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Title: The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea - Vol. II
Author: Zurara, Gomes Eannes de, 1410?-1474
Language: English
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WORKS ISSUED BY
The Hakluyt Society.
THE CHRONICLE
OF
THE DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST
OF GUINEA.
VOL. II.
FIRST SERIES. NO. C-MDCCCXCIX
[Illustration: STATUE OF
PRINCE HENRY IN ARMOUR
AT BELEM.]
THE CHRONICLE
OF THE
DISCOVERY
AND
CONQUEST OF GUINEA.
WRITTEN BY
GOMES EANNES DE AZURARA;
NOW FIRST DONE INTO ENGLISH
BY
CHARLES RAYMOND BEAZLEY, M.A., F.R.G.S.,
FELLOW OF MERTON COLLEGE, OXFORD; CORRESPONDING MEMBER
OF THE LISBON GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY;
AND
EDGAR PRESTAGE, B.A.OXON.,
KNIGHT OF THE MOST NOBLE PORTUGUESE ORDER OF S. THIAGO; CORRESPONDING
MEMBER OF THE LISBON ROYAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES,
THE LISBON GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, ETC.
VOL. II.
(CHAPTERS XLI-XCVII).
With an Introduction on the
Early History of African Exploration, Cartography, etc.
BURT FRANKLIN, PUBLISHER
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Published by
BURT FRANKLIN
514 West 113th Street
New York 25, N. Y.
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY
REPRINTED BY PERMISSION
PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.
COUNCIL
OF
THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY.
SIR CLEMENTS MARKHAM, K.C.B., F.R.S., _Pres. R.G.S._, PRESIDENT.
THE RIGHT HON. THE LORD STANLEY OF ALDERLEY, VICE-PRESIDENT.
REAR-ADMIRAL SIR WILLIAM WHARTON, K.C.B., VICE-PRESIDENT.
C. RAYMOND BEAZLEY, ESQ., M.A.
COLONEL G. EARL CHURCH.
SIR MARTIN CONWAY.
ALBERT GRAY, ESQ.
F. H. H. GUILLEMARD, ESQ., M.A., M.D.
THE RIGHT HON. LORD HAWKESBURY.
EDWARD HEAWOOD, ESQ., M.A.
DUDLEY F. A. HERVEY, ESQ., C.M.G.
ADMIRAL SIR ANTHONY H. HOSKINS, G.C.B.
J. SCOTT KELTIE, ESQ., LL.D.
F. W. LUCAS, ESQ.
VICE-ADMIRAL ALBERT H. MARKHAM.
E. J. PAYNE, ESQ.
SIR CUTHBERT E. PEEK, BART.
E. G. RAVENSTEIN, ESQ.
HOWARD SAUNDERS, ESQ.
CHARLES WELCH, ESQ., F.S.A.
WILLIAM FOSTER, ESQ., B.A., _Honorary Secretary_.
PREFATORY NOTE.
This Volume continues and ends the present Edition of the _Chronicle of
Guinea_, the first part of which was published in 1896 (vol. XCV of the
Hakluyt Society's publications). Here we have again to acknowledge the
kind advice and help of various friends, particularly of Senhor Batalhaȧ
Reis and Mr. William Foster. As to the Maps which accompany this volume:
the sections of Andrea Bianco, 1448, and of Fra Mauro, 1457-9, here
given, offer some of the best examples of the cartography of Prince
Henry's later years in relation to West Africa. These ancient examples
are supplemented by a new sketch-map of the discoveries made by the
Portuguese seamen during the Infant's lifetime along the coast of the
Dark Continent. The excellent photograph of Prince Henry's statue from
the great gateway at Belem is the work of Senhor Camacho. As to the
Introduction and Notes, it is hoped that attention has been given to
everything really important for the understanding of Azurara's text; but
the Editors have avoided such treatment as belongs properly to a
detailed history of geographical advance during this period.
C. R. B.
E. P.
_April 1899._
INTRODUCTION.
In this it may be well to summarise briefly, for the better illustration
of the _Chronicle_ here translated, not only the life of Prince Henry of
Portugal, surnamed the Navigator, but also various questions suggested
by Prince Henry's work, _e.g._--The history of the Voyages along the
West African coast and among the Atlantic islands, encouraged by him and
recorded by Azurara; The History of the other voyages of Prince Henry's
captains, not recorded by Azurara; The attempts of navigators before
Prince Henry, especially in the fourteenth century, to find a way along
West Africa to the Indies; The parallel enterprises by land from the
Barbary States to the Sudan, across the Sahara; The comparative strength
of Islam and Christianity in the Africa of Prince Henry's time; The
State of Cartographical Knowledge in the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries, and its relation to the new Portuguese discoveries; The
question of the "School of Sagres," said to have been instituted by the
Navigator for the better training of mariners and map-makers.
I.--THE LIFE OF PRINCE HENRY.
Henry, Duke of Viseu, third[1] son of King John I of Portugal, surnamed
the Great, founder of the House of Aviz, and of Philippa of Lancaster,
daughter of John of Gaunt and niece of King Edward III of England, was
born on March 4th, 1394.
[Footnote 1: Fifth, counting two children who died in infancy.]
We are told by Diego Gomez,[2] who in 1458 sailed to the West Coast of
Africa in the service of Prince Henry, and made a discovery of the Cape
Verde islands, that in 1415 John de Trasto was sent by the Prince on a
voyage of exploration, and reached "Telli," the "fruitful" district of
Grand Canary. Gomez here gives us the earliest date assigned by any
authority of the fifteenth century for an expedition of the Infant's;
but in later times other statements were put forward, assigning 1412 or
even 1410 as the commencement of his exploring activity. This would take
us back to a time when the Prince was but sixteen or eighteen years old;
and though it is probable enough that Portuguese vessels may have sailed
out at this time (as in 1341) to the Canaries or along the West African
coast, it is not probable that Henry took any great share in such
enterprise before the Ceuta expedition of 1415. In any case, it is
practically certain that before 1434, no Portuguese ship had passed
beyond Cape Bojador. Gil Eannes' achievement of that year is marked by
Azurara and all our best authorities as a decided advance on any
previous voyage, at least of Portuguese mariners. We shall consider
presently how far this advance was anticipated by other nations, and
more particularly by the French. Cape Non, now claimed by some as the
southernmost point of Marocco, had been certainly passed by Catalan and
other ships[3] before Prince Henry's day; but it had not been forgotten
how rhyme and legend had long consecrated this point as a fated end of
the world. Probably it was still (c. 1415) believed by many in
Portugal--
"Quem passar o Cabo de Não
Ou tornará, ou não."
and the Venetian explorer, Cadamosto, preserves a mention of its popular
derivation in Southern Europe from the Latin "Non," "as beyond it was
believed there was no return possible." The real form was probably the
Arabic Nun or "Fish."[4]
[Footnote 2: As repeated by Martin Behaim (see Major, _Henry
Navigator_, pp. 64, 65). Gomez was Almoxarife, or
superintendent, of the Palace of Cintra.]
[Footnote 3: Some of which had reached at least as far as Cape
Bojador, as depicted on the Catalan Map of 1375.]
[Footnote 4: So Zul-nun, Lord of the Fish, is a term for the
prophet Jonah (see Burton, _Camoëns_, iii, p. 246).]
Prince Henry's active share in the work of exploration is usually dated
only from the Conquest of Ceuta. Here we are told in one of our earliest
authorities (Diego Gomez) he gained information, from Moorish prisoners,
merchants, and other acquaintance "of the passage of traders from the
coasts of Tunis to Timbuktu and to Cantor on the Gambia, which led him
to seek those lands by the way of the sea;" and, to come to details, he
was among other things, "told of certain tall palms growing at the mouth
of the Senegal [or Western Nile], by which he was able to guide the
caravels he sent out to find that river." It will be important hereafter
to examine the evidence which had been accumulated for such belief up to
the fifteenth century: now it will be enough to say: 1. That Prince
Henry was probably of the same opinion as the ordinary cartographer of
his time about the peninsular shape of Africa. 2. That the "shape" in
question was usually satisfied with what we should now call the Northern
half of the Continent, making the Southern coast of "Guinea" continue
directly to the Eastern, Abyssinian, or Indian Ocean. 3. That trade had
now (c. 1415) been long maintained between this "Guinea coast" and the
Mediterranean seaboard--chiefly by Moorish caravans across the Sahara.
4. That something, though little, was known in Western Christendom about
the Christian faith and king of Abyssinia; for "Prester John's" story in
the fifteenth century had really become a blend of rumours from Central
(Nestorian) Asia and Eastern (Abyssinian) Africa.
In Prince Henry's work we may distinguish three main
objects--scientific, patriotic, and religious. First of all he was a
discoverer, for the sake of the new knowledge then beginning. He was
interested in the exploration of the world in general, and of the
sea-route round Africa to India in particular. Dinis Diaz, returning
from his discovery of Cape Verde (Az., ch. xxxi.), brought home a "booty
not so great as had arrived in the past," but "the Infant thought it
very great indeed, since it came from that land", and he proportioned
his rewards to exploration rather than to trade profits. Nuno Tristam in
1441 (Az., ch. xiii.) reminds Antam Gonçalvez that "for 15 years" the
Infant has "striven ... to arrive at ... certainty as to the people of
this land, under what law or lordship they do live."
Azurara, though always more prone to emphasize the emotional than the
scientific, himself assigns as the first reason for the Infant's
discoveries, his "wish to know the land that lay beyond the isles of
Canary and that cape called Bojador, for that up to his time, neither by
writings nor by the memory of man, was known with any certainty the
nature of the land" (Az., ch. vii.).
Again, Henry was founding upon his work of exploration an over-sea
dominion, a "commercial and colonial" empire for his country. He desired
to see her rich and prosperous, and there cannot be any reasonable doubt
that his ideas agreed with those of Italian land and sea travellers in
the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. He and they were agreed in
thinking it possible and very important to secure a large share of
Asiatic, especially of Indian, trade for their respective countries. By
exploring and making practicable the maritime route around Africa to the
Indies, he would probably raise Portugal into the wealthiest of European
nations. Azurara's "second reason" for the "search after Guinea" is that
"many kinds of merchandise might be brought to this realm ... and also
the products of this realm might be taken there, which traffic would
bring great profit to our countrymen."
Thirdly, Prince Henry had the temperament of a Crusader and a
missionary. Of him, fully as much as of Columbus, it may be said that if
he aimed at empire, it was for the extension of Christendom. Azurara's
three final reasons for Henry's explorations all turn upon this. The
Prince desired to find out the full strength of the Moors in Africa,
"said to be very much greater than commonly supposed," "because every
wise man" desires "a knowledge of the power of his enemy." He also
"sought to know if there were in those parts any Christian princes" who
would aid him against the enemies of the faith. And, lastly, he desired
to "make increase in the faith of Jesus Christ, and to bring to Him all
the souls that should be saved."
It has often been pointed out how the Infant was aided in his work by
the tendencies of his time and country; how in him the spirit of
mediæval faith and the spirit of material, even of commercial, ambition,
were united; how he was the central representative of a general
expansive and exploring movement; and how he took up and carried on the
labours of various predecessors. At the same time it must be recognised
that his work forms an epoch in the history of geographical, commercial,
and colonial advance; that he gave a permanence and a vitality to the
cause of maritime discovery which it had never possessed before; that
even his rediscoveries of islands and mainland frequently had all the
meaning and importance of fresh achievements; that he made his nation
the pioneer of Europe in its conquest of the outer world; and that
without him the results of the great forty years (1480-1520) of Diaz,
Columbus, Da Gama, and Magellan must have been long, might have been
indefinitely, postponed.
Barros (_Decade I_, i, 2) tells us a story, probable enough, about the
inception of the Infant's plans of discovery. He relates how one night,
after much meditation, he lay sleepless upon his bed, thinking over his
schemes, till at last, as if seized with a sudden access of fury, he
leapt up, called his servants, and ordered some of his _barcas_ to be
immediately made ready for a voyage to the south along the coast of
Marocco. His court was astonished, and attributed this outburst to a
divine revelation. It was natural enough--the resolution of a man, weary
with profound and anxious thought, to take some sort of decisive action,
to embark without further delay on the realisation of long-cherished
schemes.
To summarise the course of the Prince's life, from 1415, before entering
on any discussion of special points: After the Conquest of Ceuta he
returned to Portugal; was created Duke of Viseu and Lord of Covilham
(1415), having already received his knighthood at "Septa"; and began to
send out regular exploring ventures down the West Coast of Africa--"two
or three ships" every year beyond Cape Non, Nun, or Nam. In 1418 he
successfully went to the help of the Governor of Ceuta against the Moors
of Marocco and Granada.[5] On this second return from Africa, when in
1419 he was created Governor of the Algarve or southmost province of
Portugal, he is supposed by some to have taken up his residence at
Sagres,[6] near Cape St. Vincent, and to have begun the establishment of
a school of cartography and navigation there. All this, however, is
disputed by others, as is the tradition of his having established Chairs
of Mathematics and Theology at Lisbon.[7]
[Footnote 5: On this occasion he planned, but did not attempt,
the seizure of Gibraltar.]
[Footnote 6: Sagres, from "Sacrum Promontorium," the ordinary
name of Cape St. Vincent in the later classical Geography; "à
91 Kilom. Ouest de Faro,... sur un cap, à 4,500 metres E.S.E.
du Cap St. Vincent" (Viv. St. Martin). The harbour is sandy,
protected from the N.W. winds. A Druid temple stood there, and
the Iberians of the Roman time assembled there at night. It
was a barren cape, its only natural vegetation a few junipers.
O. Martins (_Filhos de D. João I_, p. 77), suggests that the
name of _Sagres_ did not come into ordinary use till after the
Prince's death, 1460.]
[Footnote 7: In 1431 he is said to have purchased house-room
for the University of Lisbon; on March 25th, 1448, to have
established there a professorship of theology; and on
September 22, 1460, to have confirmed this by a charter dated
from his Town at Sagres. The Professor was to have twelve
marks in silver every Christmas from the tithes of the Island
of Madeira (see Azurara, _Guinea_, c. v). As to the Chair of
Mathematics, we only know that it existed in 1435; that the
Infant was interested in this study; and that tradition
connected him with a somewhat similar foundation at Sagres.
The houses purchased in Lisbon for the University were bought
of João Annes, the King's Armourer, for 400 crowns. Hence,
according to some, came the Prince's title of "Protector of
Portuguese Studies."]
In 1418-20, however, his captains, João Gonçalvez Zarco and Tristam Vaz
Teixeira, certainly re-discovered Porto Santo and Madeira.[8] In 1427,
King John and Prince Henry seem to have sent the royal pilot, Diego de
Sevill, to make new discoveries in the Azores; and, in 1431-2, Gonçalo
Velho Cabral made further explorations among the same; but the completer
opening up and settlement of the Archipelago was the work of later
years, especially of 1439-66. We shall return to this matter in a
special discussion of Prince Henry's work among the Atlantic islands. To
the same we must refer the traditional purchase of the Canaries in
1424-5 and the settlement of Madeira in the same year,[9] confirmed by
charters of 1430 and 1433. King John, on his death-bed, is said to have
exhorted Henry to persevere in his schemes, which he was at this very
time pursuing by means of a fresh expedition to round Cape Bojador,
under Gil Eannes (1433). Azurara from this point becomes our chief
authority down to the year 1448, and this and the subsequent voyages are
fully described in his pages. Gil Eannes, unsuccessful in 1433,[10]
under the stimulus of the Infant's reproaches and appeals passed Cape
Bojador in 1434;[11] and next summer (1435) the Portuguese reached the
Angra dos Ruyvos (Gurnet Bay), 150 miles beyond Bojador, and the Rio do
Ouro, 240 miles to the south. Early in 1436 the "Port of Gallee," a
little North of C. Branco (Blanco), was discovered by Baldaya, but as
yet no natives were found; no captives, gold dust, or other products
brought home. Exploration along the African mainland languished from
this year till 1441;[12] but in 1437 the Prince took part in the fatal
attack on Tangier, and in 1438 the death of King Edward caused a dispute
over the question of the Regency during the minority of his young son
Affonso. Throughout these internal troubles Henry played an important
part, successfully supporting the claims of his brother Pedro against
the Queen-mother, Leonor of Aragon. All this caused a break of three or
four years in the progress of his discoveries; but the colonisation of
the Azores went forward, as is shown by the license of July 2, 1439,
from Affonso V, to people "the seven islands" of the group, then known.
[Footnote 8: O. Martins thinks these island discoveries were a
surprise to Henry, who at first only contemplated discovery
along the mainland coast South and East towards India. We do
not believe in this limitation of view (see Barros, _Dec. I_,
Lib. I, c. 2, 3).
The previous voyage of the Englishman Macham to the "Isle of
Wood" ("Legname" on the fourteenth-century Portolani) is
another controversial matter which must be taken separately.]
[Footnote 9: Zarco and Vaz became Captains Donatory or Feudal
Under-lords of Madeira, as Bartholemew Perestrello (whose
daughter Columbus married) of Porto Santo.]
[Footnote 10: It has been shewn, _e.g._, by the British
Admiralty Surveys, that the old stories of dangerous reefs and
currents at Bojador, "such as might well have frightened the
boldest mariner of that time," are unfounded, like the old
belief in strong Satanic influence at this point.]
[Footnote 11: 1432, according to Galvano (see Barros, _I_, i,
4).]
[Footnote 12: Till 1440, according to the opposition
chronology of O. Martins.]
In 1441[13] exploration began again in earnest with the voyage of Antam
Gonçalvez, who brought to Portugal the first native
"specimens"--captives and gold dust--from the coasts beyond Bojador;
while Nuno Tristam in the same year pushed on to Cape Blanco. These
decisive successes greatly strengthened the cause of discovery in
Portugal, especially by offering fresh hopes of mercantile profit. In
1442 Nuno Tristam reached the Bight or Bay of Arguim,[14] where the
Infant erected a fort in 1448, and where for some years the Portuguese
made their most vigorous and successful slave-raids. Private venturers
now began to come forward, supplementing Prince Henry's efforts by
volunteer aid, for which his permission[15] was readily granted.
Especially the merchants and seamen of Lisbon and of Lagos, close to
Sagres, showed interest in this direction. Whatever doubts exist as to
the earlier alleged settlement of the Infant at Cape St. Vincent, it is
certain that after his return from Tangier (1437) he erected various
buildings[16] at Sagres, and resided there during a considerable part of
his later life. This fact is to be connected with the new African
developments at Lagos.[17]
[Footnote 13: O. Martins dates _Porto do Cavalleiro_, 1440;
_C. Branco_, 1442.]
[Footnote 14: _Aliter_, 1443 (Barros, _I_, i, 7) or 1444
(Galvano, who apparently dates the discovery of the Rio do
Ouro 1443). See, in this connection, Affonso V's Charters of
October 22, 1433, and February 3, 1446, granted to Prince
Henry. In 1442 the Infant was created a Knight of the Garter
of England. He was the 153rd Knight of the Order; and his
collar descended, through many holders, to the late Earl of
Clarendon.]
[Footnote 15: Necessary by decree of the Regent Pedro, for any
"Guinea" or African voyage (Azurara, _Guinea_, ch. xv).]
[Footnote 16: Especially a palace, a church or chapel, and an
observatory.]
[Footnote 17: Which seems to have shown the way, in this
respect, to its greater sister, Lisbon.]
In 1444 and 1445 a number of ships sailed with Henry's license to
"Guinea," and several of their commanders achieved notable successes.
Thus Dinis Diaz, Nuno Tristam, and others reached the Senegal. Diaz
rounded Cape Verde in 1445,[18] and in 1446 Alvaro Fernandez sailed on
as far as the River Gambia (?) and the Cape of Masts (Cabo dos Mastos).
In 1445, also, João Fernandez spent seven months among the natives of
the Arguim coast, and brought back the first trustworthy account of a
part of the interior. Gonçalo de Sintra and Gonçalo Pacheco, in 1445,
and Nuno Tristam in 1446,[19] fell victims to the hostility of the Moors
and Negroes, who, perhaps, felt some natural resentment against their
new visitors. For, in Azurara's estimate, the Portuguese up to the year
1446 had carried off 927 captives from these parts; and the disposition
and conversion of these prisoners occupied a good portion of the
Infant's time. He probably relied on finding efficient material among
these slaves for the further exploration and Christianization of the
Coast, and even of the Upland. We know that he used some of them as
guides and interpreters.[20]
[Footnote 18: 1454 in O. Martins.]
[Footnote 19: 1447, according to Barros (_I_, i, 14) and
Galvano.]
[Footnote 20: Cf. Azurara, _Guinea_, chs. xiii, xvi.]
One of the latest voyages recorded by Azurara is that of "Vallarte the
Dane" (1448), which ended in utter destruction near the Gambia, after
passing Cape Verde. The chronicler, though writing in 1453, does not
continue his record beyond this year, 1448; his promise to give us the
remainder of the Infant's achievements in a second chronicle seems never
to have been fulfilled; and his descriptions of Madeira and the
Canaries, in the latter part of the _Chronicle of Guinea_, are
unfortunately of only slight value for the history of discovery. Yet,
before the Prince's death in 1460[21] and in the last six years of his
life, several voyages of some importance prove that Azurara's silence is
merely accidental. Cadamosto's two journeys of 1455-6, and Diego Gomez'
ventures of 1458-60, advanced West African discovery almost to Sierra
Leone. The former, a Venetian seaman in the service of Prince Henry,
also explored part of the courses of the Senegal and the Gambia and
gained much information about the native tribes. One of his chief
exploits, an alleged discovery of the Cape Verde islands, has been
disputed in the name of Diego Gomez, who in 1458-60 twice sailed to
Guinea, and on the second voyage "sighted islands in the Ocean, to which
no man had come before." We postpone this point for further examination,
only adding that we believe Cadamosto's prior claim to be sound,
although the islands in question do not appear in any document before
1460.
[Footnote 21: _Aliter_ 1462 or 1463 (Galvano and Barros, who
also date the discovery of C. Verde and the Senegal by "Dinis
Fernandez," 1446: Barros, _I_ i, 9, 13); but this date is
certainly incorrect.]
Meanwhile the Prince, when his explorations (from 1441) first began to
promise important results, obtained from Pope Eugenius IV a plenary
indulgence to those who shared in the war against the Moors consequent
on the new discoveries,[22] and from the Regent D. Pedro he also gained
a donation of the Royal Fifth on the profits accruing from the new
lands, as well as the sole right of permitting voyages to these parts.
The Infant's work, was moreover, recognised in bulls of Nicholas V
(1455) and of Calixtus III (March 13th, 1456). In earlier
life--apparently soon after the capture of Ceuta and the embassy of
Manuel Palæologus asking for help against the Turks--he had been
invited, Azurara tells us, by a predecessor[23] of the Pontiffs
above-named to take command of the "Apostolic armies," and similar
invitations reached him from the Emperor of Germany,[24] the King of
England (Henry V or VI)[25] and the King of Castille.[26] We may also
briefly notice in this place, referring to a later page for a more
detailed treatment of the subject, that the Infant, in 1445 and 1446,
repeated his earlier attempts (in 1424 and 1425) to secure the Canaries
for Portugal, both by means of purchase and of armed force; and that,
from 1444-5 especially, he colonised, as well as discovered, and traded
with increased energy in the Madeira Group, the Azores, and (if his
experiment at Arguim in 1448 may stand as an example) even on the
mainland coast of Africa.
[Footnote 22: Barros and Galvano make Prince Henry obtain
Indulgences from Pope Martin [V, who reigned 1417-31] in
1441-2, by the embassy of Fernam Lopez d'Azevedo (see p. xv).]
[Footnote 23: Martin V?]
[Footnote 24: Sigismund?]
[Footnote 25: Henry VI made the Infant a Knight of the Garter,
and is more likely than the conquering Henry V to have asked a
foreign Prince to aid him against the French.]
[Footnote 26: John II.]
The Infant's share in home politics was considerable, but this is not
the place to discuss it at any length. It is probably a correct surmise
that his ultimate ambition on this side was to detach Portugal as far as
possible from Spain and Peninsular interests, and by making her a
world-power at and over sea, to give her that importance she could never
of herself acquire in strictly European politics. We have already
noticed that after the victory of Ceuta he seems to have been made
Governor for life of the Algarve province[27] of Portugal, by his father
King John (1419); that he was a leading promoter of the scheme for the
Tangier campaign of 1437;[28] and that after the death of his brother
King Edward (Duarte), the successor of King John (September, 1438), he
supported the claims of his eldest surviving brother, Pedro, as regent
and guardian of the young Affonso V, and by his wise counsels effected a
reconciliation with Affonso's mother Leonor, acting for a time as
partner in a Council of Regency with Pedro and the Queen. Further, it
must be said that, in 1447, when a long succession of differences
between D. Pedro and his royal ward ended in an armed rising of the
former against "evil Counsellors," Henry stood by the Sovereign, and
took, if not an active, at least a passive part in overthrowing the
insurrection, which was ended by the battle of Alfarrobeira (May 21st,
1449). Finally, it is recorded that "the Navigator" somewhat recovered
the military honour he had compromised at Tangier, by his successes in
the African expeditions of Affonso V, especially at the capture of
Alcacer the Little in 1458; in this last year he received his Sovereign
in due form at or near Sagres, before sailing for "Barbary." His
traditional but on the whole credible work as Protector of the Studies
of Portugal has been alluded to already, in connection with his alleged
foundation of professorships of mathematics and theology in the
University of Lisbon, and of a school of nautical instruction and of
cosmography at Sagres. This point, however, will be reconsidered in a
following section.[29]
[Footnote 27: Technically "kingdom."]
[Footnote 28: The "Marocco Campaigns" of 1418, 1437, 1458,
etc., were apparently considered by Prince Henry as only
another side of his coasting explorations and projected
conquests. Having then no idea of the enormous southerly
projection of Africa, he probably aspired to a Portuguese
North African dominion, which should control the Continent.
For Guinea, in the ideas of the time, was commonly supposed to
be quite close to Marocco on the south-west and west.
Apparently, soon after 1437, Henry was just starting on
another Moorish expedition, when the King and Council
"hindered the voyage" (see Az., ch. v, p. 20 of our version).]
[Footnote 29: "School of Sagres," etc.]
It is perhaps in his connection with the fall of D. Pedro that the
severest criticism has been passed upon Henry the Navigator. "Genius is
pitiless" it has been said; and the action of the younger brother has
been blamed as a piece of ruthlessness and ingratitude, though extolled
by Azurara as a proof of loyalty under temptation. It may have seemed to
him impossible to support any rebellion, however justified, against
royal authority, or even to take the position of a neutral, when the
central government of his country was on its trial. Our sympathies are
usually with Pedro, as the most wise, liberal, and learned of his
people--with one exception--and as the victim of the intrigues of
courtiers, especially of King John's bastard son, the Count of Barcellos
and Duke of Braganza; but the Governor of Algarve parted for ever from
his favourite brother when he took up arms to right himself; and perhaps
he was not more wrong than the people of England in refusing to allow
the nobles of the Tudor time to dictate to even the most despotic of our
more modern English sovereigns.[30]
[Footnote 30: It has been suggested, _e.g._, by Sir C.
Markham, that the portrait of the Infant in mourning dress
prefixed to the Paris MS. of Azurara represents him
immediately after the death of D. Pedro. It is perhaps more
likely a mark of sorrow for D. Fernand, the Constant Prince,
who died in his Moorish captivity, June 5th, 1443, and whose
heart was conveyed to Portugal, June 1st, 1451, and buried at
Batalha, Prince Henry joining the funeral procession at
Thomar.]
The Infant was, among his other dignities, Master of the Order of
Christ, which, as the direct successor of the Templars in Portugal, held
a very high rank, and was, by its "artificial ancestry," as Hobbes would
have said, one of the most ancient Orders in Christendom. Henry's
father, King John, had been also at one time Head of an Order of
Chivalry, the Knights of Aviz; but on coming to the throne he had
obtained a dispensation from his vow of celibacy as Master, a
dispensation which his son never required. The banner of this Order
seems to have floated over most if not all of Prince Henry's African
expeditions; in its name he required the aid of Pope Eugenius IV; its
special duty--military order as it was in origin--should have been to
spread the Christian faith in Moslem and heathen Africa: perhaps its
work was considered to extend only to the slaying of Moslems, or
Moormen, and the bringing back to Europe of heathen Africans who could
be reared as Christians in Portugal. No mission to preach the faith
seems to have been undertaken by the Fraternity. Upon this Order the
Prince bestowed the tithes of the Island of St. Michael in the Azores,
and one half of its sugar revenues; also the tithe (afterwards reduced
to the twentieth) of all merchandise from Guinea, as well as the
ecclesiastical dues of Porto Santo, Madeira, and the Desertas. The
Prince's nephew, D. Fernando, succeeded him (in 1460) in the Mastership
of the Order of Christ.[31]
[Footnote 31: Already, in 1451, Henry had designated him as
his heir.]
It has sometimes been said that the Infant Henry was also titular King
of Cyprus. This assertion is derived from Fr. Luiz de Souza (_Historia
de S. Domingos_, Bk. VI., fol. 331) and José Suares de Silva (_Memoirs
of King João I._), who tell us that the Prince was elected King of
Cyprus. But this "Kingdom" remained in the posterity of Guy de Lusignan
till 1487; and the mistake has probably arisen from a confusion of
Henry, Prince of Galilee, son of James I., King of Cyprus, with Prince
Henry of Portugal.[32]
[Footnote 32: Santarem corrects this; see note in Major's
_Henry Navigator_, p. 306. So Azurara's allusion, "No other
_uncrowned_ prince in Europe had so noble a
household,"--_Guinea_, ch. iv.]
In prosecuting his explorations, Prince Henry incurred heavy expenses.
His own revenues were not sufficient, and he was obliged to borrow
largely. Thus, in 1448, he owed his bastard half-brother, the Duke of
Braganza, 19394½ crowns of gold, to pay which he had pledged his lands
and goods; and this debt was afterwards increased by 16084 crowns, as
stated in the declaration of the Duke of Braganza, November 8, 1449, and
in the will of the same nobleman. These debts were partly paid by his
nephew and adopted son, D. Fernando, and partly by Fernando's son, D.
Manuel.
VOYAGES OF PRINCE HENRY'S SEAMEN ALONG THE WEST AFRICAN COAST.
(_Not recorded by Azurara._)
Prince Henry's work was, above all, justified by its permanence. Unlike
earlier ancient and mediæval attempts at West African exploration, his
movement issued in complete success. Azurara gives us, no doubt, a
fairly complete account of the earlier stages of that movement, but it
is probable that even his record omits some of the ventures undertaken
from Portugal along the West African mainland; while it is certain that
we must look elsewhere for a completer picture of the Infant's activity
among the Atlantic Islands and in the Great Ocean. These additional
sources of information must be examined in turn. First of all, it will
be advisable to finish the chronicle of West African coasting down to
the Navigator's death. After that, the triumphant prosecution of this
line of advance to the Cape of Good Hope will call for a brief notice.
And, thirdly, something must be said about the progress of discovery and
colonisation in the archipelagos of Madeira, the Canaries, the Azores,
and the Cape Verdes, especially considered in relation to that Westward
route to India which Columbus advocated and commenced.
It has already been stated that although Azurara's Chronicle officially
ends in 1453, and appears to record nothing later than the events of
1448, yet very important expeditions were sent forth in the last years
of the Prince's life, especially those of Cadamosto[33] and Diego Gomez.
An attempt has been made to prove that the second voyage of Cadamosto,
on which he claimed to have discovered the Cape Verde Islands, is
untruly reported and may be dismissed as fabulous. But there seems no
sufficient ground for this. "In an account of travels, printed long
after its author's death, some contradictory statements, possibly
arising through copyists' errors, do not justify such a conclusion." And
the mistakes contained in the assailed narrative are not serious or
unexplainable enough for rejecting it as a whole.[34] Luigi, Alvise, or
Aloysius, da Ca da Mosto[35] was a young Venetian (a noble, according to
some) who had embarked on August 8, 1454, with Marco Zeno on a
commercial venture,[36] and was delayed by storm near Cape St. Vincent
while on his voyage from Venice to Flanders. He now heard of the
"glorious and boundless conquests" of Prince Henry, "whence accrued such
gain that from no traffic in the world could the like be had. The
which," continues the candid trader, "did exceedingly stir my soul,
eager as it was for profit above all other things, and so I made suit to
be brought before the Infant"--who was then at the village of Reposeira,
near Sagres. Cadamosto was easily persuaded to sail in the service of
Portugal,[37] and set out, with Vicente Diaz, on March 22, 1455. He
visited Porto Santo and Madeira, and at Cape Branco began a "peaceful
exploration" of the interior, for the study of its natural conditions,
inhabitants, trade, and so forth. Proceeding to the Senegal, he
continued his investigations; which were extended to the Canaries as
well as to Madeira. He notices the fort built by the Prince's orders in
the Bight of Arguim (1448), and the new start lately made by Portuguese
trade with the natives. This trade at Arguim had included nearly a
thousand slaves a year, so that the Europeans, who used to plunder all
this coast as far as the Senegal, now found it more profitable to trade.
Slave-raiding among the Azanegue tribes north of the Senegal had ceased,
"for the Prince will not allow any wrong-doing, being only eager that
they should submit themselves to the law of Christ."[38] Before passing
Cape Verde, Cadamosto met with two ships, one commanded by a Genoese,
Antonio, or Antoniotto, surnamed Ususmaris or Uso di Mare,[39] the other
by an unnamed Portuguese in Henry's service. The expeditions united and
sailed on together to the Gambia, where they were unable to open
intercourse with the natives, and so returned to Portugal. Cadamosto
gives very full descriptions of the life, habits, government, trade,
etc., of both the "Moors" (Azanegues) and Negroes (Jaloffs) of Guinea,
which have been often noticed,[40] and sometimes paraphrased; and which
show a great development of commercial interest and statesmanlike
inquiry on anything recorded in Azurara. At his furthest point the
explorer noticed that the North Star was so low that it appeared almost
to touch the sea, and here he seems to have seen the Southern Cross.
[Footnote 33: 1507 (Vicenza) Edition, is the earliest text of
Cadomosto's Voyages, printed in "Paesi novamente retrovati et
novo mondo da Alberico Vesputio Florentino intitulato." This
was republished at Milan in 1508; and in this year two
versions appeared: 1. In Latin, by Madrignano, "Itinerarium
Portugallensium ...," Milan. 2. In German, by Jobst Ruchamer,
"Neue unbekanthe landte," Nürnberg. In 1516 appeared in Paris
a French version by Mathurin du Redouer: "Sensuyt le nouveau
monde ..." A good many discrepancies occur in these various
editions and translations.]
[Footnote 34: See pp. xcii-xcvi of this Introduction.]
[Footnote 35: House or Family (Casa) of Mosto.]
[Footnote 36: In 1454 the Venetian Senate ordered three
galleys to be equipped for the voyage to Flanders and England;
and ordered Marco Zeno, as commander, to enquire about the
goods of Venetian subjects landed in England.]
[Footnote 37: The Prince was said especially to wish for
Venetians to enter his service, as they knew more about the
spice trade than anyone; and he was convinced that his
expeditions would ultimately find spices (_i.e._, in India).
As to Vicente Diaz, cf. Azurara's _Guinea_, chs. lx, lviii,
etc.]
[Footnote 38: Cf. Azurara, _Guinea_, end of ch. xcvi.]
[Footnote 39: This seems one of the earliest notices of
non-Portuguese craft in these waters. But Uso di Mare was
almost certainly in the Prince's service, like "Vallarte the
Dane," and "Balthasar the German," noticed in Azurara,
_Guinea_, chs. xvi. and xciv. Uso di Mare's letter to his
creditors of December 12, 1455, seems to show that the
expedition had returned before Christmas.]
[Footnote 40: As in the collections of Ramusio, Temporal,
Astley, and Stanier Clarke; in Major, _Henry Navigator_, chs.
xv.-xvi.; and in "Heroes of Nations" life of Prince Henry, ch.
xvi.]
In the next year, 1456, Cadamosto sailed out again with Antoniotto Uso
di Mare, made straight for Cape Branco, and found, three days' sail from
this point, "certain islands" off Cape Verde "where no one had been
before."[41] The explorer then, in his own as well as in the official,
"Ramusian," or Venetian, account, proceeded to the Gambia, opened trade
successfully with the natives, and explored the coast "about 25 leagues"
beyond this river as far as the Bissagos Islands, or some point of the
mainland not far distant.
[Footnote 41: Of these two were "very large," and on these
they landed, finding no inhabitants but plenty of animal life.
Five more isles were sighted in the distance, but not visited.
They called the first discovered "Boa Vista," and the largest
of the group "St. James," from the day of the discovery. This
is, of course, the Santiago which forms the centre of the Cape
Verde archipelago.]
Cadamosto's account of his two voyages is rightly praised[42] as
"detailed and vivid." He certainly compiled a map of his journeys, for
in noticing the river Barbasini beyond Cape Verde, he says: "I have
named it so on the Chart which I have made." The interesting suggestion,
that some of Benincasa's portolanos (especially that of 1471) were based
on Cadamosto's descriptions and plans of the West African shore-land, is
hardly susceptible of proof, but it is not without some corroborative
evidence, as may be seen elsewhere.[43] Also, "the journeys of this
Marco Polo of West Africa were undertaken in a more scientific spirit,
and were more free from chivalrous outrages," than most of those who
preceded him along this coast.[44] This is not merely due to himself. It
appears from his express statements that the Infant now discouraged
slave-raiding, and urged his captains to something of higher value than
seal and sea-calf hunting. The value of Cadamosto's work was mainly in
his observations and descriptions. He advanced only a little way beyond
some of the Prince's earlier explorers (_e.g._, Alvaro Fernandez),
except for his discovery of the Cape Verde islands, but he seems to have
named[45] and mapped out more carefully than before a good many points
of the littoral beyond Cape Verde, and his writings surpass in
geographical value anything to be found in Azurara. His notes are also
of high value for ethnology and anthropology, and give a better account
of the trade-routes, etc. of North-west Africa than any Christian
writing of the time. Finally, he is more reliable than many subsequent
and more pretentious travellers, and his narrative is as picturesque and
effective as it is reliable. For "one inquisitive person shall bring
home a better account of countries than twenty who come after him."
[Footnote 42: See Nordenskjöld, _Periplus_, 120, and Map
section of this Introduction; also pp. xcii-xcvi of the same.]
[Footnote 43: See p. cxxxii of this Introduction.]
[Footnote 44: The same change is observable in the narrative
of Diego Gomez. Cf. his treatment of the Chief Bezeghichi,
whom he freely releases when in his power, in order to make
him less "bitter against the Christians."]
[Footnote 45: _E.g._, the rivers Barbasini, Casamansa, Santa
Anna, St. Domingo, and Cape Roxo.]
A little subsequent to what we may suppose was the second return of the
Venetian adventurer from Africa, in 1456, the Infant sent out Diego
Gomez with orders to "go as far as he could." The explorer passed a
"great river beyond the Rio Grande," when strong currents in the sea
alarmed him and caused him to put back. Like Cadamosto, however, he
trafficked and conversed with the natives, especially of the Gambia, and
gained some useful information about their trade, politics, and
geography. Some of the facts he related about wars among the negro
states of the interior were confirmed by a "merchant in Oran," who
corresponded with the Prince.[46] As a result of Gomez' first voyage,
the Infant seems to have sent out, in 1458, a mission to convert the
negroes of the Gambia "with a priest, the Abbot of Soto de Cassa, and a
young man of his household named John Delgado." Two years after this
(_i.e._, in 1460) Gomez went out again. Near the Gambia he fell in with
two ships--one under Gonçalo Ferreira, of Oporto, who was trading in
horses with the negroes for native produce; the other was under Antonio
Noli, of Genoa. Soon after, Gomez and Ferreira seized an interloper, one
De Prado, who had come to Cape Verde without permission to dispose of a
rich cargo, as Gomez was informed by a "caravel from Gambia." It is
noticeable how the West African trade had now increased, and how many
expeditions are incidentally mentioned in this one record of Gomez.
[Footnote 46: An allusion of high importance. See the section
of this Introduction, "Preliminary African Exploration,"
especially pp. xlv, etc.]
He concludes by stating that he and Noli left the mainland coast, and
after sailing two days and one night towards Portugal, "sighted islands
in the Ocean," which are described in terms very similar to Cadamosto's.
These were certainly the Cape Verde Islands of modern geography, which
are first mentioned in documentary history in a Portuguese Decree of
December 3rd, 1460. Gomez makes no reference to any previous visit or
claim of a prior discovery of these islands, but that is natural enough.
Was such a previous visit made? Around this point, and the consequent
prior claim of the Venetian, a long controversy has been waged, which is
briefly discussed in the section of this Introduction on the "Atlantic
Islands" (especially pp. xcii-xcvi).
The second voyage of Diego Gomez was probably among the last ventures of
which the Prince received any account. He must have died soon after the
second return of the explorer, who seems to have attended him in his
last illness (13th November, 1460). But it is probable that before his
end he had prepared for the expedition which Pedro de Sintra carried out
in 1461, and which is described by Cadamosto, apparently before the
close of 1463.
VOYAGES OF THE PORTUGUESE COMPLETING PRINCE HENRY'S WORK.
A word must be added on the completion of Prince Henry's work after his
death, and by agents whom in many cases he had trained. King Affonso V,
though rather more of a tournament king than a true successor of the
great Infant, such as John II, had yet caught enough of his uncle's
spirit to push on steadily, though slowly, the advance round Africa. In
1461 he repaired the fort in the Bight of Arguim and sent out Pedro de
Sintra[47] to survey the coast beyond Cadamosto's furthest point. De
Sintra proceeded 600 miles along the "southern coast of Guinea," passed
a mountain which was called Sierra Leone (according to one account) from
the lion-like growl of the thunder on its summits, and turned back at
the point afterwards known as St. George La Mina.[48] Soon after
(probably in 1462), Sueiro da Costa followed De Sintra,[49] but without
any new results, and it was not till 1470 that a fresh advance was
made.[50] In 1469 King Affonso leased the West African trade to Fernam
Gomez, a citizen of Lisbon, for five years, Gomez paying 1,000 ducats a
year. To this lease was annexed the condition that Gomez should make
annual explorations along the unknown West coast of Africa for 300
_miglia_, counted from Sierra Leone, "where Pedro de Sintra and Sueiro
da Costa turned back."[51]
[Footnote 47: This voyage is described by Cadamosto as an
appendix to his own voyages. A young Portuguese who
accompanied De Sintra described to Cadamosto the stretch of
coast now discovered beyond the Rio Grande, the anchorages of
the fleet, and the names given to points on the shore. "This
account, without any rhetorical embellishment, is of special
interest as a specimen of a Portuguese sailing-direction from
a sailor of Henry the Navigator's School" (Nordenskjöld,
_Periplus_, 121). De Sintra reached 5° further South than any
before him. His nomenclature still survives at many points:
_e.g._, Cape Verga, Sierra Leone, Cape Santa Anna, Cape del
Monte, Cape Mesurado. Cape Sagres, "the highest promontory
they had ever seen," between Cape Verga and Cape Ledo, has
been re-named. De Sintra also noticed especially a "great
green forest"--"Bosque de St. Maria," in 5° 30' N. lat.
(?)--and near his furthest point (at Rio dos Fumos) an immense
quantity of smoke from native fires. Cf. Hanno's language in
his _Periplus_, on the fiery rivers running down into the sea;
and see J. N. Bellin's _Petit Atlas Maritime_, Paris, 1764;
Part iii, Map 105.]
[Footnote 48: Elmina.]
[Footnote 49: According to some, he accompanied De Sintra in
the voyage of 1461.]
[Footnote 50: Cadamosto explicitly says that when he left
Portugal on February 1, 1463, no voyages had been made in
continuation of De Sintra's venture, recorded by him.]
[Footnote 51: According to Cadamosto's account, De Sintra had
gone a good deal further.]
Accordingly, in 1470, Gomez sent out João de Santarem and Pedro de
Escobar, accompanied by the two leading Portuguese pilots, Martin
Fernandez and Alvaro Esteves, as "directors of the navigation." On the
29th December, they discovered St. Thomas island, and on 17th January,
1471, the Isle of St. Anne, afterwards Ilha do Principe, both close to
the Equator on the open side of the Bight of Biafra.
Another voyage seems to have been made, under Gomez' auspices, in 1471.
Fernando Po now reached the island in the angle of the Central African
coast which is still called after him; and men began to find that the
Eastern bend of the continent, which had been followed since 1445-6 with
some hope of a direct approach to Asia, now took a sharp turn to the
South.
In spite of this disappointment, Fernandez and Esteves in 1472-3 passed
beyond the furthest of earlier travellers, and crossed the Equator[52]
into that Southern Hemisphere on the edge of which the caravels had long
been hovering, as mariners like Cadamosto saw ever more clearly stars
unknown in the Northern Hemisphere, and ever more nearly lost sight of
the Arctic pole. In 1474-5 Cape Catherine, two degrees South of the
Line, was reached, and here the advance of exploration stopped for a
time till the accession of John II in 1481.
[Footnote 52: It is not very clearly recorded who first
crossed the line among the Portuguese sailors of this time.
Some conclude as stated in text, but Nordenskjöld believes it
was "perhaps Lopo Gonçalvez, after whom a promontory directly
south of the Equator is named"; he also thinks this great
event was accomplished on Gomez' first expedition, under
Santarem, Escobar, Fernandez and Esteves, in 1470-1. As to
progress eastwards, towards India, it was much exaggerated by
many. While his caravels were still off the Guinea coast, King
Affonso V believed the meridian of "Tunis, and even of
Alexandria," had been already passed.]
Now, in six years, the slow advance of the past sixty was exceeded.[53]
Less than four months after his father's death, John, who as heir
apparent had drawn part of his income from the African trade and its
fisheries, sent out Diego de Azambuga, who in 1482 built under the
King's orders the celebrated fort at St. George La Mina. He trafficked
with success, but made no great advance along unknown Africa, even if he
commenced a new era in the permanent colonisation of the Continent. King
John was not disposed to be satisfied with this. In 1484, Diego Cão was
ordered to go as far to the South as he could, and not to "wait anywhere
for other matters." He penetrated to the mouth of the Zaire or Congo,
where he erected (at Cape Padron?) a stone pillar in sign of
possession,[54] and brought back four natives to Portugal. These he took
out with him in his second voyage (1485); on this expedition Martin
Behaim was (wrongly) said to have accompanied him. Cão claimed in this
year to have reached 22° S. lat., half way between the Congo and the
Cape of Good Hope; but this is probably an exaggeration;--18° S.
lat.[55] perhaps marks his furthest point, rather than Walvisch Bay, as
in the old tradition.
[Footnote 53: It is probably right to ascribe great importance
to the work of Fernam Gomez, during his five years' lease. His
wealth gave a new character to the equipment of the African
Expeditions of Portugal. Formerly there had been too much
waste of energy through indefiniteness of object; too much
discretion had been left to mariners themselves; now the
definite contract for geographical discovery with the Crown
caused a more rapid and continuous advance, and long stretches
of coast were explored and mapped.]
[Footnote 54: According to King John's orders. Wooden crosses
(often of Madeira wood?) had hitherto been erected by
Portuguese discoverers in new lands. Now stone pillars 6 ft.
high were to be used, and on them was to be inscribed, in
Portuguese and Latin, the date, with the name of the reigning
monarch, and those of the discoverers.]
[Footnote 55: Near C. Frio. So it is placed (at _Arenarum
Aestuarium_ or _Manga das Arenas_) on Pl. X in Livio Sanuto's
_Geographia_ of 1588. We have mentioned that Martin Behaim, of
Nüremberg, claimed to have accompanied Cão to West Africa; but
his globe, so famous afterwards, executed in 1492 at the order
of the Nüremberg Town Council, shows very little evidence of
this. Behaim's West Africa is often obstinately Ptolemaic, at
the end of the century which had revolutionised the knowledge
of this part of the world. He inserts all the legendary
Atlantic islands, and puts the Cape Verdes far out of their
proper place.]
After Cão's return, King John renewed his efforts with fresh energy.
Already, in 1484, a negro embassy to Portugal had brought such an
account of an inland prince, one "Ogane, a Christian at heart," that all
the Court of Lisbon thought he must be the long lost Prester John, and
men were sent out to seek this "great Catholic Lord" by sea and land.
Bartholemew Diaz sailed in August 1486, with two ships, to try his
fortune by the sea-route, and even if he could not reach the Prester's
country, to discover as far as possible on the "way round Africa." Two
other envoys, Covilham and Payva, were sent out by way of "Jerusalem,
Arabia, and Egypt," to find the Priest-King and the Indies; yet another
expedition was to ascend the Negro Nile, or Senegal, to its supposed
junction with the Nile of Egypt; a fourth party started to explore a
road to Cathay by the North-East Passage.
Bartholemew Diaz, accompanied by João Iffante, rounded the southernmost
point of Africa, and passed some way beyond the site of the modern Port
Elizabeth. The picturesque story of his voyage is well known. He sailed
with two vessels of 50 tons apiece, in the belief that "ships which
sailed down the coast of Guinea might be sure to reach the end of the
land by persisting to the South." His first pillar was set up at Angra
dos Ilheos,[56] at the south side of Angra Pequena. He made another stay
at Angra das Voltas, in 29° S. lat., immediately after passing the
Orange River. Then, putting well out to sea, Diaz ran thirteen days due
south before the wind, hoping by this wide sweep to round the furthest
point of the Continent, which many traditions agreed in fixing not very
far from his last halting-place. Finding the sea and air at last
becoming cold, he changed his course to east, and as no land appeared
after five days, to north. In this last course the Portuguese reached a
bay where cattle were feeding, named by the Portuguese Angra dos
Vaqueiros, now Flesh Bay.[57] After putting ashore two natives (probably
some of those lately carried from Congo to Portugal, and sent out again
to act as scouts for the European explorers), Diaz continued east to a
small island still called "Santa Cruz," W. of our Port Elizabeth, and
even further to a river called, after his partner, Rio do Iffante, now
the Great Fish River, in 32° 23' S. lat., and midway between the present
Port Elizabeth and East London, where the coast begins gradually but
steadily to trend north-east. Here the expedition put back, sighting on
its homeward way the Land's End, or "Cape of Storms," re-named by John
II "Cape of Good Hope" on their return. Almost at the same time as Diaz'
reappearance in Lisbon (Dec. 1487), Covilham, who had reached Malabar by
way of Egypt, wrote home from Cairo more than confirming the hopes
already drawn from the success of the last maritime ventures. "If you
keep southward, the continent must come to an end. And when ships reach
the Eastern Ocean, let your men ask for Sofala and the Island of the
Moon (Madagascar), and they will find pilots to take them to India."
[Footnote 56: ? Diaz Point, at the _Serra Parda_ or "Dark
Hills" of Barros.]
[Footnote 57: Some way beyond Cape Agulhas, and immediately to
the east of the River Gauritz.]
Yet another chapter of discoveries was opened by King John's expeditions
for the ascent of the Western Nile, and for the exploration of the
North-East Passage to Cathay. Neither of these achieved complete
success, but some more light was gained upon the interior of Africa
(where the Portuguese made such notable advances in the sixteenth
century); it has even been claimed, but apparently without foundation,
for the explorers of John II, that a Portuguese discovery of Novaia
Zemlya rewarded their enterprise.
The great voyage of Vasco da Gama (1497-9) connected and completed the
various aims of Portuguese enterprise, to which Prince Henry had given a
permanent and organised form.
Though he was not able to see in his own lifetime the fulfilment of his
plans, both the method of a South-East Passage, and the men who finally
discovered it, were, in a true sense, his--were inseparably associated
with his work. The lines of Portuguese advance, a generation after his
death, continued to follow his initiative so closely, that, when a
different route to the Indies was suggested by Columbus, the government
of John II refused to treat it seriously. And yet it was to the Infant's
movement--in part, at least--that Columbus owed his conception. "It was
in Portugal," says Ferdinand Columbus, "that the Admiral began to
surmise that if men could sail so far south, one might also sail west
and find lands in that direction." In another place[58] it will be
questioned how far a Portuguese movement America-wards can be credited
to the mariners of Prince Henry's own time. It is plain that, whether he
or his captains ever thought favourably of the chances of the Western
route, he and they alike devoted their main energies to its rival, the
Eastern or African coasting way. It is equally plain, on the other hand,
that the Infant's work produced a new interest in the world-science of
geography throughout Christendom, and so was indirectly responsible for
quite as much as it directly aimed at accomplishing.
[Footnote 58: See the section of this Introduction on the
"Atlantic Islands," especially pp. ciii-cvi.]
AFRICAN EXPLORATION PRELIMINARY TO PRINCE HENRY'S WORK.
The first recorded African expedition along the Atlantic coast of Africa
was, if we accept the account of Herodotus, that of the Phœnicians sent
out by Pharaoh Necho (_c._ 600 B.C.), who started from the Red Sea and
returned by the Pillars of Hercules and the Mediterranean.[59] Almost at
the same time (_c._ 570 B.C., according to Vivien de St. Martin's
estimate) the great Phœnician settlement of Carthage attempted in
reverse order a voyage of colonisation and discovery along the West of
the Continent outside the Straits. Eratosthenes refers to Phœnician (or
Carthaginian) settlements already existing on what is now the coast of
Marocco, both inside and outside the "Pillars;" this new expedition
under Hanno was intended to strengthen the old, as well as to found new
plantations. It is often compared with a similar venture, "to explore
the outer coasts of Europe," undertaken by Himilco, probably about the
same time.[60]
[Footnote 59: Herod. ii, 158-9; iv, 42. These mariners took
three years on their voyage: landed, sowed crops, and lived on
the harvest during seasons unfavourable to navigation
(especially autumn); during part of their journey they were
astonished to find the sun on their right hand.]
[Footnote 60: This is first noticed by Aristotle, "On
Marvellous Narratives," § 37; by Mela, _De Situ Orbis_, iii,
9; and by Pliny, _Natural History_, ii, 67, § 167-170, and
elsewhere. The _Periplus_ of Himilco seems to have been worked
up by Avienus (_c._ 400 A.D.) in the first 400 lines of his
poem, "_De Ora Maritima_."]
Hanno[61] sailed from Carthage, according to our authority, with sixty
penteconters, carrying 30,000(?) people, colonists and others, first to
Cerne,[62] which was as far distant from the Pillars of Hercules as the
Pillars were from Carthage. Then he ascended the river Chretes[63] to a
lake. Twelve days' voyage south of Cerne he passed a promontory with
lofty wooded hills,[64] and a little beyond this, a great estuary.[65]
Five days more to the south brought him to the Western Horn,[66] and on
the other side of this he coasted along a "fragrant shore," with
"streams of fire running down into the sea," and "fiery mountains, the
loftiest of which seemed to touch the clouds," and which he named[67]
"Chariot of the Gods."[68] Three days' sail beyond this was his furthest
point, the Southern Horn,[69] whence he returned directly to Carthage.
[Footnote 61: One account of Hanno's voyage was preserved on a
Punic inscription in the temple of "Kronos," "Saturn," or
Moloch, at Carthage; the inscription was translated into Greek
by an unknown hand, probably about 300 B.C.; and this version
of the _Periplus_ still remains to us. See Pliny, _Hist.
Nat._, ii, 67; v, 1, 36; vi, 31; _Solinus_, 56; _Pomponius
Mela_, iii, 9. The first edition of the Greek text is by
Gelenius, Basel 1534; the best by C. Müller, in _Geographi
Graeci Minores_. Cf. also an edition by Falconer, London,
1797; an edition by Kluge, Leipsig, 1829; Rennell, _Geography
of Herodotus_, 719-745, 4to ed.; Bunbury, _Ancient Geography_,
i, 318-335; Walckenaer, _Recherches sur le Géographie de
l'Afrique_, p. 362, etc.; Vivien de St. Martin, _Le Nord de
l'Afrique dans l Antiquité_, pp. 330-400; Major, _Henry
Navigator_, 90, etc., 1868; Charton, _Voyageurs Anciens_, i,
1-5, Ed. of 1882; Gossellin, _Recherches sur la Géographie des
Anciens_, i, pp. 70-106; A. Mer, _Mémoire sur le Pêriple
d'Hannon_, 1885; Campomanés, _El Periplo de Hannone
illustrado_, appended to his _Antiquedad maritima de Cartago_
(1756); Bougainville, _Acad. des Inscr. et Belles Lettres_,
xxvi, xxvii, and especially xxviii, p. 287.]
[Footnote 62: Near Cape Non.]
[Footnote 63: This can hardly be the Senegal and Lake Nguier,
as suggested by V. de St. Martin.]
[Footnote 64: Cape Verde?]
[Footnote 65: The Gambia?]
[Footnote 66: Cabo dos Mastos?]
[Footnote 67: Burton, with characteristic recklessness,
insists on the Camaroons Mt. as the Chariot of the Gods
("Abeokuta and Camaroons Mt."); Fernando Po being another of
the "lofty fiery mountains" seen by Hanno at this point.]
[Footnote 68: In the Sierra Leone range?]
[Footnote 69: Near Sherboro' island?]
It is very difficult to identify Hanno's positions, and this is not the
place to attempt a fresh investigation.[70] But the tradition of this
_Periplus_ having reached far beyond the Straits of Gibraltar--farther
than any venture of the earlier Middle Ages, or of the classical
period--may be regarded as reliable, and some position on the Sierra
Leone coast may provisionally be taken as its ultimate point of advance.
[Footnote 70: Some (_e.g._, Gossellin) would refer the whole
group of localities here named to the extreme N.W. or Maroccan
coast of Africa. But the "lofty green headland," the Western
and Southern Horns, the Chariot of the Gods, the gorillas
captured by the seamen, hardly seem to allow of this
restriction. Ancient enterprise was far more satisfactory than
ancient observation, and the inaccuracies of the latter should
not make us deny the former. Here the initial measurement, of
the distance from Cerne to the Pillars as being equal to the
distance from the Pillars to Carthage, because the time
occupied in sailing was equal, seems not only too vague a
reckoning, but inaccurate as ignoring one great difference.
Inside the straits, Hanno's duty was simply to sail forward;
outside, he had to plant colonists at suitable spots,--along a
coast, moreover, not so well known as that of North Africa to
the Carthaginians.]
The African voyages of Sataspes under Xerxes, and of Eudoxus of Cyzicus
under Ptolemy Euergetes II, cannot be regarded as of much importance.
Neither probably reached Cape Verde (even if we are to attach any belief
to their narratives). Sataspes[71] declared that his ship was stopped by
obstructions in the sea at a point where lived on the ocean shore a
people of small stature, clad in garments made of the palm-tree.[72]
This was "many months'" sail south of Cape Soloeis or Cantin, and may
stand for the neighbourhood of the Senegal, if it be not a mere
traveller's tale invented by Sataspes, as Herodotus seems to have
thought, to excuse his failure to the Great King. Eudoxus[73] claimed to
have sailed so far, first along the eastern and then, along the western,
coasts of Africa, that he practically circumnavigated the Continent; but
all the details with which we are favoured go to disprove his claim. For
instance, he implies that the Ethiopians reached by him on his farthest
point S.W. "adjoined Mauretania." On the eastern coast he picked up a
ship's prow from a vessel which he was told had been wrecked coming from
the westward, and which mariners of Alexandria identified as a ship of
Gades--a very unlikely story in the face of the currents on the East
African coast.
[Footnote 71: _Herodotus_, iv, 43. Similar excuses were given,
_e.g._ (1) by Pytheas in the North Sea; (2) by Arab and
Christian mediæval voyagers off Cape Non and Cape Bojador; (3)
by Arabs off Cape Corrientes (on the E. Coast of Africa).]
[Footnote 72: They lived in towns, he adds, possessed cattle,
were of harmless and timid disposition, and fled to mountains
on the approach of the strangers.]
[Footnote 73: _Posidonius_, in _Strabo_, ii, 3, § 4. Eudoxus
made three voyages (see also Pliny, _Hist. Nat._, ii, 67, who
bases his statement, like Mela, iii, 9, on Cornelius Nepos);
in the first two he sailed to India and was driven to points
on the East African coast; on the third he attempted to sail
round Africa to India by the West, but evidently did not reach
any distance beyond S.W. Mauretania (near C. Non). His first
voyage must have been before B.C. 117 (_d._ of Ptolemy
Euergetes II, Physcon), his other two subsequent to that year.
The narrative of Eudoxus was exaggerated by Pliny and
Pomponius Mela into the story that the navigator had actually
accomplished, in his own person, the voyage round Africa from
the Red Sea to Gades; but his achievements may be limited
thus: Two voyages from Egypt to India; a short distance of
African coasting beyond Guardafui, probably not as far as
Zanzibar; a short distance on the west coast beyond the S.W.
coast of our Marocco, probably not beyond Cape Non, or at
furthest Cape Bojador.]
According to Pliny,[74] Polybius the historian also made a
reconnaissance down the West coast of Africa, in the lifetime and under
the order of Scipio Æmilianus. He seems to have passed the termination
of the Atlas chain, but Pliny's language does not warrant us in going
any further.[75] He interweaves the great measurement of the Roman world
under Augustus by Agrippa, which is perhaps in part commemorated by the
Peutinger Table, and which evidently took into its view the Hesperian
Promontory,[76] and the Chariot of the Gods. Some have claimed for
Polybius a voyage as far as the latter point, but this, if understood in
the sense of Sierra Leone, is highly improbable.
[Footnote 74: _Hist. Nat._, v, i.]
[Footnote 75: The text here is very confused and difficult,
but the best editors give the following text for Pliny's
words: "He (Polybius) relates that beyond Atlas proceeding
west there are forests.... Agrippa says that Lixus is distant
from Gades 112 miles. From the Chariot of the Gods to the
Western Horn is 10 days' voyage, and midway in this space _he_
(_i.e._, Agr., not Pol.) has placed Mt. Atlas."]
[Footnote 76: Or Western Horn.]
We must not here delay over classical attempts at African continental
exploration; but it will be right to notice briefly: That in the age of
Pliny, as shown by the _Periplus of the Erythraean Sea_ (_c._ 70 A.D.),
and in the age of Ptolemy, as shown in his _Geography_ (_c._ 139-162
A.D.), the knowledge of the Græco-Roman world was extended down the East
coast of Africa at least as far as Zanzibar and its neighbourhood, and
down the Western coast to Cape Soloeis, or Cape Cantin: That beyond
these points only vague ideas obtained, though occasional travellers had
ventured further: That in the interior of Africa only the North coast
region, viz., Egypt and the "Barbary States," were thoroughly well
known, though expeditions had at times crossed the Sahara, reached the
Sudan, and ascended the Nile to the marshes situate in 9° N. lat.: That,
even if never seen or visited, at least something had been heard of the
African Alps in the neighbourhood of the Great Lakes, as well as of
those lakes themselves: That Ptolemy's work marks the highest point of
ancient knowledge in Africa, which began to decline from the age of the
Antonines: That it is not probable even Ptolemy had any definite notions
about the Niger, though his text names such a stream in West Africa, and
his Map lays it down in a position not very distant from our Joliba:
That it is clear he was conscious of the vast size of the Continent in a
way that none of his predecessors had grasped, while utterly ignorant of
its shape towards the South, so that he even denied the primary fact of
its practically insular form.
Leaving to another section any notice of ancient exploration among the
African islands, it would also appear that Statius Sebosus, Juba, and
Marinus of Tyre all made contributions to the knowledge of West Africa.
These contributions are now only preserved in the allusions or
paraphrases of other authors; but it is clear that Sebosus, perhaps
identical with a Sebosus who was a friend of Catulus and a contemporary
of Sallust and Cæsar, had made independent inquiries concerning the West
or Ocean coast of the Continent;[77] that Juba,[78] who made the Nile
rise in Western Mauretania, did similar work in the time of Augustus;
and that Marinus preserved some original records of Roman expeditions
which crossed the Great Desert,[79] apparently from Tripoli and Fezzan
to the neighbourhood of the Central Sudan States.
[Footnote 77: He was also the alleged author of a _Periplus_,
and a treatise on the _Wonders of India_, but he is only known
by Pliny's quotations.]
[Footnote 78: The younger, "King of Numidia."]
[Footnote 79: Such as those of Julius Maternus and Septimius
Flaccus, which perhaps reached Lake Chad, probably in the time
of Trajan (98-117 A.D.), and of Cornelius Balbus under
Augustus (19 B.C.), which conquered the Garamantes of Fezzan.]
As the Roman Empire broke up, geographical knowledge naturally suffered,
and Africa shared in this loss. But a considerable recovery was effected
through the work of the Arabs, to whom the Infant Henry owed much.
Confining our attention to Continental exploration, we may remark among
other particulars: (1) That the Arab migration[80] to the East coast
beyond Guardafui in the eighth century began the extension of Moslem
trade-colonies, which at last reached Sofala. (2) That the coast near
Madagascar, as well as that island itself, seems to have been known to
the great Arab traveller and geographer Masudi ("Massoudy") in the tenth
century. (3) That the same writer considered the Atlantic or Western
Ocean unnavigable, but that even he preserves a record of one Arab
voyage thereon.[81] (4) That Edrisi, in the twelfth century, records
another voyage which touched the African mainland a good distance beyond
the Straits of Gibraltar.[82] (5) That Ibn Said, in the thirteenth
century, relates a discovery of Cape Blanco.[83] (6) That overland
communication between the Barbary States and the negroes of the Sudan
was originated by the Arabs, as a regular line of commerce, probably
from the eleventh century at least.
[Footnote 80: This migration led to the foundation of
Magadoxo, 909-951, and of Kilwa, 960-1000; later on of
Malindi, Mombasa, and Sofala. See Krapf, _Travels and
Missionary Labours_, etc., p. 522; G. P. Badger, _Imams ... of
Oman_, p. xiii; El-Belâdzory, _Futûh-el-Buldân_ (Ed.
Kosegarten), pp. 132-135. The immigrants came from the Red Sea
and Syria, according to Dr. Krapf, from Oman and the Persian
Gulf according to Badger (though Krapf admits a later Persian
element as well). This was the migration of the "Emosaids"
('Ammu-Sa'îd, or People of Sa'îd?). They, in one tradition,
claimed to be the clan of Said, grandson of Ali; "a mythical
personage," according to Badger, who substitutes "Sa'îd,
grandson of Julánda" the Azdite; the latter, in this 'Omâni
migration, was accompanied by his brother Suleimân. The
traditional date is A.D. 740, and onwards.]
[Footnote 81: Masudi, ch. 12 of the _Meadows of Gold_. The
adventurer was Khosh-Khash, the "young man of Cordova," who
returned with great riches, from Guinea (?).]
[Footnote 82: See the section of this Introduction upon the
Atlantic Islands, pp. lxxv-lxxvii. Edrisi's Maghrurin or
Wanderers probably sailed from and returned to Lisbon before
1147, the date of the final Christian capture of that city,
and touched the African mainland at a point over against
Madeira.]
[Footnote 83: By one Ibn Fatimah, who was wrecked at Wad-Nun,
a little North of Cape Non, put off in a sloop with some
sailors, and at last came to a glittering white headland, from
which they were warned off by some Berbers. They learned
afterwards that it was one mass of deadly serpents. Thence
turning North they landed and went inland to the salt market
of Tagazza, and finally returned home.]
This last point is one which requires special consideration. By sea the
Arabs did scarcely anything to prepare the way for the Christian
discoveries of the fifteenth century in Africa (except along the Eastern
coast), but by land they were the most important helpers and informants
of Prince Henry.[84] Islam effected the conquest of the Barbary States,
politically in the seventh century, dogmatically in the course of about
200 years after the days of Tarik and Musa. By the end of the eleventh
century the faith of Mohammed had begun to spread and take deep root in
the Sudan,[85] having already made its way into many parts of the
Sahara. With the Moslem faith came the Moslem civilisation. The caravan
trade across the desert now commenced between Negroland and the
Mediterranean; "Timbuktu" was founded by Moslems, probably drawn in
large measure from the Tuareg, in about 1077-1100; and the Central Sudan
States, from Sokoto to Darfur and Kordofan, passed under Mohammedan
influence between A.D. 1000 and 1250. With the fresh migration of Nomad
Arabs which seems to have taken place about A.D. 1050, from Upper Egypt
to West Africa, a distinct advance of Islam in Central Africa is to be
noticed by way of Kanem, Bornu, Sokoto, and the Niger Valley; this new
wave reached Jenné, Ghiné, or "Guinea", on the Upper Valley of the
Niger.
[Footnote 84: Cf. what is said about Prince Henry's
correspondent, the merchant at Oran, p. xxvi of this
Introduction.]
[Footnote 85: Various early Arab MSS., lately found by the
French in Tombuttu ("Timbuktu"), especially the
_Tarik-es-Sudan_ of "Abderrahman ben Amr-Sadi-Tombukkti,"
according to Félix Dubois (_Tombouctou la Mystérieuse_),
supply important rectifications of the standard accounts here;
_e.g._ (1) Islam is found in the Western Sudan from the close
of the ninth century. (2) The Songhay were converted in 1010;
were for a time subject to the Kings of Melli; but gained
freedom in 1355. (3) The Songhay took Timbuktu in 1469; and
from this date, for more than a century, dominated all the
West and Central Sudan from their capital at Gao. (4) Jenné,
on the Upper Niger, was the furthest point westward of the
original Songhay migration from Nubia. It was founded in 765;
was converted to Islam in 1050, but "Pagan idols" were not
completely rooted out till 1475. (5) Jenné was, in the Middle
Ages, the greatest emporium of the Western Sudan, far
outshining Timbuktu, which owed its foundation in part to
Jenné. (6) Jenné was also a chief centre of Sudanese Islam.
Its great Mosque, built in the eleventh century, partially
destroyed in 1830, was the finest in all Negroland. (7) Its
control of the salt and gold trade, as well as of most other
branches of Sudanese merchandise, was such that it gave the
name of Guinea to a vast region of West Africa, especially
along the coast. (8) But Timbuktu, geographically, stood
between Jenné and Barbary, and so between Jenné and Europe,
and prevented Jenné from becoming famous in Christendom. (9)
Jenné was connected primarily with a migration from East to
West; Timbuktu, with a migration from North to South. (10)
Timbuktu was founded [α] by the Tuareg, who owed their new
energy in part to Moslem migrations from Spain, _c._ 1100
(1077 according to some authorities); [β], by merchants from
Jenné, who made it an emporium in the twelfth century. (11) In
the twelfth century, Walata, or Gana, in the great bend of the
Niger [? dominated by Jenné] was the most prosperous
commercial district of West Soudan; but in the thirteenth
century the conquests of the Kings of Melli [placed by these
authorities west-south-west of Timbuktu, to the north of the
Upper Niger] disturbed the old trade-routes, and diverted
commerce to Timbuktu; which, however, was never itself very
populous, and served chiefly as a place of passage and
commercial rendezvous. (12) From 1330 to 1434 the Kings of
Melli were usually masters of Timbuktu, where they built a
pyramid minaret for the chief mosque; but at least during some
years of the fourteenth century, Timbuktu was conquered by an
invasion from Mossi. (13) From 1434 to 1469, the Tuareg
regained possession of Timbuktu, and drove out the Melinki;
but in 1469 the Songhay took the town, and held it for more
than 100 years. (14) In the fourteenth century the Kings of
Melli built a great palace in Timbuktu, which did not
disappear till the sixteenth century. (15) From the fourteenth
century Timbuktu was the intellectual capital of the Sudan.
This was due to the Spanish-Moorish influence. (16) The patron
saint and doctor of Timbuktu, Sidi Yahia, was practically
contemporary (1373-1462) with Prince Henry the Navigator. (17)
The town of Kuku, Kuka or Kokia, in the W. Sudan, mentioned by
mediæval Moslem travellers, was probably either a city on or
near the Niger, immediately south of Gao, the Songhay capital;
or else Gao itself, which is sometimes called Kuku or Gogo.
Even this place was conquered by Melli, in the fourteenth
century, which thus dominated part of the Central Sudan. The
ruins of the great mosque at Gao still commemorate Kunkur
Musa, King of Melli, who built this house of prayer on his
return from the Mecca pilgrimage, about 1325. See
_Tarik-es-Sudan_, composed about 1656, and giving a history of
the Sudan down to that year: the fragments remaining of the
_Fatassi_ of Mahmadu-Koti (1460-1554); _Nil-el-Ibtihaj
bitatriz el-dibaj_, or Supplement to the Biographical
Dictionary of Ibn-Ferhun by Ahmed Baba, 1556-1627.]
Even earlier than this a movement seems to have been in progress from
the opposite direction--first south along the west coast, and then east
up the valley of the Senegal and similar inlets. The tradition preserved
by John Pory[86] is approved by the most recent research--at least in
its general conclusions. The Moslems "pierced into" the Sahara in, or a
little after, 710, and "overthrew the Azanegue, and the people of
Walata;" in "the year 973 (others say about 950) they infected the
negroes and first those of Melli." During the ninth century, Islam made
progress among the Sahara tribes, and the influence of this faith
promoted intercourse between the desert tribes and the great commercial
centres of the North African coast--a movement which was furthered by
the Almoravide revival of the eleventh, and the Almohade of the twelfth,
century. The former started from a reformed Moslem "community," settled
on an island at the mouth of the Senegal--in other words, it shows Islam
already finding centres for recovery and expansion in Negroland,
exploring the Sudan from the north and west, creeping along the Atlantic
Ocean, and spreading from the neighbourhood of Cape Verde into the
interior of the populous land to the south of the Great Desert.
[Footnote 86: In his "Summary Discourse of the Manifold
Religions in Africa," printed at the end of the Hakluyt
Society's Edition of Pory's (1600) Translation of _Leo
Africanus_, vol. iii, especially pp. 1018-1021.]
Here we may notice that Edrisi takes a point called Ulil as his
starting-place in reckoning measurements, and especially longitudes, in
the Sudan. This Ulil is fixed by all our authorities as close to the
sea, in the centre of a salt-producing district; and it may be supposed
to have been in the neighbourhood of the Senegal estuary.[87] To the
east, Ulil bordered on Gana, Ghanah, Guinoa, Geneoa, or "Guinea," which,
at least in name, was the first objective of Prince Henry's expeditions,
and was famous for its slave export, and its money of "uncoined
gold."[88] The name of the country was probably derived from its chief
city of Jenné, variously described by Leo Africanus, in the sixteenth
century, as a large village; by the earlier geographers--especially
Edrisi in the twelfth century, and Ibn-Batuta in the fourteenth--as a
spacious and well-built city on an island in the Niger, lying west from
Timbuktu.
[Footnote 87: See Edrisi, Climate I, § i; Wappaüs, _Heinrich
der Seefahrer_, pp. 65, etc.]
[Footnote 88: Similar language is used by Abulfeda, who calls
it the seat of the King of Gana (whither come the western
merchants of Segelmesa), situate on a Nile, twin-brother of
the Egyptian, which flows into the Ocean; also by
Ibn-al-Wardi, who calls Ghanah city one of the greatest in the
land of the Blacks, placed on both sides of the Negro Nile,
and resorted to for gold by merchants, twelve days' journey
from Segelmesa. Edrisi (Climate I, section ii; ed. Jaubert, i,
16-18; also see i, 11, 13, 15, 19-20, 23, 106, 109, 173-4,
206, 272) is the most specific of all. "Ghanah the Great, made
up of two towns on the banks of a sweet-water river ... the
most populous and commercial city in Negroland. Merchants come
there from all surrounding countries, and from the extremities
of the West ... it was built in A.H. 510" (= A.D. 1116) (see
also Leo Africanus, Hakluyt Soc. ed., pp. 124, 128, 822,
840).]
Between Ghanah or Jenné, and Ulil, according to some writers, lay the
kingdom of Tokrur, while Andagost was on the northern boundary of Ghanah
close to the Sahara. All these were Moslem states like Melli or Malli
(W.S.W. from Timbuktu), and carried on trade with Barbary across the
desert long before the days of Prince Henry. One of the earliest
important converts to Islam in the Sudan was Sa-Ka-ssi, of the dynasty
of Sa in the Songhay country on the Middle Niger (_c._ A.D. 1009-1010).
From this time the states on the Middle Niger became a centre of
Mohammedan influence, especially after the foundation of Timbuktu about
1077. When Ibn-Batuta visited these parts in 1330, he found the negroes
of the Niger full of Moslem devotion, enjoying a commerce with
Mediterranean Africa, and mostly acknowledging the lead of Melli, which
kingdom, according to him, had been founded in the early thirteenth
century by the Mandingo.[89]
[Footnote 89: See Ibn-Batuta (Defrémery and Sanguinetti), iv,
395, 421-2; also Oppel, _Die religiöse Verhältnisse von
Afrika_, Zeitschrift of Berlin Geog. Soc., xxii, 1887.]
Among the Lake Chad States progress was also made in the eleventh
century. The first Moslem Sultan of Bornu (Hami ibnu-l-Jalil) is
recorded about 1050;[90] and a similar conversion happened in Kanem
about the same time. This latter kingdom was then more important than
now, and dominated much even of the Egyptian Sudan. Hence in the
fourteenth century Islam obtained a strong footing in Darfur, as it had
already in Baghirmi and Wadai.[91] Already in the twelfth century,
Kordofan and the extreme east of the Sudan had been partially Moslemised
by Arabs from Egypt, who had come south after the fall of the Fatimite
Caliphs.
[Footnote 90: See Otto Blau, _Chronik von Bornu_, p. 322, Z.
D. M. G., vi, 1852.]
[Footnote 91: The more complete Islamising of Wadai, Darfur,
and Baghirmi did not take place till the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries. See Slatin Pasha, _Fire and Sword in
Soudan_, pp. 38-42; T. W. Arnold, _Preaching of Islam_, chs.
iv, xi.]
Along the eastern coast, in spite of the early spread of Moslem
settlements from Magadoxo southward, Islam was very slow in penetrating
the interior. Here the Arabs chiefly devoted themselves to maritime
commerce, and for a long time their intercourse with the inland tribes
was not of a kind to open up the country. Caravans with slaves and
natural products came down to the coast towns, but the merchants of the
latter seem to have been content with waiting and receiving. But on this
side of Africa was a Christian kingdom, which was now--in Prince Henry's
days--becoming more familiar to Europe: Abyssinia, the kingdom of
Prester John, as the Portuguese of later time identified it. The
original seat of the Priest-King, as described (chiefly from Nestorian
information) by Carpini, Rubruquis, Marco Polo, and other Asiatic
travellers of the thirteenth century, was in Central Asia, but the
Abyssinian state offered so close a parallel, that it was naturally
recognised by many as the true realm of Prester John, when the first
clear accounts of it came into Mediæval Europe. The Asiatic prototype,
moreover, was only temporary; it had apparently ceased to exist in the
time of Polo himself, who spread its fame so widely; whereas its
Abyssinian rival was both permanent and ancient enough to be noticed in
pre-Crusading and even in pre-Mediæval literature. As the Renaissance
movement progressed in Europe, learned men of the West gained from their
reading an ever clearer realisation of this isolated Christianity of the
East; and, as the trade of the later Middle Ages spread itself more
widely, the Venetians seem to have made their way to the Court of the
Negus, even before John II of Portugal sent Covilham and Payva (1486) to
find the Prester. Probably the beginnings of this Italian intercourse
with Abyssinia may be placed as far back as the lifetime of Prince Henry
(_c._ 1450).
The Christianity of Nubia, which dated from the fourth century like that
of Abyssinia itself, was still vigorous in the twelfth,[92] but from
that time it began to fail before the incessant and determined pressure
of Islam. Ibn-Batuta,[93] about 1330-40, found that the King of Dongola
had just become a Moslem. Father Alvarez, in 1520-7, considered that the
Nubian Christianity which had once extended up the Nile from the first
Cataract to Sennaar had become extinct; though he would not allow that
the mass of the Nubians had adopted any other religion in its place;[94]
and himself, he tells us, had met a Christian who, in travelling through
Nubia, had seen 150 churches.[95] But, in the course of the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries, all Nubia embraced Islam; and even in 1534,
Ahmad Gragne, King of Adel, in one of his attacks upon Abyssinia, is
said to have had 15,000 Nubian allies, apparently all Mohammedans.[96]
[Footnote 92: Edrisi, Climate I, section iv; vol. i, p. 35
(Jaubert). See Duchesne, _Eglises Séparées_.]
[Footnote 93: _Ibn-Batuta_, iv, 396. (Defrémery and
Sanguinetti).]
[Footnote 94: See _Alvarez_, Hakl. Soc. Edition, p. 352.]
[Footnote 95: Ruins?]
[Footnote 96: See Nerazzini, _Musulman Conquest of Ethiopia_,
Rome 1891. (Ital. Transl. from Arab MS.).]
In Prince Henry's day, then, we may fairly assume that the old
Christianity of East Africa was practically limited to Abyssinia; but
when Azurara tells us of the Infant's desire "to know if there were in
those parts[97] any Christian Princes,"[98] and again more explicitly,
"to have knowledge of the land of Prester John,"[99] it is possible that
some dim acquaintance with the old tradition of an isolated African (as
well as of an isolated Asiatic) Church, was at the root of his
endeavour.
[Footnote 97: Africa.]
[Footnote 98: _Azurara_, c. vii.]
[Footnote 99: _Ibid._, c. xvii.]
At the end of the twelfth century, Islam had already begun to encroach
upon the coast of what is now Italian "Erythraea;" and about 1300 A.D. a
Musulman army attacked the ruler of Amhara. At this time the realm of
the Negus seems to have been completely cut off from the Red Sea;[100]
but it was not till the early sixteenth century that Abyssinia was in
serious danger of becoming a province of Islam, from the attacks of
Ahmad Gragne (1528-1543), which, however, ended in complete failure.
