama, whose interest had procured him an appointment
in Cabral’s fleet. The same untrustworthy author states (p. 152) that
Cabral sent him back from Brazil with the news of his discovery, and
that the King, immediately after his arrival, fitted out a fleet to
continue the explorations in the New World. Barros (I, pt. 1, p. 384)
and Castanheda (I, p. 97) state that Cabral sent back Gaspar de Lemos.
Neither they, nor, as far as I am aware, any other authority, mention
an André Gonçalves in connection with Gama’s or Cabral’s expeditions.
PURSERS OR CLERKS.
*_Diogo Dias_, clerk of the _S. Gabriel_ (Barros, I, pt. 1, p. 279;
Castanheda, I, pp. 54, 80; Goes, I, p. 90; Faria y Sousa, I, p. 29). He
was a brother of Bartholomeu Dias, the discoverer of the Cape of Good
Hope.
_João de Sá_, clerk of the _S. Raphael_ (Barros, I, pt. 1, p. 370;
Castanheda, Goes, Faria y Sousa). He again went to India with Cabral
(Barros, I, pt. 1, p. 403), and subsequently became treasurer of the
India House (Castanheda, I, p. 54).
_Alvaro de Braga_, clerk of the _Berrio_ (Barros, Castanheda, Goes).
Vasco appointed him head of the factory at Calecut. Correa (_Lendas_,
I, pp. 89-91) erroneously calls him Pedro de Braga. He was rewarded by
the King, February 1, 1501 (_Boletim_, 1886, p. 675).
INTERPRETERS.
*_Martim Affonso_ (Barros, I, pt. 1, p. 289; Castanheda, I, p. 15;
Goes, I, p. 74; Faria y Sousa, p. 29). He had lived in Congo.
_Fernão Martins_ (Barros, I, pt. 1, p. 290; Castanheda, I, pp. 51, 54;
Goes, I, p. 89). Vasco sent him to the King of Calecut, and he was
present at the audience which Vasco had of the King (Goes, I, p. 95).
Subsequently he filled several positions of trust in India. He is the
“African slave” who spoke Arabic, referred to by Correa (Stanley’s
_Vasco da Gama_, pp. 76, 203).
_João Martins_, see João Nunez, _infra_.
PRIESTS.
_Pedro de Covilhã_, called Pero de Cobillones by Faria y Sousa (I, p.
29), who refers to ancient documents and the assertion of F. Christoval
Osorio, of the Order of Trinity, as his authorities. He was Prior of
a monastery of the Order of the Trinity at Lisbon, and went out as
Chaplain of the Fleet and Father Confessor. According to Francisco de
Sousa’s _Oriente Conquistado_, I, p. 477, he died a martyr on July
7, 1498, and this statement is accepted by P. Francisco de S. Maria
(_Anno historico_, II, Lisbon, 1794, p. 323). Fr. Jeronymo de São Jose
(_Historia chronologica da Ordem da S. Trindade_, Lisbon, 1789-94)
enlarges upon this by stating that this apocryphal “protomartyr” of
India “was speared whilst expounding the doctrines of the Trinity”.
At the date of his alleged death, Vasco da Gama was still at Calecut.
He may have died of disease. Neither Barros, Castanheda, nor Correa
mentions the name of this priest.
_João Figueiro._ Correa claims to have derived much information from
a diary kept by this priest, of which only fragments appear to have
come into his possession. Other authors ignore the name (see Stanley’s
_Vasco da Gama_, pp. ii, vi, 260).
SAILORS AND SOLDIERS.
_João d’Ameixoeira_ or _Dameiroeiro_. According to Correa (I, p. 136),
he was one of the mutineers who returned to Portugal. No other writer
mentions him.
_Pedro de Faria e Figueiredo_, died at Cabo das Correntes (Faria y
Sousa, I, p. 29).
_Francisco de Faria e Figueiredo_, brother of the preceding. He wrote
Latin verses. He, too, died at Cabo das Correntes (Faria y Sousa, I, p.
29).
*_Sancho Mexia_, incidentally mentioned in the _Roteiro_ (see p. 6).
_João Palha_, one of the thirteen who attended Vasco da Gama to Calecut
(Correa, I, p. 96).
_Gonçalo Pirez_, a mariner and retainer of Vasco da Gama (Castanheda,
I, p. 54). On May 31, 1497, he had been appointed master of a caravel
recently built at Oporto (Texeira de Aragão, _Boletim_, 1886, p. 563).
