by the Rt. Rev. J. M. Speechly, D.D., who was Bishop of Travancore,
1879-89. In a letter to me he remarks that, “at the sea-port towns
generally the worst Malayālam is spoken. Many Malayālam words are the
same in Tamil, and in this list there are some which a Tamil scholar
would be able to point out. Also, it is not unlikely that there are
some Arabic words Malayālamised in the list. The anonymous author’s
list is a very interesting one, and his journal, I have no doubt, will
be so also. The ‘ne’ which ends so many words may stand for ‘nī’,
‘thou’. Sometimes it is only an expressive ending”.
[264] She died in childbed on August 24, 1498; and Dom Manuel, having
been granted a dispensation from the Pope, married her sister, Doña
Maria, on August 24, 1500, the second anniversary of his first wife’s
death.
[265] _Collecção de S. Vicente_, t. III, fol. 513; XIV, fol. 1.
[266] _Collecção de S. Vicente_, t. XIV, fol. 1.
[267] Gaspar da Gama certainly came in the _S. Gabriel_ (see
Sernigi’s letter, Appendix B).
[268] The immediate business of Pedro Correa was to get Pope Alexander
VI to grant permission to the Commanders and Knights of the Orders of
Christ and Aviz to marry. In this he succeeded (Goes, _Chronica do D.
Manuel_, I, c. 15).
[269] “e proveito nosso.” This, in _Alguns Documentos_, is rendered “e
principalemente nosso”. It is just possible that the King meant to say
that the “service of God” was his principal object, as it had been that
of his predecessors.
[270] “By these same discoverers” (_Alguns Documentos_).
[271] This reference to “boughs and leaves” reminds us of what the
author of the _Journal_ says about gathering the branches and leaves of
supposed cinnamon trees, p. 81.
[272] _Alguns Documentos_ adds: “nor such as suited”, that is, suited
the requirements of the Indian market.
[273] This paragraph only appears in _Alguns Documentos_.
[274] The King, or his advisers, thus at once identified Ptolemy’s
Taprobane with Ceylon, whilst Ortelius, the professional geographer,
seventy-six years later, still assigns that name to Sumatra (see his
map _Indiae Orientalis_, in _Theatrum Orbis Terrarum_).
[275] Monçaide and Gaspar da Gama, see Appendix E.
[276] A Bull of Alexander VI, dated Rome 1497, kalendas of June, allows
King Manuel and his successors to keep possession of the countries
conquered from the infidels, without prejudice to any prior claims of
other Christian powers, and prohibits all kings, not possessing such
claims, from disturbing King Manuel in the enjoyment of these rights.
Finally, the Pope requires the King to establish the Christian religion
in all the countries he may conquer (quoted from _Alguns Documentos_,
p. 90).
[277] Canestrini, _Delle relazioni tra Firenze e il Portugallo_
(Archivo Storico Italiano, Florence, 1846, App. III).
[278] Falcão, _Livro de toda a fazenda_, 1612, p. 144.
[279] See Parte III, _Fonti italiane_, vol. i, p. 215; vol. ii, p. 113.
[280] _Delle Navigationi e Viaggi_, i, Venice, 1550.
[281] _Vita e lettere d’ Amerigo Vespucci_, Firenze, 1745, p. L.
[282] Roteiro, 2º ed., pp. 124-7.
[283] Markham, _The Letters of Amerigo Vespucci_. London (Hakluyt
Society), 1894, p. x.
[284] _Il Milione di Marco Polo_, Firenze, 1828, i, p. liii.
[285] _Sechs-und-zwanzigster Jahresbericht des historichen Kreisvereins
von Schwaben_, Augsburg, 1861, pp. 113-170.
[286] Peutinger studied at Padua and other cities of Italy, 1483-6. He
is supposed to have paid a flying visit to Rome early in the sixteenth
century. His brother-in-law, Christopher Welser, was at that time
resident there, and perhaps the abstract was made by him.
[287] Sailing vessels going from the Cape Verde Islands to Lisbon
frequently shape their course by the Azores. See p. 94.
[288] Translated from Codex 1910 in the Riccardian Library at Florence.
[289] Literally, “whalers”, or “vessels having the shape of a whale”,
called “barinels” by the Portuguese, and not caravels.
[290] According to the _Paesi novamente retrovati_ and Ramusio, there
were 180, but Peutinger says there were 118, of whom 55 died and 60
came back.
[291] According to the _Paesi_, etc., July 11th.
[292] This was the vessel commanded by Nicolau Coelho.
[293] “_Molto amalado_”. The _Paesi_ says “amallato a morte”, sick unto
death, the very expression used by Peutinger.
