Part 19

[197] Ceylon cinnamon still enjoys this pre-eminence, its cultivation in other parts of the world not having hitherto been attended with success. The “cinnamon”, or cassia, found in Malabar is of very inferior quality.

[198] The Moluccas, and more especially Amboīna, are the true home of the clove, the cultivation of which is now carried on widely in different parts of the world.

[199] Should be Arabia.

[200] The “Grand Sultan” is, of course, the Circassian Mamluk Sultan of Egypt.

[201] Prof. Kopke rashly identifies this place with Suez, but M. F. Denis points out that it must be Tor.

[202] The cruzado was a Portuguese gold coin worth about 9s. 8d.; 600,000 cruzados amounted thus to £290,000.

[203] This Cidadym (called Cadadin in the _Commentaries of Afonso Dalbuquerque_, Hakluyt Society, 1875, i, p. 202) can be identified with Sultan Muhammed ben Azhar ed-din ben Ali ben Abu Bekr ben Sa’d ed din, of Harar, who ruled 1487-1520 (see Paulitschke, _Harar_, p. 506).

[204] Castanheda (I, c. 25, p. 84) says that Monçaide wrote this letter, in which Vasco da Gama apologised for having carried off the Malabaris; explained that he had done so in order that they might bear witness to the discoveries he had made; and said that he would have left a factor behind him if he had not been afraid that the Moors would kill him. He expressed a hope that ultimately friendly relations would be established to their mutual advantage. Goes (c. 43), who also gives a version of this letter, says the king was much pleased with it, and read it to his wives and the relatives of the kidnapped men.

[205] Burton (_Camoens_) identifies Compia with Cananor, which, on the partition of the dominions of Cherman Perumal was included in the kingdom of the Chirrakal Rajahs. From João de Sousa (_Documentos Arabicos_, p. 80) we learn that the king with whom Vasco da Gama made a treaty in 1502 was called Cotelery. Correa (Stanley’s _Vasco da Gama_, p. 224) gives a circumstantial account of Vasco da Gama’s transactions with the king of Cananor during this first voyage. Neither Goes nor Barros knows anything about these events.

[206] These are the Netrani or Pigeon Islands (Ilhas dos Pombos), in lat. 14° 1´ N., the largest being about half a mile in length, and rising to a height of 300 feet.

[207] The Anjediva or “Five Islands” lie close to the coast in 14° 45´ N., and about 40 miles to the south of Goa. The largest of these is not quite a mile in length. It rises boldly from the sea, but a beach on its northern side affords facilities for landing. D. Francisco de Almeida built a fort there in 1505, but it was demolished seven months afterwards. The existing fortifications were erected by order of Francisco de Tavora, Conde d’Alvar, in 1682. (See A. Lopez Mendes, _A India Portugueza_, ii, 1886, p. 209, with map.)

[208] The author says 19th, but Thursday was the 20th.

[209] These branches and leaves were carried to Portugal, as we learn from the king’s letter (see Appendix A), but they had most certainly not been taken from true cinnamon trees, for only an inferior cassia is found in that part of India.

[210] Barros and Goes say that the leader of these vessels was a pirate named Timoja, whose head-quarters were at Onor. He subsequently rendered valuable services to the Portuguese. (See Stanley’s _Vasco da Gama_, p. 244.)

[211] This island was the largest of the Anjediva.

[212] Three lingams, emblems of the generative power?

[213] The _fusta_ is a galley or undecked rowing boat, with one mast. For an illustration see Linschoten’s _Itinerarium ofte Schip-vaert_, etc.

[214] Tambaram, in Malayalam, has merely the meaning of lord or master.

[215] This man subsequently became known as Gaspar da Gama. See Appendix E.

[216] The Sabayo or Governor of Goa.

[217] The original MS. uses the verb “perguntar”, that is, to question; but Barros says that he was tortured, and this would account for his attempting to make himself understood by “gestures”, when previously he had spoken very fluently, and had been understood.

[218] September 24 to October 5 is twelve days, both days inclusive.

[219] From October 5 to January 2.

