Chapter 12. Voyage Of Vasco Da Gama Concluded--A.D. 1498-9

________________________________________________
_ CHAPTER TWELVE. VOYAGE OF VASCO DA GAMA CONCLUDED--A.D. 1498-9

Treacherous trick to entrap Vasco da Gama--The Castilian warns him not to complain--Badly treated--Carried from place to place a prisoner--Sends on board for merchandise--Still kept a prisoner--Orders his brother to set sail for Spain--Nicolas Coelho refuses to desert him--He again sends, ordering the hostages to be set free--The King learns the treachery of the Moors and makes amends to Vasco da Gama--The Moors threatened with vengeance--The ships sail for Cananor--The King sends provisions and invites the captains to land--Nicolas Coelho sent with presents--The King has a pier and pavilion built, extending into the sea--The Captains visit him in great state--Davane leaves them--Sail and anchor in a harbour of the islands of Angediva--Native vessels--Friendly fishermen--Plot of a pilot to destroy the Portuguese--A Jew Admiral of the King of Goa sent to capture them--The Jew seized--Confesses--His fleet of fustas destroyed--The survivors made slaves--The Jew turns Christian--The ships sail across the Indian Ocean--Dreadful sickness--Mombas bombarded--A fleet of zambuks out of Pate attacks the Portuguese--Driven off--Second visit to Melinda--Pass close round the Cape of Good Hope--Many deaths--The Sargarco Sea--Reach the island of Tercejra--Death of Paulo da Gama--Enter the Tagus the 18th of September, 1499--Vasco da Gama cordially received by the King, who gives him the title of Dom--Nicolas Coelho exhibits the treasures to the Queen--Second voyage of Vasco da Gama--Anchade reaches China--Macao founded--Sequeiro sails up the Red Sea to the country of the Emperor of Ethiopia--The supposed Prester John--The Moluccas discovered by Abreu--Third voyage of Dom Vasco da Gama as Viceroy of India--His magnificent state in 1524--His death at Cochin, the same year--Buried at Vidigueira in Portugal, of which he was Count--Succeeded by his son Dom Estevan.

The trade at the factory continued. Drugs, cloves, and nutmegs were brought in; the cloves, however, were mostly bits of stick, and the nutmegs were half rotten, but the factor received them as if they were sound.

The chief minister now arrived in a richly ornamented litter, borne on men's shoulders, with a similar one empty, having a silken canopy over it and soft cushions within, saying that he was sent to bring the ambassador to pay another visit to the King. Accordingly Vasco da Gama got into the one intended for him, while eight of his men got ready to accompany him on foot and unarmed. Just as they were setting out, the Castilian passed, and uttered the words,--"Sufrir y callar."

"Endure and do not complain."

The Captain-Major had expected to arrive at the country palace of the King, but instead he found himself, as night fell, at a poor house with common straw mats on which to sit. Boiled rice and boiled fish were brought for supper, but he was too indignant at the way he was being treated to eat.

The next day the journey was continued, but by some means the officer who had charge of Vasco da Gama got him separated from five of his men. The heat was excessive; the sun beat down on their heads with terrible force. At last they reached a river, when they embarked in a boat, in which the Captain-Major was conducted a considerable distance, accompanied by Joao Nunez and two others. Again they landed, when the Captain-Major was shut up in a house, by himself while his men were placed in another, though both were ignorant how near they were together. The following day they were led by narrow paths through a jungle, and at the end of it the Captain-Major was again shut up, separated from his men. He now became not only indignant, but very anxious. At last he was led out and conducted to where the Prime Minister had taken up his quarters. That official, who looked very much out of humour, did not even bid him sit down, but kept him standing until Joab Nunez, who had been sent for, arrived. He then said that a ship had come from Mombas, by which information had been received that the Portuguese were pirates, and that they had behaved as such at Mombas and Quiloa. He added that the King of Calecut was very angry, and had ordered the Portuguese ship to be captured, and the officers and crews to be kept in prison until they confessed the truth. He therefore advised the Captain-Major to confess the truth to him, that he might relate to the King what he said.