[294] Ramusio says 1,300 leagues, but even this is a gross
exaggeration. If we allow 17½ leagues to a degree, the new land
actually discovered beyond the Rio de Infante amounted to 860 leagues,
viz., 800 leagues along the African coast and 60 leagues in India.
[295] From the Cape to the Rio dos Bons Signaes is only 460 leagues.
[296] The Rio dos Bons Signaes, or Kiliman River.
[297] Peutinger says: “if they would stay till new moon, when the
waters would grow small, they would give them gold in plenty in
exchange for their money or merchandise.”
The Zambezi begins to subside in the beginning of April. Vasco da Gama
left on February 25th. This is a very satisfactory confirmation of the
writer’s information.
[298] From the Kiliman River (Zambezi) to Melinde is 330 leagues.
[299] The writer must have misunderstood his informants. Gaspar da Gama
is evidently referred to. See Appendix E.
[300] From Melinde to Calecut is about 2,340 miles, or 682 leagues.
[301] This sentence is omitted by Ramusio.
[302] The “Bab el mandeb”.
[303] The Strait of Romania is the Bosporus, ancient cartographers
(Ortelius and others) very properly writing “Romania” for the Turkish
“Rum-ili”, instead of the corrupt “Roumelia” of most modern authors.
[304] The “Sinus Arabicus” of Pliny (vi, 28) is a gulf of the
Erythrean, identical with our Red Sea.
[305] Peutinger adds that the people of Calecut were neither black nor
white; and that they were Christians, although bad ones.
[306] Peutinger says: “churches and convents.”
[307] Peutinger’s version of this sentence is as follows: “Large and
small are baptized in a state of nudity, once every three years, in a
river near the town.”
[308] The writer evidently refers to the roads in Portugal, but Ramusio
says “as in Italy”.
[309] Ramusio: “Esquires, doorkeepers and chamberlains.”
[310] Ramusio and Peutinger say: “by about fifty persons.”
[311] Peutinger says the couch “was hung round (umhangen) with
blackish-green velvet, and had a white coverlet, all worked with gold,
and above it a sumptuous curtain. The walls were hung with fine velvet
of various colours.”
[312] Peutinger: “the king had the captain asked what he wanted or
sought.”
[313] Ramusio: “carried on in their vessels.”
[314] Peutinger translates: “Irrkirche,” _i.e._, heterodox church.
[315] Industria: The word in Peutinger’s letter, “gescheidigkeit”, or
intelligence, seems more appropriate.
[316] Ramusio adds here “partly”. The island is Ceylon.
[317] Ramusio adds: “and not by Christians, and the Moors are the
masters (signori).”
[318] The Italian original has “stapola”.
[319] Babylonia of Egypt. Ramusio omits “Babylonia”. Peutinger has
Alkeiro (Cairo).
[320] The xerafins of Portuguese authors, worth about 7_s._ 10_d._ (at
Calecut).
[321] The _Paesi_ and Ramusio add “zetanini velutati”; and Ramusio
introduces also “damasked Lucca cloth”, in place of “scarlet cloth”.
Prof. Dalla Vedova suggests that “cetanini” may stand for “setini”,
a silken stuff of narrow width used in decorating the columns of
churches. Bandini says it means “zendado, a kind of cloth”. Lucca was
famous in the sixteenth century for its silks and woollen cloths.
[322] Tin, from Malacca.
[323] The _Paesi_, Ramusio, and Peutinger say May 19. According to the
“Roteiro”, Vasco da Gama anchored off Capua on May 20.
[324] Ramusio says 200 tons; Peutinger 1,200.
[325] This sentence is omitted by Ramusio; but Peutinger says “many of
these vessels are drowned in the sea”.
[326] Ramusio says: “are of curious build”.
[327] Ramusio adds: “but with wooden bolts”, but omits the allusion to
the loadstone.
Peutinger locates the “calamito or loadstone” near Ceylon. The myth
of magnetic mountains and islands originated in India or China, and
was widely credited during the Middle Ages. It was believed that the
magnet pulled out the iron bolts and nails of passing ships, which
then fell to pieces and were lost.]
[328] Ramusio adds: “The sea rises and falls alternately every six
hours, as elsewhere, and sometimes between 500 and 700 vessels may be
seen there—a great sight”.
[329] Peutinger adds that the cantar is equal to 250 pounds, when in
fact it is only a hundredweight. Five cantars were equal to 1 bahar =
208 kilo = 460 pounds.
[330] Ramusio and Peutinger say that ginger is worth only one half.
They say nothing about cinnamon.
[331] Ramusio says nothing about “calking”. The writer seems to look
upon “ballasting” and “calking” as identical operations. Or has he made
use of a Portuguese term (alastrar), the meaning of which he did not
know? Or are we to understand that lac was employed as a substitute for
pitch?