[220] At Mombaça.

[221] The MS. says “February” but this is an obvious mistake.

[222] From Moçambique to Madagascar is only 60 leagues; 300 leagues would carry a ship as far as the Seychelles.

[223] Mukhdisho of the Arabs, Madisha of the Somal, in lat. 5° N. The town was founded by Arabs, perhaps on the site of a more ancient city, in 907, and attained the height of its prosperity under the dynasty of the El Mdofer, which was expelled by the Abgal Somal, probably in the sixteenth century.

[224] Whether merely as a sign of rejoicing or in wanton enmity is not clear.

[225] Pate is an island in 26° 5´ S., with a town of the same name.

[226] The author says the 9th, but Monday was the 7th. The stay of five days extended from the 7th to the 11th.

[227] “Vasco da Gama’s Pillar”, now to be seen at Malindi, close to the town (to the left of it as seen from the sea) and at the extremity of a narrow rocky promontory of only a few feet in height, is certainly not the padrão erected by the great navigator, though it probably occupies its site. When Cabral arrived at Malindi in 1501 the pillar had been removed, it having proved a “stone of offence” to the people of Mombaça. The king, however, had stowed it away carefully, and had even caused the royal arms to be repainted. João de Sá, who had been with Gama, identified it.

The existing pillar, of which we give an illustration, is built up of concrete made of coral rock and lime. It rises to a height of 16 feet, and is surmounted by a cross, bearing on the sea side the arms of Portugal, but no inscription. It is not the pillar put up at the request of Vasco da Gama, but Sir John Kirk feels sure that the cross is very ancient. The latter is of sandstone, and evidently of local make, whilst the other crosses discovered hitherto are of limestone or marble. See Introduction.

[228] This ambassador returned with Cabral in 1501.

[229] The figure-head of the _S. Raphael_ was taken away by Vasco da Gama and treated as an heirloom by the family, several members of which carried it with them on their travels. It ultimately found a resting-place in the church of Vidigueira, founded by D. Francisco da Gama. When the church was desecrated in 1840, the figure was removed to another church, where Texeira de Aragão discovered it in 1853. It is now in the church at Belem. The figure is carved in oak, and about 24 inches in height (see _Texeira de Aragão_, in the Boletim of the Lisbon Geographical Society, VI, 1886, p. 621.)

[230] The author says five, but from January 13 to January 27, both included, is fifteen days.

[231] Barros says _Tangata_. It is Mtangata (see note, p. 33).

[232] Zanzibar is only twenty miles (six leagues) from the mainland.

[233] Twenty-seven days carry us from March 20 to April 16.

[234] The author here evidently refers to tornadoes or violent gusts of wind peculiar to the west coast of Africa, and more frequent at the beginning and termination of the rainy season. They generally blow off shore, their approach being indicated by an arch of clouds, from which lightning and thunder constantly proceed. At Sierra Leone the rainy season begins at the end of April (see _Africa Pilot_, 1893, Part II, p. 10).

[235] The Rio Grande of the Portuguese is an arm of the sea from five to thirteen miles in breadth, called Orango Channel on the Admiralty Chart. It lies between the mainland and the Bissagos islands.

[236] This church was demolished in 1646; the place of burial can no longer be identified.

[237] See _Jose da Silva Mendes Leal_ (Transactions of Lisbon Academy, 1871), and _Texeira de Aragão_ (Boletim Lisbon Geogr. Soc., VI, 1886, p. 583).

[238] This trustworthy man can have been no other than the “Moor” who was carried off from Anjediva (see Appendix E), and who, having been baptised, became known as Gaspar da Gama.

[239] The frazila of Calecut is equal to 10.4 kilogr.; the fanão is worth 25-5/7 reis of 1555 (about 7.45_d._) and the cruzado is worth 9_s._ 8_d._ But if 3 cruzados are accepted as the equivalent of 50 fanãos, the value of a fanão would be 6.96_d._

[240] I have little doubt that instead of Baqua we ought to read Bezoar. In D. Manuel’s letter to the King of Castile, the royal writer states that among the presents which the King of Cochin gave to Vasco da Gama (in 1502) there was a stone as large as a filbert, which was taken out of the head of a very rare animal, called Burgoldof, and which proved a specific against all poisons.