Vasco da Gama, on hearing this, almost laughed. He replied that, if taken to the King, he would tell him the truth, and that he might go and say so. The Prime Minister, on hearing this, was in a great rage, and cross-questioned Joab Nunez, who replied as he had been instructed. The minister then told Vasco da Gama that he must land all the merchandise from both ships, and have it put into the factory, and that after that the King would fill them up with what they required.

Vasco da Gama replied that he would obey the commands of the King, but that it would be necessary to send a message to the ships, or otherwise the merchandise would not be delivered up. To this, however, the minister appeared in no way inclined to agree.

In the meantime the men who had landed with the Captain-Major, and who had been kept separated from him, were in great alarm as to what had happened, as were also those on board the ships; for the factor could give them no information, and serious fears were entertained that he had been murdered. The hostages had also made an attempt to escape, as the minister had sent them word by the boy who brought their food to do so; but Paulo had kept too strict a watch to allow them to get out of the cabin in which they were confined.

At length one of the men who had accompanied the Captain-Major, Joab Setabal, came on board, in a native boat, saying that he had been sent by Vasco da Gama, to let his brother know how treacherously he had been entrapped, and directing him to send a boat laden with merchandise of all sorts, and also that, should he himself not appear, he was to take back the factor, and allow nobody else to go on shore.

Paulo da Gama, mild as he generally was, became furious on hearing this, but at once sent back the native boat laden with merchandise. When the boat arrived at the factory, the factor sent to the minister--who had let him know where he was, and that the Captain-Major was with him--to say that it had arrived, but that unless Vasco da Gama was allowed to return on board, no more would be sent.

On hearing this the Captain-Major was much annoyed, and told the minister that if he would dispatch ten large native boats, he would agree to go off and bring them back full of goods.

When, however, he was about to embark, the minister stopped him, saying that all the Portuguese might return to their ships with the exception of himself, the interpreter, and two others, who must remain on shore for the present; and that when the merchandise arrived, then he would send him on board.

The Captain-Major, clearly seeing the treachery intended by the minister, dissembling his anger, sent word to his brother that he was convinced, even should the boats full of goods be landed, he himself would not be given up; and he therefore charged him to send the hostages on shore, and then to make sail and return to Portugal. "If he himself should be killed," he added, "nothing would be lost, but that if Paulo and the ships were destroyed, their country would fail to reap the benefit they had obtained for her." He also entreated Paulo to lose no time in getting under weigh, as he was very sure that the Moors would send out their ships to attack them.

On receiving this message, Paulo da Garna and all the crews swore that without the Captain-Major they would not leave the port, nor would they send any more goods; while honest Nicolas Coelho was eager to go on shore, resolving that if the Captain-Major were not set free, he would remain with him.

The hostages were then brought out of the cabin, and Paulo da Gama asked them if they were sent by the King to remain in case any harm should be done to the ambassador. They acknowledged that such was the case, and that the Portuguese might cut off their heads if they pleased.

Paulo da Gama then replied that he had no intention of depriving them of life, but that they should be immediately sent on shore, without any stipulation, as he would trust to their honour to exert their influence in obtaining the liberty of his brother and his companions. He remarked also that should any harm be done their ambassador, the inhabitants of Calecut would for ever be considered by all nations as the most treacherous and barbarous people in the world. He then bestowing many handsome presents on the hostages, sent them on shore with all due honour in one of the ship's boats.

Meantime the Moors had gone to the King, and declaring that the Portuguese were pirates, had offered to go out in their ships and attack them. The King, believing this falsehood, ordered the goods in the Portuguese factory to be brought to his palace, and commanded that the Captain-Major and his companions should at once be put to death.

His chief priest and overseer of the treasury, on hearing this order issued, and clearly foreseeing the consequences, hurried to the king, and entreated him not to commit so atrocious an act, observing that the Portuguese had done no harm, but had been kind and peaceable, and had presented the richest presents ever yet offered to a sovereign in India. At this juncture the hostages arrived, and by stating how liberally they had been treated, and how nobly they had been set free, turned the scale in favour of the Portuguese.

The King immediately sending for Vasco da Gama, humbly begged his pardon for the way he had been treated, declaring that much had been done without his knowledge, and that he also had been deceived by evil counsel. Vasco da Gama replied that the King must act according to the dictates of his sense of honour, and that had he murdered an ambassador, the world would have spoken very ill of his Majesty.

