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A GENERAL HISTORY AND COLLECTION OF VOYAGES AND TRAVELS,

ARRANGED IN SYSTEMATIC ORDER:

FORMING A COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF NAVIGATION,
DISCOVERY, AND COMMERCE, BY SEA AND LAND, FROM THE EARLIEST AGES TO THE
PRESENT TIME.

BY

ROBERT KERR, F.R.S. & F.A.S. EDIN.

ILLUSTRATED BY MAPS AND CHARTS.

VOL. II.

WILLIAM BLACKWOOD, EDINBURGH:

AND T. CADELL, LONDON.

MDCCCXXIV.

CONTENTS OF VOL. II.

PART. I.--(Continued.)

CHAP.
XX. Account of various early Pilgrimages from England to the Holy Land,
    between the years 1097, and 1107.

XXI. Discovery of Madeira

XXII. Account of the Discovery and Conquest of the Canary Islands

PART II.

General Voyages and Travels, chiefly of Discovery; from the era of Don
Henry Prince of Portugal, in 1412, to that of George III. in 1760.

BOOK I. History of the Discoveries of the Portuguese along the Coast of
    Africa, and of their Discovery of and Conquests in India, from 1412 to
    1505[A]

[A] This title was omitted to be inserted in its proper
    place, and may be supplied in writing on the blank page opposite to
    page 23 of this volume.

CHAP.
I. Summary of the Discoveries of the World, from their first original, to
    the year 1555, by Antonio Galvano

II. Journey of Ambrose Contarini, Ambassador from the Republic of Venice,
    to Uzun-Hassan King of Persia, in the years 1473, 4, 5, and 6; written
    by himself

III. Voyages of Discovery by the Portuguese along the Western Coast of
    Africa, during the life, and under the direction of Don Henry

IV. Original Journals of the Voyages of Cada Mosto, and Pedro de Cintra,
    to the Coast of Africa; the former in the years 1455 and 1406, and the
    latter soon afterwards

V. Continuation of the Portuguese Discoveries along the Coast of Africa,
    from the death of Don Henry in 1463, to the Discovery of the Cape of
    Good Hope in 1486

VI. History of the Discovery and Conquest of India by the Portuguese,
    between the years 1497 and 1505, from the original Portuguese of
    Hernan Lopez de Castaneda

VII. Letters from Lisbon in the beginning of the Sixteenth Century,
    respecting the then recent Discovery of the Route by Sea to India, and
    the Indian trade

_Note_. In p. 292 of this volume, 1, 2 and 18, the date of 1525
ought to have been 1505.

A GENERAL HISTORY AND COLLECTION OF VOYAGES AND TRAVELS.

PART I.

(CONTINUED.)

CHAP. XX.

_Account of Various early Pilgrimages from England to the Holy Land;
between the years 1097 and 1107_[1].

INTRODUCTION.

The subsequent account of several English pilgrimages to the Holy Land.

[1] Hakluyt, I. p. 44. et sequ.

SECTION I.

_The Voyage of Gutuere, or Godwera, an English Lady, towards the Holy
Land, about 1097._

While the Christian army, under Godfrey of Buillon, was marching through
Asia Minor from Iconium, in Lycaonia, by Heraclea, to Marasia, or
Maresch[1], Gutuere, or Godwera, the wife of Baldwin, the brother of the
Duke of Lorain, who had long laboured under heavy sickness, became so
extremely ill, that the army encamped on her account near Marash, for
three days, when she expired. This lady is said to have been of noble
English parentage, and was honourably interred at Antioch in Syria[2].

[1] Now Konieh, Erekli, and Marash; the two former in Karamania,
the latter in Syria or Room.--E.

[2] For this story, Hakluyt quotes Hist Bel. Sacr. lib. iii. c.
xvii. and Chron. Hierosol. lib. iii c. xxvii.

SECTION II.

_The Voyage of Edgar Aethling to Jerusalem, in 1102_[1].

Edgar, commonly called Aethling, was son of Edward, the son of Edmond
Ironside, who was the brother of Edward the Confessor, to whom
consequently Edgar was nephew; Edgar travelled to Jerusalem in 1102, in
company with Robert, the son of Godwin, most valiant knight. Being
present in Rama, when King Baldwin was there besieged by the Turks, and
not being able to endure the hardships of the siege, he was delivered
from that danger, and escaped through the midst of the hostile camp,
chiefly through the aid of Robert; who, going before him, made a lane
with his sword, slaying numbers of the Turks in his heroic progress.
Towards the close of this chivalric enterprize, and becoming more fierce
and eager as he advanced, Robert unfortunately dropt his sword; and while
stooping to recover his weapon, he was oppressed by the multitude, who
threw themselves upon him, and made him prisoner. From thence, as some
say, Robert was carried to Babylon in Egypt, or Cairo; and refusing to
renounce his faith in CHRIST, he was tied to a stake in the market-place,
and transpierced with arrows. Edgar, having thus lost his valiant knight,
returned towards Europe, and was much honoured with many gifts by the
emperors both of Greece and Germany, both of whom would gladly have
retained him at their courts, on account of his high lineage; but he
despised all things, from regard to his native England, into which he
returned: And, having been subjected to many changes of fortune, as we
have elsewhere related, he _now_ spends his extreme old age in private
obscurity.

[1] Hakluyt. I. 44. W. Malmsb. III. 58.

SECTION III.

_Some Circumstances respecting the Siege of Joppa, about the year_
1102[1].

In the second year of Baldwin, king of Jerusalem, Joppa was besieged by
the Turks of Cairo; and Baldwin embarked from the town of Assur, in a
vessel called a _buss_, commanded by one Goderic an English freebooter,
intending to proceed to the relief of the besieged. Fixing the royal
banner aloft on a spear, that it might be seen of the Christians, they
sailed boldly towards Joppa, with but a small company of armed men. The
king knew that the Christians in Joppa were almost hopeless of his life
and safety, and he feared they might shamefully abandon the defence of
the place, or be constrained to surrender, unless revived by his presence.
On perceiving the approach of the royal banner of King Baldwin, the naval
forces of the Turks, to the number of twenty gallies and thirteen ships,
usually called _Cazh_, endeavoured to surround and capture the single
vessel in which he was embarked. But, by the aid of GOD, the billows of
the sea raged against them, while the kings ship glided easily and
swiftly through the waves, eluding the enemy, and arrived in safety into
the haven of Joppa, to the great joy of the Christians, who had mourned
him as if dead.

While the Saracens continued the siege of Joppa, 200 sail of Christian
vessels arrived there, with pilgrims who wished to perform their
devotions at Jerusalem. Of these, the chief leaders were Bernard Witrazh
of Galatia, Hardin of England, Otho of Roges, Haderwerck, one of the
principal nobles of Westphalia, and others. This power, by the blessing
of God, arrived to succour the distressed Christians then besieged in
Joppa, on the 3d of July 1102, in the second year of Baldwin king of
Jerusalem. When the numerous army of the Saracens saw that the Christians,
thus reinforced, boldly faced them without the walls, they removed their
tents, during the night, above a mile from the town, that they might
consider whether to retreat to Ascalon, or to continue to harass the
citizens of Joppa with frequent assaults. But they confided in their
numbers, and continued to annoy the Christians by severe and repeated
attacks.

Having allowed three days rest and refreshment to this powerful
reinforcement, Baldwin issued out from Joppa early in the morning of the
sixth of July, to the martial sound of trumpets and cornets, with a
strong force, both of foot and horse, marching directly toward the
Saracens, with loud shouts, and attacked their army with great spirit.
The land attack was assisted by the Christian navy, which approached the
shore, making a horrible noise, and distracting the attention of the
Saracens, who feared to be attacked in flank and rear. After a sharp
encounter, the Saracens fled towards Ascalon, many being slain in the
battle and pursuit, and others drowned, by leaping into the sea to avoid
being slain. In this battle 3000 of the Saracens perished, with a very
small loss on the side of the Christians; and the city of Joppa was
delivered from its enemies.

[1] Hakluyt, I.45. Chron. Hierosol. IX. ix. xi. xii.

SECTION IV.

_Of the Transactions of certain English, Danish, and Flemish Pilgrims in
the Holy Land, in 1107_[1].

In the seventh year of King Baldwin, a large fleet from England,
containing above 7000 men, many of whom were soldiers, arrived at the
harbour of Joppa, along with whom came other warriors from Denmark,
Flanders, and Antwerp. Having received permission and safe conduct from
King Baldwin, together with a strong band of armed men as a safeguard,
they arrived in safety at Jerusalem and all the other places of devotion,
free from all assaults and ambushes of the Gentiles; and having paid
their vows unto the Lord in the church of the Holy Sepulchre, they
returned with great joy, and without molestation, to Joppa[2]. Finding
King Baldwin in that place, they made offer to assist him in any military
enterprize; for which offer he gave them great commendations, saying,
That he could not give an immediate answer, without consulting the
patriarch and barons, of his kingdom.

He therefore called together the Lord Patriarch, Hugh of Tabaria, Gunfrid
the governor of the Tower of David, and the other principal officers of
the kingdom of Jerusalem, to consult together in the city of Rames, how
best to employ this proferred assistance of so considerable a body of
volunteers.

In that assembly, it was agreed upon to lay siege to the city of Sagitta,
otherwise called Sidon; upon which, having directed every one of the
nobles to go home, that they might provide armour and all other
necessaries for the siege, he sent messengers to the English, requiring
them not to remove their fleet and army from Joppa, but to wait there for
his farther commands; informing them, that he and his nobles had resolved,
with their aid, to lay siege to the city of Sidon, but it would require
some time to provide the necessary engines and warlike instruments, for
assaulting the walls of that place. The pilgrims answered, that they
would attend his orders at Joppa, promising to be obedient to him in all
things, even unto death. The king went soon afterwards, with the
patriarch and all his attendants to the city of Acre; where, during forty
days, he was busily employed in the construction of engines, and many
different kinds of warlike instruments, and of every thing necessary for
the intended siege.

When this intended expedition came to the knowledge of the inhabitants of
Sidon, and they understood that a powerful army of pilgrims lay in
readiness at Joppa, to assist the king of Jerusalem, they were afraid of
being subdued and destroyed by the Christians, as Caesaria, Assur, Acre,
Cayphas, and Tabaria had already been; and they sent secret emissaries to
the king, offering a large sum of money in gold byzants, and a
considerable yearly tribute, on condition that he would spare their lives
and refrain from the intended siege. After a lengthened negotiation,
during which the inhabitants of Sidon rose considerably in their offers,
the king, being in great straits for means to discharge the pay of his
soldiers, hearkened willingly to the offers of the Sidonians; yet, afraid
of reproach from the Christians, he dared not openly to consent to their
proposals.

In the meantime, Hugh of Tabaria, who was a principal warrior among the
Christians of Palestine, and indefatigable in assaulting the pagans on
all occasions, having gathered together 200 horse and 400 infantry,
suddenly invaded the country of a great Saracen lord, named Suet, on the
frontiers of the territory of Damascus, where he took a rich booty of
gold and silver and many cattle, which would have proved of great
importance in assisting the army at the siege of Sidon. On his return
with this prey by the city of Belinas, otherwise called Caesaria Philippi,
the Turks of Damascus, with the Saracen inhabitants of the country,
gathered together in great numbers, and pursued the troops of Hugh, that
they might recover the booty. Coming up with them in the mountains, over
which the infantry belonging to Hugh of Tabaria were driving their prey,
the Turks prevailed over the Christians, and the plunder was recovered.
On receiving this intelligence, Hugh, who happened to be at some distance,
hastened with his cavalry to succour his footmen, and to recover the
spoil: But happening to fall in with the Turks in a strait and craggy
place, and rushing heedlessly among the enemy, unprovided with his armour,
he was shot in the back by an arrow, which pierced his liver, and he died
on the spot. His soldiers brought back the dead body of Hugh to the city
of Nazareth near Mount Thabor, where he was honourably interred. Gerard,
the brother of Hugh, lay at this time sick of a dangerous illness, and
died within eight days afterwards.

Taking advantage of the death of these two famous princes, King Baldwin
agreed to receive the money which had been offered to him by the city of
Sidon, yet kept his intentions of making peace private, and sent to Joppa,
desiring the chiefs of the English, Danes, and Flemings, to come with
their fleet and army to Acre, as if he had meant to prosecute the siege.
When they arrived, he represented to their chiefs the great loss he had
sustained by the death of two of his chief warriors, on which account, he
was constrained to defer the siege to a more convenient opportunity, and
must now dismiss his army. On this the strangers saluted the king very
respectfully, and, embarking in their ships, returned to their own
countries.

[1] Hakluyt, I. 47. Chron. Hierosol. lib. x.

[2] Though not mentioned in the text, it seems presumable that these
pilgrims deemed it necessary for them to proceed unarmed in execution of
their devotions, under an escort.--E.

SECTION V.

_The Expedition of William Longespee, or Long-sword, Earl of Salisbury,
in the year 1248, under the Banners of St Louis, King of France, against
the Saracens_[1].

When Louis, King of France, went against the Saracens in 1248, William
Earl of Salisbury, with the Bishop of Worcester, and other great men of
the realm of England, accompanied him in the holy warfare[2]. About the
beginning of October 1249, the French king assaulted and took the city of
Damietta, which was esteemed the principal strong-hold of the Saracens in
Egypt; and having provided the place with a sufficient garrison, under
the Duke of Burgundy, he removed his camp, to penetrate farther eastwards.
In this army William Earl of Salisbury served, with a chosen band of
Englishmen under his especial command; but the French entertained a great
dislike to him and his people, whom they flouted upon all occasions,
calling them English _tails_[3], and other opprobrious names, insomuch,
that the King of France had much ado to keep peace between them. This
quarrel originated from the following circumstance: Not far from
Alexandria there was a strong castle belonging to the Saracens[4], in
which they had placed some of their principal ladies, and much treasure;
which fortress the earl and his English followers had the good fortune to
take, more by dexterous policy than by open force of arms, through which
capture he and his people were much enriched; and when the French came to
the knowledge of this exploit, which had not been previously communicated
to them, they were much enraged against the English, and could never
speak well of them afterwards.