[Footnote 100: See Maqrīzī, _Histoire des Sultans Mamlouks de
l'Egypte_, Quatremère, 1837-45, t. ii, Pt. 11, p. 183.]
To return to the North coast of Africa. Here, by the capture of Ceuta,
Prince Henry gained a starting-point for his work; here he is said
(probably with truth) to have gained his earliest knowledge of the
interior of Africa; here especially he was brought in contact with those
Sudan and Saharan caravans which, coming down to the Mediterranean
coast, brought news, to those who sought it, of the Senegal and Niger,
of the Negro kingdoms beyond the desert, and particularly of the Gold
land of "Guinea." Here also, from a knowledge thus acquired, he was able
to form a more correct judgment of the course needed for the rounding or
circumnavigation of Africa, of the time, expense, and toil necessary for
that task, and of the probable support or hindrance his mariners were to
look for on their route.
We must, however, qualify in passing the statements of Azurara, in ch.
vii, which would imply that Christianity had for ages been utterly
extinct in North Africa. "As it was said that the power of the Moors in
... Africa was ... greater than commonly supposed, and that there were
no Christians among them." "During the one-and-thirty years that he had
warred against the Moors, he had never found a Christian King nor a lord
outside this land,[101] who for the love of ... Christ would aid
him."[102] The old North African Church, though constantly declining,
survived the Musulman Conquest of the seventh and eighth centuries for
nearly 800 years. True, its episcopate, which could still muster 30
members in the tenth century, was practically extinct by the time of
Hildebrand[103] (Pope Gregory VII), and in 1246 the Franciscan
missionary bishop of Fez and Morocco was the only Christian prelate in
"Barbary"; but a number of native Christians still lingered on, though
without Apostolic succession. In 1159, the Almohade conqueror, Abdu-'l
Mu'min ben Ali, on subduing Tunis, compelled many of these to change
their faith; but all through the next centuries, down to 1535, a certain
number of Tunisians preserved their ancient religion so far that, when
Charles V gained possession of the city in the above-named year (1535),
he congratulated these perseverants on their steadfastness. The same
fact is evidenced by the tolerant behaviour, as a rule, of the Mediæval
Barbary States towards Christians, both native and European.
[Footnote 101: Portugal.]
[Footnote 102: To find such a "Christian Lord" in the person
of Prester John was said to have been one of the chief objects
of D. Pedro's travels. This object Pedro avowed in Cairo; and
with this, among other aims, he visited not only Egypt but
Sinai and the Red Sea (see Martins, _Os Filhos_, pp. 83, 97,
121-2, etc., and pp. xvii-xviii of this volume).]
[Footnote 103: In 1076, the Church of Barbary could not
provide three bishops to consecrate a new member of the
Episcopate, and Gregory VII named two bishops to co-operate
with the Archbishop of Carthage (See Migne, _Pat. Lat._,
cxlviii, p. 449; Mas Latrie, _Rélations de l'Afrique
septentrionale avec les Nations chrétiennes au Moyen Age_, p.
226). In 1053, Leo IX declared that only five bishops could be
found in North Africa (Migne, _P. L._, cxliii, p. 728). On the
thirty bishops of the tenth century, see Mas Latrie, _Ibid._
pp. 27-8. It is curious to find Gregory II, in _c._ 730,
forbidding St. Boniface of Mainz to admit emigrants from North
Africa to Holy Orders without inquiry (Migne, _P. L._, lxxxix,
p. 502)--a remarkable proof of mediæval emigration.]
Thus they employ Christian soldiers, among others; grant freedom of
worship to Christian merchants and settlers; and exchange letters with
various Popes, especially Gregory VII, Gregory IX, Innocent III, and
Innocent IV, on the subject of the due protection of native
Christians.[104] Traces of Christianity were to be found among the
Kabyles of Algeria down to the time of the capture of Granada (1492),
when a fresh influx of Andalusian Moors from Spain completed the
conversion of these tribes,[105]--a conversion which, as Leo Africanus
notices, was not inconsistent with some survivals of Christian custom.
Similar survivals have been alleged among the Tuâreg of the Sahara, the
"Christians of the Desert" at the present day.
[Footnote 104: See Mas Latrie, _Afrique Septentrionale_,
_passim_, and especially pp. 61-2, 192, 266-7, 273.]
[Footnote 105: See C. Trumelet, _Les Saints de l'Islam_
(1881), pp. xxviii-xxxvi. In this connection we may notice one
or two other traces of intercourse between the Moslems of
Granada and those of Africa, _e.g._ (1) Ibn-Batuta's mention
of the tomb of the poet Abu Ishak es Sahili, born in Granada,
died and buried in Timbuktu, 1346. (2) Leo Africanus' notice
of the stone mosque and palace in Timbuktu, the work of an
architect from Granada in the fifteenth century. On Timbuktu,
see Ibn Batuta (Def. and San.), iv, 395, 426, 430-2; Leo Afr.
(Hakluyt Soc.), 4, 124, 128, 133-4, 146, 173, 255, 306, 798,
820, 822-4, 842.]
Two practical questions arise for our special purpose from this summary
of the mediæval progress and fifteenth-century status of Islam in
Africa. These questions have been partly answered already, but we may
here re-state them to generalise our conclusions. 1. What information
was the Infant able to gain from the "Moors" for his own plans? and 2.
Was this "Moorish" information so valuable as to account, in any great
degree, for the Prince's perseverance and success in his task?
To the former query it may be replied: 1. That the "Arabs and Moors" of
the early fifteenth century could give the Infant detailed and correct
information, not only about the Barbary states and the trade-routes of
the Sahara, but also about many of the Western and Central Sudan
countries, and about the general course and direction of the "Guinea
coast" both to the west and south of the great African hump. Especially
could they describe the kingdom of Guinea, centreing round the town of
Jenné on the Upper Niger, which was the chief market of their Negro
trade in slaves, gold, and ivory. This kingdom, then, reached almost to
the Atlantic on the lower valley of the Senegal, where in earlier times
a place called Ulil had been marked by Edrisi and other Arab
geographers, as independent of Ghanah but important for traffic. Also,
the Moors were acquainted with the country of Tokrur,[106] which may be
supposed to occupy the upper valley of the Senegal, becoming perhaps, in
Prince Henry's time, merely a province of Guinea. Further, they could
give much information about the States of Timbuktu and Melli, to the
east of Guinea, on the Middle Niger, about the gold land of Wangara, in
the great bend to the south of that river, and about the Songhay,
afterwards so powerful, whose capital was at Gao, at the extreme N.E.
angle of the Negro Nile, or Joliba. The Arab travellers and writers seem
generally to have made but one river out of the Senegal, the Niger,
Joliba, or Quorra, and the Benué or "river of Haussa."
[Footnote 106: But in one view Tokrur is merely a generic name
for the Sudan and Sudanese, and is only by mistake converted
into a definite kingdom by Arab writers of second-rate
authority.]
De Barros explicitly states that the Moors told Prince Henry how on the
other side of the Great Desert lived the Azanegues, who bordered on the
Jaloff negroes, where began the kingdom of Guinea, or Guinanha. From
other sources we know, as already stated, that the Infant obtained from
the same informants[107] definite descriptions of the Senegal estuary,
its "tall palms," and other landmarks. For here, rather than at any
point more to the south, was the Guinea coast proper of the fifteenth
century; though in the Bull of Pope Nicholas V, granting to Portugal
(1454) all the lands that should be discovered "from the Cape of Bojador
and of Nun throughout the whole of Guinea, as far as its _Southern
shore_, or even to the Antarctic Pole and the Indies," our modern
extension of the term is virtually admitted.
[Footnote 107: From the same he may have heard the tradition
of Bakui's voyage in 1403, from the Maroccan coast to about
the latitude of the Bight of Arguim, a parallel adventure to
Ibn Fatimah's. See above, p. xliv.]
2. And, in the second place, granting what has just been said, it is
obvious that the Moorish information was important enough to have very
considerable influence on the Infant's plans, and especially to furnish
him with hopes of success, and reasons for perseverance in the face of
opposition and repeated failure.
Our materials for the Prince's life are so inadequate that we can hardly
decide, from the silence of our authorities, that he was entirely
ignorant, even at second hand, of all that the Arab geographers or
travellers had written about Africa. Especially is this the case with
Edrisi (1099-1154), whose work was composed in the Christian kingdom of
Sicily, and owed much to Christian writers. And perhaps the same hope
applies to Ibn-Batuta (_fl._ 1330), who, living at a time so near to the
epoch of the Prince's voyages, had revealed the Western Sudan to the
Moslem world--and so to any Christians conversant with Moslem trade and
enterprise--far more thoroughly than ever before. These are only two
examples among those Moslem geographers, whose work may have been
brought to the Infant's notice during his visits to Ceuta.
* * * * *
We have now to see what progress had been made by Christian nations in
the exploration of Africa immediately before Prince Henry's time. The
Crusades were not merely expeditions to recover the Holy Sepulchre: they
were the outward sign of the great mediæval awakening of Europe and
Christendom, which, beginning in the eleventh century, has never
slumbered since, and which, in the Infant's days, was passing through
that great transition we call the Renaissance. On the geographical side
this movement took first of all the direction of land travel, and
achieved such great discoveries in Asia that a new desire for wealth and
commercial expansion was kindled in Europe, with the special object of
controlling the Asiatic treasures which Marco Polo and others had
described. Islam, however, interposed a troublesome barrier between
Central Asia, India and China on the one side, and European trade or
dominion on the other. Hence, from the thirteenth century, we find a new
series of attempts to reach the Far East by sea from the Atlantic and
Mediterranean coasts. It was not till the last years of Prince Henry's
life that any serious attempts were made to explore the interior of
Africa, but expeditions along its shores were sent out long before his
time to reconnoitre for a sea-route to India.[108] We have already
remarked that the Infant represents in his own life-work the leading
transition in this movement, from a tentative, impermanent, and
unorganised series of efforts, to a continuous, properly directed, and
successful plan; but some notice must be taken of those ventures which
immediately prepared his way. Leaving out of sight, for another section
as far as possible, the voyages which are concerned only with the
Atlantic islands, or aim in a rudimentary way at finding a Western route
to Asia, it is possible to mention several genuine attempts to
anticipate the Portuguese along the Eastern or African mainland course.
[Footnote 108: Raymond Lulli ["of Lull"] is thought by some to
have made the first definite suggestion of this route in the
central mediæval period. This "doctor illuminatus" was born at
Palma in Majorca, 1235, became a Franciscan Tertiary in 1266,
and died 1315. We may perhaps connect him with the very early
school of portolano-draughtsmanship in the Balearics. See Map
section of this Introduction.]
The first of these, as far as known, is the voyage of Lancelot
Malocello, of Genoa, in 1270. There is no proof that he started, like
the adventurers of 1291, to find the ports of India: it is probable his
ambitions were more modest; but we do not know how far he reached along
the African mainland--only that he touched the Canaries, and staying
there some time built a castle in Lancarote[109] island.
[Footnote 109: = Lancelote? See pp. lxxviii-lxxix.]
The next venture in this direction is also Genoese. In May, 1291,[110]
Tedisio Doria and Ugolino de Vivaldo, with the latter's brother and
certain other citizens of Genoa, equipped two galleys "that they might
go by sea to[wards] the ports of India and bring back useful things for
trade." But "after they had passed a place called Gozora,[111] nothing
more certain has been heard of them." This is confirmed by Pietro
d'Abano, writing in 1312; but in the fifteenth century one of Prince
Henry's captains, the Genoese colleague of Cadamosto, Antoniotto
Ususmaris or Uso di Mare, professed to give some more details. On
December 12th, 1455, he wrote his creditors a letter, in which he
stated[112] that the two galleys of "Vadinus and Guido Vivaldi," leaving
Genoa in 1281 "for the Indies," reached the "Sea of Ghinoia," where one
ship was stranded, but the other sailed on to a city of Ethiopia called
Menam, where lived Christian subjects of Prester John, who held them
captive. None ever returned, but Uso di Mare himself spoke with the last
surviving descendant of those Genoese.[113] Menam, he concludes, was on
the sea coast, near the river Gihon.[114]
[Footnote 110: According to some authorities, 1281. See
Giustiniani, _Castigatissimi Annali di Genova_, 1537, fol.
cxi, verso. Giustiniani refers to Francesco Stabili, otherwise
Cecco d'Ascoli, in his Commentary on the _De Sphaera Mundi_ of
Sacrobosco (John of Holywood, in Yorks, _c._ A.D. 1225). The
year 1291 corresponds with the fall of Acre, and the
consequent embarrassment of the Syrian overland routes to
Inner Asia.]
[Footnote 111: At or near Cape Non, which, on the Pizzigani
Map of 1367, is marked "Caput Finis Gozole."]
[Footnote 112: This statement, it has been conjectured, was
intended for use in a "forthcoming globe or map." Uso di
Mare's statement was first noticed by Gräberg af Hemsö. See
Peschel, _Erdkunde_, p. 179 (Ed. of 1865); Major, _Henry
Navigator_, 99-106 (Ed. of 1868), P. Amat di S. Filippo,
_Studi biografici_, etc. (Ed. of 1882), i, p. 77, for recent
studies on the general question of the Genoese Voyage of 1291,
and Uso di Mare's letter. The earliest modern notice of the
account of this voyage in the Public Annals of Genoa was by G.
H. Pertz, in his memoir, "Der älteste Versuch zur Entdeckung
des Seewegs nach Ostindien", offered to the Royal Academy of
Sciences at Munich, March 28th, 1859 (_Festschrift_, Berlin,
1859). The Genoese Annals referred to are a continuation of
the Chronicles of Caffaro. Muratori has printed an abstract of
the narrative. See also Nordenskjöld, _Periplus_ (1897), pp.
114, 116; _Nouvelles Annales des Voyages_ (d'Avezac), vol.
cviii, p. 47.]
[Footnote 113: In 1455?]
[Footnote 114: Nile.]
It is difficult to attach great weight to Uso di Mare's letter, which
looks like an attempt to amuse his creditors with interesting
adventures; but the voyage of 1291, with or without the survival of
1455, is sufficiently remarkable. It is the first direct attempt of
Europeans in the Middle Ages to find a sea-route to India around Africa;
its far-reaching design contrasts forcibly with the more modest projects
of nearly all similar attempts before Prince Henry's time, and it is not
improbable that some of its work survived, though officially
unrecognised.[115]
[Footnote 115: Thus it has been pointed out that two of
Tedisio Doria's galleys were registered in a legal document of
1291, under the names of St. Antonio and Allegrancia, and that
the name Allegranza, applied for some time to one of the
Canaries, was perhaps derived from this ship. Either from this
or from Malocello's venture of 1270, the islands of Lançarote
and Maloxelo in the same group probably took their names.
Lançarote was marked with the red cross of Genoa on most
Portolani down to a late period of the sixteenth century.]
The Hispano-Italian voyage of 1341 appears to have been solely occupied
with the exploration of the Canaries, which were now becoming pretty
well known, and we leave over any further notice of this for the
present; but the Catalan expedition of 1346 was to some extent similar,
both in object and method, to the Genoese expedition of 1291. "The ship
of Jayme Ferrer," according to the Catalan Mappemonde of 1375, "started
for the River of Gold[116] on St. Lawrence's Day, 1346."[117] To the
same effect the Genoese archives[118] assert "On the Feast of St.
Lawrence there went forth from the city of the Majorcans one galley of
John Ferne the Catalan, with intent to go to Rujaura.[119] Of the same
nothing has since been heard."[120] And on the Map of 1375 already
noticed, upon the third sheet, is depicted off Cape Bojador the
picture[121] of the ship in question adjoining the legend above-quoted.
We may notice, however, that Guinea, the gold land of Africa, and not
India, was the objective of this voyage--although Guinea was the first
step on the African route to India--and that the venture, as Major says,
was apparently designed only for the discovery of the supposed Negro
river in which gold was collected: a guess of Mediterranean
merchants[122] from the information of Moorish middlemen.
[Footnote 116: _I.e._, Guinea.]
[Footnote 117: 10th August.]
[Footnote 118: See Papers presented to Archives of Genoa by
Federico Federici, 1660. Reference discovered by Gräberg af
Hemsö.]
[Footnote 119: The River of Gold.]
[Footnote 120: Yet, proceeds this record, the "river [of gold]
is a league wide and deep enough for the largest ship. This is
the Cape of the end ... of W. Africa."]
[Footnote 121: Nordenskjöld, _Periplus_, p. 114 (1897), gives
a confirmation from experience. "There is hardly any doubt
that the ship-drawing on the Atlas Catalan is in the main
correct.... Even in my time, Norwegians went out fishing on
Spitzbergen in large undecked boats, somewhat like that of
Ferrer."]
[Footnote 122: Such as dealt in Guinea products, especially
malaguette pepper, at Nismes, Marseilles, and Montpellier.]
Beginning with the year 1364, the French also claimed to have made
important advances along the African coast route. The men of Dieppe, it
is said, repeatedly sailed beyond Cape Verde, and even Sierra Leone, and
founded settlements on what was afterwards called the La Mina
coast.[123] These stations, called Petit Paris, Petit Dieppe, etc.,
lasted till 1410, when home troubles caused their abandonment,[124] like
the temporary evacuation of the French Ivory Coast Settlements after
1870; but during the forty or fifty years of their existence, they
carried on a regular trade with the Norman ports.
[Footnote 123: "The Mine" of Hakluyt and early English
geographers.]
[Footnote 124: See the MS. edited by Margry, and given in
Major's Introduction to his _Life of Henry the Navigator_; the
_Short History of the Navigation of Jean Prunaut of Rouen_;
also _La Relation des Costes d'Afrique appelées Guinées_, by
Sieur Villaut de Bellefond, Paris, 1669; L. Estancelin,
_Recherches sur les voyages des navigateurs normands_, 1832;
Père Labat, _Nouvelle rélation de l'Afrique Occidentale_,
1728; Pierre Margry, _Les Navigations Françaises du XIVme.
au XVIme. siècle_, 1867. The French claim is fully admitted
by Nordenskjöld, _Periplus_, 115-6 (1847), but of course
vigorously denied by the Portuguese, whom Major
supports.--_Henry Navigator_, Introduction, pp. xxiv-li, and
text, pp. 117-133.]
This tradition admits that it has lost its proofs in the destruction of
the Admiralty Registers at Dieppe in 1694, but it is possible that some
articles[125] may be discovered dating from this early commerce, which
can supply fresh evidence. In itself, the Dieppese story is not
impossible, and we shall see in another section, from the witness of the
Map of 1351 and other portolanos, how plausible it appears, together
with still greater ventures. But as things at present stand, it must be
considered as a "thing not proven."[126]
[Footnote 125: Especially some of the ivory carvings said to
have been made from spoils of this fourteenth-century trade.]
[Footnote 126: The "short history" of Prunaut's navigation
assigns September, 1364, for the start of the first voyage;
makes the sailors reach "Ovideg" at Christmas ("Ovidech" in
Barros, _Decade I_, occurs as a native name for the Senegal);
and tells us the anchorage was at C. "Bugiador," in "Guinoye."
The blacks, called Jaloffs or Giloffs, had never seen white
men before. Small presents were exchanged for "morphi" or
ivory, skins, etc. Next year (?) Prunaut (called "Messire Jean
of Rouen" throughout), returned with four ships and acquired
land from the natives. Here he built houses for wares and
habitation, and proposed to his men to settle there
permanently. They agreed, but quarrels prevented the
foundation of the colony. In September, 1379, Prunaut sailed
again to Guinea with a very fine ship, _Notre Dame de bon
Voyage_, but lost many men from sickness; he himself returned
after Easter, 1380, with much gold. After this Prunaut was
made a captain in the French navy. Next year (1381) the _Notre
Dame_ again went out with the _St. Nicholas_ and
_L'Espérance_, of Dieppe and Rouen. The first-named cast
anchor at La Mine, where Prunaut built a chapel, a castle, a
fortalice, and a square house, on a hill called the "Land of
the Prunauts." Near this were Petit Dieppe, Petit Rouen, Petit
Paris, Petit Germentrouville; French forts were also built at
Cormentin and Acra. But from 1410 all this prosperity decayed;
in eleven years only two ships went to the gold coast, and one
to the Grande Siest; and soon after the wars in France
destroyed this commerce altogether.
Villaut de Bellesfond, Estancelin, and Labat, narrate the same
incidents as follows: Charles V encouraged commerce, so in
November, 1364, the Dieppese fitted out two ships, of 100 tons
each, for the Canaries. About Christmas they reached C. Verde,
and anchored before Rio Fresco, which in 1669 was still called
"Baie de France." Afterwards they went on to a place they
called "Petit Dieppe," and the Portuguese "Rio Sestos," beyond
Sierra Leone; for objects of small value they gained gold,
ivory, and pepper; returning in 1365 they realised great
wealth; and in September of the same year the merchants of
Rouen joined with those of Dieppe to fit out four ships, two
for trade between Cape Verde and Petit Dieppe, the other two
for exploration of the coast beyond. One of these last stopped
at Grand Sestere, on the Malaguette coast, and loaded pepper;
the other ship traded on the Ivory Coast, and went on as far
as the Gold Coast, and depôts were fixed at Petit Dieppe and
Grand Sestere, which was re-named Petit Paris. Factories or
"Loges" were established to prepare cargoes for the ships. The
native languages long retained French words, as was found in
1660. In 1380 the Company sent out _Notre Dame de bon Voyage_,
of 150 tons, from Rouen to the Gold Coast (September). At end
of December they reached the same landing where the French had
traded fifteen years before. In the summer of 1381 the _Notre
Dame_ returned to Dieppe richly laden; in 1382 three ships set
sail together, September 28th, viz, _La Vierge_, _Le Saint
Nicholas_, _L'Espérance_. _La Vierge_ stopped at La Mine, the
first place discovered on the Gold Coast. The _St. Nicholas_
traded at Cape Corse and at Mouré below La Mine, and
_L'Espérance_ went as far as Akara, trading at Fanting, Sabon
and Cormentin. Ten months after, the expedition returned with
rich cargoes. Three more ships were sent out in 1383, one to
go to Akara, the others to build an outpost at La Mine; there
they left ten or twelve men, and returned after ten months. A
church was afterwards built for the new colony, and in 1660
this still preserved the arms of France. After the accession
of Charles VI, the African trade was soon ruined. Before 1410
La Mine was abandoned, and until after 1450 the Normans, it is
believed, abandoned maritime explorations.]
Reliable evidence of French voyages to the Gold Coast of Guinea can only
be quoted for the sixteenth century. Thus Braun in 1617, and Dapper some
time shortly before 1668, inspected buildings and collected traditions
from the natives on that shore which alone would prove these later
expeditions, if they were not confirmed by several documents in Ramusio,
Temporal, and Hakluyt.[127] Equally reliable is the tradition of
Béthencourt's _Conquest of the Canaries_ in 1402, etc.; yet the authors
of this history, Béthencourt's chaplains, give no hint of any knowledge
possessed by their countrymen about the mainland coast beyond Cape
Bojador, but rather imply the reverse. Finally, though so many of the
best sixteenth-century maps are Dieppese, none of these show the
fourteenth-century settlements, which are also wanting in all charts of
the earlier time. The controverted names are first found on a map of
1631, by Jean Guérand; and this is probably not unconnected with the
fact that in 1626 Rouen and Dieppe united for trade with the Guinea
coast.
[Footnote 127: See De Bry's _Collection des petits Voyages_,
Frankfort, 1625; Oliver Dapper's _Description of Africa_ (in
Dutch), Amsterdam, 1668; Ramusio's _Collection_, Ed. of 1565,
iii. p. 417 _verso_, in the _Discorso sopra la Nuova Francia_;
Dr. David Lewis' _Letter to Burleigh_, March 9, 1577.
Santarem's _Priority of Portuguese Discoveries, etc._ (1842),
is mainly directed against the French claims.]
It is of course possible, as M. d'Avezac long ago argued from the
evidence of the great Portolani of the fourteenth century, especially
the Laurentian or Medicean[128] of 1351, the Pizzigani[129] of 1367, and
the Catalan of 1375, that some unrecorded advance was accomplished along
the African mainland coast during the middle years of this century; the
imperfection of our records must never be forgotten; and we shall return
to this question in another section. But nothing definite and certain
can be gathered about the coast beyond Cape Bojador, except in a few
small points.[130] With the Atlantic islands the case was very
different.
[Footnote 128: Genoese.]
[Footnote 129: Venetian.]
[Footnote 130: Unless the contour of the Laurentian Map of
1351 is held to prove a circumnavigation of Africa shortly
before 1351. The comparative accuracy of this outline, so
incredibly good as mere guesswork, must remain one of the
chief _cruces_ of Mediæval geography.]
The expedition[131] (1402-12) of the Sieur de Béthencourt, Lord of
Granville la Teinturière, of the Pays de Caux in Normandy, was chiefly
concerned with the Canaries[132]--like the voyages of the Spaniards
Francisco Lopez (1382), and Alvaro Becarra (? 1390, etc.) But, after
achieving fair success in the islands, De Béthencourt attempted
(apparently in 1404) an exploration of the mainland coast "from Cape
Cantin, half way between the Canaries and Spain," to Cape "Bugeder" or
Bojador,[133] the famous promontory to the right or east of the
Canaries. But this was left unfinished; and De Béthencourt's chaplains,
in describing their Seigneur's intentions beyond the "Bulging Cape," can
only fall back on a certain Book of a Spanish Friar,[134] which
professed to give a description of Guinea, and the River of Gold. This
last was said by the Friar to be 150 leagues from "the Cape Bugeder,"
and the French priests declare that "if things were such as described,"
their lord hoped sometime to reach the said river, "whereby access would
be gained to the land of Prester John, whence come so many riches."
[Footnote 131: See the _Book of the Conquest and Conversion of
the Canarians by Jean de Béthencourt_, written by Pierre
Bontier, monk, and Jean le Verrier, priest. Edited for the
Hakluyt Society by R. H. Major, 1872.]
[Footnote 132: See section of this Introduction on the African
Islands, pp. lxxxii-lxxxiv.]
[Footnote 133: Buyetder on the Catalan Atlas of 1375.]
[Footnote 134: This is identified by Nordenskjöld, _Periplus_
79, following Espada, with the recently rediscovered _Libro
del Conosçimiento de todos los reynos & tierras & señorios que
son por el mundo & de las señales & armas que han cada tierra
& señorio por sy & de los reyes & Señores que los proueen_.
This was lost sight of till 1870, when it was found by Marcos
Jimenez de la Espada, who published it in the _Boletin de la
Sociedad Geographica de Madrid_ 1877. "It is certainly not a
record of actual travel, but probably the description of an
imaginary journey, compiled with the help of a richly
illustrated typical portolano, reports by far-famed and
travelled men, and such geographical works as were accessible
to the author. Many names here occurring are, however, not to
be found on the portolanos of the fourteenth century.... Every
city or country spoken of in the book has a chapter to itself,
followed by a representation of the flag or arms of the State.
These also seem ... taken from some portolano." See the
_Conquest of the Canaries_ (Hakluyt Soc. ed., ch. 55). The
_Conosçimiento_ cannot well be of later date than 1330-1340.
In many places it copies Edrisi.]
Thus the French colonists in the early fifteenth century, in Prince
Henry's boyhood, know nothing first-hand, nothing save half-legendary
rumours, about the African coast beyond Cape Bojador. They are anxious
to reach the River of Gold, and traffic there, but they do not know the
way. Of Petit Paris, Petit Dieppe, La Mine, and other Norman settlements
or factories beyond Cape Verde, they give no sign.
The late and doubtful[135] tradition of Macham's discovery of Madeira
(_c._ 1350-1370) does not concern the exploration of the African
mainland, except that after the death of the "discoverer" in his island,
some of his sailors were said to have escaped in the ship's boat
(according to the story) to the Continent, to have been made prisoners
by the Berbers, and to have been held in slavery till some of the
survivors were ransomed in 1416. But all this, if true, belongs to the
well-known coast within Cape Non, and in no manner furthered
exploration, except as regarded the island group of Madeira and Porto
Santo.[136]
[Footnote 135: Admitted by Nordenskjöld with singular
facility: _Periplus_, pp. 115-6. As to the Portuguese sailor
named Machico, and the possibility that the Machico district
of Madeira was named after him or one of his descendants, see
below, pp. lxxxiv-lxxxv.]
[Footnote 136: See Atlantic Islands.]
Fra Mauro preserves a tradition[137] of two voyages from India or the
East coast of Africa round the Southern Cape--one in 1420, the other at
an unfixed date. These, he says, had been accomplished by a person with
whom he actually spoke, who claimed to have passed from Sofala to
"Garbin," in the middle of the West coast, as it is marked on Fra
Mauro's planisphere. If genuine, they would be the last anticipations of
Prince Henry's enterprises left to chronicle; but few have placed much
confidence in these statements, which seem indeed incredible in the form
they are related by the Venetian draughtsman.
[Footnote 137: See Map section.]
THE ATLANTIC ISLANDS.
I. BEFORE PRINCE HENRY.
The history of the exploration of the Azores, the Canaries, and the
Madeira group, before Prince Henry's time, seems to deserve a special
notice in this place.
It is pretty certain that the Fortunate Islands of ancient geography
were our Canaries. Eudoxus of Cyzicus was said to have discovered off
the West African coast an uninhabited island, so well provided with wood
and water, that he intended to return there and settle for the winter.
According to Plutarch, Sertorius (B.C. 80-72) is said to have
been told by some sailors whom he met at the mouth of the Baetis[138] of
two islands[139] in the ocean, from which they had just arrived. These
they called the "Atlantic Islands," and described as distant from the
shore of Africa 10,000 stadia (1,000 miles), and enjoying a perpetual
summer. Sertorius wished to fly from his war with the Romans in Spain,
and take refuge in these islands, but his followers would not agree to
this.[140]
[Footnote 138: Guadalquivir.]
[Footnote 139: Madeira and Porto Santo(?)]
[Footnote 140: Plutarch, _Sertorius_, c. 8.]
Leaving out of serious consideration the Atlantis story in Plato's
_Timaeus_ (which may possibly owe something to early Phœnician and
Carthaginian discoveries among the Atlantic islands), it is noticeable
that no such Western Ocean lands occur in Strabo (B.C. 30). On the other
hand the Canaries are described by Statius Sebosus, as reported in
Pliny[141] (B.C. 30-A.D. 70), and by King Juba the younger of Mauretania
(_fl._ B.C. 1); are laid down under the name of Fortunate Islands by
Ptolemy; and are adopted in his reckonings as the Western limit of the
world. Sebosus mentions Junonia, 750 miles from Gades; near this,
Pluvialia and Capraria; and 1,000 miles from Gades, off the South-west
coast of Mauretania or Marocco, the Fortunatae, Convallis or Invallis,
and Planaria.
[Footnote 141: Pliny, _Hist. Nat._, vi, 32.]
Juba[142] again makes five Fortunate Isles: Ombrios, Nivaria, Capraria,
Junonia, and Canaria, all fertile but uninhabited. Large dogs were
found, however, in the last-named, and two of these had been brought to
Juba himself, who called the island after them. Date-palms also
abounded. Juba also, according to Pliny, discovered the Purple islands
(Purpurariae) off the coast of Mauretania, which have been carelessly
identified by some with the Madeira group, though wanting the two
essential conditions of Juba's description: (1) producing Orchil; (2)
lying very close to the shore of Mauretania. Lançarote and Fuerteventura
agree with Juba's conditions on these points,[143] but then why are they
made a separate group from Nivaria, etc., which are undoubtedly the main
body of the Canaries? Juba's account is the most clear and valuable we
have from ancient geography, dealing with the Canaries, and is far
better than that[144] of the Alexandrian geographer. Ptolemy lays down
the Fortunate Islands--assuming the Canaries to be meant--incorrectly
both in latitude and longitude, in a position really corresponding
better to that of the Cape Verdes. Hence it has been supposed that he
confounded the two groups in one; whereas the Cape Verdes, lying out to
sea 300 miles from the Continent, are not likely to have been known,
even in his day. An error in position is so common with Ptolemy that it
is quite unnecessary to be disturbed by it. But he clearly had some
definite knowledge that islands existed in the ocean to the west of
Africa, and in his map he probably reproduces the statements of others,
without first-hand information of his own, assigning such a position as
suited best with his theories. For he not merely brings the southernmost
of the Fortunate Isles down to 11° N. lat., but scatters the group
through 5° of latitude, placing the northernmost in latitude, 16° N. His
names vary much from Juba's, for he gives us six: Canaria, the Isle of
Juno, Pluïtala,[145] Aprositus (the Inaccessible), Caspiria, and
Pinturia or Centuria; at the western extremity of these, after the
example of Marinus, he drew the first meridian of longitude.[146]
[Footnote 142: Copied by Solinus and many mediæval writers
(see Pliny, _Hist. Nat._, vi, 31). Juba's work was dedicated
to Caius Cæsar, B.C. 1, when just about to start on an
expedition to the East. Ombrios, from its mountain lake, has
been identified with Palma; Nivaria more easily with Teneriffe
and Canaria with Grand Canary; Junonia is difficult to fix, as
we have the statement that a second and smaller island of the
same name is in its neighbourhood; Capraria is supposed to be
Ferro. The remaining two of our modern archipelago, Lancarote
and Fuerteventura, are supposed by some to be the
"Purpurariae" of Juba.]
[Footnote 143: And are therefore accepted as the Purpurariae
by D'Anville Gossellin, Major, and, with some hesitation, by
Bunbury.]
[Footnote 144: "A mere confused jumble of different reports."
Bunbury, _Anc. Geog._ ii, 202.]
[Footnote 145: Perhaps a corruption of Sebosus' Pluvialia.
"The Inaccessible" is possibly Teneriffe. Canaria and the Isle
of Juno are of course identical with Juba's nomenclature.]
[Footnote 146: Cerne, so important a mark in Hanno's
_Periplus_, he places in the Ocean 3° from the mainland, in
clear opposition to the Carthaginian authorities whom some
have thought he possessed and used. Cerne is in latitude 25°
40', and east longitude 5° on Ptolemy's map.]
The Arabs seem to have lost all definite knowledge of the Atlantic
islands, an impossible possession to a race with such a deep horror of
the Green Sea of Darkness. Masudi, indeed, tells us a story, already
noticed, of one Khoshkhash, the young man of Cordova, who some years
before the writer's time[147] had sailed off upon the Ocean, and after a
long interval returned with a rich cargo; but nothing more definite is
said about this venture.
[Footnote 147: _C._ A.D. 950.]
Some tradition of the Canaries or the Madeira group seems to have been
preserved among Moslem geographers, under the name of Isles of Khaledat,
or Khaledad, but we have only one narrative from the collections of
these authors which suggests a Musulman visit to the same. This is found
in Edrisi, in its earlier form, and must refer to some time before 1147,
when Lisbon finally became a Christian city. It probably belongs to a
year of the eleventh century, and has perhaps left its impression in the
Brandan legend as put forth in the oldest MS., of about 1070.
The Lisbon Wanderers, or Maghrurin, from Moslem Spain, commemorated by
Edrisi and by Ibn-al-Wardi, did not apparently venture to the South of
Cape Non, but they seem to have reached the Madeira group as well as the
Canaries. The adventurers were eight in number, all related to one
another. After eleven days' sail, apparently from Lisbon, they found
themselves in a sea due[148] West of Spain, where the waters were thick,
of bad smell, and moved by strong currents.[149] Here the weather became
as black as pitch. Fearing for their lives they now turned South, and
after twelve days sighted an island which they called El Ghanam, the
Isle of Cattle,[150] from the sheep they saw there without any shepherd.
The flesh of these cattle was too bitter for eating, but they found a
stream of running water and some wild figs. Twelve more days to the
South brought them to an island[151] with houses and cultivated fields.
Here they were seized, and carried prisoners to a city on the sea-shore.
After three days the King's interpreter, who spoke Arabic, came to them,
and asked them who they were and what they wanted. They replied, they
were seeking the wonders of the Ocean and its limits. At this the King
laughed, and said: "My father once ordered some of his slaves to venture
upon that sea, and after sailing it for a month, they found themselves
deprived of sun-light and returned without any result." The Wanderers
were kept in prison till a west wind arose, when they were blindfolded
and turned off in a boat. After three days they reached Africa. They
were put ashore, their hands tied, and left. They were released by the
Berbers,[152] and returned to Spain, when a "street at the foot of the
hot bath in Lisbon took the name of 'Street of the Wanderers.'"
[Footnote 148: They started with a full east wind.]
[Footnote 149: Sargasso Sea?]
[Footnote 150: Madeira?]
[Footnote 151: One of the Canaries?]
[Footnote 152: At a point named Asafi or Safi (at the extreme
south-west of our Marocco), said to have been named after the
Wanderers' exclamation of dismay: Wa Asafi--"Alas! my sorrow."
Cf. Edrisi, Climate III, section i (ed. Jaubert, i, 201);
Climate IV, section i (J., ii, 26-9). Safi is in 32° 20' N.
Lat.]
El Ghanam has been identified by Avezac and others with Legname, the old
Italian name for Madeira, and their description of the "bitter mutton"
of that island has suggested to some the "coquerel" plant of the
Canaries, which in more recent times gave a similar flavour to the meat
of the animals who browsed upon it.[153]
[Footnote 153: See Berthelot, _Histoire Naturelle des Iles
Canariens_.]
Some have conjectured that the "White Man's Land" and "Great Ireland,"
which the Norsemen of Iceland professed to have seen in 983-4, 999, and
1029, was a name for the Canaries, rather than for any point of America,
but this appears entirely conjectural--though it is probable enough that
some of the Vikings in their wanderings may have visited these islands.
In 1108-9, King Sigurd of Norway meets a Viking fleet in the Straits of
Gibraltar ("Norva Sound");[154] and in the course of their many attacks
on the "Bluemen" or Moors of "Serkland" (Saracen-land) the Northern
rovers who reached the New World, Greenland, and the White Sea, may well
have sighted and ravaged the Fortunate Islands of the Atlantic, beyond
Cape Non.
[Footnote 154: "Saga of King Sigurd" (in _Heimskringla_), ch.
vi.]
No further reference, even conjectural, to the Atlantic Islands is known
until the later thirteenth century, when the Mediæval revival in
Christian lands, finding its expression in the Crusades and in the
Asiatic land-travels of John de Plano Carpini, Simon de St. Quentin,
Rubruquis, and the Polos, among others, led to attempts in search of a
maritime route to India from the Mediterranean ports. The earliest of
these followed immediately on the return of the elder Polos from Central
Asia (1269).
In 1270 the voyage of the Genoese, Lancelot Malocello, already referred
to as a possible reconnaissance on the African coast route to the Far
East, resulted in a re-discovery of some of the Canaries. At any rate,
he stayed[155] long enough to build himself a "castle" there; and the
recognition of this island, as well as of the adjoining "Maloxelo," as
Genoese on maps of the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth
centuries,[156] was probably due to this. During Béthencourt's
"Conquest," some of the followers of his colleague, Gadifer de la Salle,
stored barley, we are told, in an old castle which had been built by
Lancelot Maloisel. It has been supposed that Petrarch, writing _c._ 1335
A.D., and referring to the armed Genoese fleet which had penetrated to
the Canaries a generation before (_a Patrum memoria_), was thinking of
Malocello's venture, but the expression is better suited to the
Expedition of 1291, led by Tedisio Doria and the Vivaldi.
[Footnote 155: In Lançarote island?]
[Footnote 156: Cf. especially the _Conosçimiento_ of early
fourteenth century; the Laurentian Portolano of 1351; the
Soleri Portolani of 1380 and 1385; the Combitis Portolan of
early fifteenth century; the so-called Bianco of 1436. On a
Genoese map of 1455, executed by Bartholomew Pareto, is a more
explicit legend over against Lançarote Island: "Lansaroto
Maroxello Januensis." See also the _Conquest of ... Canaries_,
by De Béthencourt's chaplains, ch. xxxii; and Major's note,
pp. 55-6 of the Hakluyt Society's edition of this Chronicle.]
It is possible that the Portuguese followed up Malocello's visit by
voyages of their own (besides the well-known venture of 1341) before the
year 1344,[157] when Don Luis of Spain obtained a grant of the Canaries
from the Pope[158] at Avignon (November 15, 1344). This grant conferred
on Luis de la Cerda, Count of Talmond, the title of Prince of Fortune,
with the lordship of the Fortunate Islands, in fief to the Apostolic
See, and under a tribute of 400 gold florins, to be paid yearly to the
Chair of St. Peter. The Pontiff also wrote to various sovereigns, among
others to the King of Portugal, Affonso IV, recommending the plans of
Don Luis to their support. To this Affonso replied (February 12, 1345),
reminding the Pope that he had already sent expeditions to the Canaries,
and would even now be despatching a greater Armada if it were not for
his wars with Castille and with the Saracens.
[Footnote 157: Ships from Portugal (according to Sántarem,
_Cosmographie_, i, 275, copied by Oliveira Martins, _Filhos de
D. João_, i, 68), visited the Canaries under Affonso IV,
between _1331_ and 1344. Perhaps this is only a loose
reference to the expedition of 1341.]
[Footnote 158: Clement VI. Major, _Prince Henry_, 140, and
_Conquest of Canaries_ (Hakluyt Soc.), xi, has apparently
confused matters, giving the date of 1334 (in the Pontificate
of Benedict XII), and implying a grant by Clement VI.]
As early as 1317, King Denis of Portugal secured the Genoese, Emmanuele
Pezagno (Pessanha), as hereditary admiral of his fleet. Pezagno and his
successors were to keep the Portuguese navy supplied with twenty Genoese
captains experienced in navigation and the earliest Portuguese ventures
were almost certainly connected with this arrangement.
This was shown in the expedition of 1341, which left Portugal for the
Canaries under Genoese pilotage, and quite independently of Don Luis, as
far as we know. It was composed of two vessels furnished by the King of
Portugal, and a smaller ship, all well-armed, and manned by Florentines,
Genoese, Castilians, Portuguese, and "other Spaniards."[159] They set
out from Lisbon on July 1, 1341; on the fifth(?) day they discovered
land; and in November they returned. They brought home with them four
natives, many goat and seal skins, dye-wood, bark for staining, red
earth, etc. Nicoloso de Recco, a Genoese, pilot of the expedition,
considered these islands nearly 900 miles distant from Seville. The
first[160] discovered was supposed to be about 150 miles round; it was
barren and stony, inhabited by goats and other animals, as well as by
naked people, absolutely savage. The next[161] visited was larger than
the former, and contained many natives, most of them nearly naked, but
some covered with goats' skins. The people had a chief, built houses,
planted palms and fig trees, and cultivated little gardens with
vegetables. Four men swam out to the ships, and were carried off. The
Europeans found on the island a sort of temple, with a stone idol, which
was brought back to Lisbon.
[Footnote 159: The account that has come down to us is by
Boccaccio(?) (discovered in 1827 by Sebastiano Ciampi, who
identified the handwriting), and was professedly compiled from
letters written to Florence by certain Florentine merchants
residing in Seville. Among these, "Angelino del Tegghia dei
Corbizzi, a cousin of the sons of Gherardino Gianni," is
especially mentioned.]
[Footnote 160: Major conjectures Fuerteventura.]
[Footnote 161: Grand Canary?]
From this island several others were visible--one remarkable for its
lofty trees,[162] another containing excellent wood and water, wild
pigeons, falcons, and birds of prey.[163] In the fifth visited were
immense rocky mountains reaching into the clouds.[164] Eight other
islands were sighted. In all, five of the new-found lands were peopled,
the rest not. None of the natives had any boats, and there was no good
store of harbours. On one island was a mountain, which they reckoned as
30,000 feet high, and on its summit a fortress-like rock, with a mast
atop of it rigged with a yard and lateen sail--a manifest proof of
enchantment. No wealth was found in any of the islands, and hence
perhaps the venture of 1341 was not followed up by Portugal for many
years; but it is probable that the results of this year are commemorated
in the delineation of the Fortunate Isles upon the Laurentian Portolano
of 1351.[165]
[Footnote 162: Major here suggests the pines of Ferro.]
[Footnote 163: Gomera?]
[Footnote 164: Probably Teneriffe. Palma has also been
suggested, with less likelihood.]
[Footnote 165: See the section of this Introduction on "Maps
and Scientific Geography;" also Wappäus, _Heinrich der
Seefahrer_, pp. 174-5.]
Nothing, so far as we know, was done for the further exploration of the
Canaries (after 1341) till 1382, when one Captain Francisco Lopez, while
on his way from Seville to Galicia, was driven south by storms, and took
refuge (June 5th) at the mouth of the Guiniguada, in Grand Canary. Here
he landed with twelve of his comrades; the strangers were kindly
treated, and passed seven years among the natives, instructing many in
the doctrines of Christianity. Suddenly Lopez and his men were accused
of sending into Christian countries a "bad account" of the islands, and
were all massacred. Before dying, they seem to have given one of their
converts a written "testament," and this was found by the men of Jean de
Béthencourt in 1402.
Apparently, very shortly before the invasion of the latter (? in
1390-5), another Spaniard, Alvaro Becarra, visited the islands,[166] and
it was (according to one authority) from information directly supplied
by him and two French adventurers who accompanied him, that De
Béthencourt was induced to undertake his expedition.
[Footnote 166: Ayala, _Chronicle of Henry III of Castille_,
asserts that in 1393, mariners of Biscay, Guipuzcoa, and
Seville, visited the Canaries, and brought back spoils.
Teneriffe they called the Isle of Hell (Inferno), from its
volcano. They also landed on other islands of the group which
they called Lencastre, Graciosa, Forteventura, Palma, and
Ferro. See also Martins, _Os Filhos de D. João I_, p. 68.]
The Lord of Grainville set out with a body of followers, among whom the
knight Gadifer de la Salle was chief, from Rochelle, on May 1st, 1402.
Eight days' sail from Cadiz, he reached Graciosa. Thence he went to
Lançarote, where he built a fort called Rubicon. Going on to
Fuerteventura, he was hampered by a mutiny among his men, and by lack of
supplies. He returned to Spain, procured from Henry III of Castille what
he needed, and reappeared at Lançarote. During his absence, Gadifer,
left in command, accomplished a partial exploration of Fuerteventura,
Grand Canary, Ferro, Gomera and Palma. The "King" of Lançarote was
baptised on February 20th, 1404; but after this, Gadifer quarrelled with
his leader and returned to France. All attempts to conquer the Pagans of
Grand Canary were fruitless, and De Béthencourt finally quitted the
islands, appointing his nephew Maciot[167] to be governor in his place
of the four Christian colonies in Palma and Ferro, Lançarote and
Fuerteventura.
[Footnote 167: See Azurara, _Guinea_, c. xcv, lxxix, etc.]
The Madeira group are laid down[168] in the _Conosçimiento de todos los
Reynos_ of the early fourteenth century, as well as in the Laurentian
Portolano of 1351; in the Soleri Portolani of 1380 and 1385; and in the
Combitis Portolan of about 1410. But in 1555,[169] A. Galvano, in his
_Discoveries of the World_, claimed that an Englishman in the reign of
Edward III(?) was the discoverer. He was copied by Hakluyt in 1589, and
English patriotism has been loath to surrender the tradition.
[Footnote 168: Under the names of Lecmane, Lolegname, Legnami
[Madeira, the "Isle of Wood"]; Puerto or Porto Santo; and I.
desierta, deserte, or deserta. The last alone is wanting in
the Combitis Portolan.]
[Footnote 169: Still earlier in 1508, Valentin Fernandez, a
printer of Munich, issued the story in a MS., re-discovered in
this century. Later, in 1660, Francisco Manoel de Mello
published it in his _Epanaphoras de Varia Historia Portuguesa_
(_III_), Lisbon, 1660. Mello's account was professedly derived
from an original narrative by Francisco Alcaforado, a squire
of Prince Henry, now lost. Fernandez, Galvano, (copied by
Hakluyt) and Mello, all tell practically the same story, but
with varying details.]
"About this time," says Galvano [viz., between 1344 and 1395, the two
dates named immediately before and after this entry], the "island of
Madeira was discovered by ... [Robert] Macham,[170] who sailing from
England, having run away with a woman,[171] was driven by a tempest ...
to that island, and cast ashore in that haven, which is now called
Machico, after ... Macham." Here the ship was driven from its moorings;
and, according to one account[172] both lovers died; according to the
older version, Macham escaped to the African mainland, and was finally
saved and brought to the King of Castille. His old pilot, Morales, was
supposed to have guided J. G. Zarco in Prince Henry's rediscovery of
Madeira (1420). Azurara, however, says nothing about Macham; and it has
been conjectured, from a document rediscovered in 1894, that the Machico
district of Madeira--whose title, given by the Portuguese in 1420, has
often been quoted as an acknowledgement of Macham's claim--derived its
name from a Portuguese seaman of that name, who was living in 1379, or
from one of his relations.[173]
[Footnote 170: Or Machin, or O'Machin, or as Nordenskjöld,
_Periplus_, 115, also reads: Mac Kean. N. accepts the whole of
the Macham story with extraordinary readiness.]
[Footnote 171: Anne d'Arfet, or Dorset.]
[Footnote 172: Mello's.]
[Footnote 173: See J. I. de Brito Rebello, in Supplement to
_Diario de Noticias_ of Lisbon, published in connection with
the fifth centenary of Prince Henry's birth, 1894. The
document referring to Machico is dated April 12th, 1379, and
by this, King Ferdinand, "the handsome," of Portugal, gives to
one Machico, "mestre de sua barcha," a house in the Rua Nova
of Lisbon. This was discovered by Rebello in the Torre do
Tombo, acting on a hint given by Ernesto do Canton. Before
this, the Macham story was attacked by Rodriguez d'Azevedo, in
1873. See the _Saudades da terra_ of Dr. G. Fructuoso, pp.
348-429.]
The Azores, or Western Islands, are also (in part) laid down in the
_Conosçimiento_ above quoted (of about A.D. 1330), and in the Medicean
Portolano of 1351;[174] and when the Infant sent out Gonçalo Cabral[175]
in this direction he was aided, it is said, by an Italian portolano, on
which the aforesaid islands were depicted.[176] But no record of any
voyage thereto earlier than that of Diego de Sevill[177] (1427) has been
preserved; nor did any one before the Prince's time attempt, as far as
is known, the colonisation or complete exploration of the Azores. To
these, however, like the other Atlantic islands, Nordenskjöld's emphatic
words[178] apply, as the cartographical evidence requires. To some
extent at least all these groups "were known ... to skippers long before
organised ... expeditions were sent to them by great feudal lords."
Absolute novelty in geographical discovery is one of the most difficult
things to prove, and in no field of historical inquiry does the saying
more often occur to the inquirer: "Vixere fortes ante Agamemnona,
multi."
[Footnote 174: It is not at all certain, as Major assumes
(_Prince Henry_, 1868, p. 235), that this group was first
discovered by "_Portuguese_ vessels under Genoese pilotage."]
[Footnote 175: In 1431, etc.]
[Footnote 176: See Nordenskjöld, _Periplus_, 118 A; also P.
Amat di S. Filippo, _I veri Scopritori delle isole Azore_,
Ital. Geog. Soc. Bolletino, 1892.]
[Footnote 177: We learn about the voyage of Sevill from the
Catalan Map of Gabriel Valsecca, executed between 1434 and
1439, which (1) gives a very fair representation of several of
the Azores, under the names: Ylla de Oesels (St. Mary), Ylla
de Fruydols (St. Michael), Ylla de Inferno (Terceira), Ylla de
Guatrilla (St. George), Ylla de Sperto (Pico), and another of
which the name has been effaced: (2) Bears the inscription:
These islands were found by Diego de Sevill, pilot of the King
of Portugal, in 1427. [Some have tried to read the MS. date as
1432 (xxxii for xxvii) but the text is against them]. In the
Mediceum, or Laurentian Portolano, of 1351, St. Mary and St.
Michael are laid down as Insule de Cabrera; St. George, Fayal,
and Pico, as Insule de Ventura sive de Columbis; Terceira (?)
as Insula de Brazi[l]. On the Catalan Map of 1375, we have San
Zorzo ( = St. George, "Jorge"); I. de la Ventura ( = Fayal);
Li Columbi ( = Pico); I. di Corvi Marini ( = Corvo); Li Conigi
( = Flores). On the so-called Andrea Bianco of 1436 (probably
a re-edition of a much earlier map), St. Michael appears as
Cabrera. Corvo and Flores first appear on the Catalan Atlas of
1375, as far as present knowledge goes.]
[Footnote 178: _Periplus_, 116 A.]
The Cape Verdes is the only group of Atlantic Islands as to which we may
be reasonably sure that the mediæval discovery at least was not made
before Prince Henry's lifetime. Here the Infant's claim of priority is
probably most in danger from Phœnician and Carthaginian sailors;[179]
but even here the challenge is not very serious, unless we insist on
considering as proven a number of pretensions which are almost
impossible to substantiate.
[Footnote 179: It is probable that the "Gorgades" of the
Greeks were derived from Phœnician accounts; but it is very
doubtful whether these represent the Cape Verdes. Ptolemy, as
we have seen, places the southern extremity of his Fortunate
Isles much in the true position of Santiago, though extending
them north through 5 degrees of latitude.]
2.--THE ATLANTIC ISLANDS
IN PRINCE HENRY'S LIFETIME.
Azurara also requires some words of supplement as to the progress of
discovery and colonisation among the Atlantic Islands in Prince Henry's
lifetime.[180] And, first, in the Azores. After the first voyages of
Diego de Sevill and Gonçalo Cabral, the latter (according to Cordeiro)
sought unsuccessfully for an island which had been sighted by a runaway
slave from the highest mountain in St. Mary; at last, corrected by the
Prince's map-studies, he found the object of his search on the 8th May,
1444, and named it St. Michael, being the festival of the Apparition of
the Archangel.[181] The colonisation of this (even more than of other
islands in the group) was impeded by earthquakes, but was nevertheless
commenced on September 29, 1445. From the number of hawks or kites[182]
found in St. Michael and St. Mary, the present name now began to
supersede all others[183] for the Archipelago. The island now called
Terceira,[184] but originally "The Isle of Jesus Christ," was apparently
discovered before A.D. 1450, either by Prince Henry's sailors, or by an
expedition of Flemish mariners or colonists under one Josua van der
Berge, a citizen of Bruges, who claimed the exclusive, honour of this
achievement under date of 1445. Hence, in some Netherland maps and
atlases, of later date, the Azores are called The Flemish Islands.[185]
On the other hand, Cordeiro has printed the Infant's charter of March 2,
1450, to Jacques de Bruges,[186] his servant, giving him the Captaincy
of the Isle of Jesu Christ, because the said Jacques had asked
permission of the Prince to colonise this uninhabited spot. Jacques de
Bruges bore all the expenses of this colonisation, and may have been
specially recommended to Henry by his sister, the Duchess of Burgundy.
He had married into a noble Portuguese family, and had previously
rendered some services to the Infant.
[Footnote 180: See Major, _Prince Henry_, pp. 238-245 (Ed. of
1868), mainly based upon Father Cordeiro's _Historia
Insulana_, 1717.]
[Footnote 181: Azurara (_Chronicle of Guinea_, c. lxxxiii.)
says that the Regent, D. Pedro, having a special devotion to
this saint, and being much interested in the re-discovery of
the Azores, caused this name to be given. Prince Henry
afterwards granted the Order of Christ the tithes of St.
Michael, and one-half of the sugar revenues.]
[Footnote 182: "Azores" in Portuguese.]
[Footnote 183: "Western Islands," etc.]
[Footnote 184: "The Third," apparently in order after--1. St.
Mary (reckoned with the Formigas); 2. St. Michael. Its arms
were the Saviour on the Cross, and it was probably sighted by
the Portuguese on some festival of the Redeemer.]
[Footnote 185: "De Vlaemsche Eylanden." So on Amsterdam maps
of 1612 (Waghenaer); 1627 (Blaeuw's _Zeespiegel_) and others,
such as the Atlas Major Blaviana, ix, Amsterdam, 1662, p.
104.]
[Footnote 186: _I.e._, Josua van der Berge. In 1449, according
to Galvano and Barros (1, ii, 1), King Affonso V formally
sanctioned the colonisation of the Azores.]
Graciosa was colonised by Vasco Gil Sodré, a Portuguese, who had been
under Prince Henry's orders to Africa, and at first intended to join in
the settlement of Terceira, but afterwards passed over to Graciosa. The
captaincy of this island he divided for some time with his
brother-in-law, Duarte Barreto.
San Jorge received its first inhabitants through a venture of Willem van
der Haagen,[187] one of Jacques de Bruges' companions: Van der Haagen
brought two shiploads of people and plant from Flanders, but afterwards
abandoned the city he had founded there, and transferred himself to the
more fertile island of Fayal. The last name brings us to one of the
controversial points in the early history of the Azores.
[Footnote 187: "Da Silveira" in Portuguese.]
According to the received account, Fayal was first settled by a Fleming
noble, Jobst Van Heurter,[188] Lord of Moerkerke, father-in-law of
Martin Behaim, who commemorated this event in a legend on his globe of
1492. The famous Nuremberger declares that the Azores were colonised in
1466, after they had been _granted by the King of Portugal to his
sister, Isabel, Duchess of Burgundy_; that in 1490 Job de Huerter came
out to settle with "some thousands of souls," the Duchess "_having
granted these islands to him and his descendants_;" that in 1431, _when
Prince Pedro was Regent_, Prince Henry sent out two vessels for two
years' sail beyond Finisterre, and sailing west 500 leagues, they found
these _ten_ uninhabited islands; that they called them Azores from the
tame birds they found there; and that the King began to settle the
islands with "domestic animals" in 1432. This account is full of
inaccuracies, and from the documents,[189] noticed by Father Cordeiro,
by Barros, and by the _Archivo dos Açores_, it appears probable that the
grant of Fayal to Jobst van Heurter as first Captain Donatory was made
after Prince Henry's death, perhaps in 1466, by Henry's successor, D.
Ferdinand, at the request of the Duchess of Burgundy, and that this
grant was confirmed by the Crown of Portugal; which, however, retained
its sovereign rights over all the Azores, and did not part with them to
the Duchess or anyone else.
[Footnote 188: "Joz de Utra" in Portuguese.]
[Footnote 189: Several documents exist relating to the
Government, etc., of the Azores during Prince Henry's life;
for instance:--(1) A royal charter of July 2, 1439, dealing
with colonisation. (2) A similar charter of April 5, 1443,
exempting the colonists from tithe and customs. (3) A similar
charter of April 20, 1447, establishing the same exemption for
the island of St. Michael, granted to the Infant D. Pedro. (4)
A similar charter of March, 1449, to the Infant D. Henry,
licensing him to people the Seven Islands of the Azores. (5) A
similar charter of January 20, 1453, granting the Island of
Corvo to the Duke of Braganza. (6) A donation of September 2,
1460, from the Infant D. Henry to his adopted son, the Infant
Dom Fernando, of the Isles of Jesus Christ and Graciosa. [To
which may be added: A royal charter of December 3, 1460,
transferring to the Infant D. Fernando, Duke of Viseu, the
grant of the Archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores, vacant by
the death of D. Henry.] See _Archivo dos Açores_, i, 3, 5, 6,
7, 9, 11; Martins, _Os Filhos do D. João_, pp. 261-2 (where
the date of Gonçalo Velho Cabral's discovery of the Formigas
is given as 1435); _Documents_ in Torre do Tombo, Gaveta 15,
Maço 16, No. 5, of September 16, 1571.]
Jobst van Heurter, some time after he had obtained the grant or
sub-lease of Fayal, appears also to have become Captain Donatory of
Pico, with a commission to colonise this island.
Flores and Corvo were first granted, as far as our records go, to a lady
of Lisbon, Maria de Vilhena, likewise after the death of Prince Henry.
It is said that Van der Haagen,[190] when he moved from S. Jorge to
Fayal, did so at the invitation of Jobst van Heurter, who had been there
four years, and now promised him a part of the island. The two
quarrelled, however, and "Silveira" left Fayal and went to Terceira.
Some time after this he visited Flanders, and returning to the Azores by
way of Lisbon, became the guest of D. Vilhena, who had received a grant
of Flores and Corvo. She now proposed to Van der Haagen that he should
colonise and govern these islands for her, which he did for seven years.
[Footnote 190: "Da Silveira." See above, p. lxxxix.]
* * * * *
Next, as to the Cape Verde islands. There is no positive ground for
supposing that any Europeans discovered or colonised these before Prince
Henry. The ancient Gorgades, Hesperides, and so forth have been
identified with them by some, but all this remains in the state of
guess-work--guess-work which has no great probability behind it.
But as to the discovery of the Cape Verdes in the Infant's lifetime, a
controversy exists between the claims of Cadamosto and Diego Gomez,
which must be shortly noticed. It is happily beyond controversy that
five at least of the Archipelago were discovered within the Prince's own
"period," as their names occur in a document of December 3, 1460,
hereafter noticed.
Cadamosto's claim to the discovery of the Cape Verde islands has been
denied[191] on the following grounds:
[Footnote 191: _E.g._ By Major, _Prince Henry_, 1868, p.
286-8, based on Lopes de Lima's _Ensaios sobre a Statistica
das Possessoẽs portuguezas_, Lisbon, 1844; see Zurla's
_Dissertazione_ of 1815.]
1. A mariner sailing from Lagos in early May could not anchor at
Santiago on SS. Philip and James' day (May 1st), as stated by Cadamosto.
2. Cadamosto drove three days before the wind from Cape Blanco W.N.W. to
Bonavista. But this lies 100 miles S.W. of Cape Blanco.
3. Cadamosto claims to have seen Santiago from Bonavista, which is
impossible.
4. Cadamosto is wrong in speaking of any river in Santiago as a
"bow-shot wide," or of salt and turtles as found in the island.
To this it has been replied:
1. The first point is probably founded on a misprint. As a correction,
d'Avezac[192] has suggested that Santiago was so called because the
expedition _set out_ on May 1st. It has also been noticed that the
German and French versions of Cadamosto's Italian text (which contains
this mistake) give March and not May as the month of sailing, while the
translation in Temporal's _Histoire de l'Afrique_ has July. Once more
the festival of St. James (July 25th) has been suggested,[193] in
exchange for that of SS. Philip and James. In support of this, the most
likely alternative to a simple blunder, caused by haste, carelessness,
and lapse of time, it is pointed out that Cadamosto seems to have
arrived at the islands during the rainy season; that this season
prevails from mid-June to November; and that the festival of St. James
would agree with the time required for a voyage from Lagos, even if
commencing not in March or May, but as late as the beginning of July.
[Footnote 192: "Iles d'Afrique"....]
[Footnote 193: On the strength of Temporal's text in the
_Histoire de l'Afrique_,... Lyons, 1556, by H. Y. Oldham,
_Discovery of Cape Verde Islands_ (paper of 15 pages; see
especially 9-12).]
This date is apparently confirmed by the earliest known official
document which relates to the Cape Verde Islands, viz., a decree, dated
December 3rd, 1460, issued just after the death of Prince Henry.[194] In
this is given a list of seventeen islands discovered by the Infant's
explorers, beginning with the Madeiras and Azores, and ending with five
of the Cape Verdes, S. Jacobe (Santiago), S. Filippe (Fogo), De las
Mayaes (Maio), Ilha Lana (Sal?), and S. Christovão (probably Bonavista).
The only festival of St. Christopher in the Calendar falls on the day of
St. James, or July 25th. We may notice that in the earliest map
containing these islands,[195] Cadamosto's name of Bonavista prevails,
as now, over "St. Christopher."
[Footnote 194: See _Indice cronologico das Navigacoẽs ... dos
Portuguezes_, Lisbon, 1841; Oldham, _op. cit._, pp. 12-13.]
[Footnote 195: The Benincasa of 1463.]
2. This charge seems founded on a mistranslation. In the original text
of 1507, after a description of the process of putting out to sea from
Cape Blanco, we have these words:[196] "and the following night there
arose a strong wind from the south-west, and in order not to turn back
we steered west and north-west ... so as to weather and hug the wind for
two days and three nights." That is, the contrary wind met with after
leaving Cape Blanco did not turn the ships back, as they managed to sail
close to it.[197]
[Footnote 196: "E la nocte sequente ne a fazo un temporal de
garbin cum vento fortevole, diche per non tornar in driedo
tegnessemo la volta di ponente e maistro salvo el vero per
riparar e costizar el tempo doe nocte e III zorni." Oldham,
_loc. cit._ 11.]
[Footnote 197: Oldham adds: "If _nocte sequente_ means, as it
would seem, the night of the day following that on which Cape
Blanco was passed, the ships would have had time to reach a
point from which a West or West-south-west course would lead
to Bonavista. Moreover, the Latin text gives the wind as
South."]
It is probable, however, that the text is corrupt, and it is only too
common in records of this time to have mistakes as to points of the
compass creeping into the record of voyages performed some time before.
In any case, it is surely not enough to upset the whole of Cadamosto's
narrative.
3. Here Cadamosto seems to have made no mistake, in his first printed
text of 1507. The islands have never been properly surveyed, but Prof.
C. Doelter, in his work _Ueber die Kapverden nach dem Rio Grande_
(1884), speaks of seeing Bonavista from the Pico d'Antonio on Santiago,
together with all the rest of the group, even the more distant Sal and
St. Vincent. It is therefore quite probable that Cadamosto's sailors did
see Santiago from Bonavista, and this feat was certainly possible.
4. In this once more Cadamosto is clearly right, and the attempt to
discredit him ridiculous. Salt is so abundant in the Cape Verdes,
especially in the western group, that these were at one time called the
"Salt islands." Turtles are also common enough in the rainy season, and
are mentioned by plenty of visitors and residents.[198] Lastly, the
river in Santiago, "a bow-shot across," does not correspond to any
fresh-water stream found there, but by this expression may be intended
an inlet of the sea, like the Rio d'Ouro of Prince Henry's sailors,
north of Arguim. Curiously enough, this very expression--"a bow-shot
wide"--is employed by Dapper of the Estuary at Ribeira Grande in
Santiago; while Blaeuw's _Atlas_ (Amsterdam, 1663) speaks of the same
point in exactly similar terms: "à son embouchure large d'environ un
trait d'arc."
[Footnote 198: See Astley's _Voyages and Travels_, vol. i,
Book iv, ch. 6.]
* * * * *
Thirdly, the attempts of Prince Henry to acquire possession of the
Canaries for Portugal may be noticed. In 1414, Maciot de Béthencourt,
nephew and heir of the famous John, "Jean le Conquérant," having, under
threat of war from Castille, ceded the islands to Pedro Barba de Campos,
Lord of Castro Forte, sailed away to Madeira; and in 1418, according to
some authorities, he made a sale of the "Fortunatae" to Henry of
Portugal. This was not enough for him, as afterwards he made a third
bargain with the Count of Niebla; while meantime Jean de Béthencourt
himself left his conquests by will to his brother Reynaud. Pedro Barba
de Campos soon parted with his new rights, which passed successively to
Fernando Perez of Seville, and the Count of Niebla. But the latter,
though now uniting in himself all Spanish claims to the islands, did not
cling to them, but made over everything to Guillem de las Casas, who
passed on his rights to Fernam Peraza, his son-in-law. While this
transference was going on in Castille and in France, Henry, in the name
of Portugal, attempted in 1424 to settle the question by sending out a
fleet under Fernando de Castro, with 2,500 foot and 120 horse. With this
force he would probably have conquered the Archipelago, in spite of the
costliness and trouble of the undertaking, if the protests of Castille
had not led King John I to discourage the scheme and persuade his son to
defer its execution.
In 1445,[199] seven of the Prince's caravels visited the islands,
received the submission of the chiefs Bruco and Piste in Gomera (who had
already experienced the Infant's hospitality and become his "grateful
servitors"), and made slave-raids upon the islanders of Palma. Alvaro
Gonçalvez de Atayde, João de Castilha, Alvaro Dornellas, Affonso Marta,
and the page Diego Gonçalvez, with many others, took part in this
descent, which did not altogether spare the friendly Gomerans, and
brought on the perpetrators the severe rebuke of Prince Henry.
[Footnote 199: _Al._ 1443. See Azurara, _Guinea_, chs.
lxviii-lxix.]
In 1446, however, he followed up the reconnaissance of 1445 by another
attempt at complete conquest, which also seems to have ended in failure,
though the account that remains is very inadequate; perhaps in the
future it may be supplemented from the disinterred treasures of Spanish
documentary collections. We only know that Henry obtained, in 1446, from
the Regent D. Pedro a charter, giving him the exclusive right to
sanction or forbid all Portuguese voyages to the Canaries; that in 1447
he conferred the captaincy of Lançarote on Antam Gonçalvez,[200] and
that Gonçalvez sailed to establish himself there. So far, according to
Azurara; Barros and the Spanish historians would ante-date all these
measures of 1446-7 by several years. In 1455 Cadamosto, sailing in the
Portuguese service, visited and described the islands, and in 1466
Henry's heir, D. Fernando, made one more attempt to reclaim the Canaries
for Portugal. It failed, and in 1479 the islands were finally adjudged
to Spain, or the now united monarchy of Castille and Aragon.
[Footnote 200: Presumably the same man who "brought home the
first captives from Guinea" in 1441. Cf. Azurara, _Guinea_,
ch. xcv.]
* * * * *
Fourthly, in the Madeira group, colonisation made progress during the
Infant's lifetime. After the discoveries of 1418-20,[201] Madeira itself
was divided up under the feudal lordship of John Gonçalvez Zarco and
Tristam Vaz Teixeira; the former receiving the captaincy of the northern
half with Machico for his chief settlement; the latter obtaining the
southern portion, with Funchal as capital, and the Desertas as an
annexe. From the language of the Infant's Charter[202] of September
18th, 1460, this settlement appears to have taken place in 1425, when
the Prince was 35 years old.
[Footnote 201: Cadamosto's statement that Porto Santo had been
found 27 years before his first voyage, has caused some to
date this journey 1445, instead of 1455, reckoning from
Zarco's discovery of 1418, and has led others to post-date
Zarco's discovery by ten years; but the number XXV is no doubt
a slip for XXXV. This is a very common form of error at this
period. Thus, in the "Cabot" Map of 1544, the year of the
original Cabotian discovery of North America is given as
MCCCCXCIIII, instead of MCCCCXCVII, by a (probable)
malformation of the V, or simple inattention of the
draughtsman. Also, in Grynaeus we have MCCCCCIV for MCCCCLIV.]
[Footnote 202: Endowing the Order of Christ with the
Spiritualities of these islands.]
According to Gaspar Fructuoso, Zarco, in clearing a path through the
forests of Madeira, set the woodland on fire, and seven years elapsed
before the last traces of the conflagration were extinguished. The seven
years is, no doubt, an extra touch; but a fire of tremendous severity
must have taken place, from Cadamosto's account.[203] The whole island,
he declares, had once been in flames; the colonists only saved their
lives by plunging into the torrents; and Zarco himself had to stand in a
river-bed for two whole days and nights, with all his family. Yet,
according to Azurara, so much wood was soon exported from the island to
Portugal, that a change was produced in the housebuilding of Spain:
loftier dwellings were built; and the Roman or Arab style was superseded
by one originating in the new discoveries among the Atlantic Islands.
Almost all Portugal, Cadamosto tells us in 1455, was now adorned with
tables[204] and other furniture made from the wood of Madeira.
[Footnote 203: On his visit in 1455.]
[Footnote 204: It has been also suggested, that the wooden
crosses set up by Henry's orders in new-discovered lands were
from the material thus provided.]
In the settlement of Porto Santo, Bartholemew Perestrello, a gentleman
of the household of Prince Henry's brother, the Infant John, took
part[205] with Zarco and Vaz. Perestrello imported rabbits, which
destroyed all the colonists' experiments in crops and vegetable
planting; but receiving the captaincy of the island, he made some profit
from breeding goats and exporting dragon's blood. His grant of Porto
Santo, originally for his lifetime only, was extended by decree of
November 1st, 1446, to a donation in perpetuity for himself and his
descendants. On the death of Bartholemew, Prince Henry bestowed the
captaincy on his son-in-law, Pedro Correa da Cunha, in trust for the
first Governor's son Bartholemew, who was still a minor. Da Cunha later
contracted with young Bartholemew's mother and uncle--the widow and
brother of the first grantee--for a sum of money in return for a cession
of his interim rights; and Prince Henry authorised this contract by a
decree from Lagos (May 17th, 1458), confirmed by King Affonso V at
Cintra (August 17th, 1459).
[Footnote 205: He accompanied Zarco in the second voyage of
1420.]
Young Bartholemew entered into his governorship in 1473, and it was
formally confirmed to him (15th March, 1473) by Affonso V. It was his
sister, a daughter of the elder Bartholemew, named Felipa Moñiz de
Perestrello, whom Christopher Columbus married in Lisbon; after which he
lived for some time in Porto Santo, enjoying the use of Perestrello's
papers, maps, and instruments.
Before many years had passed, Madeira became famous for its corn and
honey, its sugar cane,[206] and, above all, its wine. The Malvoisie[207]
grape, introduced from Crete, throve excellently, and at last produced
the Madeira of commerce. When Cadamosto visited the island, in 1455, he
found vine culture already advanced, and become the staple industry of
the colonists, who exported red and white wine annually to Europe, and
found a market for the vine staves as bows.
[Footnote 206: Introduced from Sicily.]
[Footnote 207: "Malmsey," or "Malvasie," from Monemvasia or
Malvasia in the Morea, the original seat of its culture.]
As early as 1430[208] the Infant issued a charter, regulating the
settlement of Madeira; herein Ayres Ferreira (whose children, "Adam and
Eve," were the first Europeans born in the island) is mentioned as a
companion of Zarco. An early tradition, which has not yet been
substantiated, also maintained that Prince Henry instituted family
registers for his colonists in this group.[209] In 1433 (September
26th), King Duarte, in a charter from Cintra, granted the islands of
Madeira, Porto Santo, and the Desertas to the Infant Henry; and in 1434
(October 26th), the spiritualities of the same were bestowed on the
Order of Christ.[210] In December, 1452, a contract was made at
Albufeira between the Infant D. Henry and Diego de Teive, one of his
"esquires," for the construction of a water-mill to aid in the
manufacture of cane-sugar,[211] the third part of the produce to go to
the Prince. Finally, in 1455, on Cadamosto's visit, the island possessed
four settlements and 800 inhabitants, and this prosperity seems to have
steadily continued. The charter of 1460[212] has been already noticed.
[Footnote 208: See Cordeiro, _Historia Insulana_, Bk. III, ch.
XV.]
[Footnote 209: The late Count de Rilvas communicated this fact
to Mr. R. H. Major.]
[Footnote 210: _Documentos ... do Torre do Tombo_, p. 2.]
[Footnote 211: See Gaspar Fructuoso, _Saudades da terra_, ed.
Azevedo (1873), pp. 65, 113, 665; Martins, _Os Filhos de D.
João_, pp. 80 and _n._ 1, 258 and _n._ 2.]
[Footnote 212: This was issued on September 18th, 1460,
bestowing the ecclesiastical revenues of Porto Santo and
Madeira on the Order of Christ, the temporalities on King
Affonso V. and his successors. It must be taken in connection
with the Charters of June 7th, 1454, December 28th, 1458, and
September 15th, 1448, all relating to the trade of Guinea, and
the first two conferring special privileges on the Order of
Christ, or revising such privileges already granted; see the
_Collection_ of Pedro Alvarez, Part III, fols. 17-18; Major,
_Prince Henry_, 303.]
From the work of the Portuguese among the Atlantic Islands arises one
question of special interest. Did this westward enterprise of Prince
Henry's seamen, which undoubtedly carried them in the Azores and Cape
Verdes a great distance (from 20 to 22 degrees) westward of Portugal,
lead them on further to a discovery of any part of the American
mainland?
On the strength of an enigmatical inscription in the 1448 Map of Andrea
Bianco, such a discovery of the north-east corner of Brazil in or before
this year has been suggested;[213] but this, it must be admitted, is
quite lacking in demonstrative evidence, however possible in itself. Yet
once more, the "accidental" discovery of this same Land of the Holy
Cross by Cabral in 1500 has been urged to much the same effect. For, if
really accidental, a similar event might well have happened in earlier
years--especially from the time of the Azores settlement of 1432, etc.;
or if not accidental, it was based on information obtained from older
navigators, who reached the same country.[214] Such older navigators
towards the west were said to have been Diego de Teive and Pedro
Velasco, who in 1452 claimed to have sailed more than 150 leagues west
of Fayal; Gonçalo Fernandez de Tavira, who in 1462 sailed (in one
tradition) W.N.W. of Madeira and the Canaries; Ruy Gonçalvez de Camara,
who in 1473 tried to discover land west of the Cape Verdes; with a
certain number of later instances. Some weight has also been attached to
a statement of Las Casas, that on his third voyage, in 1498, Columbus
planned a southern journey from the Cape Verde Islands in search of
lands--especially because, proceeds Las Casas, "he wished to see what
was the meaning of King John of Portugal, when he said there was _terra
firma_ to the South. Some of the ... inhabitants of ... Santiago came to
... him,[215] and said that to the South-West of the Isle of Fogo[216]
an island was seen, and that King John wished to make discoveries
towards the South-West, and that canoes had been known to go from the
Guinea coast to the West with merchandise."
[Footnote 213: The inscription apparently runs "Isola
Otinticha xe longa a ponente 1500 mia;" which has been
translated--(1) "Genuine island distant 1,500 miles to the
west." (2) "Genuine island, 1,500 miles long to the west." (3)
"Genuine island extends 1,500 miles to the west." Also,
reading ... a [= e] la sola otinticha. (4) "Is the only
genuine ..." (The first line being altogether separate in
sense from what follows--"xe longa," etc.) Once more,
supplying "questa carta," (5) "This map is the only genuine
one," leaving the second line unintelligible. (6) "Genuine
island, stretching 1,500 miles westwards, ten miles broad."
And lastly, reading Antillia for Otinticha, (7) "Island of
Antillia," etc. (This would explain the difficulty of the
Antillia Isle being otherwise absent from the 1448 Bianco.)
See Desimoni, in _Atti della Società ligure di Storia patria_,
1864, vol. iii, p. cxiv; Canale, in _Storia del Commercio
degl'Italiani_, 1866, p. 455; Fischer, _Sammlung ... Welt- und
See-Karten italienischen Ursprungs_, Venice, 1886, p. 209;
_Proceedings R. G. S._, London, March 1895, pp. 221-240.
Whatever the explanation, it must be remembered that this Map
and Inscription were never produced by Portugal as evidence of
a Pre-Columbian discovery, either in 1492-3, or later, in
formal negotiations with Spain--as at Badajoz in 1524. It is
possible that the delineation and legend in question were
added by a later hand; and it is probable that, if really
inserted by Bianco himself, the reference is to one of the
legendary Atlantic Islands under a new form. It cannot well be
identified with that stated by Galvano to have been discovered
about 1447, for the latter was reached by a course of 1,500
miles due west from the Straits of Gibraltar, which would
bring us to the Azores. The coast line of the "Genuine Island"
is, moreover, quite inconsistent with the north-east
shore-land of South America.]
[Footnote 214: The most singular point in this controversy is
that the pilots of Cabral's fleet professed to recognise the
new land as the same they had seen marked on an old map
existing in Portugal. This is stated by one John, "Bachelor in
Arts and Medicine, and Physician and Cosmographer to King
Emanuel." He accompanied the expedition of 1500, and declared
that the country where Cabral landed was identical with a
tract marked upon a Mappemonde belonging to Pero Vaz Bisagudo,
a Portuguese.]
[Footnote 215: Columbus.]
[Footnote 216: In the Cape Verdes.]
Further, Antonio Galvano, after speaking of a voyage which took place in
1447, goes on to mention another (undated, but probably conceived by the
author as falling within a year or two of the last) in these terms. "It
is moreover told that in the meantime a Portuguese ship, coming out of
the Straits of Gibraltar, was carried westwards by a storm much further
than was intended, and arrived at an island where there were seven
cities, and people who spoke our language." This, however, is too much
like an echo of the old Spanish tale of the Seven Bishops and their
cities in the Island of "Antillia."
In the same connection a number of still looser and more doubtful
assertions exist in Portuguese archives and chronicles. Thus, in 1457,
the Infant D. Fernando, as heir of Prince Henry, planned Atlantic
explorations; in 1484 and 1486 similar designs were
entertained--possibly on the strength of Columbus' recent suggestions,
which are known to have directly occasioned one unsuccessful venture at
this time; and in 1473 João Vaz da Costa Cortereal was reported, by a
now-exploded legend, to have actually discovered Newfoundland.
THE "SCHOOL OF SAGRES," ETC.