The King then gave Vasco da Gama several pieces of fine stuff, and a piece of silk, with several rubies and pearls, and again asking his pardon, and saying that those who had given him bad counsel should be punished, honourably dismissed him.

On his way to the boats Vasco da Gama met the factor, who informed him that the factory had been robbed, no doubt by the order of the King, but he would not allow the factor to complain, though he warned the overseer of the treasury that he would at some time come back and revenge on the heads of the Moors the wrongs he had received. He then embarked with all his men, and proceeded to the ships. The Castilian, as they were shoving off, leaped into the boat and begged leave to accompany them. Vasco da Gama was received with unbounded joy by his brother and the officers and crews of the ships.

He rewarded the Castilian for his services by giving him five Portugueses of gold and a piece of cloth and several red caps, and he signed a paper to the effect that he was a sincere friend to the Portuguese, a faithful Christian, and that all confidence might be placed in him. With this the Castilian returned on shore, when he told the Moors of the hatred they had produced in the breasts of the Portuguese, who swore that they would revenge themselves on their return to India. He also informed the overseer of the treasury that the Portuguese, when they came back, would be his sincere friends. These things were related to the King, who immediately dispatched the Castilian with one of his chief ministers again to express his regret at what had happened, saying that if the Portuguese would come again on shore they would see the punishment he would inflict on the persons who had injured them.

The Captain-Major replied that he should not return to the port, and that he would take upon himself at a future time the punishment of the Moors who had behaved ill to him and his followers.

As there was a fair wind the ships set sail and ran down the coast until they came off Cananor. The King of that country having heard all that had taken place, resolved to win the friendship of the Portuguese.

No sooner did the ships approach than he sent off a large boat, carrying a minister, to invite them to his country. Following the first boat came a number of others, laden with provisions of all sorts. The King stated that he would fill up their ships with cargoes of the goods they had come in search of, at more favourable prices and in better condition than those they had obtained in Calecut.

Vasco da Gama, highly pleased, as soon as the ships came to an anchor, sent off a boat with Nicolas Coelho, bearing valuable presents, similar to those before presented to the King of Calecut, but no one else was allowed to land.

Nicolas Coelho was well received, and was sent back in a native boat by the King, with a message expressing a hope that the Captain-Major would visit him. He also brought word that the King had ordered a wooden pier to be run out into the water, with a small pavilion at the end of it.

The next day his Majesty came with numerous attendants and took a seat in the pavilion, which was adorned with silken stuffs, and had also within it a dais covered with silk. As soon as he came in sight the captains, in their most splendid costumes, accompanied by a number of their men handsomely dressed, the boats being highly decorated, and having streamers flying of white and red silk, and the trumpets sounding, while salutes were fired as they left the ships, rowed for the pier.

On approaching the pavilion in which the King was seated, the two Captains, taking off their hats, bowed profoundly, when he, stepping to the front, entreated them to come up and take seats by his side. He then asked which of them had been imprisoned in Calecut. Paulo da Gama, pointing to his brother, answered, "That is the person whom the King of Calecu: thus insulted."

The King of Cananor then told them that he had received a letter from the King of Calecut exculpating himself, and saying that what had been done was without his sanction, and that he was determined to inflict a severe punishment on the guilty persons. Much further conversation took place of a satisfactory character, when the Captains returned to their ships.

They were three days taking on board the goods and provisions with which the King of Cananor supplied them. Vasco da Gama here dismissed Davane, and signed a document calling on all the captains coming from Portugal to treat him as a sincere friend, whom they were always to honour. He gave him also a hundred cruzados and a hundred testoons, besides the payment due to him, and goods and other presents, so that the honest broker departed highly pleased.

As the crews were lifting the anchors, two large boats came off with a further supply of fowls and other fresh provisions. The sails were then loosed, and the two ships commenced their homeward voyage on the 20th of November, in the year of grace 1498. After proceeding some distance, finding the winds contrary, the pilots recommended that they should put back; but as Vasco da Gama objected to this, they steered a course for the island of Angediva, which had a good port with plenty of wood and water, where they proposed to remain until the monsoon had commenced. The only inhabitant of the island was a hermit, who lived in a grotto, and subsisted on what was given him by passing ships.