Not long after this, the earl got secret intelligence of a rich caravan
of merchants belonging to the Saracens, who were travelling to a certain
fair which was to be held near Alexandria, with a multitude of camels,
asses, and mules, and many carts, all richly laden with silks, precious
jewels, spices, gold, silver, and other commodities, besides provisions
and other matters of which the soldiers were then in great want. Without
giving notice of this to the rest of the Christian army, the earl
gathered all the English troops, and fell by night upon the caravan,
killing many of the people, and making himself master of the whole carts
and baggage cattle with their drivers, which he brought with him to the
Christian camp, losing only one soldier in the skirmish, and eight of his
servants, some of whom were only wounded and brought home to be cured.
When this was known in the camp, the Frenchmen, who had loitered in their
tents while the earl and his people were engaged in the expedition, came
forth and forcibly took to themselves the whole of this spoil, finding
great fault with the earl and the English for leaving the camp without
orders from the general, contrary to the discipline of war; though the
earl insisted that he had done nothing but what he would readily justify,
and that his intentions were to have divided the spoil among the whole
army. But this being of no avail, and very much displeased at being
deprived in so cowardly a manner of what he had so adventurously gained,
he made his complaint to the king; and being successfully opposed there
by the pride of the Count of Artois, the kings brother, who thwarted his
claims with disdainful spite, he declared that he would serve no longer
in their army, and bidding farewell to the king, he and his people broke
up from the army and marched for Achon[5]. Upon their departure, the
Count d'Artois said that the French army was well rid of these tailed
English; which words, spoken in despite, were ill taken by many good men,
even of their own army. But not long after, when the governor of Cairo,
who was offended with the Soldan, offered to deliver that place to the
French king, and even gave him instructions now he might best conduct
himself to accomplish that enterprize, the king sent a message in all
haste to the Earl of Salisbury, requesting him to return to the army,
under promise of redressing all his grievances; on which he came back and
rejoined the French army.

The king of France now marched towards Cairo, and came to the great river
Nile, on the other side of which the Soldan had encamped with his army,
on purpose to dispute the passage. At this time, there was a Saracen in
the service of the Count of Artois, who had been lately converted to the
Christian faith, and who offered to point out a shallow ford in the river,
by which the army might easily cross over. Upon receiving this
intelligence, Artois and the master of the Knights Templars, with about a
third of the army, crossed to the other side, and were followed by
Salisbury and the English. These being all joined, made an assault upon a
part of the Saracen army which remained in the camp, and overthrew them,
the Soldan being then at some distance with the greater part of his army.

After this easy victory, Artois was so puffed up with pride and elated by
success, that he believed nothing could withstand him, and would needs
advance without waiting for the coming up of the main body of the army
under the king of France, vainly believing that he was able with the
power he had to conquer the whole force of the Saracens. The master of
the Templars, and other experienced officers, endeavoured to dissuade him
from this rash conduct; advising him rather to return to the main army,
satisfied with the signal advantage he had already achieved; that thereby
the whole army of the Christians might act in concert, and be the better
able to guard against the danger of any ambushes or other stratagems of
war, that might have been devised for their destruction. They represented
to him that the horses of this vanguard were already tired, and the
troops without food; and besides, that their numbers were utterly unable
to withstand the vastly superior multitude of the enemy; who besides,
having now obviously to fight for their last stake, the capital of their
dominions, might be expected to exert their utmost efforts. To this
salutary counsel, the proud earl arrogantly answered with opprobrious
taunts; reviling the whole Templars as dastardly cowards and betrayers of
their country, and even alleged that the Holy Land of the Cross might
easily be won to Christendom, if it were not for the rebellious spirit of
the Templars and Hospitallers, and their followers: which, indeed, was a
common belief among many. To these contumelious remarks, the master of
the Templars angrily desired him, in his own name and that of his
followers, to display his ensign when and where he dared, and he should
find them as ready to follow as he to lead. The Earl of Salisbury now
remonstrated with Artois, advising him to listen to these experienced
persons, who were much better acquainted with the country and people than
he could be; and endeavoured to convince him that their advice was
discreet and worthy to be followed. He then addressed his discourse to
the master of the Templars, prudently endeavouring to sooth his anger
against the arrogance of the Count of Artois. But Artois cut him short,
exclaiming in anger with many oaths, "Away with these cowardly Englishmen
with tails; the army would be much better rid of these tailed people;"
and many other scandalous and disdainful expressions. To this the English
earl replied, "Well, Earl Robert, wherever you dare set your foot, my
steps shall go as far as yours; and I believe we shall go this day where
you shall not dare to come near the tails of our horses."

And it so happened as Earl William said: For Earl Robert of Artois
persisted to march forward against the Soldan, vainly hoping to win all
the glory to himself, before the coming up of the main body of the host.
His first enterprize was ordering an attack on a small castle, or
fortified village, called Mansor; whence a number of the villagers ran
out, on seeing the approach of the Christians, making a great outcry,
which came to the ears of the Soldan, who was much nearer with his army
than had been supposed. In the mean time, the Christians made an assault
on Mansor with too little precaution, and were repulsed with considerable
loss, many of them being slain by large stones, thrown upon them as they
entered the place; by which the army not only lost a considerable number
of men, but was much dispirited by this unexpected repulse.

Immediately on the back of this discomfiture, the Soldan came in sight
with his whole army; and seeing the Christians in this divided state,
brother separated from brother, joyfully seized the opportunity he had
long wished for, and inclosing them on all sides, that none might escape,
attacked them with great fury. In this situation, the Earl of Artois sore
repented of his headstrong rashness, when it was too late; and, seeing
Earl William Longespee fighting bravely against the chief brunt of the
enemy, he called out to him in a cowardly manner to flee, as God fought
against them. But William bravely answered, "God forbid that my father's
son should flee from the face of a Saracen." Earl Robert turned out of
the fight, and fled away, thinking to escape from death or captivity by
the swiftness of his horse; and taking the river Thafnis[6], sank through
the weight of his armour, and was drowned. On the flight of Earl Robert,
the French troops lost heart, and began to give ground: But William
Longespee, bearing up manfully against the whole force of the enemy,
stood firm as long as he was able, slaying and wounding many of the
Saracens. At length, his horse being killed, and his legs maimed, he fell
to the ground; yet he continued to mangle their legs and feet, till at
last he was slain with many wounds, being finally stoned to death by the
Saracens. After his death, the Saracens set upon the remainder of the
army, which they had surrounded on every side, and destroyed them all, so
that scarce a single man remained alive. Of the whole, only two templars,
one hospitaller, and one common soldier escaped, to bring the melancholy
tidings to the king of France. Thus by the imprudent and foolish rashness
of Earl Robert, the French troops were utterly discomfited, and the
valiant English knight overpowered and slain, to the grief of all the
Christians, and the glory of the Saracens; and, as it afterwards fell out,
to the entire ruin of the whole French army.

[1] Hakluyt, I. 70.

[2] Hakluyt dates this expedition in the 32d year of the reign of Henry
    III. of England. He mentions, in a former passage, I. p. 59. that the
    same Earl of Salisbury, accompanied Richard Earl of Cornwall, in the
    23d year of the same kings reign into Syria against the Saracens, with
    many other English of note, where they performed good service against
    the unbelievers, but gives no relation of particulars.--E.

[3] The meaning of this term of reproach does not appear; unless,
    from some after circumstances, it may have proceeded from their horses
    having long tails, while those of the French were dockt.--E.

[4] Probably Aboukir.--E.

[5] St John d'Acre.--E.

[6] This is probably meant for that branch of the Nile which
    they had previously crossed on their way to Mansor.--E.

CHAP. XXI.

_Discovery of Madeira_[1].

Although the Era of modern discovery certainly commenced under the
auspicious direction of Don Henry of Portugal, who first conceived and
executed the sublime idea of extending the knowledge and commerce of the
globe, by a judicious series of maritime, expeditions expressly for the
purpose of discovery; yet as Madeira is said to have been visited, and
the Canaries were actually discovered and settled before that era, it
appears necessary to give a previous account of these discoveries, before
proceeding to the second part of this work.

Several authors have left accounts of the real or pretended original
discovery of this island of Madeira, all of whom concur in asserting that
it was first discovered by an Englishman. Juan de Barros, the Livy of
Portugal, mentions it briefly in the first decade of his Asia. The
history of this discovery was written in Latin, by Doctor Manoel Clemente,
and dedicated to Pope Clement V. Manoel Tome composed a Latin poem on the
subject, which he intitled _Insulana_. Antonio Galvano mentions it in a
treatise of discoveries, made chiefly by the Spaniards and Portuguese
previously to the year 1550[2]. Manoel de Faria y Sousa, the illustrious
commentator of Camoens, cites Galvano in illustration of the fifth stanza
in the fifth book of the immortal Lusiad, and likewise gives an account
of this discovery in his Portuguese Asia. But the earliest and most
complete relation of this discovery was composed by Francisco Alcaforado,
who was esquire to Don Henry the _infant_ or prince of Portugal, the
first great promoter of maritime discoveries, and to whom he presented
his work. No person was more capable of giving an exact account of that
singular event than Alcaforado, as he was one of those who assisted in
making the second discovery. His work was first published in Portuguese
by Don Francisco Manoel, and was afterwards published in French at Paris
in 1671[3]. From this French edition the following account is extracted,
because the original Portuguese has not come to our knowledge, neither
can we say when that was printed; but as the anonymous French translator
remarked, that "Don Francisco _keeps_ the original MS. with great care,"
it may be concluded, that the Portuguese impression did not long precede
the French translation. The French translator acknowledges that he has
altered the style, which was extremely florid and poetical, and has
expunged several useless and tedious digressions, etymologies,
reflections, and comparisons; but declares that he has strictly presented,
the truth and substance of the history, so as not to vary from it in the
least, or to omit the smallest material circumstance.

It is remarkable that there is no mention whatever in any of the English
histories of Machin, Macham, or Marcham, the supposed author of this
discovery; so that Hakluyt was beholden to Antonio Galvano for the
imperfect account he gives of that transaction[4]. By the following
abstract the complete history becomes our own, and we shall be no longer
strangers to an event which has for several ages, rendered an Englishman
famous in foreign countries, while wholly unknown in his own. It must not,
however, be omitted to observe, that some objections may be stated
against the authenticity of this history, on account of certain
circumstances which do not quadrate with the time assigned for Machin's
voyage by the author. From these it is obvious, either that the relation
given by Alcaforado is not genuine, or that it has been interpolated. How
far this objection may be admitted, without prejudice to the authority of
the whole story, must be left to the judgment of our readers; we shall
only add, that so far as relates to Macham it agrees with the tradition
of the inhabitants of Madeira.

According to Alcaforada, Juan Gonsalvo Zarco, a gentleman of the
household of Don Henry, being sent out by that prince upon an expedition
of discovery to the coast of Africa, made prize, in the year 1420, of a
Spanish vessel filled with redeemed captives, on their way from Morocco
to Spain. In this vessel there was one John de Morales, an experienced
and able pilot, whom he detained as an acceptable present to his master
Don Henry, and set all the rest at liberty. Morales on being made
acquainted with the cause of his detention, entered freely into the
service of the prince, and gave an account to Gonsalvo of the adventures
of Machin, and the situation and land-marks of the new discovered island,
all of which he had learnt from certain English captives in the jails of
Morocco, who had accompanied Macham, or Machin, in his expedition.

The year of this extraordinary adventure is not mentioned by Galvano, who
only says, that in 1344, Pedro IV. reigning in Arragon, the chronicles of
his age reported, that about this time the island of Madeira was
discovered by one Macham, an Englishman. It must be confessed that an
objection arises against this history which is not easily removed. We are
told that, immediately after the death of Macham, his companions sailed
over to Morocco, and that Morales was in prison when they arrived.
Supposing the discovery by Macham to have been made about 1344, as
related by Galvano, from the Castilian chronicles, Morales must have been
no less than seventy-six years a prisoner when redeemed, and when he was
detained by Gonsalvo in 1420. Herbert places the adventure of Macham in
1328, which would increase the captivity of Morales to ninety-two years.
Alcaforado places the event in the reign of Edward III. of England, which
began in 1327 and ended in 1378; Even supposing it to have happened in
the last year of Edward, Morales must have remained forty-two years in
captivity; which is not only highly improbable, but is even contrary to
the sense of the historian, who supposes but a small space to have
elapsed between the two events; besides, the records quoted by Galvano
are said expressly to assert that Macham went himself into Africa, whence
he was sent to the king of Castile. This last circumstance may have been
invented by the Spaniards, to give them a better title to the island of
Madeira: But the former objection remains in full force, and can only be
obviated by supposing that either Morales advanced a falsehood in
asserting, that he had the account of this discovery from the English
themselves, instead of learning it from the other slaves, among whom the
tradition might have been current for many years after the event; or
Alcaforado may have mistaken the report of Morales in this particular.
The following is the substance of the narrative, as given by Alcaforado.