Few things in connection with the life of Henry the Navigator are more
interesting than the tradition of his educational and intellectual work,
especially for the furtherance of geography, in the alleged School of
Sagres and other supposed foundations or benefactions. Unfortunately,
this tradition is not as clearly established as it might be, and it has
been made more difficult by constant exaggeration. Not content with
asserting that the Infant aimed at drawing the commerce of Cadiz and
Ceuta--without reckoning other ports--to his town at Sagres, some have
indulged in pictures of a geographical university established by the
Prince upon this headland--pictures which are quite beyond any known
means of verification. These flourishes, however, need not cause one to
run into another extreme, and deny that Sagres became, during the latter
part of Henry's life, especially from 1438 to his death, the centre of
the exploring movement and the scientific study which the Infant
inspired. At Sagres,[217] according to what may be called the older
view--which, resting mainly upon Barros, is adopted by Major, de Veer,
Wauwermans, and even Martins--Prince Henry usually resided, not merely
during the last years of his life, or after his return from the Tangier
expedition of 1437, but from the time of his reappearance in Portugal
after the relief of Ceuta in 1418. At first, however (1418-1438) it was
called Tercena[218] Nabal, or Naval Arsenal, after it emerged from the
stage of a little harbour of refuge for passing ships; and only
afterwards did it become (from 1438 onwards) the Villa do Iffante, "my
town," from which some of Prince Henry's charters are dated. Shortly
before the completion of Azurara's chronicle, according to this view,
the town was fortified with strong walls and enlarged by the building of
new houses.[219] In this settlement (within the narrow space of some 100
acres), there were said to have been, besides the Infant's own Court or
palace, a church, a chapel,[220] a study, and an observatory (the
earliest in Portugal), together with an arsenal, a dockyard, and a fort.
Here cartography and astronomical geography were diligently studied, and
practical mariners were equipped for their work.
[Footnote 217: See Azurara, _Guinea_, iv; Barros, _Asia_,
Decade I, i, 16.]
[Footnote 218: From the Venetian _Darcena_; see Goes, _Chron.
do pr. D. João IV_; O. Martins, _Filhos de D. João I_, p. 75.]
[Footnote 219: It retained its importance till the Prince's
death, when it gradually declined; it was sacked by Drake in
1597; and ruined by earthquakes. Finally it became again as
deserted as before the Infant's time. Ferdinand Denis believed
that before the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 there were traces of
a much earlier habitation of the Sagres Promontory, including
buildings (Moorish?) at least as old as the XIth century. The
headland measures only one kilometre in circuit, half a
kilometre in its extreme length.]
[Footnote 220: Prince Henry's will refers to the Church of St.
Catherine, and the Chapel of St. Mary; see the _MS.
Collection_ of Pedro Alvarez, iii; Martins, _Os Filhos de D.
João_, p. 74. The observatory was not on Sagres Cape proper,
but "un peu en avant quand on vient de l'Ouest" (V. St.
Martin).]
Two original statements of Portuguese authors have been often quoted to
support this tradition. The first comes from John de Barros, the Livy of
Portugal (A.D. 1496-1570). "In his wish to gain a prosperous result from
his efforts, the Prince devoted great industry and thought to the
matter, and at great expense procured the aid of one Master Jacome[221]
from Majorca, a man skilled in the art of navigation and in the making
of maps and instruments, who was sent for, with certain of the Arab and
Jewish mathematicians, to instruct the Portuguese officers in that
science." Secondly, we have the statement of the mathematician Pedro
Nuñes, that the Infant's mariners were "well taught and provided with
instruments and rules of astrology and geometry which all map-makers
should know."[222] On the other hand, it has been contended that there
is no satisfactory evidence of the Infant's town having ever been
finished, or of the Prince ever having lived there continuously, except
during the last years of his life; and that our best authorities do not
warrant us in believing that the settlement was even begun before the
Tangier expedition. Henry's earlier charters are, with one exception,
dated from other places, and his residence before 1438 seems to have
been usually at Lisbon, Lagos, or Reposeira. Further, we have no right
to speak of the "School," or "University," or "Academy" of Sagres; there
may have been both teachers and learners, but there was nothing of an
"institution for instruction" in the Prince's establishment.
[Footnote 221: Jacob or James, who, according to one
tradition, came to the Infant's "Court" shortly after the
disaster of Tangier, in or about 1438. To this name the
Viscount de Juromenha in his notes to Rackzynski, _Les Arts en
Portugal_, 205, adds that of Master Peter, the cartographic
artist of the Infant, who illuminated his maps in colours and
adorned them with legends and pictures. The existence of this
Peter rests upon a document at Batalha discovered by
Juromenha. See also O. Martins, _Filhos de D. João I_, p. 73.]
[Footnote 222: Wauwermans, _Henri le Navigateur et l'Academie
Portugaise de Sagres_, gives little or no help towards the
controverted question which he assumes as settled in his
title. It is a general essay on the course of
fifteenth-century exploration; its most useful portions are
devoted to tracing the connections between geographical study
in Portugal and the Netherlands.]
Such is the minimising view; and most, in face of this sharp divergence,
will agree with Baron Nordenskjöld that a really critical study of the
subject, especially from a local antiquarian, is desirable. Very
plausibly does Nordenskjöld himself sum up the probabilities of the case
when he concludes that "a small school of navigation, important for the
period in question, has probably received from laudatory biographers the
name of an 'Academy.'"[223] The Swedish geographer, however, adds from
his own special researches some important observations. He believes that
in the La Cosa map of 1500[224] we have work which was based upon the
observations of the Infant's captains, who, as shown in these results,
were evidently able to keep reliable reckoning and take fairly correct
altitudes. "Further, the extension of the normal or typical portolano
along the West coast of Africa, as on the portolanos of Benincasa and
others of the latter part of the fifteenth century, is shown by the
legends of the same to have been based on observations made during the
marine expeditions of Prince Henry."
[Footnote 223: Nordenskjöld, _Periplus_, 121 A.]
[Footnote 224: Plates xliii and xliv of Nordenskjöld's
_Periplus_.]
No charts or other productions of the "Sagres School," in any definite
sense of this term, no geographical or astronomical works emanating from
the "Court" of the Infant, are now extant. But it may reasonably be
inferred from passages in Azurara's _Chronicle of Guinea_ that such
charts were not only draughted under the Prince's orders, but used by
his sailors;[225] Cadamosto tells us of the chart he kept on his voyage
of 1455, probably by direction of the Infant; while it is probably true
that the "extension of the portolanos beyond Cape Bojador, in
Benincasa,[226] for instance, as well as in Fra Mauro's work of 1457-9,
depended on information given by native and foreign skippers" sent out
by Henry. Of course, it is obvious, in the light of present knowledge,
that neither he nor his school in any sense invented the portolano type;
although the mention of Master Jacome of Majorca reminds us of one of
the earliest centres of the new scientific cartography[227] (which was
probably first made effective by Catalan skippers and draughtsmen), and
suggests that the Infant was in touch with the best map-science of the
time. "Neither is it correct to say that he introduced hydrographic
plane charts or map graduation in accordance with geographical
co-ordinates."
[Footnote 225: See Azurara, _Guinea_, ch. lxxviii;
Nordenskjöld, _Periplus_, 121; Santarem, _Essai sur
Cosmographie_, vol. iii, p. lix. Affonso Cerveira, Azurara's
predecessor, was probably not a "pupil" of the "Sagres
School," as some have supposed.]
[Footnote 226: Especially in his works of 1467-8 and 1471.]
[Footnote 227: In the Balearic isles. See pp. cxvii-cxix of
this Introduction.]
But his life was almost certainly not without direct influence in the
improvement of cartography, and the extension of the scientific type of
map beyond its fourteenth-century limits--an improvement which we see in
the great map of Fra Mauro executed shortly before the Infant's death.
Also, he made his nation take a real interest in geographical discovery,
broke down their superstitious fear of ocean sailing, and made a
beginning in the circumnavigation of Africa. He altered the conditions
of maritime exploration by giving permanence, organisation, and
governmental support to a movement which had up to this time proved
disappointing for lack of these very means. And he certainly improved
the art of shipbuilding, which Cadamosto remarks upon as having rendered
the caravels of Portugal the best sailing ships afloat.
As to the build of these caravels we are fortunately not without data.
Cadamosto, indeed, though he describes them as the best sailing ships at
sea in his time, does not give any details; but from other sources[228]
it is possible to form some idea of their peculiar features. They were
usually 20-30 metres long, 6-8 metres in breadth; were equipped with
three masts, without rigging-tops, or yards; and had lateen sails
stretched upon long oblique poles, hanging suspended from the masthead.
These "winged arms," when their triangular sails were once spread,
grazed the gunwale of the caravel, the points bending in the air
according to the direction of the wind. They usually ran with all their
sail, turning by means of it, and sailing straight upon a bow-line,
driving before the wind. When they wished to change their course, it was
enough to trim the sails.
[Footnote 228: See Osorio, _Vida e feitos d'el rei D. Manoel_,
i, p. 193; O. Martins, _Os Filhos de D. João I_, p. 75;
Candido Correa, _Official Catalogue of the Naval Exposition of
1888 in Portugal_, where was exhibited a facsimile of an old
caravel; see also the plans in D. Pacheco Pereira's
_Esmeraldo_, and the article in the _Revista Portuguesa
Colonial_, May 20th, 1898, pp. 32-52. In the last-named study,
which is specially worthy of notice, we have a detailed
account of (1) the _Barca_, (2) the _Barinel_, (3) the
_Caravel_, (4) the _Nau_, which are classed as _navios dos
descobrimentos_, followed by the _navios dos conquistas_,
viz., (5) the _Fusta_, (6) the _Catur_, (7) the _Almadia de
Cathuri_, (8) the _Galé_, (9) the _Galiota_, (10) the
_Brigantim_, (11) the _Galeaça_, (12) the _Taforea_, (13) the
_Galeão_, (14) the _Carraca_. Illustrations of Nos. 1, 3, 4,
5, 6, 8, 10, and 13 are added.]
It was with this type of vessel that the Madeira and Canary groups were
"gained from the secrets of the Ocean;" that the Azores, at a distance
of twenty-two degrees west of Portugal, and in the heart of the
Atlantic, were discovered and colonised; and that open sea navigation of
almost equal boldness was successfully employed in the finding and
settlement of the Cape Verdes. Before the end of the year 1446,
according to Azurara's estimate, the Infant had sent out fifty-one of
these ships along the mainland coast of Africa, and they had passed 450
leagues[229] beyond Cape Bojador, which before the Prince's time was the
furthest point "clearly known on the coast of the Great Sea." Also, the
work of the "School of Sagres" may perhaps be recognised in Azurara's
further claim that "what had before been laid down on the
Mappemonde was not certain, but only by guesswork," whereas now
it was "all from the survey by the eyes of our seamen," and that "all
this coast towards the South with many points our prince commanded to
add to the sailing chart."
[Footnote 229: Azurara, _Guinea_, ch. lxxviii.]
It has been noticed that D. Pedro, according to the Portuguese
tradition, presented Henry with a copy of Marco Polo's travels, and a
map of the same, either drawn by the explorer himself or by one who knew
his works, and belonged to his own city. Thereby, we are told, the work
of the Infant was much furthered, and Galvano suggests that the same was
extant in 1528, and that it contained many wonderful anticipations of
later discoveries.[230]
[Footnote 230: "... Venice ... whence he [Pedro] brought a map
which had all the circuit of the world described. The Strait
of Magellan was called the Dragon's Tail; and there were also
the Cape of Good Hope and the coast of Africa.... Francisco de
Sousa Tavarez told me that in the year 1528, the Infant D.
Fernando showed him a map which had been found in the Cartorio
of Alcobaça, which had been made more than 120 years before,
the which contained all the navigation of India with the Cape
of Good Hope."--Galvano, _Discovery of World, sub ann._ 1428.]
It has also been surmised, without any certain evidence,[231] that D.
Pedro presented his brother with various maps of Gabriel Valsecca,[232]
and with the writings of Georg Purbach, the instructor of Regiomontanus.
Much more certain and interesting is the allusion to the Infant's
collection of old maps in the history of the discovery of St. Michael
(1443-4) in the Azores. A runaway slave, having escaped to the highest
peak in the Isle of St. Maria, sighted a distant land, and returned to
his master to gain pardon with this news. Prince Henry was informed of
this, consulted his ancient charts, and found them confirm the slave's
discovery. So he sent out Gonçalo Velho Cabral to seek for the same.
Cabral failed; but on his returning to the Prince, the latter showed him
from the ancient maps how he had only missed it by a slight error of
direction. On his second trial the explorer was successful, and reached
St. Michael on May 8, 1444.
[Footnote 231: But see Gaspar Fructuoso, _Saudades da terra_
(ed. Azevedo, 1873), bk. ii, p. 9; Cordeiro, _Historia
Insulana_, ii, p. 2; Santos, _Memoria sobre dois antigos
mappas, etc._, in _Mem. de Litt. da Academia_, viii, pp.
275-301; O. Martins, _Os Filhos de D. João I_, p. 72.]
[Footnote 232: One of which (A.D. 1434-1439) is our authority
for the earliest known Portuguese voyage to any part of the
Azores; viz., that of Diego de Sevill in 1427 (a date
hypothetically converted by Major into 1432). This map of
Valsecca's only gives St. Mary and the Formigas as known in
1439; see pp. cxxxi, cxxxiv of this Introduction.]
* * * * *
Prince Henry's connection with the Coimbra-Lisbon University (founded by
King Dinis in 1300) opens another side of the same question. We have
already mentioned the tradition that in 1431 the Infant provided new
quarters in the parish of St. Thomas, in Lisbon, for the teachers and
students, and afterwards established Chairs of Theology and Mathematics.
This has been called by some a "Reform of Ancient Schools" under his
influence and direction;[233] and recent enquiry[234] has endeavoured to
prove that the Protector of Portuguese Studies was also the founder (in
1431) of a Chair of Medicine, and the donor of a room or lecture-hall in
which was painted by his order a picture of Galen. In 1448 the Infant
subsidised the Chair of Theology by a grant of twelve marks of silver
annually from the revenues of Madeira.[235] It is perhaps noteworthy
that the Prince does not appear to have founded any lectureship, or made
any benefaction to promote directly the study of geography, though
ancient texts bearing on this subject were now beginning to attract
considerable attention. It may be open to question how far a university
would then have welcomed an instructor in practical navigation or
draughtsmanship; but students would have probably listened to lectures
upon Ptolemy, or Strabo, or other classical geographers, and thereby a
great impetus might have been given to the new exploring spirit. Thus in
general we may fairly conclude that, so far as the Portuguese seamen of
the next generation, Bartholemew Diaz, Da Gama, Cão, and others,
"received their training from the Infant's School," it was usually
through a rougher and more practical tradition than that of a
class-room--by means of older mariners who had served in the Prince's
ships rather than by university lecturers whom he had appointed.
[Footnote 233: See O. Martins, _Filhos de D. João I_, pp.
63-4.]
[Footnote 234: Cf. Max. Lemos, _A medicina em Portugal_,
1881.]
[Footnote 235: J. S. Ribeiro, _Historia dos estabel.
scientific, litt. e art. de Portugal_, i, p. 31.]
MAPS AND SCIENTIFIC GEOGRAPHY UP TO AND DURING PRINCE HENRY'S LIFE.
Ancient maps were not without high merits in certain cases, and a little
after Prince Henry's time the Renaissance editions of Ptolemy played a
very important part in geographical history. But in the first part of
the fifteenth century neither the work of the Alexandrian astronomer and
cartographer, nor the ancient road maps of the Roman Empire and
surrounding lands[236] seem to have been sufficiently known for the
exercise of much influence in the progress of discovery or of
geographical knowledge. The same result follows, for different reasons,
in the case of almost all the earlier mediæval maps and charts,[237]
which are quite unscientific in character, and often rather picture
books of natural history legends than delineations of the world.
[Footnote 236: _E.g._, the Peutinger Table.]
[Footnote 237: Viz., before the end of the thirteenth century;
see _Dawn of Modern Geography_, ch. vi, on "Geographical
Theory in the Earlier Middle Ages," and especially pp.
273-284, 327-340, 375-391.]
Strictly scientific map-making begins with the Mediterranean portolani.
The earliest existing specimen of these is of about 1300, but the type
then formed[238] must have been for some time in process of elaboration;
and it is even probable that a fully-developed example from the middle
of the thirteenth century may yet be discovered.
[Footnote 238: _E.g._, in the Carte Pisane and the work of
Giovann de Carignano.]
"A sea-chart--probably a portolano--is mentioned as early as the account
of the Crusade of St. Louis, in 1270."[239] So in Raymond Lulli's _Arbor
Scientiæ_, written about 1300, we have reference to compass, chart and
needle, as necessary for sailors.[240] Once again, it is probable that
Andrea Bianco's planisphere of 1436[241] is only a re-edition of a
thirteenth-century work, when the "Normal Portolano" was just in process
of making, but had not reached even the comparative perfection of the
Carte Pisane, Carignano, or Vesconte examples.
[Footnote 239: See d'Avezac, _Bolletino d. Soc. Geog. Ital._,
1874, p. 408; Nordenskjöld, _Periplus_, 16 A.]
[Footnote 240: See d'Avezac, _Coup d'œil historique sur la
projection des Cartes de Geographie_ (1863), p. 38.]
[Footnote 241: Reproduced in part at the end of this edition
of _Azurara_, vol. i, Plate 4.]
The earliest dated portolan is that of 1311, by Petrus Vesconte; and
from this time the maps of this class, whose central feature is an
accurate Mediterranean coast-line, increase rapidly, being indeed all
reproductions of one type,[242] occasionally introducing additions or
corrections, especially in outlying parts, but not often varying much
from one another in the central portions. The type is reasonably
believed by some[243] to have originated among the Catalans, either of
Spain, France, or the Balearic Isles, well within the thirteenth
century.[244] In connection with this, we may recall the point mentioned
by Barros, that Prince Henry the Navigator obtained the services of
Master Jacome, or James, from Majorca to instruct the Portuguese
captains in navigation, map-making, and the proper handling of nautical
instruments.
[Footnote 242: Thus Nordenskjöld sums up after an exhaustive
review of all the chief early portolans: "Not only are the
coast-legends the same, even the ... names in red ink of
places considered of special importance to navigators were not
essentially different in the three centuries from Vesconte to
Voltius. Moreover: (1) The Mediterranean and Black Sea have
exactly the same shape on all these maps; (2) a
distance-scale, with the same unit of length, such as
otherwise is used only on the Spanish and French Mediterranean
coasts, occurs on all these maps, independently of the land of
their origin; (3) the distances across the Mediterranean and
Black Sea, measured with this scale, agree perfectly on the
islands and capes remain almost unaltered on portolanos from
the fourteenth to the sixteenth century. So that it may be
thought proved that all these portolanos are only amended
codices of the same original" (_Periplus_, 45 A).]
[Footnote 243: _E.g._, Nordenskjöld, in his last work
(_Periplus_, 46, 47).]
[Footnote 244: Nordenskjöld conjectures probably between 1266
and 1300.]
These plans of practical seamen are a striking contrast, in their often
modern accuracy, to the results of the literary or theological geography
portrayed in such works as those of the "Beatus School," or of Robert of
Haldingham.[245] Map surveys of this kind were apparently unknown to the
ancient world. The old _Peripli_ were sailing directions, not drawn but
written; and the only Arabic portolan known to exist was copied from an
Italian example. Long after the Italian leadership in exploration and
commerce had begun to pass away, Italian science kept control of
cartographical work; thus, among the early portolani, not only the
majority--413 out of 498--but the most valuable, were executed by the
countrymen of Carignano and Vesconte.
[Footnote 245: Cf. (1) the Beatus maps of "St. Sever,"
"Ashburnham," "Turin," "London," of 1109, "Valladolid,"
"Madrid," etc., of the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries;
(2) the Hereford _Mappemonde_ of the late thirteenth
century, with which may be compared the Ebstorf world-map of
c. 1300; see Konrad Miller, _Die ältesten Weltkarten_, Heft v,
1896.]
This department of geographical history is only just beginning to be
appreciated at its full value--as marking the vital transition from
ancient to modern, from empirical to scientific--but this need not
surprise us much. The portolani, as has been well said, never had for
their object to provide a popular or fashionable amusement; they were
not drawn to illustrate the works of classical authors or learned
prelates; still less did they illustrate the legends and dreams of
chivalry and historical romance; they were seldom drawn by learned men;
and small enough in return was the acknowledgment which the learned but
too often made them, when the great geographical compilers of the
Renaissance and Reformation times incorporated the earlier coast-charts
in grander and more ambitious works.
Unquestionably, however, it is in maps of the portolano type that we
must look for Prince Henry's primary geographical teachers, though the
influence of books--and even of the older theoretical designs in
cartography--must not be forgotten. Therefore, to understand his
position--to realise what he had to draw from--we must briefly describe
the chief designs which it was possible for him to consult for his
scientific purposes, for his Ptolemaic ambition, διορθῶσαι τὸν ἀρχαῖον
πίνακα [diorthôsai ton archaion pinaka].
(1) The "Carte Pisane" of the latest thirteenth or earliest fourteenth
century is probably only a copy of an earlier work, though now itself
our earliest example of the portolano type. The Mediterranean on this
example (as well as the Black Sea, where it has survived injury) shows
the new scientific or surveying method, but the Atlantic coasts of Spain
and France, and still more the shore-lines of Britain, are of a
different and inferior character. This alone points to an earlier date
than, _e.g._, the works of Vesconte and Dulcert. In West Africa only a
part of the Maroccan coast now remains.
(2) The Map of Giovanni di Carignano,[246] of _c._ 1300?-1310, though
much damaged, shows the Black Sea and Britain with contours differing
somewhat from the ordinary portolan; and the same is noticeable in the
Baltic. The West African coast does not extend to Cape Non. Another work
by Carignano, of _c._ 1306, "specially referring to Central Asia," is
said to exist, but its present position is unknown.
[Footnote 246: Signed "Johannes presbyter, rector Sancti Marci
de Porta Janue me fecit." A priest answering to this
description flourished in Genoa, 1306-1344; this may have been
a younger relative.]
(3) A portolan of the early fourteenth(?) century, belonging to
Professor Tammar Luxoro, of Genoa, in 1882, and usually called after
him, is believed by Nordenskjöld to be a "slightly altered copy of the
normal portolano in its original form." In N.W. Africa it only gives us
the shore-line as far as Sallé, with a series of names, beginning at
Arzilla.[247]
[Footnote 247: No Atlantic islands exist on the Tammar Luxoro
portolan.]
(4) Marino Sanudo the Elder, to his work, _Liber Secretorum fidelium
Crucis_, written between 1306 and 1321, added an atlas of ten maps.
Among these, I-V form an ordinary portolano, corresponding especially
with Vesconte's work,[248] but giving us no special information upon
Africa; while No. VI is the famous map of the world often reproduced.
Here a thoroughly conventional Africa is laid down, of the "Strabonian"
or "Macrobian" type: its length, from east to west, traversed by the
Negro Nile from near the Mountains of the Moon to the Atlantic, is equal
to fully twice the breadth from north to south. The deep inlet in the
West African coast penetrating east to a "Regio VII Montium" immediately
south of the Negro Nile, is a prototype of the similar feature in Fra
Mauro, and is perhaps only an exaggeration of the Sinus Hesperius of
Ptolemy. This map was probably known to Prince Henry, like the book it
accompanied, which contained many important particulars of
fourteenth-century trade and navigation. The Mappemonde is a compromise
between, or combination of, the portolano and the Mediæval theoretical
map, and is quite a landmark in the history of cartography.
[Footnote 248: Konrad Kretschmer believes Sanudo's maps to
have been draughted entirely or principally by Vesconte.]
(5) Pietro Vesconte of Genoa has left three or four works executed
between 1311 and 1321, and still extant, viz.: (α) Of 1311, which lacks
the Western Mediterranean and West Africa, what remains giving us a
"normal portolano" of the Levant and Black Sea. (β) Of 1318, depicting
the entire Mediterranean, etc., with the Atlantic, North Sea coasts of
Europe (in ten plates), and West Africa as far as "Mogador." (γ) Of 1318
(in six maps), which for our purposes need not be discriminated from
(β); and lastly (δ) Of 1320, a map of the world, with plans of cities, a
special chart of Palestine, etc. The Mappemonde, which principally
concerns us here, is extremely like Sanudo's, and is perhaps the work of
the same artist--Vesconte himself. Another work, of 1321, by Vesconte,
is mentioned in Santarem,[249] but its whereabouts is now unknown.
[Footnote 249: _Essai sur l'Histoire de la Cosmographie_, i,
272, ed. of 1849.]
Once more a work of 1327, signed "Perrinus Vesconte fecit ... MCCCXXVII
in Veneciis" is conjectured to be only another "normal-portolan" by
_Pietro_ Vesconte.
(6) Angelino Dulcert, a Catalan, composed in August 1339, in Majorca
("in civitate Majoricarum") a portolan of great merit. Dulcert's Baltic
somewhat resembles Carignano's, but with more numerous legends. A star
("the Star in the East") placed by this draughtsman south of the Caspian
is copied, or at least paralleled, in the Atlas Catalan of 1375 (No. 9,
p. cxxvi), in the Andrea Bianco of 1436, and in the Borgian map of
1430-50, as well as in the Anonymous Catalan planisphere hereafter
noticed (No. 14, p. cxxviii). Dulcert's Africa probably served in some
respects as a prototype for the Catalan Atlas of 1375, and Prince Henry
may have studied the Continent in one or other of these delineations,
which are among the most complete pictures of the Sahara coasts and
Sudan interior coming down from any period before that of his voyages.
Some of the Canaries are marked in about their right position, with
Lançarote showing the Cross of Genoa, and Fuerteventura to the south,
while almost in the latitude of Ceuta appear "Canaria," St. Brandan's
Isle, etc. On the mainland a long stretch of shore-line is given beyond
Cape Non or Nun, but it is drawn very conventionally in a S.S.E.
direction, with seven names,[250] or titles, and an inscription of two
lines, the whole seeming to show pretty clearly that the draughtsman
knew nothing at first hand of the coast between Non and Boyador, but was
led to conjecture a continuation of the Desert Littoral. In the
Interior, the Atlas range, the large seated figure of a king with
sceptre, and most of the towns depicted on eminences, reappear with
slight alterations in the Atlas Catalan; which, however, adds many
details.
[Footnote 250: One being merely "Plagae Arenae."]
(7) Next comes the most famous, and perhaps in some respects the most
advanced, specimen of the early portolani: that usually quoted as the
Medicean or Laurentian Portolan of 1351 ("Atlante Mediceo," or
"Portolano Laurenziano-Gaddiano"). The author was anonymous, but almost
certainly a Genoese, and his work consists of eight plates, or tables.
The second of these is the Mappemonde, which is the only one that need
be noticed here. The Africa of this map, taken as a whole, is drawn with
a nearer approach to general correctness than on any chart anterior to
the voyage of B. Diaz in 1486;[251] both the Guinea coast to the
Camaroons, and the southern projection of the Continent, are
extraordinarily well conceived for the time. No details or names are
inserted on the W. African mainland shore beyond Cape Bojador and the
River of Gold--"Palolus."[252] In this it is similar to the Pizigani map
of 1367.[253]
[Footnote 251: See _Azurara_, Hakluyt Soc. ed., vol. i,
Reproduction at end, No. 1]
[Footnote 252: For Pactolus (?).]
[Footnote 253: A considerable knowledge of the Atlantic
Islands is also shown, sixteen names being given. This number,
however, is less than we have in the _Conosçimiento_ of
slightly earlier date, _c_. 1330 (?).]
(8) Francisco Pizigano, of Venice, 1367-1373, aided by his brother
Marco, executed two famous works still extant: (α) In 1367, a large
chart comprising a good deal beyond the normal portolano's Mediterranean
and Black Sea;--_e.g._, part of the Scandinavian Peninsula, the Baltic,
the Caspian, etc. It is signed, "MCCCLXVII, Hoc opus compoxuid
Franciscus Pizigano Veneciar et domnus In Venexia meffecit Marcus die
xii Decembris." (β) In 1373, a normal portolano, signed "MCCCLXXIII a
die viii de zugno Francischo Pisigany Venician in Venexia me fecit." The
N.W. Africa of these two maps shows no advance on the Laurentian
Portolano.
(9) The Atlas Catalan of 1375 is said to have been executed for Charles
V of France, in whose library it was entered with the title, "Une quarte
de mer en tableaux faicte par manière de unes tables, painte et
histoirée, figurée et escripte, et fermant a quatre fermoners de
cuivre." It is in six plates, the last four of which compose a
mappemonde--"the most comprehensive cartographic work of the fourteenth
century," especially rich in legends, and showing us the normal
portolan, for shore-lines, blended with the theoretical map, for the
interiors of countries, all designed on the most elaborate scale. The
West African coast on this example is brought down to, and a little
beyond, Cape Bojador, southwest of which appear the Catalan explorers of
1346[254] in their boat, with an inscription.[255] Beginning with
Arzilla, and continuing south, we have besides the recognisable Sallé,
Cantin, Mogador, and No[n], 35 other names before we reach Cavo de
Buyet(e)der, after which we have only the legend "Danom," and the
conclusion, "Cap de Finister(r)a occidental de Affricha."[256] More
attention is given to the interior of North Africa in this design than
in any other map of the fourteenth century.
[Footnote 254: Jayme Ferrer, etc.]
[Footnote 255: Quoted and discussed above, pp. lxiii-lxiv.]
[Footnote 256: Names are given to twenty-seven islands in the
Atlantic, among them St. Brandan's isle, most of the Canaries,
the whole Madeira group and several of the Azores.]
(10) Guglielmo Soleri, of Majorca, between _c._ 1380 and 1385, executed
two designs of some value, both "normal-portolans:" (α) is undated,
probably executed about 1380, and signed "Guill'mo Soleri civis
Majoricarum me ficit." (β) is inscribed "Guillmus Solerii civis
Majoricarum me fecit anno MCCCLXXXV."
In (β) West Africa has a fairly good extension, a little beyond the
latitude of the Canaries, where the rough and torn southern edge of the
map cuts across all.[257]
[Footnote 257: The Soleri of 1380 gives twenty Atlantic
islands; nineteen appear in the Soleri of 1385 (some
legendary). In neither is any addition made to earlier lists.]
(11) Next in order comes an anonymous Atlas of 1384 (?) in six sheets,
usually called, after two of its possessors, the Pinelli-Walckenaer
Portolano. It is probably a Genoese work. Its West Africa extends about
as far as (or a little beyond) the Soleri of 1385, to what is apparently
Cape Bojador, slightly south of the Canaries. Ten names occur beyond C.
Non, among them Cavo de Sablon and Enbucder.[258] The little harbour
existing to the south of Bojador seems indicated here.
[Footnote 258: Bojador?]
(12) And now, coming to the fifteenth century, we have first the
"Combitis" Portolan of _c._ 1410--an anonymous work, but inscribed "Haec
tabula ex testamento domini Nicolai de Combitis devenit in Monasterio
Cartusiae florentinae." This is, in some respects, closely similar to
the Vesconte of 1318.
(13) Another cartographer of the early fifteenth century is Cristoforo
Buondelmonte--otherwise Ensenius--whose "Description of the Cyclades" is
accompanied by maps; who was the author of an important graduated chart
of the North of Europe; and who also left a roughly-sketched
mappemonde--perhaps a copy of a much older work--which may conceivably
have been known to Prince Henry and have encouraged his explorations.
This shows an Africa somewhat similar in contour to Fra Mauro's of
1457-9, but almost without names.[259]
[Footnote 259: Reproduced in Nordenskjöld, _Periplus_, 111,
and labelled only "before 1481." The only name on the West
African mainland is well down S.W., "India [portus?] pbīs
fons." The deep indent on the middle of the W. African coast,
noticed in several other maps and even in Fra Mauro, appears
here on a great scale.]
(14) Last among these works of the "Preparatory Time," we may take an
anonymous Catalan planisphere of the early fifteenth century (in the
National Library of Florence) closely resembling the great Atlas of
1375.
This completes the list of important maps for the period immediately
preceding the new Portuguese discoveries, and shows us the most likely
examples of cartography for Prince Henry's study. Some of these he may
have owned; many of them he probably inspected in person or by deputy.
It is probable enough that he was acquainted with some of the
pre-scientific or "theoretical" designs, such as those of the "Beatus"
type from the eighth and subsequent centuries; those which are to be
found illustrating manuscripts of Sallust, Higden, Matthew Paris, St.
Jerome, or Macrobius' Commentary on the "Dream of Scipio;" and those of
Arabic geographers like Edrisi[260]--to name only a few examples--but he
can hardly have derived much assistance from them. The great thirteenth
century wheel-map pictures--as, for instance, those we know as the
Hereford or Ebstorf Mappemondes--expressed the very antithesis of his
spirit; and the same must be said of the greater part of the Mediæval
cartography before the appearance of the portolani.
[Footnote 260: Twelfth century.]
From certain books of travel, such as those of Carpini, Rubruquis,
Odoric, Pegolotti, or Marco Polo, he may, however, have received great
assistance. The merchants and missionaries who opened so much of Asia to
the knowledge of Europe during the Crusading period, furnished the most
direct stimulus for the discovery of a direct ocean route to the
treasures of the East. And to find such a route by the circumnavigation
of Africa was, as we have suggested before, one of the primary objects
of the Infant's life and work.
But, in addition to the Maps of his predecessors, the Infant was almost
certainly acquainted with some of the chief cartographical works of his
own time, falling within the period of his exploring activity, and we
must finish this brief survey with some notice of these. Continuing the
catalogue, we have
(15) A map by Mecia de Viladestes of 1413. This is a Catalan portolano,
signed "Mecia de Viladestes me fecit in ano 1413," and is noticeable as
containing a reference to the voyage of Jayme Ferrer in 1346, similar to
that on the great Catalan atlas of 1375.[261]
[Footnote 261: A work by the same author, of 1457, is said to
be at the Carthusian Monastery of Segorbe, near Valencia, but
it is not yet fully identified, and is supposed by some to be
the same as that just noticed.]
(16) Four, or possibly five, specimens of Jacobus Giroldis'
draughtsmanship belonging to the years 1422-1446, viz., (α) a
Mediterranean portolan of 1422, signed "MCCCCXXII mense Junii die primo
Jachobus de Giroldis Veneciis me fecit;" (β) a Portolan atlas in six
sheets, of A.D. 1426, thought by some to resemble the work of Andrea
Bianco in river-markings, legends, etc. This work possesses a
distance-scale, but no graduation for latitude. It is inscribed,
"Jachobus de Ziraldis [Ziroldis?] de Veneciis me fecit ... MCCCCXXVI."
The West Africa of this work ends at Bojador ("Buider"), and gives us
thirty-nine names between Arzilla and this point. Its nomenclature here
is very similar to, though somewhat less full than, that of the Catalan
atlas (1375).[262] Besides these two works, Giroldis has left others of
less importance, viz., (γ), a Portolan atlas of 1443, consisting of six
maps; (δ), a Portolan atlas, also of six maps, dated 1446; (ε?), a
Portolano, unsigned, in the Bibliotheca Ambrosiana at Florence, which is
perhaps his work.
[Footnote 262: The same is the case with the Atlantic Islands;
but though giving us fewer actual isles, it supplies more
names to points therein--thirty-two in all.]
Passing by the (for our purposes) less important Portolans of Battista
Becharius, or Beccario, of Genoa, executed in 1426 and 1435; of
Francisco de Cesani of Venice (1421), of Claudius Clavus[263] (1427), of
Cholla de Briaticho (1430), there are only about ten maps or atlases
belonging to this period which have still to be noticed, and which with
some probability may be connected with the work of Prince Henry.
[Footnote 263: An important chart for N. European cartography,
and for the fact that it is one of the earliest graduated
non-Ptolemaic maps.]
These are--not counting the lost map brought back by D. Pedro from
Venice in 1428,--
(17) The Atlas of 1435-1445, by Gratiosus Benincasa, of Ancona.
(18) The so-called Andrea Bianco of 1436.
(19) The Andrea Bianco of 1448.
(20) The Portolano of 1434-39 by Gabriele de Valsecca, of Majorca,
together with one of 1447 by the same draughtsman.
(21) The anonymous planisphere of 1447.
(22) The planispheres of 1448 and 1452, by Giovanni Leardo (Leardus), of
Venice.
(23) The planisphere of 1455, by Bartolommeo Pareto, of Genoa; and
(24) The planisphere of 1457-9, by Fra Mauro of the Camaldolese Convent
of Murano, in Venice.
As to these, we need only remark:
No. (17) is the earliest known work of Gracioso Benincasa, consists of
sixty-two maps, and belongs to a MS. giving sailing directions, etc. Its
West Africa does not call for special remark, though the later
discoveries of Prince Henry's lifetime are admirably illustrated in the
same draughtsman's work of 1468, 1471, etc.
No. (18) consists of ten maps, including a graduated Ptolemaic
mappemonde, and a circular world-map, somewhat resembling Vesconte,
probably copied and re-edited from a very early portolan, with a certain
theoretical extension.[264] The original of this is supposed by some to
have been a late thirteenth-century work; its West African names and
detailed charting end at Cape Non--an incredibly backward point for the
time of revision, viz., A.D. 1436. A ship is, however, depicted in full
sail far down the west coast[265] of a Continent whose general shape is
conceived as "Strabonian" or "Macrobian," with its length from east to
west, and consequently possessing a long southern shore. The Negro Nile
flows straight from Babylon or Cairo, into the Atlantic, near (but north
of) the picture labelled Rex de Maroco. The western Mediterranean,
Adriatic and Ægaean, as well as the Black Sea and Caspian, are poorly
drawn, and suggest an early and crude type of portolan.
[Footnote 264: See _Azurara_, Hakluyt Soc. ed., vol. i, Map
No. 4 at end of volume.]
[Footnote 265: Is this an addition of the Editor to bring it
up to date? The reviser must, however, have added very largely
to this map; _e_. _g_., both Russia and Turkey (?), as here
depicted, do not correspond at all to the _late_ thirteenth
century, but agree better with the fifteenth; though for 1436
Russia seems unduly magnified. _Imperium Tartarorum_ appears
immediately north of the Sea of Azov. The Moslem prince near
the Bosphorus is probably meant for the Ottoman Sultan.]
No. (19), signed "Andrea Biancho venician comito di galia mi fexe a
LONDRA MCCCCXXXXVIII," was probably executed with a special view of
illustrating the discoveries of the Portuguese along West Africa, and
contains the enigmatical inscription in the S.W., which some have
construed into a Portuguese discovery of South America about this
time.[266] Besides the interest of this controversy, and of the fact
that it was one of the first scientific maps drawn in England, this
chart gives us in West Africa some of the earliest indications of the
new Portuguese discoveries. Thus, beyond Cape Bojador, or Buyedor, we
have on the mainland shore-line twenty-seven names reaching to Cape Roxo
or Rosso, and including Rio d'Oro, Porto do Cavalleiro ("Pro
Chavalero"), the Port of Galé ("Pedra de Gala"), Cape Branco, Cape St.
Anne, and Cape Verde.
[Footnote 266: See pp. ciii-cvi.]
This example has often been spoken of as the earliest map-register of
Prince Henry's discoveries, but herein it must yield to
No. (20), the Valsecca (Vallesecha) of 1434-9, which mentions the
discoveries of Diego de Sevill in the Azores in 1427,[267] and maps the
north-west coast of Africa scientifically to Cape Bojador (Bujeteder)
and "theoretically" for some way beyond.
[Footnote 267: See p. cxiv of this Introduction.]
No. (21), of 1447, inscribed, "... Vera cosmographorum cum marino
accordata terra, quorundam frivolis narrationibus rejectis MCCCCXLVII,"
denotes, as Nordenskjöld points out, not any connection with Marinus of
Tyre (by means of a since lost MS., or otherwise), but merely the
author's purpose, viz., "to present here a picture of the world,
according to the conception of learned cosmographers, adapted to or
grouped round a skipper-chart or portolan of the Inner Sea."
West Africa, in this chart, does not present anything specially
noteworthy.
No. (22). Similar in purpose to No. (8) are both the Leardo Maps of 1448
and 1452, which in detail are somewhat similar to the Bianco of 1436.
The West African coast of these Designs does not call for special
notice.
No. (23), of 1455, signed "Presbiter Bartolomeus de Pareto civis Janue
... composuit ... MCCCCLV. in Janua," is not of high value for its date,
and shows no evidence of correspondence with Prince Henry's work. The
West Africa of this design need not be specially noticed here.
No. (24), the most famous of the whole series, is more fully noticed on
pp. cxl-cxliv. Fra Mauro was, perhaps, helped by Cadamosto among others.
It is noteworthy that the Doge Foscarini, in the letter quoted below,
pp. cxl-cxli, couples the success of Cadamosto and the work of Fra
Mauro, as two things which should induce Prince Henry to persevere.[268]
[Footnote 268: See Major, _Henry Navigator_, p. 312.]
A new mappemonde,[269] discovered by Kretschmer in the Vatican Library,
and noticed in his monograph of 1891, is of 1448; while under date of
1444, Santarem refers to a "Portolan portugais inédit," which is not
further known.
[Footnote 269: The "Walsperger," _Eine neue mittelälterliche
Weltkarte_.]
These were the works[270] which in cartography bore most closely upon
the Infant's explorations; and we may here summarise the evidence of the
same as to the advance of knowledge along the West African coast and
among the Atlantic Islands.
[Footnote 270: On all these maps, see especially G. Uzielli
and P. Amat di S. Filippo, _Studi biographici e bibliographici
sulla storia della Geografia in Italia_, ii, Mappemonde, etc.,
dei secoli xiii-xvii, Roma, 1882--especially pp. 49, 52, 54,
55, 57-8, 60, 62, 64, 66, 72-3, 230-1; Theobald Fischer,
_Sammlung Mittelälterlicher Welt und See-karten_, Venice,
1886, pp. 111, 117-9, 127, 150-5, 207-213, 220; Santarem,
_Atlas_, 1849; Santarem, _Essai sur l'histoire de la
Cosmographie_, etc., 1849-52; Santarem, _Notices sur plusieurs
monuments géographiques du moyen âge_, etc. (Bull. Soc. Géog.,
3e série, vii, Paris, 1847), especially pp. 289, 295;
Santarem, _Recherches sur la priorité des découvertes
portugaises_, 1842; C. Desimoni and L. T. Belgrano, "_Atlante
... posseduto dal Prof. Tammar Luxoro_ ..." in _Atti della
societa ligure di storia patria_, v, Genoa, 1867; K.
Kretschmer, _Marino Sanudo der Altere_, in _Zeitschrift d.
Ges. f. Erdkunde_, Berlin, xxvi, 1891; H. Simonsfeld, in
_Neues Archiv für altere deutsche Geschichtskunde_, vii,
especially pp. 43, etc., Hannover, 1881; E. T. Hamy, _La
mappemonde d'Angelino Dulcert_ (Bull. Géog. Hist, et Descr.,
1886-7); ibid., _Les origines de la Cartographie de l'Europe
Septentrionale_, 1888; ibid., _Cresques lo Juheu, note sur un
géographe juif Catalan de la fin du XIVe siécle_, 1891;
Jomard, _Atlas ("Monuments de la Géographe"), 1862; Choix de
Documents Géographiques conservés a la Biblèque Nata'e_,
especially p. 4, Paris, 1883; Buchon and Tastu, _Notices et
Extraits des MSS. de la Bibliothèque du Roi_, xiv, 2nd partie,
Paris, 1841, especially p. 67; G. Marcel, _Recueil des
Portolans_, Paris, 1886; Hommaire de Hell, in _Bulletin de la
Soc. de Géog._, 3e série, vii, Paris, 1847, p. 302; M. A. P.
d'Avezac (-Maçaya) "... _Notice sur un Atlas de la Biblèque
Walckenaer_" (Bull. Soc. Géog., 3e série, viii, Paris, 1847,)
especially p. 142, etc.; P. Matkovic, in _Mittheilungen der K.
K. Geog. Gesellsch._, vi, p. 83, etc., Vienna, 1862;
Cortambert, _Introduction à l'Atlas ... par feu M. Jomard_
(Bull. Soc. Géog., 6e série, xviii, Paris, 1879) p. 74; R. H.
Major, _Henry the Navigator_, London, 1868; _Notice des objets
exposés dans la section de Géographie_, Paris, 1889
(Exposition), especially p. 14; Lelewel, _Géographie de Moyen
Age_, especially _Epilogue_, pp. 167-184, Brussels, 1857;
Placido Zurla, _Il Mappemonde di Fra Mauro Camaldolese_,
Venice, 1806; A. E. Nordenskjöld, _Facsimile Atlas_,
Stockholm, 1886; _Periplus_, Stockholm, 1897.]
At the beginning of the fourteenth century, as we have seen, there is no
cartographical evidence of knowledge extending far beyond the Straits of
Gibraltar--either down the mainland shore or among the Islands in the
Ocean. But on Dulcert's Portolan of 1339, and on other productions of
the same epoch, such as the _Conosçimiento_ of about 1330, we meet with
some of the Islands, and with the Continental coast as far as Bojador.
Thus, in the _Conosçimiento_ and the Laurentian Portolano of 1351, "the
most important of the Azores, the Madeira group, and the Canary Islands,
are denoted by the names they still bear," or by the prototypes of these
names.[271] The same Medicean or Laurentian map of 1351, the Pizzigani
of 1367-1373, the Catalan[272] of 1375, and others, "bear inscriptions
even beyond C. Bojador"--inscriptions, however, which do not in their
scattered and half-fabulous character give any decisive evidence of
actual exploration to the south of this point before Henry's time.[273]
Moreover, the shape of Africa in the "Atlante Mediceo" of 1351,[274]
suggests--though it can hardly be said to prove--actual observations far
beyond Cape Bojador made by the crews of storm-driven or India-seeking
ships. But, after all, the map knowledge shown of Africa to the south of
latitude 26° N. was so incomplete and so vague--perhaps even in the
Laurentian Portolan the engrafting of a great theory on a tiny plant of
fact--that the claim of first discovery in more southern regions cannot
well be refused to Gil Eannes, Dinis Diaz, Cadamosto, and the other
explorers of the Infant's school.
[Footnote 271: _E.g._, Legname for Madeira, "The Isle of
Wood."]
[Footnote 272: We must note that the ship of the Catalan
explorers, with the accompanying legend commemorative of the
expedition of 1346, is depicted in this map _as well to the
south of Bojador_.]
[Footnote 273: Though Nordenskjöld seems to think otherwise.]
[Footnote 274: See _Azurara_, vol. i, Plate 1, at end of
volume.]
On the other hand, all the Atlantic groups, except the Cape Verdes and
some of the Azores, were evidently known in whole or part to some of the
fourteenth-century navigators and draughtsmen.
A good deal of hearsay knowledge about the interior of Africa is also
indicated, as we have seen, in some of these maps, especially the
Dulcert of 1339, and the Catalan of 1375; and in this connection we must
refer to what has been said upon the trade-routes of North Africa; but
these elaborate pictures of mountain ranges, Moslem kings, traders with
their camels, and towns on eminences, have little more pretence to
scientific accuracy than the Negro Nile of so many old geographers,
which is probably a mistaken combination of the real but separate
courses of the Benue, the Niger, and the Senegal.
Once more we have seen that the first two portolani plainly influenced
by Prince Henry's discoveries are the Valsecca[275] of 1434-9 and the
1448 map of Andrea Bianco, drawn in London; and that the 1436 Bianco is
probably a copy of a thirteenth-century work, showing no clear evidence
of the new explorations. As to the Bianco of 1448, we may here add a
word to what has been already said. On this example we find the west
coast of Africa end suddenly with Cape Rosso, or Roxo, immediately south
of Cape Verde, and "from this point the coast is drawn straight eastward
in a style which indicates that the country beyond is unknown;" the
"outline of this southern shore of Africa being delineated according to
the maps of the Macrobius type." The work of 1448 is frequently copied
in following years; as, for example, on several designs of Gratiosus
Benincasa (1435 to 1482), wherein the west coast of Africa, from Ceuta
to Cape Verde, "has the same contours and the same names."[276] All of
these charts are believed by Nordenskjöld to be copies of the same
Portuguese original. On the other hand, "Benincasa's Atlas of 1471 is
widely divergent as regards the legends, and extends much further
south.[277] It reproduces the discoveries along the coast down to Pedro
de Sintra's voyage of 1462-3, and seems in part to be based on direct
information from Cadamosto."[278]
[Footnote 275: The Valsecca Map delineates the West African
coast to Cape Bojador (C. de Bujeteder). Beyond this the
outline of the coast is "suggested" for a distance about as
great as from the Straits to Bojador, but with no names or
legends except "Plagens arenosas," "Tarafal," "Bujeteder," and
at the extreme south, "Tisilgame."]
[Footnote 276: This is especially true of the Benincasa of
1467. Nordenskjöld gives twenty-eight parallel names from this
and the Bianco of 1448 between Bojador and Capes Verde and
Rosso.]
[Footnote 277: To Rio de Palmeri, immediately beyond Cape St.
Anne.]
[Footnote 278: This may be seen, as Nordenskjöld suggests
(_Periplus_, p. 127), by comparing the names on the lower part
of Benincasa's West Africa with the following names occurring
in Cadamosto's account of De Sintra's voyage: Rio di Besegue,
Capo di Verga, Capo di Sagres, Rio di San Vicenzo, Rio Verde,
Cape Liedo, Fiume rosso. Capo rosso, Isola rossa, Rio di Santa
Maria della nave, Isola di Scanni, Capo di Santa Anna, Fiume
della palme, Rio de Fiume, Capo di monte, Capo Cortesi, Bosco
di Santa Maria. Benincasa, however, appears to have access to
other sources besides Cadamosto, as many of his names are not
found in the latter.]
Lastly, a more special notice must be taken of the great map of Fra
Mauro, 1457-9.
In this undertaking[279] Andrea Bianco is said to have assisted, and the
work was (either originally or in copy) executed for the Portuguese
Government, and assisted by the same. King Affonso V supplied the
draughtsmen with charts on which the recent discoveries of Prince
Henry's seamen were laid down. Payment was liberal (12 to 15 sous a day
to every one of the common artisans and copyists); and the Doge
Francesco Foscarini, "when he witnessed the plan and the beginning of
Mauro's work," trusted that Prince Henry would find therein fresh
reasons for pressing on his explorations. The completed mappemonde was
sent to Portugal, in charge of Stefano Trevigiano, on April 24th, 1459.
This was based, perhaps, in part on the map, or maps, illustrating the
voyages of Marco Polo, in the Doges' Palace in Venice, apparently on one
of the walls of the Sala della Scudo. The "Polo" portions of the New
Design were, however, chiefly in the Far East. In N.W. Africa, Cape
Verde and Cape Rosso are marked, and near the S.W. coast of the
Continent is a long inscription about the Portuguese voyages, stating
that the latter "here gave new names to rivers, bays, harbours, etc.,
and that they made new charts, of which he (Fra Mauro) had had many in
his possession." At the extreme south point of Africa is the name
"Diab," with a legend telling how an Indian junk was said to have been
storm-driven to this point in about 1420, and (without reaching land) to
have sailed further westward for 2,000 miles during forty days. After
this the Indians turned back, and after seventy days' sail, returned to
Cavo di Diab, where they found on shore a huge bird's egg, as large as a
barrel.[280] Fra Mauro had also himself spoken with a trustworthy
person, who said that he had sailed from India past Sofala to "Garbin,"
a place located in the middle of the west coast of Africa close to
"Dafur." "Fundan," again, a little south of Cape Rosso, may represent
some Portuguese coast-name which has not elsewhere survived.
[Footnote 279: See Zurla, _Il Mappemonde di Fra Mauro_,
Venezia, 1806, p. 62; Humboldt's _Kritische Untersuchungen_,
i, p. 274; Ongania and Santarem's Reproductions of the Map
itself; Nordenskjöld's _Periplus_, 127-8.]
[Footnote 280: Egg of the Rukh, or Roc?]
Yet, apart from these references, there is but little evidence of the
new discoveries forthcoming, and, from a critical point of view, Fra
Mauro's planisphere is somewhat disappointing. True it is in certain
regions (its Mediterranean and Black Sea, for instance), of the
portolano type, but in the more outlying parts of the world, and even in
much of Africa, it is far more similar to one of the old Macrobius type
of wheel-maps (continued in such fifteenth-century specimens[281] as the
"Borgian" design of _c._ 1430), than to a specimen of enlightened
cartography like the "Laurentian" example of 1351. The traditional
centre at Jerusalem is not taken, but a point slightly north of Babylon
serves instead. In Africa numerous tribes and cities are marked even
beyond the Equator, in regions inscribed as "Inhabitabiles propter
calorem;" but the general shape of the west coast is hardly
satisfactory. Fra Mauro knows nothing of the great bend of the Guinea
coast; N.W. Africa appears not as a great projection, but only as a
gently-sloping shoulder of land; Cape Verde is not the westernmost point
of the Continent. This position is given to the traditional "Promontory
of Seven Mountains" (north of the Western Nile), which we have met with
in earlier examples. To the south of the Green Cape appears a long and
narrow inlet of sea,[282] which can hardly be supposed to represent in
any way the South coast of "Guinea" from Sierra Leone to Benin, but
perhaps is a combination and exaggeration of the great estuaries so
recently visited by Henry's seamen--the Gambia, the Casamansa, the Rio
Grande or Geba, and others. The Western or Negro Nile is drawn as
flowing straight from Meroe in Nubia to the Atlantic, passing through a
great swamp (Lake Chad?), an elongated piece of open water in the
country of Melli (the Middle Niger in flood?), and the course of the
Senegal. South of Cape Roxo, the coast, trending gradually south-east,
exhibits a very broken contour and is fringed with many
islands--evidence only too certain that the draughtsman is working by
the light of imagination. Finally, although Africa is rightly conceived
as on the whole projecting into the Southern Ocean, and having its
length or greatest dimension from south to north rather than from east
to west, it is greatly twisted out of shape by the inclination S.E.,
which bends round its southmost point almost to the longitude of
Guzerat.[283] The general size of the Continent, however, is more
accurately guessed[284] than on most maps of this or earlier time. Here
Fra Mauro is nearer the truth even than the Laurentian Portolano of
1351, so far superior to the work of 1457-9 in many respects. Parallels
of latitude and meridians of longitude are not indicated in the
Camaldolese mappemonde, which has been sometimes referred to as "an
immeasurable advance on all earlier cartography;" and the importance of
this famous design, as an index to current geographical ideas, and as a
world-picture of great size and magnificence, possessing in its time
considerable official importance, must not lead us to take it as an
example of cartographical perfection.
[Footnote 281: Cp. also the elliptical Florentine example of
1447 (Nordenskjöld, _Facsimile Atlas_, 116), or Leardus'
Mappemondes of 1448 and 1452 (_ibid._ 61).]
[Footnote 282: "Sinus Ethiopicus:" very similar to that
depicted on the Leardus of 1448. On the southern side of this
is "Fundan."]
[Footnote 283: Perhaps a Ptolemaic concession.]
[Footnote 284: Still more is this the case with Asia, where
Fra Mauro is in some ways more satisfactory than anywhere
else, and contrasts well even with the "Harleian" or Dieppe
Map of _c._ 1536, and many other similar works.]
* * * * *
The use of the magnetic needle is essentially connected with the
portolan type of map; this instrument was well known to Prince Henry's
sailors, and is referred to by the Infant himself as being, like the
sailing chart, a necessity for navigators.[285] But it could hardly come
into general employment till men reached beyond the mediæval stage of a
magnetic needle enclosed in a tube so as to float on water.
[Footnote 285: _Azurara_, ch. ix.]
In the Discovery of the Compass four stages may be distinguished:
(1) The discovery of a species of stone with polar-magnetic qualities,
_i.e._, with the power of attracting iron.
(2) The discovery that steel or hardened iron could be made
polar-magnetic by rubbing it with a lode-stone.
(3) The discovery that the magnet (or magnetised iron) possessed the
quality of definite direction, one of its poles always indicating the
north, if it were so supported or suspended that it could move freely.
(4) The discovery of using the magnetised iron needle as a compass.
The first dates from a high antiquity, and is noticed by Plato,
Theophrastus, Pliny, Ptolemy, Claudian, and many writers of the Mediæval
as well as of the Classical period. The subsequent advances we cannot
date, for Europe, earlier than the twelfth century; when Alexander
Neckam and Guyot de Provins (_c._ 1190-1200) show us that some
investigators had advanced as far as the third of the stages above
recounted.
It is now generally understood that magnetic cars, "based on the same
principle as the compass," were used in China much earlier than this.
The Helleno-Roman world of antiquity, in describing the magnet, only
dwelt on its attraction for iron, and did not notice its power of
indicating the poles; whereas the Celestials were aware in the first
place of the communication of magnetic fluid to iron, and in the second
place of the mysterious power of iron so magnetized, as early as about
A.D. 120. The earliest use of the water-compass in China is fixed by
Klaproth at A.D. 1111-17; and as to the magnetic figures or magnetic
cars with which in earlier times Chinese junks sailed to the south of
Asia, and Chinese travellers made their way across the plains and
mountains to the west of their country, it must not be assumed that
their use was universal. Thus, in the fifth century A.D., when Wu-Ti,
afterwards Emperor, stormed Singanfu (417 A.D.), he seized upon one of
these as a great curiosity.
It is uncertain, as already remarked, when the complete compass, or even
the polarity of the magnet, was first discovered in Europe. We may,
however, note the following evidence:
(1) Alexander Neckam, an English monk of St. Albans (born 1157, died
1217), who had studied for some time in the University of Paris, refers
more than once to what we may suppose was a compass needle, placed on a
metal point.[286] This, he implies, was then in common use among
sailors, and was not merely a secret of the learned. For, "when the
mariners cannot see the sun clearly in murky weather or at night, and
cannot tell which way their prow is tending, they put a needle above a
magnet, which revolves until its point looks North and then stands
still." These words were probably written between 1190-1200.
[Footnote 286: Cf. Neckam's references. (α) In his work,
_De Utensilibus_: "Qui ergo munitam vult habere navem ...
habeat etiam acum jaculo superpositam: rotabitur enim et
circumvolvetur, donec cuspis acus respiciat Septentrionem,
sicque comprehendent quo tendere debeant nautae, cum Cynosura
latet in aeris turbatione, quamvis ea occasum nunquam teneat
propter circuli brevitatem." (β) In his _De Naturis Rerum_,
c. 98: "Nautae ... mare legentes, cum beneficium claritatis
solis in tempore nubilo non sentiunt, aut ... cum caligine
... tenebrarum mundus obvolvitur, acum super magnetem ponunt,
quae circulariter circumvolvitur usque dum ejus motu cessante,
cuspis ipsius Septentrionalem Plagam respiciat."]
(2) Guyot de Provins, a satirist of Languedoc, in his poem, _La Bible_,
written about 1200, wishes the Pope would more nearly resemble the
Pole-star,[287] which always stands immovable in the firmament and
guides the sailor. Even in darkness and mist can the Pole-star make
itself felt. For the mariner has only to place in a vessel of water a
straw pierced by a needle which has been rubbed with a black and ugly
stone, that will draw iron to itself; and the point of the needle
unfailingly turns towards the Pole-star.
[Footnote 287: "La tresmontaine."]
(3) Jacques de Vitry, the French historian-bishop, writing about 1218,
in his _Historia Orientalis_, speaks of "the iron needle which always
turns to the North Star after it has touched the magnet" or
"adamant."[288]
[Footnote 288: "Acus ferrea, postquam adamantem contigerit, ad
stellam septentrionalem ... semper convertitur; unde valde
necessarium est navigantibus in mari."]
(4) "An unknown singer of the same period" speaks of sailors to
Friesland, Venice, Greece or Acre, finding in the Pole-star a sign-post
in heaven. Even in darkness and mist the star can still help them, for
it has the same power as the magnet of attracting iron. So mariners
attach an iron needle to a piece of cork and rub it with a black
lodestone. The cork and needle are then put into water, and never fail
to point to the north.
(5) Brunetto Latini, writing about 1260, tells how Roger Bacon showed
him[289] a magnet, a stone black and ugly, and explained its use. If one
rubbed a needle with it, and then put the needle, fixed to a straw, in
water, the point of the needle always turned towards "the Star." By this
the sailor could hold a straight course, whether the stars were visible
or no.
[Footnote 289: In Oxford, A.D. 1258. This is not a very
certain tradition.]
(6) In the _Landnamabok_, or Icelandic Book of Settlement, the main text
of which was finished before 1148, there occurs a passage, probably
added about 1300,[290] which describes a voyage of the ninth century
(_c._ 868) to Iceland, and explains the use of ravens to direct this
early course--"for at that time the sailors of the northern countries
had not yet any lodestone."
[Footnote 290: See Nordenskjöld, _Periplus_, 50. "The
_Landnamabok_ was written by Are Torgillson Frode, who died in
1148;" but "the passage here in question first occurs in a
copy or revision by Hauk Erlandsson, who lived at the end of
the thirteenth century and the beginning of the fourteenth."]
(7) The Arabic author of the _Baïlak el Kibjaki_, or "Handbook for
Merchants in the Science of Stones," relates how, in 1242, on a voyage
from Tripoli to Alexandria, he himself witnessed the use of the
polarized needle. He adds that Moslem merchants sailing to India,
instead of the magnet-needle attached to a straw, tube or cork, used a
hollow iron fish which, thrown into water, pointed north and south.
"Subsequently the instrument was improved by degrees, till it assumed
the shape of a box, containing a needle moving freely on a metal point,
and covered by a compass-rose." It is here probably that the share of
Amalfi is to be found,[291] and it may have been Flavio Gioja, or some
other citizen of the oldest commercial republic of Italy, who first
fitted the magnet into the box, and connected it with the compass-card,
thus making it generally and easily available.[292]
[Footnote 291: "Prima dedit nautis usum magnetis Amalphis."]
[Footnote 292: Such a compass-box is figured on the margins of
some MSS. of Dati's _Sphera_ of the early fifteenth century.
See Nordenskjöld _Periplus_, p. 45.]
This it certainly was not in Latini's time. "No mariner could use it
(the polarized magnet), nor would sailors venture themselves to sea ...
with an instrument so like one of infernal make." In the latter part of
the thirteenth century, and not before, its use seems to have crept in
among Mediterranean pilots and captains, and in the course of the
fourteenth century it was almost universally accepted.
A mistake has been made on one point. The first scientific (or
portolano) type of map is generally associated with the first scientific
use of the magnet; but portolani began while men had not advanced beyond
the use of the primitive water-compass above described; and "accurate
determination by means of this" must have been very difficult on a
tossing sea. "A comparison of the contours of the Mediterranean,
according to various portolanos, with a modern chart, shows that the
normal portolano contained no mistake due to the misdirection of the
compass."[293] Nor do the earliest portolani contain any compass-roses
or wind-roses. Gradually these were introduced into the new charts,_
e.g._, they are found in the Catalan Atlas of 1375, in the Pinelli of
1384, and in many fifteenth-century portolani; but not till the
sixteenth century do we have a number of these roses drawn on the same
map-sheet.
[Footnote 293: _Periplus_, p. 47.]
The use of the quadrant by Prince Henry and his sailors is expressly
mentioned by Diego Gomez; but neither in this case, nor in that of the
compass, are we warranted in assuming (as some authorities have done)
that to the Infant is due the first use of astronomical instruments at
sea.
C. RAYMOND BEAZLEY.
13, THE PARAGON, BLACKHEATH.
_March 27th, 1899._
FACSIMILE OF PRINCE HENRY'S INITIAL SIGNATURE.
[I. D. A. = Iffante Dom Anrique.]
[Illustration: autograph]
[Illustration: map of western Africa
HAKLUYT. S. I. v. C]
AZURARA'S CHRONICLE
OF THE
DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST OF
GUINEA.
CHAPTER XLI.
How they took the ten Moors.
For that night there was no other agreement, save that each one took all
the rest he could; but on the next day they all joined together to
advise what they ought to do, for it was not a suitable place in which
to take prolonged repose. And the captains, falling to talk about the
matter, agreed among themselves that they should enter into their boats
with certain of their people, and Luis Affonso Cayado as captain (who
was to go along the shore), and that he should land with some of his
men, leaving with the boats another in his place. Then he was to make
his way by land with those men whom he took with him, and the boats were
to follow after him a short way from the beach, while the caravels came
two leagues behind, so as not to be discovered. And as they marched in
this order they fell in with the track of Moors who were going into the
Upland, and they went in doubt whether they should follow that track and
go after them, holding that it might be a perilous matter to enter so
far into the country where they had been now discovered, as they did not
know the people that might be in the land. But their will, which was now
burning to accomplish the affair, left no place to bare reason; and
without more fear they went forward till they arrived at a place about
three leagues further on where there were some few Moors, the which not
only lacked courage to defend themselves, but even the heart to fly. And
these were in all ten, counting men, women, and children.
CHAPTER XLII.
How Alvaro Vasquez took the thirty-five Moors.
When those ten Moors had been brought off to the caravels, Alvaro
Vasquez, like a man of noble birth, being desirous to show to all the
others that he loved the service of his lord, spake with Dinis Eannes,
to whom appertained the charge of the government for that day, saying
that it appeared to him a good thing to order the people to go forth,
since their coming from their own country was principally for that end.
"How can you ask," said Dinis Eannes, "that we should again sally forth
where we have been so often, insomuch that all this land has had warning
of our presence? And of two things me seemeth that one would happen;
either we should not light upon any Moors to take away, or we should
encounter so many that it would be to our great danger to make an attack
upon them; and so much the more as I am ill disposed for a fight by
reason of weariness. Wherefore me thinketh it would not be well for us
to sally forth again, as far as this land lieth, but that we should go
onwards till we come to a place where we know well they could not be
advised of us." And as they were going in accordance with that resolve,
one part of the night being already passed, Alvaro Vasquez, still
constant to his first design, came again to Dinis Eannes, and begged him
to let him go on shore and entrust him with the charge of his captaincy,
for that he knew many would go with him of right good will. "Inasmuch as
this sally pleaseth you so greatly," said Dinis Eannes, "I only ask you
that in your going you take good advisement that you bring no harm on
yourselves nor sorrow on the rest of us." Then Alvaro Vasquez called
Diego Gil, that other esquire of whom we spoke before, for he knew him
for a brave man and one of his own upbringing; and they went through the
other caravels in such wise that they gathered together those persons
whom they thought sufficient for their safety. And all together they
went on shore--there being yet some part of the night left for their
march--but ere they had pressed on any farther, Alvaro Vasquez, wishful
to admonish them, spake unto them thus. "Friends and Gentlemen, although
I am not one of those three principal captains whom we brought with us
from our kingdom, let it suffice that I am committed to you as captain
by him who had the charge to command you. And because want of order is
often a greater obstacle[A] than the multitude of the enemy, I desire
first to know of you if it please you to have me for captain in this
affair, that I may command you as men well pleased to receive
governance; for much better were it that you should tell me now at this
present, where we cannot well receive any harm, than when we are away
from here, in some place where your disobedience might do hurt, not only
to me, but also to every one of us in this company."
[Footnote A: To victory.]
"We are all well content," said the others with one voice, "that you
should be our captain, and well it pleaseth us to obey you as fully as
any one of the other captains, and even better, if we can more perfectly
do it."[B]
[Footnote B: Our intended action.]
"Now," said he, "it seemeth well to me that we should go forward
according to the same ordinance as on the other day, to wit, that I
should go with some of you others along the land, and that the remainder
should keep in the boats within call of us." And so, setting out and
following the coast a good way, they fell in with a cape, to which they
gave the name of St. Anne;[N113] and immediately after that they lighted
upon an arm of the sea which ran up into the land about four leagues,
and appeared to them as though it were a river. And on reaching the
entrance of the same, Alvaro Vasquez waited for the others in the boats,
and when they had come up he bade them wait for him there, whilst he
went along that water, for he conceived that if any people lived in that
land it would be there. The others said that such an expedition would be
very perilous, if only because the sun was already very high, and the
heat of it was great, and they were very weary for the great lack they
had had of sleep, and the toil of some in rowing, and of others in going
on foot; and all the more because even if there were in that place a
number of inhabitants, yet they could not make any good booty among
them, because of necessity they would discern them from afar; and that
if the natives perceived themselves strong enough to fight with them,
they would await them, but if not, they could put themselves in safety
quite easily. Alvaro Vasquez nevertheless pursued his journey as one who
had determined to accomplish some great matter if his fortune were not
contrary; and so, going forward about a league and a half, one of the
company said to the Captain, "Methinks I see along this stream some
rising objects like houses." The Captain looked attentively, and right
well perceived that it was a village, and so it appeared to all the
others who were there. "Now," said Alvaro Vasquez, "our booty is before
our eyes, but it is so clearly discovered that of necessity we shall be
seen before we can arrive at it; and because it doth not appear to me to
be so great a settlement as that it can hold a people with whom we
cannot cope, still, in order that we may achieve some sort of success,
let each one run as fast as he can, and so let us stoutly fall upon
them, and if we are not able to make captives of the young men, yet let
us seize upon the old men, the women, and the little children, and let
us take such advisement that whosoever putteth himself on his defence
shall be slain without pity; and as to the others, let us seize them as
best we can." And before he had quite finished these reasons, many of
them began to increase their pace, while others were running as fast as
they could; and the Moors,[N114] like unwary people, little recking of
such a danger, when their enemies came upon them, were all thrown into
that confusion which the fortune of the case required. And when they saw
men coming upon them so suddenly and so boldly, and armed with weapons
quite strange to them, they were altogether amazed. Whereat our men took
so much the greater boldness, seeing their timorous disorder, and at
once began to seize upon as many of them as they could, and seeing that
some sought to put themselves on their defence, they slew them without
mercy. But the affair lasted not long at that time, for that the enemy
soon began to fly. And there were many amongst them who then looked on
their wives and children for the last time, and in a short space the
booty would have been much larger if that arm of the sea had not been so
near that many of them escaped into it, inasmuch as for the most part,
not only the men but also the women and the children, all knew how to
swim. And others who were bold and light-footed, trusting in their
fleetness, escaped through all; though some were deceived in it, for
they found others of our men who followed and captured them in spite of
their lightness of foot, so that in all there were taken captive
thirty-five, besides some that perished. Of a surety that Esquire who,
as we have said, was their captain, found no little praise for that deed
of his, since for a great space they discoursed of his energy and
diligence, giving him thanks for the great toil he had undergone, as
well for the service of the Infant as for the profit of them all in that
journey. And, moreover, those who had stayed in the caravels were not a
little glad at the coming of their partners with so good a profit, and
this joy of theirs was much increased when they had heard in full
measure the particulars of the adventure which the others had had.
CHAPTER XLIII.
How they returned on shore, and of the Moor that they took.
Now the others who had remained in the caravels, seeing the toil of
their partners, conceived that it would be to their great loss if they
did not dispose themselves to some other matter as great, so that in
future they should not receive dishonour. And so some of them joined
together on the following night, and entering into their boats, they
travelled two days and two nights and landed, but with all their great
toil they were not able to capture more than one Moor; and with his
guidance they set out to search for some three villages, which were a
good way in the Upland. But they did not find in them anything that they
could carry off, for they were already emptied of people, since the
Moors who had fled had warned the whole country as far as their news
could reach. And so they turned back to their ships, ill satisfied with
the toil they had taken.
CHAPTER XLIV.
How they sailed to the Land of the Negroes.
And now, perceiving that they could win no further profit in that land
by reason of the advisement that the Moors had already received, the
captains began to consult with the chief men of their ships concerning
the manner of the action they should take.
"We," said some, "are not able, nor ought we to wait longer in this
land, since we know that our stay brings no profit with it, but rather
manifest loss, for we are wasting our provisions and wearying our bodies
without hope of success. Wherefore it would be a counsel profitable for
us, since God hath given us enough, that we should turn back to our
country, contenting ourselves with the booty we have taken, the which is
not so small that it will not be of value sufficient to compensate for
our toils, and to save us from shame in the presence of our neighbours."
"Of a surety," replied others, "such a return would be shameful for such
men as we are, for if we were to turn back in this wise it would be
indeed an abatement of our honour; but let us go to the land of the
negroes, where Dinis Diaz with one only ship went last year to make his
capture; and even if we do nothing more than see the land, and
afterwards give a relation thereof to the lord Infant, this would be to
our honour.[C] Let us reach it, then, since we are so near, and though
we accomplish but little, a great profit will be ours." All agreed that
it was very well that they should go to that land, for it might be that
God would then give them a greater success than they expected.
[Footnote C: Lit., "would be a part of," etc.]
And so they hoisted their sails forthwith and pursued their voyage, and
sailing on their course a space of 80 leagues they came near to the
coast of Guinea,[N115] where they made them ready with their boats to
land, but when the black men caught sight of them they ran down to the
shore with their shields and assegais, as men who sought to make
themselves ready for battle; but although they showed so fierce a
countenance, yet our men would have gone on shore if the roughness of
the sea had consented thereto; and, far as they were from the shore, our
men did yet perceive that it was a land very green, peopled by human
folk and tame cattle, which the inhabitants of the land had with them
for their use. And they would have gone further on still, but the storm
increased upon them with much distemperature of the weather, so that
they were forced to turn back without remedy.
CHAPTER XLV.
How they forced their way upon shore.
Now that tempest lasted for the space of three days, and they were kept
continually running backwards before a contrary wind, but after those
three days were ended, that great tempest abated, and the weather became
serene, when they had now come to the point where[N116] they had
previously captured the seven Moors; and on that day the captaincy
happened to be with Mafaldo, and he waited for the other caravels to
come up. And when they were all assembled in full day light, he came
upon the deck of his ship and spake thus to the other captains: "You see
right well that we are near to the place where we took the seven Moors,
and you know that according to the track of those men which we lighted
on, and the nets of their fishery, the land ought in reason to be
peopled. Wherefore, if you think it well, I desire to go on shore and
see if I can obtain any booty." And as you see that among many men there
are always divers purposes, some began at first to say that such a sally
appeared to them useless, since they had got enough wherewith to make
their return to their own land, as they had already said before they set
out for the land of the Negroes. Others again said that, forasmuch as
the expedition was perilous, they ought to go by night and not by day.
"Now," said Mafaldo, "I am your captain to-day, and you are one and all
bound to obey me as fully as you would obey the Infant our lord if he
were present, and you may suppose that I do not love my life less than
each one of you loveth his. Wherefore, my purpose is, notwithstanding
your reasonings, to sally forth, for even supposing that the land be
peopled it is not to be presumed that the Moors will be even now on the
shore waiting for us. And if we go by day we shall have reason to see
the country better, and know in what direction we have to go."
The others replied that it sufficed he was captain, for though the
contrary opinion might be in favour with some of the company, it was
necessary they should obey him; but they begged him to consider well the
affair, for they would not turn back, no, not for any mishap that might
befall them. The boats were at once lowered, and those who were to go
forth were accoutred ready for starting, and, in fact, set out at once.
They were in all about thirty-five men-at-arms, and as they went on
their way towards the land, one of the men in the boats said to the
captain, "I know not if you see what I do?" "And what do you see," said
the captain, "that we do not?" "I see," said he, "as me thinketh, that
those black things that are upon those banks of sand are the heads of
men, and the more closely I look at them, the more it seemeth to me that
I am right, and if you look narrowly you will see that they are moving."
And the captain ordered the boats to stop still a little, whereat the
Moors concluded that they were discovered, and forthwith they discovered
themselves to the number of fifty men, apparelled for fighting, though
with no other arms than lances. And when all had thus come forth,
Mafaldo made his boats approach near to the shore, at which the Moors
showed great pleasure, some wading into the water as high as their
necks, and others lower, all of them desirous to get at the Christians.
And when Mafaldo saw them thus on the beach, displaying a countenance of
such hardihood, he signed to the other boats to draw near to him; and
when they were all together he made them stop rowing, and began to speak
to them in this wise: "Friends, you know the end for which we came forth
from our country; how it was for the service of God, and of the Infant
our lord, and for the honour and profit of ourselves, wherein by the
grace of that great Lord who created all things, we have had a good
enough profit of our booty without any danger to ourselves; yet all our
honour is in being 500 leagues from our country in unknown lands,
increasing our past victories with new adventures. And since God knoweth
our good wills, He hath appointed us a place and time in the which we
may gain an honourable victory; for you see before you those Moors with
such pride, as if they held us in siege with great advantage to
themselves and without hope of succour, provoking us, like men secure of
victory over things already vanquished. And although they are more in
number than we by a third, yet they are but Moors, and we are
Christians, one of whom ought to suffice for two of them. For God is He
in whose power lieth victory, and He knoweth our good wills in His holy
service. But if we do not join battle with them it would be to our great
dishonour, and we should make them full of courage against any others of
our Law. Wherefore my counsel is, that the boats should all three
together row straight among them, and then that each one should do the
best he can."
"Your purpose," said the others, "is good enough and full of profit, but
what are we to do if many more of their people are lying hidden? For
just as these were lying in wait, so there may now be ambushed a much
greater number of them unknown to us, and if there is a snare laid and
we land, our perdition is assured." Others did not seek to correct these
matters, but began to complain, saying that if they were always to
reason thus, they would never do a single brave deed. "Is it right,"
said they, "to see our honour before our eyes, and to leave the matter
thus through fear of a hap so doubtful? All the men opposed to us are
not sufficient to withstand ten of ours in a fight. For they are but a
handful of Moorish knaves, who have never learnt to fight except like
beasts, and the first man to be wounded among them will frighten all the
others, so that they will not know how to face our arms any longer. Bold
indeed would be the men that have their armed ships in the Strait of
Ceuta, and through all the Levant Sea, if they were to dread such a
hostile gathering as this." These last reasons were well in accord with
the will of the captain, and those that spake them were much praised of
him.
Wherefore he commanded that in each boat three men should place
themselves in the prow with lances and shields to protect themselves and
those that rowed, if perchance they should be shot at by the Moors; and
as soon as they should have rowed the boats ashore, these men were to
leap out at once with their weapons. And he commanded the cross-bow men
to keep their cross-bows charged, ordering their shots in such wise that
their bolts should be employed to the best advantage. And after this he
had the boats rowed as vigorously as possible, telling them to go bow
forward among the Moors as had been before determined; the which matter
was straightway put in action; and all shouting with a loud voice, "St.
George," "St. James," "Portugal," leapt out upon them as men who feared
little the valour of their enemies. And as if in a matter which God
Himself willed to ordain, the Moors at the first onset at once
discharged their arms, from which no Christian received any dangerous
hurt; but, on the contrary, they proved of use later on, for our men
possessed themselves of these arms and used them as if they had been
their own.
CHAPTER XLVI.
Of the battle that they had, and of the Moors that they took.
When the Moors had lost their arms the Christians considered the victory
as won, and began to strike their enemies very briskly like men burning
with the first wrath,[D] and when some had fallen dead upon the ground,
the others began to fly. And you can imagine what haste they would be
in; but although the swiftness of the two parties was unequal by reason
of the arms that our men carried, and although they were not so used to
running, yet the will, that often increaseth the power,[E] made them
equal to their enemy, so that four or five of those Moors became utterly
weary, and when our men came up with them they sought the last remedy
for their safety, and they threw themselves on the ground as though they
besought mercy. And this they obtained, more especially because if our
men had killed them the profit would not have been so great. And those
in front awaiting the others, who were coming on behind, spake with
them, saying that it would be well nevertheless to follow up those
Moors; for it could not be but that they had wives and children
thereabouts; and that their journey should not be towards any other part
except where they had left them; for though they were wearied they could
not be so weary but that if they could catch sight of those women and
children they would take a great part of them. And so, leaving some to
guard those captives, they went forward, quickening their forces as much
as possible. And the Moors, before they arrived at their habitation,
began to give tongue, though they were wearied, as men who called or
warned other people whom they perceived to be near them, and this made
the Christians perceive that their lodgment could not be far off.
[Footnote D: Of battle.]
[Footnote E: Of combatants.]
For that cry of theirs was nothing else but their warning of their wives
and sons, that they might be able to place themselves in safety before
they reached them. And at their cries the women came out of the
settlement, and because the land is very flat they saw how swiftly their
husbands were hastening along, followed by our men. For which reason all
of them began to take up their children on their necks, and others in
their arms, and others before them, guiding them so as best to escape;
and so flying, each their own way, through that plain, the Christians
caught sight of them and their children, which was the principal part of
their satisfaction. And they waxed bold in hope that their strength
would not diminish or prevent their following up the pursuit; and though
they were already weary enough, they now quickened their pace like men
who desired to come where their wills led them. But since the distance
was great and they were already very much weakened, the Moorish women
also having but freshly started, they were not able to follow very far;
so that after taking a few they could not go forward any more; nay, it
was needful for them to await the others who were coming behind, and
tell them of their weakness, which had reached such a point that they
felt without the strength so much as to return. Wherefore they decided
to turn back, seeing that they could do no more; but first of all they
took some repose there, the which was very necessary to them, seeing the
greatness of their toil. And so the booty on that day amounted to twelve
captives, what of men and women; but above all their gain, the valour
with which they assailed their enemies was worthy of high honour, and I
believe that up to this point no Moors had been taken with so honourable
a victory as these were. Oh how some of those others who had stayed in
the ships dispraised themselves, and blamed their captains because they
had not helped them to a share in that honour. Nor were they able to
listen gladly to the others in all the recital of their victory, for it
appeared to them that they had done nothing in comparison with the toil
of the others. There they began to take counsel what should be their
course after that achievement; and leaving out the long debate they had
about this, it was finally determined to enter into certain bays which
were between Cape Branco and Cape Tira;[N117] for they considered that
in those islands they could not fail to make some gain. And in this all
agreed, since the hope of profit was of equal strength in the purposes
of all.
CHAPTER XLVII.
How they found the turtles in the Island.