The people enjoyed themselves much by being able to go on shore without fear of interruption. Several native vessels came in, not seeing them until they were round the point. They were of two descriptions, some having their planks sewn together with coir rope, which had keels, and others flat bottomed, the planking being secured by nails. Their anchors were of hard wood, with stones fastened to the shanks, so that they might sink to the bottom. The rudders were fastened by ropes passed outside. They had no tops, and only one large sail of matting. Instead of decks they had compartments, in which the different sorts of merchandise was stowed, the whole covered with matting of palm-leaves, which formed a sort of shelving roof so that the water could run off it, and was of strength sufficient to enable the crew to walk on the top. They had no pumps, but only buckets of leather. The yards were long and tapering, two-thirds abaft the mast and one-third before it, with only a single sheet. The tack of the sail was made fast to the end of a sprit almost as long as the mast, so that they could set their sails very flat, and steer close to the wind. When they had to tack they lowered the sail half down the mast, and then hauled upon the heel of the yard until they brought it to the foot of the mast, and passed it over to the other side.

The ships which came in attempted to escape, but the boats were sent after them with Moorish pilots, who persuaded them to return, assuring them that the Portuguese were peaceable, and wished to be their friends. The captains, therefore, brought figs, cocoa-nuts, and fowls, and persuaded the fishermen who had before kept away to come and sell their fish while the crews and passengers landed to wash their clothes, so that the Portuguese and the natives became great friends.

Here the ships were refitted, and water taken in. While thus employed, a floating object, which looked like a large raft, was seen approaching from the main coast, covered over with branches. Vasco da Gama's suspicions being aroused, he inquired of the fishermen what it was. They informed him that it in reality consisted of a number of large low boats fastened together, and was the device of a famous pirate, Timoja by name, who hoped thus to get alongside, and then, with his men, while the Portuguese were unprepared, attack them.

On this the Captain-Major ordered his brother and Nicolas Coelho, who was on board the same ship, to get under weigh, and go out and meet the pirate. They did so, firing their guns as they approached with such effect, that the boats were seen to separate and make with all speed towards the shore.

Thus the Portuguese were saved from the threatened danger. Some time passed, when, their preparations being nearly completed, a small, fast, rowing vessel, called a fusta, carrying sails as well as oars, was seen approaching Vasco da Gama's ship, and would have been received without suspicion had not the faithful fishermen again warned him that treachery was intended. They said that during the night they had observed a large number of fustas come in and conceal themselves in the islets and bays round the island, not more than half a league off, and that it was very evident from this that they intended mischief; that they were under the command of a Jew, who was admiral of the fleet of Sabayo, the ruler of Goa, a large city twelve leagues off; that the object of the Jew was to surprise the ships, hoping to find them unprepared, and carry them into Goa, so that Sabayo might obtain their cargoes. Soon after dawn a small fusta, with the Jew, came close up to the ships, as if about to pass by them to some other part. On getting near the stern he hailed the ships in Castilian, saying, "God preserve the Christian captains and their crews," when the rowers giving a shout, the trumpets from the ships replied. The Jew, getting nearer, said, "Noble captain, give me a safe conduct, that I may come on board your ships to learn the news." Vasco da Gama replied that he might come on board in peace, and that they would do him honour, as they were highly pleased to see a person who could speak their language. On this he came up the side, when he was placed in a chair, and the question as to who he was, and where he came from, was put to him.

The Captain-Major now ordered Nicolas Coelho, who was in the other ship, to come with a boat full of armed men, on the side where the fusta lay, and to board and capture her crew.

Several men were stationed ready to seize the Jew, and at the same moment he and all his men were then suddenly made prisoners. The Jew, on finding himself bound, complained bitterly of the way he had been treated, having trusted to the safe conduct which had been given him. The Captain-Major replied that he was aware of the treachery that he had intended, and that he should be flogged, and tortured by having hot fat poured on him, if he refused to confess his evil intentions. The Jew, finding there was no escape, acknowledged that he was worthy of death, but entreated that the noble Captain would have pity on his white beard.

