User:Walrasiad/Gama

Background

The project of John II

The death of Prince Henry the Navigator in 1460 nearly put an end to the era of Portuguese discoveries. Under Henry's guidance and financing, Portuguese explorers had reached as far as Cape Palmas (modern Liberia), but had little profit to show for the effort. As a result, there was little interest by the crown of Portugal to follow up on Henry's ventures after his death. Portuguese exploration of the African coast was only resumed nearly a decade later, in 1469, when the Portuguse crown leased the rights to trade on the African coast to a private Lisbon merchant consortium led by Fernão Gomes. In a few short years, Gomes's captains explored most of the Gulf of Guinea, as far as Cape Santa Catarina (Gabon).

Gomes's interest was wholly commercial. He drummed up a small fortune trading in ivory, slaves, gold dust and maleguetta (a pepper substitute). When Gomes's charter expired in 1474, it was not renewed. Instead, Prince John, the heir to the throne, asked his father, King Afonso V of Portugal, to pass the African commercial charter over to him.

King John II of Portugal (r.1481-1495)

The ambitious Prince John realized the profits from overseas trade could be a means to build up the royal treasury, allowing the crown to break its traditional dependence on the great feudal nobility, and pursue a more centralized political course at home. After ascending to the throne as King John II of Portugal in 1481, the prince immediately set his program in motion, introducing centralizing reforms and launching a new series of Portuguese expeditions to finance them.

John II's first big project was the erection of the fortress of São Jorge da Mina (Elmina, Ghana) in 1482 to access the markets and mining activities in the Akan goldfields. He also established the royal trading house (Casa da Mina e Guiné) and naval arsenal ( Armazém da Guiné). Most significantly, John II articulated a new objective for his captains: to find a sea route to the spice markets of India. This would give the Portuguese crown direct access to the immense profits of the spice trade.

The spice trade in Europe, at this time, was dominated by the Republic of Venice, whose merchants practically monopolized the Mediterranean end of the 'Red Sea route'. The principal Asian spices were black pepper and ginger from Kerala, cinnamon from Ceylon, long pepper from Java, cloves from the Moluccas, nutmeg from the Banda Islands). These were picked up from major spice emporiums (notably Calicut) on the Malabar coast of India by Arab and Gujurati merchants, shipped across the Arabian Sea to ports like Aden, or further along in the Red Sea. From there, the spices were carried overland by caravan trains to the Mediterranean ports, notably Alexandria, where they were picked up by Venetian merchants for distribution in Europe.

Red Sea trade route between Europe to India

The long chain of middlemen and customs authorities along this route, each taking a cut of the profits at every step, pushed costs high. John II of Portugal calculated that a direct sea route to the spice markets of India - one direct trip, without middlemen, carrying more tonnage - would allow him to move spices at a much lower cost, outcompete the Venetians and retain the entire hefty profits of the spice trade for himself.

In this project, John II was said to have been greatly encouraged by Italian trading houses and financiers, notably from Genoa and Florence, several of whom had long been involved in the Portuguese Atlantic islands and African trade, and had a strong presence in Lisbon. The fall of Constantinople in 1453 and Caffa in 1475 to the Ottomans, had severely compromised the easy access of the Genoese to the Asian spice trade. They had no better luck in Mameluke ports such as Alexandria, where the Venetians enjoyed privileged access, to the detriment of their Italian rivals. So it was natural for them to turn to Portugal, to a king like John II, a prince of mercantile instincts, to urge the opening of a new route, a sea route, to connect them to the markets of the east, side-stepping the Venetian monopoly. In return, the Italian merchants and financiers offered their capital, their expertise and their networks.

The problem was getting there. There might not even be a sea route - certainly some maps (e.g. Ptolemy's) suggested the Indian Ocean was an enclosed lake, that the bottom of Africa was connected to Asia. Nonetheless, going partly by Classical and Biblical conjectures (as exemplified, for instance, in the 1351 Medici Atlas, there was a strong belief that the Atlantic and Indian oceans were connected to each other, that the African continent had a southernmost point. The question is where was it? And could be sailed?