The Rev. J. J. Jaus, of the Basel Mission, informs me that the bezoar, in Malayalam, is called _Gōrōchanam_, which means “out of the cow’s brain”, _go_ signifying cow. It still sells for its weight in silver, and is highly prized as a medicine and antidote. My esteemed correspondent is unable to enlighten me as to the meaning of _burgoldof_.

Bishop J. M. Speechly, in a letter addressed to me, suggests that “Baqua” (Bakwa) may be a corruption of “Bagawat”, a common name for Shiva, and the “Stone of Baqua” a dedication to him.

The Arabic name of the bezoar (badesar) has the meaning of antidote. This “stone” is a calcareous concretion found in the intestines of some animals, more especially goats and antelopes, but also in those of monkeys. It varies in size from a pea to a fist. All through the Middle Ages, this oriental bezoar was looked upon as a most potent medicine against poisons, and it is still highly valued in the East. The Bezoar of Goa (Gowa) is an artificial product made up of musk, ambergris, and gum of tragacanth.

[241] The pequy (pik) is about 27 inches.

[242] This, according to Prof. Kopke, is meant for Crangalor, the modern Kodungalar in Cochin. The frazila there is equal to 8.314 kilo., and the fanão, when buying pepper, is valued at 22-8/19 reis (6.5_d._).

[243] It is the Coilum of Marco Polo, the Columbum of Friar Jordanus (1330), the modern Quilon. It is one of the principal seats of the Syrian Christians. The Portuguese built a fort there in 1503.

[244] Marco Polo’s Cael has been satisfactorily identified by Dr. Caldwell with the decayed village of Kayal (Palaya Kayal), near the mouth of the Tamrapanni river; whilst our author’s Caell is the Callegrande of Barros, now represented by Kayal Patnam, some distance to the south of that river. (Comp. Yule’s _Marco Polo_, ii, p. 307.) The pearl fisheries are near it, on the coast of Ceylon.

[245] According to Prof. Kopke, it extended from Point Calymere to the Godavari.

[246] Barbosa (p. 214) says that “the best sapphires are found in Ceylon,” as also “many rubies,” but inferior to those of Pegu.

[247] The silk referred to by the author, as also by Barbosa and Barros, is the produce of the silk cotton tree (_Bombax malabaricum_) and is much inferior in quality to true silk.—KOPKE.

[248] This, according to Prof. Kopke and Yule (_Marco Polo_, ii, p. 222), is Siam, the old capital of which (Ayuthia) is called Sornau or Xarnau by Varthema, Giovanni d’Empoli, and Mendez Pinto.

[249] Benzoin (Gum-Benjamin) is the produce of Styrax Benzoin, found in Siam, Cochin-China, Java and Sumatra, that of Siam being accounted the best.

[250] The odoriferous aloe-wood of the author is the wood of _Aquilaria Agallocha (Roxb.)_, found in Further India, and more especially in Chamba. Its Sanscrit name, Aguru, was corrupted into Agila and Aquila; and hence its Latin and Portuguese name of “Eaglewood.” (Yule’s _Marco Polo_, ii, p. 215.)

[251] Prof. Kopke identifies Tenacar with Tenasserim, a great emporium at one time, through which the products of Siam reached the outer world.

[252] Brazil-wood first became known in Europe at the beginning of the fourteenth century under the designation of _Lignum presillum_. The most esteemed kind of this dye-wood is known as Sapan wood (_Caesalpinia sappan_), found more especially in Siam.

[253] This is no doubt Bengal, the capital of which was Chatigam (Chittagong).

[254] Cloves were originally found only in the Moluccas; the true nutmeg (_Myristica moschata_) comes from the same islands and those further to the east. Tin was—and still is—a native product. The silk and porcelain came from China.

[255] The frazila was equal to 10.51 kilo., the bahar was 210.22 kilo. The cruzado was a silver coin and was valued at 360 reis (8_s._ 8_d._).