On this the Captain-Major ordered him to be unbound, and becomingly dressed. The Jew then informed the Admiral that when a lad he was living at Grenada, that on the capture of that city by the Christians he had left Spain, and travelling through many lands, he had gone to Mecca. Thence he had made his way to India, where he had taken service with Sabayo, who had made him captain-major of his fleet; that to please his master he had undertaken to capture the Portuguese ships. He now repented of his design, and as a proof of his desire to obtain the friendship of the Portuguese, he offered to deliver up all the fustas into their hands.

It was therefore arranged that the Jew should go in his own fusta, manned by Portuguese, and that several boats should follow, with the crews well armed. As soon as it was dark they pushed off from the ships. As they approached where the fustas lay, the people on board hailed to know who was coming, when the Jew replied, "It is I. I bring some relations with me."

On this the fusta and boats dashed on, the Captain-Major shouting his war-cry of Saint George, while the crews, who had kept their matches concealed, shouting and firing their guns, threw their powder-jars among the sleeping crews, who being thus alarmed, leaped into the sea, while the fighting men, who were few in number, made but a faint resistance. They were all immediately killed, while the fusta went about destroying the hapless wretches who were in the water. A number also who had taken refuge on the island were made prisoners, not one escaping. The boats and fusta, having thus finished the work, returned to the ships. The Portuguese then selected from among the captives twelve of the strongest-looking men, to work the pumps and do other service, while the rest were killed in the presence of the fishermen, who accordingly knew there would be none left to betray them.

The Captain-Major gave the fishermen permission to carry off the fustas; but this they declined doing, taking only the sails and tackling for their own boats.

The Jew, seeing the punishment inflicted on the other prisoners, became dreadfully alarmed, suspecting that he also would be put to death. The Captain-Major, however, ordered him to be taken below, and confined in a cabin.

The monsoon having just commenced, the pilots advised that the ships should proceed on their voyage. They accordingly made sail and steered westward, their great object accomplished, across the Indian Ocean. The wind was fair, and the sea, as before, calm; but sickness broke out among the men, and many more died. The first land made was near the city of Magadaxo. The Captain-Major having had ample experience of the Moorish rulers of these coasts, bombarded it as he sailed by. He then proceeded, without stopping, until he came off another city called Pate, from which eight large zambuks came out to attack him. A few broadsides drove them away, and he sailed on until he reached Melinda.

Owing to calms, the voyage lasted nearly four months during which, from the want of fresh provisions, scurvy, scarcely before known, attacked the crews. Ulcers broke out on their arms and legs, and their gums became swollen and rotten, so that thirty men died, and others could hardly move about. Some of the pilots also mutinied, and wanted to put back to Calecut; but Vasco da Gama had them placed in irons, and undertook the guidance of the ships himself.

On the shore near Melinda they found the King waiting to receive them, and standing in the water. The Captains leaping out of their boats, he embraced them and conducted them to his palace, where he treated them right courteously. He wrote a letter on gold leaf to the King of Portugal, calling him his brother and promising to befriend his people.

Vasco da Gama, pleased with the conduct of the native pilots, begged that two of them might be permitted to accompany him to Portugal, at which the King expressed his pleasure. To reward the pilots, the Captain-Major presented them with two hundred cruzados in gold, to be given to their wives.

Several more men here died, and were buried on shore, so that the crews of the two ships were reduced to a very small number. Before they took their departure, the King sent a magnificent present to the King and Queen of Portugal. Among other articles was a broad gold neck-chain, with precious stones and pearls, worth ten thousand cruzados; a chest richly inlaid with silver and ivory, full of white stuffs, silks and gold thread, and a piece of ambergris set with silver, half an ell long, and as thick as a man's wrist.

Vasco da Gama, in order to sustain the honour of the King of Portugal, presented numerous valuable articles in return. After taking an affectionate farewell of the King of Melinda, the native pilots being received on board and Mass having been said, the Captain-Major ordered the anchors to be weighed, and on the feast of San Sebastian, 1499, the ships sailed from Melinda. They first stood out from the land, and then made a course along it to the southward. They sighted Mozambique, but did not put in there, and continued their course until off Sofala, where they encountered several severe squalls. They escaped danger by furling all the sails, warned in time by the native pilots. Sometimes they were exposed to heavy seas with little or no wind, which greatly tried the ships.