The next day they took their course as they had determined, and when
they got within the shoals they saw an island which was further out than
all the others, but small and very sandy. Here they put out their boats
to see if they could find anything that they looked for; and well it
appeared that the Moors had been there but a little time before, from
the nets and other fishing tackle that they found, and especially a
great multitude of turtles,[N118] which were about one hundred and fifty
in number. And since all those who read[F] this history may not have a
knowledge of this animal, let them know that turtles are nothing but
sea-tortoises, whose shells are as large as shields; and I have seen
some like them in this our Kingdom in the lake of Obidos, which is
between Atouguya and Pederneira. And although in these islands there is
an abundance of good things caught in the sea, the Moors deem this
creature of especial value. Now our men, considering that those people
had passed to the other islands--for it seems they had caught sight of
them--agreed not to take anything of what they found there, for the
Moors would surely return to the island, and this would be a part of
their security, by means of which, when they themselves returned
thither, they could get a victory over them.
[Footnote F: Lit., will read.]
CHAPTER XLVIII.
How they returned again to the Island, and of the Christians that
perished.
Fortune would be false to its nature were it always to turn in one
direction; so now, playing its accustomed part, it would not permit our
ships to return altogether joyful with their share of victory; for, as
it is written in the _Commentaries_ of Cæsar, enemies cannot endure a
continued distress, nor friends a constant pleasure. Therefore we will
narrate this event, sad though it be, in this place, that our history
may keep its right order. And it was so, that on the next day very
early, the boats returned to the Island according to the agreement they
had made before, but they did not find there the nets nor the other
tackle of fishery, but only the turtles which were tied with ropes; but
they supposed that the Moors, although they had snatched away their
tackling, could not be very far distant; and so, standing there and
looking out on every side, they saw another Island, which was separated
by an arm of the sea that ran between the two, to wit, that in which
they were, and the other they saw there. And being anxious to meet with
those Moors, and thinking that fortune would not be less gracious to
them in that encounter than in all the others they had had in that
voyage, they determined to go to the said Island, to see if they could
light upon what they so desired to meet, not knowing the hidden secret
that contrary fortune had in store for them. So with haste they put
themselves into their boats, in the which they passed over to the said
Island, and like men of small advisement, not seeking to consider the
hurt that might befall them, they began to spread themselves over the
Island as boldly as if they were going through their own property in
time of great security. And as Bernard said in the Rule which he gave to
Richard, Lord of Castello Ambrosio, upon the government of his
household, that he who doth not consider that his enemy may meditate
that which he himself meditateth, exposeth himself to danger; so the
Moors having the same thought that our men had had, and standing on
their guard more carefully, had arranged three ambushes as well as they
could, behind some mounds of sand that were there, where they waited
until they perceived that our men were near them. Then, seeing their
great advantage, they discovered their treachery, and came out stoutly
upon our men, like those who sought to avenge the captivity of their
relations and friends. And although their multitude was great in
comparison of the fewness of our people, yet the latter did not turn
back, but faced them like men in whom fear had not got the upper hand of
valour: contending with their enemies a very great space, during which
the Moors received great hurt, for the blows of the Christians were not
dealt in vain; but at last our people, seeing the greatness of the
danger and how they needs must retire, began to retreat, not like men
who fled, but with all the caution and valour that such a case required.
And, of a surety, the battle was very great, and fought as by men who
did so with right good will; but the greater part of the hurt, till they
arrived at the boats, fell ever upon the Moors, for of them many died in
that retreat, whereas of the Christians, though some were wounded, not
one had yet fallen. And when they had now arrived near the boats, since
that of Alvaro Gil was the nearest or easiest to enter, there were
gathered into that one, and also into Mafaldo's, the greater part of our
Christians; but the remainder, seeking to regain the ship's boat of
Gonçallo Pacheco, fell into the extremest peril, for the boat was large,
and though it had the lightest load, yet they were not able to launch it
like the other boats, which were smaller, so that it stuck fast upon the
shore: for it seemeth that the tide was in the last quarter of its ebb.
And some of those men who knew how to swim, seeing their danger so near
at hand, threw themselves into the water, in which they saved their
lives by swimming; but the others, who did not know that art, were
forced to frame their wills to patience in the receiving of a troublous
death, defending themselves, however, as long as strength gave them aid.
And so there was an end made of seven, whose souls may God, in His
mercy, receive in the habitation of the Saints.
And as the Holy Scripture saith, that he who prayeth for another prayeth
for himself, may it please you who read this history to present your
prayer to God, that by your intercession their souls may receive some
increase in glory. The others in the two boats, seeing the death of
those men happen in this manner, betook themselves with great sadness to
the caravels; and in this sadness they departed to Arguim[N119] to take
in water, of which they were much in need. And the Moors took the[G]
boat to the river of Tider, where they broke up the greater part of her,
for they tore out the planks with the nails, but I wot not to what end,
for their wit did not suffice to make good use of these. And some said
afterwards that they had heard it said by some of those Moors who
chanced to fall into our hands, that their countrymen ate those dead
men; and although, on the other hand, other of our captives denied this,
seeking to excuse their countrymen of a matter so monstrous, at any rate
it is certain that their custom is to eat the liver of their captives
and to drink their blood: not as a general thing, but only, as was said,
in the case of those who had killed their fathers, or sons, or brothers,
counting this as a very great vengeance. And this seemeth to me a matter
of no doubt, as 'tis said in the book of Marco Polo[N120] that many
nations in those Eastern parts were generally accustomed to those
cannibal actions; and I see, too, that it is even now a common mode of
speech among us, when we reason of some man who beareth hatred against
another, that he hath such ill-will to his adversary that, if he could,
he would eat his liver and drink his blood.
[Footnote G: Captured.]
But now let us leave these matters, and return to our history.
CHAPTER XLIX.
How Lançarote and the others of Lagos asked of the Infant permission to
go to Guinea.
Meseemeth the memory of the death of Gonçallo de Sintra should have
profited those of whose hurt I have spoken in the last chapter, for by
it they might have taken some warnings and very easily escaped the
destruction that befell them; and it would have profited them, I say, if
they had left their boats afloat, considering the custom[H] of the sea,
since they could not fix the time of their return for certain; but the
good fortune of their other enterprises gave them an hope that was not
sure, for they thought that it would assist them in this affair even as
in others.
[Footnote H: Of ebb and flow.]
But now, leaving these matters on one side, let us collect our strength
and go out again and avenge these men. So you must know that Lançarote,
that knight of whom we have spoken, being as he was Collector of the
Royal Taxes[I][N121] in Lagos, came to the Infant, together with the
judges and the alcayde and the officers of the corporation of that town,
in the name of all the chief men of the place, and spake to him in this
wise:--
[Footnote I: Almoxarife.]
"It is well known to your Highness how the dwellers in this our town,
from the time that Ceuta was taken even unto this present, have always
rendered service, and do still render service, with their bodies and
ships, in the war against the Moors, for the service of God and of the
King our lord. And so in the time of the other kings, when the coast of
this kingdom was harassed by the Moors, our ships were the first to arm
against them, as it is found in writings and remembered in the memories
of men of great age. Therefore, my lord, since your Grace gave order to
seek for this land of Guinea, you know well how in this place you have
fitted out the more part of your armaments, wherein you received all the
service that lay in our power. And since, my lord, after the due
obedience we must render to the King, your nephew, our lord, we are most
chiefly bound to love and serve you, we have been considering some
manner in which our service to you may be of special moment, in such
wise that by the desert of our great toil, our honour may be exalted in
the memories of the men of future ages. And even if we were to receive
no more guerdon for our toil than that, we should hold it as sufficient;
but we are certain that over and above this we shall gain great profit,
especially in the hope we have of receiving from your lordship great
rewards on our return from this service of ours. And in truth, my Lord,"
said they, "the deed will be of such a sort that the dwellers in this
place, even after your time, so long as there is an inhabited region
amongst us, will be bound to pray God for you.
"And if some in their malice should seek to be so ingrate as to strive
to deny this, in presence of your benefits, which they will have daily
before their eyes, they would themselves be their own chief accusers,
for they will see before their eyes great lineages of servants, both men
and women, which they have obtained for their service, and their houses
abounding in bread, which hath come to them from the isles which were
peopled through your means; yea, and there are ancient writings which
will perpetually speak of the great privileges and liberties which they
obtained from you. Wherefore, my Lord, we having considered about all
this; and seeing that you toil every day more and more in the war
against the Moors; and learning that, in the expedition that Lançarote
made with his caravels, a great multitude of Moors was found at the isle
of Tider, wherein Gonçallo de Sintra was afterwards slain; and
perceiving that[J] the Moors of the said island are now able to cause
great hindrance to your ships--therefore we desire, with the approval of
your Grace, to take arms against them, and either by death or capture to
break their strength and power in such wise that your ships may sail
along all that coast without fear of any. And if God shall crown our
deed with a victorious issue, we shall be able, besides effecting the
destruction of our enemies, to make booty of great worth, through which
you will receive for your fifth a great profit, and in this we also
shall not be without our share. And to this, my Lord, may it please you
to make your answer, that we may speedily pursue our voyage, while the
summer time giveth us favourable weather therefor."
[Footnote J: Lit., inasmuch as.]
CHAPTER L.
How the Infant replied to the men of Lagos, and of the armament that was
made ready against the said island.
"Great matters," replied the Infant, "be often disprized where things of
small moment are much commended; for better is the mean man who
liberally offereth his whole self than the grandee who in niggardly wise
tendereth his share. And, moreover, the offering of your good wills is
of greater price than the great services of more powerful men, which
were not granted me with so good a grace. And, for my certitude of this,
I need not a surer testimony than your past deeds, by the which I am
constrained to honour and advance you, with that love and good will
which I show to the chief men of each one of my towns or villages, in
the which, by the grace of the King my Lord, I hold, after him, full and
entire jurisdiction. And as for the permission you require of me to go
against the Moors of the Isle of Tider, it is much to my pleasure to
grant it you, and to grant you also for this my grace and aid: yea, such
a request as yours is much to be commended, for one should not so much
prize the hope of a share in profit as discern and praise the good will
which has moved you to this.
"And now, forthwith," said he, "you can put your matters in train for
starting, and you may ask of me anything which you require to aid you in
your preparations, for I will not be less liberal to you in this than I
would be to any of my Household who by my own especial command were
making themselves ready for the said voyage."
And at these words of his all made great obeisance, kissing his hands in
the name of all those others for whom they had come. Now, when all the
others in the place had heard the message, they began at once to make
ready to arm their caravels and pursue their voyage as speedily as they
could; and the news of this armament went out through all parts of the
Kingdom, which news stirred up others to join themselves to the said
company. But I believe that this was not without the especial order of
the Infant, since, as I have said before, no one could go to Guinea
without the allowance of that lord.
CHAPTER LI.
How the caravels quitted Lagos, and what captains were in them.
On this occasion it happened that the Infant Dom Henry was summoned on
the part of his brother Dom Pedro, who was Regent of the kingdom in the
name of the King, as we have said already, to go to Coimbra and knight
Dom Pedro of Portugal, eldest son of the said Regent, who was then
Constable of these realms; and who was ordered to go to Castille, as in
fact he did. Forasmuch as the King Don John the Second, who was then
King of that realm, was in trouble with his cousins, the King of Navarre
and the Infant Don Henry, who was master of the Order of Santiago, and
other grandees of that kingdom who were with them, because of the great
enmities which had sprung up between the said King and those lords,
owing to the Constable Don Alvaro de Luna. For he, being a man of common
origin and manners, by superabundance of fortune or some other hidden
secret, came to such a pitch of power that he did whatever he pleased in
the kingdom, so that for his sake were slain and destroyed the principal
men of Castille, as you will learn more at length in the General
Chronicle of the kingdom, since of necessity the said actions must be
touched on there. Right well did the Infant Dom Pedro give the world to
understand the great dignity that he recognised in his brother, for he
held it as a greater honour that his son should receive knighthood at
the hand of his uncle than at that of any other Prince of Spain.
And among the things which I have heard say the Infant spake to that son
of his, when he left him, was this: that he charged him to remember the
order of chivalry which he had received, and especially from whose hand
he had received it, the which matter was no small charge for him. But
before the Infant Dom Henry had thus set out from Lagos, he left in the
chief command of all those ships, Lançarote, the same knight of whom we
have already spoken; and this was done with the consent of all the other
captains: for though there were then a sufficiency of notable persons
worthy of great honour, yet, knowing the judgment and discretion of that
man, it was their pleasure that he should have this charge. For there
was there Sueiro da Costa, Alcayde of that city of Lagos, who was a
nobleman and a fidalgo, brought up from boyhood in the court of the
King, Dom Edward; and who happened to have been in many notable actions.
For he was in the battle of Monvedro[N122] with the King, Don Fernando
of Aragon, against the men of Valencia,[K] and he was at the leaguer
of[N123] Balaguer,[L] in which were performed very great matters; and he
was with the King Ladislaus[M] when he assailed the city of Rome; and he
was with the King Louis of Provence in all his war; and he was at the
battle of Agincourt, which was a very great and mighty battle, between
the Kings of France and England; and he was in the battle of
Vallamont[N] with the Constable of France against the Duke of Ossestre;
and in the battle of Montsécur, in which were the Count of Foix[O] and
the Count of Armagnac; and he was at the taking of Soissons[P] and at
the raising of the sieges of Arrasa[Q] and Ceuta,[R] in which matters he
always approved himself a very valiant man of arms. And this Sueiro da
Costa was father-in-law of Lançarote.[N124] And there were also in that
captaincy Alvaro de Freitas, Commander of Aljazur, which belongeth to
the order of Santiago, a nobleman, and one who had made very great
prizes among the Moors of Granada, and of Bellamarim; and Gomez Pirez,
commander of the King's galley, of whom we have already spoken in
another chapter; and Rodriguez Eannes of Travaços, a servant of the
Regent, who was a very zealous squire, and toiled to the utmost of his
power to increase his honour. And there was also Pallenço, a man who had
often fought against the Moors, and who spent his whole life in the
service of God and of the kingdom, undertaking and accomplishing by
himself very great actions (as we have said in the General Chronicle of
the Kingdom) after Ceuta was taken. Other good and honourable persons
chanced to be in the said company, whom we omit to mention, so as not to
be too lengthy: such as Gil Eannes, a knight and dweller in that town,
and Stevam Affonso, and others. And to speak briefly there were armed in
that place and year[N125] fourteen caravels, besides some others that
were armed in Lisbon and in the Madeira Islands, to wit, those of Dinis
Diaz,[N126] who was the first to reach the land of the Negroes, and of
Tristam,[S][N127] one of the captains of the island,[T] who went there
in person with his caravel; besides the vessel of Alvaro Gonçalvez
d'Atayde, who was then preceptor to the King, and afterwards Count of
Atouguya; moreover, John Gonçalvez Zarco, who had the other captaincy in
Madeira,[U] sent there two caravels; and other ships were there, of
whose masters we do not care to make express mention in this place. Only
it were well you should know that in this year there were armed to go to
that land of the Negroes twenty-six caravels, not counting the Fusta of
Pallenço; and among these the thirteen ships of Lagos started first, and
after them the others, each one as it best could; but they did not all
together take part in the affair of Tider.
[Footnote K: Vallença.]
[Footnote L: Vallaquer.]
[Footnote M: Lançaraao.]
[Footnote N: Cabo de Caaes.]
[Footnote O: Fooes.]
[Footnote P: Sansoōes.]
[Footnote Q: Ras.]
[Footnote R: Cepta.]
[Footnote S: Vaz.]
[Footnote T: Madeira.]
[Footnote U: Besides Tristam Vaz.]
And as the history cannot be recounted as well as might be, for that the
voyage was not made by all the caravels in company, we will only say
what we can, in the best manner that we can speak.
CHAPTER LII.
Of how the caravels met at Cape Branco, and how Laurence Diaz fell in
with the caravels of Lisbon.
It was on the tenth day of August when the fourteen caravels set out
from Lagos; and forasmuch as they were not able to follow one route in
company, and many times tempests overtook them which separated one from
the other, they made agreement as usual to await one another at Cape
Branco. And starting all together with a favourable tide and wind for
their journey, when they were only a little way distant from the coast,
some of the ships began to show that they sailed better than the others,
and among them all that of Laurence Diaz began to take the lead. But
now, leaving this vessel and the others to pursue their voyage, we will
return a little to speak of the three caravels of Lisbon, which were
left in grievous case by reason of the loss of their seven men who were
slain, and we will see if we can give them any consolation. And it was
so, that after that event of ill fortune, while they were wholly
desperate of obtaining vengeance on that occasion, they made sail
towards the isle of Arguim, where they arrived with the intention of
watering, and thence proceeding to the kingdom.[V] And when they were
just ready to set out, they began, as it chanced, to speak about their
voyage: to wit, how many leagues they should follow in one course and
how many in another, when the sail of the ship of Laurence Diaz began to
appear. And when they saw this, all were so much the more joyful,
especially as they knew that it was a ship of Christian folk, and what
was more, of Christians from this Kingdom of Portugal, because no vessel
of that kind, or like unto it, was to be seen in that part save what
came from our land. Suffice it that this caravel joined the others,
whereat the minds both of the one and of the other party were very
joyful, and especially the minds of those who were there before, when
Laurence Diaz told them of the coming of the other caravels, and of the
purpose for which they came. "You others," said Laurence Diaz, "should
take great delight in our arrival, as it seemeth to me; and since you
desire revenge for the hurt you have sustained, you have now an
opportunity to take such vengeance. And since the being avenged by other
hands could not be so much to your contentment, you should now put off
your departure, that you may be with us in the conquest of this island,
by the which you will have manifold gain. First you will obtain honour
and profit; and secondly you will witness the injury of your enemies,
along with the vengeance taken for your hurt; while in the third place
you will be the first to take the news of this to the lord Infant, and
may it please God that the news I speak of be such as we hope, for
thereby your reception shall be so much the better, and with a greater
increase of reward."
[Footnote V: Of Portugal.]
"You may well believe, Laurence Diaz," answered those captains, "that no
other words were needed to move us to such a deed, but only our own good
wills; but on account of certain difficulties amongst ourselves, it is
necessary that we first take counsel about what you say."
"That should be done at once," said Laurence Diaz, "for my stay here
must not be long, inasmuch as I fear that the other caravels will be
already at the island, and I should have a great displeasure if they
were to accomplish anything without me."
The others said they would speak about the matter that very night, and
very early they would give him an answer. And to leave out their
prolixities, I will say in a word that their councils were divided. On
the one side some said that despite all contrary reasons they ought to
make their way straight home, since they already had booty with which
they could reasonably make their voyage, and this was all the more
necessary as provisions were failing them, which all could see right
well. Moreover, the accomplishment of that deed (to which Laurence Diaz
urged them) was not certain; for it might be that the caravels would
encounter some contrary fortune, by which occasion they would be stayed,
to no purpose wasting their victuals, in which rested the sustenance of
their life. Others, however, said that it would be a great disgrace to
them if they were so near and did not join themselves to the company
which essayed that action. "Were we already" said they, "half way on our
voyage, and chanced upon such an encounter, we should turn back;[W] how
much the more therefore, when we are now, as it were, on the shores of
the said island, and when we are invited to it for the service of God
and the lord Infant. Of a surety we should be ill-accounted of were we
to leave such an emprise for any consideration at all."
[Footnote W: And join the enterprise.]
All fell in with this accord, for the greater part of the company agreed
with this second resolution. Thereupon they arranged to order their
provision in such wise that the victuals might last them a longer time;
and so much were their wills disposed to this venture that some said
that, in good sooth, it would be better to throw a moiety of those
Moors[X] into the sea, rather than relinquish a matter so honourable for
their sakes, and one in which they might get vengeance for the death of
their companions. The agreement was thus concluded, and on the next day
they gave their answer to Laurence Diaz, in whose company they started
at once for the Ilha das Garças, where for three days they waited the
coming of the other caravels, refreshing themselves with the birds of
that island, of which there was there a great multitude. More especially
may we speak of some birds there, that are not in our land, which are
called hornbills, and are all white, of a size greater than swans, and
with beaks of a cubit's length or more, and three fingers in breadth;
and they look like the engraved sheaths of swords, so wrought and with
such ornamentation as if they had been made artificially with the aid of
fire to give them beauty; and the mouth and maw is so great that the leg
of a man, however large it were, would go into it as far as the
knee.[N128] Now when those three days were passed the other caravels
began to come, arriving at Cape Branco two by two and three by three, as
they chanced to meet. But there did not meet there more than nine ships,
to wit, those of Lançarote and of Sueiro da Costa, and of Alvaro de
Freitas, and of Gil Eannes, and of Gomez Pirez, and certain others of
the town of Lagos.
[Footnote X: Their prisoners.]
CHAPTER LIII.
Of how Lançarote held a council at Cape Branco.
Those nine caravels being thus met together, for they had yet no news of
that of Laurence Diaz, Lançarote bade all the other captains go on shore
that he might speak with them about the course that might seem good for
them to take; and these captains were very quickly ready. And when they
were all together joined in council, Lançarote said: "My noble friends,
although it pleased the lord Infant my lord, to give me charge of your
captaincies, you being of such honourable estate as you are, yet I fail
not to know, as is right, how to treat you with the honour that I ought,
and in this wise give you that authority which your honourable persons
merit; and putting aside Sueiro da Costa, whom I regard as a father by
reason of his daughter who is my wife, I hold nearly all of you[Y] as
brothers, some by our having been brought up together, and some by
ancient friendship, and others by long acquaintance. Therefore I hope
that you will counsel and aid me as a friend and brother, beyond what
you are bound in reason to do, in such wise that I may be a worthy
captain of such honourable personages as you, for I do not purpose to do
anything, either great or small, without your counsel. And for God's
sake, let each one imagine that the charge[Z] is principally his own,
and so, as if it were a private matter, let him labour to discover
proper remedies for our case. And in truth I am right glad when I
consider that I am consulting such discreet personages, who have seen
and experienced such great and honourable matters, and whose experience
will be a very great help in our undertaking, since the government and
direction of the matters which are to come depend chiefly upon the good
understanding of things past." "Now," said he, "we here assembled are
nine caravels, as you see, and you know that in all we set out fourteen
from Portugal. I desire therefore to know of you what it seemeth to you
that we should do. Whether perchance we ought to start at once as we
are, or whether it would be better to await the others who have to
come."
[Footnote Y: Lit., you others.]
[Footnote Z: Of this expedition.]
"We thank you for your good purpose," said Alvaro de Freitas (speaking
for himself and the others, for being a knight as he was, and moreover
of high and noble rank, as we have said already, it pleased all the
other captains to give him that authority). "We thank you," said he,
"and you may be sure that there is not any one here who will not aid and
counsel you, not only as captain and friend, but as if you were his own
self; and the reasons for this are many, and therefore I now forbear to
touch upon them. Let it suffice that all of us know you for a brave and
valiant man, so much so that not only are you deserving of the captaincy
of these few men and ships, but of many more besides. And as to the
counsel that you ask, it seemeth to me that although all the fourteen
caravels must meet together for the invasion of the Island of Tider, as
was agreed at our outcoming, yet I think it would be well if we who have
arrived here already were to go at once to the Ilha das Garças,[N129]
and there wait two or three days, according to the arrangement that we
have. For that is a place where we cannot be seen by the other side, but
if we remain near this Cape we shall readily be discovered, in which
case we shall not escape one of two things: either the Moors will leave
that Island, or so many will enter it that when we wish to attack it we
shall be in very great danger. And if peradventure those other five
caravels do not arrive at the Ilha das Garças within a few days, my
determination would be not to wait any longer for them, but simply to
carry out what we have[N130] been ordered. And if it be the will of God
to aid us, as I hope in Him, since it is in His service before all else
that we are come here, that aid which will be ours when we are all met
together will likewise be the portion of those of us who are here, or
peradventure in greater measure, since just as we feel our necessity to
be the greater, so we shall have recourse to His aid with greater
devotion; and whereas when we were all joined together, we should place
our hope in the strength of men, now, seeing ourselves to be few in
number, we shall rest our chief succour on His aid. And now, from
henceforth, said he, you will be able to ordain that which seemeth to
you to have the advantage over my counsel." "In good sooth," replied
they all, "your counsel is so good and so profitable that anything we
should say over and above would be superfluous, or perchance even
mischievous, as distracting us from the true path in which your good
words have set us."
CHAPTER LIV.
Of how they found the other caravels at the Isle of Herons, and of the
counsel that they took.
Great pleasure was theirs when they came within sight of the Ilha das
Garças and saw the four caravels which were lying at rest, in whatsoever
guise they were there; for it mattered not whether they formed part of
their company, since they knew them to be from the kingdom of Portugal,
wherefore they hoped that their assistance would supply the want of the
others which they expected before. The news of this sight ran through
all the caravels, as they came up one after another, and in this all
received great pleasure, and especially the common people, in that they
saw the captains had taken their determination to attempt the
enterprise, and would not now be hindered by the non-arrival of the
others, as hath been written above. And as people who did not know how
to conceal their gladness, they made their instruments to sound, and
raised chants, and so fell to eating and drinking as men full of good
confidence of victory. And arriving at the ships that lay anchored
there, they charged their bombards and culverins, and made therewith a
salute in signal of the pleasure of their hearts, in the which pleasure
the others who were already lying there at rest were not without their
share. But all this increased twofold the sorrow of the Moors who lay,
as they had been put, under the decks of the vessels, for though they
could not understand the language, yet the sound of the voices right
well assured them of the opposite of what they desired. I will not
occupy myself in describing the embracings of our men when they all met
together, forasmuch as reason itself will tell you what they must have
been at such a place and time; only let us imagine that we see them leap
from ship to ship, and that those who had set out from Portugal more
recently, now offered to their comrades who had gone before the food of
which they knew they stood in need. And so, in doing this and in taking
repose at night, they spent their time until the next day, when by the
order of Lançarote they went on shore, in order that all might take
counsel together. And when they were assembled, he said how all could
right well perceive the delay of the other caravels, and how God willed
that they should meet there those three ships which some time ago had
set out from the kingdom, together with one of the five,[AA] which
before they hoped to meet. And he showed them that now there lacked but
one of their complement of fourteen. So that while they had already
resolved to attack their enemies with nine ships, they could the more
readily do so with thirteen, but that they should consider if it were
well to depart straightway, or to wait some little time longer.
[Footnote AA: _I.e._, the ship of Laurence Diaz.]
All said that the delay would be harmful, and they saw no profit in it,
and that they ought to start at once with good fortune, and the earlier
they could begin that action the better it would be; and in this all
agreed, for in such a time and place there was no fear of contrary
suggestions, nor of companions betraying their secrets to the enemy.
"Now, then, that you have resolved," said Lançarote, "to set out upon
this enterprise in any case, it were well that you, who have already
seen many dispositions appertaining to such an enterprise as this,
should remind yourselves of them, and aid me in arranging our
expedition, that we may go on in good order." And omitting all the
various opinions which were mooted in their debate, it was finally
determined that they should proceed on this wise. From the whole company
that was in the caravels they were to choose two hundred and
twenty-eight men, because it appeareth that they needed so many in the
partition that had been ordered of their forces, and of these the
footmen and lancers were to go in the battle of which Alvaro de Freitas
was captain. Behind him followed Lançarote with all the crossbowmen and
archers, and in the rear guard were Sueiro da Costa and Dinis Eannes de
Graã with all the men-at-arms. And they determined to start very early,
so that before dawn they might attack the settlement of Tider Island;
and three boats with pilots in them went before the caravels, the pilots
being men who had already been in that land, and who knew the way.
CHAPTER LV.
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.]
CHAPTER LVI.
How they returned again to Tider, and of the Moors that they took.
Me seemeth it is not necessary that we should speak of the arrival of
the caravels at Lisbon, nor that we should fill up this writing of ours
with a recital of the sale of the Moors, as we found it in the account
of Affonso Cerveira, from whom we have borrowed this record; for already
the men of that city[AH] were accustomed to the coming of Moors from
that land: for, as saith Fra Gil de Roma, in the first part of his first
book,[N133] _De Regimine Principum_, "the property of temporal goods, as
regards the desires of men is of such a kind that before a man
possesseth them, they appear to him much more valuable than in truth
they are; but after he hath acquired them, the contrary happeneth, for
however vast and good they may be, he holdeth them not in so great
account." And returning to our history: as soon as those three caravels
had set out, there arrived other three out of those four which had
failed to come before, and among these there was no small complaining
that they had not been with their companions at the invasion of the
island; for although the fighting was not greater than we have related,
it appeared to them that whatever they might do they could not hope to
win any honour;[AI] and so like men who felt jealous at it, they called
upon the others forthwith to order a sortie upon the land: and upon this
matter they took counsel, and after some debate they determined that the
three smallest caravels should go to the ford of the creek of Tider, and
that the people of the other caravels should go likewise in the boats.
For it might be that the natives would return to the island, in which
case they could take some of them in that spot.
[Footnote AH: Lisbon.]
[Footnote AI: After what had already been accomplished.]
And beginning to put their plan in action, they set out in the night;
yet they were not able to reach the passage till day. And arriving
there, they saw the Moors on the other side; and the Christians being in
front of the ford--which was a broad sheet of water, though shallow,
except for the distance of a stone's cast that could not be crossed
without swimming--the Moors stood still on the other side of it looking
at them.[AJ] But of them they seemed to have small fear indeed; and
their countenances showed that it was so, for they were dancing and
rejoicing like men who are secure from their enemies, to whom they made
those signs, as if to enrage them by scoffing at their approach. But it
would have been well for them if they had been better advised, and
especially if they had remained further in the creek, where the water
was deep, for so they would have been in greater security in regard to
what chanced to them afterwards. The Christians, besides the desire they
had to get at them, when they saw their behaviour, which was that of
enemies who despised them, felt doubly eager to fight, although the
Moors were many more in number.
[Footnote AJ: The Christians.]
So, although they suffered great hindrance from the water, which was
between ebb and flow, the ardent desire they had forced them to pursue
their purpose. And so they began to enter into the water till they came
to that deep place which could not be passed without swimming, and
arriving there they halted, as they held the crossing to be dangerous.
And while they stood there battling as it were with themselves, for
courage urged them on, and fear replied to courage with the threat of
death, there happened to be among them a youth of the Infant's chamber,
whom I afterwards knew as a noble esquire, and who was now going as
purser in one of these caravels--for it was the custom of the Infant not
to give the position of an esquire to any youth of his court till he had
exercised himself in some feat of arms; and according to their merit he
granted them in the future such dignity as he thought they deserved. Now
this youth, who was named Diego Gonçalvez, mastered by the ardour of his
courage, spake to a man of Lagos who was near him, called Pero
Allemam[N134] (I do not know if it was because he was a native of that
country of Germany, or if it was a nickname that had been given him),
and asked him if he would join him in swimming across. "By my faith,"
replied the other, "you could not ask me a matter I would grant you with
greater willingness;" and before he had finished his answer he plunged
into the water and began to swim, and the youth with him; and after him
an esquire of the Infant's Household, named Gil Gonçalvez, who had been
at the taking of the first Moorish prisoners, under the captaincy of
Antam Gonçalvez, and also in the war waged against those other Moors who
border upon our Spain, and he had the reputation of being a valiant man.
And immediately after them went another youth of the Prince's Household,
who was named Lionel Gil, and a son of that knight to whom the banner of
the crusade had been entrusted, and many others followed after these.
But the enemy, though they saw them, judged this movement of their toil
to be but play, boldly trusting in their multitude, and thinking that
victory would hasten to them as it had come the other day, when they
slew the seven men from the other caravels. But our men, as soon as they
gained a foothold, stood erect and pressed on as far as they could until
the enemy fell on them. So the Christians, in order to gain the land,
and the Moors in order to prevent them, began their fight, plying their
lances, by the which there could well be seen the hatred there was
between them. But the fight on the part of the Moors was not so much
from enmity as in defence of their women and children, and still more
for the salvation of their own lives. Our men wondered greatly at the
courage they perceived in their enemies; and though the comparison was
unequal in the number of the two parties, for the Moorish company was
very much greater, yet, God being willing to aid His own, they slew out
of hand sixteen, and the others were routed in a very short space. And
although the love of their women and children was of surpassing strength
before all other passions of theirs, as is natural in all men, yet,
seeing themselves routed, all their care was to provide for their own
safety; for, however terrible other matters may be, death doth put an
end to all. And so, being conquered, they began to fly, and there
perished many of them. But because the heat was very great, and our men
were sore wearied, they were not able to pursue them far; but they took
fifty-seven of them, and with them returned to the caravels.
CHAPTER LVII.
How they went to Tira.
Though all had toiled in that action, and though all deserve a meed of
praise and honour for the same, yet principally the aforesaid Diego
Gonçalvez and that man of Lagos who passed over with him are to be
praised, for the reason that I have already mentioned: for to the
beginnings of an enterprise the greater praises are due. And, in fact,
it was so regarded by the Infant, for he bestowed a rich reward upon
them afterwards, as he was ever accustomed to do upon those who served
him well. So, when those captured Moors had been brought on board the
ships, our men began at once to ask of some of them, separately, where
they thought they would find the others that had escaped from the
company; and our prisoners made reply that their opinion was that the
rest would be at a settlement called Tira, which was on the mainland by
the sea-shore, about eight leagues distant. And considering that the
earlier they went after them the more profitable their going would be,
for they imagined that such a short time having elapsed they would find
the Moors quite off their guard--for this reason, then, they set off at
once that very night with three caravels, the smallest and lightest in
their fleet, and all the other people went in the boats, taking with
them two Moorish women to show them the way. And in the first quarter of
the night they arrived at a point where they left their ships and
landed; and because they did not conceive it yet to be a fit time to
start, they rested there till the dawn began to break, and by the aid of
its brightness they began to make their way. And coming to a crossing of
a little arm of the sea, they fell in with a multitude of canoes, among
which was the boat which the Moors had taken from the caravels of
Lisbon, but it was now almost broken up. However, they took it with them
to carry back to the caravels. And passing on, they fell in with a Moor,
whom they killed--as I believe because he himself sought the way to it.
And so they arrived over against Tira and two other villages, but they
did not find in these anything that they sought, since the Moors had all
fled. And so they had to turn back to the caravels, and thence they
passed over to Tider, where they rested by reason of the water that was
there. While they were staying there, the captains bade some of them go
for asses, that the weak ones might return on them to the ships; and
while these were carrying out what had been commanded them, they met
with five Moors, whom they took with but little trouble. And so being
returned, Lançarote said that as it was now late they should rest for
that night, and that on the next day he wished to discuss certain
matters with them, which they would know then.
CHAPTER LVIII.
Of the words that Lançarote spake.
On the next day, when all the principal men were met together by order
of the chief captain, as you have heard already, as well as all the
others who wished to come, Lançarote said:--"Friends and gentlemen,--In
that it was the grace of the Infant, our lord, to make me your captain,
and your pleasure and will consented that it should be so, and because I
here represent his person, I now in his name thank you all for your
great toil and good will, which I have found in one and all of you in
this action, whereto you came in his service: the which I will myself
recount to him when it please God that we stand again before him, in
such wise that for the deserts of your toil you may obtain that guerdon
which you so justly merit.
"Now you know how we set out from our town with the main object of
coming to the conquest of this island, and as God hath willed to
despatch and guide us to it, we owe Him for this much thanks; for even
though we did not take so many Moors as formerly, yet our victory was
adequate, since in half a day we surrounded and attacked them as you
have seen, and great as was their number, they left the field to our
triumph, and we entered into their country and took their property
without any hindrance; thus securing for ourselves honour and praise
among all those who shall have a true understanding of the matter. And
as for our coming here, according to the plan we brought with us, the
matter has been performed, so that I cease to be your captain: for,
according to the directions that I have from the lord Infant,[N135]
after the capture of this island each one of you may do what he
pleaseth, so as to go wherever he may perceive his advantage or profit
to lie. And so it seemeth good to me that these few prisoners we have
taken should be divided in such wise that each one may have his own
rightful share and go wherever he think best. And for my part, I assure
you that I am ready for whatever toil or peril may come to me in the
service of God and of the Infant, my lord, for with so small a booty I
do not intend to go back to his presence." All the rest replied that
what Lançarote had said was very well considered, and they began
forthwith to divide the booty[AK] into equal parts, according to which
each one received what his lot gave him. And after that, Lançarote
required of all the other captains what they were wishful to do. Sueiro
da Costa and Vicente Diaz, the owner of a ship, and Gil Eannes and
Martin Vicente, pilot, and John Diaz, also owner of a ship, replied that
forasmuch as their caravels were small and winter was very near, they
held it as perilous to remain and proceed any further, wherefore they
intended to return home to Portugal. But of the manner of their return
we will speak fully later on in this history.
[Footnote AK: Of captives.]
CHAPTER LIX.
Of the words which Gomez Pirez spoke, and how they went to the land of
Guinea.
Gomez Pirez, who was there in that caravel of the King as chief captain,
being a man of valour and authority, began to speak of his purpose
before them all on this wise: "Me seemeth," said he, "that the
determination of the captains of these little caravels is to turn back
to the kingdom, in fear of the danger that may come upon them if the
winter finds them further than we are now. But as for you others,
honorable sirs and friends, you know right well the will of the lord
Infant: how much store he setteth on knowing somewhat of the land of the
Negroes, and especially of the river of Nile,[N136] for which reason I
am resolved to make my voyage to that land, toiling as much as I can to
get at it; and I purpose also to gain the most perfect knowledge that I
can of other matters, and on this I place all my hope of the greatest
guerdon that I can gain on this voyage: a guerdon that will not be small
for me, for I know how the lord Infant will show me grace and honour for
it, whereby I may obtain a greater profit; and since I have a ship good
enough, I should do wrong in taking any other course than this,[AL] and
if any one of the rest of you desire to keep me company I will hold fast
to all your ordinance so long as it be not outside this plan of mine."
[Footnote AL: Viz., pushing forward.]
"Of a truth I tell you," replied Lançarote, "that this purpose of yours
was also mine above all else, before you had said anything concerning
it; and it pleaseth me to fall in with your proposal, inasmuch as it was
so commanded me of the Infant, my lord." "And I," said Alvaro de
Freitas, "am not a man to hold aloof from such a company; but I say, let
us press on by all means whither soever you desire to go, be it even to
the terrestrial Paradise."[N137] With these men three others agreed, to
wit, Rodrigue Annes de Travaços, a knight of the Regent's household, and
Laurence Diaz of the same standing in the household of the Infant Dom
Henry, and Vicente Diaz, a trader. And all these, being settled in this
purpose, began at once to pursue their voyage. And after these there set
out other two caravels, to wit, one of Tavilla, and another belonging to
a man of Lagos called Bicanço, but concerning the voyage of these latter
we will defer our account to another place, forasmuch as they did not
arrive at the land of the Negroes.
And so those six caravels having set out, pursued their way along the
coast, and pressed on so far that they passed the land of Sahara,
belonging to those Moors which are called Azanegues, the which land is
very easy to distinguish from the other[AM] by reason of the extensive
sands that are there, and after it by the verdure which is not to be
seen in it[AN] on account of the great dearth of water there, which
causeth an exceeding dryness of the soil. And to this land resort
usually all the swallows, and also all the birds that appear at certain
times in this our kingdom, to wit, storks, quails, turtle-doves,
wry-necks, nightingales and linnets, and other birds of various species.
And many are there, by reason of the cold of the winter, that go from
this land[AO] and journey to that one[AP] for the sake of its warmth.
But other kinds of birds leave it in the winter, such as falcons,
herons, ring-doves, thrushes, and other birds that breed in that land,
and afterwards they come and take refuge in this because of the food
they find here suitable to their nature. And of these birds the men of
the caravels found many upon the sea, and others on land at their
breeding-places. And since I have begun to speak of this matter, I will
not omit to say a little more about the divers other kinds of birds and
fishes that I hear are to be found in that land: among which we may
speak first of all of some birds called flamingoes, which are of the
same size as herons, with necks as long, but with short feathers; also
their heads are small in comparison with their bodies, but their beaks
are huge, though short, and so heavy that their necks are not well able
to support the weight of them, in such wise that for the aid of these
same necks they always have their beaks against their legs and rested
upon them, or else upon their feathers for the residue of the
time.[N138] And there also are other birds larger than swans, called
hornbills, of which I have already spoken. And as for the fishes of
these parts, there are some that have mouths three or four palms long,
some smaller and others larger, in which mouths there are teeth both on
the one side and on the other, so close together that a finger could not
be put between one and another, and all are of fine bone, a little
larger than those of a saw and farther apart; and these fish are some as
large as and others greater than sharks, and the jaw-bones of these are
in size not greater than those of other fish. And there is another kind
of fish there, as small as mullet, that have, as it were, crowns on
their heads, like gills, through which they breathe; and if they are
turned over and put with these crowns below in a basin, they lay hold so
firmly that on attempting to withdraw them they lift the basin with
them, even as the lampreys do with their mouths while they are
quite[N139] alive. And there are also many other birds and animals and
fish in that land whose appearance we do not care to describe at length,
as it would be an occasion of wandering too far from our history.
[Footnote AM: Which they had now come to.]
[Footnote AN: The Sahara.]
[Footnote AO: Portugal.]
[Footnote AP: The Sahara.]
CHAPTER LX.
How those caravels arrived at the river of Nile, and of the Guineas that
they took.
Now these caravels having passed by the land of Sahara, as hath been
said, came in sight of the two palm trees[N140] that Dinis Diaz had met
with before, by which they understood that they were at the beginning of
the land of the Negroes. And at this sight they were glad indeed, and
would have landed at once, but they found the sea so rough upon that
coast that by no manner of means could they accomplish their purpose.
And some of those who were present said afterwards that it was clear
from the smell that came off the land how good must be the fruits of
that country, for it was so delicious that from the point they reached,
though they were on the sea, it seemed to them that they stood in some
gracious fruit garden ordained for the sole end of their delight. And if
our men showed on their side a great desire of gaining the land, no less
did the natives of it show their eagerness to receive them into it; but
of the reception they offered I do not care to speak, for according to
the signs they made to our men from the first, they did not intend to
abandon the beach without very great loss to one side or the other. Now
the people of this green land[N141] are wholly black, and hence this is
called Land of the Negroes, or Land of Guinea. Wherefore also the men
and women thereof are called "Guineas," as if one were to say "Black
Men." And when the men in the caravels saw the first palms and lofty
trees as we have related, they understood right well that they were
close to the river of Nile, at the point where it floweth into the
western sea, the which river is there called the Senegal.[AQ] For the
Infant had told them that in little more than 20 leagues after the
sighting of those trees they should look out for the same river, for so
he had learnt from several of his Azanegue prisoners.[N142] And so, as
they were going along scanning the coast to see if they could discern
the river, they perceived before them, as it might be about two leagues
of land measure, a certain colour in the water of the sea which was
different from the rest, for this was of the colour of mud. And they
thought that this might arise from shoals, so they took their soundings
for the safety of their ships, but they found no difference in this
place from the others in which there was no such movement, and at this
they were all amazed, especially by the difference in colour. And it
happened that one of those who were throwing in the sounding lead, by
chance and without any certain knowledge, put his hand to his mouth and
found the water sweet. "Here we have another marvel," cried he to the
others, "for this water is sweet;" and at this they threw a bucket
forthwith into the sea and put the water to the test, all drinking of it
as a thing in which nothing was wanting to make it as good as possible.
"Of a surety," said they, "we are near the river of Nile, for it seemeth
that this water belongeth to the same, and by its great might the stream
doth cut through the sea and so entereth into it."[N143] Thereat they
made signs to the other caravels, and all of them began to coast in and
look for the river, and they were not very long in arriving at the
estuary.
[Footnote AQ: Canaga.]
And when they were close to its mouth, they let down their anchors on
the seaward side, and the crew of the caravel of Vicente Diaz launched
their boat, and into it jumped as many as eight men, and among them was
that Esquire of Lagos called Stevam Affonso, of whom we have already
spoken, and who afterwards died in [AR]Canary; he had undertaken a part
of the armament of that caravel.
[Footnote AR: Grand.]
And as all the eight were going in the boat, one of them, looking out
towards the mouth of the river, espied the door of a hut, and said to
his companions: "I know not how the huts of this land are built, but
judging by the fashion of those I have seen before, that should be a hut
that I see before me, and I presume it belongs to fishing folk who have
come to fish in this stream. And if you think well, it seemeth to me
that we ought to go and land beyond that point, in such wise that we may
not be discovered from the door of the hut; and let some land, and
approach from behind those sandbanks, and if any natives are lying in
the hut, it may be that they will take them before they are perceived."
Now it appeared to the others that this was good advice, and so they
began to put it into execution. And as soon as they reached the land,
Stevam Affonso leapt out, and five others with him, and they proceeded
in the manner that the other had suggested. And while they were going
thus concealed even until they neared the hut, they saw come out of it a
negro boy, stark naked, with a spear in his hand. Him they seized at
once, and coming up close to the hut, they lighted upon a girl, his
sister, who was[AS] about eight years old. This boy the Infant
afterwards caused to be taught to read and write, with all other
knowledge that a Christian should have; and many Christians there be who
have not this knowledge as perfectly as he had, for he was taught the
prayer of Pater Noster, and the Ave Maria, and the Articles of Faith,
and the precepts of the Law,[AT] and the various works of mercy, and
many other things; so that some said of this youth that the Infant had
bidden train him for a priest, with the purpose of sending him back to
his native land, there to preach the faith of Jesus Christ. But I
believe that afterwards he died without ever reaching man's estate. So
those men entered into the hut, where they found a black shield made of
hide, quite round in shape, a little larger than those used in that
country, the which had in the middle of it a boss of the same hide as
the shield itself, to wit, of an elephant's ear, as was afterwards
learnt from certain Guineas who saw it; for they said that they made all
their shields of the hide of that animal, and that they found it so much
thicker than was necessary[AU] that they cut off from it more than half,
lessening it with devices they had made for this purpose. And the same
men said, moreover, that the size of the elephants was so great that the
flesh of one would make a good meal for 2,500 men, and that this meat
they reckoned among themselves to be very good, and that they made no
use of the tusks, but threw them away; and I learnt that in the East of
this part of the Mediterranean Sea[N144] the tusks of one of those
elephants were well worth 1,000 doubloons. And when they had captured
those young prisoners and articles of plunder, they took them forthwith
to their boat. "Well were it," said Stevam Affonso to the others, "if we
were to go through this country near here, to see if we can find the
father and mother of these children, for, judging by their age and
disposition, it cannot be that the parents would leave them and go far
off." The others said that he should go, with good luck, wherever he
pleased, for there was nothing to prevent them following him. And after
they had journeyed a short way, Stevam Affonso began to hear the blows
of an axe, or of some other iron instrument, with which some one was
carpentering upon a piece of timber, and he stopped a little to assure
himself of what he had heard, and put the others into the same
attention. And then they all recognised that they were near what they
sought. "Now," said he, "do you come behind and allow me to go in front,
because, if we all move forward in company, however softly we walk, we
shall be discovered without fail, so that ere we come at him, whosoever
he be, if alone, he must needs fly and put himself in safety; but if I
go softly and crouching down, I shall be able to capture him by a sudden
surprise without his perceiving me; but do not be so slow of pace that
you will come late to my aid, where perhaps I may be in such danger as
to need you."
[Footnote AS: Lit., would be.]
[Footnote AT: Of God.]
[Footnote AU: For a shield.]
And they agreeing to this, Stevam Affonso began to move forward; and
what with the careful guard that he kept in stepping quietly, and the
intentness with which the Guinea laboured at his work, he never
perceived the approach of his enemy till the latter leapt upon him. And
I say leapt, since Stevam Affonso was of small frame and slender, while
the Guinea was of quite different build; and so he[AV] seized him
lustily by the hair, so that when the Guinea raised himself erect,
Stevam Affonso remained hanging in the air with his feet off the ground.
The Guinea was a brave and powerful man, and he thought it a reproach
that he should thus be subjected by so small a thing. Also he wondered
within himself what this thing could be; but though he struggled very
hard, he was never able to free himself, and so strongly had his enemy
entwined himself in his hair, that the efforts of those two men could be
compared to nothing else than a rash and fearless hound who has fixed on
the ear of some mighty bull. And, to speak truth, the help that the rest
of the company were to render to Stevam Affonso seemed to be rather
tardy, so that I believe that his heart had quite repented him of his
first purpose. And if at this point there had been room for a bargain, I
know he would have deemed it profitable to leave his gain to secure
himself from loss. But while those two were in their struggle, Affonso's
companions came upon them, and seized the Guinea by his arms and neck in
order to bind him. And Stevam Affonso, thinking that he was now taken
into custody and in the hands of the others, let go of his hair;
whereupon, the Guinea, seeing that his head was free, shook off the
others from his arms, flinging them away on either side, and began to
flee. And it was of little avail to the others to pursue him, for his
agility gave him a great advantage over his pursuers in running, and in
his course he took refuge in a wood full of thick undergrowth; and while
the others thought they had him, and sought to find him, he was already
in his hut, with the intention of saving his children and taking his
arms, which he had left with them. But all his former toil was nothing
in comparison of the great grief which came upon him at the absence of
his children, whom he found gone--but as there yet remained for him a
ray of hope, and he thought that perchance they were hidden somewhere,
he began to look towards every side to see if he could catch any glimpse
of them. And at this appeared Vicente Diaz, that trader who was the
chief captain of that caravel to which the boat belonged wherein the
others had come on land. And it appears that he, thinking that he was
only coming out to walk along the shore, as he was wont to do in Lagos
town, had not troubled to bring with him any arms except a boat-hook.
But the Guinea, as soon as he caught sight of him, burning with rage as
you may well imagine, made for him with right good will.
[Footnote AV: Affonso.]
And although Vicente Diaz saw him coming on with such fury, and
understood that for his own defence it were well he had somewhat better
arms, yet thinking that flight would not profit him, but rather do him
harm in many ways, he awaited his enemy without shewing him any sign of
fear. And the Guinea rushing boldly upon him, gave him forthwith a wound
in the face with his assegai, with the which he cut open the whole of
one of his jaws; in return for this the Guinea received another wound,
though not so fell a one as that which he had just bestowed. And because
their weapons were not sufficient for such a struggle, they threw them
aside and wrestled; and so for a short space they were rolling one over
the other, each one striving for victory. And while this was proceeding,
Vicente Diaz saw another Guinea, one who was passing from youth to
manhood; and he came to aid his countryman; and although the first
Guinea was so strenuous and brave and inclined to fight with such good
will as we have described, he could not have escaped being made prisoner
if the second man had not come up: and for fear of him he[AW] now had to
loose his hold of the first.[AX] And at this moment came up the other
Portuguese, but the Guinea, being now once again free from his enemy's
hands, began to put himself in safety with his companion, like men
accustomed to running, little fearing the enemy who attempted to pursue
them. And at last our men turned back to their caravels, with the small
booty they had already stored in their boats.
[Footnote AW: Diaz.]
[Footnote AX: The Guinea.]
CHAPTER LXI.
In which the author relateth some things concerning the River of Nile.
Meseemeth that since in this last chapter I have spoken of how our
caravels arrived at the river of Nile, I ought now to tell you something
of its marvels, so that our Prince may receive the greater honour for
his mandate to our men to make booty upon the waters of the most noble
river of the world. And about the greatness of this river there are
marvellous testimonies, for these have spoken of it, to wit: Aristotle
and Ptolemy, Pliny and Homer, Isidore, Lucan, and Paulus Orosius,[N145]
and many other learned men; but not even they knew how to give a full
recital of its marvels. And in the first place, Paulus Orosius saith,
that the river appeareth to issue from the coast where the Red Sea
beginneth, at the point which the Greeks call Mossylon Emporion;[N146]
and thence, he saith, it goeth towards the west and passeth through many
lands, and maketh in the midst of its waters an isle called Meroë. And
this city is in the lordship of Ethiopia, in which Moses was by command
of Pharaoh with all the power of Egypt, even as Josephus Rabanus[N147]
and Master Peter write; and he saith that it was anciently called Saba,
and, was the head of the kingdom of Ethiopia, but that after a long time
Cambyses, who was king of that land, gave to that city the name of
Meroë,[N148] for love of one of his sisters, as Master Peter relateth.
But Master Gondolfo[N149] saith, in the ninth part of the book he wrote
called _Pantheon_, that before it had that other name this place was
called Nadabet, and that this was the first name the city had
immediately after its foundation. And so the Nile, winding at this
island, maketh its course toward the north, and thence turneth toward
the south,[AY] and according to the description that he[AZ] hath, it
overfloweth its banks at certain times of the year, and watereth all the
plains of Egypt.
[Footnote AY: Lit., the midday.]
[Footnote AZ: Gondolfo.]
But Pliny relateth the story in another fashion, for he saith that the
founts whence riseth this river of Nile are not certainly known to any
man, and that the river goeth for a very long way through desert
countries and through lands so hot that they would take fire and blaze
up if it were not for the river; and he saith also that many have toiled
much to get to the knowledge of the place where this stream doth rise,
but he who gained most knowledge of the same was the King Juba, who left
it written that he had found that the river of Nile rose in a mountain
called Atlas, which is in the land of Mauritania, at the furthest
extremity of Africa towards the west, not very far from the great
sea,[BA] and that it riseth from a fountain where it maketh a great pool
called Nullidom, in which breed certain fish, some called _Allaltetes_,
and others _Coracinus_, and others _Sillurus_; and it is said moreover
that the crocodiles breed there too.
[Footnote BA: Atlantic.]
And as to this, it is recounted that the inhabitants of the city of
Caesarea,[BB] which is in that same land of Mauritania, took a
crocodile[N150] and put it in one of their temples called Eseo; and that
for many years it remained there in testimony that the said crocodiles
were to be found in that pool; and he relateth that it was found by some
men of that land who examined the matter, and found it well proved that,
according as it snowed and rained in the land of Mauritania, where that
fountain is, in like manner rose or fell the Nile itself. And that after
it issueth from that part and reacheth the land of the sands, it will
not run over the surface of those sands nor through places altogether
desert or miserable, but that it vanisheth there, and so floweth hidden
beneath the sand for the space of many days. And they say, too, that
after it arriveth at the other Mauritania Caesariensis, which is not a
sandy land, it cometh up over the ground and there maketh another lake,
in the which breed those same animals and creatures which breed in the
other; and therefore men believe that all this water cometh from the
Nile, and that after it floweth out from there and cometh to the other
sandy districts which are beyond Mauritania and towards Ethiopia, it
again disappeareth and runneth for the space of twenty days underground
till it is within the land of Ethiopia. And here again it cometh up
above the ground, showing clearly that it riseth from a fountain like
that other in Mauritania, which is called Nigris, where also breed the
same animals and other things that we have described before.
[Footnote BB: Cherchel.]
And thenceforth it[BC] runneth ever above ground without any more hiding
of itself beneath the soil, and parteth Africa from Ethiopia, and maketh
great lakes from the which the men of that country derive their
maintenance; and in the same way are to be found there all the creatures
which breed in the other places of the said river. And from the place
where it beginneth to run above ground without again taking its course
subterranean, down to the place where it commenceth to divide itself, it
is called Niger; and in this part its stream is already very great, and
here it maketh of itself three parts, each one of which is a river by
itself. And of these three rivers, one entereth Ethiopia and divideth
the same in the middle, and this is called Astapus, that is to say,
according to the language of that land, a water that runneth out of
darkness. And this river watereth many islands which are so great that,
in passing by the smallest of them, though it runneth in its course very
briskly, it doth consume five days. But the noblest of these islands is
that called Meroë, which we have named above; and the second branch of
these three is that called Astaboras,[BD] the which in their language is
as much as to say "an arm of the water which cometh out of darkness,"
and this taketh its course towards the left; the third of these three is
called Astusapes, which meaneth "the water of the lake," and this also
floweth towards the left; and these streams, so far as they flow
separately, are called by these names that we have given. But when they
are all joined together in one river, the stream taketh its own proper
name, to wit, "the Nile;" but it is not called so before, though all
these streams be one water. And when it leaveth the islands, it shutteth
itself up in certain mountains, but in no part doth it flow so angrily
and with such a rushing stream as when it cometh to a place of Ethiopia
called Catadupia,[BE] and thenceforth its bed is strewn with many great
rocks for a long space. And these break it in its course, and the river
goeth dashing through those rocks and maketh a very great noise
therewith: so much so, that the learned say that no pregnant women dare
dwell within two leagues of the same, in that the terror caused by this
noise straightway maketh them to miscarry.
[Footnote BC: The Nile.]
[Footnote BD: Astabores.]
[Footnote BE: The Cataracts.]
And coming forth from that multitude of great rocks, the strength of the
waters is now broken, and the stream floweth as if wearied, and the
current of the water is very gentle. And as soon as it entereth the
plains of Egypt, it divideth many islands which have other names than
those they used to have; and thence it maketh its way directly to the
sea; but before that it formeth many lakes and marshes by which are
watered all the plains of Egypt; and thereafter the river entereth the
sea in one stream near the city which is called Damietta.
CHAPTER LXII.
Of the might of the Nile according to the Astronomers, and of its
increase.
What man could decide the great contention there is among the learned
concerning the source and power of this river: for Alexander, who was
the most powerful of the Kings, to whom the province of Memphis in Egypt
made prayer, conceived a grudge against the Nile, for that he was not
able to learn the truth of the aforesaid source, though he was lord of
the world. And this covetousness was not only in him, but it was also
found among the Kings of Egypt, and of Persia, and of Macedonia, and of
Greece. But we will here describe in some small measure the course of
this river, according to the Astronomers, who say that Mercury is the
source of power over the waters, and that he hath influence over them;
and that when he is in that part of the heaven where the stars of the
sign of Leo are in conjunction with the stars of the sign of Cancer, or
with the star Sirius, to wit, that which is called the Dog
star,[BF][N151] whence those days are called the Dog days, he poureth
out flames full of fury from his mouth, and altereth thereby the circle
of the year, and the weather also changeth, for then the summer endeth
and autumn beginneth. And again, when the signs of Capricorn and Cancer
are in conjunction, under which the outflow of the Nile is hidden, and
when the star of Mercury is in conjunction with those signs, Mercury
being lord of the waters, striketh on the mouths, that is to say, in
those parts through which the Nile floweth, being under the fire of his
constellation; then the Nile openeth its fount and floweth forth; and
even as the sea waxeth with the waxing of the moon, so riseth the Nile
as if Mercury commanded it, and increaseth till it covereth the land
whence Egypt hath all its principal nutriment. And it doth not gather
its waters together, nor return into its bed until the night hath as
many hours as the day. And in old time there were some who said that the
rising of this stream was chiefly because of the snows of Ethiopia, but
this we find is not so, for the north doth not look upon those mountains
of Ethiopia; no, not any one of the Bears of either pole, to wit, Ellice
and Cynosure,[N152] neither the greater nor the less, which bring the
chill and are the cause of snows and frosts; nor doth the north-east
wind,[BG] which bringeth the frost with it.
[Footnote BF: Canicolla.]
[Footnote BG: Blow upon these mountains.]
And of this there is a good and sufficient testimony in the very colour
of that same people of Ethiopia, whose blood is burnt by the great heat
of the sun, which there hath the full power of its heat, and the breath
of the south-west wind,[BH] which is the hottest of all winds; whence
the men of that land have their colour exceeding black; and moreover, no
river, whatever it be, that swelleth for reason of the snow or ice that
hath recourse to it, is augmented except from the time of the entry of
the summer season; for then the snow and ice begin to melt by reason of
the heat; but the Nile doth not raise its waters so high, nor do they
swell in its bed before the rising of that same Dog Star, nor do its
waters reach outwards to their banks until the day is equal to the
night, which is in the month of September, when the sun entereth into
the sign of Libra. From all which it appeareth clearly that the Nile
doth not follow the rule of any other waters; but when the sky becometh
distempered in the midst of the great heat of the sun, the Nile issueth
forth with the swelling of its waters, and this is under the belt of the
mid-day, which is scorching hot.
[Footnote BH: Aurego.]
And this it doth that the flame of the axis of the firmament, by reason
of its increase, may not set fire to the land and burn it. And so the
Nile is as it were a succour to the world, because when the mouth of Leo
is kindled, and when Cancer burneth over its city of Syene in Egypt,
then riseth this river against the mouths of the twain, to temper their
fire, the which is a matter of the utmost need to the peoples of the
earth.
And so it spreadeth its waters over the land, not to return to its bed
till the sun shall have come to the time of autumn and lessened its
strength, when the shadows begin to fall in the city of Meroe, where the
trees cast no shadows in summer time, so directly passeth the sun[N153]
overhead above everything. And so, in conclusion, to the great might of
the Nile we may apply those words wherewith Bishop Achoreus spake of it
to Caesar, as Lucan writeth: "Oh," said he, "great and mighty stream,
which risest from the midst of the axis of the firmament, and venturest
to raise thy waters over their banks against the sign of Cancer when
that is in the fulness of its heat; thou who proceedest straight towards
the north-east with thy waters, and takest thy course through the midst
of the plain; thou who turnest thence to the west and again to the east;
thou who dost reveal thyself sometimes in Arabia and sometimes in the
sands of Libya, displaying thyself to the peoples of those lands,
performing so many great benefits for them--of a truth the men of those
regions could not dispense with thee or live without thee, and these are
the first races of men that behold thee. Thy power is to issue forth at
the solstices, the which do fall, the one in December and the other in
June, and thou increasest in the alien winter which is not thine. To
thee is it granted by nature to go through both the axes of the
firmament, to wit: the axis of the north and that of the south; thy foam
fighteth with the stars, so high dost thou cause it to rise by thy
power; and before thy waves do all things tremble. What can I say of
thee, except that thou art as it were the navel of the world: for even
as the creatures which lie in the wombs of their mothers are governed by
the navels of their bodies, a like comparison may be made of thy
greatness in affairs of the earth."
CHAPTER LXIII.
How the Caravels set forth from the river, and of the voyage which they
made.
All these secrets and marvels did the genius of our prince bring before
the eyes of the people of our kingdom, for although all the matters here
spoken of concerning the marvels of the Nile[N154] could not be
witnessed by his own eyes, for that were impossible, it was a great
matter that his ships arrived there, where 'tis not recorded that any
other ship of these parts had ever come. And this may truthfully be
affirmed according to the matters which at the beginning of this book I
have related concerning the passage of Cape Bojador, and also from the
astonishment which the natives of that land showed when they saw the
first ships, for they went to them imagining they were fish, or some
other natural product of the sea.[N155] But now returning to our
history, after that deed was thus concluded, it was the wish of all the
three captains to endeavour to make an honourable booty, adventuring
their bodies in whatsoever peril might be necessary; but it appeareth
that the wind veered sharply round to south, wherefore it was convenient
to set sail at once. And as they were cruising up and down in order to
see what the weather purposed to do, the wind turned to the north, and
with this they made their way towards Cape Verde, where Dinis Diaz had
been the other year. And they went on as far as was possible for all the
caravels to join them, except that of Rodrigueannes de Travaços, which
lost its company and made thereafter that voyage which will be related.
And the five caravels being directly over against the Cape, saw an
island, where they landed to see if it were peopled; they found that it
was deserted, only they discovered there a great multitude of she goats.
And of these they took some to refresh themselves withal; and they
reported that these were in no way different from the goats of our
country, except that their ears were larger. From the same island also
they took water and went on further, until they found another island, in
the which they saw fresh skins of goats and other things, from which
they understood that other caravels had gone on in front of them; and in
further proof of this they found the Arms of the Infant carved upon the
trees, and also the letters which composed his motto. "Of a surety I
doubt," saith our author, "if since the great power of Alexander and of
Cæsar, there hath been any prince in the world that ever had the marks
of his conquest set up so far from his own land."
And by those signs, which those men of the caravels found there on the
trees, they understood that some others had already gone on in front,
and so they decided to turn back to their ships; and, as they afterwards
discovered, it was the caravel of John Gonçalves Zarco, captain of the
isle of Madeira, that had preceded them.
And because there were so many of those blacks[BI] on land that by no
means could they disembark either by day or night, Gomez Pirez sought to
show that he desired to go among them on peaceful terms, and so placed
upon the shore a cake and a mirror and a sheet of paper on which he drew
a cross. And the natives when they came there and found those things,
broke up the cake and threw it far away, and with their assegais they
cast at the mirror, till they had broken it in many pieces, and the
paper they tore, showing that they cared not for any of these things.
[Footnote BI: Guineas.]
"Since it is so," said Gomez Pirez to his crossbowmen, "shoot at them
with your bows that they may at least understand that we are people who
can do them hurt, whenever they will not agree to a friendly
understanding." But the blacks seeing the others' intention, began to
pay them back, launching at them also their arrows and assegais, some of
which our men brought home to this kingdom. And the arrows are so made
that they have no feathers, nor a notch for the string to enter, but
they are all smooth and short, and made of rushes or reeds, and their
iron points are long and some are made of wood fixed in the shafts,
which are like the iron spindles with which the women of this country
spin. And they use also other little harpoons of iron, the which darts
are all equally poisoned with plants. And their assegais are each made
with seven or eight harpoon-like prongs, and the plant they use is very
venomous.
And in that island in which the arms of the Infant[N156] were carved
they found trees of great size, and of strange forms, and among these
was one which was not less than 108 palms in circuit at the foot. And
this tree[N157] doth not grow very high, but is about as lofty as the
walnut-tree, and from its middle bark they make very good thread for
cordage, and it burneth like flax. The fruit is like a gourd, and its
seeds are like filberts, and this fruit they eat green, and the seeds
they dry. And of these there is a great abundance, and I believe they
use them for their maintenance after the green faileth them. And some
there were who said they saw there birds which appeared to them to be
parrots.
So all the captains there agreed to make sail, with the intention of
entering into the River of Nile, but no one was able to light upon it
save Lawrence Diaz, that squire of the Infant's. And he, because he was
alone, did not dare enter into the river, but he went with the little
boat to the place where they took the blacks on the outward voyage;
howbeit he turned back without doing anything worthy of mention. And
since he did not fall in with the convoy again he came straight to
Lagos. And in this wise Gomez Pirez lost the company of the other
caravels; and following his course towards Portugal, after taking in
water at the isle of Arguim, he came to the Rio do Ouro,[N158] and
sailed as far up as the port where he had been the preceding year with
Antam Gonçalvez and Diego Affonso, and there presently the Moors came,
and in taking security of them he learnt there were no merchants there.
But they sold him a black for the price of five doubloons, which he paid
them by certain things he gave them in their stead. Also they brought
him water on their camels, and gave him meat and made him a sufficiency
of good reception; and above all they showed such confidence that
without any hesitancy so many entered into the caravel, that he was not
very well pleased, and would not consent that any more should enter; but
at last, without causing them[BJ] any injury, he had them put on land,
making an agreement with them that next year, in the month of July, he
would return there, when he would find blacks in abundance, and gold,
and merchandise by which he might gain much profit. Moreover, Gomez
Pirez brought back from that voyage a great many skins of sea-calves,
with the which he loaded his ship and so returned to the kingdom.[N159]
[Footnote BJ: The blacks.]
CHAPTER LXIV.
Of how Lançarote and Alvaro de Freitas captured a dozen Moors.
It were unreasonable in our account of these caravels not to return to
the place whereto we took them first; and since we have now described
the return of some of them to the kingdom, we would recount the fortune
of the rest, and we will speak at once of Lançarote and of Alvaro de
Freitas. And it was so, that while Vicente Diaz was with both these
captains--and I mean that same Vicente Diaz who, as we have said
already, was wounded by the Guinea upon the shore of the Nile--by chance
he was parted from the company of the others; and inasmuch as it was
night, he was not able to return very quickly to his friends. But while
we leave him pursuing his way alone, it is fit that we should speak of
the achievements of the others. Now they were not well content with the
booty they had taken, and both of them determined to toil for the
increase of their first gain, and so pursuing their way towards Tider,
for there they thought they might yet light upon some matter of which
they could make booty, they came to the point of Tira. And here they
spake with their company, and said: that as they knew the land was
peopled, it seemed good to them that they should go out of their ships
and land and strive to see if they could obtain any gain. And on this
motion there was no discussion, but all said they would do as it pleased
him, for they well knew that they had such captains that none but
profitable counsel could come from them.
The boats were at once made ready, and the captains embarked in them
with their men, leaving the caravels guarded as was proper. And of those
who were in the boats they disembarked some who were to go on by land;
and the others, who remained in the boats, made their way under shelter
of the land. And while both the one and the other party were going on
their way, those on shore said that they had lighted on a track of men
who had passed by that way, and also the track seemed to them to be
fresh, and in it they discovered the footprints of women and children.
"Then let us follow after these," said the captains, "for since the
track is so fresh it must be that they who made it are not very far
off."
And as they had a good will for this action, and the track was clearly
to be seen, they were led on a very great distance, but they could not
yet spy the Moors they sought; so that some there were who said that so
distant an expedition was beyond reason and that they ought to turn
back. But the others, more vehement in their covetousness for gain, did
not pay any heed to the words of the former, and pursued their way none
the less.
And as they went forward, not very far from there, while traversing a
sandhill, they saw the Moors, who were journeying in a hollow. "Now,"
said those who there bore the office of captains, to these others, "you
can show your good will by toiling in the pursuit of those foemen." And
although our men were already somewhat wearied, it appeared to them as
if they had only that moment issued from their ships, so great desire
had they to come up with the enemy. And this desire they now put into
practice very quickly, for the Moors were hardly able to issue forth
before our men were up with them; and some, that endeavoured to offer a
defence, in a brief space learnt the error of their sect, for without
any pity our men killed them very speedily, in so much that there
remained alive no more than twelve, whom they took back as their
prisoners. And although the booty was not great in comparison of other
spoil which had already been made in that land, yet were they all very
glad of it; and this because the victory had been obtained by so few men
rather than because of the share of gain that fell to the lot of each.
CHAPTER LXV.
How Lançarote and Alvaro de Freitas and Vicente Diaz took fifty-seven
Moors.
So having obtained that booty, small as it was, the captains made
agreement to go straight to the Isle of Arguim, there to take in the
water they needed, and to discuss the future of the voyage. And arriving
at the said island--which they had first reconnoitred for the sake of
security--as soon as they ascertained that the Isle was free from
enemies, they all landed. And after they had taken a little rest they
laid in their water, which gave them a singular pleasure, for one of the
chief refreshments in which maritime folk delight, after they have been
some time at sea, is good water, whenever they can obtain it. And so
reposing there that night, on the next day, while they were on the point
of holding a council, one began to say that it appeared to him that he
saw a sail coming towards them, and when all looked in that direction
they perceived it was a caravel. And this they supposed to be the ship
of Vicente Diaz, which a little time before had parted company with
them; and for this reason they put off their council, because they
sought that all should join in it.
And when the caravel had come up to them, they asked Vicente Diaz to be
so good as to land and take part in that council of theirs. "My
friends," said he, "you will have patience till my people can take
refreshment with the water of this island, for we have come here with a
great desire for it." And having finished their refreshment, they began
their council; and herein the captains put forward that their intent was
to endeavour to make some further booty, for as to returning with so
small a profit, that would be a reproach for persons such as they were.
"Friends," said some, "your proposal would be good if the place were
such that by toiling one might hope to receive some profit; but this
land, as you know, is already turned upside down, and it hath been
disturbed a thousand times, and the caravels go by it every day, so that
there is not a Moor, however simple he may be, that dareth to set foot
on all this land; but rather reason teacheth that they must have been
terrified and fled from here as far as they could. Wherefore it
appeareth to us that it would be well to content ourselves with the
booty we have, and that we should make our voyage straightway to our own
kingdom and not waste time in a matter which we so plainly know to be
impossible of profit for us."
"Truth it is," said others, "that this land hath been roused even as you
say, wherefore one of two things must needs be: Either the Moors are
very far from here; or if they are here they will be so prepared as to
be able to await any hostile attack that may be made upon them without
fear, so that where we look for a capture they perchance may take us.
And even if we pay heed to nothing else, consider what happened to the
caravels of Lisbon, for they having obtained a cargo with which they
could have very reasonably returned, sought to put all to the hazard of
a venture, the result of which was as you have heard."
The third opinion, which was that of the captains and of some of the
picked men, was delayed a little, but they maintained nevertheless, that
the landing was not to be given up. "You know," said they, "how in the
isle of Tider[N160] were killed some Moors and others were taken, so
that they cannot be counted at their former number, and the remainder
are half conquered, for as you saw they fled before the points of our
lances, as people who did not dare to try their strength against ours.
But let us go and see if we can light upon any there, for if they are
there it cannot be but that either of their flesh or their wool we shall
take some quantity. And if perchance the island is now void of
inhabitants, we can then give sure news of this to the Infant our lord;
and from this it would appear that our expedition was not without great
profit, since the Moors were not content to fly from us once, but with
the fear of us had altogether abandoned their huts and the land where
they were born and lived."
Firmly stood by this opinion most of the chief men; yet the lower people
nevertheless desired that no other matter should be undertaken, but that
they should turn back to the kingdom. Howbeit they had to agree to the
opinion of those who were worth more and understood better than they;
and so they began presently to start on their expedition, and before
night fell they arrived off the island, where they dropped their
anchors, though not very close to it, and stayed there until they saw
the sun had finished his daily toil.
Then when the sky was covered by the shades of night, they launched
their boats and embarked in them and stationed themselves at the arm of
the sea which ran on the land side, though in front of the said land
there is another island called Cerina.[N161] And so they landed on
Tider, but did not find anyone, wherefore they turned back and retired
to their boats and went forward so far that it was already sun rise.
And Lançarote issued forth from the side of Cerina and went along by
land, ordering the boats to make their way by water; and when they saw
that they found nothing, Lançarote said to the others that it would be
well to go forward to a certain promontory, and all agreed with him. And
while seeking to prepare themselves and to gather themselves together
for starting, Lançarote heard an ass bray.
"Meseemeth," said he to the others, "I hear the bray of an ass, as
though some pleasure were in store for us; for perchance it is God's
will that we should not depart hence without booty." And because there
was no doubt of what he had heard, he told them to await him there, and
that he would go upon some sandhills to see what that could be. And
while the others were waiting, he mounted up the sandhills, and from
there looking round on all sides he saw the Moors where they stood, many
more in number than our men. And these Moors were getting ready their
asses and gathering up their baggage, as men who sought to leave that
place, with little care of what in a few hours would overtake them.
Truth it is that they were endeavouring to set out, but they deemed not
it was upon so long a journey.
But Lançarote, as soon as he had seen them, descended very quietly from
the place where he was, and came and gave the news to the others, and
you know well how glad they would be when they heard it. "Now, God be
praised," said he, "we have what we sought. The Moors are here, just
ready to move away. They are more in number than we: if you will only
labour the victory is ours. Strengthen your hearts and make your feet
swift, for on the first encounter will depend the whole of our victory."
It were impossible to tell how great was the exultation then felt by
all, for scarcely had Lançarote finished these words of his when all
moved off at a run. Yet so well did they do this that they moved without
noise till they were upon the sandhills, but when they arrived there
they were not able to control their desires that urged them to cry out.
And when they appeared over against the Moors they lifted up their
voices, the which were not a whit less than the strength of each one
availed; and when the Moors heard these they were very much affrighted
and disordered. And now our men began to run forward, shouting out their
accustomed cries, to wit, "St. James," "Portugal," "St. George;" but the
sound of these was not very pleasant to the enemy, so that they had not
leisure to place their pack-saddles upon their asses. And those who had
the packs upon their necks freed themselves from these burdens, and what
was more noteworthy, some who had their children upon their shoulders,
seeing that they could not save them, let them fall upon the ground,
with how great a crash you may imagine. And so in this anguish they
began to fly, not all together, nor by one road, but each one by
himself, quite leaving behind their women and children, without any hope
of remedy. Yet true it is that some there were, who though they
perceived the manifest discomfiture of their party, had the courage to
show some defence, the which were very quickly despatched from life. And
finally of all the people there were taken fifty-seven; some others were
killed and again others escaped. Oh, if only among those who fled there
had been some little understanding of higher things. Of a surety I
believe, that the same haste which they showed in flying, they would
then have made in coming to where they might have saved their souls and
restored their affairs in this life. For although it might appear to
them that, living as they were, they were living in freedom, their
bodies really lay in much greater captivity, considering the nature of
the country and the bestiality of their life, than if they were living
among us under an alien rule, and this all the more because of the
perdition of their souls, a matter which above all others should have
been perceived by them.
Of a surety, although their bodily eyes did not perceive any part of
this good fortune of theirs,[BK] yet the eyes of the understanding, to
wit of the soul pure and clean with unending glory, having received in
this world the holy sacraments, and departed from this life with some
little portion of faith, would quickly be able to recognise the former
error of their blindness.
[Footnote BK: In being taken captive.]
Here did those three caravels make an end of that voyage and turned
themselves back to the kingdom, not a little content with the advantage
they perceived they had gained over the others their comrades in this
meeting with their latest booty.
But now let us speak of those who are still at sea, in order to give you
an account of their whole achievement.
CHAPTER LXVI.
How Rodrigueannes and Dinis Diaz joined company.
I am right sorry that in this history I cannot keep that order which
reason demandeth, because the matter of the said history was so treated
that many times it is necessary for me to make a chapter where else I
could pass on with two words as at this present. For now, in order to
join the caravel of Rodrigueannes with that of Dinis Diaz, it behoveth
me to make a new rubric. Now these caravels having separated from the
company of the others, went on seeking for them, and came together in so
doing. And seeing how that of the other company they were not able to
learn any more, the two then sailed together: but of what afterwards
happened to them we will speak further on.
CHAPTER LXVII.
How the five caravels returned to the kingdom, and of what they did
beforehand.
Thus, as we have already said in our former chapters, these matters
happened according as fortune gave them to happen. And in order that I
may return with all the caravels to Lagos as I have promised, and as it
is necessary, I desire in this present chapter to speak of those five,
which separated themselves from the company of the rest after the
invasion of the isle of Tider. For there was that honourable knight
Sueiro da Costa, alcayde of Lagos, and four other captains, neighbours
and natives of that place; and they, having agreed to turn back, as we
have said, discussed among themselves the prosecution of their voyage,
as it appeared to them that their first booty was a small matter, though
an honourable, in comparison of their great toil and expense.
"We are not able," said some, "to alter our first opinion, in
determining to make our return, both on account of the small size of our
ships, and that we may not seem to be men of many opinions. But it would
be well for us, nevertheless, to prosecute our voyage and try whether we
can, on our course, obtain anything by way of adding to our booty,
though in reason it must be little on account of the many visits which
our ships have already made to this land. Still, we should not omit to
try, and peradventure God may give us some good result. But in order to
direct this matter with some foundation of reason, there is no other
place so fitting, and where our toil may have such good hope of victory,
as that arm of the sea which is at Cape Branco, and into this we will
enter and see whither it leadeth. And it may be that, if it entereth far
into the land, we may light on something near there of which we may make
booty: and if not, we need toil but little in that enterprise."
All agreed that what those first speakers had said was well spoken, and
sailing in that direction they arrived at the said river. And herein
entering a little space, they anchored their ships, and then letting
down their boats, they began to endeavour themselves to reach the end of
the river. And, following the course of this for four leagues, they
arrived at the end of it.[N162] And here they agreed to disembark to see
if they could light upon any inhabited place where they could take some
souls to add to the scantiness of their first booty. But they doubted in
themselves of getting anything, as they knew that the land was prepared
and had been so often invaded; only they toiled in this matter,
constrained at least by the need of telling their companions that they
had been on shore.
And landing thus they sent on ahead to reconnoitre the land, but they
had not followed very far, when they saw before them a few huts. And
upon these they rushed without waiting for any agreement, and there they
came upon some few Moors, of whom they captured eight.
And seeking to learn from them if there were thereabouts any other
settlement, and to this end threatening some of them, they were not able
to learn anything but that in all this land there was no other
settlement. And in this all the eight were agreed, after each one had
been taken aside in turn. And for this reason it was needful for them to
return to their ships, with the intention of now returning to their
homes, without spending any more trouble in the matter, since they
understood that they could not gain any further profit by more toil. And
in agreement with this decision were all the others who belonged to the
Caravels, except only the Alcayde of Lagos, who said that he still
wished to return to Tider in order to make ransom of a Mooress, and of
the son of a lord of that place. And although he was counselled to the
contrary, yet would he never abandon his design, howbeit afterwards he
repented of it sorely. And arriving at the island, he began to make
signs to the Moors, who had come down to the shore as soon as they saw
the caravel sailing towards them.
And of them he had one Moor for his security while he surrendered the
master of the caravel, and a Jew who was in his company. But when the
Moors had them in their power, the Mooress, of whom the Alcayde sought
to make the ransom, threw herself into the water, and like one practised
in that kind of thing very quickly got to land and joined her relations
and her friends. And on account of this the Moors considered that they
ought not to give up the hostages without an advantage over what they at
first had purposed; and finally they refused to surrender those whom
they had until they[BL] should give them three Moors. Which matter,
although it was a hard thing for the Alcayde to do, was yet condescended
to by him, seeing the necessity of the case; howbeit he blamed himself
in that he had not followed the first advice of his companions. And
seeing how he could make no further profit in that ransom, he turned
back to the Kingdom.
[Footnote BL: The Portuguese.]
CHAPTER LXVIII.
How the caravel of Alvaro Gonçalvez d'Atayde and that of Picanço and the
other of Tavilla sailed in company, and of the Canarians that they
captured.
We have told in other chapters how the caravel of Tavilla and the other
of Picanço parted company with the others when they went to Guinea,
where it befell that they agreed together to return to Portugal. And on
their return voyage they met with the caravel of Alvaro Gonçalvez
d'Atayde, whose captain was one John de Castilha, and on asking him
whither he was going, he said that he was voyaging to Guinea. "But,"
said the others, "what availeth your going at such a time as this, for
we have just come from there, as you see, and winter is beginning, and
therefore if you pursue your journey further you will imperil your life
and gain little honour and less profit; but if you think good to follow
our advice, return with us and we will go to the island of Palma, and
see if we can make a capture of some of those Canarians there."