[256] Barbosa (p. 186) gives a better account of musk, which really only reaches Pegu from the interior. It is the secretion of _Moschus moschiferus_, an animal resembling a deer, which lives in the mountains lying between the Amur river, China and India. The male has a pouch between the navel and the genitals which holds about 50 grammes of this secretion.

[257] Burma, above Pegu, is still famous for its rubies.

[258] This is evidently a duplicate account of what has been said above about Bemgala.

[259] Prof. Kopke would identify this with Timor, where there is a fort called Camanaça. This, however, is quite inadmissible, for there are no elephants in Timor. I am more inclined to think that “Conimata” stands for Sumatra, a small state in North Sumatra, adjoining Pedir. The voyage to Pater and Conimata is stated to occupy the same time, viz., fifty days. If this be so, there is a duplication of Sumatra as well as of Bengal.

[260] This seems to be Pedir, a small kingdom in Northern Sumatra, which had a pagan king when Varthema was there, although many of the inhabitants were Mohammedans. Rhubarb (_Rheum officinale_) is, however, only to be found in W. and N.W. China and in Tibet. The lacca tree is a native of Sumatra.

[261] Say £966.

[262] In calculating these values we have assumed the quintal to be equivalent to 100 pounds, the bahar = 460 pounds, the ratel = 1 pound. The cruzado is taken at 9_s._ 8_d._

It is interesting to compare these prices with those given by Duarte Barbosa for Calecut. Assuming the fanão to be worth 6.5_d._ they were as follows per pound:—Cinnamon, 4.3_d._; cloves, 7.2_d._ to 8.3_d._; pepper, 2.9_d._ to 3.3_d._; ginger, 0.5_d._ to 0.9_d._; nutmeg, 3.0_d._ to 3.36_d._; lac, 3.6_d._ to 5.2_d._; rhubarb, 9_s._ 9_d._ to 11_s._; musk, £15 11_s._; aloe-wood, 24_s._ 7_d._; frankincense, 0.9_d._ to 1.5_d._ A purchaser of one pound of each of these commodities would have paid at Calecut £17 13_s._ 6_d._, and would have received at Alexandria £57 12_s._ 8_d._, an increase of 210 per cent. (See Lord Stanley of Alderley’s version of _Duarte Barbosa_, Hakluyt Society, 1866, p. 219.)

Present Retail Prices in London are as follows (per pound): cinnamon, 1_s._ 8_d._; cloves, 1_s._ 6_d._; pepper, 7½_d._ to 10½_d._; ginger, 10_d._ to 1_s._ 4_d._; nutmeg, 2_s._ 6_d._ to 3_s._; lac, 8_d._; rhubarb, 8_s._ to 12_s._; musk, £117.

[263] The words placed within brackets have been kindly furnished me by the Rt. Rev. J. M. Speechly, D.D., who was Bishop of Travancore, 1879-89. In a letter to me he remarks that, “at the sea-port towns generally the worst Malayālam is spoken. Many Malayālam words are the same in Tamil, and in this list there are some which a Tamil scholar would be able to point out. Also, it is not unlikely that there are some Arabic words Malayālamised in the list. The anonymous author’s list is a very interesting one, and his journal, I have no doubt, will be so also. The ‘ne’ which ends so many words may stand for ‘nī’, ‘thou’. Sometimes it is only an expressive ending”.

[264] She died in childbed on August 24, 1498; and Dom Manuel, having been granted a dispensation from the Pope, married her sister, Doña Maria, on August 24, 1500, the second anniversary of his first wife’s death.

[265] _Collecção de S. Vicente_, t. III, fol. 513; XIV, fol. 1.

[266] _Collecção de S. Vicente_, t. XIV, fol. 1.

[267] Gaspar da Gama certainly came in the _S. Gabriel_ (see Sernigi’s letter, Appendix B).

[268] The immediate business of Pedro Correa was to get Pope Alexander VI to grant permission to the Commanders and Knights of the Orders of Christ and Aviz to marry. In this he succeeded (Goes, _Chronica do D. Manuel_, I, c. 15).