At length they came off the Cape of Good Hope, in sight of which they passed without accident. Pressing on all sail, they stood into the Atlantic, when, seeing the Cape astern and that they were steering towards Portugal, the seamen in their great joy embraced each other, and then, kneeling down, offered up their praises and thanksgivings to Heaven for having thus far preserved them.

In order to make the shortest possible course for Portugal they kept away from the land, but as they approached the equator they suffered much delay from calms. Paulo da Gama was also taken very ill, and kept to his bed, when Vasco went on board his ship that he might be with him leaving Coelho in charge of his own.

Seeing that they were approaching Portugal, the pilots who had mutinied became very uneasy, until Vasco da Gama told them that they were forgiven, but that he should take them bound into the presence of the King. Even the stoutest hearted, however, might have doubted whether they should ever reach the land, for the ships were so leaky that it was necessary to keep the pumps constantly at work. Frequent calms were also met with, and they passed through a vast mass of seaweed, to which the name of Sargarco was given, from its resembling the leaf of the grape so-called. That part of the ocean has ever since retained the name of the Sargarco Sea. It is that vast collection of seaweed thrown off by the Gulf Stream, and prevented from drifting farther south by the counter-current which sets westward towards Central America.

At length, to the great joy of the pilots, they caught sight of the north star, almost on the same altitude as it was seen at Portugal. They thus knew that they were approaching the termination of their voyage. Steering north, they came to an anchor in the port of Angra, in the island of Terceira, towards the end of August. So battered were the ships that it was with difficulty they could be kept afloat. Of the two crews not sixty men survived. Many of these also died on reaching the shore, and among them, to the great grief of his brother, was Paulo da Gama, who survived but one day, and was buried in the Monastery of Saint Francis.

The authorities wished to discharge the cargoes and place them on board other ships, but to this Vasco da Gama would not consent; and having them partially repaired, he again sailed, accompanied by several other vessels, and arrived safely in the Tagus on the 18th of September, 1499. Endeavouring to overcome the grief he felt for the loss of his brother, handsomely dressed, his beard, not cut since he sailed, streaming over his breast, he landed to present himself to the King, who had come down to the beach at Cascaes to welcome him. The next day the King received him at his palace, when he bestowed upon him the honourable title of "dom," to be borne by him and his heirs. They afterwards repaired to the Queen's apartments, where Nicolas Coelho, who had charge of the presents, was summoned, and where, having kissed the hands of the King and Queen, they exhibited the magnificent jewels and stuffs which they had brought.

Although the King promised to reward honest Coelho, it does not appear how this was done. The pilots, having been brought in chains before the King, as Vasco da Gama had sworn to do, they were pardoned. The old Jew, the Moorish pilots, and the prisoners taken in the fustas were landed, and either from the instructions they received from the priests on board or afterwards, all became Christians, the old Jew taking the name of Gaspar da Gama, the Captain-Major standing as his godfather. The King also had frequent conversations with him, and so pleased was his Majesty with what he heard that he made him many presents from his own wardrobe and horses from his stables, and gave him the slaves who had been brought from India. After this he was always known as Gaspar of the Indies.

The crews were handsomely paid, and each man received a portion of the cargoes to bestow in gifts on their families and friends, while the heirs of the deceased also received the wages which were their due. This memorable voyage lasted, from the day Dom Vasco left Lisbon to that of his return, exactly thirty-two months, and of the one hundred and fifty men who left Portugal only fifty-five came back.

This voyage may be considered one of the most notable on record. The dreaded Cape of Storms, henceforth to be known as the Cape of Good Hope, had been doubled, a large portion of the east coast of Africa hitherto unknown had been visited, the Indian Ocean, which no European keel had ever before ploughed, had been traversed, and India, the great object of the voyage, had been reached, all the difficulties and dangers to which the explorers were exposed being manfully overcome. More remarkable still had been the return voyage in battered ships, the scanty crews suffering from sickness, yet their brave leaders, with indomitable perseverance and hardihood, keeping on their course week after week and month after month over the ocean, guided by the stars and the imperfect instruments they possessed.