At his ascension, John II immediately dispatched his captains to search for that southern promontory. In 1482, Diogo Cão sailed down the vast coast of Africa, probing at waterways, reaching as far south as Cape Cross (Namibia) around 1485. The breakthrough was finally made by Bartolomeu Dias, who reached and doubled the Cape of Good Hope in 1488. Dias wanted to go on to India, but was forced to turn back by his own crew.

Strangely, Dias's breakthrough was not followed up immediately. Although preparations began upon Dias's return, the expedition did not depart for nearly another decade. The reasons for this delay have been variously contemplated. By and large, it seems John II just got distracted with other events. In 1489-90, John II was busy with his first ventures in North Africa, notably a hair-brained expedition to erect a fortress in Larache (Morocco). In 1491, his attention turned to domestic matters - most notably the untimely death of his only son and heir Prince Afonso and frantic efforts to legitimize a bastard son, Jorge de Lencastre, to replace him. In 1492, came the influx of expelled Jews from Spain, which took considerable political attention. Then the news of Columbus's discovery of America, the resulting international tensions with Castile and the delicate diplomatic negotiations which ensued, culminating in the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494). Finally, in 1495, John II died, leaving his Indian project unfulfilled.

Nonetheless, John II had laid the groundwork for what was to come. Not only had the Dias expedition shown the way, the Portuguese had also acquired immense intelligence from another important expedition. In 1487, John II had dispatched two spies, Pêro da Covilhã and Afonso de Paiva, overland to scout the details of the secretive spice trade. Disguised as Arab merchants, they proceeded to Cairo and reached Aden in 1488. There they separated - Paiva going inland to Ethiopia (to make contact with the legendary Prester John, the Christian Emperor of Ethiopia), while Covilhã took a ship across the ocean to India. Covilhã visited the ports of Goa, Cannanore (Kannur), and, most importantly, Calicut (Kozhikode), the principal spice emporium of the region. Covilhã subsequently sailed down the East African coast and visited the cities of the Kilwa Sultanate, down to Sofala, the main outlet of the Monomatapa gold trade. Around 1491-92, Covilhã had returned back up the coast to Cairo, where he delivered his detailed scouting report to a pair of clandestine Portuguese agents, Joseph of Lamego and Abraham of Beja (Rabi Habrãao). The agents brought Covilhã's reports back to Lisbon, where it was delivered to John II.

It was left for his successor, his cousin, King Manuel I of Portugal, to reap the harvest that John II had sown. The first two years of Manuel's reign were spent in the delicate political problems of the transition. But by the Spring of 1497, the long-projected expedition to India was finally ready.

Appointment of Vasco da Gama

The choice of Vasco da Gama to lead the first expedition to India was not an obvious one, but it was a careful one.

Vasco was a younger son in a lesser noble family deeply attached not to Manuel, but to his predecessor, John II. Vasco's father, Estêvão da Gama was a leading knight of the Order of Santiago and a frequent and trusted figure in John II's entourage. Estêvão da Gama had been a major supporter of John II's efforts to bring Jorge de Lencastre up the succession ladder and pip Manuel to the throne. Indeed, according to the chroniclers (e.g. Barros, Góis and Castanheda), Estêvão da Gama may very well have been John II's own initial choice to lead the expedition to India back in 1489, before it got sidetracked.

By contrast, Manuel's claim to the throne had been strongly supported by his Order of Christ, the old order Henry had once led, but which John II had sidelined in favor of his own Order of Santiago. The rivalry between the Orders continued after Manuel's accession in 1495 - Jorge de Lencastre had been given the grand mastership of Santiago as a consolation prize, and used that perch to gather political opposition to King Manuel I.

Vasco da Gama, c.1524, by Gregório Lopes

Like his father, Vasco da Gama was deeply attached to the Order of Santiago and loyal to its new grand master. As such, from Manuel's perspective, Vasco da Gama was a member of the opposition political camp. Why appoint him to head such an important mission?

Much speculation has swirled around this. The most straightforward one is that this was a careful conciliatory political gesture. The India expedition was John II's project, and the Order of Santiago would feel deeply insulted if it was passed over to a knight of the Order of Christ. On the other hand, Manuel knew appointing a knight of Santiago would bring up objections in his own Order of Christ. But if, as has been argued, Vasco's own father, the late Estêvão da Gama, had already been slated to lead the India expedition, then by appointing his son, Vasco da Gama, Manuel could present it as merely fulfilling an earlier commitment made by John II. So Vasco da Gama was the optimal conciliatory figure - a way of satisfying the Order of Santiago, without undue affront to the Order of Christ.