[269] “e proveito nosso.” This, in _Alguns Documentos_, is rendered “e principalemente nosso”. It is just possible that the King meant to say that the “service of God” was his principal object, as it had been that of his predecessors.

[270] “By these same discoverers” (_Alguns Documentos_).

[271] This reference to “boughs and leaves” reminds us of what the author of the _Journal_ says about gathering the branches and leaves of supposed cinnamon trees, p. 81.

[272] _Alguns Documentos_ adds: “nor such as suited”, that is, suited the requirements of the Indian market.

[273] This paragraph only appears in _Alguns Documentos_.

[274] The King, or his advisers, thus at once identified Ptolemy’s Taprobane with Ceylon, whilst Ortelius, the professional geographer, seventy-six years later, still assigns that name to Sumatra (see his map _Indiae Orientalis_, in _Theatrum Orbis Terrarum_).

[275] Monçaide and Gaspar da Gama, see Appendix E.

[276] A Bull of Alexander VI, dated Rome 1497, kalendas of June, allows King Manuel and his successors to keep possession of the countries conquered from the infidels, without prejudice to any prior claims of other Christian powers, and prohibits all kings, not possessing such claims, from disturbing King Manuel in the enjoyment of these rights. Finally, the Pope requires the King to establish the Christian religion in all the countries he may conquer (quoted from _Alguns Documentos_, p. 90).

[277] Canestrini, _Delle relazioni tra Firenze e il Portugallo_ (Archivo Storico Italiano, Florence, 1846, App. III).

[278] Falcão, _Livro de toda a fazenda_, 1612, p. 144.

[279] See Parte III, _Fonti italiane_, vol. i, p. 215; vol. ii, p. 113.

[280] _Delle Navigationi e Viaggi_, i, Venice, 1550.

[281] _Vita e lettere d’ Amerigo Vespucci_, Firenze, 1745, p. L.

[282] Roteiro, 2º ed., pp. 124-7.

[283] Markham, _The Letters of Amerigo Vespucci_. London (Hakluyt Society), 1894, p. x.

[284] _Il Milione di Marco Polo_, Firenze, 1828, i, p. liii.

[285] _Sechs-und-zwanzigster Jahresbericht des historichen Kreisvereins von Schwaben_, Augsburg, 1861, pp. 113-170.

[286] Peutinger studied at Padua and other cities of Italy, 1483-6. He is supposed to have paid a flying visit to Rome early in the sixteenth century. His brother-in-law, Christopher Welser, was at that time resident there, and perhaps the abstract was made by him.

[287] Sailing vessels going from the Cape Verde Islands to Lisbon frequently shape their course by the Azores. See p. 94.

[288] Translated from Codex 1910 in the Riccardian Library at Florence.

[289] Literally, “whalers”, or “vessels having the shape of a whale”, called “barinels” by the Portuguese, and not caravels.

[290] According to the _Paesi novamente retrovati_ and Ramusio, there were 180, but Peutinger says there were 118, of whom 55 died and 60 came back.

[291] According to the _Paesi_, etc., July 11th.

[292] This was the vessel commanded by Nicolau Coelho.

[293] “_Molto amalado_”. The _Paesi_ says “amallato a morte”, sick unto death, the very expression used by Peutinger.

[294] Ramusio says 1,300 leagues, but even this is a gross exaggeration. If we allow 17½ leagues to a degree, the new land actually discovered beyond the Rio de Infante amounted to 860 leagues, viz., 800 leagues along the African coast and 60 leagues in India.

[295] From the Cape to the Rio dos Bons Signaes is only 460 leagues.

[296] The Rio dos Bons Signaes, or Kiliman River.

[297] Peutinger says: “if they would stay till new moon, when the waters would grow small, they would give them gold in plenty in exchange for their money or merchandise.”

The Zambezi begins to subside in the beginning of April. Vasco da Gama left on February 25th. This is a very satisfactory confirmation of the writer’s information.

[298] From the Kiliman River (Zambezi) to Melinde is 330 leagues.