[332] Ramusio and Peutinger say that they also take corals in payment,
and this seems more probable.
[333] “Balasci” are the pink rubies named after the country of their
origin, Badakhshi, which was usually known, according to Ibn Batuta,
as Al-balaksh (Yule’s _Marco Polo_, I, p. 169; Heyd, _Geschichte des
Levante-Handels_, 1879, I, p. 582). Badakhshi is Badakhshan, and not a
kingdom near Pegu and Bengal, as supposed by Duarte Barbosa (Hakluyt
Society’s edition, 1866, p. 212).
[334] The latter part of this sentence is omitted by Ramusio.
[335] Bab el Mandeb.
[336] The Rio dos Bons Signaes, or Zambezi.
[337] Malvasia (Malmsey) is a luscious Greek wine, named after the
town of Napoli di Malvasia, in Laconia. The vines were transplanted to
Crete, Madeira, and other places.
[338] Ramusio says: “they had a beard between the nose and the mouth,
such as is worn by the courtiers at Constantinople, who call it a
moustache.”
[339] Ramusio adds: “of Melinde”. The “pilot” here referred to was
Gaspar da Gama. See Appendix E.
[340] This information was apparently never asked for. The “strangers”
were undoubtedly Chinese. Marco Polo (_Yule_, I, p. lxvi, and II, pp.
197, 327) already mentions their four-masted vessels. In his time,
Chinese vessels regularly visited the west coast of India. The vizor
in the guise of a mask, distinctly points to the Chinese, and the
sword attached to a spear is a Chinese weapon. Up to the introduction
of pig-tails by the Manju, in 1644, the Chinese wore their hair long.
A punitive fleet of sixty-two Chinese vessels was sent to Ceylon in
1401. In 1417 an embassy was sent from Mu-ku-tu-su (Magadoxo) to China
(Bretschneider, _On the Knowledge possessed by the Ancient Chinese of
the Arabs_, London, 1871), and in 1431 Chinese junks might be seen at
Jedda (Hirth, _Verhandlungen_, Berlin Geographical Society, 1889, p.
46).
During the second half of the fifteenth century the intercourse between
China and Malabar seems to have become rare, until at last it ceased
altogether (Richthofen, _China_, I, p. 10, 5).
Ramusio contemptuously suppresses the writer’s speculations about these
curious strangers being Germans or Russians.
[341] Less than a penny.
[342] “di mezo sapore”. Ramusio has “tutte dolci”.
[343] “Poponi”: Ramusio says “pomi”, apples.
[344] Or rather Buddha.
[345] Ramusio has suppressed this passage.
[346] Ramusio adds: “And bread made of corn and other things of the
kind”.
[347] Professor Dalla Vedova suggests that the “pescotto” of the
original may be the “Pesce persico” (_Perca fluviatilis_), or perch.
Ramusio, in his edition of 1563, however, has “pescietti”, which means
“small fishes” (sardines).
[348] Lenguazzi: perhaps the modern “linguattole”, or sole.
[349] Bisuccho, in Portuguese Besugo, the sea-bream (_Sparus
cantabricus_).
[350] The words within brackets are only to be found in the _Paesi_.
[351] Ramusio adds: “There are also horses as with us, and they are
highly valued by Christians and Moors alike”. Peutinger and the _Paesi_
say the same.
[352] Ramusio says: “silk-stuffs and bocassins”. He does not mention
the colours.
[353] Peutinger adds: “They are decent, quiet (fromm) people at his
court, and dress according to their condition and rank (adel)”.
[354] _Jubbi_ (Arabic) is a long coat or caftan; the _balandrau_
(Portuguese) is a surtout worn by the Brothers of Mercy in Portugal.
Ramusio calls the latter garments _palascani_.
[355] The actual distance is about 10,500 nautical miles, or 3,060
Portuguese leagues.
[356] In his second letter the writer recurs to this subject.
[357] These are the Laccadive islands, fourteen in number: but, as
their name implies (Laksha Dwipa = the Hundred Thousand Islands),
supposed to be much more numerous. Mr. Sneyd’s _Codex_ says there were
11,000 of these islands. The Maldives were known as Narikela Dwipa.
[358] That is the West Indies!
[359] Ramusio adds: “through vessels which go to Mecca”.
[360] Ramusio adds: “benzoin”.
[361] It should be 160.
[362] Ramusio adds: “many sapphires and other jewels”. He then says:
“Pepper and ginger grow around the said city of Calicut”. The paragraph
is worded obscurely, but my version seems to be preferable. Sapphires
are mentioned at the end of the letter.
[363] Ramusio does not mention almonds, nor does Peutinger.
[364] This expression proves that the letter was not written at one
sitting, but by degrees.