In the glorious reign of Edward III. Robert a Machin, of Macham, a
gentleman of the second degree of nobility, whose genius was only
equalled by his gallantry and courage, beheld and loved the beautiful
Anna d'Arfet[5]. Their attachment was mutual, but the pleasing indulgence
of ardent hope gratified and betrayed the secret of their passion. The
pride of the illustrious family of d'Arfet was insensible to the
happiness of their daughter, and they preferred the indulgence of their
own ambition to the voice of love. The feudal tyranny of the age was
friendly to their cruelty, and a royal warrant seemed to justify the
vanity of her parent. The consolation of an ingenious mind supported
Machin under confinement, and enabled him to seek after redress without
yielding to despondency. On his releasement from prison, he learned that
the beloved cause of his persecution had been forced to marry a nobleman,
whose name he could not discover, but who had carried her to his castle
near Bristol. The friends of Machin made his misfortune their own, and
one of them had the address to get introduced into the service of the
afflicted Anna under the character of a groom. The prospect of the ocean
during their rides, suggested or matured the plan of escape and the hope
of a secure asylum counteracted the imagined dangers of a passage to the
coast of France. Under pretence of deriving benefit from the sea air, the
victim of parental ambition was enabled to elude suspicion, and embarked
without delay, in a vessel procured for the purpose, along with her lover.

In the successful completion of this anxious design, Machin was alike
insensible to the unfavourable season of the year, and to the portentous
signs of an approaching storm, which in a calmer moment he would have
duly observed. The gradual rising of a gale of wind, rendered the
astonished fugitives sensible of their rashness; and, as the tempest
continued to augment, the thick darkness of night completed the horrors
of their situation. In their confusion, the intended port was missed, or
could not be attained, and their vessel drove at the mercy of the winds
and waves. In the morning they found themselves in the midst of an
unknown ocean, without skill to determine their situation, and destitute
of knowledge or experience to direct their course towards any known land.
At length, after twelve anxious mornings had dawned without sight of land,
with the earliest streaks of day an object dimly appeared to their eager
watchfulness in the distant horizon, and when the grey haze, which had
alternately filled them with hope and despondency was dissipated by the
rising sun, the certainty of having discovered land was welcomed by a
general burst of joy. A great luxuriancy of trees of unknown species,
was soon observed to overspread the land, whence unknown birds of
beautiful plumage came off in flocks to the vessel, and gave the
appearance of a pleasing dream to their unexpected deliverance.

[Illustration: Chart of North Western Africa]

The boat was hoisted out to examine the new found island, and returned
with a favourable account. Machin and his friends accompanied their
trembling charge on shore, leaving the mariners to secure the vessel at
an anchor. The wilderness and rich scenery of the adjacent country
possessed great charms to these thankful guests, just escaped from
apparently inevitable destruction. An opening in the extensive woods,
which was encircled with laurels and other flowering shrubs, presented a
delightful retreat to the tempest-worn voyagers; a venerable tree, of
ancient growth, offered its welcome shade on an adjoining eminence, and
the first moments of liberty were employed in forming a romantic
residence, with the abundant materials which nature supplied all around.
The novelty of every object they beheld, induced curiosity to explore
their new discovery, and they spent three days in wandering about the
woods, when the survey was interrupted by an alarming hurricane, which
came on during the night, and rendered them extremely anxious for the
safety of their companions, who had been left in charge of the vessel.
The ensuing morning destroyed all prospect of being ever enabled to get
away from the island; the vessel had broke from her moorings by the
violence of the storm, and was wrecked on the coast of Morocco, where all
on board were immediately seized as slaves.

The afflicted Machin found this last calamity too severe for his
terrified and afflicted companion to endure. Her susceptible mind and
tender frame, overcome by the severity of the scenes she had gone through,
and oppressed by consciousness of having deviated from her duty, sunk
under her afflictive situation. From the moment it was reported that the
vessel had disappeared, she became dumb with sorrow, and expired after a
few days of silent despair. This heavy stroke was too much for the
inconsolable lover to support; though watched over with the utmost
solicitude by his afflicted friends, all attempts to administer
consolation were entirely fruitless, and he expired on the fifth day
after the death of his beloved mistress. With his parting breath, he
earnestly enjoined his surviving companions, to deposit his body in the
same grave, under the venerable tree, which they had so recently made for
the victim of his temerity; and where the altar which had been raised to
celebrate their deliverance, would now mark their untimely tomb.

Having performed this painful duty, the surviving companions of these
unfortunate lovers fixed a large wooden cross over the grave, on which
they carved the inscription which Machin had composed to record their
melancholy adventures; and added a request, that if any Christians should
hereafter visit the spot, they might erect a church in the same place,
and dedicate it to Christ. Having thus accomplished the dictates of
friendship and humanity, the survivors fitted out the boat, which had
remained ashore from their first landing, and put to sea with the
intention of returning if possible to England; but either from want of
skill, or owing to the currents and unfavourable winds, they likewise
were driven on the coast of Morocco, and rejoined their former shipmates
in slavery among the Moors.

This story is reported in a somewhat different manner by Galvano already
mentioned. According to him, one Macham, an Englishman, fled from his
country, about the year 1344, with a woman of whom he was enamoured,
meaning to retire into Spain; but the vessel in which the lovers were
embarked, was driven by a storm to the island of Madeira, then
altogether unknown and uninhabited. The port in which Macham took
shelter is still called Machico. His mistress being sea-sick, Macham
landed with her and some of the people, and the ship putting to sea,
deserted them. Oppressed with sickness and grief at seeing herself in
this hopeless state of exile, the lady died; and Macham, who was
extremely fond of her, constructed a chapel or hermitage dedicated to
Jesus the Saviour, in which he deposited her remains, and engraved both
their names, and the cause of their arrival, on a rude monument which he
erected to her memory. He afterwards constructed a boat or canoe, which
he hollowed out from the trunk of a large tree, in which he, and those of
his companions who had been left on shore along with him, passed over to
the opposite coast of Africa, without the aid of oars, sails, or rudder.
He was made prisoner by the Moors, who presented him to their king, by
whom he was sent to the king of Castile.

Madeira, in the Portuguese language, or Madera in Spanish, signifies
_wood_; and this island derived its name from the immense quantity of
thick and tall trees with which it was covered when first discovered. One
of the two capitanias, or provinces, into which this island is divided,
is named Machico, as is likewise the principal town of that district,
supposed to have originated from the traditionary story of the misfortunes
of Macham; the other capitania, with its principal town, the capital of
the island, is named Funchal, from _Funcho_, the Portuguese term for
Fennel, which abounds on the adjoining rocks.

[1] Astley, I. 11. and 586. Clarke, Progress of Maritime Discovery, I. 167.
    Although in our opinion a mere romance, we have inserted this story,
    because already admitted into other general collections.--E.

[2] This work was printed in 1560, and was translated by Hakluyt: There is
    an abstract of it in Purchas his Pilgrims, II. 1671, and it will be
    found at the commencement of the second part of this Collection.--E.

[3] In small duodecimo and large print, under the title of Relation
    Historique de la Decouverte de l'Isle de Madere: containing 185 pages,
    besides twelve pages of preface.--Clarke.

[4] Clarke, Progress of Maritime Discovery, I. 167.

[5] In a note, Mr Clarke says the name of this lady has been supposed by
    some writers to have been Dorset, corrupted by a foreign orthography
    into D'Orset, and thence into D'Arfet. It may have been D' Arcy.--E.

CHAP. XXI.

_Account of the Discovery and Conquest of the Canary Islands_[1].

The island of Nivaria, and others mentioned by Pliny, as known to Juba
king of Mauritania, were most probably Teneriffe and the other Canary
Islands; for Pliny notices that the summit of Nivaria was generally
covered with snow, which is frequently the case with the peak of
Teneriffe, and from this circumstance the name of Nivaria is obviously
derived. They appear likewise to have been known in the middle ages to
the Arabs of Morocco; as the Nubian geographer mentions two islands,
under the names of Mastahan and Lacos, as among the six fortunate islands
described by Ptolemy; these probably were Lancerota and Fuertaventura,
the latter of which may be seen in clear weather from the nearest coast
of Africa. All knowledge, however, of these islands had ceased in Europe,
till some time between the years 1326 and 1334, when a French ship
happened to be driven among them by a storm. Upon this discovery, Don
Luis de la Cerda, count of Claramonte, whose father, Don Alonzo, had been
deprived of his right to the inheritance of the crown of Castile,
procured a grant of these islands, with the title of king, from Pope
Clement VI., on condition of causing the gospel to be preached to the
natives[2]. Don Luis equipped a fleet from some of the ports of the
Spanish kingdom of Arragon, in order to take possession of his new
kingdom, but the design failed, and he died soon after.

In 1385, some Biscayners and inhabitants of Seville joined in the
equipment of five ships at Cadiz, in order to make descents for the sake
of plunder upon the Canary islands, and the adjacent coast of Africa.
After coasting along the African shore, they sailed westwards, and fell
in with the island now called Lancerota, where they landed; and after a
skirmish with the natives, plundered the town, front which they carried
off a large booty of goat-skins, tallow, and sheep, and 170 of the
inhabitants, whom they sold into slavery. Among these were Guanareme,
king of the island, and his wife Tingua-faya. A similar expedition in
quest of plunder and captives was made to Lancerota from Seville in 1393.

In the year 1400, John de Betancour, a gentleman of Normandy, and Gadifer
de Sala, a person of considerable fortune, fitted out three small vessels
from Rochelle in France, containing 200 persons, exclusive of the
mariners, and made a descent upon Lancerota, where they erected a fort at
a harbour, to which they gave the name of Rubicon. Leaving there a small
garrison, they passed over to the island of Fuertaventura; but being
opposed by the natives, they prudently retired without fighting.
Betancour afterwards applied to Don Henry III. king of Arragon, for
assistance to enable him to make a conquest of these islands; who made
him a grant of them in due form, with the title of king, and supplied him
with money to defray the expence of an armament to accomplish their
subjugation. He easily effected the conquest of Lancerota, and divided
its lands among the French and Spanish adventurers who had assisted him
in the expedition.

After the death of John de Betancour, his nephew, Mason de Betancour,
sold the Canary Islands to Don Henry de Guzman, Count of Niebla; who
afterwards conveyed them to Guillen Paraza, and from whom they fell by
inheritance to Diego de Herrera, who died in 1485. In 1487, the
sovereignty was resumed by the crown of Castile, with the title of a
kingdom[3].

[1] Glas. Disc. and Conqu. passim.

[2] The Author of the History of the Canaries, omits the date of this
    grant. Clement VI. was Pope from 1343 to 1352, between which years the
    papal grant must have been made.--E.

[3] A more extended account or these islands will be found in Part III. of
    this work.--E.

A GENERAL HISTORY AND COLLECTION OF VOYAGES AND TRAVELS.

PART II.

GENERAL VOYAGES AND TRAVELS, CHIEFLY OF DISCOVERY FROM THE ERA OF DON
HENRY, PRINCE OF PORTUGAL, IN 1412, TO THAT OF GEORGE III. IN 1760.

CHAP. I.

_Summary Deduction of the Discoveries of the World, from their first
Original, to the year 1555, by Antonio Galvano_[1].

INTRODUCTION.

This treatise was written in the Portuguese language, by Antonio Galvano,
who had been governor of Ternate, the chief of the Molucca Islands, and
was first translated into English by the celebrated Richard Hakluyt, who
dedicated it to Sir Robert Cecil, Principal Secretary of State to Queen
Elizabeth. It was afterwards inserted in Osbornes, or the Oxford
Collection of Voyages and Travels, and forms an appendix to the first
volume of Clarke's Progress of Maritime Discovery; and from these sources
the present edition has been carefully prepared. Of Richard Hakluyt, the
original translator, the following notice is worthy of being preserved.
"The _great_ Richard Hakluyt was descended from an ancient family at
Yetton in Herefordshire, and was educated at Westminster School, from
whence he was elected a student of Christ Church, in the University of
Oxford, where he took the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Arts.
Entering into holy orders, he was first made a prebendary of Bristol, and
afterwards of Westminster, and rector of Witheringset in Suffolk. Besides
this translation, he illustrated the eight decades of Peter Martyr
Angelericus _de Novo Orbe_ with curious notes. He also translated from
the Portuguese, _Virginia_, richly valued by the description of Florida,
her next neighbour; and wrote notes of certain commodities, in good
request in the East Indies, Molucca, and China; but what has most
deservedly perpetuated his name, is his great pains, and judgment, in
collecting _English Voyages, Navigations, Trafficks, and Discoveries_[2]."

Both from the nature of this treatise on the origin and progress of
maritime discovery, and from respect to the memory of Hakluyt, the father
of our English collections of voyages and travels, it has been selected
for insertion in this place, as an appropriate introduction to the
_Second Part_ of our arrangement; because its author may be considered as
almost an original authority for the early discoveries of the Portuguese
and Spaniards. Although it may be considered in some measure as not
precisely conformable with our plan, yet one portion of this summary is
directly in point; and, the whole being curious, and in no respect
tedious, it is here given entire; changing the antiquated English of
Hakluyt into modern language. Although said in its title to extend to the
year 1555, the chronological series of Galvano properly ends in 1545; and
the only subsequent incident, is a very slight notice of the voyage of
Sir Hugh Willoughby and Richard Chancellor, towards the White Sea, in
1553. In the original translation, and in the Oxford collection, this
treatise is preceded by a dedication from Hakluyt to _Sir Robert Cecil_;
and another dedication from the Portuguese editor, Francis de Sousa
Tavares, to Don John, Duke of Aveira; both of which are here omitted, as
having no directly useful tendency, except so much of the latter as
refers to the history of Galvano. Besides the present discourse, Galvano
composed a history of the Molucca Islands, of which he had been governor,
which work has unfortunately been lost, or at least is unknown in this
country. He is likewise said to have published at Lisbon in 1555, an
account of the different routes by which the merchandize of India had
been conveyed into Europe at different periods.