And although John de Castilha had doubts about so returning, because it
did not appear to him a sure thing from the accounts he had heard of the
inhabitants of that island, how that they were difficult to capture, yet
compelled by the reasons the others gave him, he had to return with
them. And so, going all in company, they arrived at the island of
Gomera, where, wishful to go on shore, they espied many Canarians, of
whom they took security before wholly leaving their boats. The Canarians
granted them this without any reluctance, like men whose wills were more
inclined to do them service than to put difficulties in their way. And
immediately came there two chiefs of that island, who said how they were
servants of the Infant Don Henry (and not without good reason, for they
had previously been in the house of the King of Castile and the King of
Portugal), and how in neither of them had they met with the favours they
afterwards received from the Infant Don Henry; for while they were in
his house they had from him a right excellent entertainment as long as
they stayed there; and, in short[BM] he had clothed them very well, and
sent them in his ships to their own land, on which account they were
very ready to do him every service. "But," said they of the caravels,
"we are also his men and servants, and by his command we left our
country; wherefore if such is your mind, you have now the occasion of
showing it right well, for we would go to the island of Palma and essay
to take some captives, in the which your assistance would be very useful
to us, if you would send with us some of these your subjects to aid and
direct us, for we are unacquainted with the land, and have no knowledge
of the ways of its inhabitants in their fighting." Now Bruco was the
name of one of these chiefs, and the other's name was Piste, and they
replied together that they were well pleased to toil in any matter that
was for the service of the lord Infant Don Henry, and that they rendered
many thanks to God for giving them the opportunity of showing what a
good will they had for it; "and that you may see," said Piste, "the
desire I have to serve him, I will accompany you and bring with me as
many Canarians as you wish."
[Footnote BM: They declared that.]
"It seemeth to me," saith the author, "that the gratitude of these men
bringeth shame on many who had received greater and better things from
this our Prince, and yet came not by a great way to so perfect a
knowledge of it. Oh, what a dishonour for those who were brought up in
his household, and whom he afterwards placed in dignities and lordships,
but who, clean forgetful of this, deserted him when their service was of
need; and the names and deeds of these we will relate in the history of
the Kingdom when we come to speak of the siege of Tangier."
And so that captain offered himself with his person and men, of whom he
straightway had embarked in the ships as many as the captains wished to
receive, and then they set sail forthwith, directing their course to the
other Island of Palma, where they arrived when it was almost morning.
And although reason would not have allowed them to land at such an hour,
nevertheless they agreed together to go on shore forthwith. "For," said
they, "we have already been perceived, and if we wait at all, our booty
will be labour lost, for the Canarians will put themselves in safety,
while if we land forthwith we shall be able to capture some; for
although they are fleet of foot, yet there will be men among us that
will follow them; and for sure the owners of those flocks who are
wandering there before our eyes, will hasten up and get them in, for it
is their custom to take almost as much toil about them as on their own
behalf." And although such a resolve was perilous, yet it met with the
approval of all of them; and so in a very short space they were all set
on shore, as well the Portuguese as the Canarians.[BN] And as they were
pursuing their way at no great distance from the beach, they perceived
that the Canarians[BO] were flying, and as they commenced to follow
them, one of the company said to the others: "Wherefore undertake a vain
toil in running after those men? for however much you labour, you will
not be able to come up with them; but rather let us follow those ewes
and rams which are going up that crag, for of a surety the most part of
those who are with them are youths and women, and if we follow them well
we are bound to capture some." And these words were scarcely finished
when all our men began to run, leaving the other Canarians, whose track
they had already commenced to follow up. But those shepherds entered
with their flock into a valley so deep and so dangerous that it was
easier to marvel at than to relate how any could make their passage
through it.
[Footnote BN: Who were friendly.]
[Footnote BO: Natives of Palma.]
But the Christians, both Portuguese and Canarians, followed them up with
such zeal that just as the first began to enter into the valley, ours
were already nigh unto them, and so all together they entered the
valley, in such a way that the shepherds were obliged to take shelter
among an expanse of rocky crags, the roughness of which was a marvellous
thing; but much more marvellous was the ease with which the Canarians of
that island made their way among those rocks, as though in sucking the
milk from their mothers' breasts, they had commenced to walk in those
places. And as the Psylli and Marmaridae,[BP] who live beyond the Libyan
desert, know their sons to be sprung from their own bodies if
straightway in their first boyhood they handle without fear the great
poisons of that desert as they are offered to them by their fathers; so
the Canarians of this island consider that their sons, if they are not
born with this agility, have been generated by some wicked adultery.
[Footnote BP: The text has "Sillos ou Marmorios."]
But what about our countrymen, desirous to follow after them, for
although they saw the roughness of the ground, yet they did not desist
from pursuing them; and there a youth of noble heart, in running over
those rocks, slipped from a very large and rough crag, and falling down,
died. And think not that this misfortune happened only to that native of
our realm, for many Canarians fell in the same way and died: for
although Nature from old time had given them to walk among those rocky
hills, yet on account of the haste of their enemies, whom they perceived
to be near them, and deeming that to be their last remedy, where the
crags were roughest, thither with the better will they made their way,
thinking that their foes would fear to pursue them.
And if that Diego Gonçalvez, a page of the Infant's household (of whom I
have already spoken in the chapter where I related how he was the first
to throw himself in and swim at the Island where they took the
fifty-eight Moors), if he, I say, received praise for his excellent
courage, I may truthfully increase it much more on this occasion unto
him, as unto the man who before all others bore himself conspicuously on
that day. And certainly with great reason may I here blame fortune for
this youth, who had been rewarded by his lord the Infant with a recent
marriage in the City of Lisbon, and had collected in his house a great
abundance of wealth for the sustaining of his life, when a fire came
upon it by the negligence of a servitor of his. And this burned all the
things that he had, but fortune was so kindly to him that it left them
some poor garments with the which they escaped from the said house. The
toil of our men was great on that day, although not so much in the
fighting. Yet that was perilous enough, especially on account of the
multitude of stones with which the Canarians chiefly combat their
enemies, for they are strong in the arm, and very deadly with their
shots. And it is right hard for any one else to strike them, for so well
do they know how to avoid blows, especially of anything thrown, that,
marksman though a man be, only after a long time and through great good
fortune is he able to hit them. And they carry other arms well according
with their bestial mode of life, to wit, long lances with sharp horns at
the heads instead of iron points, and others sharpened like them at the
lower ends.
But although the labour was so great, yet was it a beautiful thing to
look upon; for anyone who had seen their skirmish, so disordered and
confused, and in such a place--(the Christians engaged in capturing the
Canarians and separating the flock from amongst them for the better
securing of their booty, and the enemy busying themselves for the saving
of their lives and of their flocks as best they could)--would say that
such a sight was more delectable than any other that fell short of this
ending. And so the booty of that day was seventeen Canarians, what of
men and women, and among the latter they captured one who was of
wondrous size for a woman, and they said that she was Queen of a part of
that island. And after they had collected together their prisoners and
the flock, they began to retreat towards their boats, but they were
followed up by the Canarians so closely that they were obliged to leave
them the greater part of the flock they had taken from them, and owing
to this our men had much toil in their retreating.
CHAPTER LXIX.
How they took certain Canarians, despite the surety.
And when all were in their ships, they raised their sails and returned
to the other island whence they had departed before; and because they
had received much help from those first Canarians whom they had with
them, they rendered great thanks to that Chief in the name of the Infant
their lord for the toil that he had undergone for his service, and much
more for the goodwill with which he had undertaken it, putting him in
the hope of receiving for it many other and greater guerdons than those
he had received before. And of a surety their promise was not in vain,
for afterwards that Chief, who was called Piste came to this kingdom,
with others from that land, and they obtained many favours and much
hospitality from the Infant, on account of which I can well believe they
did not repent of their former toil. And of this I, who collected and
put in order this history, can be a sure witness; for it happened that I
was in the Kingdom of the Algarve in the house of this Prince[N163] at
the time when these Canarians were staying there, and I saw well how
they were treated. And I believe that that Chief, and some of those who
accompanied him, stayed so long in this kingdom, that they made an end
of their lives there. And I have said already how John de Castilha, who
was captain of that caravel of Alvaro Gonçalvez d'Atayde, did not arrive
in Guinea as the others did, nor do I find that he made any other booty,
but only those Canarians which they took there; and this seemed to him a
very small thing with which to return to the Kingdom, especially as all
the other caravels had a great advantage over him which he in his heart
felt to be an injury. And so he imagined an ugly device by which he
might make some increase in that little which he was carrying, and he
began to treat with the others that they would be pleased to seize some
part of these Canarians in spite of the sureties. And as covetousness is
the root of all evils, though such a proceeding seemed devoid of reason
to many, yet they had to consent to what John de Castilha on so many
grounds showed them to be profitable. And because it seemed to them an
ugly thing to take any of those men who had aided them so well, they
moved from that place and went to another port. And there some
Canarians, trusting in our men, went to the caravel, and these, I
believe, were twenty-one in number, and with them they made sail to
Portugal. But the Infant, having knowledge of this, was very wroth with
those captains, and straightway he caused the Canarians to be brought to
his own house, and had them very nobly attired and returned to their own
land. And there the natives bestowed much praise on the Prince for such
a virtuous act, and were on this account much the more inclined to serve
him. And of the first coming of these Canarians to this our Kingdom, and
of many other things that passed concerning them, we will speak more
fully in the general chronicle of the acts of our Kingdom.
CHAPTER LXX.
Of how Tristam of the Island[BQ] went towards Cape Branco.
We have already told how Tristam, one of the captains of the Island of
Madeira, had armed a caravel to go in company with the others. And
although he had a right good will to serve the Infant and much desired
to profit himself (for he was abundantly covetous), yet such was his
fortune that as soon as he passed Cape Branco, immediately the wind
became contrary for him. And thereat he turned backwards; and although
he afterwards toiled hard to return and pursue his first way, yet never
again was he able to fill his sails save with a contrary wind, and with
this he returned to the island from which he had started. Also Alvaro
Dornellas, an esquire and servant of the Infant, and a good man and
brave, armed another caravel, in the which he laboured hard to achieve
some deed for his honour, yet was he never able to capture more than two
Canarians, whom he took in one of those islands; and with them he sent
back his caravel, giving the charge to an esquire to have it repaired
for him and to return there against the next year. And further on we
will relate something of the fortune of this esquire, in that he toiled
greatly for his honour.
[Footnote BQ: Madeira.]
CHAPTER LXXI.
Of how the men of Pallenço took the six Moors.
Dinis Diaz, as we have already said, armed a caravel of Don Alvaro de
Castro and started at the beginning in company with Pallenço, who was
taking out a pinnace, not that he intended to make use of it in aught
save only in entering the river of Nile; for since it was an old one, he
meant to abandon it whenever he should perceive it to be past service.
And so the two, pursuing their voyage, came to the Isle of Arguim, and
after they had taken in water, they agreed to continue so far on their
way until they reached the land of the Negroes, according to the purpose
with which they had set out from this Kingdom. And when they had already
passed a good distance beyond the point of Santa Anna[N164] and were
becalmed one day, Pallenço said that it would not be an evil thing to
land some men, who might essay to make capture of the Moors. "Wherefore
is it," replied Dinis Diaz, "that men should be employed in such an
adventure? Let us rather go straight on our way, for if God shall bring
us to that land of Guinea, we shall surely find Moors more than
sufficient to load our ships." True it is, as Dinis Diaz said, that many
Moors were to be found there, but they were not so easy to capture as he
thought; for, believe me, they are very brave men and full of artifices
in their defence, and this you will see clearly in the next chapters
when we shall speak of their combats. "Friend," replied Pallenço, "even
though it happen that we take many Moors there, what shall we lose if
God give us some here first? At any rate," said he, "it seemeth well to
me that we should try if we can take them, and it might please God now
for us to capture so many here as to save us from voyaging further for
this time." "Since it is so," said Dinis Diaz, "order it as you please."
So Pallenço straightway made ready his pinnace to go on shore, and
although the sea was very calm, yet there was a very great surf on the
coast which never permitted the pinnace to touch the beach; but he,
desirous of finishing what he had begun, said to his company: "You see,
my friends, that the roughness of the sea near this coast will not allow
us to touch the shore; nevertheless my will would be to land, but as I
know not how to swim, it would be folly for me to dare such a thing. But
if there are any amongst you that can go on shore by swimming, I will
surely thank them much to do it, and afterwards you will not be without
that praise which good men and true deserve for their valorous deeds."
"It is true," replied some, "that we have a good will to do your
pleasure, but two dangers will follow from it. The first is that we know
not how we shall get on shore, for these waves here may pitch us about
in such wise that we lose the mastery over our limbs and we shall perish
very quickly, for such things have already happened on other occasions.
The second danger is that, if we go on land and meet some people with
whom perchance we ought not to fight without your aid, and if the sea is
in such a state that you cannot reach the shore, what shall we do?" And
as you see that where many men are, their opinions differ, so whilst
Pallenço was listening to the reasons these men gave, others went apart
and would not hear any part of that counsel, but suddenly appeared naked
before Pallenço, prepared to throw themselves into the water. "Here we
are," said they, "order us what to do, for death is the same in every
part, and if God hath determined that we should die in His service, this
is the best time in which to finish our lives." After this, admonished
by their captain, they made ready their clothes and arms as well as they
could and fell to swimming; and so it pleased God that, rough as the sea
was there, all twelve of them gained the shore as they had left the
ships. Then they began to take their way along the beach, and they had
not gone far when one of them who was in front spake to the others,
telling them to be quiet, for that he saw the footprints of people, and
the best was that they appeared to him to be recent. "Meseemeth," said
he, "that we should go after them, for by the appearance of their
footmarks, they ought not to be far off." "And for what," said the
others, "did we adventure ourselves before our companions to leap into
the sea, if we were to do otherwise?" Then they ordered three men to go
in front and to keep their eyes on the track, and the others were to
follow after them. And when they had gone in that expectation for the
space of two leagues, they discovered a valley, and herein those men who
were in the van caught sight of the Moors whose track they were
following; but they seemed to them to be so few that, with the good will
that was in them, they felt grieved, even though they had a greater
assurance of victory. And so they turned their faces toward the others,
who were coming behind, to advise them of the booty that was before
them; and their words were brief, for scarcely had they begun to speak
of "Moors" when the men behind were already beginning to run, and to
raise their battle-cries as they ran; and the sound of these both warned
and saddened their enemies. But for the last there was no other remedy
save flight, for they had little care of their poor and scanty goods;
and sure I am that those who escaped thence were slow to return with
longing regret for their baggage. Now our men had commenced their chace
early, and were already wearied by their landing from the pinnace and by
their going along the road; therefore they were not able to follow much
upon the track; and on this account their booty was much diminished, for
they captured no more than nine persons. "It would be well," said some,
"were we to set aside six of our people to take these prisoners to the
ships, and that the other six remaining should search through that thick
undergrowth, for there perchance we shall find some[BR] in hiding."
Accordingly those who were to return with the captives straightway
separated from the others and began to bind their prisoners in the best
way they could; but it seemeth that they did it not as well as the case
required, although six were sufficient for[BS] nine, as you have already
heard that others had previously convoyed many more without any contrary
hap. And since women are usually stubborn, one woman of that company
began to take it in conceipt to refuse to walk, throwing herself on the
ground and letting herself be dragged along by the hair and the legs,
having no pity on herself; and her over-great stubbornness compelled our
men to leave her there bound, intending to return for her another day.
And as they were going along in this contention, the others[BT] began to
disperse, fleeing some to one side and some to another, and two of them
got away, not counting the Mooress whom they had already left bound; and
though our men laboured hard to catch them, they were not successful,
for it appeareth that the spot was such that they were easily able to
conceal themselves. And so they were forced to bring those six to the
beach with many complaints of their ill fortune; and herein the others
shared who arrived later without having found anything. Some among them
still wished to return for the Mooress who had been left behind in
bonds, but as it was very late and the sea was dangerous, they gave up
the attempt, and afterward they had no opportunity, for the pinnace
departed straightway; and so remained the Mooress with her foolish
stubbornness, strongly bound in that wood, wherein I believe she would
meet with a troublous death, for those who escaped thence, being
frightened by the first encounter, would not return that way very soon.
And as these ships went on their course, the wind began to freshen and
to blow very strongly, and so greatly were the said ships beaten about
by the storm that the pinnace commenced to leak and to take in so much
water that Pallenço perceived that it could not well voyage any further.
For if it did, there was a doubt whether it would reach the place he
desired, and also there might chance to come such a wind that the
caravel would be separated from them, and their lives would be put in
peril. So he said to Dinis Diaz that he should receive him into his
ship, and also the rest of the crew, together with all the fittings and
tackle of the pinnace, as well as much of the wood for fuel; and when
these had been brought on board, they scuttled the pinnace and set
forward on their voyage.
[Footnote BR: Natives.]
[Footnote BS: _I.e._, to guard.]
[Footnote BT: Captives.]
CHAPTER LXXII.
Of what happened to Rodrigueannes de Travaços and Dinis Diaz.
We have already told how Rodrigueannes and Dinis Diaz sailed in company,
but this is the fitting place where it behoveth us to declare certainly
all that happened to them. And it was so, that they, sailing in company
after the manner we have already told, which we believe was after the
scuttling of the pinnace, came to Cape Verde; and thence they went to
the islands,[N165] and took in water, and knew for sure by the tracks
all over them that other ships had already passed by that way. From
there they began to make proof of the Guineas, in search of whom they
had come there, but they found them so well prepared, that though they
essayed to get on shore many a time, they always encountered such a bold
defence that they dared not come to close quarters. "It may be," said
Dinis Diaz, "that these men will not be so brave in the night time as by
day; therefore I wish to try what their courage is, and I can readily
know it this next night." And this in fact was put in practice, for as
soon as the sun had quite hidden its light, he went on shore, taking
with him two men, and came upon two inhabited places which seemed to him
so large that he thought it best to leave them, for his expedition was
not in order to adventure anything, but only that he might advise his
other comrades of what they should do. Then he returned to the ship and
there described to Rodrigueannes and the others all that he had found.
"We," said he, "should be acting with small judgment, were we wishful to
adventure a conflict like this; for I discovered a village divided into
two large parts full of habitations, and you know that the people of
this land are not so easily captured as we desire, for they are very
strong men, very wary and very well prepared in their combats, and the
worst is that they have their arrows poisoned with a very dangerous
herb. Wherefore it seemeth to me that we ought to turn back, for all our
toil will be the cause of our death, if we should make an attempt upon
these people." To this the others replied that it was well said, for
they all knew that he spake the truth. Then they mended their sails and
commenced to leave. Now Dinis Diaz said that he had seen one thing on
that island that seemed to him a novelty, as far as his knowledge went,
that is he saw, among the cows, two strange animals, very ugly in
comparison with the other cattle; but as these two were going in company
with them, I hold that they might perchance be buffaloes,[N166] which
are animals in the nature of oxen. And it was so, that as those men were
returning, Rodrigueannes, who was leaving that land ill-contented
because he had found no opportunity of displaying the good-will he
nourished to achieve some honourable action, said to Dinis Diaz that it
seemed to him it would be well were they to send some of their men on
shore, for it might happen that some Moors would come to seize the wood
of the pinnace which they had left scuttled, and if they chanced on
them, they could not fail to capture some. And as Dinis Diaz agreed with
this, they put out their boats, in the which they dispatched twenty men
to the shore. And clear it is that Rodrigueannes was not mistaken in his
thought, for the Moors were already engaged in collecting that wood on
the shore; and when they saw that the boats were coming to the land,
they drew away a space from the beach, as men who said: "these are
arrived in search of us, therefore let us seek out a way by which we may
not only secure ourselves, but even do them hurt as well." So they threw
themselves into two ambushes with the object of enticing our men away
from the shore and employing their strength safely and without danger to
themselves. Meanwhile the Christians landed, and halted for a space to
order their movements, and this because they discovered such traces of
the Moors that they thought they could not be removed far from there;
yet they perceived by the number of the footmarks that the enemy was
many more in number than their forces could cope with, and this made
some ask that they should return, saying that it was not a thing to be
attempted. But others said, "There is no help for it; we are already on
shore, and it would be a disgrace were we to turn back; let the boats
return, and let us go forward in search of our enemies, and let all our
fortune rest in God's hand." And of the first twenty that were there six
turned back to the boats to take them to the ships, and the fourteen[BU]
went forward as they found that the tracks led in the direction of the
Upland. But their toil in marching was not long, for lo, the first
ambuscade began to disclose itself, and in it there would be about forty
Moors, who issued forth against them[BV] very eagerly, like men who felt
they had victory in their grasp, as well by reason of their numbers,
which were greater, as on account of the others who were lying in the
other ambuscade, on whom they relied to come and aid them. But although
the Moors came on thus boldly, the Christians did not turn their backs
to them, but on the contrary made ready their weapons, and after the
manner of fearless men awaited the coming of their foes. And after this
there began a very fierce combat between them, in the which lances and
arrows were not without employment, and they found neither harness nor
coat of mail to stay their course. Now there were no stones on the field
of which the Moors could much avail themselves; and as they were without
armour and the Christians employed all their efforts in wounding and
slaying them, the Moors began to feel themselves overmatched, and they
withdrew from our men as far as they could. And in this fight a page of
the Infant's Household, called Martin Pereira, toiled hard, and his
shield was as full of the enemy's weapons as though it were the back of
a porcupine when he lifteth his quills.
[Footnote BU: In text, Eighteen.]
[Footnote BV: The Portuguese.]
CHAPTER LXXIII.
Of how those in the second ambuscade disclosed themselves, and how the
Moors were vanquished.
The Moors did not draw off so far that the combat between the two sides
continued any the less fierce, and the chief reason of this was that
they expected succour from the second ambuscade, although it already
seemed to them that it tarried more than was reasonable. However, there
sallied forth at last twenty-five Moors, who lay in the said ambuscade,
and their loud cries did much to revive the courage of their companions,
and now you can understand how great would be the toil of our
Christians, with their scanty numbers placed amid so many foes. Of a
surety their fortitude showed itself very great on that occasion, for
though they were already wearied, and so many fresh fighters came upon
them, yet did they in no wise change their aspect which they had worn
before, and so like good men and brave they began to fight, calling out
one to the other that "damned was the man who turned back in such an
affair as the present." And those Moors of the first combat, though they
had previously shown signs of being vanquished, turned again very boldly
to renew the struggle, the which was very fierce between them; but the
Christians punished them so sorely that the enemy were already becoming
fearful, and did not readily approach where our men had the greatest
force. But this did not protect them, for the one or the other failed
not to receive mortal wounds, with the which they very soon finished the
term of their existence. And so it went on for a short while, until the
Moors saw some of their comrades fall and almost the greater part
wounded, and then they perceived that the longer they stayed there, the
worse would be the hurt inflicted on them. Wherefore they began although
quite at the first encounter they saw their companions engaged in that
fight, were encouraged to think that they would need no other
assistance, save that which none of us can dispense with, to wit, that
of our Lord God, and they were very joyous at the marvellous courage
they perceived in those men. But after they saw how the other ambush
came up, they feared much that they would not be able to stand against
them, wherefore they endeavoured as speedily as they could to give them
aid; but since the distance was great, they were not able to reach the
scene of the combat very quickly. And in a short time the Moors were all
fled, but our men did not follow up their track on account of the great
toil they had gone through, for thereby they were greatly fatigued. And
so they returned, with the others who were coming in their support, to
take shelter in their ships and attend to their wounds, for few were
without these, either great or small, according to the share of luck
that befell each man. And the Moors, when they saw how the Christians
were already returning, retraced their steps to the scene of the fight,
intending to carry off one of those dead men who it seemeth was
considered a noble amongst them; and our men perceiving their mind,
turned back against them to renew the fight. But the enemy, warned by
the hurt they had received before, left the dead man they were even then
bearing off, and took to flight as fast as they could, so that it seemed
to our men to be needful that they should return to their ships to give
rest and cure to their weary and wounded.
CHAPTER LXXIV.
Of how Rodrigueannes and Dinis Diaz returned to the kingdom,[BW] and of
what befell them on their voyage.
And though it be that I have already told of noble and great deeds in
this Chronicle, of a surety it is not without a cause that I add the
toil of those fourteen men to the praise of all the good, for their
merits are worthy of great honour among the living, and much more I
believe before the face of that Eternal Lord (whose centre, as
Hermes[N167] saith, is in every part in an infinite manner and whose
circumference is nowhere), for from Him shall their souls receive
glorious bliss. And to make an end of the actions of these two caravels,
I will say briefly that as soon as this fight was over, the captains
agreed to return straight to the Kingdom. But when they reached the Cape
of Tira, they both came to an accord to put on shore certain men, to see
whether they could still make any booty, though they knew for certain
that the land had been searched many times before. And so when these
were landed, to the number of fifty, they began to make their way along
the beach until they met with the footprints of men that led towards the
interior, and as the tracks appeared recent, they informed their
captains of it. And from them they received commandment to set aside
some of their number who should go forward and follow up the track until
they came upon the Moors who had made it. And as the land was very
level, the Moors caught sight of our men from a distance and began to
flee, and though the Christians ran hard after them they were never able
to follow them; but it happened that two youths of the company met with
a Moor whom they brought back with them as an evidence of their great
toil. And thence they forthwith made sail to Lisbon, where having paid
to the Infant his due, they had of him honour and reward.
[Footnote BW: Of Portugal.]
CHAPTER LXXV.
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.]
CHAPTER LXXVI.
How the Author beginneth to speak of the manner of that land.
It is well that we should here leave these matters at rest for a space
and treat of the limits of those lands through the which our people
journeyed in the labours of which we have spoken, in order that you may
have an understanding of the delusion in which our forefathers ever
lived who were affrighted to pass that Cape for fear of those things of
which we have told in the beginning of this book; and also that you may
see how great praise our Prince deserveth, by bringing their doubts
before the presence not only of us who are now living, but also of all
others who will be born in the time to come. And because one of the
things which they alleged to be a hindrance to the passage into these
lands consisted of the very strong currents that were there, on account
of which it was impossible for any ship to navigate those seas, you now
have a clear knowledge of their former error in that you have seen
vessels come and go as free from danger as in any part of the other
seas. They further alleged that the lands were all sandy and without any
inhabitants, and true it is that in the matter of the sands they were
not altogether deceived, but these were not so great as they thought;
while as to the inhabitants, you have clearly seen the contrary to be
the fact, since you witness the dwellers in those parts each day before
your eyes, although their inhabited places are chiefly villages and very
few towns. For from the Cape of Bojador to the kingdom of Tunis there
will not be in the whole, what with towns and places fortified for
defence, as many as fifty. They were no less at fault as regards the
depth of the sea, for they had it marked on their charts that the shores
were so shallow that at the distance of a league from the land there was
only a fathom of water; but this was found not to be so, for the ships
have had and have sufficient depth for their management, except for
certain shoals; and thus dwellings[N173] were made that exist on certain
sandbanks, as you will find now in the navigating charts[N174] which the
Infant caused to be prepared.
In the land of the Negroes there is no walled place save that which they
call Oadem,[N175] nor are there any settlements except some by the
water's edge, of straw houses, the which were emptied of their dwellers
by those that went there in the ships of this land. True it is that the
whole land is generally peopled, but their mode of living is only in
tents and carts,[N176] such as we use here when our princes do happen to
go upon a warlike march; and those who were captured there gave
testimony of this, and also John Fernandez, of whom we have already
spoken, related much concerning the same. All their principal study and
toil is in guarding their flocks, to wit, cows and sheep and goats and
camels, and they change their camp almost every day, for the longest
they can rest in one spot will be eight days. And some of their chief
men possess tame mares, of which they breed horses, though very few.
Their food consisteth for the great part of milk, and sometimes a little
meat and the seeds of wild herbs that they gather in those mountains,
and some who have been there have said that these herbs (but of them
there are few)[N177] seem to be the millet of that land. Also they eat
wheat when they can obtain it, in the same way that we in this land eat
confetti.[N178] And for many months of the year they and their horses
and dogs maintain themselves by no other thing except the drinking of
milk. And those that live by the sea shore eat nothing save fish, and
all for the most part without either bread or anything else, except the
water that they drink, and they generally eat their fish raw and dried.
Their clothing consisteth of a skin vest and breeches of the same, but
some of the more honourable wear bournouses; and some pre-eminent men,
who are almost above all the others, have good garments, like the other
Moors, and good horses and good saddles, and good stirrups, but these
are very few.
The women wear bournouses which are like mantles, with the which they
only cover their faces, and by that they think they have covered all
their shame, for they leave their bodies quite naked. "For sure," saith
he who compiled this history, "this is one of the things by the which
one may discern their great bestiality,[N179] for if they had some
particle of reason they would follow nature, and cover those parts only
which by its shewing ought to be covered, for we see how naturally in
each one of these shameful parts it placeth a circle of hair in proof
that it wished to hide them; and also some naturalists hold that if
those hairs be let alone, they will grow so much as to hide all the
parts of your shame." And the wives of the most honourable men wear
rings of gold in their nostrils and ears, as well as other jewels.
CHAPTER LXXVII.
Of the things that happened to John Fernandez.
That we may assist in the knowledge of these matters, let us relate in
this place the hap of John Fernandez[N180] in this land during those
seven months in which he stayed there in the service of the Lord Infant,
as you have already heard. Now he, remaining there in the power of the
relations of that Moor whom Antam Gonçalvez brought to this land, was
conducted by them with his garments and biscuit and some corn that was
left to him, and also his wearing apparel; and these things were all
taken from him against his will, and he was only given a bournous like
each of the other Moors wore. And the men with whom he thus remained
were shepherds, and they departed to their country with their sheep, and
he went with them.[N181] And he reported that this country is all sandy,
without any grass, except in the riverine lands or low-lying parts,
where there is some grass from which the herds obtain their poor
nutriment; but there are hills and mountains all of sand.[N182] And this
land runneth from Tagazza[CA][N183] as far as the land of the Negroes,
and it joineth with the Mediterranean Sea at the extremity of the
kingdom of Tunis and Momdebarque. And from there all the land is like
this I have described, even from the Mediterranean Sea as far as the
Negroes and Alexandria, all peopled by shepherd folk in greater or
smaller numbers, according as they find pasturage for their flocks; and
there are no trees in it save small ones, such as the fig-tree of
Hell[CB] or the thorn, and in some places there are palms.[N184] And all
the water[N185] is from wells, for there are no running streams, save in
a very few spots, and the breadth of this land will be three thousand
leagues and its length a thousand, and there is no noble place in it
save Alexandria and Cairo.
[Footnote CA: In text "Tagaoz."]
[Footnote CB: The _Palma Christi_.]
Now the characters in which they write[N186] and the language which they
speak are not like those of the other Moors, but are clean different;
yet they are all of the sect of Mohammed, and are called Arabs[CC] and
Azanegues and Berbers.[N187] And they all go in the manner I have
already said, to wit, in tents with their herds, wherever it pleaseth
them, without any rule or governance or law, for each goeth as he
willeth and doeth what pleaseth him in so far as he hath power. They
make war with the Negroes more by thieving than by force, for they have
not so great strength as these last.[N188] And to their land come some
Moors and they sell them of those Negroes whom they have kidnapped, or
else they take them to Momdebarque, which is beyond the kingdom of
Tunis, to sell[N189] to the Christian merchants who go there, and they
give them these slaves in exchange for bread and some other things, just
as they do now at the Rio do Ouro, as will be related further on. And
'tis well for you to know that in all the land of Africa which
stretcheth from Egypt to the West, the Moors have no other kingdom than
the kingdom of Fez, in the which lieth that of Marocco and of Tafilet;
and the kingdom of Tunis, in which is that of Tlemcen[CD] and of Bugia;
and all the rest of the country is possessed by these Arabs and
Azanegues, who are shepherds on horseback and foot, and who travel over
the plains as I have already related. And it is said that in the land of
the Negroes there is another kingdom called Melli, but this is not
certain;[N190] for they bring the Negroes from that kingdom, and sell
them like the others, whereas 'tis manifest that if they were Moors they
would not sell them so.
[Footnote CC: In text "Alarves."]
[Footnote CD: In text "Tremecam."]
And returning to the hap of John Fernandez, who went off thus with those
shepherds; He reported that, as he journeyed with them over those sands
he oftentimes had not sufficient milk. And it fell out one day that two
horsemen passed by there who were journeying in the direction of that
Ahude Meymam, of whom we have already spoken before, and they asked this
John Fernandez if he wished to go to the place where that Moor lived?
"Well it pleaseth me," answered John Fernandez, "for I have heard that
he is a noble man, and I would fain go to see and know him." So then the
others placed him on a camel and they began to journey in the direction
where they thought the Moor was, and they travelled so far that the
water they were carrying fell very low, on which account they went three
days without drinking. And he saith that they know not the place where
any people dwell save by keeping their eyes on the heavens,[N191] and
where they see crows and _hussos francos_,[N192] they judge there are
people, for in all that country there is no fixed road save those that
go by the sea coast. And that John Fernandez said that those Moors with
whom he travelled guided themselves by the winds alone, as is done on
the sea, and by those birds which we have already mentioned. And they
journeyed so far through that land, enduring their thirst, until they
reached the place where was that Ahude Meymam with his sons and with
others who accompanied him, in number as many as one hundred and fifty
men. And to him John Fernandez made his reverence, and the Moor received
him right well, and ordered him to be supplied with the food on which he
supported himself, to wit, milk, so that at the time he was picked up by
the caravels he was well nourished and of a good colour. He reported
that the heats of that land are very great, and so is the dust of those
sands, and the men on foot many, and therefore few on horseback, for the
remainder who are not such as to travel on foot go on camels, of which
latter some are white and make fifty leagues[N193] in the day. And there
is a great sufficiency of these camels, not of the white in particular,
but of all colours, and there are also many flocks and herds, though the
pastures be so few, as we have already noted. And he further saith that
they have captive Negroes, and that the men of rank possess abundant
gold, which they bring from that land where the Negroes live; and that
there are in that land many ostriches[CE] and deer, and gazelles and
partridges and hares, and that the swallows which depart hence[CF] in
the summer go and winter there on those sands, and I believe this is on
account of the heat; and other small birds go there as well, but he
saith that the storks pass over to the land of the Negroes, where they
abide through the winter.
[Footnote CE: In text "Emas."]
[Footnote CF: Portugal.]
CHAPTER LXXVIII.
Of the leagues that the caravels of the Infant went beyond the Cape, and
of other things of all kinds.
It was the opinion among many people in Spain, and of other parts as
well, that those great birds called ostriches did not hatch their eggs,
but that as soon as they laid them on the sand they left them there; but
it was found to be quite the contrary, for they lay twenty and thirty
eggs and hatch them like other birds. And he[CG] reporteth that the
things in that land, by which those who live by merchandise may gain
profit, are those Negroes, whereof they have many whom they kidnap; and
gold, which they get from the land of the latter; and hides, and wool,
and butter, together with cheeses, of which there are many there; and
also dates in great abundance, which are brought from another part, and
amber, and the perfume of the civet, and resin,[N194] and oil, and skins
of sea-wolves, which are in great numbers in the Rio do Ouro as you have
heard. And they could also obtain somewhat of the merchandise of Guinea,
of which there are many kinds and very good, as will be recounted
further on. And it was found that up to this era of 1446 years from the
birth of Jesus Christ, fifty and one caravels had voyaged to those
parts; but of the sum of the Moors that they captured we will speak at
the end of this first book. And these caravels passed beyond the
Cape[CH] four hundred and fifty leagues. And it is found that all that
coast goeth to the south, with many promontories, according to what this
our Prince had added to the navigating chart. And it should be
understood that what had been known for certain of the coast of the
great sea was six hundred[N195] leagues, and to them are now added these
four hundred and fifty. And what was shown on the _mappemonde_ with
respect to this coast was not true, for they only depicted it at hazard;
but this which is now placed on the charts was a matter witnessed by the
eye, as you have already heard.[N196]
[Footnote CG: Fernandez.]
[Footnote CH: Bojador.]
CHAPTER LXXIX.
Which speaketh of the Island of Canary and of the manner of living
there.
Meseemeth I ought to give an account of many things in this book, for if
I speak of them so briefly, those that read the history will remain
still in desire and wishful to learn the details by which to perfect
their knowledge. And since I told in the beginning of this book how the
Infant Don Henry despatched an expedition to the Canary Islands, and
afterwards how the ships sailed there to make some captures, I would now
set forth the number of these islands and the manner of their
inhabitants, and of their beliefs, and after that, everything that
pertaineth to them. And, as I have found in ancient writings, in the
time that the King Don Henry reigned in Castile, who was son of Don John
the first, who was vanquished at the battle of Aljubarrota, a certain
nobleman of France called Monsieur Jean de Béthencourt, who was a noble
and Catholic man, and desired to render service to God, having learnt
that these islands belonged to infidels, set out from his country with
the purpose of subduing them. And coming into Castile he obtained ships
and men, more than he brought, and he went against them and had great
toil in their conquest; but at last he made subject three, and four
remained to be subdued. And for that Monsieur Jean had now used all the
provisions and money which he brought with him, he was obliged to go
back to his country with the intention of returning again to finish the
conquest of the whole number; and in those three which he had already
conquered he left as captain a nephew of his, called Monsieur
Maciot.[N197] But Monsieur Jean, when he arrived in France, returned no
more to this land; some said because he fell ill of grave disorders
which prevented him from returning to accomplish his good purpose;
others again declared that he was kept back by the King of France on
account of the wars in which he was engaged, in the which he needed his
services; so the said Monsieur Maciot remained there for a time until he
passed over to the Island of Madeira, as will be related further on. And
the peopling of these three islands, at the time of the putting together
of this book, was as follows: in the island called Lançarote there dwelt
sixty men, and in that of Fuerteventura eighty, and in the other, called
Ferro, there would be twelve men. And these are the three which were
subdued by that great lord of France. And all their inhabitants are
Christians, and carry out among them the divine offices, having churches
and priests. But there is another island called Gomera, which Monsieur
Maciot laboured to conquer with the aid of some Castilians whom he took
in his company, and they were unable to perfect their conquest, although
among those Canarians there are some Christians. And the number of its
inhabitants will be seven hundred men, and in the other island of Palma
there dwell five. And in the sixth island, which is that of Teneriffe or
Inferno, because it hath on the top a chasm through which fire
continually issueth forth, there dwell six thousand fighting men. The
seventh island they call Grand Canary, in which there will be five
thousand fighting men. These three islands, from the commencement of the
world, have never been subdued, but many men have already been carried
off from them, and by means of these nearly all their manner of life
hath been learnt. And because they seemed to me very different from the
usage of other races, I would here discourse a little about it, so that
those who have received such grace from the Lord that they are outside
the tale of such bestiality, may praise the Lord for it, because it
pleased Him that all things should be made in such different manners,
and that those who are placed in the holy law of Christ, and for His
love would suffer some hardness of life, may get them great courage to
enable them to support it well, when they recollect that these others
are men likewise and that they spend such a hard and rough life with
pleasure and delight to themselves. Now of all these islands which I
have already named Grand Canary is the largest, and it will be in
circumference six-and-thirty leagues. Its people are not without
cunning, but of little good faith; and they know that there is a God
from whom those who work good will receive good, and those who work evil
will receive evil. And they have two men amongst them whom they call
kings, and one duke, but all the rule of the island is in the hands of
certain knights, who cannot be less than one hundred and ninety in
number, nor as many as two hundred. And when five or six of these are
dead, the other knights meet together and select as many more of them
who are also the sons of knights, for they must not choose others, and
these they put in the place of those who are dead, so that the number
may always be full. And some declare that these men are of the noblest
birth recorded, for they have ever been of the lineage of knights
without admixture of villein blood. And these knights know their creed,
but the others know nothing of it, but say only that they believe what
their knights believe. And they must violate all the virgin girls, and
after one of the knights hath slept with the girl, then her father or he
may marry her to whomsoever he pleaseth. But before they sleep with them
they fatten them with milk until their skin is wrinkled like that of a
fig, for they hold that the thin girl is not as good as the fat one; and
they say that so the womb is enlarged, enabling them to bear big
children. And so, when she is stout, they exhibit her naked to those
knights, and he who hath a mind to violate her, telleth her father that
she is now fat enough. And her father or mother maketh her enter into
the sea during some days for a certain time in each day, and she is then
relieved of some of her excessive fatness, and then they take her to the
knight, and when she hath been violated her father taketh her home.
These people fight with stones, and have no other arms save a short
stick to hit with. They are very daring and strong fighters on the land,
which is very stony, and they defend it well. All of them go naked and
only wear a fork of coloured palm-leaves round about them by way of
breeches, which hideth their shame, but many of them lack even this.
They possess neither gold, nor silver, or money, nor jewels, nor any
engines of warfare, save some things they make with stones, which they
use in the place of hangers, and with which they also construct the
houses wherein they dwell. They hold all gold and silver and every other
metal in disdain, counting it folly in him who desireth them, and
commonly there is none among them that hath a different opinion from the
others. Neither care they for clothes of any kind, much or little; but
rather they mock at the man who prizeth them, as they do with one who
prizeth gold and silver, and all the other things I have mentioned; only
they set great store on iron, which they fashion by the aid of these
stones and make hooks of it to fish with. They have wheat and barley,
but they are without the wit to make bread, and only make meal which
they devour with flesh and butter. And they have many figs and dragon's
blood trees, and dates, though poor ones, and they have also herbs which
they eat. And they possess moreover sheep and goats and a sufficiency of
pigs. And they number five thousand fighting men, as I have said above.
They only shave with stones. Some of them call themselves Christians;
and after the Infant sent Don Fernando de Castro there with his fleet,
in the which he carried two thousand and five hundred men and one
hundred and twenty horses, many of them became Christians; and because
Don Fernando was fearful that the victuals he carried would not last, he
left without conquering them altogether. And afterwards the Infant
wished to send another expedition there, but the King of Castile
interfered in the matter, saying that the Islands belonged to his
conquest, which of a surety is not so. And hereby this very pious
undertaking, to wit, that this people might live under the law of
Christ, still remained to be accomplished. But this fleet was dispatched
there in the year of Christ one thousand four hundred twenty and four.
The inhabitants of the island think it a great evil to kill flesh or
skin it, and so if they get a Christian from abroad, they are rejoiced
for him to be their butcher. And when they cannot obtain as many as they
need for that trade, they seek out the worst men in the island for this
charge, and the women will have nothing to do with these persons, and
the men will not eat with them, for they hold them to be worse than
lepers among us. They light fires by sticks, rubbing one against the
other. The mothers suckle their children with disgust, so that the
greater part of the rearing of their babies is done by the teats of
she-goats.
CHAPTER LXXX.
Which speaketh of the Island of Gomera.
The fighting of the men of the island of Gomera is done with small rods
like arrows, sharp and burnt in the fire. They go about naked without
any clothes, and have little shame at it; for they make a mockery of
clothes, saying that they are but sacks in which men put themselves.
They have only a small amount of barley and the flesh of pigs and goats,
but little of all this. Their food is chiefly milk and herbs, like the
beasts, and the roots of rushes, and rarely meat; they eat dirty and
foul things such as rats, fleas, lice, and ticks, and consider them all
as good viands. They possess no houses, but live in holes and huts.
Their women are almost common, and when anyone cometh where another is,
at once the latter giveth him his woman by way of hospitality, and him
that doeth otherwise, they hold as a bad man.[N198] Wherefore the sons
do not inherit among them, but only their nephews, sons of their
sisters. The greater part of their time they spend in dancing and
singing, for their whole luxury consisteth in sport without work. They
place all their happiness in the commerce of the sexes, for they have no
teaching of a law, but only believe that there is a God. They will be
seven hundred fighting men, who have a duke and certain headmen.
CHAPTER LXXXI.
Of the Island of Inferno or Teneriffe.
Meseemeth I find a betterment of life among those inhabitants of the
island of Inferno, for they are well supplied with wheat and barley and
vegetables, with many pigs and sheep and goats, and they go clothed in
skins; but they possess not houses, but only huts and dens, in the which
they spend their lives. Also they draw in their privy parts, as horses
do, who only extend them when they have to generate issue, or to make
water. And they hold it to be as evil to act otherwise as we do in the
case of those who go about without small clothes. Their fighting is done
with staves made of the inner wood of the pine, fashioned like great
javelins, very sharp, burnt in the fire, and dry. And they number from
eight to nine bands, each with a king, whom they must always take with
them, although death come to him, until the other who succeedeth to the
lordship after him happeneth to die, so that they always have with them
one dead and the other alive. And so, when the other dieth and there are
two dead, and they have to abandon one according to their bestial
ordinance, or more rightly I will say, custom, they bear him to a pit in
which they throw him, and he who carrieth him on his neck exclaimeth as
he throws him--"May he go to salvation." And these men are strong and
daring, and have wives of their own, and they live more like men than
some of these others; they fight one with the other, and in this all
their principal care consisteth, and they believe that there is a God.
CHAPTER LXXXII.
Of the Island of Palma.
The inhabitants of this island of Palma have neither bread nor
vegetables, but only sheep and milk and herbs, and maintain themselves
on these; they know not to recognise God nor any faith, but only think
they believe; like the other cattle they are very bestial; and they say
they have certain among them who are called kings; and their fighting is
done with staves like the men of Teneriffe, except that where an iron
head should be, they put a sharp horn, and another at the lower end,
though not so sharp an one as that at the top. They have no fish, nor do
the men of this island eat them; and, while those of all the other
islands do just the contrary, seeking means to capture them and making
use of them in their housekeeping, these men only do not eat fish nor
are they at the pains to capture them. And the number of inhabitants
will be five hundred men, which is a great marvel, that being so few
they have never been conquered from the beginning of the world; and from
this it is evident how all things are only as God willeth them to be,
and at the times and within the bounds that please Him.
CHAPTER LXXXIII.
Of how the Island of Madeira was peopled, and also the other Islands
that are in that part.
Since I have related, in the fifth Chapter of this work, where I spoke
of the especial things which the Infant performed for the service of God
and the honour of the realm, how that among the other matters
accomplished by him was the peopling of these islands, I would here tell
briefly of the said peopling, and the more particularly as in the past
few chapters I have spoken of the Canary Islands. Now it was so, that in
the household of the Infant there were two noble esquires, brought up by
that lord, men young in years and fit for great deeds. And after the
Infant returned from raising the siege of Ceuta, when the united power
of those Moorish Kings had encircled it, these men begged him to put
them in the way to perform some honourable deed, like men who desired it
much, for it seemed to them that their time was ill spent if they did
not toil in some undertaking with their bodies. And the Infant,
perceiving their good wills, bade them make ready a vessel in which they
were to go on a warlike enterprise against the Moors, directing them to
voyage in search of the land of Guinea, which he already had purposed to
discover.[N199] And since it pleased God to ordain such a benefit, both
for this Kingdom and also for many other parts, He guided them so that,
even with the weather against them, they reached the island that is now
called Porto Santo, being nigh to the island of Madeira, the which may
be seven leagues in circumference. And so they remained there for some
days and right well examined the land, and it seemed to them that it
would be a very profitable thing to people it. And returning thence to
the Kingdom, they spoke of it to the Infant, and described the goodness
of the land and the desire they had as to its peopling; and this pleased
the Infant much, and he straightway took order for them to obtain what
was needful to enable them to return to the said island. And as they
were busied in the work of making ready for their departure, there
joined himself to their company Bartholomew Perestrello, a nobleman of
the household of the Infant Don John; and these men, having all their
things ready, set out on their voyage to the said island. And it
happened that among the things they took with them to stock the said
island was a she-rabbit, which had been given to Bartholomew Perestrello
by a friend of his, and the rabbit went in a hutch pregnant, and it came
about that it gave birth to young on the sea, and so they took all these
to the island. And when they were lodged in their huts, to make ready
houses for themselves, they set free that female rabbit with her young
to breed; and these in a very short time multiplied so much as to
overspread the land, so that our men could sow nothing that was not
destroyed by them.
And it is a marvel how they found in the year following their arrival,
that although they killed a very great quantity of these rabbits, there
yet remained no lack of them. Wherefore they abandoned that island and
passed over to the other isle of Madeira, which will be forty leagues in
circumference, and twelve leagues distant from Porto Santo; and there
stayed the two, to wit, John Gonçalvez and Tristam, and Bartholomew
Perestrello returned to the kingdom. This second island they discovered
to be good, especially in very noble flowing waters, which are made to
irrigate what part they will; and there they began to make very great
sowings, from the which they obtained most abundant crops. From that
time they saw that the land had good air and was healthy, and they found
many birds, which in the beginning they were wont to capture in their
hands, and they discovered many other good things in the said island. So
they let the Infant know all this, and he straightway laboured to send
there other people and ornaments for a church, and clerics, so that in a
very brief space a great portion of that land was put to use. And the
Infant, considering how those two men were the pioneers of this
settlement, bestowed on them the chief governance of the island, to wit,
on John Gonçalvez Zarco, who was a noble man and had been made a knight
at the siege of Tangier in a battle that the Infant won there upon a
Thursday, of which the history of the Kingdom maketh a fuller mention.
And this John Gonçalvez had already been present at very great actions,
and especially at the raising of the siege of Ceuta and the overthrow of
the Moors that took place on the day of arrival. And to this man the
Infant gave the governance of the portion of the island called Funchal,
and the other part called Machico[CI][N200] he bestowed on Tristam, who
also was dubbed a knight in a foray that was made at Ceuta; and he was a
very daring man, but not so noble in every other respect as John
Gonçalvez. And the beginning of the peopling of this island took place
in the year of the birth of Jesus Christ one thousand and four hundred
and twenty; and at the time of the making of this history it was peopled
reasonably well, for there were in it one hundred and fifty inhabitants,
besides other persons such as traders and unmarried men and women and
youths, and boys and girls who had been born on the said island, as well
as clerics and friars, and others who came and went for their
merchandise and for those things which they cannot dispense with in that
island. And in the year one thousand and four hundred and forty-five the
Infant despatched a knight called Gonçallo Velho,[N201] who was a
Commander of the Order of Christ, to go and people other two islands
that are distant from those one hundred and seventy leagues to the
north-west. And one of these the Infant Don Pedro began to people with
the approval of his brother; but his death followed shortly, therefore
it remained afterwards for the Infant Don Henry to continue this work.
And to this island Don Pedro had assigned the name of St. Michael, on
account of the singular devotion which he had ever felt to that Saint.
And the Infant Don Henry also caused to return to the island of Porto
Santo, for the purpose of peopling it, Bartholomew Perestrello, the same
man who had first voyaged there with John Gonçalvez and Tristam; but
owing to the multitude of rabbits, which are almost without end, no
tillage is possible there, but many cattle are reared there, and
dragon's blood is also collected there and brought for sale to this
Kingdom, and taken to many other parts as well. And he turned out cattle
on another island which lieth seven leagues from the island of Madeira,
intending to have it peopled like the other, and its name is Deserta.
And of these seven islands, four are as large as that of Madeira and
three are smaller. And for the profit of the Order of Christ, whose
governor the Infant was at the time of the said peopling, he gave the
said Order all the revenues ecclesiastical of the island of Madeira and
of Porto Santo and all the revenues both ecclesiastical and temporal of
the other island, of which he made Gonçallo Velho Commander. And beside
all this he bequeathed to the said Order the tithes and half the sugar
produce of the Island of St. Michael.
[Footnote CI: In the text, "Machito."]
CHAPTER LXXXIV.
Of how the Infant Don Henry required of the King the right over the
Canaries.
In the year 1446 the Infant began to make ready his ships to return to
the said conquest, but before doing aught in the same, he requested the
Infant Don Pedro, his brother, who at that time was ruling the Kingdom
in the name of the King, to give him a Letter forbidding all the
subjects of these realms from daring to go to the Canary Islands, to
make war or treat of merchandise, without the command of the said
Infant. This letter was granted him, and beside this he was privileged
to enjoy a fifth of whatever should be brought from there; and this was
very rightly given him, considering the great expense which that noble
Prince had incurred in the matter of the said conquest. And though we
found the substance of that letter set forth in the former book written
by Affonso Cerveira, by aid of which we prosecute this history, yet we
care not to transcribe it, for it is no new thing to any one of
experience to see such writings, and well we know that their style would
rather induce weariness in readers, so trite is it, than the desire to
see their accustomed reasonings.[N201a]
CHAPTER LXXXV.
Of how the caravel of Alvaro Dornellas returned, and of the Canarians
that he took.
Now in this chapter it behoveth us to return to the action of Alvaro
Dornellas, about whom we wrote that he stayed in the Canary Islands. And
he let himself remain there out of shame, for it seemed to him that he
would be blamed if he were to turn back to the kingdom without any
booty, by means of which some portion of his toil might be known. And it
was so, that Affonso Marta brought his caravel, as we have told, and
this was despatched to the Madeira Islands. For here the said Alvaro
Dornellas ordered him to take in provisions against the price he should
receive for the sale of two Canarians that he forwarded in her, and he
remained to pay those persons from whom he had borrowed them in
merchandise equal in value. But by the chance of the weather he failed
to make the Islands, and was forced to enter the river-mouth at Lisbon,
where at that season was one John Dornellas, an esquire of the King, a
man of noble birth, brought up in the household of the King Don John and
the King Don Edward, and a cousin of this Alvaro Dornellas of whom we
are speaking, who had an equal share with him in the ownership of the
said caravel. And both were of one mind to go in her, only they accorded
not as to the date of their first departure, when John Dornellas
received command of the King, ordering him to abstain for the time from
making the said voyage, for so it was necessary for his service. And
when that esquire saw how the caravel came, he knew the necessity in
which his cousin must be, and he at once had provisions and men got
ready in haste so that the ship might be furnished, and he also took
merchandise, by means of which he thought his cousin might satisfy his
debt in respect of the captives he had taken. Now this John Dornellas
was a man of courage, and longed to accomplish great actions, and so he
made his voyage with despatch, although it was at great expense to
himself, and arrived in a short time at that island where his cousin
was, namely, the one called Fuerteventura. And Alvaro Dornellas arrived
there as soon as he knew of his coming, and taking aside his cousin, he
said to him: "In that I have informed these Castilians that this caravel
is all mine (which I said that they might have cause to help me better
in my actions, thinking that you would not come to this land, and also
more especially that I might fit out by their help a pinnace that is
here), I beg of you, even though this thing may be in some part a
lessening of your honour, that for my sake you will be pleased to endure
it, and advise all[CJ] to say none the less that the ship is mine, and
that as a thing of mine it arrived here, with all it containeth. And
from this moment, dear cousin, it remaineth for you to command me in
some other matter, albeit a greater one, at a future time; and you may
be well assured that, beside the reasons I have, if I receive this
favour of you, I shall perform it with such good will as you shall see."
"By God, cousin," replied John Dornellas, "though it be somewhat of a
hardship for me to lessen my honour, being the man I am and with the
upbringing I have had, yet I am well pleased to put all out of sight in
order to do your will, although some of the men who come with me are
persons of such rank that they have accompanied me here more out of
friendship than from hope of profit. For here I have Diego Vasquez
Portocarreiro, an esquire of the King our lord, and other good men; but
I will endeavour what I can in the business." And this in fact he did,
so that all ended as Alvaro Dornellas desired. But this much you ought
to know, that he acted afterwards quite contrary to what his words
showed. For but little time had passed when John Dornellas perceived his
deceit, and on account of this they were henceforth in very great
contention, and almost came to slaying one another over it, but the
matter is not fit unto this place. And so when both men came to this
first agreement, they straightway armed the pinnace, and arrived in
company at the Island of Gomera, where Alvaro Dornellas, as the captain,
spake with the chief men of the island and asked them, on behalf of the
Infant Don Henry, that they would give him some assistance to go to the
island of Palma to make some captures. And they with good will granted
him as much as he required. And so taking some of those Canarians to aid
them, they reached a port of the island of Palma, where they landed and
at once concealed themselves in a valley, because it was in the day time
and they feared to be discovered. But as soon as night fell, they began
to journey through the island without any guide or sure path by which to
direct them to any certain part, but only at any venture that God might
be pleased to ordain for them, until they arrived at a place where they
heard the barking of dogs, and knew by this that they were nigh to an
inhabited spot. "Now that we are already sure of that we seek," said
some, "let us rest here in this valley, and very early, God permitting,
we will go against them, for our going now might bring to us rather
injury than benefit." And so they reposed there until they saw it was
time to attack their foes, and then they charged them with such vigour
that in a very brief space they captured twenty. And since the Canarians
gave them much trouble in their attempts to deliver their relations and
friends, and also to avenge others who were left for dead, John
Dornellas said to his cousin that he should take the captives and go on
in advance with them, and he would hold in check the others, so that
they might not diminish the booty; and in this stay, although they were
hard pressed, yet they availed to escape from them, leaving fifteen of
them dead in that valley, and none of the Christians died, and only two
were wounded. And so they returned to the island of Gomera, where Alvaro
Dornellas was compelled to stay, while his cousin departed to the
Kingdom. But such lack of provisions overtook them that they looked for
no other remedy than to eat some of those captives, as they felt they
could be saved in no other way. However, it pleased God that before they
came to this extremity, they made the port of Tavira,[CK] which is in
the kingdom of the Algarve.[N202]
[Footnote CJ: Your men.]
[Footnote CK: The text has the old form, "Tavilla."]
CHAPTER LXXXVI.
Of how Nuno Tristam was slain in the land of Guinea, and of those who
died with him.
Ah, in what brief words do I find enregistered[N202a] the record of the
death of such a noble knight as was this Nuno Tristam, of whose sudden
end I purpose to speak in the present chapter. And of a surety I could
not pass it by without tears, did I not know, almost by divine forecast,
the eternal delight his soul tasteth, for it seemeth to me that I should
be reckoned as covetous by all true Catholics were I to bewail the death
of one whom it hath pleased God to make a sharer in His immortality. And
of a surety, inasmuch as he was the first knight who by himself bestowed
that honour[CL] on another in that land, and as I made a commencement of
this book with an account of the booty he obtained, so did I feel almost
resolved to conclude it with his death, giving to his divine soul the
primary seat of celestial glory as the firstfruits of all the others
who for God's sake were to meet their end in that land. Now this noble
knight was perfectly informed of the great desire and purpose of our
virtuous Prince, being one who from such an early youth had been brought
up in his household; and seeing how the Prince was toiling to send his
ships to the land of the Negroes and much further yet, if he might
accomplish it; and hearing that some caravels had already passed the
river of Nile, and the things that were reported from there; it seemed
to him that if he were not to make himself one of that elect company and
to render service to the Infant his lord in that land in any good thing
that might be done or encountered there, he could not obtain the name of
a good man and true. Wherefore he straightway made him ready a caravel,
and having it armed, he began his voyage and stayed not in any part, but
pursued his course toward the land of the Negroes. And passing by Cape
Verde, he went sixty leagues further on and came unto a river, in the
which it seemed to him that there ought to be some inhabited places.
Wherefore he caused to be launched two small boats he was carrying, and
in them there entered twenty-two men, to wit, ten in one and twelve in
the other. And as they began to take their way up the river, the tide
was rising with the which they entered, and they made for some
habitations that they espied on the right hand. And it came to pass that
before they went on shore, there appeared from the other side twelve
boats, in the which there would be as many as seventy or eighty Guineas,
all Negroes, with bows in their hands. And because the water was rising,
one of the boats of the Guineas crossed to the other side and put on
shore those it was carrying, and thence they began to shoot arrows at
our men in the boats. And the others[CM] who remained in the boats
bestirred themselves as much as they could to get at our men, and as
soon as they perceived themselves to be within reach, they discharged
that accursed ammunition of theirs all full of poison upon the bodies of
our countrymen. And so they held on in pursuit of them until they had
reached the caravel which was lying outside the river in the open sea;
and they[CN] were all hit by those poisoned arrows, in such wise that
before they came on board four of them died in the boats. And so,
wounded as they were, they made fast their small boats to the ship, and
commenced to make ready for their voyage, seeing their case, how
perilous it was; but they were not able to lift their anchors for the
multitude of arrows with which they were attacked, and they were
constrained to cut the cables so that not one remained. And so they
began to make sail, leaving the boats behind, for they could not hoist
them up. And it came to pass that of the twenty-two men that left the
ship only two escaped, to wit, one André Diaz and another Alvaro da
Costa, both esquires of the Infant and natives of the City of Evora; and
the remaining nineteen[CO] died, for that poison was so artfully
composed that a slight wound, if it only let blood, brought men to their
last end. And there died that noble Knight Nuno Tristam,[N203] very
desirous as he was of this present life, in that there was no place left
him to buy his death like a brave man. And there died also another
Knight called John Correa and one Duarte Dollanda and Estevam Dalmeida
and Diego Machado, men of noble birth and young in years, brought up by
the Infant in his household; as well as other esquires and foot soldiers
of the same upbringing; and seamen and others of the ship's company.
[Footnote CL: Of knighthood.]
[Footnote CM: Guineas.]
[Footnote CN: Our men.]
[Footnote CO: Not counting Tristam himself.]
Suffice it to say that they numbered in all twenty-one,[N203a] for of
the seven that had remained in the caravel two were also wounded as they
were trying to raise the anchors. But whom will you have to make ready
this ship that she may pursue her voyage and depart from among that evil
race? for the two esquires who remained, as we said, did not wholly
escape from that peril, for being wounded they came near unto death, and
lay ill quite twenty days, not being able to render any aid to the
others who were toiling to direct the caravel. And these latter were not
more than five in number, to wit, a sailor lad very little acquainted
with the art of navigating, and a boy of the Infant's household called
Airas Tinoco, who went as purser, and a Guinea boy who had been captured
with the first prisoners taken in that land, and two other boys, both
quite young, who were living with some of those esquires that died
there. Of a surety, compassion is due to their great toil at that hour.
They went weeping and sorrowing for the death of such a captain and of
the others their comrades and friends, and were from that time in fear
of the hateful enemies they knew to be near them, from whose deadly
wounds so many and such brave men had died in a very brief space. And
especially they sorrowed because they found so slight a remedy whereby
to seek their safety; for the sailor lad, in whom they were all putting
their hope, confessed openly his scant knowledge, saying that he knew
not how to direct the course of a ship or to work at anything of that
kind in such wise as to be serviceable; but only if directed by another
he would do what he could, as he was bidden. O, Thou great and supreme
succour of all the forsaken and afflicted, who dost never desert those
that cry out to Thee in their most great necessity, and who now didst
hear the cries of these men who made their moan to Thee, fixing their
eyes on the height of the clouds and calling upon Thee to hasten to
their aid; clearly didst Thou show that Thou heardest their prayers when
in such a brief space Thou didst send them heavenly aid. For Thou didst
give courage and understanding to a youth who had been born and brought
up in Olivença, an inland town far removed from the sea; and he,
enlightened by divine grace, piloted the ship, and bade the seaman steer
directly to the north, declining a little to the east, namely, to the
wind that is called north-east, for he thought that there lay the
kingdom of Portugal, towards which they wished to make their voyage. And
as they were going thus on their way, after a part of the day was over,
they went to see Nuno Tristam and the other wounded men, and they found
them dead, so that they were obliged to throw them into the sea; and on
that day they threw in fifteen, and four remained in the boats, and two
they threw in the next day. But I write not of the feelings that would
be theirs when they cast those bodies upon the multitude of waters,
burying their flesh in the bellies of fish. But what importeth it to us
if our bodies lack sepulture? since in our own flesh we shall see our
Saviour, according to the determination of Holy Scripture, for it is the
same thing whether we lie in the sea or the land, and whether we be
eaten of fishes or of birds. Our chief concern is in those works of ours
by which after our death we shall find the truth of all these matters
that here we see in figure; and since we all believe and confess that
the Pope is our Chief Vicar and Supreme Pontiff, through whose power we
shall be able to receive absolution or condemnation, according to the
authority of the Gospel, we are as true Catholics bound to believe that
those whom he shall absolve, if they fulfil the conditions of his
decree, will be placed in the company of the saints. Therefore we can
say with justice to these men: "Beati mortui qui in Domino moriuntur."
And moreover, all who read this history will obtain a reward from God,
if they make a memorial of the death of these men in their prayers, for
inasmuch as they died in the service of God and their lord, their death
is happy. Now this youth whom I have mentioned was that same Airas
Tinoco of whom I spoke above, and in him God put such grace that for two
months together he directed the course of that ship; but all were
doubtful what their end would be, for in all those two months they never
caught sight of land. And at the end of this time they sighted a pinnace
which was on warlike business, and they had great fear at the sight, for
they thought it belonged to Moors; but after they found it pertained to
a Galician pirate whose name was Pero Falcom, a new joy came upon them,
and much more so when they were told that they were off the coast of
Portugal, opposite a place belonging to the Master-ship of Santiago,
called Sines.[N204] And so they arrived at Lagos, and thence they went
to the Infant to tell him of the tragical fortune of their voyage, and
laid before him the multitude of arrows by the which their companions
had died. The Infant had great displeasure at the loss of these men, for
wellnigh the whole number of them had he brought up, and although he
well believed that their souls had found salvation, yet could he not
prevent a sorrow for that humanity which was brought up in his presence
for the space of so many years. And so, like a lord who felt that their
deaths had come to pass in his service, he afterward had an especial
care of their wives and children.
CHAPTER LXXXVII.
Of how Alvaro Fernandez returned again to the land of the Negroes, and
of the things he accomplished there.
One of the signs by which a noble heart is recognised is that it hath no
contentment in small matters, but ever seeketh some betterment, that its
honour may be increased among the deeds of the noble both in its own
land and outside it. And this may we justly say of John Gonçalvez,
captain of the island;[CP] for he, not satisfied by the other voyage
that his ship had made in the previous year to the land of the Negroes,
made ready once more to dispatch there that same Alvaro Fernandez with
his caravel well armed, and charged him to make his way still further
onward to the utmost of his power, and to toil for some booty which by
its novelty and greatness might give testimony of the good will he had
to serve that lord who had brought him up. Now Alvaro Fernandez
undertook this matter as an honourable burden, like one who had no less
desire[CQ] to carry through the mandate which his uncle had laid upon
him. And when the ship had been provisioned, they made their voyage
straight to Cape Verde, whereat in the past year they had captured the
two Guineas of whom we have spoken in another place, and thence they
passed on to the Cape of Masts,[N205] and made a stay there to put some
men on shore. And for the sole purpose of seeing the land, seven of them
joined together, and these, when they had been landed upon the beach,
discovered the footprints of men leading along a certain path. And they
followed them up and reached a well where they found goats, which it
seemeth the Guineas had left there, and this would be, I think, because
they perceived that they were being followed. The Christians went so far
and no further, for they dared not pursue their course, and returning to
their caravel, they voyaged on, and putting out their boat, found on
land some elephant's dung of the bigness of a man, according to the
judgment of those that saw it; and because it seemed not a place wherein
to make booty they returned again to their caravel. And so journeying
along the sea coast, in a few days they went on shore again, and came
upon a village, and its inhabitants issued forth like men who showed
they had a will to defend their houses, and among them came one armed
with a good buckler and an assegai in his hand. And Alvaro Fernandez
seeing him, and judging him to be the leader of the band, went stoutly
at him, and gave him such a great wound with his lance that he fell down
dead, and then he took from him his shield and assegai; and these he
brought home to the Infant along with some other things, as will be
related further on.
[Footnote CP: Madeira.]
[Footnote CQ: Than his uncle.]
Now the Guineas, perceiving that man to be dead, paused from their
fighting, and it appeared to our men to be neither the time nor the
place to withdraw them from that fear. But rather they returned to their
ship and on the next day landed a little way distant from there, where
they espied some of the wives of those Guineas walking. And it seemeth
that they were going nigh to a creek collecting shell-fish, and they
captured one of them, who would be as much as thirty years of age, with
a son of hers who would be of about two, and also a young girl of
fourteen years, who had well-formed limbs and also a favourable presence
for a Guinea; but the strength of the woman was much to be marvelled at,
for not one of the three men who came upon her but would have had a
great labour in attempting to get her to the boat. And so one of our
men, seeing the delay they were making, during which it might be that
some of the dwellers of the land would come upon them, conceived it well
to take her son from her and to carry him to the boat; and love of the
child compelled the mother to follow after it, without great pressure on
the part of the two who were bringing her. From this place they went on
further for a certain distance until they lighted upon a river,[N206]
into the which they entered with the boat, and in some houses that they
found they captured a woman, and after they had brought her to the
caravel, they returned once more to the river, intending to journey
higher up in order to try and make some good booty. And as they were
pursuing their voyage thus, there came upon them four or five boats of
Guineas prepared like men who would defend their land, and our men in
the boat were not desirous to try a combat with them, seeing the great
advantage their enemies had, and especially because they feared the
great peril that lay in the poison with which they shot. And so they
began to retreat to their ship as well as they could, but seeing how one
of those boats was much in front of the others, they turned round upon
it, but it retired towards its companions, and as our men were trying to
reach it before it escaped (for it seemeth that it was already distant a
good way from the company) their boat came so near that one of those
Guineas made a shot at it and happened to hit Alvaro Fernandez with an
arrow in the leg. But since he had already been warned of its poison, he
drew out that arrow very quickly and had the wound washed with urine and
olive oil, and then anointed it very well with theriack, and it pleased
God that it availed him, although his health was in very troublous case,
for during certain days he was in the very act of passing away from
life. The others on the caravel, although they saw their captain thus
wounded, desisted not from voyaging forward along that coast until they
arrived at a narrow strip of sand stretching in front of a great bay,
and here they put out their boat and went inside to see what kind of
land they would find; and when they were in sight of the beach they saw
coming toward them full 120 Guineas, some with shields and assegais,
others with bows. And as soon as they came near the water these began to
play and dance like men far removed from any sorrow; but our men in the
boat, wishful to escape from the invitation to that festival, returned
to their ship. And this took place 110 leagues beyond Cape Verde,[N207]
and all that coast trendeth commonly to the south. And this caravel went
further this year than all the others, wherefore with right good will a
guerdon of 200 doubloons was granted unto it, that is to say 100 which
the Infant Don Pedro, who was then Regent, ordered to be given, and
another 100 which it obtained from the Infant Don Henry. And had it not
been for the illness of Alvaro Fernandez, by which he was much disabled,
the caravel would have gone further still, but it was obliged to return
from that last place I have mentioned, and it came straight to the Isle
of Arguim, and thence to the Cape of the Ransom, where they found that
Ahude Meymam of whom we have already spoken at times in this history.
And although they did not carry an interpreter, yet by making signs they
obtained a negress, whom the Moors gave them in exchange for some cloths
they brought with them, and had they not brought so little they could
have obtained much more, judging by the desire that the Moors showed.
And thence they made their voyage towards the Kingdom, where they
received the doubloons as I have already said, together with many other
guerdons from the Infant their lord, who was very joyful at their coming
on account of the advance they had made in their expedition.
CHAPTER LXXXVIII.
Of how the nine caravels departed from Lagos, and of the Moors they
captured.
Although the news of the death of Nuno Tristam caused in many people of
our Kingdom a great fear of following up the war they had commenced; for
the one party said to the other that it was a very doubtful matter to
undertake fighting with men who so plainly carried death about with
them; yet there were not wanting men to attempt the enterprise with good
will. For manifest as the danger was, yet sufficient for all things were
the hearts of those who would fain earn the name of good men; and
especially were they moved to this by the knowledge they had of the
Infant's desire and by seeing the great increasements that he made to
those who toiled thereat, for, as Vegetius saith, "Men are valiant where
valour is rewarded." And so in this year certain captains, with nine
caravels, were moved to go to that land of the Negroes; and of these the
first was Gil Eannes, a knight who dwelt in the town of Lagos. And the
second was a noble esquire brought up in the Infant's household from
early boyhood. Now this was a very bold youth, and none the less endowed
with many other good qualities, and you will find his deeds writ more
fully in the Chronicle of the Kingdom, and especially where it speaketh
of the great deeds that were achieved in Ceuta; and this man's name was
Francisco Vallarinho. The third was that Stevam Affonso of whom we have
already spoken in other places of this our history, and he had under his
captaincy three caravels. There was Laurence Diaz, of whom we have also
spoken ere now, and Laurence Delvas and John Bernaldez, a pilot, each of
whom brought his caravel. And there was moreover in this company a
caravel belonging to the Bishop of Algarve, which an esquire of his
commanded. And these,[CR] by the Infant's ordinance, went to the Island
of Madeira to take in their supplies; and from the said Island there
departed, with these caravels that went from this land,[CS] two ships,
to wit, one commanded by its owner, Tristam, one of the captains who
lived in the isle, and another in which sailed Garcia Homem, son-in-law
to John Gonçalvez Zarco, the other captain. And so making their voyage
all together, they arrived at the Island of Gomera, and here they landed
the nineteen Canarians who had been captured in spite of the sureties,
as you have heard further back; and they also took up certain men who
had remained there belonging to the Infant's household and to the Island
of Madeira. "Now," said those on the ships to the Canarians of that
island, "we would fain try our fortune in the Island of Palma, if
perchance we can make any booty wherewith to do service to the Infant
our lord; and we would know for our better despatch if it will please
you to give us some of your men who are ready to help us." "You know
already," replied the Canarians by means of their interpreters, "that
everything which is for the service of the Infant we will do with all
our power." And true it is that they all went to the said island; but
their going availed them nought, because the Canarians were already
forewarned by sight of the caravel of Laurence Diaz, which had arrived
there some days before. And after the great labour they had gone through
in this affair, the two caravels of the Island returned, perceiving that
they could not make any booty. But Gil Eannes, that knight of Lagos, and
the others, pursued their voyage until they arrived sixty leagues beyond
Cape Verde, where they met with a river which was of a good width, and
into it they entered with their caravels;[N208] but that entry was not
very profitable for the Bishop's caravel, forasmuch as it chanced to
touch on a sand-bank and sprang a leak, in such wise that they could not
get it off any more; but the crew escaped with everything they cared to
take from it. And while some were occupied with this, Stevam Affonso and
his brother went on shore; but the inhabitants were in another part, and
intending to go in search of them they departed from there, guiding
themselves by the glimpse of a track they found near the place. And
after pursuing their way for some little distance they said they found
much of the land sown, and many cotton trees and many fields sown with
rice, and also other trees of different kinds. And he[CT] said that all
that land seemed to him like marshes.
[Footnote CR: Caravels.]
[Footnote CS: Portugal.]
[Footnote CT: Stevam.]
And it appeareth that Diegaffonso had gone on in front before the
others, and with him fifteen of those who had a pre-eminent desire to
achieve some deed, among whom was a youth of the Infant's household
called John Villes, who was with them as purser. And as they were
entering into a very thick grove of trees, the Guineas issued out
against them from one side with their assegais and bows, and came as
near them as they could, and Fortune so willed it that of the seven who
were wounded five died straightway on the spot, of whom two were
Portuguese and three strangers. And as the affair was at this point,
Stevam Affonso arrived with the others who were coming behind. And he,
seeing the perilous place they were in, brought them all back as best he
could, and in this retirement they had not a little trouble, because the
Guineas were numerous and carried hurtful weapons, even as you perceive
those were which in such a brief space killed our men. And at this time
four youths who were brought up in the Infant's household received a
pre-eminent meed of praise, and the chief of them was that Diego
Gonçalvez, a noble esquire, of whose manly parts we have already left an
account in other places. Another was one Henry Lourenço, who was also a
youth desirous of toil for the increase of his honour. And of the other
two one had for his name Affonseannes, and one Fernandeannes. And as
soon as they arrived at their caravels they held a council and agreed to
return, seeing that they were already discovered, and that their ships
were overflowing with the crew they had taken from the Bishop's caravel.
But although they gave this reason, I hold that the principal cause of
their departure was the fear of their enemies, whose terrible manner of
fighting was such as to strike any man of understanding with great
terror. For it cannot be named true courage, unless they had some other
and greater need of fighting, willingly to enter into combat with men
who they knew had the power to do them so much injury. And there
remained the bodies of those dead men among the thickness of the trees,
and their souls departed to see the things of the other world; and may
it please God, if they are not yet in His holy kingdom, to take them to
Himself. And for pity's sake, all ye others that hold the Christian
faith, say your prayers for them, for in asking for them ye ask for
yourselves also. And the caravels returning as they had arranged,
arrived at the Island of Arguim to provide themselves with water, of
which they had need. And then they determined to go to the Cape of the
Ransom,[N209] where they went on shore and found the track of some
Moors. And although by reason of the heat a journey by land was very
perilous, yet considering that they were returning without booty to the
kingdom, they felt constrained to adventure the risk, and so they began
to follow up that track until after two leagues they reached the Moors
and with little labour captured eight and forty of them. And thence they
resolved to make their way straight to the Kingdom; and so in truth did
all save only Stevam Affonso, who sailed to the Island of Palma, where
he went on shore with the greater part of those he brought with him. And
there they happened to light at once upon some Canarians, of whom they
took two women; but this was not fated to pass without a very harmful
return on the part of the enemy. For they turned upon our men as they
were carrying off the booty, and attacked them so boldly that there were
some there who would willingly have left a part of that spoil to any who
would have secured them from destruction. But that bold and good esquire
Diego Gonçalvez, forgetting not his courage, stoutly took a crossbow
from the hands of one of those archers there, and also the bolts and
quiver, and placing himself among our men shot at the Canarians; and so
much did he toil in the using of his arrows that in a very brief space
he killed seven of those enemies. And among them there died one of their
kings, who was recognised by a palm he carried in his hand, for it
seemeth that their custom is for a king to have that pre-eminence among
the others. And as you know that with all men it is a natural thing that
when the chief dieth all the others do fly, so those men, seeing their
captain to be dead, ceased from their fighting, giving place to our men
that they might put themselves in safety; and so they came to the
Kingdom with their booty, although one of those Canarian women died
before they disembarked at the town of Lagos.
CHAPTER LXXXIX.
How Gomez Pirez went to the Rio do Ouro, and of the Moors that he
captured.
When this year of 1446 arrived, Gomez Pirez remembered what he had said
to the Moors when he came to the Rio do Ouro in the year preceding; and
forasmuch as he could not pass to that land without the licence and aid
of the Infant, he began to require of him that he would assist him to go
whither he had promised the Moors to return. And omitting some other
reasonings that passed between them the Infant granted him the said
licence and made him ready two caravels, that is to say, one decked and
the other a fishing-boat, in which were twenty men (or with Gomez Pirez
one and twenty), and among them was a youth of the Infant's household
called John Gorizo, who had it in charge to write down all the receipts
and expenses with the Moors.[N210] And it was already the accustomed
thing for all the ships that were sent out by the Infant, when they left
this realm, to go first of all to the Island of Madeira to take in their
victuals; and so soon as they arrived there Gomez Pirez spake with that
purser and said that he would depart immediately towards the Rio do Ouro
in the smaller caravel; and that John Gorizo should remain in the other
and take in the things they had to carry; and that when the latter
arrived there he[CU] would have arranged his traffic with the Moors. And
so the first caravel departed, and arrived at the entering in of the Rio
do Ouro, where they lay on their anchors for a space. "Let us go," said
Gomez Pirez to the men he brought with him, "to the end of this river,
where I promised the Moors the year before that I would come and
traffic, for there is no reason in our staying here, since the Moors
appear not." And so they made their voyage there and arrived at a port
called Porto da Caldeira,[N211] where they cast anchor. And in order
that the Moors might have knowledge of their coming, on the day after
their arrival Gomez Pirez bade them make a small smoky fire on a hill
that was near the port. And when he saw that they came not on that day
he had another made, and others also by night and by day until, after
three days were passed, the Moors began to arrive, and Gomez Pirez began
to speak with them by means of his interpreters, asking them to have
some Guineas brought there, in exchange for whom he would give them
cloth. "We," replied they, "are not merchants, nor are there any near
here, but they are all engaged in trafficking in the Upland; yet, if
they knew it, they would make great endeavour to come here, for they are
men well supplied both with Guineas and gold, as well as some other
things with which you might be well content."[N212] Then spake Gomez
Pirez to some of those men, and asked them to go and summon them, saying
he would give them a certain fee for it; but the Moors received the
money and pretended they were going to call them, but in the end they
would never put themselves to the trouble of it, although Gomez Pirez
waited there for the space of one-and-twenty days. And so full of trust
were the Moors toward our men that five or six of them willingly entered
into the caravel, and meanwhile there arrived the other ship of John
Gorizo, which had remained in the Island. And when the one-and-twenty
days were passed, and Gomez Pirez perceived how the Moors were cheating
him, and how they would not go and summon the merchants, he said to them
that until then he had granted them security in the name of the Lord
Infant his lord, but that since they did not deal straightly, from
henceforth they were to beware of him and to consider the security as
ended. And so forthwith he drave out all the men he had in the caravel,
and made sail forthwith, moving away four leagues from thence to the
other side of the river; and on the day after he had arrived there, he
saw two Moors coming towards the beach, and these by his command were
captured in brief space. Gomez Pirez spake with them apart, and asked
them if they had news of any other Moors being at hand. "We know,"
replied they, "that ten are gone to an island that is at the end of this
river, and that there is an inhabited place near there in which there
will be some forty or fifty souls." "Now, since this is so," said Gomez
Pirez to John Gorizo, "make you ready six of your other men and take one
of these boats and go on shore in search of those Moors who are in the
island, as this man telleth me; and be careful," added he, "that you
find a way to seize them before they throw themselves into the water,
because I hear that all are very expert swimmers, and they might escape
you if you were not advised of this."