[365] Ramusio has much condensed the whole of this paragraph, and seems
to have misunderstood the writer. The statement that provisions were
sent from Melinde to Calecut can hardly be accepted, and it was perhaps
for this reason that Ramusio suppressed the name of that town. The
country around Calecut is certainly sandy, but it is not as sterile as
the bald statement of the writer would lead one to believe, for the
city lies in the midst of extensive groves of palm, mango, and jack
trees.
Peutinger thus summarises this passage: “The country around Kalekut is
mostly sand, and neither corn nor any other fruit grows there. These
are imported by sea.”
[366] Should be Chalechut, as Bandini prints it.
[367] The last two paragraphs have been omitted by Ramusio.
[368] Translated from the _Paesi novamente retrovati_, Vicenza, 1507.
[369] The true history of the Jewish colony in Malabar has been written
by Claudius Buchanan (_Christian Researches in Asia_, Edinburgh, 1812).
Ritter (_Erdkunde_, v, pp. 595-601) gives an excellent summary.
[370] Gaspar da Gama was quite right. There were no Christians at
Calecut when Vasco da Gama first visited that town, nor are there
many now. Cochin, and not Calecut, was the chief seat of the Syrian
Christians of Malabar. They were an offshoot of the church of Persia,
which recognised the Nestorian patriarch of Babylon (Mosul). After
the condemnation of their dogmas by the Council of Ephesus (431)
they sought a refuge in distant countries. After 1599 many of them
recognised the Pope, but after the ascendency of the Dutch (since
1653) some turned Protestants, whilst others recognised the Jacobite
bishop of Antioch as their head. Popularly they are known as S. Thomas
Christians, although there exists not the slightest evidence of that
Apostle ever having visited India. Their worship is of a simple
nature: they admit no images to their churches, reject the doctrine of
transubstantiation, and allow their priests to marry (G. Milne Rae,
_The Syrian Church in India_, 1892; Percy Badger, _The Nestorians and
their Ritual_, 1852; German, _Die Kirche der Thomaschristen_, 1877).
[371] Ramusio says: “excepting those called Jacobites and those of
Prester John.”
[372] Ramusio says forty days.
[373] Ramusio adds: “towards the Gulf of Persia”.
[374] Ramusio says 300 leagues. The real distance of Bahrein is about
550 leagues. There may be some confusion with the Manar pearl fishery.
[375] Varthema (p. 95) and Duarte Barbosa (p. 37) refer to the pearl
fishery of the Bahrein islands. They both describe the islanders as
Mohammedans. Mr. Bent (_Journal Royal Geographical Society_, xii, 1890)
visited the islands in 1889, and states that there is a good supply of
water. Indeed, a river such as is described in the letter only exists
some 250 miles away.
[376] King Manuel was better advised (see p. 115, note).
[377] Ramusio says: “is frightened”.
[378] These “anchors”, according to Varthema (p. 153), consist of a
block of marble, which has two ropes attached to it. On the African
coast a box fitted with stones is used for the same purpose.
[379] The next expedition was that sent out under Pedralvarez Cabral,
who left Lisbon in March, 1500, with thirteen vessels.
[380] In Book VIII of his _Natural History_.
[381] This last paragraph is not found in the _Paesi novamente
retrovati_, and is taken from Ramusio.
[382] This paragraph is rather puzzling. July 10th, 1499, was the date
of Coelho’s arrival. Of the four vessels, two are correctly stated to
have been burnt, though not near Cape Verde, namely, the store ship of
110 tons, and one of the vessels of 90 tons (the _S. Raphael_). Coelho
brought home the small vessel of 50 tons, and the “captain” himself is
stated to have returned in the remaining vessel of 90 tons.
[383] The Cape Verde islands.
[384] Grão or gran (Portuguese), kermes-grain, anciently scarlet, is
not mentioned by Ramusio.
[385] Rosebeeren (Roseberries) seems to stand for Rose mallus, or
Rossamalha, an aromatic resin containing benzoic acid, yielded by the
majestic Rasamala tree (_Altingia excelsa_) of Java, where it is used
as a substitute for benzoin.
[386] I need hardly direct the reader’s attention to the fact that the
fustas of the Sabayo were fought _after_ Vasco’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 the _Counts_ of 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 earlier _Jornal_. Vasco da
Gama is stated to have gone in the _S. Raphael_, whilst Paulo’s vessel,
the _S. 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 the _Journal_, 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’s _Vasco 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 the _tonel_
consequently measured 2.42 cubic metres or 85 cubic feet. “Goa” has
nothing to do either with _agoa_, 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 in _botte_.
[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’s
_Vasco 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 of _Ephemerides_, 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 the _Ephemerides_ of 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.