But there were other considerations at play. The Order of Christ had been largely out of the expeditions business since 1460. They did not really hold the India project in much regard - indeed, they argued more for its cancellation than anything else. Indeed, opposition to the expedition was rife in Manuel's party. At the first Portuguese Cortes assembled by by King Manuel I of Portugal at Montemor-o-Novo in 1495, there were numerous calls urging Manuel to call it off, characterizing it as just an extravagant folly of the late John II. So Manuel must have calculated that if the expedition did not succeed, it would be better that the failure be attached to a member of the enemy political camp, rather than one of his own hand-picked knights.

According to the chroniclers, Manuel's appointment of Vasco da Gama was issued in Estremoz on January 1497, that is before the common date for Estêvão da Gama's death (July, 1497), suggesting the father was still alive but too old and sickly by that time. It should be noted that that Vasco's older brother, Paulo da Gama, would have been the rightful successor to Estêvão's position. Castanheda claims that Paulo was indeed originally offered the position to lead the armada, but turned it down for health reasons (although he later changed his mind and agreed to captain the second ship, subordinate to his younger brother's command). Why Paulo surrendered his birthright is unclear. It may have indeed been health reasons, or perhaps Paulo preferred to shy away from political storms (Vasco's temperament, by contrast, was far from timid) Other chroncilers, however, assert Vasco was the first choice, and that he requested his brother accompany him only after his appointment.

But it might also have been simply an issue of merit. Vasco da Gama had decent prior credentials - having (it is said) led or accompanied a few fleets to the Atlantic islands and (possibly) Guinea before, and proved his mettle by seizing some French ships off the Portuguese coast. Indeed, Gaspar Correia suggests that Vasco da Gama was hand-picked by Manuel on his own merits, that Manuel actually liked him, and believed he was truly the best man for the job.

We should note that at least one chronicler, Garcia de Resende goes further than the others in suggesting that, before his death in 1495, John II himself had already personally seleted Vasco da Gama (and not his father Estêvão), written the orders (regimento), outfitted the ships and hired the crew, that Manuel's sole role in all this was limited to just giving the final order - cutting the ribbon, as it were. ]

The Fleet

Gama's armada was a modest one: four ships (2 large-hulled carracks (naus), one caravel and one supply ship) and around 170 men. Tonnages below are as given in Castanheda.

Ship Name	Captain	Pilot	Clerk	Notes
1. São Gabriel	Vasco da Gama	Pêro de Alenquer	Diogo Dias	flagship. 120t carrack, 40-50 men.
2. São Rafael	Paulo da Gama	João de Coimbra	João de Sá	100t carrack, 40-50 men.
3. São Miguel or Bérrio	Nicolau Coelho	Pedro Escobar	Álvaro de Braga	prob. a large caravel, 50t, 35 men
4. uncertain	Gonçalo Nunes			Supply ship, 200t, 20 men, destined to be scuttled.

Fleet of the 1st India Armada (Gama, 1497), from the Memória das Armadas, c.1568

The ships and supplies were organized by Fernão Lourenço, the feitor of the Casa da Mina. The São Gabriel and São Rafael, were a new class of ship, the nau (carrack), built specifically for this expedition from "timber already ordered cut by John II" . The carrack was a large-hulled ship, with a high charge and three masts (two square, 1 lateen). The São Gabriel, weighing in at 120t, was the largest ship yet built in Portugal (although it would soon be exceeded several times over in just a few years). The caravel São Miguel was nicknamed Bérrio, as that was the name of its previous owner. The supply ship was purchased from Aires Correia (poss. same person as the Calicut factor of the later 1500 armada). It is probably not a coincidence that the three ships are named after the three archangels - Gabriel, Raphael and Michael - venerated in the Catholic Church.