[Footnote CU: Pirez.]
So these men departed, and Gomez Pirez had another boat made ready, in
the which he put eleven men with himself and went on shore, and there he
spake to them in this wise: "My friends, you well know how we are come
to this part chiefly to do service to God, and then to the Lord Infant
our master, and all this not without a profitable return for ourselves.
And because I have learned that in front of that island whither I
despatched those other companions of ours, there is a village containing
some forty or fifty souls, the most that can fight therein will number
from twenty to five and twenty, and I truly believe that if we go
against them as we ought, we shall make a great booty among them without
grave peril to ourselves. Wherefore my advice is that we set out against
them forthwith, so that if any of those on the island escape, they may
not be able to give the news of our coming to warn our foe and to cause
him to flee. And this I make known to you as a man who desireth your
counsel and approval." "What needeth there," replied the others, "any
more talking or taking of counsel, but rather go you whither you wish,
and God be with you. We will follow as we ought; for in regard to a man
of such authority, and one who hath seen and passed through so many
dangers both on sea and land, it would be matter of scorn if any of us
were to think of correcting what you had determined." Now let us leave
these men in their good purpose and speak of the six who went to the
island; for these put all their energy in rowing their boat to arrive at
that Island before the tide ebbed, because the Moors could easily escape
at low water. And when they came near it, they agreed that four of them
should go on shore and that two should proceed in the boat along the
land, so that if the Moors attempted to throw themselves into the water,
they could easily seize them, and also that if it were needful for them
to leap forth and help their companions, they could do so. And as the
four were making their way by land, the Moors caught sight of them, and
either because they were men of courage or because they thought they had
an advantage, they straightway rushed upon the Christians, hurling their
assegais at a very short distance from them. These our men received upon
their shields, and then they came to close combat, in which the four men
had the better of the enemy, but the two men who were in the boat seeing
clearly the toil of their companions, sprang upon land to aid them, and
their coming was a sign of defeat for the foe, who began at once to
retire and then altogether took to flight. And of the ten, which was the
number of the Moors, two who tried to throw themselves into the water
were drowned forthwith, either because they knew not well how to swim or
for some other hindrance. And when the Christians saw that they were
throwing themselves into the water, they leapt into their boat, and so
inside and out they captured the eight. And when they had them bound,
John Gorizo said to the others: "Let us go to the land whither we saw
Gomez Pirez faring in the other boat, for he departed immediately after
us, and of a surety it was only because he willed to attack the village
which the Moors told him was situate there. And since we have now
accomplished our undertaking, let us go and aid him, for perchance he
will need our help, or at any rate they will at least know our good
will." And this John Gorizo said, because when they were going to the
Island, they well perceived the course that the other boat was taking.
And all held this counsel to be good; and so leaving these men now to
follow their way to where Gomez Pirez goeth, let us speak of the fortune
of the others.
CHAPTER XC.
Of the Moors that Gomez Pirez took in the other village.
Returning now to the deed of Gomez Pirez, let us suppose that council to
be ended and consider that they are faring on their way, guided by those
Moors whose words persuaded them to leave their ship. And it was so,
that as they were already going near unto where they were told the
village stood, they espied the Moors coming out of their encampment, and
Gomez Pirez, catching sight of them, shouted lustily to the others to
pursue them. "Run," said he, "for all our victory is in the speed of our
feet, as you see that the foemen are beginning to make them ready." And
his command was more than enough in their ears, for hardly had he
uttered the first word, when they were already among the Moors, and
crying out "Santiago" and "Portugal," in a very brief space they leapt
into the middle of the village, and there at the first onset seized one
and twenty of those people, what of men, women, and children. But I
believe the most of these would be such as could not flee, for of the
twelve Christians who reached that place, four separated themselves from
the rest and ran after those that were flying; yet their toil availed
them little, for they could never come up with them to take them, and at
last their strength commenced to fail and they started to turn back. And
as they were returning to their ships, well content with their victory,
they met with the others who were coming to their aid, and there was
united an almost equal joyfulness, for each party on its side was
content with the victory it had gained, and much more because this had
been without any loss. And so they went to their ships, where they took
rest with the victuals they had, offering one to the other with a right
good will, as is done in places where the like meetings take place, for
a common proverb saith: "A poor man hath joy in a little." Gomez Pirez
would not allow himself altogether to rest upon this victory, and
content himself with what he had already gained, but while the others
were in converse he took aside one of those Moors and asked him if he
knew of any inhabited place near at hand. And he replied that he only
knew one, but it was six leagues off, and this would hold not less than
a hundred souls. "It were all one," said Gomez Pirez, "if there were
three hundred of them, for we will go on all the same, since we are at
the matter;" and so he ordered sail to be made on the sudden, and
directed his ships whither the Moor pointed out to him that the village
lay. And when he perceived that he was already four leagues from the
place he had left, he had his boat put on shore with seventeen men of
those he thought the best and the most daring, and three he left to
guard the caravels. And then he had the Moor put in front as a guide.
And because it seemeth they went by night, and the Moor knew not
certainly where the place lay, but could only make guess of it, they
would have passed it by, had it not been for the barking of a dog, by
whose voice they discovered the place where the Moors were lying and
turned back on them. But when they had reached the village, morning
commenced to break, so that part of the Moors were already gone afield.
However, with their accustomed cry, they came upon the place, and though
the Moors defended themselves, they captured one and thirty of them; and
I think this would be because it appeareth that the greater and
principal men were already away, and the others that remained were old
men and women and children. And they straightway asked of these what had
become of the others who had departed thence? "They are," answered they,
"three leagues from here toward the sea-shore, whither they went in
search of food for themselves and for us." "Well, then," said Gomez
Pirez, "my purpose is that we should go against them, for since we have
already undertaken this toil, we should err if we did not make an end of
it; wherefore eat something if you have it with you, that you may take
some refreshment, and let us use one of these men to direct us to where
these Moors are." True it is there were some there who would willingly
have rested, if the contrary reasonings of the captain and of other some
who agreed with his design had not prevented them. "Take two men of this
company," said Gomez Pirez to John Fernandez (that good esquire of whom
we have already told you how he went seven months in that land), "and
conduct these Moors to the ships, and we will go in search of the others
who left here before we arrived to-day."
CHAPTER XCI.
Of what happened to John Fernandez when he was taking along the Moors.
Now as John Fernandez was going on his way with his prisoners in front
of him, feeling not very sure that he would not find some foemen who
perchance would make him lose his booty; and as he was looking around
him on every side, for the land was level;[N213] he happened to espy,
some distance off, five persons coming towards him. And he was very glad
at the sight, because it appeared to him that they were coming straight
for him; but he began to ponder thereon. "Now," said he to the others,
"you can see those Moors there how they are coming straight for us.
Meseemeth they are five while we are three, and one of us must needs
guard the prisoners; so do you," quoth he to John Bertollomeu, "remain
with them in the rear, and Lourenceannes and I will move on towards
those who are coming, and we will go straight against them. For the
further off we fight from these prisoners so much the more will it be to
our advantage, since it might happen that they would mingle with those
we have and it would be an occasion for some of the last to get free."
And on this they began to pursue their way straight toward those who
came against them, thinking they were fighting Moors, but they found it
quite otherwise, for all five were women, and these they took with right
good will, as something that increased their capital without toil; and
then they conducted them with the others to their ships.
CHAPTER XCII.
How Gomez Pirez and the others who were with him took the other Moors.
So Gomez Pirez pursued his voyage, as you have heard he had said to the
others after they reached the village; and when he was now distant a
good space from the place where they had made their booty, he caught
sight of a Moor coming on an ass; and it appeareth that he had left the
spot where the other Moors remained. But as soon as the Moor caught
sight of our men he threw himself from his ass and began to turn back,
running to where he had left his companions. And since the land was
level, and the Moor was fresh, and had sight of our men coming a long
way off; because of all this the Christians could not follow him, being
greatly wearied from the toil and loss of sleep they had now had for two
days. But they kept him in sight as long as they were able, and at the
end they were obliged to lose him, yet they failed not to keep a
straight course until they reached the huts of a village, where it
seemeth the other Moors were, and in it they found no one; and this
would be about the hour of terce. And as they were gazing around the
moorland as far as their eyes could reach, they perceived the Moors who
had set out from thence; and tired as they were, they followed after
them by the space of a league and a half, when they came upon them by
the sea, near which they had retreated to some very great rocks;[N214]
and our men laboured to seek them out, but many as they were, yet on
account of the difficulty of the place, they could not capture more than
seven. And so they persevered in this toil all that day until nearly
nightfall, but over and above their weariness, they sorely felt hunger
and thirst, for which they had no remedy. And when they had searched all
the places they deemed likely for anyone to hide in, they agreed to turn
back. And true it is that some declared it would be well for some of
them to remain there that night, to see if those Moors would come out,
who were lying hid, but there was no one who dared to remain, so weakly
did they feel their bodies to be; but rather they determined one and all
to turn back to their caravels. And it seemeth that it pleased our Lord
God to have a mind to their weakness, for He ordained that they should
meet upon that path, by the which they were going, two camels already
saddled. And this was a great help to their repose, for they took it in
turn to ride them until they came to their ships, where they found they
had a booty of nine-and-seventy souls.
On the next day it was agreed among them that inasmuch as their ships
were not able to lodge so many Moors on account of the salt they were
carrying from this realm--and this was in order to salt the skins of the
sea-calves lest they should have no other booty, or perchance it was to
enter into ransoming with the Moors--therefore they should throw all
that salt overboard, as in fact they did. And they were minded still to
depart and run down that other coast, and on account of a storm that
came upon them, they determined there to caulk their ships that they
might the better encounter the fortunes of the sea as they returned. And
when their ships had finished their repairing, Gomez Pirez took aside
one of those Moors to know where there might be any other Moors that he
could capture; but although the Moor told him where lay certain villages
and they went to them, directing their course toward the south, they
found neither Moor nor Mooress in them nor any other creature. And so
they made their way by certain places where the Moor thought they would
find them, until they were right well assured that the Moors had
knowledge of them, and that it would be lost labour for them to go
further in their search. Wherefore they agreed to turn back to the
Kingdom, seeing that their food was failing them, and especially their
water, of which they could have no fresh supply in that land. And so
they directed their voyage until they returned to Lagos, on the borders
of which the Infant was staying at a place that is called Mexilhueira.
CHAPTER XCIII.
Of the caravel that went to Meça, and of the Moors that it found.
In the following year, which was 1447 from the birth of Christ, the
Infant considering that the Moors would not enter into trafficking at
the Rio do Ouro, and that even though they had been minded to do it
aforetime, yet now their good will would be altogether lacking on
account of the Moors who had been captured by Gomez Pirez, as you have
heard at length, wished to make trial if perchance the matter might
better be accomplished by trafficking at that place which is called
Meça.[N215] And that he might also obtain a better knowledge of that
land, he straightway ordered them to make ready a caravel of an esquire
of his called Diego Gil, the which was a man who had right well served
him in the wars of the Moors both by land and by sea. And after he had
taken order for these things, he had tidings that a merchant of Castile,
named Marcos Cisfontes, was possessed of twenty-six Moors, from that
place, who were already ransomed in exchange for certain Guineas. And in
order that his ship might have some cargo on its outward voyage, he let
the said merchant know that, if it pleased him, his Moors should be
transported to that place in the caravel which he had made ready, if
only he would give him a certain part of his profits in the said ransom.
And to say truth, it was not so much the hope of gain from those men, as
for two other reasons, that the Infant was content to do this--in the
first place that he might have a better opportunity of seeing the land
and knowing in what manner they would enter into the traffic of
merchandise; and in the second place, that he might bring from thence
those Guineas,[N216] for he believed they would receive the faith of
Christ. That merchant was right well pleased with the terms the Infant
sent to offer him, and so the caravel was immediately got ready and the
cargo embarked, and the ship made its voyage straight to Meça, where
they talked much about the trafficking, but could not bring anything to
an agreement. Wherefore John Fernandez, that esquire who had remained
for those seven months among the Moors of the Sahara, as you have
already heard, spake to Diego Gil and to Rodrigueannes, another esquire
whom the Infant was sending there to carry out the trafficking, and also
to a Castilian merchant who was there to ransom the Moors. And he said:
"If you are willing, I will go on land to arrange this ransom." And
taking his sureties, he went amongst them, and bargained in such wise
that he had fifty-one Guineas brought to the caravel, in exchange for
whom eighteen Moors[N217] were given. And then it came to pass that the
wind arose with such force from the side of the South that he was
obliged to raise sail and return to the Kingdom. Then there was brought
to the Infant a lion, which he afterwards sent to a place in Ireland
which is called Galway, to a servitor of his who dwelt in that land, for
they knew that never had such a beast been seen in that part. And so
John Fernandez remained until another ship returned for him. And in this
same year Antam Gonçalvez returned to the Rio do Ouro to see if he could
persuade the Moors to come to traffick, but his going there turned out
to be very dangerous. For as he was lying on his anchors up the river,
the Moors straightway came down to the beach. And among them was one who
clearly showed that he held lordship over them, and of him Antam
Gonçalvez received sureties; but he warned him that he was not to trust
the others except when he himself was present. And it was so, that when
that Moor was distant from there, because the other Moors showed signs
of confidence to the Christians, Antam Gonçalvez willed to go on land,
thinking moreover that the Moor who had given him security would be
there. And as soon as he came near the shore, and saw not that captain
or lord of the enemy, he would not land. But as he could not well speak
with them, being at a distance, he had the boat pulled very near the
beach, and there the foemen clearly discovered the hidden guile that was
in them, for they hurled their assegais like men who would fain display
the mortal enmity they felt for our people. And had it not been for the
great hardihood of Antam Gonçalvez, he had there met his end in a brief
space with all his company. But as it was, he had the boat rowed off
very lustily, though this could not be accomplished except with much
labour, for the multitude of assegais that fell upon them. But it
pleased God that they escaped out of that place and left some of those
Moors wounded; and of the Christians one was wounded in such wise that
within a few days he made his end, whenas the ship was already at sea.
And in this same year there went another caravel of a servitor of the
Infant, whose name was George Gonçalvez, in which voyaged the said
Gonçalvez and another; and they brought back from the Rio do Ouro much
oil and many skins of sea-calves. And in this chapter the affairs of
this year come to an end, for we find no other deeds in it that are
worthy of being recounted.
CHAPTER XCIV.
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]
CHAPTER XCV.
How Antam Gonçalvez went and received the Island of Lançarote in the
Infant's name.
Of so well tried a usance in that land of the Moors were now the
dwellers in Lagos, that not only were they content to go there and make
war on the inhabitants, but there were some even who, not satiate with
fishing in the accustomed places of their fathers and grand-fathers,
essayed to go and fish in the seas of that coast. And they sought
license of the Infant and promised him a certain sum for it, that he
would let them pass there and set in order their fishery. And I believe
that this was not required in vain, for it may well be conceived that
some of those who had gone there before had perceived the sea to be so
replete with fish that they were moved to make such a request. Wherefore
having arranged with the Infant for a certain quantity of money which
they had to give him for the right which belonged to him there, they
directed their expedition, sailing on their course until they reached a
place called the Cabo dos Ruyvos.[N220] And here they began to set in
order their fishery, and of the fish they found a very great abundance.
And when they had been there for some days and already had a good part
of their fish dried, and another portion set upon poles to dry it, the
Moors came upon them, very wroth at such daring, and they almost killed
the fishermen, and this in fact they would have done if it had not been
for their good diligence in retreating. So that in the end they turned
all their anger upon the fish that was spread out to dry, and this they
cut in pieces with their arms with no less anger than they would have
done to their foemen if they could have reached them. And two of those
fishermen were wounded in that retirement, though not with dangerous
wounds, but only with such that they were healed of them in a very brief
space. And they turned back to their native town, not repenting them of
their voyage, for they brought with them sufficient gain in the fish
that they had already dried and packed in their ship in precaution
against the fortune that afterwards happened to them. And in this year
the Infant, who was desirous to follow up much further his first design,
seeing that for matters to come to better perfection he needed one of
the Islands of Canary, contracted with that Monsieur Maciot, of whom we
have already spoken, who had the lordship of the Island of Lançarote, to
give it up to him. And he, satisfied by a present or fixed rent for
every year, gave up the said Island with all its seigniory to the
Infant, and the latter made chief captain thereof that noble knight
Antam Gonçalvez, first of all; and he went and took possession of the
said Island in his name, and remained therein some time animating its
inhabitants to the service and obedience of his lord with such benignity
and sweetness that in a very brief space his virtue was confessed of
all.
CHAPTER XCVI.
Wherein the Author declareth how many souls were brought to this Kingdom
from the beginning of this Conquest.
At the commencement of this book I assigned five reasons by which our
high-souled Prince was moved to send his ships so often in the toil of
this Conquest, and because me seemeth I have given you a plentiful
understanding of the first four in the chapters wherein I spake of the
different parts into which those Eastern lands may be divided, it
remaineth for me to tell of the fifth reason, and to fix the certain
number of the souls of infidels who have come from those lands to this,
through the virtue and talents of our glorious Prince. And I counted
these souls and found they were nine hundred twenty and seven, of whom,
as I have said before, the greater part were turned into the true path
of salvation.[N221] See now how numerous would be the generation that
could issue from these, and what taking of a city or of a town could
yield greater honour than that of which I have spoken up to now; for
leaving out these first and those who have descended, and until the end
of the world may descend, from them, many more came afterwards, as in
the following book you will learn. For it was needful that we should
here make an end at the deeds of this year 1448 from the birth of
Christ; because at this time the King Don Affonso of Portugal, 5th of
that name and 12th in the number of Kings, had the entire rule of his
kingdoms, being then of the age of 17 years, and married to the very
virtuous and illustrious princess, the Queen Donna Isabel, who was
daughter to the Infant Don Pedro, Duke of Coimbra and Lord of Montemor,
the same that in the past years had governed the Kingdom in the King's
name, as in some parts of this history we have recorded, and as you will
find much more perfectly in the general Chronicle of the Kingdom. So
considering how that all other things, as it were, became new with the
new ruler, it appeared to us fitting that all books of his acts and
histories should here commence. And, moreover, as it seemeth to us that
the volume we have already written is of reasonable size, we have here
made an end, intending, as hath been said, to make another book that
shall reach to the end of the Infant's deeds, although the matters that
follow were not accomplished with such toil and bravery as in the past.
For after this year, the affairs of these parts were henceforth treated
more by trafficking and bargaining of merchants than by bravery and toil
in arms.[N222]
CHAPTER XCVII.
In which the Author putteth a final conclusion to his work.
Every work to be perfect requireth to be placed in the ternary number,
that is to say, it must have a beginning, a middle, and an end; and for
the more perfect understanding of this, it is well we should know that
there are three ternaries in the General Universal of the world, and the
first of these we call "super-excellent," and we can find no certain
name to signify its perfection to us, for it is unknown of sensuality,
and common natures cannot understand it; but an obedient faith, with
great humility, rendered more lively by the grace of God, placeth in it
a steadfast strength. And therefore that philosopher and theologian,
Albert the Great,[N223] in the 1st chapter of the _Celestial Hierarchy_,
giveth three degrees of understanding by which God may be known.
And the first he compareth to the birds that fly by night, such as bats,
owls, and other such, whose sight can in no way endure the sun's
brightness; which also the prince of philosophers affirmeth in his
_Metaphysics_, saying that our understanding is such (compared to the
things that in their essence, as far as Nature runneth, are manifest) as
the eye of the owl or bat in comparison with the brightness of the Sun.
For such a vision have those who involve themselves in the desires of
the earth, placing all their affection in what they receive from the
images that are felt, and by this obstruct their understanding, so that
it knoweth nothing of the Divine Being. And in the second he maketh
comparison of the other birds that have a stronger sense and endure the
heat of the Sun, but when they regard its splendour their eyes do
constantly tremble; and in this manner do some act, who, withdrawing
themselves far from external objects follow after Speculation by
Understanding, and removing their minds far from Materiality see the
Deity from afar with trembling; but as they desire to understand with
human reason, it faileth them frequently and they fall into error, even
as fell a part of the great philosophers who were not illumined by the
light of Faith. The third vision is possessed by the beauteous eagles,
which can gaze with the organ of vision upon the resplendent orb of this
Planet, and by these we may principally understand those that read in
the book of life and know all things as far as their understanding
extendeth without other investigation. And so the men, who in the
knowledge of God wish to obtain entire strength, subdue themselves to
the Holy Gospel, and taking solace from what they understand, adore with
humble and great reverence that which by subtlety they cannot embrace,
and faithfully confess with the Doctor Saint Thomas in the ninth article
of the 10th question of the book called _De Potentia Dei_, that in God
there is one real circle wholly enclosed in a perfect ternary, because
He comprehendeth Himself and speaketh and begetteth an Eternal Word in
which He vieweth Himself and all things. And from the Father and Son
there is breathed forth a tender issue by which the Divine essence is
beloved and all that proceedeth from it. And so where was the
Commencement of Understanding, there the Loving Will maketh its End. And
we have an example of this in ourselves; for, if we consider what we
understand, a certain knowledge is generated in the soul, and then the
understanding offereth to the will that it may freely take what pleaseth
it most; and it, receptive of the tender object, inclineth by affection
to that by which the understanding was first moved.
In this manner is finished the circle which is super-spiritual and
infinite in height, and in itself cannot proceed beyond the ternary in
which it endeth. The second circular ternary is that of nature which
includeth in it all the creatures, and it may be imagined in this wise:
let us take some fountain that never faileth, from which a certain river
taketh its birth, and following its course according to the vigour that
it received in the commencement, it returneth to that fount at last from
which it originally proceeded. And so all things have their commencement
in the Lord God, the general cause and continuing in the Life they
receive from Him, they have their last end in that from which they had
their first beginning.
And by this ternary (which is in them of beginning, middle, and final
end), saith the Philosopher, in the book that he made in which he
discoursed of the Heaven and the World, that the ternary is the number
in everything, and that it encloseth in itself the like perfection and
middle and certain end, and that from it no creature is exempt. And on
this account it was anciently established that God should be praised as
a ternary.
The third ternary circle we call Moral, and it belongeth to the works
that are done by us, the which commence in the credit that the Lord God
willeth to give them, for He doeth them chiefly, and we are instruments
set in the midst, which He useth at His pleasure, working His will and
accomplishing them as He pleaseth; and for the confirming of this it is
written in the Gospel of St. Luke that if we do all that is commanded of
us, we may know that we are unprofitable servants, for we only perform
that to which we are constrained. And of a certainty all that we can do
is vanity, since it can be accomplished without us, and we deserve
nothing in it except as far as it pleaseth the Creator to grant us of
His mercy, by doing us the excellent favour of making use of us in His
actions, and willing that we be instruments in some of the things that
He doeth. And this pleaseth His goodness, because He findeth in us some
work of His by which we may earn a good reward. And therefore wise men
perceiving this infinite mercy, that maketh them to be what they are,
and understanding that all good works proceed from Him by His imperial
pleasure, confess that they deserve nothing for what they may do; and
they labour to fulfil this circle, so that their every act may terminate
in that beginning where it commenced.
* * * * *
And because you, most high and excellent Prince, among mortals, and
according to my thinking, most virtuous lord, chiefly for the sake of
thanksgiving didst order me, Gomez Eannes de Azurara, your servant and
creature, and through your munificence, Knight and Commander in the
Order of Christ, to compose this book, with good reason it seemeth fit
that in thanksgiving I should make an end of it. And since the Apostle
Saint Paul teacheth us in all things to give thanks to God, as is
contained in the Epistle which he sent to the men of Thessalonica; so,
making the circle of my work, I put the final term in that Helper who
was invoked by my will in the commencement; and I offer to the Infinite
Personal Ternary whatsoever thanks I can, for I have not the power to
give as many as I owe: firstly, to the Father super-essential, from whom
universally proceed all things, to Him I give thanks for the talent he
gave me to commence this work; and then to the Son super-spiritual, who
had no commencement of being, to Him I give thanks for the help He
bestowed on me to continue what I had commenced; and then to the Holy
Spirit super-natural, from whom we have all good things by His
benevolence, to Him I give thanks for the inspiration by which He moved
your Highness to lay this command upon me and not on any other of your
countrymen and subjects, of whom you could have had many. And jointly to
all the Three Persons who compose the Ineffable Trinity and
Super-essential Unity, our one only true Lord God, I offer thanks for
the ending, because all things have concluded better than I thought
before.
* * * * *
And this work was finished in the Library that this King Don Affonso
made in Lisbon, on the 18th day of February, being written in this first
volume by John Gonçalvez, Esquire and Scrivener of the books of the said
Lord King. And to this lord may the most infinite, benign, and merciful
God ever grant increase of good works and virtues better and better all
the days and years of his life, and give him the fruit of His blessing
that he may ever render Him thanks and praise, because He is his Maker
and Creator. In the year of Jesus Christ 1453.
DEO GRACIAS.
NOTES.
[_N.B.--The page references are to the Hakluyt Society's translation_].
[Endnote 1: (p. 2). _St. Thomas, who was the most clear teacher among
the Doctors of Theology_, i.e., St. Thomas Aquinas, greatest of the
Schoolmen ("Doctor Angelicus"); born at Rocca Secca, near Aquino, 1225
(according to some 1227); Professor of Theology at Cologne 1248, at
Paris 1253 and 1269, at Rome 1261, etc., at Naples 1272 (Doctor of
Theology, 1257). Died at Fossa Nuova, in the diocese of Terracino, 1274;
canonised 1323; declared a Doctor of the Church, 1567; author, among
many other writings, of the _Summa Theologiae_, the greatest monument of
Roman divinity. Aquinas completed the fusion of the re-discovered
Aristotelian philosophy with church doctrine, which in the earlier
Middle Ages had been hampered by the imperfect knowledge of Aristotelian
texts in the Latin world, but which had for some time been preparing,
_e.g._, in the work of Peter Lombard (d. 1164), and even earlier.
Aquinas also marks the temporary intellectual victory of the Church, in
the thirteenth century, over the free-thinking and disruptive tendencies
which had shown themselves so threatening in the twelfth. See K. Werner,
_Thomas von Aquino_, Regensburg, 1858-59; Feugueray, _Essai sur les
doctrines politiques de St. T. d'A._, Paris, 1857; De Liechty, _Albert
le grand et St. T. d'A._, Paris, 1880. Encken, _Die Philosophie des T.
von A._, Halle, 1886.]
[Endnote 2: (p. 3). _When the King John ... went to take Ceuta_, viz.,
in 1415, in company with his sons, Edward (Duarte), Pedro, and Henry,
and a force of 50,000 soldiers. See especially Oliveira Martins, _Os
Filhos de D. João I_ (1891), ch. ii; Azurara's _Chronica de Ceuta_; Mat.
Pisano, _De bello Septensi_; Major's _Henry Navigator_, 1868 ed., pp.
26-43; "Life" of the same, in _Heroes of the Nations Series_, ch. viii.]
[Endnote 3: (p. 4). _Duke John, Lord of Lançam._--On this Santarem has
the following: [The Duke of whom our author speaks was probably John of
Lançon, one of the Paladins of Charles the Great, concerning whose deeds
there exists a MS. poem of the thirteenth century in the Collection of
MSS. in the Royal Library of Paris (No. 8; 203). This reference cannot
be to John I, Duke of Alençon, seeing that it does not appear that any
history of his deeds was ever written].--S.]
[Endnote 4: (p. 4). _Deeds of the Cid Ruy Diaz._--[Here our author
probably refers to the poem of the Cid, copies of which were spread
through Spain from the twelfth century (see the _Coleccion de Poesias
castellanas anteriores al siglo_ XV, Madrid, 1779-90). In the time of
Azurara there was no _one_ chronicle of the Cid's deeds; see Herder,
_Der Cid nach Spanischen Romanzen besungen_ 1857(-59), who translates
eighty romances published on this subject; Southey's _Chronicle of the
Cid_, London, 1808].--S. See also _The Cid_ (H. B. Clarke) in _Heroes of
the Nations Series_; R. P. A. Dozy, _Hist. Pol-Litt. d'Espagne,
Moyen-âge_, i, 320-706; _Le Cid ... Nouveaux Documents_, 1860; J. Cornu,
_Etudes_, 1881 (_Romania_, x, 75-99); Canton Zalazar, _Los restos del
Cid_, 1883.]
[Endnote 5: (p. 4). _The Count Nunalvarez Pereira._--The "Holy
Constable," one of the Portuguese leaders in the Nationalist rising of
1383-5, which set the House of Aviz on the Portuguese throne. Azurara is
credited with the (doubtful) authorship of a work on the miracles of the
Holy Constable. See the Introduction to vol. i of this Edition, pp.
liii-liv, and Oliveira Martins' _Vida de Nun'Alvares_, Lisbon 1893; also
the latter's _Os Filhos de D. João I_, chs. i, ii; Major's _Henry
Navigator_, pp. 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 21, 78.]
[Endnote 6: (p. 5). _Pillars of Hercules_, or Straits of Gibraltar;
called by some Arabic geographers (_e.g._, Mas'udi) the Strait of the
Idols of Copper. The conquest of Ceuta in 1415 gave Portugal a great
hold over this "narrow passage," and in 1418 Prince Henry aspired to
seize Gibraltar, which would have made his country complete master of
the same, but his project was discountenanced by his father's
government. We may refer to Galvano's story of a Portuguese ship
starting from here, shortly after 1447 (?), being driven out to certain
islands in the Atlantic; to the Infant's settlement at Sagres being in
tolerable proximity; and to Azurara's (and others') reckoning of
distances along new-discovered coasts from the same. See Azurara,
_Guinea_, ch. v.]
[Endnote 7: (p. 5). _The Church of Santiago_, i.e., St. James of
Compostella, in Galicia.--[In this passage our author refers to the
celebrated diploma of King D. Ramiro about the battle of Clavijo, though
he does not cite that document, and also to the _Chronicle of Sampiro_.
On these two documents the reader can consult Masdeu, _Historia Critica
de España_, tom. xii, p. 214, etc.; tom. xiii, 390; and tom. xvi--Voto
de S. Thiago Suppl. 1.].--S.]
[Endnote 8: (p. 7). _Sentences of St. Thomas and St. Gregory_, i.e.,
of St. Thomas Aquinas and Pope (St.) Gregory the Great (A.D. 590-604).]
[Endnote 9: (p. 7). _Garamantes_, _etc._--Properly the inhabitants of
Fezzan--"Garama," or "Phazania" in classical language. Γαράμαντεσ ...
ἔθνοσ μέγα ἰσχυρῶσ [Garamantes ... ethnos mega ischyrôs] says
Herodotus (iv, 183). Yet like the Nasamones and other nations of this
part, they are apparently conceived of by H. as a people confined to a
single oasis of the desert. The Garamantes' land, H. adds, is thirty
days' journey from the Lotos Eaters on the North coast of Africa, which
is about the true distance from Mourzuk, in Fezzan, to Tripoli (see the
journeys of Captain Lyon in 1820, and of Colonel Monteil in 1892). The
oasis, ten days' journey beyond the Garamantes, inhabited by the
Atarantes or Atlantes, may be the Herodotean conception of Tibesti.
Compare the story, in Herodotus, ii, 32, 33, of five Nasamonians, from
the shore of the Great Syrtes, crossing the deserts to the south of
Libya to an inhabited region, far west of their home, with fruit trees,
extensive marshes, a city inhabited by Black People of small stature, a
river flowing from west to east containing crocodiles: probably either
the modern Bornu or one of the Negro states on the Middle Niger.
Pliny (_Hist Nat._, v, 5, §36) records the conquest of the Garamantes by
Cornelius Balbus in B.C. 20, when the Romans captured Cydamus (Ghadames
in south-west Tripoli) and Garama ("clarissimum oppidum," the Germa of
the present day, whence the name "Garamantes").
In the time of Vespasian the more direct route from Œa or Tripoli to
Phazania was discovered (Pliny, _l. c._). In the reign of Tiberius,
during the revolt of Tacfarinas in Numidia, the Garamantes supported the
rebel, and after his defeat sent to Rome to sue for pardon, an unusual
embassy, as Tacitus remarks ("Garamantum legati, raro in urbe visi").
From Fezzan, in later days (about time of Trajan?) started the
remarkable expeditions of Septimius Flaccus and Julius Maternus to the
"Ethiopian land" (Sudan) and Agisymba (Region of Lake Chad?) in the
south, which reached inhabited country after a march of three and four
months respectively across the desert (see Ptolemy, i, 8, §5, from
Marinus of Tyre, now lost except in Pt.'s citations). The original
conquest by Balbus is probably referred to in Virgil's _Æneid VI_, 795,
in the prophecy of Augustus' triumphs:--
"Super et Garamantes et Indos Proferet imperium."
_The Ethiopians ... under the Shadow of Mount Caucasus_ is an extreme
instance of the mediæval geography met with so frequently in Azurara, as
no African "Mt. Caucasus" has ever been identified, even as a barbarous
misnomer for one of the African ranges; while Ethiopia, however confused
the reference, always starts from the ancient knowledge of the Sudan,
and especially the Eastern or Egyptian Sudan (see below).
The Caucasus, here used, perhaps, like "Taurus," or "Alps," in the
general sense of "lofty mountains," was a great centre of mediæval myth.
Here was situated, according to most authorities, the wall of Alexander,
when with an iron rampart he shut up Gog and Magog, and "twenty-two
nations of evil men" from invading the fertile countries of the south
(see _Koran_, chs. xv, xviii; the Arabic record of "Sallam the
interpreter," sent to the Caucasus about 840 by the Caliph
Wathek-Billah; Ibn Khordadbeh, c. 880; St. Jerome _On Genesis_, x, 2,
and _On Ezekiel_, xxxviii-ix; St. Augustine, _De Civitate Dei_, xx, 11;
St. Ambrose, _De Fide ad Gratianum_, ii, 4; St. Isidore, _Origines_, ix,
2; xiv, 3; and the _Commentaries_ of Andrew and Aretes of Caesarea _On
the Apocalypse_ of A.D. _c._ 400 and _c._ 540; _Dawn of Modern
Geography_, pp. 335-8, 425-434).]
[Endnote 10: (p. 7). _Indians of Greater and Lesser India_ is a
regular mediæval term for the inhabitants of India proper and of
south-western Asia, sometimes including Abyssinia. Another frequent
division was threefold: India Prima, Secunda, Tertia, or Greater,
Lesser, and Middle, as in Marco Polo, Bk. III, chs. i, xxxviii-xxxix.
Most commonly, Greater India means India west of Ganges; Lesser India
corresponds to the classical _India extra Gangem_, or Assam, Burma,
Siam, etc.; and Middle India stands for Abyssinia, and perhaps for some
parts of the Arabian coast, as far as the Persian Gulf. On this passage
we must also notice the following MS. notes:--
[α. _Garamantes, Ethiopians and Indians._--It must be understood that
these are three peoples, as saith Isidore in his sixth book [_i.e._, _of
the Etymologies_ or _Origins of St. Isidore of Seville_, _written c.
A.D. 600_], to wit, the Asperi, Garamantes and Indians. The Asperi are
in the west, the Garamantes in the middle, the Indians in the east. He
reckoned with the Garamantes, the Tregodites [_Troglodytes or
Trogodites_] because they are their neighbours. Alfargano [_Mohammed
Alfergani, or of Ferghanah on the Upper Oxus, a great Mohammedan
geographer of the ninth century, author of a "Book of Celestial
Movements" translated into Hebrew and from Hebrew into Latin, which also
described the chief towns and countries of the world_] placed Meroe,
which is Queen of the Nations, between the Nubians and the Indians. The
Garamantes are so called from Garama, which is the capital of their
Kingdom, and the castle of which standeth between Inenense and Ethiopia,
where is a fountain which cooleth with the heat of the day, and groweth
hot with the cold of the night. Ethiopia is over against Egypt and
Africa, on the southern part thereof; from the east it stretcheth over
against the west even to the Ethiopian Sea. And because much of the
people of these three nations are Christians, and because they desired
to see the world, they came to these parts of Spain, where they received
great gifts from the Infant, on account of which the author hath given
this description in his chapter thereupon.
β. _Caucasus._--This mount is so called from Candor, the which
stretcheth from India to Taurus, in its length, through various peoples
and tongues, and therefore is variously named. Some say that Mt.
Caucasus and Mt. Taurus are all one, but Orosius reproveth this
opinion.] On the fountain of Garama, cf. Solinus, xxx, i.]
[Endnote 11: (p. 7). _To visit the Apostle_, viz., St. James of
Compostella, patron saint of Spain, and traditionally the "Apostle" of
that country. Santiago de Compostella was once the capital of Galicia;
it lies 55 kilometres south of Coruña, on the north bank, and near the
source, of the River Sar, which flows into the Ulla. The town is built
round the Cathedral, which claims to possess the body of St. James. A
star was said to have originally shown the place of this relic, hence
"Compostella" (Campus stellae). The body of the great church was
commenced in 1082 and completed in 1128; the cloisters were finished in
1533. An earlier church of the later ninth century had been destroyed in
997 by the Arabs under the famous "hagib" Almanzor, who also restored
Barcelona to the Western Caliphate, and nearly crushed all the Christian
kingdoms of Spain. For centuries Compostella was the most famous and
fashionable place of pilgrimage, next to Rome, in Europe. It is referred
to in Chaucer, Prologue to _Canterbury Tales_, l. 466, in the
description of the "Wife of Bath:"
"At Rome she haddé been, and at Boloyne
In Galice at Saint Jame, and at Coloyne."]
[Endnote 12: (p. 8). _Ancient and venerable city of Thebes._--Here we
have again a MS. note.
[We must understand that there are two cities of Thebes--the one in
Egypt and the other in Greece. That in Greece was the selfsame which in
the time of Pharaoh Nicrao (_Necho_, _see Herodotus, ii_, _158-9:
Josephus Antiq. Jud._) was called Jersem, as saith Marco Polo, whence
came the Kings of Thebes who reigned in Egypt C I R (_190_) years. And
this was one of the places which were given to Jacob, by the countenance
of his son Joseph, when by the needs of hunger he went with his eleven
sons to Egypt, as it is writ in Genesis. And Saint Isidore saith in his
xvth book (_of Origins_) that Cadmus built Thebes in Egypt, and that he,
passing into Greece, founded the other and Grecian Thebes, in the
province of Acaya (_Achaia_), the which is now called the land of the
Prince of the Amoreans.]
It is not necessary to dwell on the additional confusion furnished by
this "explanation"--Thebes given to the Israelites (as part of Goshen?),
Cadmus building the Egyptian Thebes, Achaia for Bœotia, and so forth;
but the point really noticeable is that in Azurara's text the "dwellers
on the Nile who possess Thebes" came in here as "wearing the Prince's
livery:" _i.e._, the negroes of the Senegal are supposed to live on the
western branch of the Nile, which mediæval conceptions obstinately
brought from Egypt or Nubia to the Atlantic, and which Prince Henry's
seamen thought they had discovered when they reached the Senegal; just
as later in the Gambia, the Niger, and the Congo, other equivalents were
imagined for the Negro Nile of Edrisi, and the West African
river-courses of Pliny and Ptolemy. Cf. chs. xxx, xxxi, lx-lxii, of this
Chronicle.]
[Endnote 13: (p. 8). _Wisdom of the Italians ... labyrinth._--Here we
have another original MS. note. [Labyrinth is so much as to say anything
into which a man having entered cannot go out again (_so Prince Henry,
in Azurara, vol. i, p. 8 (ch. ii), has "entered a labyrinth of Glory"_).
And therefore, saith Ovid, in his _Metamorphoses_, that Pasiphaë, wife
of Minos, king of Crete, conceived the Minotaur, who was half man and
half bull. The which was imprisoned by Daedalus in the Labyrinth into
which whatsoever entered knew not how to come out, and whosoever was
without knew not how to enter. And of this Labyrinth speaketh Seneca in
the _Tragedy_, where he treated of the matter of Hippolytus and Phedra].
Azurara's reference to the distinctive virtues of the four great peoples
here noticed is interesting, especially from the fact that Prince
Henry's mother was an Englishwoman; that the Emperor (now a purely
German sovereign, though still in name "holy and Roman"), invited him to
enter his service (see ch. vi); that the Pope (like Henry VI (?) King of
England) made him similar offers; that his scientific and practical
connections with Italy were very important; and that his sister Isabel
was married to the Duke of Burgundy. "The wisdom of the Italians" was
nowhere more conspicuous at that time than in geography. Italians
initiated the great mediæval and renaissance movement of discovery both
by land and sea (cf. John de Plano Carpini, Marco, Nicolo, and Matteo
Polo, Malocello, Tedisio Dorio, the Vivaldi, the Genoese captains and
pilots of 1341, precursors of Varthema, the Cabots, Verrazano, and
Columbus). Italians also constructed the first scientific maps or
Portolani (existing specimens from 1300 show out of 498 examples 413 of
Italian origin, including all the more famous and perfect). Lastly,
Italians probably brought the use of the magnet to higher efficiency;
though they did not "invent" the same, it is likely that they were the
first to fit the magnet into a box and connect it with a compass-card.
"Prima dedit nautis _usum_ magnetis Amalphis."
Also, we may recall that the Infant Don Pedro, Henry's brother, brought
home from Venice in 1428 a map illustrating a copy of Marco Polo (see p.
liv of the Introduction to this volume), and that the most important
map-draughtsmen of the Prince's lifetime were Andrea Bianco, Fra Mauro,
and Gratiosus Benincasa. From 1317, when King Diniz appointed the
Genoese Emmanuele Pesagno Admiral of Portugal, and contracted for a
regular supply of Genoese pilots and captains, down to the Infant's
earlier years, when the Genoese tried to secure a "lease" of Sagres
promontory as a naval station, and even to the time when the Venetian
Cadamosto sailed in his service (1455-6), and Antoniotto Uso di Mare and
Antonio de Noli were to be found in the same employment, the connection
between Portuguese and Italian seamanship was very close--a relationship
almost of daughter and mother.]
[Endnote 14: (p. 9). _From the islands thou didst people in the
Ocean_, etc. ... _wood from those parts._
Here Azurara gives some references to the products raised in the
newly-colonised groups of "African Islands"--corn, honey, wax, and
especially wood, on which Santarem remarks:--
[This interesting detail shows that the wood (Madeira) transported to
Portugal from the islands newly discovered by the Infant D. Henrique,
chiefly from the isle of Madeira, was in such quantity as to cause a
change in the system of construction of houses in towns, by increasing
the number of storeys, and raising the height of the houses, thus
bringing in a new style of building instead of the Roman and Arabic
systems then probably followed. This probability acquires more weight in
view of the system of lighting at Lisbon ordered by King Ferdinand, as
appears from a document in the Archives of the Municipality of Lisbon.
So this detail related by Azurara is a very curious one for the history
of our architecture.]--S.]
[Endnote 15: (p. 9). _Dwellers in the Algarve_ (_Alfagher_), i.e., the
extreme southern portion of Portugal, including Cape St. Vincent, the
cities of Lagos, Faro and Tavira, and Sagres (off C. St. V.), the
special residence of the Prince himself. Later, the plural title
"Algarves" was applied to this Province, in conjunction with the
possessions of Portugal on the North African coast immediately fronting
the Spanish peninsula, viz., Ceuta, "Alcacer Seguer," Anafe, Tangier,
Arzila, etc.]
[Endnote 16: (p. 10). _Moors ... on this side the Straits and also
beyond._--Moors who on "this side the Straits" had "died" from Prince
Henry's lance might be difficult to find; but of "those beyond" the
reference is more particularly to the conquest of Ceuta, 1415; the
relief of the same, 1418; the abortive attempt on Tangier, 1437; and the
raids upon the Azanegue Moors between Cape Bojador and the Senegal, _c._
1441-1450. The African campaign of 1458, which resulted in the capture
of Alcacer the Little, cannot, of course, be included here.]
[Endnote 17: (p. 10). _That false schismatic Mohammed._--In the
ordinary style of mediæval reference, as followed by Father Maracci and
the older European school of Arabic learning. The progress of the Moslem
faith in North Africa was rapid in the Mediterranean coast zone, but
comparatively slow in the Sahara and Sudan. See Introduction to vol. ii,
pp. xliii-lix, and W. T. Arnold, _Missions of Islam_.]
[Endnote 18: (p. 11). _Duchess of Burgundy._--The Infanta Isabel,
Prince Henry's sister, was niece of a King of England, viz., as Santarem
says, of Henry IV, son of John, Duke of Lancaster. [By this connection
our Infant was a great-grandson of Edward III, and at the same time a
descendant of the last kings of the Capetian house, and likewise allied
to the family of Valois. The Infanta Donna Philippa was married to the
Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good, on January 10th, 1429. She was not
only endowed with very eminent qualities, but was also of rare beauty.
She had great influence on public affairs. The Duke, her husband,
instituted the celebrated order of the Golden Fleece to celebrate this
marriage. This princess died at Dijon, December 17th, 1472. From this
alliance came many descendants. She was equally beloved by her brothers,
and especially by King D. Edward (Duarte), who, in his _Leal
Conselheiro_ (ch. xliv, "Da Amizade"), speaks of the great affection and
regret which he felt for her. The festivities which took place at Bruges
on her arrival were among the most sumptuous of the Middle Ages].--S.]
[Endnote 19: (p. 12). _The Philosopher_, i.e., Aristotle, in Azurara's
day regarded among Christians as the "master of them that knew." The
transformation of Aristotle into a storehouse of Christian theology was
a long process, which was perhaps most completely successful in the
hands of Thomas Aquinas.]
[Endnote 20: (p. 14). _As in his Chronicle_, i.e., _The Chronicle of
the Reign of Affonso V, the African_, attributed by Barros and Goes to
Azurara himself, and perhaps embodied (partially) in Ruy de Pina's
existing chronicle of the monarch. (See Azurara, Hakluyt Soc. ed., vol.
i, Introduction, pp. lxi-lxiii.) We must notice that a little earlier
(p. 13, top of our version), on Azurara's reference to Prince Henry as
an "uncrowned prince" (cf. Azurara, vol. ii, Introduction, p. xix).
Santarem remarks:
[This detail, recorded by Azurara, a contemporary writer, shows the
error into which Fr. Luiz de Souza fell in his _Historia de S.
Domingos_, liv. vi, fol. 331, by saying that the Infant was elected King
of Cyprus: an error which José Soares da Silva repeated in his _Memorias
d'El Rei D. João I_; whereas if the words of Azurara were not sufficient
to demonstrate the contrary, the dates and facts of history would prove
the errors of those authors. As a matter of fact, the kingdom of Cyprus,
which Richard, King of England, took from the Greeks in 1191, was
immediately ceded by that Prince to Guy of Lusignan, whose posterity
reigned in that kingdom till 1487; and as our Infant was born in 1394
and died in 1460, it was not possible for him to be elected sovereign of
a kingdom ruled by a legitimate line of monarchs. Besides this, in the
list of the Latin or Frank Kings of Cyprus, the name of D. Henry is not
found. It is to be presumed that Fr. Luiz de Souza confounded Henry,
Prince of Galilee, son of James I, King of Cyprus, with our Infant D.
Henry.]--S.
Also, on the words _Atlas the Giant_ (middle of p. 13 in our version),
there is another original MS. note:
[Atlas was king of the land in the west of Europe and of that in the
west of Africa, brother of Prometheus, that great wise man and
philosopher descended from Japhet, the giant. And this Atlas was
considered the greatest astrologer living in the world at his time. And
his knowledge of the stars made him give such true forecasts of matters
which were fated to happen, that men said in his time that he sustained
the heaven upon his shoulders. And as Lucas saith, he was the first who
invented the art of painting in the city of Corinth, which is in
Greece.]
On this Santarem remarks:--
[Here our author mixes up all the historical and mythological traditions
from Greek and Latin authors relative to Atlas. Diodorus Siculus and
Plato are not cited by Azurara, who, however, relates that Atlas was
king of the West of Europe and of the West of Africa; but he forgets to
say that he reigned over the Atlantes, as Herodotus says, and confounds
Prometheus with "Japhet," whose son he was, viz., according to
Apollodorus, Diodorus Siculus, and all the ancient writers. Diodorus
says in effect that Atlas had taught astronomy to Hercules, but our
author confounds the three princes of this name, and made a mistake in
citing Lucas de Tuy (continuer of the _Chronicle_ of Isidore of Seville)
as saying that Atlas was the first who invented the art of painting in
the city of Corinth. The origin of this art was unknown to the ancients.
It is true that Sicyon and Corinth disputed the glory of the discovery,
but the discoverer according to most of the ancient authors was
Cleanthes of Corinth and not Atlas, as Azurara says. According to
others, the discovery was due to Philocles the Egyptian.]--S.
The Atlas chain of N. Africa has been the subject of persistent
exaggeration. The Greek pillar of heaven (derived from Carthaginian?
seamen) probably referred to Teneriffe. No summit in the Atlas range
answers to the legend. Though Miltsin rises to 11,400 feet, neither this
nor any other peak can be supposed to represent the idea of towering
height embodied in the story. We may notice the enormous over-proportion
of the Atlas in some of the most important maps which Prince Henry and
his seamen had to consult (_e.g._, Dulcert of 1339, the Catalan of
1375). See Introduction, vol. ii, pp. cxxiii-iv, cxxvi.]
[Endnote 21: (p. 14). _Tangier ... the most perilous affair in which
he ever stood before or after_, viz., in 1437. The conquest of Ceuta
(aided perhaps by the earlier discoveries of Prince Henry's seamen) had
made some in Portugal eager for more African conquests, and in 1433 King
Duarte (Edward) on his accession was induced by his brothers Henry and
Ferdinand, against the opinion of his next brother Pedro, to take up the
project of an attack on Tangier. The Papal Court gave only a very
doubtful approval to the war, but on August 22, 1437, an expedition
sailed for Ceuta. Tetuan was captured, and on September 23 Prince Henry
began the siege of Tangier, but his attacks on the town were repulsed;
the Portuguese were surrounded by overwhelming forces which had come
down from Marocco, Fez, and Tafilet for the relief of the city; and on
October 25 the assailants surrendered with the honours of war, on
condition that Ceuta should be given up with all the Moorish prisoners
then in Portuguese hands, and that the Portuguese should abstain for 100
years from any further attack upon the Moors of this part of Barbary.
Prince Ferdinand was left with twelve nobles as hostages for the
performance of the treaty. The convention was repudiated in Portugal,
and Ferdinand, the "constant Prince," died in his captivity June 3,
1443. Like Regulus in Roman tradition, he advised his countrymen against
the enemy's terms of ransom,
"Lest bought with price of Ceita's potent town
To public welfare be preferred his own."
Camöens: _Lusiads_, iv, 52 (Burton).]
[Endnote 22: (p. 14). _Because Tully commandeth._--It is
characteristic of Azurara's school and time that he should declare his
preference for truthful writing because a great classic recommended the
same.]
[Endnote 23: (p. 15). _College of Celestial virtues._--Contrasted with
the previous reference, this gives a good idea of Azurara's mental
outlook--on one side towards Greek and Latin antiquity, on another to
the Catholic theology. The Christian side of the Mediæval Renaissance
had not, in Portugal, been overpowered by the Pagan. We may remember, as
to the context here, that on the capture of Ceuta the chief mosque was
at once turned into the Cathedral.]
[Endnote 24: (p. 16). _Districts of the Beira ... and Entre Douro e
Minho._ The three northern provinces of Portugal:--The Beira, comprising
most of the land between the Tagus and the Douro (except the S.W.
portion); the Tral (or Traz) os Montes, the N.E. extremity; and the
Entre Douro e Minho, the N.W. extremity of the Kingdom. Here was the
cradle of the state--for the principality granted in 1095 by Alfonso VI
of Leon to the free-lance, Henry of Burgundy, was entirely within the
limits of these provinces, and was at first almost entirely confined to
lands North of the Mondego, being composed of the counties of Coimbra
and Oporto.]
[Endnote 25: (p. 16). _The two cities_, viz., The citadel and the
lower town of Ceuta, which together covered the neck of a long peninsula
running out some three miles eastward from the African mainland, and
broadening again beyond the eastern wall of Ceuta into a hilly square of
country. The citadel covered the isthmus which joined the peninsula to
the mainland. East of the citadel was Almina, containing "the outer and
larger division of the city, as well as the seven hills from which Ceuta
derived its name," the highest of which was in the middle of the
peninsula, and was called El Acho, from the fortress on its summit. "On
the north side of the peninsula, from the citadel to the foot of this
last-mentioned hill, the city was protected by another lofty wall."
According to some, the old name of _Septa_ was derived from the town's
seven hills; it was ancient, being repaired, enlarged and re-fortified
by Justinian in the course of his restoration of the Roman Empire in the
Western Mediterranean.]
[Endnote 26: (p. 17). _A duke ... in the Algarve_, viz., Duke of Viseu
and Lord of Covilham. His investiture took place at Tavira in the
Algarve, immediately on the return of the Ceuta expedition. Together
with his elder brother Pedro, whom King John at the same time made Duke
of Coimbra, Henry was the first of Portuguese dukes. This title was
introduced into England as early as 1337, and the Infant's mother was
the daughter of one of the first English dukes, "old John of Gaunt,
time-honoured Lancaster."]
[Endnote 27: (p. 17). _The people of Fez ... of Bugya._--This Moslem
league of 1418 against Portuguese Ceuta comprised nearly all the
neighbouring Islamic states (1) Fez--the centre of Moslem culture in
Western "Barbary," a very troublesome state, politically, to the great
ruling dynasties in N.W. Africa--contained two towns at this time,
called respectively the town of the Andalusi, or Spaniards--from the
European (Moslem) emigrants who lived there--and the town of the
Kairwani, from Kairwan ("Cairoan"), the holy city of Tunis. The founder
of the greatness of Fez was Idris, whose dynasty reigned there A.D.
788-985. It was captured by Abd-el-Mumen ben Ali, the Almohade, in 1145.
It was also besieged in 960, 979, 1045, 1048, 1069, 1248, 1250. See Leo
Africanus (Hakluyt Soc. ed.), pp. 143-5, 393, 416-486, 589-606. (2)
_Granada_ was still a Moslem Kingdom, as it remained till its capture by
Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492. It was now (1418) ruled by the
successors of Mohammed-al-Hamar, who in 1236 gathered the relics of the
western Caliphate into the Kingdom of Granada. In 1340 the Granadine
attempt, in alliance with Berber help from Africa, to recover southern
Spain for Islam, had been defeated in the great battle of the Tarifa, or
Salado (one of the first engagements where cannon were used); but
Granada still (in the fifteenth century) retained considerable strength.
(3) _Tunis._--Leo Africanus mentions its capture by Okba (Akbah) in the
seventh century A.D., by the Almoravides in the eleventh century, and by
Abd-el Mumen ben Ali, the Almohade, in the twelfth century. It was
unsuccessfully attacked at times by those states whose trade with it was
most important, _e.g._, by Louis IX of France in his crusade of 1270; by
the Genoese, 1388-90; by the Kings of Sicily, 1289-1335; and by other
foreign states; but remained for the most part independent, from the
breakup of the Almohade empire till its capture by Barbarossa for the
Ottomans in 1531. See Leo Africanus, pp. 699, 716, 753. (4)
_Marocco._--The city of Marocco was founded, A.D. 1070-2 according to
some, 1062-3 according to others (A.H. 454), by Yusuf Ibn Tashfin, the
Almoravide. Under both Almoravides and Almohades its greatness steadily
increased. Abd-el-Mumen ben Ali took it for the latter, and under his
grandson, Yakub Almansor, it became the Almohade capital (A.D. 1189-90).
The Beni-Merini succeeding to power in these parts in the thirteenth
century, removed the seat of government to Fez (1269-1470). See Leo
Africanus, pp. 262-272, 351-359. Early in the sixteenth century the
Portuguese, under Nuno Fernandez d'Ataide, Governor of Safi, attacked
Marocco without success. A district called Marocco was much older than
the city. "Marakiyah," in Masudi (iii, p. 241, Meynard and Courteille),
is used of a district to which the Berbers emigrated. (5) _Bugia_,
_Bougie_, anciently also _Bujaïa_ and _Bejaïa_, a very ancient city.
Carthage had a settlement here; Augustus established a Roman colony with
the title of Colonia Julia Augusta Saldantum ("Saldaa"). It fell into
the power of the Vandals in the fifth, of the Arabs in the sixth,
century; and during the earlier Caliphate it carried on a considerable
trade, especially with the Christian states of the Western
Mediterranean. This trade continued to flourish during the later Middle
Ages; and we may instance, not only the favourable descriptions of
Edrisi (_c._ 1154) and of Leo Africanus (1494-1552), but also the Pisan
commerce (of about 1250-64) both in merchandise and in learning, with
this city, as well as the Aragonese treaties of 1309 and 1314, and the
Pisan embassy of 1378, as a few examples out of many. In 1068, En-Naser
having restored and embellished the town, made it his capital, re-naming
it En-Naseria; Abd-el-Mumen ben Ali subjected it to the Almohade empire
in 1152; in 1509 Count Peter of Navarre seized it, and the Spaniards
held it till 1555. From 1833 it has been a French possession. See Edrisi
(Jaubert), vol. i, pp. 202, 236-8, 241, 245-6, 258, 269; Leo Africanus,
Hakluyt Soc. edn. pp. 126, 143-4, 699, 700, 745, 932.]
[Endnote 28: (p. 17). _Chance of taking Gibraltar ... did not offer
itself to him._--This project is especially notable in the light of
later history, as of the years 1704, 1729, 1779-82, and of earlier
times, _e.g._, 710. Prince Henry seems to have been one of the few men
who valued aright (before quite modern times) the position from which
the Arabs advanced to the Conquest of Spain, and from which the English
obtained so great a hold over the Mediterranean. It was only in the
later sixteenth century that one can discover anything like a widespread
perception of Gibraltar's importance.]
[Endnote 29: (p. 18). _Canary Islands._--Here Azurara probably refers
to the projects of 1424-5, though his words may apply to Henry's efforts
in 1418, or in 1445-6, to acquire the Canaries for Portugal (see
Introduction to vol. ii, p. xcvi-xcviii).
The "great Armada ... to shew the natives the way of the holy faith" is
very characteristic of Azurara.]
[Endnote 30: (p. 18). _Governed Ceuta ... left the government to King
Affonso at the beginning of his reign._--On this, Santarem has the
following note:--
[The 35 years during which the Infant governed Ceuta must be understood
in the sense that during the reigns of his father and brother and nephew
(till Affonso V reached his majority) he directed the affairs of Ceuta,
but not that he governed that place by residing there. The dates and
facts recorded show that we must understand what is here said in this
sense, seeing that the Infant, after the capture of that city (Ceuta) in
August 1415, returned to the Kingdom (of Portugal); and there was left
as Governor of Ceuta D. Pedro de Menezes, who held this command for
twenty-two years (_D. N. do Leão_, cap. 97). The Infant returned to
Africa in 1437 for the unfortunate campaign of Tangier. After this
expedition he fell ill in Ceuta and stayed there only five months, and
thence again returned to Portugal, and spent the greater part of his
time in the Algarve, occupied with his maritime expeditions. He went
back for the third time to Africa with King D. Affonso V for the
campaign of Alcacer in 1456, returning immediately afterwards to Sagres.
Beyond this, it should be noticed that the sons of King D. John I had
charge of the presidency and direction of various branches of State
administration. D. Duarte (Edward) was, in the life of the King his
father, entrusted with the presidency of the Supreme Court of Judicature
and with the duty of despatching business in Council, as is recorded by
him in detail in ch. xxx of the _Leal Conselheiro_. The Infant D. Henry
had charge of all African business, and so by implication of everything
relating to Ceuta.
Finally, the sublime words of King D. Duarte to D. Duarte de Menezes,
when he said, "If I am not deceived in you, not even to give it to a son
of mine will I deprive you of the captaincy of Ceuta" (Azurara,
_Chronica de D. Duarte_, ch. xliii), show that the Infant D. Henry was
not then properly Governor of Ceuta; although he was formally appointed
to that post on July 5th, 1450, he never actually occupied it (see
Souza, prov. of Bk. v, No. 51).]--S.]
[Endnote 31: (p. 18). _The fear of his vessels kept in security ...
the merchants who traded between East and West._--This important detail
has not been noticed sufficiently in lives of D. Henry. If Azurara
really means that the Infant's fleet preserved the coasts of Spain from
all fear of the piracy which then, as later, endangered the commerce of
the Western Mediterranean, we can only regret that no further details
have come down to us about this point. For such a task the Prince must
have maintained a pretty large navy: though it is noticeable that piracy
seems to have been worse on the so-called Christian side in the mediæval
period; and not till after the fifteenth century, and the establishment
of Turkish suzerainty, was it as bad on the Moslem side (see Mas Latrie,
_Relations de l'Afrique Septentrionale avec les Chrétiens au Moyen Age_,
passim, and especially pp. 4, 5, 61-2, 117, 128-30, 161-208, 340-5, 453,
469, 534). The forbearance of the Barbary States with Christian
freebooting from the eleventh century to the sixteenth, their tolerance
of Christian colonies in their midst, and the special favours constantly
shown to individual Christians, would surprise those who think only of
Algerine, Tunisian, or Maroccan piracy and "Salee rovers." Roger II of
Sicily is a striking exception to this disgraceful rule. In the earlier
Middle Ages, some of the Christian Republics of Italy even joined
Moslems in slave-raiding upon other Christians (see _Dawn of Modern
Geography_, pp. 203-4).]
[Endnote 32: (p. 18). _Peopled five Islands ... especially Madeira_
(see Introduction to vol. ii, pp. xcviii-cii).]
[Endnote 33: (p. 19). _Alfarrobeira, where ... Don Pedro was ...
defeated._--D. Pedro, the eldest of the uncrowned sons of King John I,
was famous for his journeys in Europe, ending in 1428, when he returned
from Venice with many treasures, among others a MS. copy of Marco Polo,
and a map of the traveller's route (see Introduction to vol. ii, p.
liv). He was still more famous for his wise government of Portugal as
Regent for his young nephew, Affonso V, 1439-47. He took part in the
campaign of Ceuta, 1415; advised vainly against the Tangier campaign of
1437; married his daughter Isabel to the King in 1447 (May); was worried
into a semblance of rebellion, 1448-9, and was killed in a battle at the
rivulet of Alfarrobeira, between Aljubarrota and Lisbon, in May 1449.
On his companion, the Count of Avranches ("Dabranxes" in Azurara),
Santarem has a note remarking that he, D. Alvaro Vaz d'Almada, was [made
a Count (of Avranches) in Normandy, by gift of the King of England
(Henry V), after the battle of Azincourt, when he was also created a
knight of the Order of the Garter.]
He was sometimes called, in the affected Renaissance fashion of the
time, the "Spanish Hercules;" but he also had fallen into disfavour with
Affonso V. He escaped from imprisonment at Cintra, joined D. Pedro in
Coimbra (the latter's dukedom), and marched with him to his death (see
Introduction to vol. ii, pp. xvi-xviii).]
[Endnote 34: (p. 19). _Order of Christ ... Mother-convent ... Sacred
uses._--Prince Henry was Grand Master of the Order of Christ, founded by
King Diniz in 1319, in place of the Templars, whose property in great
measure it inherited (see Introduction to vol. ii, p. xviii-xix).
The mother-convent of the Order of Christ was at Thomar, in the
(Portuguese) province of Estremadura, 45 kilometres N.N.E. of Santarem,
or a little N.W. of Abrantes, and is noticeable for its sumptuous
architecture. It was founded originally as a house of the Templars by
Donna Theresa, mother of Affonso Henriques, first King of Portugal; it
was enlarged and rebuilt in 1180 and 1320. At the latter date it passed,
with the reconstitution of Diniz, from the Templars to the Order of
Christ.]
[Endnote 35: (p. 19). _St. Mary of Belem ... Pombal ... Soure ...
Chair of Theology ... St. Mary of Victory ... yearly revenue_ (and see
next sentence of text).--This is the _locus classicus_ on the
benefactions of the Prince (see Introduction to vol. ii, pp. cvi-cix).
St. Mary of Belem, "near the sea at Restello," a chapel where the
Infant's mariners could pay their devotions the last thing before
putting out to sea from Lisbon, or return thanks after a voyage, was
superseded by the more sumptuous edifice of Kings Emanuel and John III,
known as the Jeronymos, and named "the Lusiads in stone," which, with
the exception of Batalha, is the noblest of Portuguese buildings. Da
Gama, however, when starting for and returning from India, had only
Prince Henry's little chapel available.
Pombal, in Estremadura, and Soure, in Beira, are both a little S.W. of
Coimbra: Pombal being further in the direction of Leiria.]
[Endnote 36: (p. 20). _Ready to go to Ceuta ... desisted._--This
abortive African expedition belongs to the reign of Affonso V, and
apparently to the years immediately subsequent to the Tangier disaster
of 1437 (see Introduction to vol. ii. pp. xvi-xvii).]
[Endnote 37: (p. 21). _The Infant's town ... So named ... by
writing._--The settlement at Sagres. On this Santarem has the following
notes:--
[α. We see by our author's account what was the state in 1453 of the
town of which the Infant had laid the foundations in 1416, and to which
at first was given the name of "Tercena Naval" (Naval Arsenal), from the
Venetian word "Darcena," an arsenal for the construction and docking of
galleys; it afterwards received the name of Villa do Infante (the
Infant's town), and later on that of Sagres--derived from Sagro, Sacrum,
the famous Promontorium Sacrum of the ancients, according to D.
Francisco Manoel, _Epanaphoras_, p. 310. It should be noted that the
celebrated Cadamosto, who had speech with the Infant in 1455, at Cape
St. Vincent, does not give the name of the town, though he speaks of the
interview which he had with him (Henry) at Rapozeira].
[β. In writing "Callez" for "Cadiz" in this paragraph, our author
follows the corrupt nomenclature of the authors and MSS. of the Middle
Ages, which altered the name of that city from the Gades of Pliny (v,
19), Macrobius, Silius Italicus (xvi, 468), Columella (viii, ch. xvi), a
form more like the primitive Gadir (a hedge) in the Phœnician or Punic
language. The corrupt terms Calles, Callis, etc., are, however, met with
even in documents of the sixteenth century. See the letters of Vespucci
in the edition of Gruninger (1509)].
[γ. As to this reference to the Genoese (desiring to buy Sagres from
Portugal), the meaning must be that they offered great sums of money for
the concession of a place in the new town for the establishment there of
a factory, and perhaps of a colony, similar to those they possessed in
the Black Sea, as especially Caffa (now Theodosia, in the Crimea), or
Smyrna in the Archipelago. It is, however, improbable that they proposed
to the Infant the cession of a town of which he did not hold the
sovereignty. The Republic of Genoa had preserved very close relations
with Portugal from the commencement of the monarchy, and could not be
ignorant that even the Sovereigns of the country were not able to
alienate any portion of the land without the consent of the Cortes (on
this subject see Part III of our _Memorias sobre as Cortes_). Howsoever
the case may have been, the detail referred to by our author illustrates
the prudence of the Portuguese Government of that time in having
resisted such a proposal, in view of the fact that the Republic of Genoa
had by its immense naval power obtained from the Moorish and African
princes the concession of various important points in Asia and Africa;
and had also procured from the Greek Emperors the cession of the suburbs
of Pera and Galata in Constantinople, and the isles of Scios, Mitylene
(Lesbos), and Tenedos in the Archipelago. The reader will find it worth
his attention that Portugal refused to accede to a similar offer when
the Emperors of the East and of Germany, the Kings of Sicily, Castile,
Aragon, and the Sultans of Egypt constantly sought the alliance of that
Republic and the protection of its powerful marine. True it is that the
power of Genoa had already then begun to decline and to become
enfeebled, but none the less important are the details given by Azurara
and the observations which we have offered for the consideration of the
reader].
As to the connections of Genoa with Spain, we may add the following:--
Genoese relations with Barcelona became active in the twelfth century.
In 1127 the Republic concluded a commercial treaty with Count Raymond
Berenger III, and formed an offensive and defensive alliance with the
same Prince in 1147. As a result, the allies took Almeria and Tortosa.
In this conquest two-thirds went to the Count, one-third to the Genoese.
In 1153 they sold their new possessions to Count Raymond for money and
trading rights; but in 1149 they concluded a treaty of peace and
commerce with the Moorish King of Valencia, and in 1181 a similar treaty
with the King of Majorca. As early as 1315 the Genoese had begun a
direct trade by sea with the Low Countries, passing round the Spanish
coast. After the conquest of Seville by Ferdinand III they also obtained
important trade privileges in that city, especially those enjoyed by a
grant of May 22nd, 1251. By this time they had ousted all their Italian
rivals in the trade of the Western Mediterranean, and there held a
position analogous almost to that of Venice under the Latin empire of
Constantinople. In 1267 all the Genoese consuls in Spain were put under
a Consul-General at Ceuta. In 1278 Genoa concluded a treaty of peace and
commerce with Granada. In 1317 the Genoese, Emmanuel Pessanha (Pezagno),
became Lord High Admiral of Portugal: Genoese captains and pilots were
employed in the Spanish exploring voyage to the Canaries in 1341; and a
regular contingent of Genoese pilots and captains was maintained in the
Spanish service. See Introduction to vol. ii, p. lxxx.]
[Endnote 38: (p. 22). _Jerome ... Sallust ... so high a charge._--Here
again is the truly characteristic mingling of sacred and profane
learning, both almost equally authoritative to his mind, in Azurara. Cf.
Sallust, _Catiline_, chs. ii, viii, li; especially viii.]
[Endnote 39: (p. 22). _Phidias ("Fadyas") ... the philosopher ...
chapter on wisdom._--Here Santarem has the following notes:--
[α. The "height" of which Azurara speaks is the Parthenon, or Temple of
Minerva, in Athens. The famous statue of that goddess, in gold and
ivory, was made by that famous sculptor (Phidias), and placed by the
Athenians in that magnificent temple]. Cf. Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, Bk.
xxxiv, ch. xix.
[β. The philosopher is Aristotle. It is not unworthy of note that our
author cites Aristotle in this place, and prefers his authority to that
of Pausanias. This preference, which may also be frequently observed in
the _Leal Conselheiro_ of King D. Duarte, proves the great esteem in
which the works of the Stagyrite philosopher were held among our
ancestors (as well as in other nations) during the Middle Ages. Our
learned men followed him in preference to Pausanias, even when treating
of the antiquities of Greece].]
[Endnote 40: (p. 23). _Great Valerius._--Here again Santarem:--[This
author, cited by Azurara, is Valerius Maximus, a writer of the time of
Tiberius, who wrote _De dictis factisque memorabilibus_ in nine books.
He was a native of Rome, and therefore Azurara says, "of thy city."]
Azurara is not mistaken, as Santarem suggests, in assuming that the
Roman author did not only deal with the deeds of his compatriots but
also described those of foreigners. Of the main divisions of V.'s work,
the first book is devoted chiefly to religious and ritual matters, the
second to various civil institutions, the third and three following
books to social virtues; the seventh book treats of many different
subjects. This treatise was very popular in the Middle Ages, and several
abridgments were made, one by Julius Paris.]
[Endnote 41: (p. 24). _What Romulus ... Manlius Torquatus ... Cocles
("Colles") ... diminishing of his praise._--On this Santarem remarks:
[T. Manlius Torquatus, the dictator, is here seemingly referred to; on
whom see _Livy_, vii, 4, and _Plutarch_, i].
The contrast of Cæsar's gaiety with the strictness of Henry's life
refers us to ch. iv (beginning), pp. 12, 13, of this version. Azurara
had but a very inadequate conception (supplement from Cadamosto, Pacheco
Pereira, and Barros) of the real scope of Henry's life-work, and his
remarks sometimes sink into mere flattery; but the comparisons he makes
here are not misjudged. The Infant was really one of the men who, like
Cæsar, Alexander, Peter I of Russia, or Mohammed, force us to think how
different the history of the world would have been without them.]
[Endnote 42: (p. 24). _Captain of their Armies._--Here
Santarem:--[This detail is so interesting for the history of that epoch,
that we judge it opportune to indicate here, for the illustration of our
text, the names of these sovereigns. The invitation given by the Pope
(as recorded here) to the Infant could only have taken place after the
taking of Ceuta, a campaign in which the Prince acquired immortal glory,
having commanded the squadron and been first of the princes to enter the
fortress. In view of this, it appears to us that only after 1415 could
this proposal have been made by the Pontiff; and also it seems as if the
offer must have been made to him before the unfortunate campaign of
Tangier in 1437, during the time in which the Infant was exclusively
occupied with the business of the Kingdom and of Africa, and with his
expeditions and discoveries. From this it appears likely that the Pope
who invited him to become general of his armies was Martin V, and the
year of the invitation 1420 or 1421, after the embassy which, the Greek
Emperor, Manuel Palaeologus, sent to the Pontiff to beg for aid against
the Turks. The Emperor of Germany of whom Azurara speaks was Sigismund
(Siegmund), who, by reason of his close relations with the Court of
Lisbon, and with the ambassadors of Portugal at the Council of
Constance, could appreciate the eminent qualities of the Infant, and
form the high opinion of him which he deserved. Lastly, the Kings of
Castile and England of whom Azurara speaks must be D. John II, and Henry
V.]--S. Santarem is probably wrong here. "Henry VI" should be read for
"Henry V;" see Introduction to vol. ii, p. xv.]
[Endnote 43: (p. 25). _Discipline ... clemency._--Azurara here
imitates somewhat the formal disputations of Seneca and Cicero. We may
especially compare Seneca's _De Ira_, _De Providentia_, and _De
Clementia ad Neronem Caesarem libri duo_; also, but with rather less
close a parallelism, the same writer's _De Animi tranquillitate_, _De
Constantia Sapientis_. The Elder Seneca's rhetorical exercises,
_Controversiarum libri X_, and _Suasoriarum Liber_, were also, as far as
the form goes, models for such discussions as are here conducted.
Azurara's point, of course, is that, of the two extremes, Prince Henry
leaned rather to "clemency" than to "discipline;" and though he by no
means neglected the latter, he was content rather to err in generosity
than in severity. Precisely the opposite is the view of some modern
students: _e.g._, Oliveira Martins, _Os Filhos de D. João I_, especially
pp. 59-63, 210-1, 267-270, 311-346.]
[Endnote 44: (p. 26). _St. Chrysostom ... something to asperse._--As
to the Prince's critics, though in a slightly different sense, cp. what
Azurara says in ch. xviii (beginning). The modern criticisms of the
Infant's conduct may be read in O. Martins (_Os Filhos_, as cited in
last note). According to this view, the Infant's genius was pitiless: he
cared little or nothing for the captivity and torture of D. Fernando the
Constant, who died in his Moorish prison after the disaster of Tangier;
for the broken heart and premature end of D. Edward; or for the fate of
D. Pedro. As little did he care for the misery of the Africans killed or
enslaved by his captains, or for the unhappy life of Queen Leonor,
mother of Affonso V. Not only was he indifferent to these sufferings,
but indirectly or directly he was the efficient cause of the same. This
extreme view, as regards the slave-raiding, is much weakened by
Cadamosto's testimony, and Azurara's own admission in ch. xcvi (end) of
this Chronicle (see Introduction to vol. ii, p. xxv). The truth seems to
lie between Azurara and Martins: between the conceptions of Henry as a
St. Louis and as a Bismarck.]
[Endnote 45: (p. 26). _Seneca ... first tragedy._--This is the
_Hercules Furens_ of the great--or younger--Seneca, the philosopher.]
[Endnote 46: (p. 27). _St. Brandan ... returned._--On this Santarem
writes:--
[The voyage of St. Brandan, to which Azurara refers, is reputed
fabulous, like the island of the same name. According to this tradition,
it was said that St. Brandan arrived in the year 565 at an island near
the Equinoctial(?). This legend was preserved among the inhabitants of
Madeira and of Gomera, who believed that they were able to see Brandan's
isle towards the west at a certain time of the year. This appearance
was, however, the result of certain meteorological circumstances.
Azurara became acquainted with this tradition of the Middle Ages from
some copy of the MS. of the thirteenth century, entitled _Imago Mundi de
dispositione Orbis_, of Honorius of Autun; and this circumstance is so
much the more curious as Azurara could not have been acquainted with the
famous Mappemonde of Fra Mauro, which was only executed between the
years 1457-9; and still less with the Planisphere of Martin of Bohemia
(Behaim), which is preserved at Nuremburg, on which appears depicted at
the Equinoctial a great island, with the following legend: _In the year
565 St. Brandan came with his ship to this island._ The famous Jesuit,
Henschenius, who composed a critical examination of the life of St.
Brandan, says of it:--"Cujus historia, ut fabulis referta, omittitur."]
The Bollandists speak with equal distrust of the Brandan story.
To this we may add:--It is possible Azurara may have read the original
_Navigatio Sti. Brendani_. The legendary voyage of Brandan is usually
dated in 565, but this is probably a mere figure of speech. He was
supposed to have sailed west from Ireland (his home was at Clonfert on
the Middle Shannon) in search of Paradise, and to have made discoveries
of various islands in the Ocean, all associated with fantastic
incidents: as the Isle of St. Patrick and St. Ailbhé, inhabited by Irish
Cœnobites; the isle of the Hermit Paul, at or near which Brandan met
with Judas Iscariot floating on an iceberg; the Isle of the Whale's
Back, and the Paradise of Birds; to say nothing of the Isle of the
Cyclops, the Mouth of Hell, and the Land of the Saints--the last
encircled in a zone of mist and darkness which veiled it from profane
search. It is more than probable that the Brandan tradition, as we have
it, is mainly compiled from the highly-coloured narratives of some Arab
voyagers, such as Sinbad the Sailor in the Indian Ocean, and the
Wanderers (Maghrurins) of Lisbon in the Atlantic (as recorded in
_Edrisi_, Jaubert, ii, 26-29), with some help from classical
travel-myth; that it is only in very small part referable to any
historical fact; that this fact is to be found in the contemporary
voyages of Irish hermits to the Hebrides, Orkneys, Shetlands, Faroes,
and Iceland; that a certain special appropriateness may be found in the
far western Scottish island of St. Kildas (Holy Culdees) or the islet of
Rockall; and that some of the matter in the Brandan story is derived
from the travels of early Christian pilgrims to Palestine, _e.g._,
Bernard the Wise, _c._ 867. It is important to remember that the
tradition, though professing to record facts of the sixth century, is
not traceable in any MS. record before the eleventh century; but, like
so many other matters of mediæval tradition, its popularity was just in
inverse proportion to its certainty, and "St. Brandan's isle" was a
deeply-rooted prejudice of the twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, and even
fifteenth centuries. Down to the middle of the sixteenth century it
usually found a place on maps of the Western Ocean, usually due west of
Ireland (see _Dawn of Modern Geography_, pp. 230-240, and references in
same to other works, p. 239, _n._ 2, especially to De Goeje's _La
légende de Saint Brandan_, 1890; Avezac's _Iles fantastique de l'Océan
Occidental_, 1845; Schirmer, _Zur Brendanus Legende_, 1888; and the
study of _Schröder_, 1871). We may note that Azurara is (for his time)
somewhat exceptional in his hesitating reference to the Brandan story;
but of course his object led him, however unconsciously, to minimise
foreign claims of precedence against the Portuguese on the Western
Ocean. As far as Brandan goes, no one would now contradict the Prince's
apologist; but more formidable rivals to a literal acceptance of the
absolute Portuguese priority along the north-west coasts of Africa are
to be found in Italian, French, and Catalan voyagers of the thirteenth
and fourteenth centuries, one of which is perhaps alluded to here by
Azurara. For "the two galleys which rounded the Cape (Bojador) but never
returned" were probably the ships of Tedisio Doria and the Vivaldi, who
in 1291 (_aliter_ 1281) left Genoa "to go by sea to the ports of India
to trade there," reached Cape Nun, and, according to a later story,
"sailed the sea of Ghinoia to a city of Ethiopia." In 1312, we are told,
enquiry had failed to learn anything more of them (see Introduction to
vol. ii, pp. lxi-lxiii).]
[Endnote 47: (p. 28). _Power of ... Moors in ... Africa ... greater
than was commonly supposed_ (see Introduction to vol. ii, pp. xlv-lix).]
[Endnote 48: (p. 30). _King and Lord._--With this astrological
explanation compare what Azurara says about the death of Gonçalo de
Sintra, ch. xxviii, p. 92.]
[Endnote 49: (p. 31). _A fathom deep ... ever be able to return ..._
(see Introduction to vol. ii, pp. v, viii-x, lxiv, lxx).
Here Santarem has the following notes:--
[α. This passage shows that the Portuguese mariners already, before the
expedition of Gil Eannes, knew that beyond Cape Bojador the great desert
of the Sahara was to be met with, and that the land was not less sandy
than that of "Libya." This last term of Plinian geography, and the
circumstances which the author relates in this chapter, show that before
these expeditions our seamen had collected all the notices upon that
part of the African continent found in the ancient geographers, and in
the accounts of the Moors of the caravans which traversed the great
desert. This is confirmed by what Azurara says in ch. lxxvii, as we
shall see in due course].