Antonio Galvano, the author of the following Summary of the Discoveries
of the World, was a Portuguese gentleman, who was several years governor
of the Molucca Islands, and performed signal service to his country in
that honourable station, by dissipating a formidable league, which had
been entered into by the native princes of these islands, for the
expulsion of the Portuguese; and, though possessing very inadequate
resources for the protection of so important a commercial establishment,
he confirmed and extended the dominion and influence of Portugal in these
islands. When first appointed to the command in the Moluccas, Galvano
carried with him a private fortune of 10,000 crusadoes, all of which he
expended in the public service. Though he added a clear revenue to the
crown of 500,000 crusadoes, in consequence of his successful, vigilant,
and pure administration, he was so zealous in patronizing the propagation
of the Christian religion among the islands belonging to his government,
that, on his return to Lisbon in 1540, he was reduced to such extreme
poverty, as to be under the necessity of taking refuge in the _hospital_,
where he died in 1557.

Francis de Sousa Tavares, the original Portuguese editor of this treatise,
in a dedication of the work to Don John Duke of Aveira, gives the
following account of the work, and of its author:

"Antonio Galvano, when on his death-bed, left me this book, along with
his other papers, by his testament; and, as I am certain he designed that
it should be presented to your highness, I have thought proper to fulfil
his intentions in that respect. It was fitting that this treatise should
be written by a native of Portugal, as it treats of the various ways in
which the spiceries and other commodities of India were formerly brought
to our part of the world, and gives an account of all the navigations and
discoveries of the ancients and moderns, in both of which things the
Portuguese have laboured above all other nations. In this treatise, and
in nine or ten other books, concerning India and the Moluccas, this true
Portuguese described the unfortunate and sorrowful times, before our day,
in which he had been engaged. When he was appointed to the command of the
islands and fortresses of the Moluccas, all the kings and chiefs of these
islands had agreed to make war against our nation, and to drive them out
of the country. Yet he fought against them all in Tidore, though he had
only 130 Portuguese soldiers, against their whole united power, and gave
them a signal overthrow, in which their king, and one Ternate, the
principal author of the war, were both slain; besides which, he conquered
their fortresses, and compelled them all to submit to the obedience and
service of our sovereign. In this war, two great and wonderful events
took place: the _first_, that all the chiefs and kings of these islands
united against us, who used ever to be at variance among themselves; and
_secondly_, that Galvano, with only the ordinary garrison, should obtain
the victory against so great a combination. It has happened to other
governors of the Moluccas, with an extraordinary number of European
troops, and assisted by all the other native lords, to go to war with one
king only, and to come back with loss; whereas he, with a small and
inadequate force, successfully waged war against a confederacy of all the
lords of these islands.

"Three brilliant exploits have been performed in India, beyond all others.
The capture of Muar by Emanuel Falcon; the winning of Bitam by Peter
Mascarenas; and this victory obtained by Galvano. Besides this great
exploit, his father and four brothers were all slain in the kings service;
and he, being the last of his lineage, carried with him about 10,000
crusadoes into the Moluccas, all of which he expended in propagating our
holy faith, and in preserving these valuable islands, using all his power
and influence to bring all the cloves into the kings coffers, by which he
added 500,000 crusadoes yearly to the royal revenue. Had he gathered
cloves on his own account, as other governors of the Moluccas have done,
he might have come home very rich; but returning poor, and, in the
simplicity of his nature, expecting to be rewarded for his honest
services, he was entirely neglected, and had to take refuge in an
hospital, where he remained seventeen years, till his death, when he was
2000 crusadoes in debt; partly for demands upon him from India, and
partly borrowed from his friends to maintain him in the hospital. After
his death, the cardinal desired me to give his other writings to Damien
de Goes, promising to content me for them, which otherwise I should not
have done; yet hitherto I have not received any thing with which to
execute his will. Yet, for all this, as in the prosperity of his
victories he made no boast, so, in his adversity, he always preserved an
unabated spirit. Your grace, therefore, may perceive, that this treatise,
and his other works, were written under great afflictions; yet was he not
willing to use the remedy of Zelim, the son of the great Turk Mahomet,
who took Constantinople, and died in Rome, who used to make himself drunk,
that he might forget the high estate from which he had fallen. Neither
would he follow the councils of many of his friends, in withdrawing from
the kingdom; saying, he had rather resemble Timocles the Athenian, than
the Roman Coriolanus. For all which, this treatise ought to receive
favour from your grace, allowing for any oversights of the author, if
there be any such, as I am unfit to detect or correct then. God prosper
your grace with long life, and increase of honour."

[1] Oxford Collection, II. 353. Clarke, Progr. of Marit. Disc. I. App 1.

[2] Oxford Collection, I. viii.

SECTION I.

_Epitome of the Ancient and Modern Discoveries of the World, chiefly by
means of Navigation, from the Flood to the close of the Fifteenth
Century._

When I first desired to compose an account of the ancient and modern
discoveries by sea and land, with their true dates and situations, these
two principal circumstances seemed involved in such difficulty and
confusion, that I had almost desisted from the attempt. Even in regard to
the date of the flood, the Hebrews reckon that event to have happened
1656 years after the creation: while the seventy interpreters make it
2242; and St Augustine extends the time to 2262 years[1]. In regard to
geographical situations, likewise, there are many differences; for there
never sailed ten or an hundred pilots in one fleet, but they made their
reckonings in almost as many different longitudes. But considering that
all these difficulties might be surmounted, by just comparison, and the
exercise of judgment, I at length resolved to persist in my undertaking.

Some allege that the world was fully known in ancient times; for, as it
was peopled and inhabited, it must have been navigable and frequented;
and because the ancient people were of longer lives, and had all one law
and one language, they could not fail to be acquainted with the whole
world. Others again believe, that though the world might be once
universally known by mankind, yet, by the wickedness of man, and the want
of justice among nations, that knowledge has been lost. But as all the
most important discoveries have been made by sea, and that chiefly in our
own times, it were desirable to learn who were the first discoverers
since the flood. Some allege the Greeks, others the Phenicians, while
others say the Egyptians. The inhabitants of India, on the contrary,
pretend that they were the first navigators; particularly the Tabencos,
whom we now call Chinese; and allege in proof of this, that they were
lords of all the Indies, even to Cape Bona Speranca, and the island of St
Lawrence[2], which is inhabited by them; as likewise all the coasts of
the Indian seas, also the Javas, Timores, Celebes, Macassar, the Moluccas,
Borneo, Mindanao, Luçones, Lequeos, the Japans, and many other islands;
also the countries of Cochin-China, Laos, Bramas[3], Pegu, Arracones[4],
till you come quite to Bengala. Besides all these, New Spain, Peru,
Brazil, the Antilles, and all the adjoining lands, are possessed by the
same race, as appears by the fashions and manners both of the men and
women, who have small eyes, flat noses, with other proportions resembling
the Chinese. And to this day, many of these islands and countries are
called by such names, as Bato-China, Bocho-China, and the like,
indicating the countries of, or belonging to China.

It farther appears, that the ark of Noah rested upon the north part of
the mountains of Armenia, in 40 degrees of latitude or upwards; and that
Scythia, being a high land, and the first that appeared out of the
universal deluge, was first peopled. And as the province or country of
the Tabencos, or Chinese, is one of the chiefest of all Tartary, its
inhabitants may be considered as the most ancient nation, and the oldest
navigators. Their seas are calm; and, as lying between the tropics, their
days and nights are nearly equal, and their seasons differ little in
temperature; and as no outrageous winds swell their seas into storms,
navigation among them is safe and easy. Their small barks called
catamorans have only a large bough of a tree set up in the middle,
serving as mast and sail; the master steers only with an oar, and the
passengers sit on poles fastened to the bark.

It is said that the people of China were anciently lords of almost all
Scythia, and were in use to sail along that coast, which reaches from
east to west, in seventy degrees of north latitude. Cornelius Nepos says,
that, in the time when Metellus, the colleague of Afranius, was proconsul
of Gaul, the king of the Suevi sent to him certain Indians, who came to
his country in a ship by the north and the flats of Germany[5]. These
people probably came from China; as in that country, in the latitudes of
20, 30, and 40 degrees, they have strong and well-fastened ships, which
can bear the seas and encounter the severity of the northern climate.
Cambaia also has ships, and its inhabitants are said to have long used
the seas; but it is not likely they should have gone to Gaul; for they
only trade to Cairo, and are indeed a people of little trade and less
clothing.

Those who escaped from the flood kept the hills, not daring for a long
time to descend into the plains and low countries; and Nimrod, an hundred
and thirty years afterwards, built the tower of Babel, intending it as a
refuge in case of any future deluge[6]. Upon the whole, it seems probable
that the inhabitants of China and the east were the first sailors; though
others think the inhabitants of the west, particularly of Syria, were the
first to use the sea[7]. This contest about the antiquity of navigation,
I leave to the Scythians and Egyptians, who each challenge the honour to
themselves. But leaving all contested points in this matter, I now apply
to my proposed deduction, resting only upon what has been recorded in
authentic histories. Ancient history says that Tubal, in the hundred and
forty-third year after the flood, came by sea into Spain[8]; whence it
appears that in these early times navigation was usual from Ethiopia to
our parts of western Europe. It is also said, that Semiramis invaded the
country on the river Indus, whence the Indians derive their name, and
gave battle to king Stabrobates, in which he lost a thousand ships[9]; by
which it clearly appears there were then many ships in those parts; and
that the seas were much frequented.

In the six hundred and fiftieth year after the flood, there was a king in
Spain named Hesperus[10]; and Gonsalvo Fernandez de Oviedo, the
chronicler of antiquities[11], affirms that he made discoveries by sea as
far as Cape Verde and the Isle of St Thomas, of which he was prince, and
that in his time the islands of the West Indies were discovered, and
called the Hesperides, after his name. He alleges many reasons in proof
of this assertion, and even says particularly, that these early
navigators sailed in forty days from Cape Verde to these islands. Others
say, that the islands of St Thomas and de Principe are the Hesperides,
and not the Antilles; which is the more probable, as these ancient
navigators only sailed along the coast, not daring to pass through the
main ocean, having no compass, nor any means of taking altitudes for
their guidance. It is not to be denied that many countries, islands,
capes, isthmuses, and points, the names of which are found in histories,
are now unknown; because, in course of ages, the force of the waters has
wasted and consumed them, and has separated countries from each other
formerly joined, both in Europe, Asia, Africa, New Spain, Peru, and other
places.

In his dialogue called Timaeus, Plato says there was anciently a great
country and large islands in the Atlantic, named Atlantides, greater than
Europe and Africa, and that the kings of these parts were lords of a
great part of Spain; but that, by the force of great tempests, the sea
had overflowed the country, leaving nothing but banks of mud and gravel,
so that no ships could pass that way for long after. It is also recorded
by Pliny[12], that close by the island of Cadiz, there was a well
inhabited island called Aphrodisias, towards the Straits of Gibraltar,
abounding in gardens and orchards; but we have now no knowledge of this
island, except from the bare mention of it in ancient authors. The Isle
of Cadiz is said to have been anciently so large as to join the continent
of Spain. The Açores are held to have been a continuation of the
mountains of Estrella, which join the sea coast beside the town of Cintra;
and the Sierra Verde, or Green-mountains, which reach the coast, near the
city of _Sasin_ in the land of _Cucu_, or the island of Moudim in which
Algarbe is situated, are supposed to have reached to Porto Santo and
Madeira. For it is considered as an indubitable fact, that all islands
derive their roots from the firm land or continent, however distant, as
otherwise they could not stand firm. Other authors say, that from Spain
to Ceuta in Barbary, people sometimes travelled on foot on dry land; that
the islands of Corsica and Sardinia were once joined; that Sicily was
united with Italy, and the Negropont with Greece[13]. We read also of the
hulls of ships, iron anchors, and other remnants of shipping, having been
found on the mountains of Susa, far inland, where there is now no
appearance of the sea having ever been. Many writers affirm, that in
India and Malabar, which now abounds in people, the sea once reached the
foot of the mountains; and that Cape Comorin and the island of Ceylon
were once united; also that Sumatra once joined with Malacca, by the
shoals of Caypasia; and not far from thence there is a small island which,
only a few years ago, was joined to the opposite coast. Ptolemy advances
the point of Malacca three or four degrees to the south of the line;
whereas its most southerly point, now called Jentana, is in one degree of
north latitude, by which people pass daily the straits of Cincapura to
the coasts of Siam and China; and the island of Aynan is said to have
formerly joined the land of China; the southern extremity of which
Ptolomey placed far to the south of the line, though it now only reaches
to twentieth degree of north latitude.

It may even have been that Malacca and China, as Ptolemy sets forth,
extended beyond the line to the south; as Malacca might join with the
land called Jentana, and the islands of Bintam, Banca, and Salistres, and
the land might be all slime and ouze; likewise China might be united with
the Luçones, Borneo, Lequeuo, Mindanao, and others. Some are of opinion,
that Sumatra joined with Java, across what is now the Straits of Sunda;
and that Java also joined with the islands of Bali, Anjave, Cambava,
Solor, Hogalcao, Maulva, Vintara, Rosalaguin, and others in that range,
all of which are so near as to appear continuous, when seen from a small
distance; and they still are so near together, that in passing through
the channels which divide them, the boughs of the trees on each side may
be touched by the hands. It is not long since several of the islands of
Banda in the east were drowned by the sea overflowing them; and in China,
about 180 miles of firm land are said to have become a lake. All these
things are to be considered as coming within the limits of probability,
especially when we take into account what has been related of similar
events by Ptolemy and others, but which I here omit to return to my
subject.