Twice after this Vasco da Gama sailed for India. His second voyage was commenced in 1502, when he visited many places he had before discovered, and returned the next year with twelve richly-laden ships. Meantime the Portuguese had sent out, year after year, numerous fleets with large bodies of men, who, by force or stratagem, took possession of many places along the eastern coast of Africa, and on the west of that of Hindostan. Among the most important were Goa and Cochym and others on the coast of Ceylon. While penetrating eastward their ships reached the Indian Archipelazo and the far-off shores of China.

In 1505 Dom Francisco de Almeyda was sent out to India under the title of Viceroy, in command of twenty-two ships, and in them fifteen hundred men, when he began the erection of those forts by means of which the Portuguese ultimately established themselves in the country.

The following year Alfonso da Alburquerque and Tristan da Conha sailed with thirteen ships and thirteen hundred men. On their passage the latter, parting company off the Cape of Good Hope, ran far away to the south, where he discovered the islands which still bear his name-- Tristan da Conha. He afterwards, with part of his fleet, cruised along the Arabian shores, while Alburquerque was employed in trading, building forts, and establishing factories on the coasts already discovered.

Other commanders followed, and Fernando Perez da Andrade, sailing east, passed through the Straits of Malacca, until he reached Canton, then the most celebrated sea-port on the southern coast of China. Thence he sent an ambassador to the Emperor of China, to settle trade and commerce. At first things went well; but when the next Portuguese squadron arrived, the people on board behaved so outrageously to the Chinese that their envoy was murdered, and they were driven out of the country. Some years afterwards the Portuguese obtained leave to settle in a little island opposite to Canton. It was called Macao, and they have ever since held it, though subject to the Emperor of China.

In 1520 Jago Lopez da Sequeiro sailed for the Red Sea, with a fleet of twenty-four ships. Coming to the island of Mazua, he found it forsaken by the inhabitants, who had fled over to Arquico, a port belonging to the Emperor of Ethiopia, the far-famed Prester John, whose country was now first discovered by sea. At this time it was a vast monarchy, and extended along the shores of the Red Sea above one hundred and twenty leagues.

In following years the Portuguese made some progress into the country, five hundred of them being sent under the command of Don Christofero da Gama, to assist the Emperor against his rebellious subjects and his enemies the Turks.

The Moluccas, five in number, named Tirnate, Tidore, Mousel, Machien, and Bacham, were discovered by Antonio da Abreu.

In 1521 Antonio da Brito was sent from Malacca to take possession of them. The Portuguese were, however, ultimately driven out by the Dutch, who hold them to the present day. In the year 1524 Dom Vasco da Gama was again sent out as Viceroy of India, being the second person who had held that important post. He now possessed the title of Conde da Vidigueira and Admiral of the Indian Seas. He was accompanied by his two sons, Dom Estevan and Dom Paulo da Gama, on board the _Saint Catarina_, with numerous officials, and everything calculated to maintain his state, besides a guard of two hundred men with gilt pikes, clothed with his livery. He kept also a magnificent table, at which all his officers dined with him. He ruled the country with a stern and inflexible justice, which was much required, as abuses of all kinds had sprung up; and so, although he was much feared, he was greatly respected. Leaving Goa, he went to Cochin, a city of considerable size, where many Portuguese had established themselves. Here he was shortly afterwards seized with a mortal malady, of which he died a few minutes past midnight on the 24th of December, 1524, when he was succeeded in his vice-royalty by his son, Dom Estevan.

His remains were sent to Portugal in 1538, and buried in a tomb at Vidigueira, from which town he took his title. It would have been fortunate for the honour of Portugal had all her Viceroys of India possessed the same sense of duty as that which animated the renowned Vasco da Gama. _

Read next: Chapter 13. Voyage Of Fernando Magalhaens--A.D. 1519-20

Read previous: Chapter 11. Voyage Of Vasco Da Gama, Continued--A.D. 1498

Table of content of Notable Voyagers


GO TO TOP OF SCREEN

Post your review
Your review will be placed after the table of content of this book