_Leonardo Ribeyro._ According to Manuel Correa’s commentary on the
_Obras do grande Camões_, Lisbon, 1720, this, on the authority of the
poet himself, is the full name of the “Leonardo” mentioned in Canto
VI, stanza 40. Faria y Sousa (_Asia Portuguesa_, I, p. 29) identified
this “Leonardo” with Francisco de Faria e Figueredo, but subsequently
(_Commentos aos Lusiadas_, 1639) he gave up the point.
_João de Setubal_, according to Correa (I, pp. 96, 104, 107), was one
of the thirteen who accompanied Vasco da Gama to Calecut (see Stanley’s
_Vasco da Gama_, pp. 119, 213).
_Alvaro Velho_, a soldier (Castanheda, I, p. 54; Goes, I, p. 90; Faria
y Sousa). Perhaps this is the Alvaro Velho de Barreyro mentioned
by Valentin Ferdinand (Valentino de Moravia or Alemão), in his
_Description of Africa_ (1507), as having resided eight years at Sierra
Leone (see Kunstmann, in _Abhdlgn. d. bayer. Ak. d. W., Cl. iij_, t.
IX, Abt. 1).
*_Fernão Veloso_, a soldier (Barros, I, pt. 1, p. 283-6; Castanheda,
I, p. 9; Goes, I, p. 71; Faria y Sousa; Camoens, Canto VI, stanza 41).
CONVICTS OR BANISHED MEN (DEGRADADOS).
_Pedro Dias_, nicknamed “Northeasterling”. Correa (_Lendas_, I, p.
46) says that Vasco da Gama left him behind at Moçambique, and that
subsequently he came to India (compare Stanley’s _Vasco da Gama_, p.
106).
_Pero Esteves._ Correa (_Lendas_, I, p. 236) says that Vasco da Gama
left him behind at Quiloa, and that when J. da Nova reached that port
in 1501, he came out to meet him. Barros (I, pt. 1, p. 467) says that
the convict who met J. da Nova had been landed by Cabral, and that his
name was Antonio Fernandez.
_João Machado_, according to Correa (_Lendas_, I, pp. 41, 160), was
left behind by Vasco da Gama at Moçambique, but according to Barros (I,
pt. 1, p. 406) it was Cabral who left him at Melinde, with instructions
to make inquiries about Prester John. Cabral may have transferred him
from Moçambique to the more northern port. He subsequently did good
service, and Affonso de Albuquerque appointed him alcaide mór of Goa.
He was slain in battle, 1515 (see Stanley’s _Vasco da Gama_, pp. 93-5).
_Damião Rodriguez_ was a friend of João Machado, and a seaman on board
the _S. Gabriel_, from which vessel he deserted at the shoals of S.
Raphael. When Cabral came to Moçambique, his grave was pointed out. All
this is stated on the sole authority of Correa (_Lendas_, I, p. 160).
Compare Stanley’s _Vasco da Gama_, p. 94.
_João Nunez_, a “new” Christian (_i.e._, a converted Jew), who knew a
little Arabic and Hebrew, and was landed at Calecut. In the Portuguese
edition of Correa (I, p. 78) he is erroneously called João Martins (see
Stanley’s _Vasco da Gama_, pp. 159, 180, 206).
NATIVES AND OTHERS EMBARKED IN THE EAST.
*_Gaspar da Gama._ This is the “Moor”, or renegade, who joined Vasco
da Gama at Anjediva Island. Our anonymous author describes him as
about forty years of age, and as being able to speak “Venetian” well.
He claimed to have come to India in early youth, and was at the time
in the service of the Governor of Goa. Vasco da Gama carried him to
Portugal, where he was baptized and received the name of Gaspar da
Gama. In the _Commentaries of Afonso Dalboquerque_ (Hakluyt Society,
1884) he is frequently referred to as Gaspar da India. Correa (_Lendas
da India_) usually refers to him as Gaspar da Gama, but also calls him
Gaspar de las Indias, or Gaspar d’Almeida. King Manuel, in his letter
to the Cardinal Protector, calls him a “Jew, who turned Christian, a
merchant and lapidary”. Sernigi (see p. 136) held a conversation with
him at Lisbon. He speaks of him as a Sclavonian Jew, born at Alexandria.
According to the information given by Barros and Goes, the parents
of Gaspar fled from Posen, in Poland, at the time when King Casimir
cruelly persecuted the Jews (about 1456). After a short residence in
Palestine they removed to Alexandria, where Gaspar was born (Barros, I,
pt. 1, pp. 364-5; Goes, pt. 1, c. 44).