About 800 years after the deluge, the city of Troy was built by the
Dardanians; and even before that time, spices, drugs, and many other
kinds of merchandize, which were then more abundant than now, were
brought from India to Europe, by the Red Sea. Hence, if credit can be
given to these accounts, we may conclude, that the sea of old was much
frequented, those of the east bringing their commodities to the haven of
Arsinoe in the Arabian Gulf, now called Suez[14], in lat. 30° N. and at
the northern extremity of the Arabian Gulf; from whence the goods were
carried by caravans, upon camels, asses, and mules, to Cassou, a city on
the coast of the Levant sea, in lat. 32° N. Allowing seventeen leagues
and a half to every degree of latitude, these two cities are said to have
been 35 leagues, or 105[15] miles distant from each other. On account of
the heat, these caravans, or great companies of carriers, travelled only
in the night, directing themselves by the stars, and by land-marks fixed
in the ground for that purpose. But finding this journey attended with
many inconveniencies, the course was twice altered in search of a more
commodious route[16]. About nine hundred years after the flood, and
previous to the destruction of Troy, Egypt was ruled by a king named
Sesostris, who caused a canal to be cut from the Red Sea to that arm of
the Nile which flows past the city of Heroum, that ships might pass and
repass between India and Europe, to avoid the expence and trouble of
carrying merchandize by land across the isthmus of Suez; and Sesostris
had large caraks or ships built for this purpose[17]. This enterprize,
however, did not completely succeed; for, if it had, Africa would have
been converted into an island, as there are even now only twenty leagues
or sixty miles of land between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.

About this time the Grecians gathered a fleet and army, called the
Argonautic expedition, under the command of Jason and Alceus[18]. Some
say they sailed from Crete, and others from Greece; but they passed
through the Propontis and the _sleeve_ of St George into the Euxine,
where some of the vessels perished, and Jason returned back to Greece.
Alceus reported that he was driven by a tempest to the Palus Maeotis,
where he was deserted by all his company; and those who escaped had to
travel by land to the German ocean, where they procured shipping; and
sailing past the coasts of Saxony, Friesland, Holland, Flanders, France,
Spain, and Italy, returned to the Peloponnesus and Greece, after
discovering a great portion of the coast of Europe.

Strabo, on the authority of Aristonicus the grammarian, says, that king
Menelaus, after the destruction of Troy, sailed from the Grecian sea to
the Atlantic, coasted along Africa and Guinea, doubled the Cape Bona
Sperança, and arrived in India[19]; concerning which voyage many other
particulars might be collected from the writings of the ancients. This
Mediterranean Sea was sometimes called the Adriatic, the Aegean, and the
Herculean Sea; and had other names, according to the lands, coasts, and
islands, which it skirted, till, running through the Straits of Hercules,
between Spain and Africa, it communicated with the great Atlantic Ocean.
Thirteen hundred years after the flood, Solomon caused a navy to be
constructed at Ezion-geber on the Red Sea, which sailed to Tharsis and
Ophir, which some believe to have been islands in the East Indies. This
fleet was three years on its voyage, and on its return brought gold,
silver, cypress-wood, and other commodities[20]. The islands to which the
navy of Solomon traded were probably those we now call the Luçones, the
Lequeos, and China; for we know of few other places whence some of the
things mentioned as forming their cargoes can be had, or where navigation
has been so long practised.

Necho, one of the kings of Egypt, was desirous to have joined the Red Sea
with the Mediterranean, and is said in history to have commanded some
Phenicians to sail from the Red Sea by the Straits of Mecca, and to
endeavour to return to Egypt by the Mediterranean[21]. This they
accomplished, and sailed along the coast of Melinda, Quiloa, and Sofala,
till they reached the Cape of Good Hope, which they doubled; and,
continuing their course to the north, they sailed along the coast of
Guinea all the way to the Mediterranean, and returned to Egypt after two
years absence, being the first who had circumnavigated Africa.

In the year 590 before the Incarnation, a fleet belonging to Carthaginian
merchants sailed from Cadiz through the ocean, to the west, in search of
land[22]. They proceeded so far that they came to the islands now called
the Antilles, and to New Spain[23]. This is given on the authority of
Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo, in his General History, who says that these
countries were then discovered; and that Christopher Columbus, by his
voyages in after times, only acquired more exact knowledge of them, and
hath left us a more precise notice of their situation, and of the way to
them. But all those historians who formerly wrote concerning the Antilles,
as of doubtful and uncertain existence, now plainly allow them to be the
same with New Spain and the West Indies. In the year 520 before Christ,
Cambyses, king of Persia, conquered Egypt, and was succeeded by Darius,
the son of Hystaspes. This latter prince determined upon completing the
projects of Sesostris and Necho, by digging a canal between the Red Sea
and the Nile: But, being assured that the Red Sea was higher than the
Nile, and that its salt water would overflow and ruin the whole land of
Egypt, he abandoned his purpose, lest that fine province should be
destroyed by famine and the want of fresh water[24]; for the fresh water
of the Nile overflows the whole country, and the inhabitants have no
other water to drink.

It may not be too great a digression from the subject, to say a few words
concerning Egypt. The natives allege that they have in their country
certain animals, of which one half of their bodies seem earth, and the
other like rats, one species of which keeps continually in the water,
while another species lives on the land. In my opinion, it is these
animals which break the serpents eggs, of which there are many in the
Nile, but which serpents are also called crocodiles. It is said, that in
ancient times these animals were inchanted, so that they could not do
harm to any one: But since they have been freed from the power of
inchantment, by the arts and learning of the Egyptians decaying, they
have done much hurt, by killing people, wild beasts, and cattle, more
especially those which live in the water and come often on land. Those
that live continually on the land become strongly venomous[25]. The
people beyond the city of Cairo used to catch these animals, and even to
eat them, setting up their heads on the walls of the city. Concerning
these crocodiles, it is related[26] that they often lie along the shores
of the river with their mouths wide open; on which occasion, certain
white birds, little larger than our thrushes, fly into the mouths of the
crocodiles, and pick out the filth from between his teeth, to the great
delight of the crocodile; which, however, would surely close his mouth
and devour the bird, had not nature provided the bird with a sharp sting,
growing from the top of his head, which pricks the roof of the crocodiles
mouth, and forces him to gape, so that the bird flies away unhurt. In
this manner, by means of a succession of these birds, the crocodiles get
their teeth cleansed. In this same river, there are many beasts
resembling horses; and upon the land, there are certain birds like our
cranes, which continually make war upon the serpents, which come thither
out of Arabia: Which birds, and likewise the rats, which eat the eggs of
the crocodiles, are held in great reverence and estimation, by the
Egyptians.

But now, to return to my subject of discoveries. In the year 485 before
Christ, Xerxes, king of Persia, sent his nephew Sataspis to discover
India; who sailed from the Mediterranean through the Straits of Hercules,
and passed the promontory of Africa, which we now call the Cape of Good
Hope; but, wearying of the length of the voyage, he returned back again,
as Bartholomew Diaz did in our days[27]. In 443 A. C. Hamilco and Hanno,
two Carthaginian commanders who governed that part of Spain now called
Andalusia, sailed from thence with two squadrons. Hamilco, sailing
towards the north, discovered the coasts of Spain, France, England,
Flanders, and Germany; and some allege that he sailed to Gothland, and
even to Thule or Iceland, standing under the Arctic circle, in 64 degrees
north, and continued his voyage during two years, till he came to that
northern island, where the day in June continues for twenty-two hours,
and the nights in December are of a similar length; on account of which
it is there wonderfully cold. His brother, Hanno, took his course to the
south, along the coast of Africa and Guinea, and discovered the Fortunate
Islands, now the Canaries, and the Orcades, Hesperides, and Gorgades, now
called the Cape de Verde islands. Proceeding onwards, Hanno doubled the
Cape of Good Hope, and went along the eastern coast of Africa to another
cape, called Aromaticum, now called Gardafu, and thence to the coast of
Arabia, and was five years employed in this voyage before his return to
Spain[28]. Others allege, that Hanno proceeded no farther than Sierra
Leona, which he colonized, and afterwards discovered as far as the
equinoctial line; but it would rather appear, from the length of time he
employed, that he must have accomplished the more extended navigation.

It is reported that the inhabitants of the country at the Cape of Good
Hope are great witches, and by inchantment bring certain serpents so much
under command, that they preserve their churches, churchyards, gardens,
orchards, barns, and cattle, both from wild beasts and thieves. When
these serpents see any person doing or intending to do harm, they wind
themselves in such a manner around them as to make them prisoners, and
then command their young ones to give notice to their masters, that they
may come and secure the thieves. But if the thieves be numerous, or the
wild beasts of too much strength, so that the serpents dare not encounter
them, they go to their masters house, and if it happen to be in the
night, they give many strokes with their tails, so as to awaken their
masters, that they may provide for their defence[29].

A certain Italian, named Aloisius Cadamosta, relates, that when he was
upon the discovery of Guinea, and resided in the house of Bisboral, the
grandson of king Budomel, he heard one night, when in bed, a great noise
and many blows given about the house, upon which Bisboral arose and went
out; and, upon his return, Cadamosta demanded of him where he had been,
and he answered that he had been with his cobras or snakes, which called
him[30]. In the Indies there are many snakes, and some of them very full
of poison; yet the Indians carry them about their necks, and put them in
their bosoms, and under their arms, without fear or injury; and at
certain sounds, the snakes will dance, and do many other strange things
at command.

I was informed by a certain Portuguese, who had been beyond the Cape of
Good Hope, towards Sofala, Quiloa, and Melinda, that there were certain
birds in that country, which would come to the negroes on a call, and as
the negroes moved on through the woods, the birds would do the same from
tree to tree, till at length they would alight on a tree whence they
would not remove: And, on examining that tree, the negroes were sure to
find wax and honey, but knew not whether it grew there naturally or
not[31]. In the same country, they find much wax and honey in ant-holes,
made by the ants, but somewhat bitter. In the seas of that coast, there
are certain fish, known to the fishermen, which commonly swim upright in
the water, having the faces and breasts of women[32].

In the year 355 before Christ, the Spaniards are said to have gone by sea
to the flats of India, Arabia, and the adjoining coasts, to which they
carried various merchandizes in great ships; and sailing to the north-
west they came to certain flats which are covered by the tide, and left
bare by the ebb, where they caught many _tunnies_ of great size; which
fishing turned out to their great profit, as they were very abundant and
much esteemed[33].

Alexander, who flourished 324 years before Christ, travelled from Europe
into Asia and Africa, passed through Armenia, Assyria, Persia, and
Bactria; whence he descended by the mountains of Imaus and the vallies of
Parapomissus, into India, and prepared a navy on the river Indus, with
which he passed into the ocean. He there turned by the lands of Gedrosia,
Caramania, and Persia, to the great city of Babylon, leaving the command
of his fleet to Onesicratus and Nearchus, who sailed through the straits
of the Persian Sea and up the river Euphrates, discovering the whole
coast between the Indus and that river.

After the death of Alexander, Ptolemy became king of Egypt, who by some
was reputed to have been the bastard son of Philip, the father of
Alexander: He, imitating the before named kings, Sesostris and Darius,
caused dig a canal from the branch of the Nile which passed by Pelusium,
now by the city of Damieta[34]. This canal of Ptolemy was an hundred feet
broad and thirty feet deep, and extended ten or twelve leagues in length,
till it came to the _bitter wells_. He meant to have continued it to the
Red Sea; but desisted on the idea that the Red Sea was three cubits
higher than the land of Egypt, and would have overflowed all the country,
to its entire ruin.

Ptolemy Philadelphus, in the year 277 before Christ, changed the
direction of the Indian traffic. The goods from Europe, by his orders,
were carried up the Nile from Alexandria to the city of Coptus, and
conveyed across the desert from thence to the sea-port of Myos-Hormos on
the Red-sea[35]. To avoid the excessive heat, the caravans travelled only
in the night, directing their course by the stars; and water being very
scarce in the desert, they had to carry a sufficient quantity with them
for the journey. Afterwards, to avoid this trouble, deep wells were dug
at certain intervals; and in other places large cisterns or reservoirs
were constructed for the reception of rain water. Still later, in
consideration of the dangers attending the port of Myos-Hormos, on
account of flats and islands, Philadelphus sent an army into Troglodytica,
where he constructed a haven called Berenice, in which the ships engaged
in the Indian commerce took shelter, as a place of greater security. From
thence the goods were transported to the city of Coptus, and afterwards
to Alexandria, which became rich and famous, through its trade with India,
beyond any other city in the world; insomuch that it is asserted that the
customs of Alexandria yielded every year to Ptolemy Auletes, the father
of Cleopatra, seven millions and a half of gold, though the traffic had
then scarcely subsisted in that direction for twenty years[36]. After the
reduction of Egypt and Alexandria under the power of the Romans, the
customs are said to have advanced to double that amount; and the trade
was so great, that 120 ships used to be sent yearly from Myos-Hormos to
India. The ships set sail every year from Myos-Hormos about the middle of
July, and returned back within the year[37]. The merchandize they carried
amounted to the value of one million two hundred thousand crowns; and the
returns were an hundred for one; and through this prodigious increase of
wealth, the matrons and noble ladies of those days in Alexandria, were
exceedingly profuse in decorating themselves with purple, pearls, and
precious stones, and in the use of musk, amber, and other rich perfumes
of various kinds; of all which the historians and other writers of that
age treat at great length[38].

Pliny[39], on the authority of Cornelius Nepos, says that one Eudoxus,
flying from Ptolemy Lathyrus, passed by sea through the gulf of Arabia,
and sailing along the eastern coast of Africa, doubled the cape of Bona
Sperança arrived by the Atlantic at Cadiz; and it would appear that this
navigation was as often used in those days as it now is. Caius Caesar,
the son of Augustus, going into Arabia, found in the Red Sea certain
pieces of the ships which had gone thither from Spain.