[β. The reader will observe from this passage that in spite of the
hydrographical knowledge which our mariners had already obtained of
those coasts, from their imperfect understanding of what are called the
Pelagic currents, those sailors of the fifteenth century still feared
the great perils which the passage of that Cape offered to their
imagination. Azurara makes clear to us here how powerful, even at this
epoch, was the influence of the traditions of the Arabic geographers
about the Sea of Darkness, which according to them existed beyond the
isles of Kalidad (the Canaries), situated at the extremity of the Mogreb
of Africa. See Edrisi, Backoui, and Ibn-al-Wardi. Lastly, on the
superstitious and other fears of mediæval navigators, the reader can
consult the _Itinera Mundi_ of Abraham Peritsol, translated from Hebrew
into Latin by Hyde]. Cf. Introduction to vol. ii, p. x. Cape Bojador, in
N. lat. 26° 6' 57", W. long. (Paris) 16° 48' 30", is thus described by
the most recent French surveys: "Viewed from the north there is nothing
remarkable, but from the west there appears a cliff of about 20 metres
in height. A little bay opens on the south of the Cape."]
[Endnote 50: (p. 32). _Virgin Themis ... returned to the Kingdom very
honourably._
On the first words there is this original MS. note:--[It is to be
understood that near to Mount Parnassus, which is in the midst between
east and west, are two hill tops, which contend with the snows. And in
one of these was a cave, in which in the time of the Heathen, Apollo
gave responses to certain priestly virgins who served in a temple which
was there dedicated to the said Apollo. And those virgins dwelt by the
fountains of the Castalian mount. And among these virgins was that
virgin Themis, whom some held to be one of the Sibyls. And it is said
that those virgins were so fearful of entering into that cave, that,
save on great constraint they dared not do so--according as Lucan
relateth in his fifth book and sixth chapter, where he speaketh of the
response which the Consul Appius received, on the end of the war between
Cæsar and Pompey.]
On this Santarem remarks:--
[Both in this note and in those on pp. 10, 11, 12, and 21 ( = pp. 7-8,
13, of this version), which are met with in our MS., and are in the same
script, there prevails such a confusion of thought that we hesitate in
supposing them to have been written by Azurara. These notes, so far from
illustrating the text, themselves call for elucidation. Here the writer
follows the opinion of the ancients as to the position of Parnassus,
viz., that it was situated in the middle of the world, though, according
to Strabo, it was placed between Phocis and Locris. As to its
"contending with the snows," the writer of this note, who quotes Lucan,
seems to have taken this passage from Ovid rather than from the
_Pharsalia_. See Ovid, _Metamorphoses_, I, v, 316-7; Lucan, _Pharsalia_,
V, v, 72-3. The cave is the Antrum Corysium of the Poets. See the
_Journey to Greece_ of the famous archæologist Spon. The passages
referred to as from Bk. V of the Pharsalia are those beginning with the
lines--_Hisperio tantum_ ... and v, 114, _Nec voce negata_ ... together
with line 120, _Sic tempore longo_, and the following lines.]
On the "honourable return" of these caravels, with "booty of the
Infidels," from the Levant Seas, we may compare the text on p. 18, and
note (31) to the same. Here Santarem remarks:--
[The attempts made by the Portuguese seamen to pass the Cape began
before the fifteenth century. Already, in the time of King Affonso IV,
the Portuguese passed beyond Cape Non, _i.e._, before 1336 (?). The
documents published by Professor Ciampi in 1827, and discovered by him
in the _MSS. of Boccaccio_ in the Bibliotheca Magliabechiana in
Florence, as well as the letter of King Affonso IV to Pope Clement VI
attest that fact. See the _Memoir_ of Sr. J. J. da Costa de Macedo, in
vol. vi. of the Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Lisbon, and
the additions published in 1835. As for the attempts made in the
Prince's time by ships that he sent into those latitudes to pass beyond
Cape Bojador, if we admit the number of twelve years which Azurara
indicates, and if this is taken together with the date 1433, which he
fixes for the passage effected by Gil Eannes(?), the result is that
these attempts began only in 1421; and so Azurara did not admit that the
expedition of 1418 (or of 1419), which went out under J. G. Zarco, had
for its chief object the passage of the Cape at all. But from Barros it
is seen that Zarco and Vaz went out with the object of doubling the
Cape, but that a storm carried them to the island they discovered, and
named Porto Santo (_Decades I_, ch. 2, and D. Franc. Manoel,
_Epanaphoras_, p. 313]. The statements of part of this note are loosely
worded. See Introduction to vol. ii, on the voyage of 1341, on the
earlier claims of Affonso IV, and on the rounding of Bojador.]
Also, on Azurara's use of _Graada_ for _Granada_, Santarem remarks: [On
the origin and etymology of this word, see Cortes y Lopez, art. _Ebura
quae Cerialis. Dic. Geograf. Hist. de la Esp. Ant._, II., 420, etc.].
And on the "Granada" and "Levant" expeditions, the same editor remarks:
[The details of these expeditions prove the activity of our marine at
the beginning of the fifteenth century, and its system of training,
which enabled it to cope better with the perils of Ocean voyages, and in
naval combats with Arabs and Moors to protect the commerce of the
Christian nations in the Mediterranean]. Cf. note 31 to p. 18 of this
version.]
[Endnote 51: (p. 33). _Gil Eannes ... touched by the self-same
terror._--As to Gil Eannes, Santarem remarks:--[Barros also says he was
a native of Lagos, and was the man who so named "Bojador" from the way
it jutted or bulged out (_Decades I_, 6)]; This last statement is quite
untrue; [cf. an Atlas of which Morelli and Zurla treat in their _Dei
Viaggi et delle Scoperte Africane da Ca-da-Mosto_, p. 37, on which is
the inscription "_Jachobus de Giraldis de Venetiis me fecit anno Dmi_
MCCCCXVI;" as well as another atlas of the fourteenth century, on which
two the Cape appears as (1) _Cabo de Buider_, and (2) _Cavo de
Imbugder_; cf. Zurla's _Dissertazione_, p. 37.]. Also, see Introduction
to vol. ii, pp. x, lxiv, lxviii-lxx.]
[Endnote 52: (p. 33). _Needle or sailing chart._--See Introductory §
on History of Maps and Nautical Intruments in Europe up to the time of
Prince Henry, vol. ii, pp. cxvii-cl, and especially pp. cxlvii-cl.]
[Endnote 53: (p. 34). _Barinel ... Barcha ... anything worth
recording._--[A Varinel or Barinel was an oared vessel then in use,
whose name survives in the modern Varina; so Francisco Manoel,
Epanaphoras, p. 317, etc.].--S. See Introduction to vol. ii, pp.
cxii-cxiii.
On the _Footmarks of men and camels_ Santarem remarks.--[To this place
our sailors gave the name of Mullet Bay (Angra dos Ruivos), from the
great quantity of these fish that they found there. The bay appears with
this name in the Map of Africa in the splendid Portuguese Atlas
(unpublished), dating from the middle of the sixteenth century, in the
Royal (National) Library at Paris (R. B. No. 1, 764)].--S. See
Introduction to vol. ii, p. x. Ruivos is variously rendered "Mullet,"
"Gurnet," "Roach." The original meaning is simply "red[fish]."]
[Endnote 54: (p. 35). _Went up country 8 leagues, etc. ...
anchorages._--[Our men named this place Angra dos Cavallos (cf. Barros
_Decades I_, i, 5; Martines de la Puente, _Compendio de las Historias de
las Indias_, ii, 1). This place-name is marked in nearly all the
sixteenth and seventeenth century maps of Africa].--S.]
[Endnote 55: (p. 36). _Two things I consider ... saith he who wrote
this history._--Though these phrases, "our author," "he who wrote this
history," are certainly applied by Azurara to himself in some instances,
there is also sometimes a suggestion of the previous writer on the
Portuguese _Discovery and Conquest of Guinea_, viz., Affonso Cerveira, a
seaman in Prince Henry's service (see Introduction to vol. ii, p. cx).
Here, we fancy, a passage of Cerveira's work is referred to. The loss of
the latter is deplorable. It evidently contained all the facts and
documents given by Azurara, and some omitted by him (see ch. lxxxiv of
this Chronicle, end). Azurara added the reflections and the rhetoric,
but followed Cerveira's order of narrative closely (see especially ch.
lxvi).]
[Endnote 56: (pp. 37-8). _Sea-wolves ... Port of the Galley ... nets
... with all other cordage._--[These _Sea-wolves_ are the _Phocæ
Vitulinæ_ of Linnæus. Cf. the _Roteiro_ of Vasco da Gama's First Voyage,
under December 27th, 1497, p. 3 of Port. text "Achamos muitas baleas, e
humas que se chamam _quoquas_ e Lobos marinhos."]--S.
[The _Port of the Galley_ is so named in the Portuguese Atlas above
referred to (Paris: _Bibl. Nat._, i, 764, of the sixteenth century), and
in the Venetian maps of Gastaldi (1564); cf. Barros, _Decades I_, v, 11,
who says, "Ponto a que ora chamâo a pedra da Galé"].--S.
On the "nets ... with all other cordage," cf. Barros, _Decades I_, ch.
v, fol. 11: "No qual logar achou humas redes de pescar, que parecia ser
feito o fiado dellas, do entrecasco d'algum pao, como ora vemos o fiado
da palma que se faz em Guiné."]
[Endnote 57: (pp. 38, 39). _Rio d'Ouro ... discords in the
Kingdom._--[On old unpublished Portuguese maps we find marked between
Cape Bojador and the Angra dos Ruivos, the following points: _Penha
Grande_, _Terra Alta_, and _Sete-Montes_, besides the _Angra dos
Ruivos_, being all of them probably points where the Portuguese had
landed].--S. See Introduction to vol. ii, pp. x-xiii, lxi-lxxi.
[The events which interrupted the Infant's expeditions and discoveries
from 1437 to 1440 may be briefly indicated. The Infant returned to the
Algarve after the expedition to Tangier (1437), and was there in
September of the following year, when King Edward fell ill at Thomar. On
the King's death, the Prince was at once summoned by the Queen, and
charged by her to concert with the Infant D. Pedro, and with the
grandees of the realm, some means of grappling with the difficulties of
the Kingdom. The Infant convoked these persons, who decided that the
Cortes ought to be assembled to pass the resolutions they judged
expedient.
The Prince thought that D. Pedro ought to sign the summonses; but as he
refused to do this, they were all signed by the Queen, with the proviso
that such signature should hold good only till the Assembly of the
Estates should settle the question.
At the same time the Infant, on account of his accustomed prudence, was
chosen mediator between the Queen and D. Pedro. At his proposal,
discussed in various conferences, the Queen was charged with the
education of her children and the administration of their property;
while to the Infant D. Pedro was given the administration and government
of the Kingdom, with the title of Defender of the Kingdom for the King
(_Ruy de Pina_, ch. xv).
But, as a large party did not agree to this, and so public disorder
increased, Henry sought to conciliate the different parties by getting
their consent to an Accord, published November 9th, 1438, providing:--
1. That the education of the King while a minor, and of his brothers,
and the power of nominating to Court Offices, should rest with the
Queen; and that a sum should be paid her sufficient to defray the
expenses of the Royal Household.
2. The Royal Council was to consist of six members, who should be
charged in turn and at definite periods with such business of state as
was within their power to decide, conformably to the regulations of the
Cortes.
3. Besides this Council there was to be elected a permanent deputation
of the Estates, to reside at the Court, composed of one prelate, one
fidalgo, and one burgess or citizen, to be elected, each by his
respective estate, for a year.
4. All the business of the Royal Council was to be conducted by the six
councillors and the deputation of the Three Estates under the presidency
of the Queen, with the approval and consent of the Infant D. Pedro.
If the votes were equal, the business in question was to be submitted to
the Infants, the Counts, and the Archbishop, and to be decided by the
majority.
If the Queen agreed with the Infant D. Pedro, their vote was to be
decisive, even though the whole Council should be against them.
5. All the business of the Treasury, except what belonged to the Cortes,
was to be conducted by the Queen and the Infant: decrees and orders on
the subject were to be signed by both, and the Controllers of the
Treasury were to be charged with their execution.
6. It was settled that the Cortes should be summoned every year to
settle any doubts which the Council could not decide for themselves,
such as "the [condemnation to] death of great personages, the
deprivation of state servants from great offices, the [confiscation or]
loss of lands, the amendment of old or the making of new laws and
ordinances; and it was also agreed that future Cortes should be able to
correct or amend any defect or error in past sessions" (_Ruy de Pina_,
ch. xv). The Queen, however, being induced by a violent party to resist,
refused to agree to these resolutions, in spite of the vigorous efforts
of D. Henry. This produced great excitement, and in the Cortes it was
proposed to confer the sole regency on D. Pedro. It should be noted that
Prince Henry expressed his disapproval of all the resolutions of the
municipality of Lisbon and other assemblies, declaring that they
illegally tried to rob the Cortes of its powers. Equally plain was his
indignation when he learned that the Queen had fortified herself in
Alemquer, and had invoked the aid of the Infants of Aragon.
He did not hesitate to go to Alemquer in person, and induce the Queen to
return to Lisbon, in order to present the young King to the Cortes
(1439); and such was the respect felt for him (Henry) that the Queen,
who had resisted all other persuasions, yielded to the Infant's.
In the following year the divisions of the Kingdom compelled the Infant
to occupy himself with public business, the conciliation of parties, and
the prevention of a civil war.]--S.]
[Endnote 58: (p. 39). _Chronicle of D. Affonso_.--This chronicle,
according to Barros and Goës, was written by Azurara himself as far as
the year 1449, and continued by Ruy de Pina. It is cited by Barbosa
Machado. See Introduction to the first volume of this translation, pp.
lxi-ii.]
[Endnote [N58A: (p. 43). _Those on the hill._--This hill is also marked
in the unpublished Portuguese maps in the National Library at Paris, and
is situated to the south of the Rio do Ouro.]--S.]
[Endnote 59: (p. 44). _The philosopher saith, that the beginning is
two parts of the whole matter._--Here, and in the two following notes,
it is very difficult to suggest any classical reference which
corresponds closely enough with Azurara's language; but cf., in this
place, Aristotle, _Ethics_, Bk. I, ch. vii, p. 1098b7; _Topics_, Bk. IX,
ch. xxxiv, p. 183b22 (Berlin edn.).]
[Endnote 60: (p. 44). _Roman History_.--Cf. Valerius Maximus, Bk. II,
cc. 3, 7; St. Augustine, _De Civitate Dei_, Bk. II, cc. 18, 21; Bk. V,
c. 12.]
[Endnote 61: (p. 45). _That emulation which Socrates praised in
gallant youths_.--Cf. Xenophon, _Memorabilia_, Bk. I, c. 7; Bk. III, cc.
1, 3, 5, 6, and especially 7; also Plato, _Laches_, 190-9; _Protagoras_,
349-350, 359. On the history that follows, cf. D. Pacheco Pereira,
_Esmeraldo_, cc. 20-33. Pereira must have had a copy of this Chronicle
before him, for in places he transcribes _verbatim_; see _Esmeraldo_, c.
22.]
[Endnote 62: (p. 47). _"Portugal" and "Santiago."_--The latter war-cry
is of course derived from St. James of Compostella, which being in
Gallicia was not properly a Portuguese shrine at all. All Spanish
crusaders, however, from each of the five Kingdoms, made use of this
famous sanctuary. See note 11, p. 7 of this version.]
[Endnote 63: (p. 48). _Port of the Cavalier._--[This is marked in two
Portuguese maps of Africa in Paris, both of the sixteenth century, as on
this side of Cape Branco, which is in 20° 46' 55" N. lat.]--S.]
[Endnote 64: (p. 49). _Azanegues of Sahara ... Moorish tongue._--[Cf.
Ritter, _Géographie Comparée_, III, p. 366, art. _Azenagha_. Ritter says
they speak Berber. On this language see the curious article, _Berber_,
by M. d'Avezac, in his _Encylopédie des gens du Monde_. On the
Azanegues, Barros says (_Decade I_, Bk. I, ch. ii): "The countries which
the Azanegues inhabit border on the negroes of Jaloff, where begins the
region of Guinea." _Sahará_ signifies desert. Geographers spell Zahará,
Zaara, Ssahhará, Sarra, and Sahar. The inhabitants are called
Saharacin--Saracens--"sons of the desert" (cf. Ritter, _Géographie
Comparée_, III, p. 360), a term immensely extended by mediæval
writers--thus Plano Carpini expects to find "black Saracens" in India.
On the etymology, cf. Renaud's _Invasions des Sarrasins en France_, Pt.
IV, pp. 227-242, etc. He confirms Azurara's statement that the Sahara
language differed from the Mooris--_i.e._, it was Berber, not
Arabic--and he refers us to the Arab author Ibn-Alkûtya, in evidence of
this.]--S.
The "Other lands where he learned the Moorish tongue" were probably
Marocco, or one of the other Barbary States along the Mediterranean
littoral, where Arabic was in regular use. This language stopped, for
the most part, at the Sahara Desert. Santarem's derivation of the word
"Saracen" is much disputed.]
[Endnote 65: (p. 50). _Lisbon Harbour_ ...--Here, perhaps, Azurara
refers to the broad expanse of the Tagus, opposite the present Custom
House and Marine Arsenal of Lisbon. "The broad estuary of the Tagus
gives Lisbon an extensive and safe harbour." From the suburb of Belem
up to the western end of Lisbon, the Tagus is little more than a mile
in width, but opposite the central quays of the city the river widens
considerably, the left, or southern, bank turning suddenly to the
south near the town of Almada, and forming a wide bay, reach, or road
about 5½ miles in breadth, and extending far to the north-east. "In
this deep lake-like expansion all the fleets of Europe might be
anchored."]
[Endnote 66: (p. 50). _Cabo Branco._--[In lat. N. 20° 46' 55",
according to Admiral Roussin's observations.]--S. According to the most
recent French surveys, it is thus described:--"Il forme, au S., sur
l'Atlantique, l'extrémité d'une presqu'île aride et sablonneuse de 40
kil. de longeur environ, large de 4 à 5 kil., qui couvre a l'O. la baie
Lévrier, partie la plus enfoncée au N. de la baie d'Arguin. Cette
presqu'île se termine par un plateau dont le cap forme l'escarpement; le
sommet surplomb la mer de 25 m. environ. Des éboulements de sable, que
le soleil colore d'une nuance éblouissante, lui ont valu son nom. 'Le
Cap Blanc est d'une access facile. Il est entouré de bons mouillages
qui, au point de vue maritime, rendent cette position préférable à celle
d'Arguin' (Fulcrand)."]
[Endnote 67: (p. 53). _Eugenius the Bishop._--[Barros adds certain
reasons for this request; he says, "the Infant, whose intent in
discovering these lands was chiefly to draw the barbarous nations under
the yoke of Christ, and for his own glory and the praise of these
Kingdoms, with increase of the royal patrimony, having ascertained the
state of those people and their countries from the captives whom Antam
Gonçalvez and Nuno Tristam had brought home--willed to send this news to
Martin V (?), asking him, in return for the many years' labour and the
great expense he and his countrymen had bestowed on this discovery, to
grant in perpetuity to the Crown of these Kingdoms all the land that
should be discovered over this our Ocean Sea from C. Bojador to the
Indies" (Barros, _Decade I_, i, 7).]--S. Barros here apparently confuses
Martin V with Eugenius IV.
[Besides this bull, Pope Nicholas V granted another, dated January 8th,
1450, conceding to King D. Affonso V all the territories which Henry had
discovered (Archives of Torre do Tombo, _Maç. 32 de bullas_ No. 1). On
January 8th, 1454, the same Pope ratified and conceded by another bull
to Affonso V, Henry, and all the Kings of Portugal their successors, all
their conquests in Africa, with the islands adjacent, from Cape Bojador,
and from Cape Non as far as all Guinea, with the whole of the south
coast of the same. Cf. Archivo R. _Maç. 7 de bull_. No. 29, and _Maç.
33_, No. 14; and Dumont, _Corp. Diplomat. Univ._, III, p. 1,200. On
March 13th, 1455, Calixtus III determined by another bull that the
discovery of the lands of W. Africa, so acquired by Portugal, as well as
what should be acquired in future, could only be made by the Kings of
Portugal; and he confirmed the bulls of Martin V and Nicholas V: cf.
another bull of Sixtus IV, June 21st, 1481, and see Barros, _Decade I_,
i, 7; _Arch. R. Liv. dos Mestrados_, fols. 159 and 165; _Arch. R. Maç. 6
de bull._, No. 7, and _Maç. 12_, No. 23.]--S.]
[Endnote 68: (p. 54). _Without his license and especial mandate._--See
Introduction to vol. ii, p. xiv.]
[Endnote 69: (p. 54). _Curse ... of Cain._--For "Curse of Ham." Cf.
Genesis ix, 25. "Cursed be Canaan: a servant of servants shall he be
unto his brethren." For this mediæval theory, used sometimes in
justification of an African slave-trade, we may compare the language of
Barros, quoted in note 81.]
[Endnote 70: (p. 54). _Going out of the Ark._--The writings of Abp.
Roderic of Toledo, and of the other authors here referred to, are
apparently regarded by Azurara as explanatory of the record in Genesis,
ix and x. Abp. Roderic Ximenes de Rada (fl. 1212) wrote _De Rebus
Hispanicis_ in nine books; also an _Historia Saracenica_, and other
works. Walter is doubtful. He may be Walter of Burley, the Aristotelian
of the thirteenth-fourteenth century, who wrote a _Libellus de vita et
moribus philosophorum_. Excluding this "Walter," our best choice perhaps
lies between "Gualterus Tarvannensis" of the twelfth century; Walter of
Châtillon, otherwise called Walter of Lille, author of an Alexandreis of
the thirteenth century; or the chronicler Walter of Hemingburgh, or
Hemingford, who is probably of the fourteenth century.]
[Endnote 71: (p. 55). _Better to bring to ... salvation._--Cf. the
Christian hopes of the pagan Tartars in the thirteenth century.]
[Endnote 72: (p. 55). _Land of Prester John if he could._--See
Introduction to vol. ii, p. liv. As to "Balthasar" [Barros says "he was
of the Household of the Emperor Frederic III," who had married the
Infanta Donna Leonor of Portugal (_Decade I_, ch. vii).]--S.]
[Endnote 73: (p. 57). _Infant's Alfaqueque ... managing business
between parties...._--The _Alfaqueque_, or _Ransomer of Captives_,
must have been an interpreter as well. Later, we find "Moors" and
negroes employed for this purpose.]
[Endnote 74: (p. 57). _Who traded in that gold._--[Azurara seems
ignorant that the gold was brought from the interior by caravans, which
from ancient times had carried on this trade across the great desert,
especially since the Arab invasion. Under the Khalifs, this Sahara
commerce extended itself to the western extremity of the continent, and
even to Spain. The caravans crossed the valleys and plains of Suz, Darah
and Tafilet to the south of Morocco. Cf. the _Geographia Nubiensis_ of
Edrisi (1619 ed.), pp. 7, 11, 12, 14; Hartmann's _Edrisi_, pp. 26, 49,
133-4. This gold came from the negro-land called Wangara, as Edrisi and
Ibn-al-Wardi tell us. See _Notices et extraits des MSS. de la
Bibliothèque du Roi_, fo. 11, pp. 33 and 37: so Leo Africanus and Marmol
y Carvajal speak of the gold of Tiber, brought from Wangara. "Tiber" is
from the Arab word Thibr = gold (cf. Walckenaer, _Recherches
géographiques_, p. 14). So Cadamosto, speaking of the commerce of
Arguim, says, ch. x, that men brought there "gold of Tiber;" and Barros,
_Decade I_, ch. vii, in describing the Rio d' Ouro, refers to the same
thing:--"A quantity of gold-dust, the first obtained in these parts,
whence the place was called the Rio d' Ouro, though it is only an inlet
of salt water running up into the country about six leagues."]--S.]
[Endnote 75: (p. 58). _Gete_ (or Arguim).--[Barros, _Decade I_, 7,
says: "Nuno Tristam on this voyage went on as far as an island which the
people of the country called Adeget, and which we now call Arguim." The
Arab name was "Ghir," which Azurara turns into "Gete," Barros into
"Arget." The discovery and possession of this point was of great
importance for the Portuguese. It helped them to obtain news of the
interior, and to establish relations with the negro states on the
Senegal and Gambia. The Infant began to build a fort on Arguim in 1448.
Cadamosto gives a long account of the state of commercial relations
which the Portuguese had established there with the dwellers in the
upland; and the Portuguese pilot, author of the _Navigation to the Isle
of St. Thomas_ (1558), published by Ramusio, says of Arguim: "Here there
is a great port and a castle of the King our Lord with a garrison and a
factor. Arguim is inhabited by black-a-moors, and this is the point
which divides Barbary from Negroland." Cf. Bordone's _Isolario_ (1528)
on the Portuguese trade with the interior. In 1638 this factory and
fortress were taken by the Dutch.]--S.
The subsequent changes of this position may be briefly noticed. After
passing, in 1665, from the Dutch to the English and afterwards back
again, in 1678 from the Dutch to the French, in 1685 from the French to
the Dutch, in 1721 once more falling into French hands, only to be
recovered shortly afterwards by the Netherlanders, it became definitely
and finally a French possession in 1724, and at present forms part of
the great North-West African empire of the Third Republic. At the
northern extremity of the Bight of Arguim, or a little beyond, near Cape
Blanco, is the present boundary between the French and Spanish spheres
of influence in this part of the world.
The native boats, worked by "bodies in the canoes and legs in the
water," must be, Santarem remarks, what the Portuguese call "jangadas."]
[Endnote 75A: (p. 59). _An infinity of Royal Herons._--[The Isle of
Herons is one of the Arguim islands; cf. Barros, _Decade I_, ch. vii; it
is marked under this name (_Ilha_, or _Banco, das Garças_) in early
maps, as in Gastaldi's Venetian chart of 1564, which is founded on
ancient Portuguese maps.]--S.]
[Endnote 76: (p. 61). _Lagos ... Moorish captives._--On the importance
of Lagos in the new Portuguese maritime movement, see Introduction to
vol. ii, pp. xi-xii; and note the reasons given by Azurara in ch. xviii
for the change of feeling among Portuguese traders and others towards
the Infant's plans.]
[Endnote 77: (p. 63). _Lançarote ... Gil Eannes ... Stevam Affonso ...
etc., ... expedition._--This list of names includes several of the
Infant's most capable and famous captains. On Lançarote see this
Chronicle, chs. xviii-xxiv, xxvi, xlix, liii-v, lviii, lix; on Affonso,
chs. li, lx; on John Diaz, ch. lviii; on John Bernaldez, ch. xxi; and on
Gil Eannes, chs. ix, xx, xxii, li, lv, lviii; also pp. x-xiii of
Introduction to vol. ii, and the notices by Ferdinand Denis and others
in the _Nouvelle Biographie Générale_. On the "Isle of Naar," mentioned
a little later on p. 63, Santarem has the following note:--[This island
is marked near to the coast of Arguim on the map of Africa in the
Portuguese Atlas (noticed before) at the Bibliothèque Royale (Nationale)
de Paris.]]
[Endnote 78: (p. 68). [In Bordone's _Isolario_ (1533) all three of the
islands noticed by Azurara (Naar, Garças and Tider), are indicated with
the title of Isles of Herons [Ilhas das Garças]. The same is to be found
in the Venetian map of Gastaldi, and in others. In the Portuguese Atlas
just cited, and in another Portuguese chart made in Lisbon by Domingos
Sanchez in 1618, these islands are depicted as close to the coast of
Arguim, but without any name.] As to Cabo Branco [This name was,
apparently, given it by Nuno Tristam.]--S. See ch. xiii (end) of this
Chronicle.]
[Endnote 79: (p. 78). _In the end._--It is evident, from Azurara's
language, that the Azanegues made a better stand in this fight at Cape
Branco, and came nearer to defeating the Portuguese than on any previous
occasion. It was a sign of what was to follow, for the native resistance
now began to show itself, and the very next European slave-raiders
(Gonçallo de Sintra and his men) were roughly handled, and most of them
killed (see ch. xxvii. of this Chronicle).]
[Endnote 80: (p. 80). _Friar ... St. Vincent de Cabo._--This
"firstfruit of the Saharan peoples, offered to the religious life," was
appropriately sent to a monastery close to the "Infant's Town" at
Sagres, and adjoining the promontory whereabouts centred the new
European movement of African exploration.]
[Endnote 81: (p. 81). _Sons of Adam._--Azurara's position here is, of
course, just that of the scholastics: As men, these slaves were to be
pitied and well treated, nay, should be at once made free; as heathen,
they were enslaveable; and being, as Barros says, outside the law of
Christ Jesus, and absolutely lost as regards the more important part of
their nature, the soul, were abandoned to the discretion of any
Christian people who might conquer them, as far as their lower parts, or
bodies, were concerned.]
[Endnote 82: (p. 84). _As saith the text._--Cf. Virgil, _Æneid_, i,
630 (Dido to Æneas), _Haud ignara mali miseris succurrere disco_. There
is no text in the Jewish or Christian Scriptures which can be said to
answer properly to Azurara's reference in this place. We may, however,
cf. Judges xi, 38; Revelation i, 9.]
[Endnote 83: (p. 87). _Tully saith._--Cf. Cicero, _De Nat. Deorum_, i,
20, 55; _De Or._, iii, 57, 215, 48, 159.]
[Endnote 84: (p. 87). _Ancient sages ... others._--Cf. Livy, v, 51,
46, 6. On the disaster of Gonçalo de Sintra, Santarem remarks:--[This
event happened in 1445. The place where De Sintra perished is fourteen
leagues S. of the Rio do Ouro, and in maps, both manuscript and
engraved, from the close of the fifteenth century, it took the name
_Golfo de Gonçallo de Cintra_]. The reference in the concluding words of
this chapter, _as had been commanded, etc._, is to the passage on p. 87
of this version, towards the foot: "That he should go straight to
Guinea, and for nothing whatever should fail of this:" an order which De
Sintra treated with entire contempt.]
[Endnote 85: (p. 92). _First purpose_, viz., to write the chronicle of
the "Guinea Voyages," not to discuss philosophic problems. The reference
here to the "wheels [or circles] of heaven or destiny" recalls the
astrological passages on pp. 29, 30, 80, etc. Azurara's reference to Job
is to ch. xiv, verse 5.]
[Endnote 86: (p. 93). _Julius Cæsar ... Vegetius ... St. Augustine_
...--Azurara here, of course, indulges in some exaggeration. Cæsar's
breach with the Senate did not take place because of his "overpassing
the space of five years" allowed him at first (B.C. 59) for his
command in Gaul. In B.C. 56 the Lex Trebonia formally gave him a
second allowance, of five years more; and he was not required to
disband his army and return from his province till B.C. 49, when the
Civil War broke out. By "Bretanha," or "Brittany," Azurara indicates
the Duchy of Bretagne, which retained a semi-independence till 1532,
when it was absolutely united with the crown of France. Cæsar's
campaigns against "England" are, of course, those of B.C. 55 and 54,
against Germany of 55 and 53, against Spanish insurgents of 61; but he
could not by any stretch be said to have made England or Germany
"subject" to the Roman power in the same sense as Gaul or Spain. Had
his life been prolonged twenty years, he would probably have achieved
both these unfinished conquests, as well as that of Parthia.]
[Endnote 87: (p. 93). _The enemy ... to them._--Azurara's reference
here is to Livy, Bk. XXII, cc. 42-3.]
[Endnote 88: (pp. 93-94). _Holy Spirit ... ever be watched._--The
references in this paragraph are to Proverbs xi, 14; xxiv, 6; Tobit iv,
18; Ecclesiasticus vi, 18, 23, 32-3; xxv, 5.]
[Endnote 89: (p. 94). _Hannibal ... for the moment._--Cf. Livy, _3rd
Decade_, Bk. XXII, cc. 4-5, 42-6. The reading of the Paris MS.
(_sajaria_) is rejected, plausibly enough, by Santarem for _sagaçaria_.]
[Endnote 90: (p. 94). _Ships of the Armada._--I.e., the Royal Navy of
Portugal; the "very great actions on the coast of Granada and Ceuta"
must refer to events of 1415, 1418, and 1437. (See Introduction to vol.
ii, p. viii, x.) Especially does this expression recall the naval war of
1418, when the King of Granada sent a fleet of seventy-four ships, under
his nephew, Muley Said, to aid the African Moslems in recovering Ceuta
from the Portuguese. Prince Henry proceeded in person to the relief of
the city, and the Granada fleet, we are told, fled at the approach of
the European squadron, without venturing a battle. It is possible,
however, though unrecorded, that the Infant was subsequently able to
engage and destroy part of the Granadine squadron. Gonçalo de Sintra,
from Azurara's words, may have been with D. Henry on this occasion.
On the reference to John Fernandez staying among the Azanegues "only to
see the country and bring the news of it to the Infant" (close of ch.
xxix, p. 95), Santarem refers to Barros' words: "Para particularmente
ver as cousas daquelle sertão que habitão os Azenegues, e dellas dar
razão ao Infante, _confiado na lingua delles que sabia_" (like Martin
Fernandez, p. 57, c. xvi).]
[Endnote 91: (p. 96). _The Plains thereof._--[Comparing the account in
the text with the unpublished maps already referred to, it appears that
Nuno Tristam, after revisiting the isles of Arguim, followed the coast
to the south, passing the following places: Ilha Branca, R. de S. João,
G. de Santa Anna, Moutas, Praias, Furna, C. d'Arca, Resgate, and Palmar;
the last being the point Azurara mentions as "studded with many palm
trees."]--S.]
[Endnote 92: (p. 98). _When King Affonso caused this history to be
written._--On this Santarem remarks: [This is important as showing that
Azurara did not only consult written documents, but personally
interviewed the discoverers, seeing that he confesses his inability to
give details of this occurrence because Nuno Tristam was already dead,
"When Affonso," etc. Cf. _Barros_, I, iii, 17]. Cf. Pina's "Chronicle of
Affonso V," in vol. i of the _Collection of Unpublished Portuguese
Historians_.]
[Endnote 93: (pp. 98, 99). _Dinis Diaz ... convenient place._--["Dinis
Diaz" is called by Barros, and all other historians and geographers
following his authority, "Dinis Fernandez."]--S.
On Azurara's statement that "the Infant provided a caravel for Dinis
Diaz," Santarem adds: [Barros does not agree with Azurara in this, but
says on the contrary, "que elle [Diaz] armara hum navio," etc]. The
"other land to which the first (explorers) went" is apparently the
Sahara coast, from Cape Bojador to the Senegal, which Azurara here
admits to be quite a different country from "Guinea" proper (the land of
the Blacks). This last, after the discoveries of 1445, the Portuguese
recognised as beginning only with the cultivated or watered land to the
south of the Sahara. The name, a very early one, whose subtle changes of
meaning are very perplexing, like the "Burgundy" of the Middle Ages, was
probably derived originally from the city of Jenné, in the Upper Niger
Valley (see Introduction to vol. ii, pp. xlv-xlix). [Here Azurara shows
that he is already beginning to recognise the geographical error of
those who gave an undue extension to the term "Guinea."]--S.
On the reading at the close of this paragraph "concerning this doubt,"
Santarem remarks: [So it stands in the MS., as verified; but it seems to
us that there must be some omission of the copyist, and we propose to
restore the text thus: "Filharom quatro daquelles _que tiveram_ o
atrevimento," etc.].]
[Endnote 94: (p. 100). _Aught to the contrary._--On this passage, cf.
Santarem's _Memoir on the Priority of the Portuguese Discoveries_, §
III, p. 20, etc. Paris, 1840. [_Memoria sobre a prioridade dos
descobrimentos dos Portuguezes_].]
[Endnote 95: (p. 100). _Egypt ... Cape Verde._--[This proves that our
navigators were the first who gave the Cape this name. See the _Memoria
sobre a prioridade_].--S. On Azurara's idea that the Senegal was near
Egypt, cf. Introduction to vol. ii, pp. xii, xxx, xlii, lviii, cxxii.
This notion is, of course, bound up with the theory of the Western or
Negro Nile, branching off from the Nile of Egypt. No mediæval
geographers, and scarcely any ancient, except Ptolemy, realised the size
of Africa at all adequately.
On the "rewards" given by the Infant to Diaz, Santarem well remarks:
[From this and other passages it is clear that the Infant's principal
object was discovery, and not the slave-raids on the inhabitants of
Africa in which his navigators so often indulged]. See Introduction to
vol. ii, pp. v, xxiii-vi.
_Cape Verde._--The turning-point of the great north-west projection of
Africa, now in French possession. It is so called, according to the
general view, from the rich green appearance of the headland--"la
vegetation (as the most recent French surveys describe it) qui le couvre
durant l'hivernage, et que dominent deux mornes arrondis, nommés, par
les marins français, Les Deux Mamelles." The peninsula of Cape Verde is
one of the most remarkable projections of the African coast. Generally
it has the form of a triangle, "terminé par une sorte d'éperon dirigé
vers le S.E., et mesure depuis le cap terminal on point des Almadies
jusqu' à Rufisque une longueur de 34 kilom. avec une largeur de 14
kilom., sous le méridien de Rufisque, pris comme base du triangle. Sa
côte septentrionale, formant une ligne presque droite du N.N.E. au
S.S.O. est creusée, près de l'extremité, de deux petites baies, dont la
première (en venant de l'E.), la baie d'Yof, est la plus considérable;
puis au delà de la pointe des Almadies, qui est le Cap Vert proprement
dit, la côte court au S.E. jusqu' au Cap Manuel, roche basaltique haute
de 40m., puis remonte aussitôt au N. pour, par une très légère courbe,
partir droit a l'E., dessinant ainsi un éperon bien accusé qui
envelloppe le Golfe de Gorée. Le corps principal de la presqu' île est
bas, sablonneux et parsemé de lagunes qui s'égrènent en chapelets le
long de la côte N.; la petite péninsule terminale est au contraire
rocheuse, accidentée et semble un ilot marin attaché à la côte par les
laisses de mer. Ses hautes falaises, d'une couleur sombre et rougeâtre,
forment une muraille à pic contre laquelle la mer vient se briser,
écumante." See Duarte Pacheco Pereira's _Esmeraldo_, pp. 46-49, ed. of
1892. As to the island on which Dinis Diaz and his men landed near the
Cape, this may have been either (1) Goree, two kilometres from the
mainland, and fronting Dakar on the S.E. of the peninsula; (2) The
Madeleine islands, at the opening of a small inlet to the N.W. of Cape
Manuel; (3) The Almadia islands ("Almadies"), "îlette, qui, située en
avant du cap terminal, est la vrai terre la plus occidentale d'Afrique,
les archipels de l'Atlantique non compris;" or (4) The isle of Yof, in
the bay of Yof, on the north side of the peninsula. The Madeleine
islands were once covered with vegetation, though now desert. Here the
French naturalist Adanson made his famous observations on the Baobab
trees, in the eighteenth century. These trees, though they have
disappeared on the islands, are still numerous on the mainland near the
Cape. Azurara has a good deal more to say about these islets and their
baobabs in chs. lxiii, lxxii, lxxv, pp. 193, 218, 226, etc., of this
version. The rounding of C. Verde opened a fresh chapter in the
Portuguese circumnavigation of Africa--to S.E. and E.; see Introduction
to vol. ii, pp. xii, xxx.]
[Endnote 96: (pp. 101-2). _John Fernandez ... such a request._--On
this passage, and especially on Azurara's statement (middle of p. 101)
that Fernandez "had already been a captive among the other Moors and in
this part of the Mediterranean Sea, where he acquired a knowledge of
their language," Santarem remarks: [This detail gives us another proof
that Prince Henry's explorations were made systematically, and according
to plans carefully worked out. In his previous captivity in Marocco,
Fernandez had learnt Arabic, and probably Berber as well; he must also
have gained some information about the interior of Africa. To gain more
detailed knowledge, and so be able to inform the Infant better, he had
now undertaken his residence among the Azanegues of the Rio do Ouro.]
See Introduction to vol. ii, pp. viii, x, xvi, on the dual nature of
Henry's African schemes, land conquest and exploration going along with
the maritime ventures. This was, of course, partly due to an inadequate
conception of the size of the continent, which rendered even the
conquest of Marocco of little use towards the circumnavigation of
Africa.
"How bitter ... to hear such a request" is, of course, one of Azurara's
rare touches of irony.]
[Endnote 97: (p. 103). _Affonso Cerveira._--[The author of the earlier
account of the Portuguese conquest of Guinea, _Historia da Conquista dos
Portuguezes pela costa d'Africa_, on which Azurara's present Chronicle
is based. Cf. Barbosa, _Bibliotheca Lusitana_.]--S. See Introduction to
vol. ii, p. cx, and note 202A.
_Ergim_, in ch. xxxiii, pp. 104, etc., and elsewhere, is, of course,
Arguim. Santarem here refers to Barros' description in _Decade I_, i,
10. "Porque naquelle tempo para fazer algum proveito todos os hião
demandar (os ilheos d'Arguim); e tinha por certo que avião elles de ir
dar com elle, por ser aquella costa e os ilheos a mais povoada parte de
quantas té então tinhão descoberto. E a causa de ser mais povoada, era
por razão da pescaria de que aquella misera gente de Mouros Azenegues se
mantinha, porque em toda aquella costa não avia lugar mais abrigado do
impeto dos grandes mares que quebrão nas suas praias senão na paragem
daquellas ilhas d'Arguim: onde o pescado tinha alguma acolheita, e
lambujem da povoação dos Mouros, posto que as ilhas em si não são mais
que huns ilheos escaldados dos ventos e rocio da agua das ondas do mar.
Os quaes ilheos seis ou sete que elles são, quada hum per si tinha o
nome proprio per que nesta scriptura os nomeamos, posto que ao presente
todos se chamão per nome commum _os ilheos d'Arguim_; por causa de huma
fortaleza que el Rei D. Affonso mandou fundar em hum delles chamado
Arguim." Cf. Duarte Pacheco Pereira's _Esmeraldo_, chs. xxv-vi, pp.
43-4. _Arguim_ is defined in the most recent surveys of its present
French possessors as "Golfe, île, et banc de sable ... l'île est par 20°
27' N. lat., 18° 57' à 60 kilom. vers le S.E. du Cap Blanc ... Ses
dimensions sont de 7 kilom. sur 4. Elle est basse, inculte, et parsemée
de dunes."]
[Endnote 98: (p. 107). _John Fernandez ... in that country._--Santarem
draws attention to Azurara's statement that the explorer, Fernandez, was
personally known to him. Cf. ch. lxxvii of this Chronicle; also chs.
xxix and xxxii. "That country" is of course the Azanegue or Sahara land,
near the Rio do Ouro.
_Setuval_ (p. 106) is in Estremadura (of Portugal), twenty miles
south-east of Lisbon.]
[Endnote 99: (p. 110). _Fear to prolong my story ... though all would
be profitable._--The fondness of Azurara for these scholastic
discussions and useless displays of learning is one of his worst
failings; and a good deal of Cerveira's matter of fact has apparently
been sacrificed to this weakness of his redactor.]
[Endnote 100: (p. 110). _Nine negroes and a little gold-dust._--This
was the first instalment of the precious metal brought home to Portugal
from the Negro-land of Guinea. The same Antam Gonçalvez had already, in
1441, brought the first gold dust from the Sahara, or Azanegue coast
(see ch. xvi of this Chronicle, p. 57). As to the importance of these
gold-samples in promoting the European exploring movement, see
Introduction to vol. ii, pp. x-xi.]
[Endnote 101: (p. 111). _Cape of the Ransom._--[This name is marked
upon the manuscript maps already referred to. On one great Portuguese
chart of this class, on parchment, in the Bibliothèque Nationale at
Paris, the reading is not Cape, but _Port_ of the Ransom. The Portuguese
nomenclature for the West African coast, as we see in this instance, was
for a long time accepted by all the nations of Europe.]--S.
We may notice the allusion in this paragraph to the Portuguese
colonisation of Madeira, in the story of Fernam Taavares (see
Introduction to vol. ii, pp. xcviii-cii).]
[Endnote 102: (p. 112). _Isle of Tider_ (see note 78 to p.
68).--[Tider, marked "Tiber" in the map of West Africa before referred
to. We do not meet this name in any of the many earlier charts that we
have examined].--S.]
[Endnote 103: (p. 115). _Officers who collected royal dues._--The
custom-house officers of Lisbon. We may compare with Azurara's graphic
account of the return of Antam Gonçalvez in 1445, the very similar
details of a much greater reception in the same port: that of Columbus
on March 14th, 1493, on his home-coming from his first voyage (see the
postscript of Columbus' Letter to Luis de Santangel, Chancellor of the
Exchequer of Aragon, respecting the Islands found in the Indies).]
[Endnote 104: (p. 115). _A palace of the Infant, a good way distant
from the Ribeira._--Azurara's only reference, in this Chronicle, to the
Lisbon residence of the Infant Henry. This passage implies that Prince
Henry was often to be found there, and must be taken with others in
modification of extreme statements about his "shutting himself up at
Sagres," etc. Again, at the end of this chapter we are expressly told
that he was now in his dukedom of Viseu, in the province of Beira, some
50 kilometres N.E. of Coimbra, 220 kilometres N.N.E. of Lisbon.]
[Endnote 105: (p. 115). _Profits._--Azurara's remarks here about the
change of feeling as to the Infant's plans are similar to passages in
ch. xiv, p. 51, ch. xviii, pp. 60-61.]
[Endnote 106: (p. 116). _Lisbon ... profit._--The city of Lisbon,
whose name was traditionally and absurdly derived from
Ulysses--"Ulyssipo," "Olisipo," and his foundation of the original
settlement in the course of his voyages, was perhaps a greater city
under the Moors, eighth-twelfth century, than at any time before the
reign of Emmanuel the Fortunate. It was a Roman colony, but its
prosperity greatly increased under the Arab rule from A.D. 714; from
this port sailed Edrisi's Maghrarins, or Wanderers, on their voyage of
discovery in the Western Ocean, probably in the earliest eleventh
century. It was three times recovered and lost by the Christians: in
792(-812) by Alfonso the Chaste of Castille; in 851 by Ordonho I of
Leon, who held it only a few months; and in 1093(-1094) by Alfonso VI of
Leon, soon after his great defeat by the Almoravides at Zalacca (1086);
but on each occasion it was quickly retaken--in 1094 by Seyr, General of
Yusuf ibn Tashfin, the Almorvaide. In alarm at the Moslem revival,
Alfonso founded the county of Portugal in 1095, giving it in charge of
Count Henry of Burgundy and his natural daughter Theresa, to hold as a
"march" against the Moors. In 1147 Lisbon was finally recaptured by
Affonso Henriques, the first King of Portugal, in alliance with a fleet
(164 ships) of English, Flemish, German and French Crusaders on their
way to the Holy Land (Second Crusade). At this time it was said, perhaps
with exaggeration, to contain 400,000 inhabitants; its present number is
only about 240,000 (see _Cruce-signati Anglici Epistola de Expugnatione
Olisiponis_, in _Portugalliæ Monumenta Historica_, vol. i, p. 392, etc).
Before 1147 Guimaraens had been the capital of Portugal; and even down
to the time of John I, Henry's father, Lisbon was not formally the seat
of government, this being more often fixed at Coimbra. In the same
reign, Lisbon also, as a commercial port, easily distanced all rivals
within the kingdom, especially Oporto; and King John's erection of
palaces in the city, and his successful application to the Pope for the
creation of an Archiepiscopal See (thus rivalling Braga), further
contributed to give point to Azurara's words in this paragraph about
"the most noble town in Portugal." On the share of the commercial
classes of Lisbon, Lagos, etc., in Henry's schemes, see Introduction to
vol. ii, pp. x, xii.
_Paulo Vergeryo_ is Pietro Paulo Vergerio, born at Capo d'Istria, July
23, 1370, died at Buda, 1444 (1428 according to others). He enjoyed a
considerable reputation as a scholar at Padua in 1393, etc., and
migrated to Hungary in 1419. See Bayle, _Dict. Crit._ IV, 430 (1741); P.
Louisy, in _Nouvelle Biographie Générale_, art. (Vergerio); J. Bernardi,
in _Riv. Univers._ (Florence, 1875) xxii, 405-430, in _Arch. Stor.
Ital._ (1876) C., xxiii, 176-180; Brunet, _Manuel V_, 1132-3; Muratori,
_Rer. Ital. Scr._ (edition of Vergerio's works) XVI, pp. 111-187,
189-215, 215-242; _Fabricius_, ed. Mansi, VI, p. 289. He has left
various _Orations and Letters_; especially an _Epistola de morte
Francisci Zabarekae_, and a _Historia seu Vitae Carariensium Principum
ab eorum origine usque ad Jacobini mortem_ (1355). See also Joachim
Vadianus, _Biographia P. P. Vergerii, sen._; and C. A. Combi, _Di
Pierpaolo V. ... seniore ... memoria_, Venice, 1880.]
[Endnote 107: (p. 116). _Gonçalo Pacheco ... Kingdom._--Barros copies
this sentence, with some omissions. The allusion to the _High Treasurer
of Ceuta_ (_Thesoureiro Mor das cousas de Cepta_), and his _Noble
lineage, goodness, and valour_, is interesting in its proof of the
detailed attention given to the new conquest, and to African affairs
generally, by the Portuguese government at this time.]
[Endnote 108: (p. 117). _Cape Branco._--On the _personnel_ of this
expedition we have accounts elsewhere; for Dinis Eannes de Graã and the
rest, see chs. xxxvii-xlviii, and especially pp. 121, 122, 126, 130,
131, 138; for Mafaldo, especially p. 119 ("a man well acquainted with
this business ... had been many times in the Moorish traffic"); also pp.
120-121, etc. Cape Branco, since its discovery by Nuno Tristam, had
become the favourite rendezvous of the Portuguese expeditions on this
coast. See ch. lii, p. 153 (made agreement to await one another _as
usual at Cape Branco_).
On the _banners of the Order of Christ_, see Introduction to vol. ii,
pp. xviii-xix; and in this Chronicle, pp. 62 (ch. xviii), 53 (ch. xv),
117 (ch. xxxvii), etc.
[Cf. a parchment atlas (unpublished), executed in Messina as late as
1567 by João Martinez, in which two Portuguese ships are painted in
various points of the Eastern Ocean _with the Cross of the Order of
Christ on their sails_, apparently to indicate the Portuguese dominion
in those waters. This atlas passed into the Library of Heber, and
afterwards into that of M. Ternaux.]--S.]
[Endnote 109: (p. 120). _The patience with which men bear the troubles
of their fellows_ is another piece of irony, similar to that on p. 102;
see note 96.]
[Endnote 110: (p. 122). _Fifty-three Moorish prisoners._--In this, as
in subsequent actions, Mafaldo, rather than Gonçalo Pacheco, showed
himself to be the leader of the expedition.]
[Endnote 111: (p. 123). _Cunning ... but small in this part of the
world._--The fair inference is that, on this occasion, Mafaldo, from his
previous experience, correctly estimated the danger (or absence of
danger), and knew when to trust the natives. Similar trustfulness was
not always equally successful, sometimes from absence of that past
experience possessed by Mafaldo. See chs. xxvii, pp. 90, 91; xlviii, pp.
144-5; lxxxvi, pp. 252, etc.; xxxv, pp. 112-3. The Azanegue Moors of the
Sahara on the whole showed less ability to defend themselves than the
Negroes of the Sudan coast; cf. chs. xlv, pp. 137-8; lx, pp. 179-182;
lxxxvi, pp. 252-6; xli, p. 130; xxxi, p. 99; contrast with pp. 126, 122,
114, 105-6, 78, 73, 36.]
[Endnote 112: (p. 126) ... _true effects._--Azurara certainly does not
commit the error of "those historians who avoid prolixity by summarizing
things that would be greatest if related in their true effects," _i.
e._, in detail. This central portion of his narrative (chs. xxxvi-lix,
lxviii-lxxiv) is especially tedious, and we cannot too much regret the
comparative sacrifice of the scientific interest to the anecdotal,
biographical, or slave-raiding details, with which he fills so much of
this Chronicle. Cf. the slender and imperfect narratives of the really
important voyages of Dinis Diaz (ch. xxxi), Alvaro Fernandez (ch. lxxv),
and Nuno Tristam (chs. xxx, lxxxvi), with the lengthy descriptions of
the expeditions personally conducted by Gonçalo de Sintra, Gonçalo
Pacheco, Lançarote, Mafaldo, and other men whose voyages resulted in
scarcely any advance of exploration. In all this Azurara's narrative
contrasts unfortunately with Cadamosto's, which is not only a record of
exploration, but of acute original observation, a quality by no means so
noticeable in the _Chronicle of Guinea_, except at rare intervals. Cf.,
however, chs. xxv, lxxvi-lxxvii, lxxix-lxxxiii, and see Introduction to
vol. ii, pp. xxiv-xxvi, etc.]
[Endnote 113: (p. 132). _Cape of St. Anne._--[This passage shows the
date when the name of Cape (or rather "Gulf") of St. Anne was given to
that point by Alvaro Vasquez, who was on this expedition. This name was
employed, like the others which we have already indicated, in the
nomenclature of the hydro-geographical charts of the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries. Barros, in his corresponding chapter, not only
omits this detail, but further reduces the material of chs. xxxvii,
xxxviii, xxxix, xl, xli, xlii, to a few lines.]--S.]
[Endnote 114: (p. 133). _And the Moors, like,_ etc.--[From Cape Branco
to the Senegal, the part of the coast of which the author treats is
inhabited by various tribes composed of Moors of mixed race, who speak
Arabic, are Mohammedans, and are known by the names of Trazas or
Terarzah, Brakanas and others. They are in their nature very ferocious,
and are the terror of the traveller. The most cruel of all are those who
inhabit and extend as far as Cape Branco, called Ladessebas; and these,
according to some authors, are of pure Arab race.]--S. See Introduction
to vol. ii, pp. xlii-lix. Mungo Park gives a similar character of the
"Moors" north of Senegal. _Travels_, chs. iii-xii.]
[Endnote 115: (p. 136). _Came near to the coast of
Guinea._--[According to the text it appears that Alvaro Vasquez, after
quitting the place to which he had given the name of Cape of St. Anne,
followed his course 80 leagues towards the south, running along the
coast in this direction until he arrived at the Guinea coast--that is, a
little beyond Cape Verde--but Barros, who omits some of the details of
this voyage, says: ... "Forão-se pela costa adiante obra de oitenta
legoas, e na ida, e vinda té tornar a ilha das Garças fazer carnagem,"
etc.]--S.]
[Endnote 116: (p. 136). _Where they had captured the seven Moors_
[viz., at Tider; see note 78.]--S.
The reference on p. 139 to the Portuguese ships "in the Strait of Ceuta
(Gibraltar) and through all the Levant Sea," may be compared with
Introduction, p. viii, and notes 28, 31, etc.]
[Endnote 117: (p. 142). _Cape Tira._--[In the old maps we meet with no
_cape_ of this name, but combining this passage with what our author
says in ch. xxx (How Nuno Tristam went to Tira), and with the distance
of 80 leagues which they navigated after leaving the Isle of Herons, or
of Arguim, it appears that the cape to which Azurara gives this name, or
to which our first navigators gave the name of Tira, was a point, or
"tira," of land at the embouchure of the Senegal, at a place marked in
the old maps a little beyond Palma Seca, an inscription which is to be
read on many (of the ancient charts), and especially on that of João
Freire of 1546, and on that of Vaz Dourado of 1571. Although on this
last there appears marked a point in close proximity with the name of
Tarem, which is not met with in the preceding (maps). Be this as it may,
by the distances of latitude between Arguim and that point at the mouth
of the Senegal, it appears that the _Cape of Tira_ of which our author
speaks, is the place which we indicate. Notwithstanding the unfortunate
laconism of Azurara about a fact so interesting for the history of
geography, we nevertheless see clearly by this passage that the
exploration of the bays, inlets, and points of that part of the coast of
Africa was steadily pressed on; that all these points were successively
examined by our sailors; and that to these same men are due the names
which served for the hydro-geographical nomenclature (of W. Africa)
adopted by all nations from the end of the fifteenth century to nearly
the end of the seventeenth (see as to this our _Memoria sobre a
prioridade dos descobrimentos Portuguezes na costa d'Africa occidental_,
§ ix).]--S.]
[Endnote 118: (p. 143). _Turtles._--[This passage shows that these
mariners were navigating among the great banks and shoals of sand which
exist between the isles of Arguim and the mouth of the Senegal. "And
they saw an island, which is further out than all the others, but small
and very sandy." Combining this account with the map which we meet in
vol. i of the work of the Abbé Demanet (_Nouvelle Histoire de
l'Afrique_) we perceive two islands clearly marked to the west of the
last (sand-) bank, and in front of the places which, on the ancient
Portuguese charts are indicated as Tarem, Palmar, and Palma Seca (as in
the maps of Freire, 1546, of the Royal Library, and of Vaz Dourado).
Also in the following chapter our author says "They afterwards saw
another island which was separated by an arm of the sea that ran between
the two--to wit, that in which they were, and the other they had in
sight."]--S.
The lake, or fiord, of Obidos, between Atouguya and Pederneira (p. 143)
is in the Estremadura province of Portugal, an inlet on the coast, 47
miles N.N.W. of Lisbon.]
[Endnote 119: (p. 146). _Arguim._--See notes 75 and 97, pp. 58 and
103.]
[Endnote 120: (p. 146). _Marco Polo._--[Azurara, writing this
chronicle before 1453, availed himself of a manuscript of the travels of
Marco Polo, perhaps the same as the copy which the Infant Don Pedro
brought from Venice. The oldest printed edition is of 1484. This book,
which exercised great influence on discovery, was not only read in the
beginning of the fifteenth century by our learned men, but we may notice
that one of the most ancient translations which exists of the same is in
Portuguese, published by Valentim Fernandez, with the journey of
Nicholas the Venetian, etc., dedicated to the King Don Manuel, Lisbon,
1502, one volume, in folio gothic, a copy of which exists in the public
library of Lisbon.]--S. Azurara's reference here is to Marco Polo, ch.
lvii (Bk. I); ch. lxxiii (Bk. II). On Valentim Fernandez and the
bibliography of the Machin story, see Introduction to vol. ii, p.
lxxxiv-v. On the editions of Marco Polo, see Yule's edition,
Introduction; Pauthier, _Le Livre de M. P._]
[Endnote 121: (p. 147). _Lançarote ... collector of royal taxes_ ( =
Almoxarife, p. 62) _in Lagos ... judges ... alcayde ... officials of the
corporation._--Another of Azurara's references to "local," "home," or
"municipal" affairs in Portugal, at this time. Cf. p. 62 of this
Chronicle.]
[Endnote 122: (p. 151). _Knight Don Pedro ... Sueiro da Costa ...
Monvedro._--On the general history alluded to by Azurara in the first
paragraph of ch. li, see _Cronica de D. Alvaro de Luna_, ed. Milan,
1546, Madrid, 1784; _Histoire secrète de Connetable De Lune_, Paris,
1720; Marina, _Ensaio historico-critico_; Cardonne, _Histoire de
l'Afrique et de l'Espagne..._; Hallam, _Middle Ages_, ii, 16-17. It may
be summarised as follows: The reign of John II of Castille, after his
majority, was constantly disturbed by conspiracies and civil wars,
headed by his cousins John and Henry, the Infants of Aragon, who
possessed large properties in Castille, bequeathed them by their father
Ferdinand. They were also assisted often by their brother the King of
Aragon. The nominal object of attack was Alvaro de Luna, favourite
minister of John II during thirty-five years, a man probably
unscrupulous and somewhat rapacious, but of great ability and energy. At
last John gave way, withdrew his favour, and the minister was tried and
beheaded, meeting his fate "with the intrepidity of Strafford," to whom
some have compared him.
_Sueiro da Costa, Alcaide of Lagos._--Cf. notes 77, 121, etc.
_The King D. Edward_ (Duarte) is, of course, Henry's eldest brother,
King of Portugal 1433-1438 (see Introduction to vol. ii, pp. x-xi, and
notes 30, 57; and pp. 3, 11, 18, 28, 39, of the text of this version;
also Pina's Chronica (D. Duarte), vol. i of the _Ineditos Hist. Port._)
The allusions to Portuguese, Castilian, and Aragonese history are so
intertwined in these paragraphs that some caution is necessary.
_Monvedro._--Here there is a manuscript note, of later date, however,
than the Chronicle itself [_Esta batalha se llama del endolar_].]
[Endnote 123: (p. 152). _Vallaguer ... Arras._--[The siege of Balaguer
was undertaken in 1413, and in this the King, Don Fernando of Aragon,
made prisoner the Count of Urgel.]--S.
_Ibid., Ladislaus._--[The king of whom the author speaks here under the
name of Lançaraao, is Ladislaus, King of Naples, who in the year 1404
entered Rome with his army in order to put down the rebellion of the
people against the new Pope, Innocent VII. Hence our author's allusion:
"When he assailed the city of Rome."]--S.
_Louis of Provence._--[This was Louis II, Count of Provence. The
campaign which Sueiro da Costa made with Louis appears to be that which
began in 1409, which the aforesaid Prince carried on in Italy, in common
with the allies commanded by Malatesta and by the famous Balthazar
Cossa, legate of Bologna. This war lasted till 1411].--S.
_The battle of Agincourt_ (the _Ajancurt_ of Azurara's text) was not
between the _Kings_ of France and England in the strictly literal sense.
The French, on October 25th, 1415, were commanded by the Dauphin, the
Constable of France, and the Duke of Orleans.
_Vallamont_ [is Valmont, 5 leagues north-west of Yvetot].--S. Really 22
kilometres.... It is on the Valmont River (Seine Inférieure), and
possesses an ancient chateau, with buildings of date varying from the
twelfth to the fifteenth century.
_Constable of France._--[This Admiral of France, with whom served Sueiro
da Costa, appears to be the Count of Foix (Foes in the text of
Azurara).]
_The Count of Armagnac_ (p. 152) [was probably Bernard VII, who, in the
Civil Wars of the time of Charles VI, was at the head of the party of
the House of Orleans, which fought various combats, especially in the
years 1410-11.]--S.
_Arras_ (p. 152).--[The siege of this place began in Sept. 1414.]--S.]
[Endnote 124: (p. 152). _Lançarote ... Stevam Affonso._--See
Introduction to vol. ii, p. xii, and note 77; pp. 60-80, 83, 86 of this
version.]
[Endnote 125: (p. 152). _In that year_ [viz. 1447].--S. The place is
of course Lagos.]
[Endnote 126: (p. 153). _Dinis Diaz_ [see ch. xxxi].--S. See pp.
98-100 of this Chronicle. Also Introduction to vol. ii, p. xii, and
notes 93, 94, 95, etc.]
[Endnote 127: (p. 153). _Tristam ... Zarco ... Lagos._--See
Introduction to vol. ii, pp. ix, xii, xcix-cii, notes 76, 80, and pp.
192, 213, 225-9, 244-8, 60-2, 79, 83, etc., of this Chronicle.
One of Zarco's caravels was under the command of Alvaro Fernandez, the
only captain on this expedition who accomplished much (see ch. lxxxvii,
and Introduction to vol. ii, p. xii).]
[Endnote 128: (p. 156). [This bird is the _Buceros nasutus_ of
Linnæus, the same that the French call _Calao-Tock_. Notwithstanding
some exaggeration which may be noted in the description of Azurara, it
is beyond doubt that the bird of which he treats here is that which the
Negroes of the Senegal call _Tock_, and which the Portuguese named
_Cróes_. Latham calls it _Buceros Africanus_.
Brisson made two species, Linnæus and Latham two varieties; but Buffon
considered them as individuals of the same species, a fact which is
otherwise witnessed to by Sonini. Buffon says that the beak, considered
apart from the body, is a foot in length and of enormous size (see
_Buffon_, Plate 933). The "work" of which Azurara speaks is not due only
to the pores of the beak, but chiefly to a series of cuts or incisions,
in the form of half-moons, which this bird has upon its beak. It was the
famous naturalist Aldrovandi who first gave a picture of the enormous
beak of this bird; but the oldest description of it is certainly that
given by Azurara. It was not, therefore, Père Labat who first among
travellers saw and carefully observed this notable bird, but Lourenço
Diaz and the other Portuguese, his companions in 1447: that is, at a
date almost three hundred years before Labat. On this bird the reader
may also consult the Memoir of Geoffroi de Villeneuve (_Actes de la
Société d'histoire naturelle de Paris_).]--S.]
[Endnote 129: (p. 158). _Isle of Herons._--[Since it was to these
islands on the coast of Africa, that, in the first epoch of our
discoveries, expeditions (by preference) usually directed their course,
in conformity with the instructions of the Infant, for the reasons which
(in part) Barros gives us (note 97, p. 104, note 79, p. 78 of this
version). We have already indicated their position to the reader,
conformably to the ancient charts, but we have nevertheless thought
well, for the better illustration of the matter, to point out here their
true position. In some maps, and among others on that of the famous
Livio Sanuto, on the first sheet of his _Africa_, these islands are
placed thus:--The Isle of Herons in the most northerly part of all the
group, Tider in the most southerly of all, and the Isle of Nar (Naar)
between the two.]--S.]
[Endnote 130: (p. 159). _What we have been ordered._--[By these
expressions it is evident that the views and plans of the illustrious
Infant were not concerned with making captives or slaves, or with
expeditions against the natives, but only with the prosecution of the
discoveries. The passage which occurs in the next chapter, as to the
"great joy" of the crews, and especially of the "lower class" at meeting
with the other caravels at the Isle of Herons, "in order to put in hand
the matter," _i.e._, a new incursion against the Moors, shows us the
spirit which] animated those sailors: which spirit, perhaps, some of the
captains were not able at times to hold in check and moderate.]--S.]
[Endnote 131: (p. 164). _The Banner of the Crusade ... Gil
Eannes._--[Barros omits these details, which are so interesting for the
history of those expeditions. This Gil Eannes was the same who had first
passed beyond Cape Bojador. (See ch. ix of this Chronicle.)]--S. On the
_Banner of the Crusade_, see Introduction to vol. ii, pp. xviii-xix.]
[Endnote 132: (p. 165). _Alvaro de Freitas._--[Barros says that Alvaro
de Freitas was Commander of Algezur. (_Decade I_, Bk. I, ch. ii.)]--S.
Cf. in this Chronicle, pp. 152, 157-8, 161, 165-6, 174, 194-5, 197.]
[Endnote 133: (p. 167). _Fra Gil de Roma_ [lived in the time of
Philippe le Bel, King of France. The treatise _De Regimine Principum_,
which he wrote in 1285 for the education of that Prince, was a book of
the highest reputation (in its time), especially at the close of the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. By the notice which is given us in
the _Chronicle of the Count D. Pedro_, and by the quotation of Azurara,
we perceive the estimation in which this book was held amongst us at the
beginning of the latter century (the fifteenth).]--S. In fact, King John
I (of Portugal), in his discourse at Ceuta in 1415, recalled to his
fidalgos and knights the maxims and precepts which they had read in the
same book, _De Regimine Principum_, and which he always kept in his own
room. And if we are to believe Barbosa (_Bibliotheca Lusitana_), the
Infant D. Pedro had made a Portuguese translation of the same treatise;
but this learned bibliographer calls Fr. _Gil de Roma_, Fr. _Gil
Correa_. This note is not a fitting place to show whether the name of
_Correa_, which Barbosa gives to that author, is or is not exact. We
must confine ourselves here to saying that King D. Edward (Duarte),
quoting this book several times in chs. xxxi, xxxii, xxxvi, lii, lvi of
his _Leal Conselheiro_, calls the author, like Azurara, Fr. _Gil de
Roma_. In the library at Cambrai there exists a manuscript, No. 856, of
the _De Regimine Principum_, which was finished in 1424, and
consequently at an epoch subsequent to the one of which King John I made
use. This is probably one of those used by King Edward and by Azurara.
The first printed edition was published in 1473 (see _Dictionnaire
bibliographique, La Serna Santander, etc._) If, as we have just said,
the manuscript used by King John I, by King Edward, and by Azurara, is
one of the most ancient of which any notice survives, the Portuguese
translation of the book of Fr. Gil de Roma by the Infant Don Pedro is
also one of the most ancient versions--if we except the French
translation attributed to Henry of Ghent. (On this consult the Abbé
Lebœuf, _Dissertation sur l'histoire ecclésiastique et civile de Paris_,
II, p. 41.) We think it well to give the reader this notice, in view of
the importance of Azurara's citation in this place, which shows us the
state of learning and literary culture among our people at the beginning
of the fifteenth century, and at the same time the literary relations
which existed between Portugal, France, and other countries at the end
of the Middle Ages.]--S. See Martins, _Os Filhos de D. João I_, chs. i,
iv, v, vi.]
[Endnote 134: (p. 169). _Pero Allemain, etc._--See p. 55 of this
Chronicle, on Balthasar, an undoubted German of the "household of the
Emperor."]
[Endnote 135: (p. 173). _Directions from the Lord Infant._--These seem
to have been rather vague for purposes of exploration, and are
differently given by _Gomez Pirez_ (p. 173). See text of this version
pp. 95, 173, etc., and next note.]
[Endnote 136: (p. 174). _River of Nile._--[Compare this passage with
our remarks in the notes to chs. liii, xxxii, xv, and xiii, about the
true plans of the illustrious Infant, author of these discoveries. These
passages reveal to us, in spite of the brevity of the Chronicler, the
intention and the system of the Prince in relation to these expeditions.
It is clear that he desired not only to discover those countries, but
above all to obtain information from the natives themselves of the
interior of Africa, in order to compare it with the scientific,
historical, and geographical ideas of antiquity and of the Middle Ages,
with a view of prosecuting his discoveries till the East was reached.
Thus, Garcia de Resende says, with good reason (_Chronicle of the King
D. John II_, ch. cliv), when treating of the discovery of the Congo,
made twenty-five years after the death of the Infant:--"In the year
1485, the King desiring the discovery of India and Guinea, which the
Infant D. Henry, his uncle, first among all the Princes of Christendom,
commenced,..."]--S. What Gomez Pirez says here implicitly contradicts
Lançarote's statement, p. 172; see note 135.]
[Endnote 137: (p. 174). _The terrestrial Paradise._--[We call the
attention of the reader to this passage, in itself very interesting,
especially because the words of Alvaro de Freitas indicate beyond doubt
a certain geographical idea as to the situation of the terrestrial
Paradise agreeing with the cosmographical knowledge of the Middle Ages,
and as to the distance at which they found themselves from those
delicious parts of the world.
The sailors whom the Infant employed in these navigations and
discoveries were well instructed in nautical science. They set out from
Portugal furnished with "naval charts" in which the cosmographers of
that time had designed not merely the hydrographical configuration of
the coasts of the various countries then known, but also which is more
curious, the interior of the Continents, in which they represented, by a
multitude of figures, the various sovereigns, animals, birds, woodland,
and other details, both real, fantastic, and hypothetical: as the
curious reader may see in the Planisphere of Andrea Bianco of 1436,
published in the work of Formaleone, entitled _Saggio sulla nautica
antica de Veneziani_, and in the other planisphere of the famous Fra
Mauro, published by Cardinal Zurla in his work, _Sulle antiche Mappe
lavorate in Venezia_ (1818).
The idea, then, which Alvaro de Freitas had of his distance from the
terrestrial Paradise, according to his own words, shows that he
considered it to be at the extremity of the earth: that idea, we repeat,
proves the influence which the geography of the Middle Ages exercised
upon our sailors. As a matter of fact, that idea of the position of the
terrestrial Paradise dates from the time of the _Topographia Christiana_
of Cosmas Indicopleustes (see Montfaucon, _Nova Collectio Patrum_, vol.
ii), an idea which the journeys accomplished by land during the Middle
Ages fortified and reduced to a systematic opinion. On the map of Andrea
Bianco, the terrestrial Paradise is to be found marked in the most
easterly part of Asia.
Alvaro de Freitas in these words of his, alluded either to the locality
in which Paradise was to be found on the ancient charts--and this, we
think, is the more probable supposition--or he referred to the
_Cosmology_ of Dante, according to which Paradise was situate in the
middle of the seas of the southern hemisphere (Dante, _Purgatorio_,
cant. xxvi, ll. 100, 127.)]--S.
Santarem's commentary here needs a word of supplement, which we take
from the _Dawn of Modern Geography_, pp. 332-3.
"The position of the Garden of Eden, the habitat of the people of Gog
Magog and other monstrous races, and the existence of a literal centre
for the earth-circle, were problems which exercised the patristic mind
only less than the great controversy upon the 'Spherical,'
'Tabernacular,' or other shape of the world itself.
"As to the earthly Paradise, the plain word of Scripture [Genesis, ii,
8; iii, 24] compelled most Theologians to place it in the Furthest East,
though a minority inclined to give a symbolic meaning to the crucial
words, 'The Lord God planted a garden _eastward_ in Eden ... and placed
Cherubim at the East of the Garden, to keep the way of the Tree of
Life.' Augustine, here as elsewhere, shows himself inclined to
compromise, as well became one who attempted such a task as the
re-statement of the whole Catholic Faith. His knowledge was too
many-sided, and his intelligence too keen, for him not to perceive the
importance of a certain liberality of temper in a creed which aspired to
conquer the world, and his treatment of the question of the terrestrial
Paradise is a good example of his method. For himself, he holds fast to
the real existence of Eden, and the literal sense of Scripture on its
position, but he allows any one who will to give the texts at issue a
symbolical meaning (_De Civ. Dei_, XIII, ch. xxi; see also Eucherius,
Comm. on Genesis in the _Max. Bibl. Vet. Pat._ vi, 874, and A. Graf's
interesting essay on the _Legends of the terrestrial Paradise_, Turin,
1878). To the same effect, though more doubtfully, speaks St. Isidore of
Seville, who in so many ways reproduces at the end of the sixth century
the spirit and method of the Bishop of Hippo in the fifth. In one place
the Spanish Doctor repeats the traditional language about Eden, placed
in the East, blessed with perpetual summer, but shut off from the
approach of man by the fiery wall which reached almost to the Heaven:
yet elsewhere he seems to countenance a purely figurative sense. His
scepticism is expressed in the _De Differentiis_, i, 10; his
traditionalism in the _Etymologies_ or _Origins_, XIV, 3 (De Asia).
"The ordinary conclusion of the more philosophic school of Churchmen is
perhaps expressed by Moses Bar-Cepha, 'Bishop of Bethraman and Guardian
of sacred things in Mozal' [_i.e._, Mosul? or Nineveh], near Bagdad,
about A.D. 900 [Migne's editor of Moses, in _Pat. Græc._, cxi, pp.
482-608 (1863), places him later, about A.D. 950; but Marinelli,
Erdkunde, 20-1, dates him about A.D. 700, doubtless with the assent of
S. Günther and L. Neumann, who are responsible for the enlarged German
edition of Marinelli's admirable essay. The most interesting passages of
Moses' geography are in Pt. I, chs. i, ii, vii-ix, xi-xiv]. In his
_Commentary on Paradise_, the ingenious prelate solves past difficulties
in the spirit of Hegel himself. The terrestrial Eden had one existence
under two conditions, visible and invisible, corporeal and incorporeal,
sensual and intellectual. As pertaining to this world, it existed, he
considers, in a land which was on, but not of, the earth that we
inhabit; for it lay on higher ground, it breathed a purer air, and,
though many of the saints had fixed it in the East, it was really beyond
our ken.
"From Augustine onwards, through the writings of Eucherius of Lyons
[_Commentary on Genesis_], of St. Basil the Great, and many others,
something of this tendency to compromise between the literal meaning of
Scripture and the tacit opposition of geography, may be traced in this
attempt to give reality to the earthly Paradise; and the same comes out
in the conjecture of Severian of Gabala, adopted by Cosmas and by many
of the traditionalists, that the rivers of Eden dived under the earth
for a long space before reappearing in our world as Nile, Euphrates,
Tigris and Pison (Severian of Gabala, v, 6; according to S., this
subterranean course was to prevent men from tracking their way up to
Paradise; cf. _Philostorgius_, III, 7-12.)
"Homeric and other pre-Christian fancies led many in the early Christian
period still to look for Paradise in the north, among the Upper Boreans,
in the south among the blameless Ethiopians, or in the west in the Isles
of the Blessed, of the Hesperides, or of Fortune. Thus Capella, who was
probably a pagan survival at the beginning of the most brilliant age of
patristic literature, naturally enough looks for his Elysium 'where the
axis of the world is ever turning' at the northern pole [_Capella_, vi,
664]; but when we find Archbishop Basil of Novgorod speculating about a
Paradise in the White Sea [see Karamsin's _Russian History_, as cited by
Marinelli, _Erdkunde_, p. 22, note 84; and by Cardinal Zurla, _Vantaggi
derivati alla Geografia_, etc., p. 44] we have a better illustration of
the undying vigour of the oldest and most poetic of physical myths,
under almost any changes of politics and religion."]
[Endnote 138: (p. 176). _Or else upon their feathers for the rest of
the time ... other fish._--[This bird is the _Phœnicopterus_.]--S.
_Ibid_: _Other birds_, etc.--[See note 128 to p. 156, on the _Buceros
Africanus_.]--S.
_Ibid_: _Other fish._--[This is the _Pristis_.]--S.]
[Endnote 139: (p. 176). _Quite alive._--[This fish appears to be the
_Remora_.]--S.]
[Endnote 140: (p. 176). _The two palm trees, etc._--[These palm trees
exist on some old MS. maps. We may compare this passage with what the
author says in ch. xxxi, and with the notes on pp. 96, 177; also
Introduction, p. iv. Barros (_Decade I_, ch. xiii) says "Lancerote
reached the two palm trees which Dinis Fernandez, when he went there,
marked out as a feature worthy of notice ... where the natives of the
land say the Azanegue Moors are divided from the idolatrous Negroes."
And, in fact, the course of this stream forms a remarkable boundary
between the Moors, or Berbers, who inhabit the northern bank, and the
Negro Jaloffs who dwell on the southern bank (see _Durand_, vol. ii, p.
60, and _Rennell_, Appendix, p. 80).]--S.]
[Endnote 141: (p. 177). _This green land._--[On the manuscript map of
João Freire of 1546, appears marked at the entrance of the river
Senegal, the "arvoredo" of which Azurara speaks.]--S.]
[Endnote 142: (p. 177). _Azanegue prisoners._--[Compare this important
passage with what Azurara says in other places, pp. 41, 45-6, 48-9, 55;
and Introduction to vol. ii, pp. iv, xxvi, lviii, lix, about the Infant
and the information which he collected from the natives, and which he
compared with the geographical charts he was constantly studying.]--S.]
[Endnote 143: (p. 178). _Entereth into it so._--[This same confusion
which the Portuguese mariners made between the Senegal and the Nile is
one more proof of the influence which the geographical system of the
ancients exercised over them. According to Pliny, the Niger was an arm
of the Nile. The river Senegal traverses in its course nearly 350
leagues from its source in the country of Fouta (Jallon) to the Atlantic
(see Durand, _Voyage au Sénégal_, p. 343, and Demanet, _Nouvelle
histoire d'Afrique_, vol. i, p. 62, iv, xii, xxii-xxv, xxxiii,
xlii-xliii, xlvii-xlix, lviii.)]--S. Also see Introduction to vol. ii, p.
lviii, etc.]
[Endnote 144: (p. 180). _Mediterranean Sea, etc._--[This passage shows
that Azurara only had notice at that time of the ivory commerce which
was carried on through the ports of the Levant situated on the
Mediterranean, and that he had no knowledge that a like commerce was
carried on through the ports of the empire of Marocco, situated on the
west coast of Africa. "I learnt," says he, "that in the eastern part of
the Mediterranean Sea," etc. ... and these words of his are important,
as showing that a man, otherwise well informed in matters of commerce
and navigation, was not aware that the ivory trade was carried on by the
western coast; which gives us one more proof of the priority of the
Portuguese in the discovery of Guinea. Our author, then, knew the truth:
for until that epoch the trade in ivory was carried on by the Arabs by
way of Egypt, the Arabs going to the coast of Zanzibar to seek for the
same, since there the better quality was to be found (see Masudi,
_Notices et Extraits des MSS. de la Bibliothèque du Roi_, i, p. 15;
_Ibn-al-Wardi, ibid_, ii, p. 40; _El Bakoui, ibid_, pp. 394, 401). The
Arab caravans also brought ivory from places in the neighbourhood of the
Niger. These caravans followed the routes of the ancient Itineraries
(see _Ibn-al-Wardi, Notices et Extraits des MSS._, ii, pp. 35-7, and
Edrisi (Jaubert), vol. i, pp. 10-26, 105-120, 197-293). But the
principal centre of this commerce with the interior of Africa was in the
northern part, then already known under the name of Barbary, and in the
countries which form to-day the kingdoms of Fez and Marocco. The
expressions of Azurara about the size of the elephant are evidently
exaggerated, because the species indigenous to Africa is only the second
in size in the (animal) family of the Proboscidians, or "trunked"
Pachyderms. The African elephant is smaller than the Asiatic elephant,
although the tusks of the latter are smaller than those of the former.
