How Vallarte went to the land of Guinea, and the fashion of his
remaining there.
The fame of the affair having spread through the different parts of the
world, it arrived at the Court of the King of Denmark and Sweden and
Norway;[N218] and as you see how noble men venture themselves with the
desire to see and know such things, it came to pass that a gentleman of
the household of that Prince, covetous of seeing the world, received his
license and came to this realm. And staying for a time in the house of
the Infant, he came one day and asked him that he would be pleased to
arm him a caravel and put him in the way to go to the land of the
Negroes. The Infant, as he was easily moved to anything wherein a good
man might gain for himself honour or increase, straightway ordered a
caravel to be armed as completely as might be, and told him to go to
Cape Verde and see if they could obtain sureties from the King of that
land, for he was informed that this man was a very great lord; and he
was to convey the Prince's letters to him and also to tell him certain
things from himself for the service of God and His holy faith. And all
this because they assured him the said King was a Christian; and the
conclusion of all was, that if he did truly hold the law of Christ, it
would please him to aid in the war against the Moors of Africa, in the
which the King Don Affonso, who then reigned in Portugal, and the Infant
in his name, with the others their vassals and countrymen, were
continually toiling. All things were very quickly ready, and that
esquire, who was named Vallarte, embarked in his ship, and with him a
Knight of the Order of Christ called Fernandaffonso, who was of the
Infant's service and upbringing, and was sent by him in that caravel
because Vallarte was a foreigner and knew not so well the customs and
ways of the ship's company. And he came in order that he might direct
the sailors and other matters that pertained to the governance of the
vessel, and also that he might be as it were an envoy, if they chanced
to see that King. And therefore he took two natives of that land as
interpreters; but the chief captaincy belonged to Vallarte. And after
enduring great toils on the sea, they made such a voyage that six months
after the day that they first left Lisbon, they reached the Island of
Palma that is in the land of the Negroes near Cape Verde. And there they
took counsel about the manner in which they should henceforth act,
according to the regulations they carried with them from the Infant; and
then they sailed forward because that was not yet the port where they
had to rest. And when they were at the extremity of the cape, in a place
which among the natives of that land is called Abram, they had their
boat put out and went on shore, and Vallarte went in it with some others
and they found many of those Negroes already there. And Vallarte asked
them to give him one of their people and he would give them one of his,
so that there might be security between them and they could have their
parleying; but they made reply that such a thing they could not do
without the leave of a knight who lived there as a governor of that
land, whose name was Guitanye. And he, as soon as he knew of this
requirement, came there and was well pleased to grant what Vallarte
asked. And as soon as one of these Negroes had reached the caravel,
Fernandaffonso, who knew our Portuguese language best, began to speak
with him, saying as follows: "The reason why we required of you to come
to this ship was that you might tell your lord, by our authority, how we
are the subjects of a great and powerful Prince of Spain, who is at the
limits of the west, and by whose command we have come here to converse
on his behalf with the great and good King of this land." And they
caused him to read one of the letters they were carrying, the which was
declared to him by one of their interpreters, so that he might repeat it
to that knight who had sent him there. "How much soever," quoth he, "you
desire to see Boor, who is our great King, you cannot for the present
have a message from him, for it is certain that he is very distant from
here, busied in making war upon another great lord who willeth not to
obey him." "And if he were still in his house," said Fernandaffonso, "in
how many days could they go to him with our message and also return with
the reply?" "From six to seven days would be the greatest delay,"
replied the Guinea. "Then," said Fernandaffonso, "it would be well for
you to tell this knight with whom you live to send a man there with the
message, and to let him know all that I have already told you, and if
your lord will do after this wise he will render a great service to his
king and bring much profit to his land." "Now," said the Guinea, "I will
tell all very truly to Guitanye."
Then they presented him with victuals, of the which he ate and drank,
and afterward gave him one of the letters they brought, for him to show
it to his lord; and this, he was to say, contained what they had told
him, and he was to bear it as a token of friendship. But already when
that Guinea reached the land, where was the knight who had despatched
him, another like unto him was there named Satam, and another known as
Minef, who had arrived there a little time before. And of this last the
foulness was extreme, and those who were there said that nothing more
foul could be painted, and his apparel was no great testimony to his
honour, for he appeared there very ill-clad, although he had a greater
power than some of the others. And whilst that Guinea was telling the
knight of his embassy, the boat lay near the beach waiting for a reply,
the which was very difficile to come at because the Guineas crowded
round the man who came from the caravel, with a mind to know what he
said, and also with desire to see the letter he bore, so that the
knights were put to great trouble to remove them from there for a space.