Long after these days it was usual to pass to India by land. This was
done by the kings of the Sogdians, the princes of Bactria, and other
famous captains and many merchants, who travelled thither and into
Scythia by land. Marcus Paulus Venetus writes largely of these countries;
and though his book at first was reckoned fabulous, yet what he and
others have reported is now found true, by the experience of travellers,
and merchants who have since been to the same parts.

It is reported that the Romans sent an army by sea to India, against the
great khan of Cathaia, 200 years before the Incarnation; which, passing
through the Straits of Gibraltar, and running to the north-west, found
ten islands opposite to Cape Finisterre; producing large quantities of
tin, which perhaps may have been those afterwards called the Cassiterides.
Being come to 50 degrees of latitude, they found a strait passing to the
west, through which they arrived in India, and gave battle to the king of
Cathaia, after which they returned to Rome. Whether this story may appear
possible or not, true or false, I can only say that I give it as I found
it written in the histories of these times.

In the year 100 after the incarnation of Christ, the emperor Trajan
fitted out a fleet on the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, whence he sailed
to the islands of Zyzara; and passing the straits of Persia, entered
into the ocean, by which he sailed along the coast to India, till he came
to the place where Alexander had been. He there took some ships which
came from Bengal, and learned the state of the country from the mariners.
But being in years, and weary of the sea, and because he found it
difficult to procure necessaries for his army, he returned back to
Assyria[40].

After the Romans had subdued most part of the world, many notable
discoveries were made. But then came the Goths, Moors, and other
barbarous nations, who destroyed all A.D. 412, the Goths took the city
of Rome. Thereafter the Vandals went out of Spain, and conquered Africa.
In 450, Attila destroyed many cities in Italy, at which time Venice began;
and in this age the Franks and Vandals entered into France. In 474, the
empire of Rome was lost, and fell from the Romans to the Goths. In 560,
the Lombards came into Italy. About this time the sect of the Arians
prevailed greatly, and Merlin the English prophet flourished. In 611,
the Mahometan sect sprung up, and the Moresco government, which invaded
both Africa and Spain. By this it may appear that all the world was in a
state of war, and all places so very tumultuous, that traffic and
merchandize ceased, no nation daring to trade with another by sea or
land; nothing remaining stedfast, neither in kingdoms, signories,
religions, laws, arts, sciences, or navigation. Even the records and
writings of these things were burnt and destroyed by the barbarous power
of the Goths, who proposed to themselves to begin a new world, and to
root out the memory and knowledge of all other nations.

Those who succeeded in the government of Europe, perceiving the great
losses of the Christian world by want of traffic and the stoppage of
navigation, began to devise a way of passing into India, quite different
from the route of the Nile and the Red Sea, and much longer and more
costly[41]. The goods of India were brought up the river Indus as far as
it was navigable. They were then carried by land in caravans through the
country of Parapomissus into the province of Bactria, and shipped on the
river Oxus, which falls into the Caspian, and thence across that sea to
the haven of Citracan, or Astracan, on the river Rha, or Volga. Thence up
that river, and to the city of Novogrod, in the province of Resan, which
now belongs to the great duke of Muscovy, in lat. 54° N. The goods were
carried thence overland to the province of Sarmatia and the river Tanais
or Don, which is the division between Europe and Asia. Being there loaded
in barks, they were carried down the stream of that river into the Paulus
Maeotis to the city of Caffa, anciently called Theodosia, which then
belonged to the Genoese, who came thither by sea in _galliasses_, or
great ships, and distributed Indian commodities through Europe.

In the reign of Commodita, emperor of Armenia, a better course was
provided for this traffic: The goods being transported by land from the
Caspian, through the country of Hiberia, now Georgia, and thence by the
Phasis into the Euxine, and to the city of Trebisond, they were thence
shipped for the various parts of Europe[42]. It is recorded that
Demetrius Nicanor determined, or actually began, to open a canal of
above 120 miles in length between the Caspian and Euxine, for the greater
convenience of the Indian trade. But he was slain by Ptolemy Ceraunos,
and this famous enterprize fell to nothing[43].

All other ways being lost, by reason of the wars of the Turks, the
spiceries of the Indian Islands, particularly of Java, Sumatra, and the
city of Malacca, were carried up the river Ganges, in Bengal, to the city
of Agra; thence they were carried by land to another city near the Indus,
named Boghar, where they were discharged, because the city of Cabor, or
Laor, the principal city of the Mogores, stands too far within the land.
From thence they were carried to the great city of Samarcand in Bactria,
in which the merchants of India, Persia, and Turkey met together with
their several commodities, as cloth of gold, velvets, camblets, scarlet
and woollen cloths, which were carried to Cathay and the great kingdom of
China; whence they brought back gold, silver, precious stones, pearls,
silk, musk, rhubarb, and many other things of great value.

In after times these merchandizes, drugs, and spiceries, were carried in
ships from India to the Straits of Ormus, and the rivers Euphrates and
Tigris, and were unladen at the city of Basora; from whence they were
carried overland to Aleppo, Damascus, and Barutti; and there the Venetian
galliasses, which transported pilgrims to the Holy Land, came and
received the goods.

In the year 1153, in the time of the emperor Frederick Barbarossa, it is
said there came to the city of Lubeck, in Germany, a canoe like a long
barge, with certain Indians, who were supposed to have come from the
coast of Baccalaos[44], which is in the same latitude with Lubeck. The
Germans greatly wondered to see such a boat and strange people, not
knowing whence they came, nor being able to understand their language,
especially as there was then no knowledge of their country. Although the
boat was small in comparison with the seas it had to cross, it is yet
possible that it might have been conveyed by the winds and waves; for in
our days the _almadias_ of the negroes, which are very small boats,
venture to navigate from Quiloa, Mosambique, and Sofala, around the
Cape of Good Hope, even to the island of St Helena, a very small spot in
the ocean, at a great distance from land.

In the year 1300 after Christ, the great soldan of Cairo restored the
trade of spiceries, drugs, and merchandize from India, by the Red Sea; at
which time they unloaded the goods at the port of Judea[45], and carried
them to Mecca; whence they were distributed by the Mahometan pilgrims[46],
so that each prince endeavoured to increase the honour and profit of
his own country. The soldans translated this trade to their own city of
Cairo; whence the goods were carried to the countries of Egypt, Lybia,
Africa, Tunis, Tremessen, Fez, Morocco, and Suz; and some of them were
carried beyond the mountains of Atlas, to the city of Tombuto, and the
kingdom of the Jalophos; till afterwards the Portuguese brought the
Indian trade round the Cape of Good Hope to Lisbon, as we propose to shew
more at large in a convenient place.

A.D. 1344, Peter IV. reigned in Arragon, and the chronicles of his reign
report that Don Lewis de Cerda, grandson of Don John de Corda, requested
his aid to go and conquer the Canary Islands, which had been gifted to
him by Pope Clement VI. a Frenchman. About this time, too, the island of
Madeira is said to have been discovered by an Englishman named Macham;
who, sailing from England into Spain with a lady whom he loved, was
driven out of his course by a tempest, and arrived in a harbour of that
island, now called Machico, after his name. The lady being oppressed
with seasickness, Macham landed with her on the island, accompanied by
some of his people; but in the mean time the ship weighed anchor and
stood to sea, leaving them behind. On this the lady died of grief, and
Macham, who was passionately fond of her, erected a chapel or hermitage
on the island, which he named the chapel of Jesus, and there deposited
her remains, engraving both their names and the cause of their coming to
this place on a monumental stone. After this, he and his companions made
a boat or canoe out of a large tree, and putting to sea without sails or
oars, got over to the coast of Africa. The Moors among whom he arrived,
considering their passage as miraculous, sent him to their king, who
transmitted both him and his company to the king of Castile.

In 1395, while Henry III. reigned in Castile, in consequence of
information given by Macham respecting this island, many persons of
France and Castile were induced to attempt its discovery, and that of the
Grand Canary. Those who went on this expedition were principally from
Andalusia, Biscay, and Guipuscoa, who carried thither many men and
horses; but I know not whether this was done at their own charge, or that
of the king. But however that might be, these people seem to have been
the first discoverers of the Canaries; where they took 150 of the
islanders prisoners. There is some difference among authors respecting
the time of this discovery, as some affirm that it did not take place
till the year 1405.

[1] August. de Civit. Dic. I. 15. c. 20.

[2] The Cape of Good Hope, and the island of Madagascar--E.

[3] Birmahs

[4] Arracan

[5] Pompon. Mela, I. 3. Plin. I. 2. c. 67.

[6] Joseph: Ant. Jud. I. 1. c. 5.

[7] Justin, I. 1.

[8] Berosus.

[9] Diod. Sic. I. 2. c. 5.

[10] Berosus.

[11] Gons. Fern. I. 2. c. 3. Plin. I. 6. c. 31.

[12] Plin. I. 4. c. 22.

[13] Eratosth. ap. Strab. I. 1. p. 26.

[14] Plin. I. 6. c. 29.

[15] The miles here used are three to the league; but the league of the
    text is nearly equal to four English miles, and the assumed distance
    of these two ports 140 of our miles--E.

[16] Strab. I. 17. p. 560.

[17] Plin. I. 6. c. 29.

[18] Diod. Sic. I. 4. c. 4.

[19] Strab. I. 1. p. 26.

[20] Kings, I. 9. Chron. II. 8.

[21] Herodot. I. 4.

[22] Arist. de Mirand.

[23] Gonz. Fern. Ovied. I. 2. c. 3.

[24] Plin. I. 9. c. 58. de Maribus Nili.

[25] Joan. Leo Afric. I. 9. de Nilo.--Our author has got into a strange
    dilemma, by confounding crocodiles and serpents under one denomination.
    --E.

[26] Plin. and Leo, ub. cit.

[27] Plin. I. 2. c. 67.

[28] Plin. I. 6. c. 31. This subject will be discussed in the _Fifth_ Part
    of our work; being much too extensive to admit of elucidation in a
    note.--E.

[29] Hasty readers will have the justice to give the honour of this story
    to Galvano.--E.

[30] This story will be found hereafter very differently related by Cada
    Mosto himself, but with a sufficient spice of the marvellous.--E.

[31] The Honey-guide, or Cuculus Indicator, will be noticed more
    particularly in the Travels through the Colony of the Cape.--E.

[32] The Philosophers of the _nineteenth_ century have _fortunately_
    rediscovered the _Mermaid_ in the north of Scotland! Hitherto,
    wonderful things used to be confined to barbarous regions and ignorant
    ages.--E.

[33] Arist. de Mirand. Strabo, I. 2. p. 68.

[34] Plin. I. 6. c. 29.

[35] Strabo, I. 17. p. 560, 561.

[36] Strab. I. 17. p. 549.

[37] Plin. I. 6. c. 23.

[38] Id. I. 12. c. 18.

[39] Id. I. 2. c. 67.

[40] Ziphilin. in vit. Traj.

[41] Ramusio, V. f. 372. p. 2

[42] Strabo, I. 11.

[43] Plin. I. 6. c. 11.

[44] Newfoundland?

[45] Jidda.

[46] Leo Afric. Ramus. v. 1. f. 373.

SECTION II.

_Summary of Portuguese Discoveries, from the Commencement of the
Fifteenth Century, to the Discovery of America by Columbus_[1].

According to the chronicles of Portugal, John I. went from Lisbon in 1415,
attended by his sons Don Duarte, or Edward, Don Peter, and Don Henry, and
other lords and nobles of his realm, into Africa, where he took the great
city of Ceuta, which was one of the principal causes of extending the
dominions of Portugal. After their return, Don Henry, the king's
_third_[2] son, being then in Algarve, and desirous to enlarge the
kingdom by the discovery of unknown regions, gave directions for
discovering the coast of Mauritania; for in those days none of the
Portuguese had ever gone beyond Cape Non, in lat. 29°. N.[3]. For the
better accomplishment of this purpose, Don Henry prepared a fleet, and
commanded the officers whom he employed to proceed in making discoveries
to the south of that cape, which they did; but when they came to another
cape, named Bajador, none of them dared for a long time to go beyond it,
at which cowardice the prince was much displeased.

In 1417, in the reign of John II. of Castile, and while his mother the
lady Catharine was regent of the kingdom, Ruben de Bracamonte, the
admiral of France, craved a grant of the Canary Islands, and the title of
king, for his kinsman John de Betancourt; which being conceded, he
departed from Seville with an armament to attempt the conquest. The
principal motive of this enterprize was to make a perfect discovery of
Madeira, of which Macham had before given so much information; yet he
went to the Canaries, where he carried a friar named Mendo as bishop, who
had received that dignity from Pope Martin V. He reduced Lançerota,
Fuerteventura, Gomera, and Ferro; whence he sent into Spain many slaves,
and considerable quantities of honey, wax, camphire, hides, orchill, figs,
dragons-blood, and other merchandize, of which he made good profit. This
armament is said to have likewise discovered Porto Santo. The island
first occupied by Betancourt was Lançerota, where he built a castle of
stone for the better defence of the new settlers.

In the year 1418, John Gonzales Zarco, and Tristram Vaz Teixera,
gentlemen of the household to Don Henry, perceiving the great desire of
their master to discover new countries, requested and obtained a bark to
proceed to the coast of Africa; where they were overtaken by a violent
tempest, and driven into a haven of the island now called Porto Santo,
where they remained two years. In 1420, they discovered the island of
Madeira, where they found the chapel, tomb, and stone on which Macham had
engraved his name. Others write, that a Castilian had informed Don Henry
of having made the discovery of Porto Santo; and that he sent
Bartholomew Perestrello, John Gonzales Zarco, and Tristram Vaz Teixera,
purposely in search of that island, according to the signs and directions
indicated by the Castilian; and that these persons afterwards discovered
Madeira in 1420, where they found the memorial and monument left by
Macham the Englishman.