The captains were Vasco da Gama, his brother Paulo da Gama, both knights of the Order of Santiago and Nicolau Coelho of the royal household. The captain of the supply ship, Gonçalo Nunes, is merely identified as a 'servant of Gama"

The chronicles suggest that a fifth ship departed with the India fleet from Lisbon, although it was destined to part ways and head for São Jorge da Mina on the Portuguese Gold Coast on a separate mission. The captain of this ship is said to be none other than Bartolomeu Dias, the doubler of the Cape back in 1488. This has led to controversial speculations over why Dias, if he was apparently available, was not given the honor of leading the India expedition, or at least captaining one of the ships. His brother, Diogo Dias was going as the clerk of the São Gabriel.

Fleet of the 1st India Armada (Gama, 1497), from the Livro de Lisuarte de Abreu, c.1565

The crew was replete with veterans from earlier expeditions. Overall technical command of the expedition was in the hands of Pêro de Alenquer, arguably the best living pilot of that era. He had been the lead pilot on the 1488 expedition of Bartolomeu Dias. The pilot of the Bérrio, Pedro Escobar, was a veteran of the numerous expeditions into the Gulf of Guinea organized by Fernão Gomes in the 1470s, and had gone with Diogo Cão down to the Congo in the 1480s.

Among the passsengers, were several slated to serve as translators. These were Martim Afonso (who had spent extensive time in the Congo) and Fernão Martins (a former African slave with a working knowledge of Arabic). One of the ten or twelve degredados, João Nunes (a converted Jew), could manage some Arabic and Hebrew.

The fleet also carried two priests: the chaplain Pedro de Covilhã (no relation to his more famous namesake) and João Figueiredo.

A certain Álvaro Velho, who travelled on the São Rafael, left a valuable diary, the only eyewitness account of the voyage. On its return, Girolamo Sernigi, an Italian commercial agent in Lisbon, interviewed the arriving crews and compiled their accounts (published 1507).

In Luís de Camões Lusiad (1572), several figures are emphasized. Some of them, notably Fernão Veloso, were real persons mentioned in the chronicles, but Camões's takes ample poetic license to exaggerate their role and importance. Curiously, there seems to have been some fertilization the other way: the "old man of Restelo beach" (o velho do Restelo, ), a Cassandra-like character in the Lusiad who surges forward to chide Gama just before their departure, deploring the vanity of fame and warning against terrible travails that await them (Canto IV, v.94-111), is incorporated in Jerónimo Osório's 1574 chronicle. This may not be wholly fiction: Gaspar Correia, writing in the 1550s (before Camões), mentions that Vasco da Gama met alone with the old Jewish cosmographer Abraham Zacuto at the Belem monastery just before his departure for some final tips, and that Zacuto warned him of the dangers ahead.

The Mission

The orders (regimento) given to Vasco da Gama by King Manuel I have, unfortunately, not survived. But it cannot be that hard to deduce the principal mission: to open a sea route to India, negotiate a commercial treaty with Calicut (Kozhikode), the principal spice emporium on the Malabar coast of India, load up with spices and return home.

A secondary mission, probably more dear to Manuel himself, was to search out and forge alliances with whatever Christian powers there might be in the region - including possibly Prester John. (Indeed, Barros (p.275) says Gama was carrying royal letters from Manuel for both the 'King of Calicut' and Prester John, although the armada ultimately made no move in the direction of Ethiopia.)

A third mission, although this is substantially less clear, might have been to search for Sofala, the Monomatapa gold emporium referred to by Pêro da Covilhã.

The Outward Voyage

The following chronology primarily follows the on-board diary of Álvaro Velho.

Departure of Vasco da Gama from Restelo beach, Belém

July 8, 1497 - The four ships of the 1st India Armada, led by Vasco da Gama, leaves Belém, on the Tagus estuary, accompanied by a fifth ship (destined for Africa) captained by Bartolomeu Dias.

[Curious aside: just before departure, King Manuel I of Portugal gave Vasco da Gama his personal standard - not the familiar armillary sphere flag later associated with Manuel, but rather the banner of the Order of Christ, of which King Manuel was Grand Master. Gaspar Correa notes that as soon as the ships left sight of Lisbon harbor, Paulo da Gama pulled 'the royal standard' down. Evidently the Gamas took the king's gesture as a calculated slight against their Order of Santiago.)