The details given in this part of our Chronicle are, in our opinion, so
important for the information they give about the state of knowledge
among our first discoverers, the influences of ancient tradition, and
the mediæval spirit which dominated them, that it seems opportune to
indicate here to the reader what we consider most worthy of study and of
reflection, in order that we may be able to estimate the state of
instruction in Portugal relative to those matters in the beginning of
the fifteenth century, seeing that up to now no (writing) work has yet
appeared upon the subject from any one of our nation. Among other
passages of this Chronicle we noted, on p. 156, note 128, the
extraordinary exaggeration with which our seamen described the beak of
the _Buceros Africanus_, of which they said "the mouth and maw of these
birds is so great that the leg of a man, however large it were, could go
into it as far as the knee." We have also seen another marvellous
description of the beak of the _Phœnicopterus_, and finally the one
which was inspired by the account given them of the elephant by the
Negroes--an exaggeration which reminds one of the description given by a
Byzantine writer of the eleventh century, Michael Attaliotes, when he
saw an elephant for the first time in Constantinople (see the extract
from the Greek MSS. of the Royal Library at Paris [Bibliothèque
Nationale], on p. 499 of the work of M. Berger de Xivrey: _Recits de
l'antiquité sur quelques points de la fable, du merveilleux et de
l'histoire naturelle_). In these exaggerated and marvellous accounts,
therefore, of birds and animals which were unknown as late as then, we
find a proof of the influence of the teratological traditions of
antiquity and of the Middle Ages, in consequence of the studies which
men had previously made of the figures they saw depicted in the
planispheres and Mappemondes of their time; and also we may see in this
a result of the reading of Pliny, and above all of the _Treatise on
Marvels_, attributed to Aristotle, "the philosopher," as Azurara calls
him (see p. 12, note 19), whose authority was so great among the
Portuguese of the fifteenth century that even the "Proctors of the
People" (in the _Cortes_ of 1481), quoted his work on "Politics" (see
our _Memoir on the Cortes_, ii, p. 186). We see, then, that our seamen
of that period were impregnated with these traditions, and were diligent
readers of works which during the Middle Ages were given the title of
_Mirabilia_, the reading of which enchanted (in that age) not only men
of education, but even students, and often the people, to whom
ecclesiastics read in public those marvellous relations, as we see,
among other examples from the case of Giraldus Cambrensis, who thrice
read to the people in Oxford his description of Ireland; and still more
in the celebrated statutes made in 1380 by Bishop Wykeham for the
college which he founded in the same city, in which he determined that
the chronicles of various realms should be read to the students and the
marvels of the world (_Mirabilia Mundi_); see _Sprengel_, p. 221, and
Wharton, _History of English Poetry_, i, p. 92. In the period at which
the statutes we mention were given to (New) College in Oxford, the
relations between Portugal and England were knit more closely than in
preceding centuries. The Court of the King, D. John I, adopted most of
the English usages, and the literary communication between the two
peoples was more extensive than in earlier time. The citation of the
romances of chivalry made by the King to his knights, the adoption of
the French language (which was then that of the Court of England), the
devices and mottoes of which the Infants made use, prove the existence
of that influence. Besides this, divers passages of King D. Duarte's
_Leal Conselheiro_ show that the Infants of the House of Aviz (often)
discussed various literary matters with the King, their father, and
other literary persons, and that they even debated about the rules and
regulations for properly translating classical works. We have also
noticed that King D. John I, in the discourse which he made to the
fidalgos who remained at Ceuta in 1415, cited the _De Regimine
Principum_ of Fr. Gil de Roma, bidding them recall to memory how they
had often read the same in his Privy Chamber. So then, at that epoch of
discoveries, in which the greatest enthusiasm prevailed for the
prosecution of enterprises of such moment, the reading of the _Marvels
of the World_, and of the _Travels of Marco Polo_, which the Infant D.
Pedro brought from Venice, formed beyond doubt the delight of all those
famous men, courtiers of the Infant D. Henry, of his illustrious father,
and of his brothers--courtiers, moreover, who received their education
in the royal or princely palaces. The passages, then, which we read in
this Chronicle, and which we indicate to the reader, in spite of their
brevity, and of the defects which the critical study of our own time
enables us to note--these passages, we say, are of the highest
importance when they are studied in harmony with other contemporary
documents. The great men of the fifteenth century, formed in the school
of the Infant Don Henry, were unquestionably possessed of great
erudition for those times--an erudition and knowledge which at first
eludes observation, through being muffled up in the rudeness of a
language without polish, and which was more energetic in action than
explicit and agreeable in writing, but it is nevertheless clear that
they knew all that was known in their age.
It was this notable school, therefore, which prepared the great body of
geographical learning which we note appearing in the famous congress of
Portuguese and Spanish geographers at Badajoz in 1524 and 1525: at
which, in the discussion which took place on the demarcation of the
Moluccas and on the size of the world, Aristotle was quoted along with
Strabo, Eratosthenes, Macrobius, St. Ambrose, Pliny, Theodosius, Marinus
of Tyre, Alfergani, and Pierre d'Ailly, etc.]--S.
Long as this note is, a word must be added to it:--
Santarem here covers a large part of the field of mediæval geography,
but his treatment in this place is hardly so clear or exhaustive as one
might expect from the author of the _Essai sur Cosmographie_, or the
compiler of the leading _Atlas_ of mediæval maps. As to the immediate
subject, the phrase _Mediterranean_ [_Sea_] was first used in the sense
of a proper name by St. Isidore of Seville, _c._ A.D. 600 (_Origins_ or
_Etymologies_, Book xiii); though its adjectival use, like the parallel
expressions "Our [sea]," "the Roman [sea]," "the Inner [sea]," was of
course much earlier. As late as Solinus (_c._ A.D. 230) this last is
clearly the only shade of meaning. As to the commerce of North Africa,
we must refer to the Introduction to vol. ii, pp. xxii-xxvi, xlv-lvi,
lxiv. As to the mediæval _Mirabilia_, it is strange that Santarem gives
no adequate reference to the great sources of these collections: Pliny's
_Natural History_, and above all Solinus' _Collectanea_, principally
compiled from Pliny, Mela, and Varro, and itself reproduced (wholly or
partially) in well-nigh every mediæval work of similar character,
translated into the pictorial language of Mappemonde, such as that of
_Hereford_, of _Ebstorp_, or of the _Psalter_ (Brit. Mus. _Add. MSS._
28,681). On these, see _Dawn of Modern Geography_, pp. 243-273, 327-391.
Santarem's remarks hardly give a sufficient idea of the systematic
domination exercised over much of mediæval thought, not only in
geography, natural history and ethnology, but in other departments also
by the pseudo-science represented in these _Mirabilia_.]
[Endnote 145: (p. 183). _Paulus Orosius._--[Here we must note the
omission of the name of Diodorus Siculus among the authors cited by
Azurara, especially as he is, among all the ancient historians, the one
who has left us the most important and circumstantial account of the
Nile. The first Latin version of Diodorus by Poggio only appeared in
1472, nineteen years after Azurara had finished this chronicle. The
works of Orosius were held in high estimation among the learned of the
Middle Ages. This writer was born at Braga in Lusitania, agreeably to
the opinion of some authors. (See _Fr. Leam de St. Thomas, bened. lusit.
I_, ii, p. 308; and Baronius, an. 414.) His work, _Historiarum adversus
Paganos_, which begins with the creation of the world and comes down to
the year 316 of Jesus Christ, was printed for the first time in 1471,
that is, eighteen years after Azurara had finished his Chronicle, but
during the Middle Ages copies of this work were so multiplied that even
in England the book was to be found in the hands of the Anglo-Saxon
people (see Wright, _Essay on the State of Literature and Learning under
the Anglo-Saxons_, p. 39), a detail which affords one proof the more of
the literary relations between the Spanish peninsula, and the peoples
and nations of the North in the first centuries of the Middle Ages.]--S.
See _Dawn of Modern Geography_, pp. 353-5.]
[Endnote 146: (p. 184). _Mossylon Emporion_ (_Mossille
Nemporyo_).--[Azurara alters the name. The passage to which the
Chronicler refers is the following:--_Et Ægyptum superiorem fluviumque
Nilum, qui de litore incipientis maris Rubri videtur emergere in loco
qui dicitur Musilon Emporium_, not _Mossile Nemporyo_. (_Orosius_, Bk.
I, vi.)]--S. On this _Emporion_, see Bunbury's _Ancient Geography_, vol
ii, pp. 692; _Solinus_, ch. lvi.]
[Endnote 147: (p. 184). _Josepho Rabano._--[This is the celebrated
author of the history of the Jews, Flavius Josephus, whose work was
first composed in Syriac and afterwards in Greek. It was so much
esteemed by the Emperor Titus that he ordered it to be put into the
public library. The first Latin translation which was printed, according
to some bibliographers, was in 1470, seventeen years after this
Chronicle was finished.]--S.]
[Endnote 148: (p. 184). _Meroë._--[On this African island the reader
can consult _Ptolemy_, iv, 8; _Herodotus_, ii, 29; _Strabo_, Bks.
XVII-XVIII; and, above all, _Diodorus Siculus_, i, 23, etc. The Master
Peter quoted by Azurara is the famous Petrus Aliacus, or de Aliaco
(d'Ailly), in his book _Imago Mundi_, finished in 1410: a book which had
a great vogue in the fifteenth and even in the sixteenth century.]--S.
Cf. also Pliny, _H. N._, ii, 73; v, 9; Cailliaud, _L'isle de Meroe_.]
[Endnote 149: (p. 184). _Gondojre._--[According to our belief the
reading should be Gondolfo. This writer had travelled in Palestine, and
his life is (to be found) written in _Anglia Sacra_, tom. ii].--S. The
Master Peter mentioned just before is rather a doubtful case. He is
possibly the writer of the eleventh-century treatise "Contra Simoniam,"
etc., or the "Magister Scholarum" of the thirteenth, usually called the
"Master of Stommeln."]
[Endnote 150: (p. 185). _Crocodiles._--Here we have an original MS.
note.--[This is an animal, as Pliny relateth, which breedeth in the
Nile, and whose custom and nature is to live by day on land and by night
in the water; in the water to feed on the fish upon which it liveth and
maintaineth itself, and on the land to sleep and refresh itself. But
when it cometh out in the morning to the bank, if it findeth a boy or a
man it quickly killeth him, and it is said that it swalloweth them
whole. And it is a very evil and very dangerous beast.]
Compare other original notes of MS. written in the same character on pp.
7, 8, 13, etc. On the Nile and its crocodiles and other wonders, as
conceived by mediæval writers, we may also compare _Solinus_, ch. xxxii.
On Azurara's reference to _Cæsarea_ (Cherchel) immediately preceding,
Santarem remarks as follows:--[This is Julia Cæsarea, now Cherchel, as
is proved by various Roman inscriptions discovered there lately, and
communicated to the Institute of France (Royal Academy of Inscriptions)
by M. Hase. This city was one of the busiest of the ancient Regency of
Argel.]]
[Endnote 151: (p. 188). _Dog Star_ (_Canicolla_).--Here we have an
original MS. note.--[This star, as saith the interpreter of Ovid, giveth
its name to the Dog Days, which are those days which begin on July 5th
and finish on September 5th. And this name came from a bitch which
guarded the body of Icarus, when he was slain by the reapers, as Master
John of England relateth. And he relateth that because that bitch
guarded faithfully the body of its lord, it was numbered among the
signs; and because it was a little bitch, the Dog Days took this name of
theirs in this form, "Canicullus" for "Cam," or "Canicolla" for
"Cadella." And because that bitch of Icarus was poisoned with the stench
of its master, who lay dead and already stank, therefore did that star
become also a poisonous one; and therefore does the sun still poison
when it passeth through that sign, and so do the rays of the sun then
poison the meats on earth. Wherefore those thirty-two days which the sun
taketh in passing through that sign, are held by physicians to be days
hurtful to the health of the body.] [_John of England is John Duns
Scotus, Franciscan friar, called Doctor Subtilis, one of the chief
philosophers of the Middle Ages, and Professor in Oxford_ (_see Wadding,
Vita J. Duns Scoti, doctoris subtilis, published in 1644_).]--S.]
[Endnote 152: (p. 188). _Ellice and Cenosura._--Here we have another
manuscript note.--[These are the two poles, to wit, Arctic and
Antarctic. And the interpreter of Ovid saith that each one of these two
signs are called _Arcom_, and that _Arcom_ is a Greek word, and
signifieth what in Latin is meant by _Ursi_, and in the Portuguese
language by _Ursas_; and that, besides, by each of these signs we call
the North.]]
[Endnote 153: (p. 189). _So directly passeth the sun, etc._--[See
Strabo, Bk. XVII, who refers to the wells without shade during the
summer solstice.]--S.]
[Endnote 153a: (pp. 188-9). _Bishop Achoreus._--[Azurara refers here to
Achoreus, the Egyptian high priest of whom Lucan speaks in the
_Pharsalia_, Canto x. The passage to which Azurara refers begins with
the following verse:--Vana fides veterum, Nilo, quod crescat in arva.
Comparing this chapter of Azurara with the episode of Canto x of the
_Pharsalia_, we see clearly that it was from Lucan he derived the whole
of his description of the Nile.]--S.]
[Endnote 154: (p. 191). _The marvels of the Nile._--[So great was the
influence of the systematic geography of the ancients upon the
imagination of the Portuguese of the fifteenth century, that, on
arriving at the Senegal, and seeing that the water was sweet very near
to the mouth, and very clear, in the same manner as the Nile (_Nulli
fluminum dulcior gustus est_, said Seneca), and observing the same
phenomena, they did not doubt for a moment that they had discovered the
Nile of the Negroes. In these two chapters we see something of the vast
erudition of Azurara, and at the same time something of the historical
and cosmographical knowledge of our first discoverers. Moreover, we must
call the attention of the reader to a very important detail, namely,
that while Azurara shows himself imbued with the reading of the ancient
authors on these matters, in the same way as our mariners, the latter,
if we study the spirit of their words, show that they had some knowledge
of the system of the Arab geographers in this respect. These latter
applied the same terms (as our first Portuguese explorers) to the two
rivers, distinguishing the Nile of Egypt and the Nile of the Negroes.
This opinion of the Niger being an arm of the Nile was even maintained
in our own day by Jackson, in his work entitled, _An Account of the
Empire of Marocco and the District of Suze_. In vol. xiv of the _Annales
des Voyages_, by Malte-Brun, 1811, and in vol. xvii of the same work, p.
350, we meet with a curious analysis of this work of Jackson's on the
identity of the two rivers.]--S.
What Azurara says here about the Nile, etc., is largely borrowed from
Solinus, _Collectanea_, xxxii; Pliny, _Natural History_, v, 51-59; viii,
89-97; _Pomponius Mela_, iii, viii, 9. We may also (for mediæval ideas
on the Nile, etc.) cf. Dicuil, _De Mensura Orbis Terrae_, vi, 4, 7,
etc.; ix, 6 (on Mount Atlas); St. Basil, _Hexaemeron_, iii, 6; Vibius
Sequester; Procopius, _De Bell. Goth._, ii, 14, 15; iv, 29; St. Isidore,
_Origins_, xiv, 5; Ven. Bede, _De Natur. Rer._; and above all, Edrisi
(Jaubert), i, 11-13, 17-19, 27-33, 35, 37, 297, 301-5, 312, 315,
320-325, ii, 137; Masudi, _Meadows of Gold_, ch. xiv (see Introduction
to vol. ii, pp. xliv-l, and _Dawn of Modern Geography_, pp. 267-8,
323-6, 367, 462-3, 348, 363, 365.)]
[Endnote 155: (p. 191). _Fish or some other natural product of the
sea._--[This important passage is one proof the more of the priority of
our discoveries on the west coast of Africa.]--S. Not, of course, an
absolute proof, though it strengthens the plausibility of the Portuguese
claim.]
[Endnote 156: (p. 193). _Arms of the Infant._--[This island, as well
as the other of which mention is made above, where these sailors
encountered the Arms of the Infant carved upon the trees, are very
clearly marked, as between Cape Verde and the Cape of Masts, on a
curious map of Africa in the unpublished _Atlas_ of Vaz Dourado,
executed in 1571 (see _Mémoire sur la navigation aux côtes occidentales
d'Afrique_, by Admiral Roussin, p. 61--_Des iles de la
Madeleine_).]--S.]
[Endnote 157: (p. 193). _This tree_, etc.--[This is the baobab, a tree
noted for its enormous size, and which is to be met with on the Senegal,
on the Gambia, and even on the Congo, at which point Captain Tucklay
(Tuckey) mentions it among the trees to be found on the banks of the
Zaire. This tree had been described by Adanson (_Histoire Naturelle du
Sénégal_, Paris, 1757, pp. 54 and 104), and from this circumstance
Bernardo Jussieu gave it the name of Adansonia. Its trunk is sometimes
more than 90 ft. in circumference (see the work cited above). Our
mariners, and Azurara himself, however, described it 310 years before
the French naturalist who gave it the botanical name by which it is now
known.]--S.]
[Endnote 158: (p. 194). _Rio d'Ouro._--[Some French writers, who have
lately treated of the famous Catalan Atlas in the Royal Library of
Paris, to which they assign the date of 1375, assert that the Catalans
reached the Rio d'Ouro before the Portuguese, because on this map is
marked a galliot, with a legend referring to Jayme Ferrer, who sailed to
a river of that name (in 1346).
Without discussing this point here, let us say, nevertheless, that as to
this voyage of the Catalans, whose arrival at the said river is not
attested by any document, the reader should consult the map of M.
Walckenaer, published in the scientific journal, _Annales des Voyages_,
tom. 7, p. 246 (A.D. 1809), in which that learned geographer says, with
good reason, that the said legend and project of Jayme Ferrer's voyage
(as stated) does not at all prove that geographical knowledge in 1346
extended beyond Cape Bojador, or even beyond Cape Non (see also our
_Memoir on the priority of our discoveries_, and the _Atlas_ which
accompanies the said memoir).]--S. Cf. Introduction to vol. ii, pp.
lxiii-lxiv.]
[Endnote 159: (p. 194). _To the Kingdom._--[By this passage, and
similar ones in chs. x, xi, and xvi, it is proved that the commercial
relations of the Portuguese with the west coast of Africa beyond Bojador
were established before the middle of the fifteenth century. The imports
then consisted of gold-dust, slaves, and skins of sea-calves.]--S. Cf.
Introduction to vol. ii, pp. x-xiii, lxi-lxxi.]
[Endnote 160: (p. 198). _Tider._--[An island hard by Arguim (or
forming one of the Arguim group). We must now add to what we said
before, that this island, as well as those of the Herons (Ilha das
Garças), and of Naar, is very clearly marked on the unpublished map of
Vaz Dourado, but without the names given in this Chronicle. That
cosmographer (Dourado) included them all under the denomination of
_Isles of Herons_.]--S.]
[Endnote 161: (p. 199). _Isle of Cerina._--[Comparing our text with
the excellent map of Vaz Dourado, we find on the latter this island
marked as nearest to the continent, and also nearest to the mouth of the
St. John River. Dourado marks Arguim to the north, and to the south of
_P. dos Reys_ marks four islands, which are those of Herons, of Naar, of
Tider, and this one of which Azurara speaks. On the map of D'Anville,
which is to be found in the work of P. Labat, _Nouvelle relation de
l'Afrique_, tom. I, a map which includes the part of the coast from Cape
Branco to the River of St. John, we read over an island very near Tider
the word "Grine," which appears to be the Cerina of Azurara.]--S.]
[Endnote 162: (p. 204). _Arrived at the end_, etc.--[On the position
of this stream, see the map of d'Anville, published in the work of P.
Labat, _Nouvelle relation de l'Afrique_, tom. I; and the _Mémoire sur la
navigation aux côtes occidentales d'Afrique_, by Admiral Roussin, at p.
44, where he speaks of the _Baie du Lévrier_, which is 8 leagues in
extent from N. to S., and 6 leagues across. This bay, in which our
sailors entered, is to the north of the Cape of St. Anne.]--S.]
[Endnote 163: (p. 212). _This Prince._--[Compare this passage with
what we said in note 92, ch. xxx, as to the authority of this
chronicle.]--S.]
[Endnote 164: (p. 214). _Point of Santa Anna._--[It is situate to the
south of the Rio de S. João, on the chart of João Freire of 1546.]--S.]
[Endnote 165: (p. 218). _Islands._--[We think that these islands are
the ones marked on certain charts, principally French, with the name of
"Ilhas da Madalena."]--S].
[Endnote 166: (p. 220). _Buffaloes._--[It was, in fact, the African
buffalo that our seamen saw there.]--S.]
[Endnote 167: (p. 224). _Hermes._--[(Ἔρμας). Azurara refers here to
the book of this author entitled _The Shepherd_, composed in the
pontificate of St. Clement sometime before the persecution of Domitian
which began in the year 95. Origen, Eusebius, St. Jerome, St. Clement of
Alexandria, and Tertullian mentioned this work. By this passage we see
that Azurara, in citing it, did not admit the view of Gelasius, who
classed it among the apocryphal books.]--S.]
[Endnote 168: (p. 225). _As he could._--[Compare this passage with
what we have said in previous notes about the Infant's plans.]--S.]
[Endnote 169: (p. 225). _Nile._--[The Senegal, or Nile of the
Negroes.]--S.]
[Endnote 170: (p. 226). _An island._--[It must be the Island of Gorea
(Goree), situate in 14° 39' 55" N. lat. On this island see Demanet,
_Nouvelle histoire de l'Afrique_, tom. 1, pp. 87-97, passim. _Notices
statistiques sur les colonies françaises_ (troisième partie, pp.
187-189), a work published by the Ministry of Marine in 1839.]--S.]
[Endnote 171: (p. 228). _Cape of the Masts._--[This cape appears
marked with this name in nearly all the ancient MS. maps of the
sixteenth century. It is clear then that the name of this cape was first
given to that point by Alvaro Fernandez. Barros (_Decade I_, liv. 1,
fol. 26, ed. 1628) says of this voyage: "He passed to the place they now
call the Cabo dos Mastos: a name he then gave it on account of some bare
palm trees that at first sight looked like masts set up."]--S.]
[Endnote 172: (p. 229). _A hind._--[This description leaves not the
smallest doubt that the animal which our seamen saw there, and of which
the author treats, is the antelope, and probably "the other beasts" were
herds of the same kind. On the history of the antelopes the reader
should consult Buffon and Cuvier.]--S.]
[Endnote 173: (p. 230). _Dwellings_ (_Essacanas_).--[This word is not
to be found either in the _Elucidario_ or in Portuguese dictionaries; it
is met with, however, in the heptaglot of Castell, and in Golius, but
there the meaning of this Arabic word is given as being "a place where a
person dwells." Even if this be admitted for the explanation of the
text, the latter still remains obscure; however, it seems to us that the
author meant to say, that all those observations were made in the
"(Essacanas) dwellings ... that exist on certain sandbanks, according,"
etc. The mariners drew their charts, and marked the coasts, banks, etc.,
on the very spots themselves.]--S.]
[Endnote 174: (p. 230). _Charts._--[This passage shows in the clearest
manner that the first hydrographical maps of the west coast of Africa,
beyond Bojador, were made by the Portuguese under the orders of the
Infant D. Henrique, and that these maps were adopted and copied by the
cosmographers of the whole of Europe (see _Memoria sobre a prioridade
dos descobrimentos dos Portuguezes_, etc., §§ ix, x, and xi).]--S.]
[Endnote 175: (p. 230). _Oadem._--[We judge this to be the place
called by Cadamosto Hoden (Guaden), and of which he says: "On the right
of Cape Branco inland there is an inhabited place named Hoden, which is
distant from the coast a matter of six days' journey by camel;" but he
says the contrary of what we read in the text, for he adds: "The which
is not a place of dwelling, but the Arabs foregather there, and it
serves as a calling-place for the caravans that come from Timbuctoo and
other Negro parts to this our Barbary from here." This spot, with the
very name given by Cadamosto, is marked agreeably to this account on the
chart of the Itineraries of the caravans which M. Walckenaer added to
his work, _Recherches géographiques sur l'intérieur de
l'Afrique_.]--S.]
[Endnote 176: (p. 231). _Carts._--[_Alquitões_, an Arabic term not met
with either in our dictionaries or in the _Elucidario_, but found in the
heptaglot dictionary of Castell, in the word "Alquidene," "waggons for
the transport of women and men," and in Golius. We do not find this word
in the war regulations of the Kings D. John I and D. Affonso V (Souza,
_Prov. da hist. gen._, iii). Azurara thus employed in this place an
Arabic term which had fallen out of use in Portuguese in the fifteenth
century.]--S.]
[Endnote 177: (p. 231). _Few._--[See the description in the travels of
Clapperton.]--S.]
[Endnote 178: (p. 231). _Confetti._--[See the _Itinèraire de Tripoli
de Barbarie à la ville de Tomboctu_, by the Cheyk Hagg-Kassem, published
by M. Walckenaer in his _Recherches sur l'intérieur de l'Afrique_, p.
425; the account agrees with that in the text.]--S.]
[Endnote 179: (p. 231). _Bestiality._--[This same description and
expression is to be found in _Leo Africanus_.]--S. The last may be read
in the Hakluyt Soc. ed., vol. i, pp. 130-3, 153-4, 158-161, 218.]
[Endnote 180: (p. 232). _Fernandez._--[As to João Fernandez, see ch.
xxix, and the note on the stay of this traveller at the Rio do Ouro in
1445, and also ch. xxxii.]--S.]
[Endnote 181: (p. 232). _Went with them._--[Though this account of
João Fernandez is very important, because anterior by almost a century
to the description of the well-known Leo Africanus, yet the most
important part of it is wanting: namely, the route he followed, and the
places he visited during the seven months he spent with the caravans.
Despite the omission of these details, however, his description which
this chapter contains, and its exactness, is confirmed by the later
writings of Leo Africanus, Marmol, and other travellers, to whom we
refer the reader.]--S.]]
[Endnote 182: (p. 232). _All of sand._--Here is another note of the
original MS.: [Of this land speaketh Moses in the 15th chapter of
Exodus, and Josephus and Master Pero (_Peter_), who commented on it,
where they write of the troubles of the people of Israel for want of
water, and of how they found a well of pure water; where he relateth how
Moses, by God's command, threw in the piece of wood and made it sweet.
And this took place before they arrived at the place where God sent them
the manna.] See note 148 (to p. 183).]
[Endnote 183: (p. 232). _Tagazza_ (_Tagaoz_).--[This land is the
Tagaza of Cadamosto (ch. xii, p. 21), and Tagazza of Jackson, on the way
from Akka to Timbuctoo.]--S. See Leo Africanus, Hakluyt Soc. ed., 117,
798, 800, 816, 829; Pacheco Pereira, _Esmeraldo_, 43; Dr. Barth,
_Reise_, iv, 616.]
[Endnote 184: (p. 233). _Palms._--[See Denham and Clapperton.]--S.]
[Endnote 185: (p. 233). _Water._--[See the Itineraries already cited
and published in M. Walckenaer's _Recherches_, etc., and also the
_Description of Africa_, by Leo Africanus.]--S.]
[Endnote 186: (p. 233). _Write._--[This detail is very curious,
because it indicates that in the fifteenth century, when João Fernandez
journeyed with the caravans, some of those tribes which we suppose to be
Berbers had not yet adopted the Arabic characters. It is to be deplored
that Azurara is not more explicit in this place, seeing that Arabic
authors mention books written in this language. Oudney tells of various
inscriptions, written in unknown characters, which he saw in the country
of the Touariks. Very few of this tribe speak Arabic, which he was
surprised at, because of the frequent communication between them and
nations that only speak that tongue.--_Vide_ Clapperton's Travels, and
Leo Africanus in Ramusio, etc.]--S. See the Hakluyt Soc. Leo Africanus,
pp. 133, 165-7.]
[Endnote 187: (p. 233). _Berbers._--[According to Burckhardt, _Trav._,
pp. 64 and 207, these are the Berbers. Our author includes here the
Lybians. Compare with Leo Africanus in Ramusio.]--S. See the Hakluyt
Soc. Leo Africanus, pp. 129, 133, 199, 202-5, 218.]
[Endnote 188: (p. 233). _These last._--[It appears from this passage
that the Touariks are treated of, and their conflicts with the Negro
Fullahs, or of the Foullan.]--S. On the Tuâreg, see Leo (Hakluyt Soc.
ed.), pp. 127, 151, 198, 216, 798-9, 815-6; also Dubois, _Tombouctou la
mystérieuse_, and Hourst, _Sur le Niger_.]
[Endnote 189: (p. 233). _To sell._--[It was this trade in Negro slaves
which the Christian merchants carried on with North Africa that led to
the singular claim of Zuniga and other Spanish writers, that the
Castilians--and in particular the Andalusians--trafficked in the Negroes
of Guinea before the Portuguese; and by a confusion, either ignorant or
intended, they tried to dispute with us the priority of our discovery of
Guinea, and our exclusive commerce with this part of Africa which we
were the first to find. See our _Memoria_, already cited, § xvii.]--S.]
[Endnote 190: (p. 234). _Not certain._--[This passage shows that
Azurara did not believe in the existence of the great empire of Melli
very rich in gold mines, though in the preceding century it had been
visited by the celebrated Arab traveller Ibn-Batuta.]--S. On Melli, cf.
Leo Africanus (Hakluyt Soc. ed.), pp. 125, 128, 133-4, 201, 823, 841.]
[Endnote 191: (p. 234). _On the heavens._--[Leo Africanus says that
amongst the Arabs and other African peoples many persons are to be met
with who, without ever having opened a single book, discourse fairly
well on astrology.]--S. See Leo Africanus, (Hakluyt Soc. ed.), pp. 177,
460, 600.]
[Endnote 192: (p. 234). _Hussos francos._--Meaning unknown. The word
is not found in Portuguese dictionaries.]
[Endnote 193: (p. 235). _Fifty leagues._--[This figure does not seem
to be exaggerated. _Vide_ Rennell's "Memoir on the rate of travelling as
performed by camels," in the _Philosophical Transactions_, vol. lxxxi,
p. 144. The author refers to certain camels of the desert and the
country of the Touariks (Tuâreg), which by their extreme speed travel in
one day a distance that takes an ordinary camel ten. But these do not
journey with the ordinary caravans, but are used only for warlike
enterprises.]--S.]
[Endnote 194: (p. 236). _Resin_ [_Anime_].--See Garcia de Orta's
_Simples e Drogas_, ed. Conde de Ficalho, vol. ii, pp. 43, 44.]
[Endnote 195: (p. 236). _Six hundred leagues._--[We think this should
read 200 and not 600 as in the text, which seems to be a mistake,
because the known portion of the west coast of Africa to Cape Bojador
has not an extension agreeing with the numeral letters in the
text.]--S.]
[Endnote 196: (p. 237). _Already heard._--[On this important passage,
see our _Memoria sobre a prioridade_, etc., §§ ix, x, xviii.]--S.]
[Endnote 197: (p. 238). _Maciot._--[Compare this with what is said in
the book: _Histoire de la première descouverte et conqueste des Canaries
faite dès l'an 1402 par messire Jean de Bethencourt, ensuite du temps
même par F. Pierre Bontier, et Jean Le Verrier, prestre domestique dudit
Sieur de Bethencourt_, etc., published in Paris in 1630. It is clear
that Azurara had collected information of this expedition of Bethencourt
from ancient accounts. This chronicle was finished in the library of
King Affonso V in 1453, and Cadamosto sailed in the service of Portugal
two years later (1455), so that his account of the Canaries is posterior
to that of Azurara.]--S.]
[Endnote 198: (p. 242). _Bad man._--Another MS. note. ["Marco Polo
saith that in the realm of Grand Tartary there are other like men, who
when they receive their guests, thinking to give them pleasure, let them
have their women, in the belief that as they do this for them in this
world, so the gods will do likewise for themselves in the other. And
this they hold because they are idolaters and have no law, but live only
in those first idolatries."]]
[Endnote 199: (p. 245). _Discover._--[This passage shows that the
Infant had in view the discovery of Guinea from the commencement of the
expeditions he fitted out. In this, Azurara differs somewhat from
Cadamosto's account.]--S.]
[Endnote 200: (p. 246). _Machico._--[Compare with Barros, _Decade I_,
i, ff. 6, 7 and 8, ed. Lisbon, 1628. The silence preserved by Azurara
about Robert Machim and Anne d'Arfet seems to show that this romance had
not been invented in his day.]--S.]
[Endnote 201: (p. 247). 1445 ... _Gonçalo Velho._--[In the unpublished
chart of Gabriel de Valsequa, made in Majorca in 1439, the following
note is written in the middle of the Azores islands: "The which islands
were found by Diego de Sevill, pilot of the King of Portugal, in the
year 1432" (according to the better reading). We transcribe this note
because of the date and the name of the discoverer, seeing that the date
agrees with what Padre Freire says in his _Life of Prince Henry_ (pp.
319, 320), _i.e._, that it was in 1432 that the island of Santa Maria
(Azores) was discovered by Gonçalo Velho, and not by Diego de Senill, as
Valsequa says. De Murr, in his dissertation on the globe of Martin de
Behaim, also declares that the Azores were found in 1432. Nevertheless,
a great confusion as to the true date of the discovery of the Azores
exists among the authorities; and if maps anterior to 1432 are compared
with what Padre Freire says (p. 323) as to the discovery of the Island
of St. Michael, that the existence of this island "accorded (as the
Infant said) with his ancient maps," the discovery of the Azores would
appear to have been effected before 1432. In fact, in the Parma map of
the fourteenth century, these islands are marked; while the Catalan Map
of the Paris National Library shows the following islands in the
archipelago of the Azores named in Italian:--Insula de Corvi marini
(Island of Corvo); Le Conigi; San Zorzo (St. Jorge); Li Colombi; Insula
de Brasil; Insule de Sante (Maria?).
In the unpublished map of the Pinelli Library, the date of which has
been fixed as between 1380 and 1400, the said islands are marked with
the following names:--Caprana; I. de Brasil; Li Colombi; I. de la
Ventura; Sã Zorzi; Li Combi; I. di Corvi marini.
In the Valsequa Chart of 1439 these islands indicated by the
cosmographer are marked to the number of eight, three being small ones.
The names are:--Ilha de Sperta; Guatrilla; Ylla de l'Inferno; Ylla de
Frydols; Ylla de Osels (Uccello); Ylla de ...; Ylla de Corp-Marinos;
Conigi.
It is noteworthy that the names of these islands, in the map of the
Majorcan cosmographer, which is the most modern, are all altered, while
in the Catalan map made by his compatriots, sixty-four years earlier,
the following names given by the Portuguese discoverers are found: Ilha
de Corvo, de S. Jorge, and de Santa Maria, just as in the Italian maps
of the fourteenth century.]--S. The seven islands mentioned rather
confusedly by Azurara at end of ch. lxxxiii (p. 248, top) are the
Azores.]
[Endnote 201A: (p. 248). _Reasonings._--Azurara here omits a document
of extreme interest, which was given in full by Affonso
Cerveira--another instance of the superiority of our unhappily-lost
original to the court historian's copy.]
[Endnote 202: (p. 252). _Algarve._--[The Kings of Castille complained
of these invasions, and there were many disputes between Portugal and
Castille as to the lordship of these islands. Las Casas, in his
_Historia de India_, an unpublished MS., treats at length of this
subject, especially in ch. viii. Compare with what Azurara says in this
chapter, Barros, _Decade I_, i, cap. 12, fol. 23, ed. 1628.]--S.]
[Endnote 202A: (p. 252). _Enregistered._--Viz., by Affonso Cerveira,
in the original chronicle.]
[Endnote 203: (p. 254). _Tristam._--[This river kept the name of Rio
de Nuno, or Rio de Nuno Tristão, as appears from nearly all the old
maps, in memory of this catastrophe.]--S.]
[Endnote 203A: (p. 255). _Twenty-one._--Again not counting Nuno
Tristam himself.]
[Endnote 204: (p. 257.). _Sines._--Sines, on the extreme S.W. coast of
the Estremadura province of Portugal, was the birthplace of Vasco da
Gama, discoverer of the sea-route to India, and one of the world's great
navigators. It lies 147 miles S.S.E. of Setubal.]
[Endnote 205: (p. 258). _Cape of Masts._--[_Vide_ note to p. 227 of
this version.]]
[Endnote 206: (p. 260). A _river._--[This river is marked in the map
of Juan de La Cosa (1500) with the name of Rio de Lagos, in that of João
Freire (1546) and in others with that of Rio do Lago; and though Dourado
marks a river to the south of the Cabo dos Matos, he gives it no
name.]--S.]
[Endnote 207: (p. 261). _Beyond C. Verde._--[The great inlet which
they had reached, and which is situate 110 leagues south of Cape Verde,
is beyond Sierra Leone, and is marked in the maps of Juan de la Cosa
(1500), Freire (1546), and Vaz Dourado, with the cape of Santa Anna to
the south.
On this voyage, then, counting from the Rio de Lagos, our mariners
passed the following spots marked on the above-mentioned ancient
maps:--R. Gambia; R. de Santa Clara; R. das Ostras; R. de S. Pedro;
Casamansa; Cabo Roxo; R. de S. Domingos; R. Grande; Biguba; Besegi;
Amallo; R. de Nuno; Palmar; Cabo da Verga.
We have also R. de Pichel (maps of La Cosa and Dourado; R. da Praia in
Freire); R. de Marvam (in Freire [1546]; Rio do Ouro in Dourado); R. do
Hospital (in La Cosa [1500]; R. das Soffras in Freire [1546], and called
by Dourado R. dos Pes [1571]); R. da Tamara (La Cosa); R. da Maia
(Freire), and de Tornala in Dourado; R. de Caza (de Case in La Cosa and
Freire); Serra Leoa (Sierra Leone).]--S.
[Endnote 208: (p. 264). _River ... caravels._--[Undoubtedly the Rio
Grande. Cf. Walckenaer, _Histoire générale des Voyages_, vol. i, p. 79,
note: where he corrects the mistake of Clarke in his _Progress of
Maritime Discovery_ (1803), p. 221.]--S.]
[Endnote 209: (p. 265). _Cape of ... Ransom._--[On old maps this cape
is marked to the south of Arguim, and it appears under the same name in
that of Juan de La Cosa, while in João Freire it is called _Porto do
Resgate_.]--S.]
[Endnote 210: (p. 267). _Expenses with ... Moors._--[This passage
shows that trading relations with Africa were already beginning to
assume a more regular character.]--S.]
[Endnote 211: (p. 268). _Porto da Caldeira._--[A name not met with in
the oldest maps (_e.g._, Benincasa of 1467), which is one of those most
nearly contemporaneous with our discoveries, and contains many names
given by our explorers; the same remark applies to those of La Cosa
(1500) and Freire (1546), etc. It seems, then, that our seamen gave this
name to a port within the _Rio do Ouro_, as the text would indicate. The
caravel of Gomez Pirez reaching the mouth of this river, cast anchor;
afterwards the captain decided to go to the end of the river, that is,
six leagues up; and arriving there he entered a port on which our men
had previously bestowed the name of _Porto da Caldeira_.]--S.]
[Endnote 212: (p. 268). _Well content._--[To our mind this important
passage shows that before the discovery of the Rio do Ouro by the
Portuguese, Europeans did not trade there. The very declaration of the
Arabs seems to us to contradict the opinion held by some that the
Catalans knew this river in 1346, and that Jacques Ferrer made his way
to this point (see p. 194, note 158, and note 74). In fact, it is clear
that the Arabs of that part were well aware that to get caravans to that
place meant a journey of many days across the desert, and also that,
even were this journey undertaken, they would perhaps find a difficulty
in persuading others to change the roads used from remote antiquity, and
come and traffic at a point of which they know little, and give it a
preference to the recognised _entrepôts_ of ancient caravan
commerce.]--S.]
[Endnote 213: (p. 274). _Land ... level._--[The low land marked on
ancient maps to the north of the Rio do Ouro.]--S.]
[Endnote 214: (p. 275). _Rocks._--[We saw before how Gomez Pires, on
reaching the Rio do Ouro, cast anchor at the mouth of the river, and
afterwards made his way up the stream to a port at its furthest part,
which our mariners had named the Porto da Caldeira, where he stayed
twenty-one days in order to establish commercial relations with the
Arabs of the African hinterland. But, as these negociations came to
nothing, he set sail and moved four leagues from there towards the other
bank of the river, and came upon an island in the river (the "ilot de
roches très élevé" of the maps of Admiral Roussin); and after they had
made eleven leagues in all, they met with the Arabs, who took refuge in
"some very big rocks that were there." These rocks are the seven
mountains marked in maps by our mariners of that time, and they are
depicted in the Mappemonde of Fra Mauro (1460), and copied from these
very Portuguese nautical charts--the "lofty mountains" of the globe of
Martin de Behaim, of Nuremburg.]--S.]
[Endnote 215: (p. 277). _Meça._--[A city in the province of Sus and
empire of Marocco. _Leo Africanus_, Book II, says it was built by the
ancient Africans.]--S.]
[Endnote 216: (p. 278). _Guineas._--[This passage shows that even then
traffic in the Guinea negroes was carried on through the ports on this
side of Cape Não. The Infant then knew, before he undertook the
business, that this was one of the commercial _entrepôts_ between
Marocco and the Negro States, just as is since 1810 the small kingdom
(founded by Hescham) of the independent Moors to the south of Marocco,
of the commerce between Marocco and Timbuctoo.]--S.]
[Endnote 217: (p. 278). _Eighteen Moors._--[This detail shows the
great influence possessed by João Fernandez over the Moors, doubtless
owing to his speaking Arabic and having travelled with them. M. Eyriès,
in the biographical article he wrote on this intrepid traveller
(_Biographie universelle_) says, with justice, that he was the first
European to penetrate into the interior of Africa, and that the details
of his story present a great analogy with those of the account given by
Mungo Park.]--S.]
[Endnote 218: (p. 280). _Denmark, Sweden and Norway._--[King
Christopher then reigned in these three Kingdoms. He was grandson of the
Emperor Robert, and nephew of Eric XII, who had abdicated in 1441. He
died on January 6th, 1448, and the three crowns were separated.]--S.
They were united in 1397 by the Union of Calmar.]
[Endnote 219: (p. 286). _Lost men ... Returned to the Kingdom._--[This
detail, which is not to be found in ch. xv of the _First Decade_ of
Barros, where he treats of this expedition, is of the greatest
importance, because it explains the event related in the letter of
Antoniotto Usus di Mare, _i.e._, Antonio da Nole, dated December 12th,
1455, and found in the archives of Genoa in 1802 by Gräberg (_Annali di
geografia e di statistica_, vol. ii, p. 285), in which that traveller
tells how he met in those parts with a man of his own country, whom he
took to be a member of the expedition of Vivaldi, which had set out one
hundred and seventy years before, and of which nothing had been heard
since its departure, according to Italian writers. Now it cannot be
admitted that a descendant of the Genoese expeditioners of Thedisio
Doria and Vivaldi would have kept his white colour if his ancestor had
remained among the negroes, nor could he know the language. Therefore,
Antoniotto can have seen no other white man in those parts except one of
the mariners of the Portuguese caravel of Affonso and Vallarte of which
Azurara treats in the text: especially as neither the different
Portuguese captains, nor Cadamosto, found in any part of the African
coast beyond Bojador a single vestige or tradition of other Europeans
having gone there before their discovery by the Portuguese. Of the
expedition of Vivaldi no news arrived after its departure in the
thirteenth century. In the time of Antoniotto there remained a tradition
only that it had set out intending to pass through the Straits of
Gibraltar and make an unaccustomed voyage to the West. Antoniotto was a
man of good education, and we see that he knew the authors who treated
of this event; but having imbibed these traditions, and knowing of the
existence of a Christian who had remained in these parts, he came to the
conclusion--of course in ignorance of the fact mentioned by
Azurara--that this man might be a descendant of the members of Vivaldi's
expedition, "ex illis galeis credo Vivaldœ qui se amiserit sunt anni
170." If this important passage of Azurara's chronicle be confronted
with the letter of Antoniotto, and both with the account of Cadamosto's
second voyage, there remains not the least doubt that the man mentioned
by Antoniotto was one of the three belonging to the caravel of Fernando
Affonso and Vallarte, who had remained there in 1447, that is, eight
years before Antoniotto visited the same parts, and that he was not a
descendant of the men of Vivaldi's caravel, whose destiny had then for
nearly two centuries been unknown. The passage also seems to refute the
conjecture of the publisher of the said letter, and the induction of
Baldelli in his _Millone_, vol. i, p. 153, etc., about the Medicean
Portulano and the two maps of Africa therein, which we have analysed in
our "Memoir on the priority of the Portuguese in the Discovery of the
West Coast of Africa beyond Cape Bojador," where we show that these
maps, far from disproving our priority, rather confirm it.]--S.]
[Endnote 220: (p. 286). _The Cabo dos Ruyvos._--[Otherwise the _Angra
dos Ruivos_ of ancient maps (see note 53). On the great abundance of
fish in these parts, see the curious and erudite work of M. Berthelot
(_De la péche sur la côte occidentale d'Afrique._ Paris, 1840).]--S.]
[Endnote 221: (p. 288). _Path of Salvation._--[Some modern writers,
founding themselves on the accounts of Cadamosto, have tried to make out
that the Portuguese were the first among modern nations to introduce the
slave trade from the beginning of their discoveries on the coast of
Africa. It does not fall within the limits of this note to show how
erroneous such assertions are; but we will nevertheless say that the
celebrated Las Casas, in his _Historia de las Indias_, MSS., ch. xix,
says that Jean de Bethencourt brought many captives from the Canaries
whom he sold in Spain, Portugal, and France.]--S.]
[Endnote 222: (p. 289). _Toil in arms._--[Barros could not supply the
want of a continuation of the text of Azurara (_Dec. I_, Bk. I, cap. i,
fol. 32). This great historian confesses that everything he relates of
the prosecution of these discoveries is taken from some memoranda he
found in the Torre and in Treasury Books of King Affonso V. To show how
deplorable it is that Azurara did not complete this Chronicle, at least
as far as the death of the Infant, and include the discoveries made from
this year of 1448 to 1460, it suffices to say that from this year
henceforward all is confusion in the dates and events relative to this
prosecution both in Barros and in Goes (_Chronica do principe D. João_,
ch. viii, which is devoted to these discoveries).
Barros limits himself to citing, in the year 1449, the licence given by
the king to D. Henry to people the seven islands of the Azores. From
this year he leaps to the year 1457, in which he only speaks of the
king's donation to the Infant D. Fernando, and only in the year 1460
does he relate that at this time Antonio de Nolli, a Genoese by nation
and a noble man, "who owing to some troubles in his own country had come
to this kingdom" in company with Bartholemew de Nolli, his brother, and
Raphael de Nolli, his nephew, obtained a licence from the Infant to go
and discover the Cape Verde Islands; and that some servants of the
Infant D. Fernando went on the same discovery at the same time by Prince
Henry's order.
So he (Barros) leaves us in ignorance of the regular progress of our
discoveries on the west coast of Africa from 1448, the year in which
Azurara finished this Chronicle, until 1460, in which the Infant died.
Damião de Goes, who pretended to relate more exactly and
circumstantially these events, leaves us in the same confusion in ch.
viii of the _Chronicle of the Prince D. John_, where he treats of Prince
Henry's discoveries; and, besides, he makes a great mistake regarding
the portion of coast discovered to the year 1458 (see ch. xvi, pp. 39
and 40 of the work cited), an error which is refuted by what Azurara
says in ch. lxxviii of this present Chronicle.]--S.
Santarem is mistaken in assuming (see note 219, to p. 286) that "Antonio
da Nole" and Antoniotto Uso di Mare are one and the same.]
[Endnote 223: (p. 289). _Albert the Great._--[Albertus Magnus, Bishop
of Ratisbon, one of the most learned men of the Middle Ages. His works
were published at Lyons in twenty-one folio volumes. See the art.,
_Albert le Grand_, in vol. xix of the _Histoire littéraire de la
France_, p. 362, etc.]--S.]
* * * * *
In addition to works already mentioned, see the _Occidente_ for March
11th, 1894 (especially Brito Rebello's article on Lagos, the Villa do
Iffante, etc.); Pinheiro Chagas, _Historia de Portugal_; L. de Mendonça
on Portuguese ships of the fifteenth century, in _Memorias da Commissão
Portugueza_ (Columbus Centenary); _Historia da Universidade da Coimbra_
(Braga), vol. i, pp. 135-140.
APPENDIX.
ADDENDA TO INTRODUCTION TO VOL. I.
Dr. Sousa Viterbo, writing on Azurara in the _Revista Portugueza
Colonial e Maritima_ (October 20th, 1898), supplies the following fresh
facts relating to the life of the Chronicler, gleaned by him from the
_Chartulary_ of the Convent of the Order of St. Bernard at Almoster,
near Santarem. On December 27th, 1465, Azurara was appointed Procurator
of that famous convent by the Abbess, and in this capacity his name
appears in various documents, _e.g._, of January 21st, 1471, and
February 22nd, 1472. The post was an important, and doubtless also a
lucrative, one. He had a residence in Santarem, and no doubt lived there
for a portion of each year during the last eight years of his life. On
December 1st, 1473, we find him in Lisbon on convent business, and on
April 2nd, 1474, his servant, one Gonçalo Pires, was named Procurator in
his stead. It seems, therefore, that the Chronicler died between the
last two dates.
Azurara, though he was forbidden to marry owing to his position as a
Knight of the Order of Christ, nevertheless had a son and two daughters
by one Inez Gonçalves, as appears from certain Royal letters of
legitimation. Their names were:--
(1) Caterina da Silveira--of the household of the Countess of
Loulé--legitimated by letters of June 22nd, 1482 (_v._ Torre do Tombo
Livo 2 D. João II, f. 138).
(2) Gonçalo Gomez de Azurara--Squire of the household of King John
II--legitimated by letters of April 14th, 1483 (_v._ Torre do Tombo,
Livo I, Legitim. de Leitura Nova, f. 243).
(3) Filipa Gomez--legitimated on the same day as her brother, Gonçalo
Gomez (same reference as No. 2).
The foregoing information was kindly supplied by General Brito Rebello,
who had discovered these letters during his researches in the Torre.
* * * * *
As to the date when the _Chronicle of Guinea_ was written, _vide_ vol.
ii of the standard work of Dr. Gama Barros, entitled _Historia da
Administração Publica em Portugal nos Seculos XII a XV_, note 14, pp.
396-9, where the question is fully discussed.
As to the history of the MS. of the same _Chronicle, vide_ the _Boletim
de Bibliographia Portugueza_, vol. i, p. 41, etc. Art. by Senhor Ernesto
do Canto.
In support of the reliability of the events recorded in the same
_Chronicle_, it should be remembered that Affonso de Cerveira, from
whose notes the book was compiled, was factor at Benim, and was thus
enabled to obtain information at first hand.
CORRIGENDA TO VOL. I.
P. xxiii, line 23, _instead of_ "for many years" _read_ "many years
ago."
P. 82, line 29, _instead of_ "separating the captives" _read_
"quarrelling."
P. 106, line 16, _instead of_ "course" _read_ "speed."
INDEX.
Abdul-Mumin ben Ali, Intr. II, lv
Abu Ishak es Sahili, Intr. II, lvi
Achoreus, "Bishop," 190, 341
Adahu, 48
Affonseannes, 265
Affonso I of Portugal (Affonso Henriques), 327
Affonso IV of Portugal, Intr. II, lxxix, lxxx; 313
Affonso V of Portugal, Intr. I, i, v, x, xi, xiv, xxii, xxiii, xxvi,
xxviii, xxx, xxxviii, xli, xliii. Intr. II, xi, xvi, xvii, xxviii, xxix,
xxx, lxxxix, ci, cii, cxl; 1, 3, 11, 14, 19, 20, 39, 98, 280, 288, 293,
301, 305, 306, 316, 317, 318, 323
Affonso, Diego, Intr. I, xvi, xvii; 95, 101, 102, 103, 118, 194
Affonso, Stevam, 63, 152, 178-182, 262, 264, 266, 320
Agrippa, Intr. II, xli
Ahmad Gragne, Intr. II, lii, liii
Ahude Meymam (Meimom), 110, 234, 235, 261
Aires, G., Intr. I, xxiv
Albert the Great, 289, 353
Alcaforado, F., Intr. II, lxxxiv
Alexander the Great, 187, 192, 226
Algarve, Prov. of, 9, 300, 303
Allemam, Pero, 169
"Almanzor," 298
Almeida, E. d', 254
Alvarez, R., 63
Alvarez, Fr., Intr. II, lii
Alvellos, L. d', 91
Amallam, 283
Annes, J., Intr. II, ix
Arguim, Bight and Islands of, Intr. II, xi; 58, 63, 68, 87, 96, 104,
107, 320, 321
Aristotle, "The Philosopher," Intr. II, xxxvii; 22, 44, 183, 301, 309,
317
Atayde, A. G. d', Intr. II, xcvii; 153, 206
Atlas, 13, 301-2
Augustine, St., 44, 92, 93
Augustus, Emperor, Intr. II, xli, xliii; 297
Avezac, Intr. II, lxviii, lxxvii, xciii
Avienus, Intr. II, xxxvii
Avranches, Count of, 19
Ayala, Intr. II, lxxxiii
Azambuga, Intr. II, xxxi
Azanegues, 49, 317-8
Azevedo, F. L. d', 52
Azevedo, R. d', Intr. I, ii, iv, xxxii
Azurara, G. E. d', Intr. I, l-lxvii, passim, Intr. II, i, iii, v, xiii,
xvii, xix, xx, lxxxvii, lxxxviii, xcvii, xcviii, cvi, cvii, cxiii. 1-10,
98, 103, 289, 292-3
Azurara, J. E. d', Intr. I, ii
Bakui, Intr. II, lviii
Balbus, C., Intr. II, xliii, 297
Baldaya, A. G., Intr. I, xi. Intr. II, x; 34, 35-8
Balthasar, 55, 319
Banner of Crusade, 164
Barcellos, Count, Duke of Braganza, Intr. II, xvii, xx, xci; 16
Barreto, D., Intr. II, lxxxix
Barros, J., Intr. I, ii, xxviii, xlvi. Intr. II, vii, x, xiv, xxxiii,
lviii, lxvi, lxxxix, xcviii, cvii-viii, cxix; 319-20, 325, 328-9
Beatus, Intr. II, cxix
Becarra, A., Intr. II, lxix, lxxxiii
Beccario, B., Intr. II, cxxxi
Behaim, M., Intr. II, ii, xxxii, xc
Belem, 19, 307
Benedict XII, Pope, Intr. II, lxxix
Benincasa, G., Intr. II, cx, cxxxi-ii, cxxxix; 300
Bernaldez, J., 63, 73, 262
Bernard, 144
Bertollemeu, J., 274
Béthencourt, J. de, Intr. II, lxviii-lxx, lxxxii-iv, lxxxix, xcvi-vii;
237-8
Béthencourt, M. de, Intr. II, lxxxiii-iv, xcvi-vii; 238, 287, 347
Béthencourt, R. de, Intr. II, xcvii
Bezeghichi, Intr. II, xxv
Bianco, A., Intr. II, lxxxvi, cxviii, cxxiv, cxxx-iv, cxxxviii-cxl
Bicanço, 174
Blaeuw, Intr. II, xcvi
Boccaccio, G., Intr. I, ix. Intr. II, lxxx
Boniface, St., Intr. II, lv
Bontier, P., Intr. II, lxix
Boor (Bor), 282-4
Braga, T., Intr. I, ix
Braganza, Lord of = D. Fernando, nephew of John I of Portugal, 16
Brandan, St., Intr. II, cxxiv, cxxvii, 27, 310-12
Braun, Intr. II, lxvi
Briaticho, C. de, Intr. II, cxxxi
Brito, S. de, Intr. I, iii
Bruco, Intr. II, xcvii; 207
Bugia, 17, 304
Buondelmonte, C. (Ensenius), Intr. II, cxxviii
Cabot, Map, etc., Intr. II, xcix
Cabral, G. V., Intr. II, ix, lxxxvi, lxxxviii, xci, cxv; 247-8, 347-8
Cadamosto, A., Intr. II, iii, xiii-xiv, xxxi-vi, xxix-xxx, xcii-vi,
xcviii-c, cii, cxii, cxxxv, cxxxviii, cxl; 319, 328
Cadiz, 21, 307
Cæsar, C. J., 24, 93, 192, 309, 321
Caius (Caligula), Emperor, Intr. II, lxxiii
Caldeira, L., 91
Calixtus III, Pope, Intr. II, xiv; 318
Camara, R. G. de, Intr. II, civ
Campos, P. B. de, Intr. II, xcvi-vii
Cão, D., Intr. II, xxxi-ii
Carignano, G., Intr. II, cxvii, cxxi, cxxiii
Carpini, J. de P., Intr. II, lxxviii, cxxix
Castilha, J. de, Intr. II, xcvii; 206, 212
Castro, A. de, 214
Castro, F. de, Intr. II, xcvii
Catalan Atlas of 1375, Intr. II, cxxvi-vii, cxxxvii-viii, cl
Catalan Atlas of fifteenth century, Intr. II, cxxviii
Cayado, L. A., 129
Cecco d'Ascoli, Intr. II, lxi
Cerveira, A., Intr. I, xvii. Intr. II, cx; 103, 167, 248, 314-5, 325
Cesani, F. de, Intr. II, cxxxi
Ceuta, Intr. II, iii, iv, viii, liii-iv, lvii-ix; 15-18, 303, 305-7
Charles V of France, Intr. II, lxvi, cxxvi
Charles VI of France, Intr. II, lxvii
Charles V, Emperor, Intr. II, lv
Chaucer, 298
Chrysostom, St., 26, 310
Cicero, 14, 24, 25, 303, 310, 321
Cid, The = Ruy Diaz de Bivar, 4, 296
Cisfontes, M., 277
Claudian, Intr. II, cxlv
Clavus, Claudius, Intr. II, cxxxi
Clement VI, Pope, Intr. II, lxxix
Cocles, Horatius, 24, 309
Columbus, Christr., Intr. II, xxxv, ci, cv, cvi
Columbus, F., Intr. II, xxxv
Combitis, N. de, Intr. II, lxxxiv, cxxviii
"Conosçimiento, The," Intr. II, lxix-lxx, cxxv, cxxxvii
Cordeiro, Fr., Intr. II, lxxxviii-xci, ci, cxiv
Correa, J., 254
Cortereal, J. V. da C., Intr. II, cvi
Costa, A. da, 254
Costa, S. da, Intr. II, xxix; 151, 152, 157, 161, 165, 166, 173, 203,
331
Coutinho, G. V., 16
Covilhão, P. de, Intr. II, xxxii, xxxiv, lii
Cunha, P. C. da, Intr. II, c.
Daedalus, 299
Dapper, Intr. II, lxvi, xcvi
Delgado, J., Intr. II, xxvi
Delvas, L., 262
Diaz, A., 254
Diaz, B., Intr. II, xxxii-iv, cxxv
Diaz, D., Intr. I, xvii. Intr. II, v, xii, cxxxviii; 98-100, 135, 153,
176, 191, 202, 214-15, 218-20, 244, 323
Diaz, J., 63, 173
Diaz, L., 106, 154-6, 174, 193, 262-3
Diaz, V., Intr. II, xxii; 173-4, 178, 182, 195, 197
Diniz (Denis, Dionysius), of Portugal, Intr. I, v, xxv. Intr. II, lxxx,
cxv
Diegaffonso, 264
Doelter, C., Intr. II, xcv
Dollanda, D., 254
Doria, T., Intr. II, lxi, lxiii, lxxix; 351
Dornellas, A., Intr. II, xcvii; 213, 249-252
Dornellas, J., 249-252
Duarte (Edward), of Portugal, Intr. I, v, vii, ix, xiv. Intr. II, xi,
xvi, cii; 3, 11, 18, 28, 39, 151, 249, 315-16, 331
Dulcert, A., Intr. II, cxxiii-iv, cxxxvii-viii
Eannes, Gil, Intr. I, xiv. Intr. II, iii, x, cxxxviii; 32-4, 63, 69-71,
74-5, 152, 157, 164, 173, 262, 263
Eannes, Gil, 122 [152, 157]
Eannes, M., Intr. I, xxxii-iii
Eannes, R., of Travaços, 152
Edrisi, Intr. II, xliv, xlviii-ix, lvii, lix, lxx, lxxv-vii, cxxix; 305,
319
Edward III of England, Intr. II, ii
"Emosaids," Intr. II, xliii-iv
Eratosthenes, Intr. II, xxxvi
Erlandsson, H., Intr. II, cxlviii
Escobar, P. de, Intr. II, xxix, xxx
Esteves, A., Intr. II, xxix, xxx
Eudoxus of Cyzicus, Intr. II, xxxix-xl, lxxii
Eugenius IV, Pope, Intr. II, xiv, xviii; 53, 318
Falcom, P., 257
Ferreira, A., Intr. II, ci
Ferreira, G., Intr. II, xxvi, xxvii
Fernandaffonso, 280-6
Fernandeannes, 265
Fernandez, A., Intr. I, xix. Intr. II, xii; 225-8, 258-261
Fernandez, D. = Dinis Diaz, Intr. II, xiii
Fernandez, J., Intr. I, xix. Intr. II, xii; 95, 101, 107-11, 117, 232,
234-6, 273-4, 278, 324-5, 351
Fernandez, M., Intr. II, xxix-xxx; (another), 57
Fernandez, V., Intr. II, lxxxiv
Fernando, Prince, brother of Henry the Navigator, Intr. II, xviii
Fernando, "O Formoso," King of Portugal, Intr. I, xxix; Intr. II, lxxxv
Fernando of Aragon, 151, 331
Fernando, nephew and heir of Henry the Navigator, Intr II, xix, xx, xci,
xcviii, cvi, cxiv
Ferrer, J. = "J. Ferne," Intr. II, lxiii-lxiv, cxxvi, cxxx
Fez, Intr. II, lv; 17, 304
Flaccus, S., Intr. II, xliii; 297
Foscarini, F., Intr. II, cxxxv, cxl
Freitas, A. de, 152, 157-8, 161, 165-6, 174, 194-5, 197, 334-5
Frode, A., Intr. II, cxlviii
Fructuoso, G., Intr. II, lxxxv, xcix, cii, cxiv
Gadifer de la Salle, Intr. II, lxxix, lxxxiii-iv
Galvano, A., Intr. II, x, xi, xii, xiii, xiv, lxxxiv-v, cv, cxiv; 296
Gama, V. da, Intr. I, xxvii. Intr. II, xxxv; 349
Garamantes, 7, 296-8
Genoese, in connection with Spain and Portugal, Intr. II, lxxx-ii; 21,
308
George, 91
Gibraltar, 17, 305
Gil, A., 117, 145
Gil, D., 121, 131, 277-8
Gil, L., 169
Gil de Roma, Fra, 167, 333
Gioja, F., Intr. II, cxlix
Giroldis, J., Intr. II, cxxx-i
Giustiniani, Intr. II, lxi
Goes, D. de, Intr. I, ii, xxxi, xliv, xlv. Intr. II, cxii
Gomez, D., Intr. II, ii, iv, xiv, xxv-vii, xcii-vi, cl
Gomez, F., Intr. II, xxix, xxx, xxxi
Gonçalvez, A., Intr. I, xiv, xv, xvi. Intr. II, v, xi, xcviii; 39-51,
52, 54-7, 95, 101-7, 109-13, 117, 118, 169, 194, 232, 278-9, 286-7, 325
Gonçalvez, D., Intr. II, xcvii; 169, 170, 210, 265, 266
Gonçalvez, Gil, 169
Gonçalvez, George, 279
Gonçalvez, J., 117; (another?) 293
Gonçalvez, L., Intr. II, xxx
Gondofre (Gondolfo?), 184, 340
Gorizo, J., 267, 271
Goterres, A., 40, 42
Graa, D. E. de, 117, 126, 130, 131, 161, 166, 327
Granada, 17, 304
Gregory I, Pope, St., 7, 296
Gregory II, Pope, Intr. II, lv
Gregory VII, Pope (Hildebrand), Intr. II, lv, lvi
Gregory IX, Pope, Intr. II, lvi
Grynaeus, Intr. II, xcix
Guarcia, A., Intr. I, xxiv
Guérand, J., Intr. II, lxviii
Guitanye, 281-5
Haagen, W. Van der = "Da Silveira," Intr. II, lxxxix, xc-ii
Hakluyt, R., Intr. II, lxvii, lxxxiv
Hami-ibnu'l Jalil, Intr. II, l
Hannibal, 94, 322
Hanno, Intr. II, xxix, xxxvi-ix, lxxv
Henry, "The Navigator," Prince of Portugal, Intr. I, viii, x-xx, xxvii,
l, lii, lvii, lxiii. Intr. II, i-xxviii, xxxv, li, liii, liv, lvi-ix,
lx, lxii, lxiii, lxxxvii-cxvi, cxxix-cxxxvi, cxxxviii, cxl, cxliv; 1, 3,
6-35, 38-9, 40, 51-4, 55, 60-62, 79-87, 95, 98, 100, 101, 106-7, 116,
147-151, 174, 206-7, 212-13, 225-6, 229-30, 232, 236-8, 241, 244-8, 253,
257, 258, 261-3, 279-81, 285-8, 300, 302, 303, 305-8, 309-10, 315-16,
318, 323-4, 326, 348, 352
Henry III, of Castille, Intr. II, lxxxiii; 237
Henry V, of England, Intr. II, xv; 310
Henry VI, of England, Intr. II, xv; 299, 310
Henry, Prince of Galilee, Intr. II, xix, 301
Henry, Master of Santiago, 150
Herculano, Intr. I, ii, xlii
Hermes (Hermas), 224, 334
Herodotus, Intr. II, xxxvi, xxxix; 296
Heurter, J. Van = Joz de Utra, Intr. II, xc-ii
Himilco, Intr. II, xxxvii
Homem, G., Intr. I, xvii; 101-2, 118, 263
Homem, H., 37
Homer, 183
Ibn-al-Wardi, Intr, II, xlix, lxxv-vi
Ibn-Batuta, Intr. II, xlix, l, lii, lvi, lix
Ibn-Fatima, Intr. II, xliv, lviii
Ibn-Khordadbeh, 297
Ibn-Said, Intr. II, xliv
Icarus, 341
Iffante, J., Intr. II, xxxiii, xxxiv
Innocent III, Pope, Intr. II, lvi
Innocent IV, Intr. II, lvi
Isabel, Duchess of Burgundy, sister of Henry the Navigator, Intr.
II, lxxxix-xci; 11, 301
Isabel, wife of Affonso V, 288
Isidore, St., 183, 298
"Islands of the Ocean," 9, 300
"Italian Wisdom," 8, 299, 300
Jacome, Jacob, James, "Master," Intr. II, cviii, cxi, cxix
James, St., of Compostella (Santiago), 5, 296, 298, 317
Jerome, St., Intr. II, cxxix; 22, 309
John I, of Portugal, Intr. I, viii, ix, xxv. Intr. II, ii, x, xvi,
xviii, xcvii, cv; 3, 11, 17, 98, 249, 295
John II, of Portugal, Intr. II, xxviii, xxx-v, lii
John, Prince of Portugal, Intr. II, c; 17, 245
John I, of Castille, 237
John II, of Castille, Intr. II, xv, 150, 310
John, of Gaunt, Intr. II, ii
John, of Lançon, 4, 295
Josephus, 54, 184, 340
Josua Van der Berge=Jacques de Bruges, Intr. II, lxxxix
Juba, King of Numidia, Intr. II, xlii, lxxii-iv; 184
Khoshkhash, Intr. II, xliv, lxxv
Kunkur Musa, Intr. II, xlvii
"Labyrinth," 8, 299
La Cosa, Map, Intr. II, cx
Ladislaus, 152, 331
Lagos, Intr. II, xii; 61, 70
Lançarote, Intr. I, xv-xviii; 60-80, 83, 86, 147-174, 194-200, 320
Las Casas, Intr. II, cv
Las Casas, G. de, Intr. II, xcvii
Latini, B., Intr. II, cxlvii-viii
"Laurentian Portolano," "Mediceum," Intr. II, cxxv, cxxxvii, cxlii
Leo Africanus, John, Intr. II, xlix, lvi; 305, 345-6, 351
Leardo, G., Intr. II, cxxxii, cxxxiv, cxlii
Leo IX, Pope, Intr. II, lv
Leonor, of Aragon and Portugal, Intr. II, xi, xvi; 315-6
Lisbon, 50, 115, 317, 327
Livy, 44, 93
Lopes, Fernam, Intr. I, v, vii, viii, xxi, xxix, xlv
Lopez, F., Intr. II, lxix, lxxxii
Louis, of Provence, 152, 331
Lourençeannes, 274
Lourenço, H., 265
Lucan, 24, 183, 190
Luis de la Cerda, Intr. II, lxxix-lxxx
Luna, A. de, 151, 331
Luxoro, Tammar, Intr. II, cxxi-ii
Machado, D., 254
Macham, Intr. II, ix, lxx-i, lxxxiv-v; 347-8
Machico, Intr. II, lxx, lxxxiv-v
Macrobius, Intr. II, cxxix
Mafaldo, 117-123, 136-8, 145, 328
Maghrurin, Intr. II, lxxv-vii
Major, H. N., Intr. II, ii, xix, xxii, xxxvii, lxv, lxix, lxxiii, lxxix,
lxxxi
Malocello, L., Intr. II, lxi, lxiii, lxxviii, lxxix
Manuel, Intr. II, xx
Marinus, of Tyre, Intr. II, xlii-iii, cxxxiv; 297
Marocco, Intr. II, lv; 17, 304
Marta, A., Intr. II, xcvii, 249
Martin V., Pope, Intr. II, xv; 310
Martins, O., Intr. II, viii-xii
Masudi, Intr. II, xliv, lxxv; 296
Maternus, J., Intr. II, xliii; 297
Mauro, Fra, Intr. II, lxx, cxi, cxxii, cxxviii, cxxxii, cxxxv, cxl-iv
Mela, Pomponius, Intr. II, xxxvii, xxxix, xl
Mello, F. M. de, Intr. II, lxxxiv
Menezes, P. de, Intr. I, xxv, xxvi, xxxv, xl
Menezes, D. de, Intr. I, xxxviii
Menezes, H. de, Intr. I, xxxix-xl
Meyrelles, V. de, Intr. I, iv
Minef, 282
Mohammed, 10, 300, 301
Morales, Intr. II, lxxxv
Moses, 184
Necho, Pharoah, Intr. II, xxxvi; 298-9
Neckam, A., Intr. II, cxlv-vi
Nepos, C., Intr. II, xxxix
Nicholas V., Pope, Intr. II, xiv, lviii; 318-9
Niebla, Intr. II, xcvii
Nile, 174, 176-191, 193, 195, 214, 225, 341-2
Noli, A., Intr. II, xxvii; 351
Nordenskjöld, Intr. II, xxiv, xxviii, xxx, lxii, lxiv, lxix, lxx,
lxxxvi, lxxxvii, cix, cx, cxviii, cxix, cxxviii, cxxxvi, cxxxvii,
cxxxix, cxl
Nuñes, P., Intr. II, cviii
Ogané, Intr. II, xxxii
Oldham, Intr. II, xcii-vi
Order of Christ, 19, 306-7
Orosius, P., 183, 339
Osorio, Intr. II, cxii
Ovid, 299
Pacheco, G., Intr. I, xviii. Intr. II, xii; 116, 145, 327-8
Paleologus, M., Intr. II, xv
Pallenço, 152, 153, 214, 215, 218
Pareto, B., Intr. II, cxxxii, cxxxiv-v
Paul, St., 292
Payva, A. de, Intr. II, xxxii, lii
Pedro, D., Regent of Portugal, brother of Henry Navigator, Intr. I,
viii, xiv, xv. Intr. II, xi, xii, xiv, xvi-xviii, liv, xc-xci, xcviii,
cxiv; 19, 53, 95, 150-1, 247, 248, 261, 288, 303
Pedro, D., nephew of Henry Navigator, Intr. I, i; 150, 330-1
Pedro, D., of Aragon, Intr. I, xxxvi
Peraza, F., Intr. II, xcvii
Pereira, Nun'Alvares, Intr. I, vii, xi, liii-iv; 4, 296
Pereira, M., 221
Pereira, D. P. (author of "Esmeraldo"), Intr. II, cxii; 309, 317, 325
Perez, F., Intr. II, xcvii
Perestrello, B., Intr. II, x, c, ci; 245-6
Perestrello, B., the younger, Intr. II, c, ci
Perestrello, F. M. de, Intr. II, ci
Pessanha (Pezagno), E., Intr. II, lxxx; 300, 308
Peter Lombard, 295
"Peter Master," Intr. II, cviii; (another), 184, 340
Petrarch, Intr. II, lxxix
Pharaoh, 184
Phidias, 22, 309
Philippa, mother of Henry Navigator, Intr. I, xlvi. Intr. II, ii; 11
Picanço, 174, 206; cf. Bicanço
Pietro d'Abano, Intr. II, lxii
Pillito, A. G., 91
Pina, R. de, Intr. I, vi, viii
Pinelli-Walckenaer (Atlas), Intr. II, cxxvii, cl
Pirez, G., Intr. I, xvi, xx; 152, 157, 173, 192, 194, 267-277, 350
Pisano, M. de, Intr. I, i, iv, xxxv
Piste, Intr. II, xcvii; 207
Pizigani, F. and M., Intr. II, cxxv-vi, cxxxvii
Plato, Intr. II, lxxii, cxlv; 317
Pliny, Intr. II, xxxvii, xxxix-xli, lxxii-iii, cxlv; 297
Plutarch, Intr. II, lxxii
Po, Fernando, Intr. II, xxx
Polo, Marco, Intr. II, lx, cxiv, cxxix; 146, 297, 330
Polybius, Intr. II, xl, xli
Portocarreiro, D. V., 250
Pory, J., Intr. II, xlvii
Posidonius, Intr. II, xxxix
Prado, de, Intr. II, xxvii
Prester John, Intr. II, iv, xxxii, li-liii, liv, lxii; 55, 319
Provins, G. de, Intr. II, cxlvi, cxlvii
Prunaut, J., Intr. II, lxv-vii
Ptolemy, C., Intr. II, xli, xlii, lxxii-v, lxxxvii, cxxi, cxxii, cxlv;
183, 297
Ptolemy Euergetes II, Intr. II, xxxix, xl
Purbach, G., Intr. II, cxiv
Rabanus, J., 184
Ramiro, D., 5, 296
Raymond Lulli, Intr. II, lx, cxviii
Recco, N. de, Intr. II, lxxxi
Regiomontanus, Intr. II, cxiv
Ribeiro, J. P., Intr. I, xxviii, xxx-i, xliv
Richard, 144
Robert of Haldingham (? Hereford Map), Intr. II, cxix
Roderic of Toledo, 54, 319
Rodrigueannes, _see_ Travaços
Romulus, 24, 309
Rubruquis, Intr. II, lxxviii, cxxix
Sacrobosco = John of Holywood, Intr. II, lxi
Sa-ka-ssi, Intr. II, xlix
Sagres, Intr. II, viii, xii, cvi-x; 21, 307-8
Sallam, 297
Sallust, Intr. II, cxxix; 22, 309
Santarem, Viscount, Intr. I, xi. Intr. II, lxvii, cx, cxxiii, cxxxv,
cxl, notes _passim_
Santarem, J. de, Intr. II, xxix, xxx
Sanudo, M., Intr. II, cxxii, cxxiii
Satam, 282
Sataspes, Intr. II, xxxix
Scipio, Æ., Intr. II, xl
_Sebosus, S._, Intr. II, xlii, lxxii-iv
Seneca, 25, 26, 94, 310
Serra, C. de, Intr. I, iii
Sertorius, Intr. II, lxxii
Sevill, D. de, Intr. II, ix, lxxxvi, lxxxviii, cxiv; 348
Sidi Yahia, Intr. II, xlvi
Sigismund (Siegmund), Intr. II, xv; 24, 310
Sigurd of Norway, Intr. II, lxxvii-viii
Simon of St. Quentin, Intr. II, lxxviii
Sintra, G. de, Intr. I, xvi, xviii. Intr. II, xii; 87-91, 94, 146, 148,
321
Sintra, P. de, Intr. II, xxviii, xxix, cxxxix, cxl
Socrates, 45, 317
Sodré, V. G., Intr. II, lxxxix
Soleri, G., Intr. II, cxxvii
Solinus, Intr. II, xxxvii, lxxiii
"Spanish, Friar, The," Intr. II, lxix-lxx
Strabo, Intr. II, xxxix, lxxii
Tacfarinas, 297
Tacitus, 297
Tangier, Intr. II, xi; 14, 302
Tavarez, F. de S., Intr. II, cxiv
Tavilla, 206
Teive, D. de, Intr. II, cii
Teixeira, Tristam Vaz, Intr. II, ix, x, xcix; 153, 213, 246, 247
Temporal, Intr. II, lxvii, xciii
Thomas Aquinas, St., 2, 7, 290, 295, 296
Tiberius, Emperor, 297
Tinoco, A., 255, 257
Torquatus, M., 24, 93, 309
Trajan, Emperor, Intr. II, xliii; 297
Trasto, J. de, Intr. II, ii
Travaços, R. A. de, 174, 191 [202, 218, 219, 220, 224, 278, under
"Rodrigueannes"]
Trevigiano, S., Intr. II, cxl
Tristam, N., Intr. I, xiv-xvii, xix. Intr. II, v, xi, xii; 44-51, 58-9,
63, 96-8, 252-7, 262, 320, 321, 348-9
Tunis, 17, 304
Uso di Mare, A., Intr. II, xxii, xxiii, lxii, lxiii; 351
"Vadinus," Intr. II, lxii
Valerius Maximus, 23, 44, 309, 317
Valladores, D. A. de, 47
Vallarinho, F., 262
Vallarte, Intr. I, xx. Intr. II, xiii; 280-5, 351, 352
Valsecca, G., Intr. II, lxxxvi, cxiv, cxxxi, cxxxiv, cxxxviii-ix; 347-8
Vasconcellos, C. M. de, Intr. I, vii
Vasquez, A., 122, 124-5, 130-3, 329
Vasquez, G., 63
Vegetius, 93, 262
Vergerio, P., 116, 327
Verrier, J. le, Intr. II, lxix
Vesconte, P., Intr. II, cxviii, cxxiii, cxxxii
Vespasian, 297
Vicente, M., 63, 64, 173
Viladestes, M. de, Intr. II, cxxx
Vilhena, M. de, Intr. II, xci-ii
Villes, J., 264
Vinagre, G., 48
Virgil, 297
Vitry, J. de, Intr. II, cxlvii
Vivaldo, U. de, Intr. II, lxi, lxxix; 351, 352
Walter, 54, 319
Zarco, J. G., Intr. I, xviii. Intr. II, ix, x, lxxxv, xcix, cii; 153,
192, 225, 229, 246, 247, 258, 263
Zeno, M., Intr. II, xxii
[Illustration: AFRICA, ETC., IN THE LAURENTIAN PORTOLANO OF 1351.
HAKLUYT. S. I. v. C]
[Illustration: S. AFRICA, ACCORDING TO FRA MAURO (1457-9).
HAKLUYT.]
Transcriber's Notes:
Punctuation was standardized and minor punctuation errors corrected.
Transliterations of phrases in Greek are given in brackets after the
text.
Footnotes in the extended introduction are numbered 1-293. Footnotes in
the text of the book, identified with special characters in the
original, are identified here with letters A-CU. Footnotes are indented
and placed following the paragraph in which they occur. Endnotes, called
"Notes" in the original, are numbered 1-223. Endnote anchors are
identified as [N1] through [N223]. Endnotes 1-112 and index page
references 1-128 refer to Volume I. All endnotes precede the index, as
in the original.
In Footnote 259, the word 'pbīs' has a macron over the letter 'p' in
the original text.
Page reference for Endnote 78 was corrected from 61 to 68. Page
reference for Endnote 100 was corrected from 110 to 111. The endnotes
contain two 75's and 153's. The second has been renumbered 75a and 153a,
respectively. Endnote anchors [N153a], [N154], [N155], and [N156],
missing in the original, have been added to the text.
Changes to text:
accent added to final 'a' ... Ou tornará ...
'Alfarrobiera' to 'Alfarrobeira' ... battle of Alfarrobeira ...
'dos' to 'das' ... at Angra das Voltas ...
'de' to 'da' ... _Saudades da terra_ ...
'reconnaisance' to 'reconnaissance'
... made a reconnaissance ...
... as a possible reconnaissance ...
... the reconnaissance of 1445 ...
Various spellings (mappemondo, mappamondo, mappamonde, mappamundi,
mappemundi, mappe monde, mappe-monde) were changed to 'mappemonde'
for consistency within the text.
'latest' to 'late' ... of the late thirteenth century, ...
'exagerrated' to 'exaggerated' ... it was much exaggerated by many ...
'Poly us' to 'Polybius' ... "He (Polybius) relates that ...
'latitute' to 'latitude' ... northernmost in latitude ...
'Mussulman' to 'Musulman' ... a Musulman visit to ...
'comunicated' to 'communicated' ... Rilvas communicated this fact ...
'mediaeval' to 'mediæval' several places, for consistency w/ remaining
text
'cavarels' to 'caravels' ... when the fourteen caravels set out from ...
'Dias' to 'Diaz' ... and Dinas Diaz joined company ...
removed duplicate 'other other' ... that any other ship of these ...
'stubborness' to 'stubbornness' ... with her foolish stubbornness ...
'biddden' to 'bidden' ... as he was bidden ...
'Minotour' to 'Minotaur' ... the Minotaur, who was half man ...
'beseiged' to 'besieged' ... It was also besieged in 960 ...
'a' to 'an' ... as an evidence of their great toil ...
'o' to 'of' ... the names of these sovereigns ...
'began' to 'begun' ... the Genoese had begun a direct trade ...
... finishing what he had begun ...
'anchor d' to 'anchored' ... fleets of Europe might be anchored ...
'chonicler' to 'chronicler' ... the chronicler of Walter of ...
'Fernandes' to 'Fernandez' ... when João Fernandez journeyed with ...
'ixth' to 'sixth' ... in his sixth book ...
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea - Vol. II" ***
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