Betancourt, who begun the conquest of the Canaries, was slain in a war
with the natives, leaving one Menante his heir; who afterwards sold the
islands to one Peter Barba of Seville. But others say, that John de
Betancourt went to France to procure reinforcements, to enable him to
complete his conquests, and left the command of Lançerota with his
nephew; who, hearing nothing of his uncle, and being unable to continue
the contest with the natives, sold the Canaries to Don Henry, for an
estate in the island of Madeira.

It is related that, in 1424, Don Henry sent a squadron with some land
forces, under Don Ferdinando de Castro, on purpose to make a conquest of
these islands; but, being repulsed by the bravery of the natives, de
Castro prudently desisted from the enterprize and returned home; and
that Don Henry afterwards resigned his claim to these islands in favour
of the crown of Castile. The Castilian writers, however, assert that both
Don Henry and the king of Portugal refused to give up these islands,
until the dispute was ended by the judgment of Pope Eugenius IV. who
awarded them to the king of Castile. These islands, anciently called the
Insulae Fortunatae, or Fortunate Islands, are seven in number, in lat.
28° N. where the longest day is thirteen hours, and the longest night the
same. They are 200 leagues distant from the coast of Spain, and 18
leagues from the coast of Africa. The people were idolaters, and eat raw
flesh for want of fire. They had no iron, but raised or tilled the ground
with the horns of oxen and goats, for want of better implements of
husbandry. Every island spoke a separate language, and many pagan customs
prevailed among the natives; but now the Christian religion is planted
among them. The commodities of these islands are wheat, barley, sugar,
wine, and Canary-birds, which are much esteemed for the sweetness and
variety of their song. In the island of Ferro they have no water but what
proceeds in the night from a tree, encompassed by a cloud, whence water
issues, and serves the whole inhabitants and cattle of the island[4].

In the year 1428, Don Pedro, the king's _eldest_[5] son, who was a great
traveller, went into England, France, and Germany, and thence into the
Holy Land and other places, and came home by Italy, through Rome and
Venice. He is said to have brought a map of the world home with him, in
which all parts of the earth were described, by which the enterprizes of
Don Henry for discovery were much assisted. In this map the Straits of
Magellan are called the _Dragons-tail_, and the Cape of Good Hope the
_Front of Africa_, and so of the rest[6]. I was informed by Francis de
Sosa Tavares, that in the year 1528, Don Fernando, the king's eldest son,
shewed him a map which had been made 120 years before, and was found in
the study of Alcobaza, which exhibited all the navigation of the East
Indies, with the cape of Bona Sperança, as in our latter maps; by which
it appears that there was as much discovered, or more, in ancient times
as now[7].

Though attended with much trouble and expence, Don Henry was unwearied in
prosecuting his plan of discoveries. At length Gilianes, one of his
servants, passed Cape Bojador, a place terrible to all former navigators,
and brought word that it was by no means so dangerous as had been
represented, he having landed on its farther side, where he set up a
wooden cross in memorial of his discovery.

In the year 1433 died John king of Portugal, and was succeeded by his
eldest son Duarte or Edward. In 1434, Don Henry sent Alphonso Gonzales
Balduja and Gillianes, who penetrated from Cape Bajador to another cape,
where they found the country to be inhabited, and went forward to another
point of land, whence they returned to Portugal. In 1438 king Duarte died,
and his son Alphonso being young, the kingdom was governed during his
minority by his uncle Don Pedro. In 1441, Don Henry sent out two ships
under Tristan and Antonio Gonzales, who took a prize on the coast, and
sailed to Cape Blanco, or the White Cape in lat. 20° N.[8]. From thence
they brought home some Moors, from whom Don Henry learned the state of
the country. Don Henry sent an account of these discoveries to Pope
Martin, by one Fernan Lopez de Savado; and the Pope granted indulgences
and everlasting pardon of sins to all who should die in attempting the
discovery of the land of the infidels. In the year 1443, Don Henry
commanded Antonio Gonzales to carry back the Moors to their own country,
where they were ransomed for black Moors with curled hair, or negroes,
and some gold; owing to which that place is now called Rio de Oro, or the
Golden River, that thereby the desire of discovery might be the more
increased. He sent soon afterward one named Nunnez Tristan, who
discovered the islands of Arguin, who brought more slaves from thence to
Portugal in 1444. One Lancarote, a groom of Don Henrys chamber, and
three others, armed certain ships, with which they sailed along the coast
to the islands of Garze, where they took 200 slaves, which were the first
that were brought from thence to Portugal.

In 1445, Gonsalvo de Syntra, an esquire belonging to Don Henry, went
captain of a bark into these parts; and landing on the coast, was taken
by the natives, with six or seven of his people The place where he was
cut off got the name of Angra de Gonsalvo de Syntra from him; and this
was the first loss sustained by the Portuguese in their discoveries. In
1446, three caravels were sent out under Antonio Gonsales, Diego Aloizio,
and Gomes Perez; who were ordered to refrain from going to Rio de Oro, to
carry themselves peaceably to the natives, to traffic with them peaceably,
and to endeavour to convert as many infidels as possible to Christianity;
but in this they had no success. In the same year, Dennis Fernandes of
Lisbon, an esquire to the king, entered upon these discoveries, more to
acquire fame than for profit. In the course of his voyage he discovered
the river _Sanaga_ or Senegal, between 15 and 16 degrees of latitude[9];
and proceeding onwards, discovered Cape Verde, in 14 degrees[10], upon
which he erected a wooden cross, and then returned, much elated at the
success of his voyage. In 1447 Nunnez Tristan passed beyond Cape Verde to
Rio Grande, and went beyond that river to another in twelve degrees[11].
He was here taken and slain, with eighteen other Portuguese, and the ship
was brought home in safety by four or five of the crew who escaped the
hands of the negroes.

In this year 1447, a Portuguese ship, in coming through the Straits of
Gibraltar, was forced a great way to the westwards by a violent tempest,
and came to an island having seven cities, the inhabitants of which spoke
the Portuguese language, and they inquired of our mariners if the Moors
still infested Spain, whence their ancestors had fled to avoid the
distresses which occurred subsequent to the death of Don Roderigo, king
of Spain. The boatswain of this ship brought home some of the sand from
this island, and sold it to a goldsmith in Lisbon, who procured from it a
good quantity of gold. Don Pedro, who then governed the realm, being made
acquainted with this circumstance, caused the whole to be recorded in the
house of justice[12]. Some think that this island belonged to what is now
called the Antilles or New Spain; but though their reasons for this
opinion are good, I omit them here, as not connected with my present
purpose.

In the year 1449, King Alphonso granted license to his uncle, Don Henry,
to colonize the Açores, which had been formerly discovered. In the year
1458, this king went into Africa, where he took the town of Alcaçer; and
in the year 1461, he commanded Signior Mendez to build the castle of
Arguin, in the island of that name, on the coast of Africa. In the year
1462, three Genoese gentlemen, of whom Antonio de Noli was the chief, the
others being his brother and nephew, got permission from Don Henry to
take possession of the Cape de Verde islands, which some believe to be
those called Gorgades, Hesperides, and Dorcades, by the ancients. But
they named them Mayo, Saint Jago, and Saint Philip, because discovered on
the days of those saints. Some call them the islands of Antonio. In the
year following, 1463, that excellent prince, Don Henry, died; having
discovered, by his exertions, the whole coast of Africa, from Cape Non to
the mountain of Sierra Liona, which is on this side of the line, in lat.
8° 30' N. where no man had been before.

In 1469, the king of Portugal let out the trade of Guinea, afterwards
called the Minas, to Fernan Gomez, for five years, at the yearly rent of
200,000 rees[13]; and under the express condition that he was every year
to discover 100 leagues farther along the coast of Africa to the south.
In 1470, this king went into Africa, accompanied by his son Prince John,
where he took the town of Arzila; and the inhabitants of Tangier having
fled from fear, he took possession of it also. In the year 1471, John de
St Aren and John de Scovar, under the orders of Fernan Gomez, continued
the discovery of the coast of Guinea as far as St George del Mina, in lat.
5° N. and 2° W. long.; the coast from Cape Verde to Cape Palmas trending
S.E. after which it goes to the east, with even a small northerly
inclination for about twelve degrees of longitude. In 1472, one Fernando
da Poo discovered the island now called after his name, beyond Cape
Formosa, in lat. 3° 40' N. and about the same time the islands del
Principe and St Thomas were discovered, the latter of which is situated
under the equinoctial line. The firm land also was explored at the same
time, all the way from the kingdom of Benin to Cape St Catherina, in lat.
1° 40' S. This last discovery was made by Sequetra, a person in the king's
immediate service. Many suppose that then were these countries and
islands discovered which had never been before known since the flood.

In the year 1480, the valiant King Don Alphonzo died, and was succeeded
by his son Don John II. who, in 1481, gave orders to Diego d'Azambuxa to
construct the castle of St George del Mina, on the African coast. In 1484,
Diego Caon, a knight belonging to the court, discovered the coast as far
as the river Congo, on the south side of the line, in seven or eight
degrees of latitude[14], where he erected a stone pillar, with the royal
arms and titles of Portugal, with the date of his discovery. He proceeded
southwards from thence along the coast, all the way to a river near the
tropic of Capricorn, setting up similar stone pillars in convenient
places. He afterwards returned to Congo, the king of which country sent
ambassadors by his ship into Portugal. In the next year, or the year
following, John Alonzo d'Aveiro brought home from Benin pepper with a
tail[15], being the first of the kind ever seen in Portugal.

In 1487, King John sent Pedro de Covillan and Alphonzo de Payva, both of
whom could speak Arabic, to discover India by land. They left Lisbon in
the month of May, and took shipping in the same year at Naples for the
island of Rhodes, and lodged there in the hotel of the Knights of St John
of Jerusalem, belonging to Portugal. From thence they went to Alexandria
and Cairo, and then along with a caravan of Moors to the haven of Toro.
There they embarked on the Red Sea, and proceeded to Aden, where they
separated; de Payva going into Ethiopia, while Covillan proceeded to
India. Covillan went to the cities of Cananor and Calicut, and thence to
Goa, where he took shipping for Sofala, on the eastern coast of Africa.
He thence sailed to Mosambique, and the cities of Quiloa, Mombaza, and
Melinda, returning back to Aden, where he and Payva had formerly
separated. Thence he proceeded to Cairo, where he hoped to have rejoined
his companion; but he here learnt by letter from the king his master,
that de Payva was dead, and he was farther enjoined by the king to travel
into the country of Abyssinia[16] He returned therefore, from Cairo to
Toro, and thence to Aden; and hearing of the fame of Ormuz, he proceeded
along the coast of Arabia by Cape Razalgate to Ormuz. Returning from the
Gulf of Persia to the Red Sea, he passed over to the realm of the
Abyssinians, which is commonly called the kingdom of Presbyter John, or
Ethiopia, where he was detained till 1520, when the ambassador, Don
Roderigo de Lima, arrived in that country. This Pedro de Covillan was the
first of the Portuguese who had ever visited the Indies and the adjacent
seas and islands.

In the year 1490, the king sent Gonzalo de Sosa to Congo with three ships,
carrying back with him the ambassador of the king of Congo, who had been
brought over to Portugal in 1484, by Diego Caon. During his residence in
Portugal, this ambassador and others of his company had been instructed
in the Christian religion, and baptized. Gonzalo de Sosa died during the
outward-bound voyage; and Ruy de Sosa, his nephew, was chosen to the
command of the expedition in his stead. Arriving in Congo, the king of
that country received them with much joy, and soon yielded himself and
the greater part of his subjects to be baptized; to the infinite
satisfaction of the Portuguese, who by these means converted so many
infidels from paganism to Christianity.

[1] The only quotations used in this Section in the original translation
    by Hakluyt, are from the Asia of John de Barros, Decade 1. which it
    has not been deemed necessary to refer to here more particularly.--E.

[2] It is singular that a Portuguese should not be more correct. Henry was
    the _fifth_ son.--Clarke.

[3] More accurately 28° 40'.--E.

[4] Opportunities will occur hereafter, in particular voyages, to discuss
    the circumstances of this wonderful tree.

[5] Galvano is again mistaken. Edward or Duarte was the _eldest_ son;
    Pedro the _third_.--Clarke.

[6] Dr Vincent, in his Periplus, considers this as a copy of the map of
    Marco Polo, which was exhibited in the church of St Michael de Murano,
    at Venice.--Clarke.

[7] Even if this were fact, it proves nothing, as the Cape of Good Hope
    must have been inserted merely by the fancy of the draughtsman.--
    Clarke.--It may be added, that in 1528, it was no difficult matter to
    wrong date a forged map, on purpose to detract from the merit of the
    actual discoverers.--E.

[8] More correctly in lat. 20° 54' N. There is another Cape Blanco in
    Morocco in lat. 33° 10' N. and this more southerly cape on the great
    desert is named Branca in our best charts.--E.

[9] The mouth of the Senegal is in lat. 15° 45' N.--E.

[10] More correctly, 14° 45' N.--E.

[11] It is difficult to ascertain these two rivers: The Rio Grande here
    meant is properly named Gambia. The river in 12° N. may be the
    Casamansa, the Santa Anna, or the St Dominico: which last is exactly
    in 12° N. the two others a little farther north, and nearer the Gambia.
    --E.

[12] This is one of the many palpable and clumsy fables which were
    advanced to defraud Columbus of the honour of having discovered the
    new world, and is even more ridiculous, if possible, than the voyages
    of Zeno, adverted to in our _First_ Part.--E.