And in the end they could get no reply in all that day, although the
knight went far into the water to speak with those in the boat, for such
was the multitude of Guineas that they would never let him finish, and
so all was left over for the next day, on which the boat went ashore
very early. But the knight was already there in a canoe wherewith he
would have journeyed to the caravel, but when he saw the boat coming he
returned ashore. And he had a she-goat brought, and a kid, and paste,
and boiled flour with butter, and bread with meal, and corn in the ear,
and an elephant's tooth, and some seed of which that bread was made, and
milk, and palm wine. And there happened to be there a knight who had
arrived that same night, called Amallam, and he was the son of an uncle
of that Guitanye by whose favour he had received that land, and it
seemeth he would fain have spoken with those in the boat, but the Guinea
would not allow him, saying that it was not right, as he had commenced
the matter. And on this account he advised our men to return and take
away those things for their refreshment, and after they had eaten to
come back; and in the meanwhile they would hold their council. But if
before this they were divided in mind through their conversing, they
were much more so in the afternoon; and because we should have to be
very prolix were we to recount minutely all that passed between one and
the other in their parleying, let it suffice to say that this knight
Guitanye went several times to the caravel, making the journey in a
canoe and taking four men with him. And he talked with our men
concerning the traffic, and said that he was able to set everything in
order, because that, when King Boor bestowed land on a knight, the
latter could do therewith like the king himself, so that whatever he
did, the king held it as well done. Howbeit, our men said that they
carried orders to do nothing until they should have first spoken to that
king, and upon this matter there passed much reasoning; and the end was
that he should nevertheless send to the house of the king with their
message. And whilst they were tarrying for the messenger who was there,
that Guitanye went to the ship in all security, taking with him of the
best viands that he had, with elephant's teeth, and certain other
things, and he also received drink-money, and cloth, with other precious
articles that our men gave him, and he showed himself to be very content
with their converse. And one day they came to ask him that he would have
an elephant killed for them, to strip off its skin, and teeth, and
bones, with some part of the flesh, to which the Guinea replied that
this could be accomplished without great toil. "Then," said Vallarte,
"if you will put us in the way to this, for each one of us two that
returneth here, you shall have a tent of linen cloth, in the which from
twenty-five to thirty men can lodge, and so light that one can carry it
on his neck." And our men went many times to the land with him and were
at his call, but not so near that they could capture them. And it
happened once on a time that the boat was near to the shore and with the
rush of the sea it touched on the dry land, whereupon those in it were
much affrighted; and when the knight perceived it, he told them to be of
good courage, for all those were his men, and they would do them no
displeasure; and so in everything that Guinea knight showed himself to
be a true man. But Fortune, aided at times by the ill counsel of some,
ordained matters in such wise that our men had not so agreeable an end
to this commencement. For it was so, that whilst that Guitanye was in
search of the elephant as he had promised, Vallarte, like a man of
little discretion, would go on shore one day, for it seemeth that for
some time they had called him. And true it is that he was told
beforehand that he should abstain from going, yet he must needs land, as
a man summoned by Fortune to witness the hour of his great trouble. And
as he was near the shore, there appeared a Negro carrying a gourd with
wine or water, and pretending that he was desirous to give it him; and
Vallarte bade those who were rowing to draw near; and although some said
to him that such an approach was unwise, yet they had to obey his
orders, to the great injury of all. For as the boat was being taken into
shore they went so near the land, to take the said gourd from the negro,
that it touched ground. And whilst Vallarte was looking at a multitude
of those Negroes who were lying under the shade of a tree, one of the
interpreters they carried, called Affonso, made as though he would take
the gourd and let himself slip out. And when the others perceived this
and tried to bring the boat back, there came upon them a wave and
overturned it altogether; and then the Negroes hastened up very lustily
and fell in a body on the boat, hurling their assegais. So that of all
the number who set out from the caravel in that journey, there returned
not to the ship more than one, who threw himself into the water and
swam; but we find not what end the others had, inasmuch as that man who
came away by swimming said that he only saw one slain, and that when he
looked behind him, yea, three or four times, he always saw Vallarte
seated on the poop of the boat. But at the time when we were writing
this history, there came into the Infant's power some captives who were
natives of that part, and they said that in a castle very far inland
were four Christians, of whom one was dead already, but the other three
were still living, and some held that these would be the lost men,
according to the tokens that the Negro gave. And Fernandaffonso,
considering this untoward event, and also that he had no boat wherewith
he could return on shore to gain news of the others, had his anchors
raised and returned to the Kingdom.[N219]