He accompanied Cabral as interpreter. Vespucci met him on his homeward
voyage at Cape Verde, and in his letter of June 4, 1501, published by
Baldelli (_Il Milione_, 1827), he speaks highly of Gaspar’s linguistic
attainments, and refers to his extensive travels in Asia.
Gaspar repeatedly accompanied Portuguese expeditions to India, and was
last heard of in 1510. Goes (_loc. cit._) says that King Manuel liked
him, and appointed him a cavalier of his household.
Correa (Stanley’s _Vasco da Gama_, p. 247) describes this Gaspar as
a Jew, who, “at the taking of Granada was a very young man; and who,
having been driven from his country, passed through many lands ... on
to India”. But, as Granada was only taken in 1492, this is absurd.
Lunardo da Chá Masser, who came to Lisbon in 1504 as ambassador of
the Signoria, in a letter written about 1506 and first published in
the _Archivio Storico Italiano_ (Florence, 1846), says that Gaspar
married a Portuguese lady,[423] and was granted a pension of 170 ducats
annually, in recognition of the valuable information which he furnished
respecting the Oriental trade.
*_Monçaide_, who came on board Vasco da Gama’s vessel at Calecut,
is stated by Barros (I, pt. 1, pp. 330 _et seq._) and Goes (I, p.
98) to have been a native of Tunis, who, in the time of King John II
had done business with the Portuguese at Oran, and spoke Castilian.
He accompanied Vasco da Gama to Portugal and was baptised. In King
Manuel’s letter to the Cardinal Protector he is referred to as a “Moor
of Tunis”. The author of the _Roteiro_ calls him a “Moor of Tunis” whom
the Moors of Calecut suspected of being a Christian and emissary of the
King of Portugal (p. 75).
Correa (Stanley’s _Vasco da Gama_, pp. 162-5, 221) says that he was
a native of Seville, who, having been captured when five years old,
turned Moslem, although “in his soul he was still a Christian”. He
generally refers to this man as “the Castilian”, and says that his true
name was Alonso Perez.
Castanheda (I, p. 50) tells us that the Portuguese corrupted Monçaide
into Bontaibo, a combination of the Portuguese _bom_, “good”, and the
Arabic _tayyib_, having the same meaning. Monçaide is probably a
corruption of El Masud, the “happy-one” (Burton’s _Camoens_, iv, p. 432).
*_Malemo Canaqua_, or _Cana_, the pilot who guided Vasco da Gama from
Melinde to Calecut. He was a native of Gujarat (Barros, I, pt. 1, pp.
319, 328, 330; Goes, I, c. 38; Castanheda, I, p. 41). Malemo stands
for “muallim” or “mallim”, “master” or “teacher”, the usual native
designation of the skipper of a vessel, whilst “Kanaka” designates the
pilot’s caste.
_Davane_, of Cambay, said to have been taken out of a dhau to the south
of Moçambique, to have agreed to accompany Vasco da Gama to Calecut as
broker, and to have been ultimately discharged with good testimonials
in November 1498 at Cananor, is only mentioned by Correa (Stanley’s
_Vasco da Gama_, pp. 79, 84, 113, 128, 235). No other historian knows
anything about this mythical personage.
*_Baltasar_, and the four other Moors, forcibly carried away from
Calecut (see pp. 73, 75, and 79, and King Manuel’s letter to the
Cardinal Protector, p. 115) were taken back by Cabral, as was also
the Ambassador of the King of Melinde (_Alguns Documentos do Archivo
nacional_, 1892, p. 97).
Vasco da Gama originally detained eighteen “Moors”. He is stated in the
“Journal” to have subsequently liberated six, and to have sent one with
a letter to the Zamorin. This would leave eleven, not five. The number
of those liberated must, therefore, have been twelve, and not six.
APPENDIX F.
[Illustration: CALECUT IN 1876.
(_From a Sketch by Mr. Herbert Johnson._)]
THE VOYAGE.
The King was at Montemór o novo[424] when he despatched Vasco da Gama
and his fellow-commanders upon the momentous expedition which was to
place Portugal for a time in the forefront of maritime and commercial
powers. It was summer, and His Majesty did not, therefore, desert the
beautiful hills of Monfurado for the stifling heat of the capital, in
order that he might witness the embarkation of his “loyal vassal” whom,
on account of his proved valour and past services he had deemed worthy
of the honourable distinction of being entrusted with the conduct of so
important an enterprise.[425] Vasco da Gama and his officers, the night
before their departure, kept vigil in the chapel of Our Lady of Belem,
which was not then a stately pile such as that which now occupies the
site of the original unostentatious _ermida_ founded by Prince Henry
for the convenience of mariners.