[13] Equal to L.138: 17: 9-1/4 d. English money.--Halk.

[14] Only 6° 45' S.--E.

[15] Mr Clarke explains this as _long pepper_; but besides that this by no
    means answers the descriptive name in the text, long pepper certainly
    is the production of the East Indies. The article here indicated was
    probably one of the many species, or varieties of the Capsicum; called
    Guinea pepper, Cayenne pepper, Bird pepper, and various other names.
    --E.

[16] In the original this is called the country of Prester or Presbyter
    John. We have formerly, in the _First_ Part of this work, had occasion
    to notice the strange idea of a Christian prince and priest, who was
    supposed to have ruled among the pagan nations of eastern Tartary.
    Driven from this false notion, by a more thorough knowledge of Asia,
    the European nations fondly transferred the title of Prester John to
    the half Christian prince or Negus of the semi-barbarous Abyssinians.
    --E.

SECTION III.

_Summary of Discoveries made by the Spaniards and Portuguese, from the Era
of Columbus, in 1492, to the year 1555_.

In the year 1492, when Don Ferdinand king of Castile[1] was engaged in
the siege of Granada, he sent _one_ Christopher Columbus, a Genoese, with
three ships, for the discovery of Nova Spagna. This Columbus had first
offered his service lot a western discovery to John king of Portugal, who
refused to employ him. Being sufficiently furnished for his enterprize,
Columbus set out from the town of Palos on the third of August 1492,
having with him, as captains and pilots, Martin Alionzo Pinzon, Francis
Martinez Pinzori, Vincent Yannes Pinzon, and Bartholomew Columbus his
brother[2] with an hundred and twenty other persons in the three ships.
Some persons affirm, that this was the first voyage which was ever
conducted by the observation of latitudes[3]. They took the Canaries in
their way, whence shaping their course for Cipango, or towards Japan,
they were much amazed to find the sea all full of weeds, and with great
fear arrived at the Antilles on the tenth day of October; the first
island they descried, called Guanahany by the natives, they named San
Salvador. This island is in 25° N. latitude. After that they found many
islands, which they called the Princes. The savages of those parts call
these islands by the name of Lucaios, having indeed several names for
them, and they stand on the north side of the line, almost under the
tropic of Cancer. The island of St James, or Jamaica, lies between the
16th and 17th degrees of northern latitude[4]. Thence they went to the
island which the natives call Cuba, named Ferdinando by the Spaniards,
after the king, which is in 22 degrees; from whence they were conducted
by the Indians to another island called Hayti, named Isabella by the
Spaniards, in honour of the queen of Castile, and afterwards Hispaniola,
or Little Spain.

In that island the admirals ship was wrecked, and Columbus caused a fort
to be constructed of her timbers and planks, in which he left Roderigo de
Arana with a garrison of thirty-eight men, to learn the language and
customs of the country. Columbus then returned to Spain, carrying with
him samples of gold and pearls, and other productions of the country,
with ten Indians, six of whom died on the voyage; the rest were brought
to Spain and baptized. On their way home, Columbus touched at the Açores;
and on the fourth of March 1493, entered the port of Lisbon. This
discovery gave much discontent to the king of Portugal. Immediately on
his arrival, Columbus went into Castile, where he informed the king of
his discoveries and of the dissatisfaction of the king of Portugal. On
this he and his queen Isabella sent word of the recent discovery to Pope
Alexander VI, at which information he and all the Italians were much
astonished, as they marvelled that there should be any land besides what
had been known to the Romans. Alexander made a grant of all these
countries to the crowns of Castile and Leon, under condition that they
should labour to extirpate idolatry, and establish the holy faith of
Christ among the natives.

On the report of this discovery, so universal a desire of travelling
arose among the Spaniards, that they were ready as it were to leap into
the sea, that they might swim if possible to the newly discovered islands.
After receiving the authority of the Pope, King Ferdinando sent Columbus
a second time to the newly-discovered country, of which he made him
admiral, giving him many other honours, and a particular coat of arms,
having this motto,

  For Castile and for Leon
  A new world discovered Colon[A].

[A] Gomara, I. 1. c. 15.

Columbus set out on his second voyage to the Antilles on the 25th October
1493, taking his course from Cadiz, with seventeen ships and fifteen
hundred men, accompanied by his brothers Bartholomew and Diego Columbus,
with many other knights, gentlemen of the law, and priests; having
chalices, crosses, and other rich religious ornaments, and with great
power and dignity from the Pope. The tenth day after commencing their
voyage, they reached the Canaries; and from thence, in twenty-five or
thirty days, they sailed to the Antilles, the first island they saw being
in 14° N. due west from Cape de Verd in Africa. They called this island
Deseada[5], or the _desired island_, which is said to be 800 leagues from
the Canaries. They afterwards discovered many more islands, which they
called the Virgins, but which are named the Caribbee islands by the
natives, from a nation of that name, who are bold warriors, and excellent
marksmen with bows and arrows. They poison their arrows with the juice of
a certain herb, and whoever is wounded with these is sure to die, biting
himself like a mad dog. From thence they went to the principal island in
these parts, named Boriquen by the natives, and St John by the Spaniards;
and thence to Hispaniola, or Isabella, where they found all the men dead
whom they had left on returning from the former voyage. Columbus left
most of his people here to establish a colony, under the command of his
brothers; and went with two ships to continue his discovery of Cuba and
Jamaica. All these islands are between 16 and 20 degrees of northern
latitude[6]. While the admiral was sailing in quest of discoveries, his
brethren and those who were left in Hispaniola, were much incommoded by
an insurrection among the savages; and Columbus went back to Spain, to
give an account of his proceedings to the king and queen.

In January 1494, a congress of ambassadors from Spain and Portugal was
held at Tordesillas, for the settlement of all disputes between the two
countries respecting the new discoveries. The plenipotentiaries from
Spain were Don Henry Henriques, Don John de Cardenas, and the Doctor
Maldonado; those from Portugal, Ruy de Sosa, his son Don John, and the
doctor Ayres de Almada. After some conference, these plenipotentiaries
divided the world between the two crowns, by a meridian line drawn from
north to south, 300 leagues to the west of the islands of Cape Verd, all
to the east of this line being appropriated to Portugal, and all to the
west to Spain; leaving, however, the liberty of navigation equally to
both[7]. In 1495, John II. King of Portugal, died, and was succeeded by
his cousin Emanuel.

In the year 1496, a Venetian named John Cabota, or Gabota, went to
England; and having acquired a knowledge of the new discoveries, and
perceiving by the globe that the islands of the Antilles were almost in
the same latitude with his own country, and lay much nearer to England
than Spain and Portugal, he acquainted Henry VII. with this circumstance,
and offered his services to make discoveries for the crown of England.
Henry was much pleased with the proposal, and furnished him with two
ships and three hundred men, with which he set sail in the spring of that
year, and sailed west till he came in sight of land, in lat. 45°N. Whence
he sailed northwards till he came into the latitude of 60 degrees, where
the day is 18 hours long, and the night is very clear and bright. He
there found the air very cold, with great islands of ice, and found no
bottom with a line of 100 fathoms. From thence, finding the land turn
eastwards, he coasted along it, discovering all the bay and river named
Deseado[8], to see if it passed on to the other side of the land. Cabot
afterwards sailed down the coast to the lat. of 38°N. though some people
allege that he reached Cape Florida, in 25°N.

In the year 1497, Columbus was again sent out on discovery, with six
ships furnished by the crown of Spain, and two others fitted out at his
own expence. Sending his brother before, he sailed from Cadiz, taking his
son Don Diego along with him. It was then reported, that he meant to take
the island of Madeira, because he distrusted the Frenchmen, and therefore
sent three ships thither; others say, that his object was for the
Canaries. However this may be, he went with four ships to the Cape de
Verd islands, whence he ran along a parallel, finding great rains and
calms, and the first land he came to in the Antilles was an island in
nine degrees of north latitude, called Trinidada,[9] which lies close to
the main land. Here he entered the Gulf of Paria, and came out by the
Bocca de Dragone, or Dragons-mouth. Holding his course westwards along
the coast of Paria, he came to the islands called Los Testigos, or the
Witnesses, beyond which is the island of Cubagua, where there is a great
fishing for pearl-muscles, and where also there is a well of rock oil.
Beyond that he came to the Frailes islands, named Roques, Aruba, and
Curaçoa, and other small islands, along the coast of the main land, and
to the point of land named Cabo de Vela, having discovered 200 leagues of
coast. He thence crossed over the Caribbean Sea, directly north for
Hispaniola, passing by the island Beata.

In this same year[10] 1497, on the 20th day of June[11], King Emanuel
sent a squadron of three ships for India, commanded by one Vasques de
Gama, having under his command his brother Paulus de Gama and Nicolas
Coello, as captains of the other two ships, the whole having a complement
of 120 men. They were accompanied by a fourth ship laden with provisions.
In fourteen days they reached the island of St Jago, one of the Cape
Verds, whence they went along the coast beyond the Cape of Good Hope,
erecting pillars of stone in proper places, as marks of discovery and
possession, and came to Mosambique in lat. 15° S. After staying only a
short time there, de Gama went to Mombaza and Melinda, the king of which
last place gave him pilots, who conducted him to India, in which passage
he discovered Los Baxos do Padua, or the Flats of Padua. In the month of
May 1498, de Gama came to anchor before the city of Calicut, _and
Panama_[12], where they remained till the first day of September, when
they sailed towards the north, discovering all the coast till they came to
the island of Angediva, on the western side of India, in 15° N. where they
came to an anchor in the beginning of October. They remained here till
February 1499, when they departed on their voyage homewards; coming first
to Melinda, and so by Mosambique and along the coast to the Cape of Good
Hope, and by the islands of Cape de Verd, and lastly to the city of Lisbon,
in September of that year, having been absent on their voyage for twenty-
six months.

On the 13th of November 1499, Vincent Yannez Pinzon, who had sailed with
Columbus in his first voyage of discovery, and his nephew Aries Pinzon,
departed from the port of Palos with four well appointed ships, fitted
out at their own cost, having a license from the king of Spain to
prosecute discoveries in the new world, but with express orders not to
touch anywhere that had been visited by Columbus. Going first to the
islands of Cape de Verd, they passed the line and stood over towards the
new world, which they fell in with at Cape St Augustine, in lat. 8° 30' S.
where they carved on the barks of trees the date of their arrival, and
the names of the king and queen of Spain. They had several skirmishes
with the inhabitants of Brazil, but got no advantage. Following the coast
westwards[13], they entered the river named Maria Tambal, by which time
they had made above thirty prisoners. The chief places where they touched
were Cape St Augustine, Cape St Luke, Tierra de los Humos; the rivers of
Marannon and of the Amazons, and the Rio Dolce, or Sweet river[14], and
other places along the coast. At last, being come to 10° N. they lost two
of their ships with their crews, and returned home, after having employed
ten months and fifteen days in their voyage.

In March 1500, Pedro Alvarez Cabral sailed from Lisbon with thirteen
ships for India, being ordered not to go near the coast of Africa, that
he might shorten the voyage. Losing sight of one of his ships, he
deviated from his course in hopes to rejoin it, and sailed till he
unexpectedly fell in with the coast of Brazil, where he sent a bark in,
search of a safe harbour, which they found in 17° S. and called it Puerto
Seguro. From thence they made sail for the Cape of Good Hope and Melinda,
whence they crossed over to the river of Cochin, which was not before
known. Here they loaded with pepper; and on their return Sancho de Thovar
discovered the city of Sofala, on the eastern coast of Africa.

It is reported, that in the year 1500, one Gaspar Cortereal got a general
license from King Emanuel to make discoveries in the new world. He fitted
out two stout ships at his own cost, from the island of Tercera, and
sailed to that part of the new world which is in 50° N. which has been
since known by his name, and came home in safety to Lisbon. In a second
voyage, his own immediate vessel was lost, and the other came home. Upon
this, his brother Michael Cortereal went to seek him with three ships,
fitted out at his own charges; and finding many creeks and rivers on the
coast, the ships divided for the more effectual search, agreeing that
they should all meet again at an appointed time and place. The other two
ships did so; but after waiting a reasonable rime for Michael Cortereal,
it was concluded that he was also lost, on which the other two ships
returned to Lisbon, and no news was ever afterwards heard of the two
brothers; but the country where they were lost is still called the land
of Cortereal[15].

In March 1501, John de Nova sailed from Lisbon with four ships for India.
In his outward-bound voyage he discovered an island in the Atlantic, in
lat. 8° S. to which he gave the name of Ascension[16]. On his return from
India, he fell in with another island in the Atlantic in 17° S. called St
Helena, which, though very small, is yet of great importance from its
situation. In the month of May of the same year 1501, three ships were
sent from Lisbon by King Emanuel, to make a discovery of the coast of
Brazil, which had been accidentally fallen in with, by Cabral: Passing by
the Canaries, they stopped for refreshments at the town of Bezequiche in
the Cape Verds; and passing southwards from thence beyond the line, they
fell in with Brazil in five degrees of south latitude, at Cape St Roquo,
and sailed along the coast southwards, till they reckoned themselves to
have reached 32° S. Finding the weather cold and tempestuous, they turned
back in the month of April 1502, and got to Lisbon In September of that
year, having been out fifteen months on their voyage.

In the same year 1502, Alfonso Hojeda went to discover the Terra Firma,
and followed its coast till he came to the province of Uraba I7. In 1503,
Roderigo Bastidas of Seville went with two caravels at his own cost, to
the Antilles, where he first came to the Isla Verde, or the Green island,
close by Guadaloupe; whence he sailed westwards to Santa Martha and Cape