How Gil Eannes, a native of Lagos, was the first who passed the Cape of
Bojador, and how he returned thither again, and with him Affonso
Gonçalvez Baldaya.
Now the Infant always received home again with great patience those whom
he had sent out, as Captains of his ships, in search of that land, never
upbraiding them with their failure, but with gracious countenance
listening to the story of the events of their voyage, giving them such
rewards as he was wont to give to those who served him well, and then
either sending them back to search again or despatching other picked men
of his Household, with their ships well furnished, making more urgent
his charge to them, with promise of greater guerdons, if they added
anything to the voyage that those before them had made, all to the
intent that he might arrive at some comprehension of that difficulty.
And at last, after twelve years, the Infant armed a "barcha" and gave it
to Gil Eannes, one of his squires, whom he afterwards knighted and cared
for right nobly. And he followed the course that others had taken; but
touched by the self-same terror,[N51] he only went as far as the Canary
Islands, where he took some captives and returned to the Kingdom. Now
this was in the year of Jesus Christ 1433, and in the next year the
Infant made ready the same vessel, and calling Gil Eannes apart, charged
him earnestly to strain every nerve to pass that Cape, and even if he
could do nothing else on that voyage, yet he should consider that to be
enough. "You cannot find", said the Infant, "a peril so great that the
hope of reward will not be greater, and in truth I wonder much at the
notion you have all taken on so uncertain a matter--for even if these
things that are reported had any authority, however small, I would not
blame you, but you tell me only the opinions of four mariners, who come
but from the Flanders trade or from some other ports that are very
commonly sailed to, and know nothing of the needle or
sailing-chart.[N52] Go forth, then, and heed none of their words, but
make your voyage straightway, inasmuch as with the grace of God you
cannot but gain from this journey honour and profit." The Infant was a
man of very great authority, so that his admonitions, mild though they
were, had much effect on the serious-minded. And so it appeared by the
deed of this man, for he, after these words, resolved not to return to
the presence of his Lord without assured tidings of that for which he
was sent. And as he purposed, so he performed--for in that voyage he
doubled the Cape, despising all danger, and found the lands beyond quite
contrary to what he, like others, had expected. And although the matter
was a small one in itself, yet on account of its daring it was reckoned
great--for if the first man who reached the Cape had passed it, there
would not have been so much praise and thanks bestowed on him; but even
as the danger of the affair put all others into the greater fear, so the
accomplishing of it brought the greater honour to this man. But whether
or no the success of Gil Eannes gained for him any genuine glory may be
perceived by the words that the Infant spoke to him before his starting;
and his experience on his return was very clear on this point, for he
was exceeding well received, not without a profitable increase of honour
and possessions. And then it was he related to the Infant how the whole
matter had gone, telling him how he had ordered the boat to be put out
and had gone in to the shore without finding either people or signs of
habitation. And since, my lord, said Gil Eannes, I thought that I ought
to bring some token of the land since I was on it, I gathered these
herbs which I here present to your grace; the which we in this country
call Roses of Saint Mary. Then, after he had finished giving an account
of his voyage to that part, the Infant caused a "barinel" to be made
ready, in which he sent out Affonso Gonçalvez Baldaya, his cupbearer,
and Gil Eannes as well with his "barcha", ordering him to return there
with his companion. And so in fact they did, passing fifty leagues
beyond the Cape, where they found the land without dwellings, but
shewing footmarks of men and camels. And then, either because they were
so ordered, or from necessity, they returned with this intelligence,
without doing aught else worth recording.[N53]