How those people landed on the Island of Tider.
I am wroth with those pilots in that they so far wandered from the
course they should have taken, for of a surety if fortune had not
intermeddled in the mistake of that voyage, the victory would have been
much more perfect. But the blame for this was not so much with the
pilots as with the darkness of the night, for although they had been
there before, the previous occasions were not so many that these men
could fairly be blamed very much for their mistakes at this time.
Perhaps, too, the true cause of the misadventure was the water, which
was at the neap, so that our men found it in many places so shallow that
they could not float[AB]; so that finding themselves on dry ground they
were compelled to wait for the aid of the flood tide, which they did not
get till it was high noon. Oh, what complaints were to be heard among
our men at seeing themselves thus hindered of their purpose by something
in which their strength could avail nothing. "Ah, God," said they, "Thou
willest to be less favourable to this our enterprise than Thou hast been
many times to others, who had not so fervent a purpose to serve Thee
This day, on which Thy Holy Name might have cause to be so much
glorified and our honour so much exalted, Thou givest place to the
feeble power of one element of Thy creation, which is of force to hinder
us. Have mercy on us by Thy sacred pity, and aid us, for we are Thy
servants, sinners though we be, for the greatness of Thy benignity is
more than the multitude of our sins. And if Thou didst exert Thy power
to open a way for the Children of Israel through the midst of the
waters, and madest the sun to turn back at the request of Joshua against
the course of Nature, why wilt Thou not show as great a favour to this
Thy people, so that Thy miracle may appear before our eyes, and that
these waters may rise before their time, and that our voyage may be
directed to gain a perfect victory."
[Footnote AB: Their boats.]
So toiled those seamen during that night as best they could, but for the
two reasons that I have already given, they did not reach the island
till the sun was high. And before they arrived at the harbour where they
had to disembark, they arranged that all the caravels should join
together, and they sailed in so close together that the men jumped from
one into another. And then there arose among them a new opinion, for
some said that it was not in reason that they should land, inasmuch as
it was well known that many Moors were collected there, and they would
certainly be more in number than they were before, on account of the
caravels from Lisbon, which had visited the place some days ago and had
lost in that island, not fifteen days before, the seven men of whom we
spoke. At least, they said, they ought not to land that day, inasmuch as
they supposed that the Moors were numerous, and were lying hid in
ambushes, since none appeared. And this surmise was not confined to a
few, but prevailed throughout the greater part of the rank and file.
"Friends," said the captains, "it is for war, and for war alone, that we
are come to this land; and this being so, we must not be timid, for if
we fight our battle by day it will be much more to our honour than if we
fight by night--attacking the Moors of this island, and expelling them,
by sheer force of arms rather than by any cunning or stratagem. Better
the former way of battle, even if we fail to kill or take a single man,
than the latter with a night capture of a thousand prisoners. And so in
God's name," said they, "let us set forth at once, and let us take land
in our predetermined order". And with these words they began forthwith
to disembark, and as soon as they were all on shore, they put their
ranks in order; and Lançarote, by agreement with all the other captains,
took the Banner of the Crusade, which the Infant Dom Henry had given him
(and you already know how those who died under the said banner were
absolved from sin and punishment, according to the grant of the Holy
Father, whose mandate you have seen and the tenor thereof). And this
banner was entrusted to Gil Eannes,[N131] Knight of the Infant's
Household, a native of Lagos, about whom we have spoken to you before.
And although Lançarote understood the value and virtues of this man, yet
he made him swear forthwith and took fealty of him, that not for fear
nor for danger would he leave the said banner till death; and the others
also swore to him that in consequence they would toil to guard and
defend him even to the last moment of their life. And when these things
were done, our men, so arrayed, began to move forward in the
predetermined order, and went a space of three leagues over sand, the
day being very hot, till they arrived at the place of Tider,[AC] which
is in the interior of the said island, close to which they saw a
multitude of Moors drawn up as if to fight. Now this sight was a very
joyful one to the Christians, and so they bade "sound the trumpets," and
went at them with right good will; but the Moors, losing their first
courage, began to fly, casting themselves into the water and swimming
across a creek which maketh that land an island, to the which[AD] their
women and children had passed over already with all their poor goods;
but they were not able with all their haste to prevent our men from
killing eight of them and taking four. And there one of the men of Lagos
was wounded, for he sought to outstrip the others to show his valour, so
that almost of his own free will he received the said wounds of the
which he afterwards died when at sea, and may the Lord God receive his
soul into the company of the saints. And so the Moors having been
routed, the Christians, perceiving that a longer stay there would not
profit them, betook themselves to that place where the enemy had had
their habitations before, and there they found a supply of water, which
after the heat and toil they had suffered gave them great pleasure, for
many would have perished with thirst if they had not found it. Also they
discovered there cotton trees, although there were not many of them.
[Footnote AC: Tidre.]
[Footnote AD: Viz., island.]
Now the weariness of some of our men was so great that they could not by
any means return on foot; but they found a great succour for their need
in some asses, of which there were many in the island, and riding on
these they returned to their ships. But before they entered into their
boats, there were some that asked that noble man, Sueiro da Costa, that
he would consent to be knighted; and to this he agreed, either at the
pressing demands of his friends, or because he desired it for his own
greater honour: saying that it pleased him so long as he received it
from the hand of Alvaro de Freitas,[N132] since he knew him to be such a
knight that his own knighthood would be beyond reproach. And at this all
the company were very glad, and especially those chief men who knew
him.[AE] And so that noble man was made a knight, and I marvel at his so
long toiling in the profession of arms and being so distinguished in the
same, without ever having been willing to receive that honour of
knighthood until this occasion. Of a surety, saith our Author, I well
believe that though Alvaro de Freitas was such a noble knight, and it
had happened to him to create others like him,[AF] yet never had his
sword touched the head of so noble and so eminent a man; nor was the
said Alvaro de Freitas a little honoured by the circumstance that Sueiro
da Costa sought to be knighted at his hand, when he could have obtained
the same from very honourable kings and great princes, who would have
been very content to show him that grace for the knowledge they had of
his great valour.
[Footnote AE: Sueiro da Costa.]
[Footnote AF: Sueiro da Costa.]
That night they went back to their caravels to rest, and on the next day
they went on shore, to perform the knighting of Dinis Eannes de Graã,
the which was likewise done by the hand of Alvaro de Freitas. And there
the caravels of Lisbon took leave of the others, because they perceived
that their stay there was no longer necessary, and provisions failed
them, so that if their voyage were delayed by any contrary hap they
would of necessity be placed in great suffering. But it may well be
believed that if they had known that so many Moors were yet to be slain
and taken in that island, they would not have departed so quickly,[AG]
if only for the fulfilment of a greater vengeance. Of the other Moors
who were taken at Tider, Lançarote and the other captains sent one to
Cape St. Vincent; and to Sta. Maria da Augua da Lupe, a hermitage which
is in that district of Lagos, they sent another to be sold, that with
the price of him ornaments might be bought for that church.
[Footnote AG: But would have waited.]