[299] The writer must have misunderstood his informants. Gaspar da Gama is evidently referred to. See Appendix E.

[300] From Melinde to Calecut is about 2,340 miles, or 682 leagues.

[301] This sentence is omitted by Ramusio.

[302] The “Bab el mandeb”.

[303] The Strait of Romania is the Bosporus, ancient cartographers (Ortelius and others) very properly writing “Romania” for the Turkish “Rum-ili”, instead of the corrupt “Roumelia” of most modern authors.

[304] The “Sinus Arabicus” of Pliny (vi, 28) is a gulf of the Erythrean, identical with our Red Sea.

[305] Peutinger adds that the people of Calecut were neither black nor white; and that they were Christians, although bad ones.

[306] Peutinger says: “churches and convents.”

[307] Peutinger’s version of this sentence is as follows: “Large and small are baptized in a state of nudity, once every three years, in a river near the town.”

[308] The writer evidently refers to the roads in Portugal, but Ramusio says “as in Italy”.

[309] Ramusio: “Esquires, doorkeepers and chamberlains.”

[310] Ramusio and Peutinger say: “by about fifty persons.”

[311] Peutinger says the couch “was hung round (umhangen) with blackish-green velvet, and had a white coverlet, all worked with gold, and above it a sumptuous curtain. The walls were hung with fine velvet of various colours.”

[312] Peutinger: “the king had the captain asked what he wanted or sought.”

[313] Ramusio: “carried on in their vessels.”

[314] Peutinger translates: “Irrkirche,” _i.e._, heterodox church.

[315] Industria: The word in Peutinger’s letter, “gescheidigkeit”, or intelligence, seems more appropriate.

[316] Ramusio adds here “partly”. The island is Ceylon.

[317] Ramusio adds: “and not by Christians, and the Moors are the masters (signori).”

[318] The Italian original has “stapola”.

[319] Babylonia of Egypt. Ramusio omits “Babylonia”. Peutinger has Alkeiro (Cairo).

[320] The xerafins of Portuguese authors, worth about 7_s._ 10_d._ (at Calecut).

[321] The _Paesi_ and Ramusio add “zetanini velutati”; and Ramusio introduces also “damasked Lucca cloth”, in place of “scarlet cloth”. Prof. Dalla Vedova suggests that “cetanini” may stand for “setini”, a silken stuff of narrow width used in decorating the columns of churches. Bandini says it means “zendado, a kind of cloth”. Lucca was famous in the sixteenth century for its silks and woollen cloths.

[322] Tin, from Malacca.

[323] The _Paesi_, Ramusio, and Peutinger say May 19. According to the “Roteiro”, Vasco da Gama anchored off Capua on May 20.

[324] Ramusio says 200 tons; Peutinger 1,200.

[325] This sentence is omitted by Ramusio; but Peutinger says “many of these vessels are drowned in the sea”.

[326] Ramusio says: “are of curious build”.

[327] Ramusio adds: “but with wooden bolts”, but omits the allusion to the loadstone.

Peutinger locates the “calamito or loadstone” near Ceylon. The myth of magnetic mountains and islands originated in India or China, and was widely credited during the Middle Ages. It was believed that the magnet pulled out the iron bolts and nails of passing ships, which then fell to pieces and were lost.]

[328] Ramusio adds: “The sea rises and falls alternately every six hours, as elsewhere, and sometimes between 500 and 700 vessels may be seen there—a great sight”.

[329] Peutinger adds that the cantar is equal to 250 pounds, when in fact it is only a hundredweight. Five cantars were equal to 1 bahar = 208 kilo = 460 pounds.

[330] Ramusio and Peutinger say that ginger is worth only one half. They say nothing about cinnamon.

[331] Ramusio says nothing about “calking”. The writer seems to look upon “ballasting” and “calking” as identical operations. Or has he made use of a Portuguese term (alastrar), the meaning of which he did not know? Or are we to understand that lac was employed as a substitute for pitch?

[332] Ramusio and Peutinger say that they also take corals in payment, and this seems more probable.