Of how the caravel of John Gonçalvez Zarco arrived at the land of the
Negroes.
It still remaineth for me to relate the hap of the caravel of John
Gonçalvez Zarco, who, to my thinking, bore himself in this affair more
without hope of gain than any of the others sent there; for all those
others, as you have already heard, had a mind to profit themselves, as
well as to do service to the Infant. But this John Gonçalvez was noble
in all his actions, and so he wished the world to know that for his
Lord's service alone he disposed himself to have that voyage made. And
therefore he armed a very fine caravel, and the captaincy of this he
bestowed on his nephew, named Alvaro Fernandez, whom the Infant had
brought up in his household, and he ordered him to have regard to no
other profit, save only to see and know any new thing he could. And he
was not to hinder himself by making raids in the land of the Moors, but
to take his way straight to the land of the Negroes and thenceforward to
lengthen his voyage as much as he could,[N168] and endeavour to bring
some new thing to the Infant his lord, such as he thought would give him
pleasure. The caravel was well victualled and it was manned by men ready
for toils, and Alvaro Fernandez was young in years and audacious. So
they directed their voyage, determined to second the purpose of him who
had dispatched them, and they went sailing over that great ocean sea
until they reached the River of Nile,[N169] and they knew it by the
signs I have before mentioned, and took on board two pipes of water, one
of which they brought to the city of Lisbon. And I know not if
Alexander, who was one of the monarchs of the world, drank in his days
of water that had been brought him from so far. From hence they went
forward until they passed Cape Verde, beyond which they descried an
island[N170] on the which they landed to see if they could meet with any
natives, but they observed that caution in their own regard which they
felt to be proper in such a place. And as they were going through the
island, they found tame goats without any persons guarding them, or
indeed dwelling in any part of that island, and then they took their
refreshment of them; and we have already told how the others found their
tracks when they came to those islands, for this Alvaro Fernandez was
there first, and because the story could not be told in any other manner
we have related it first of all in the way you have heard. Thence they
went forward to the spot where the palm tree is, and that huge tree of
which we have left an account in the other chapters, and here they found
the arms of the Infant, with his device and motto. There they came to an
agreement to go and lie near unto the Cape, for it might be that some
canoes would come to them with which they could hold converse, at least
by signs, for they had no other interpreter. And when they were as near
to the Cape as it might be a third of a league, they cast anchor and
rested as they had arranged; but they had not been there long when from
the land there set out two boats, manned by ten Guineas, who straightway
began to make their way direct to the ship, like men who came in peace.
And when they were near, they made a signal asking security, which was
granted them, and immediately without any other precaution, five of them
went on board the caravel, where Alvaro Fernandez had them entertained
as hospitably as he was able, giving orders to provide them with food
and drink and all other good company that could be made them. And after
this they departed, giving signs of great contentment, but it seemeth
that they had come with something different conceived in their minds.
And as soon as they reached the land they told the rest of their fellows
all they had found, and from this it seemed to them that they could
easily capture them.[BX] And with this design there put off six boats
with thirty-five or forty of their company prepared like men who meant
to fight; but when they were near, they felt a fear of coming up to the
caravel, and so they stayed a little distance off without daring to make
an attack. And when Alvaro Fernandez perceived that they dared not come
to him, he commanded his boat to be lowered and in it he ordered eight
men to place themselves, from among the readiest that he found for the
duty; and he arranged that the boat should be on the further side of the
caravel so that it might not be seen by the enemy, in the hope that they
would approach nearer to the ship. And the Guineas lay some way off
until one of their boats took courage to move more forward and issued
forth from the others towards the caravel, and in it were five brave and
stout Guineas, distinguished in this respect among the others of the
company. And as soon as Alvaro Fernandez perceived that this boat was
already in a position for him to be able to reach it before it could
receive help from the others, he ordered his own to issue forth quickly
and go against it. And by the great advantage of our men in their manner
of rowing they were soon upon the enemy, who seeing themselves thus
overtaken, and having no hope of defence, leapt into the water, while
the other boats fled towards the land. But our men had very great toil
in the capture of those who were swimming, for they dived like
cormorants, so that they could not get a hold of them; yet they soon
captured one, though not without some difficulty; but the capture of the
second caused them to lose all the others. For he was so valiant that
two men, very mighty as they were, could not drag him into the boat
until they took a boathook and caught him above one eye, and the pain of
this made him abate his courage and allow himself to be put inside the
boat. And with these two captives they returned to the ship. And since
Alvaro Fernandez saw that it was of no profit for him to remain in that
spot, and that it might rather injure him, because they already had
knowledge of him, he said that he wished to go on further to see if he
could find some new thing to bring to the Infant his lord. And departing
hence, they arrived at a Cape where there were many bare palm trees
without palms, and they named this Cape of the Masts.[BY][N171] And
going forward on their course, Alvaro Fernandez made seven men embark in
the boat and ordered them to row along the coast, and as they went, they
caught sight of four Guineas seated by the water's edge; and as the men
in the boat saw that they were not perceived by them, six of them leapt
out and pursued their way, concealing themselves as much as they could
until they were near to the Guineas, when they began to run to capture
them. And it seemeth to me that these Guineas were archers who were
going to kill their wild game in the hills with poison, even as the
bowmen do in this our Spain.[BZ] And as soon as they caught sight of our
men, they got up very hastily and began to flee, without having time to
put arrows in their bows; but though our men ran a long way they could
never take them, although at times they came close to them, and the
reason was that these men go naked and have only very short hair, so
that it is not possible to capture them by it. And so they got clear of
our men, who yet seized their bows and quivers and arrows, together with
a quantity of wild boar's flesh that they had roasted. And among these
animals that they found was one that looked like a hind,[N172] which
these Guineas were taking with a basket as a muzzle over its mouth to
keep it from eating; and, so far as our men could see, they were using
that animal as a decoy, that it might draw the other deer to them by its
gentleness. And since they saw it so tame they would not kill it; and
then they returned to their ships, where they took their resolve to come
to the Kingdom, making their way straight to the Island of Madeira, and
thence to the City of Lisbon. And there they found the Infant and
received many bounties at his hands, in the which John Gonçalvez had no
small share on account of the good will that had moved him to serve the
Infant in that enterprise. And this was the caravel which in this year
went further than all the others that voyaged to that land.
[Footnote BX: The Portuguese.]
[Footnote BY: Cabo dos Matos.]
[Footnote BZ: The word Spain is here used to designate the
whole Peninsula, as was usual at that time.]