July 15 - The 1st Armada passes by the Canary Islands. Despite the smooth sailing, the ships lose track of each other on the night of July 17th, but carry on individually to the pre-arranged rendez-vous point.

July 27 - The ships of the 1st Armada re-collect at Cape Verde islands, the pre-arranged point, and take water on Santiago island.

August 3 - The First Armada leaves Cape Verde Islands, heading east, towards the west African mainland.

August 18-22 - Some 200 leagues south of Cape Verde (around the environs of Sierra Leone), the mast on the São Gabriel cracks and the crew are forced to pause for repairs. Bartolomeu Dias's caravel parts ways from the First Armada around now and heads east to São Jorge da Mina. The First Armada, following its own route, strikes southwest into the South Atlantic.

November 7 - After over 90 days constantly at sea in the South Atlantic without view of land, the First Armada finally reaches the shores of South Africa.

South Atlantic arc

The distance sailed by the First Armada between Cape Verde and the Cape of Good Hope is around 1,170 leagues (4,290 miles). The 93 days they stayed constantly at sea was the longest time a known ship had ever been at sea until then.

While there is no dispute of the distance, the exact route the First Armada followed has been subject to debate - most famously, in a series of lengthy polemics in the 1930s between historian José Maria Rodrigues and navigator Gago Coutinho. Most modern historians have come to agree with Coutinho's hypothesis, that the First Armada plotted a 'wide arc' in the South Atlantic, well to the west in open ocean, to reach the Cape of Good Hope, rather than follow the old coast-hugging African route (as favored by Rodrigues).

It is generally agreed that from Cape Verde, the First Armada continued along the West African coast to the environs of Sierra Leone (around 8°-10°N). At this latitude, the northeasterly trade winds die out and the doldrums begin (light or no winds). The easy Canary current is long gone, and the Guinea Current (equatorial counter-current) emerges, cutting across from west to east, into the Gulf of Guinea. Typically, as Portuguese ships would have drifted with the Guinea current along the coast to reach São Jorge da Mina, this was usually known as the Rota da Mina (Mina Route).

Older historians (like Rodrigues) suggested that the First Armada followed the 'Rota da Mina' - that is, drifted with the Guinea current for a while, until somewhere before São Tomé Island, then turned and sailed constantly south, approximately parallel to the African coast, until the Cape. This was the route followed by earlier Portuguese explorers Diogo Cão and Bartolomeu Dias in the 1480s.

The main problem with the Mina hypothesis is that it is very difficult to sail south from Mina - it implies sailing upwind against the strong southeasterly trade winds and the northbound Benguela Current. A lateen-rigged caravel can inch ahead by tacking against the wind, but it is long and tiresome process, and would be particularly painful for the First Armada's less maneouverable large carracks (primarily dependent on square sails). Moreover, the Mina hypothesis suffers from the fact that the First Armada's diarist, Alvaro Velho, simply does not report seeing any land during those three months.

Rodrigues asserted the First Armada followed the "Rota da Mina", the old coast-hugging African route all the way down to South Africa, then looped around the Cape, exactly as Bartolomeu Dias had done back in 1488. But most modern historians agree with Coutinho's hypothesis that the First Armada pioneered a wholly new course, the "volta do mar" - namely that around Sierra Leone, the first armada struck out southwest, away from the African coast, and into the open Atlantic Ocean, plotting a wide sailing arc that followed the South Atlantic Gyre, reaching the Cape of Good Hope from the west.

Álvaro Velho's diary states they left the Cape Verde islands in an easterly direction ("partimos em leste", that is, towards the African coast), that the mast broke when they were 200 leagues from Cape Verde, already sailing with a south wind ("hindo hum dia com sull"), and then, four days later, reports they were following the gyre of the sea going south by west ("hindo na volta do mar ao sull e a quarta do sudueste"). They were pretty constantly at sea, outside of the sight of land, for three months.

Attempts to reconstruct the exact route have been subject to much debate - most famously, the in a series of lengthy public polemics in the 1930s between historian José Maria Rodrigues and admiral Gago Coutinho. Although it probably never will be resolved, most modern historians have come to agree with Coutinho's hypothesis, that the First Armada plotted a 'wide arc' in the South Atlantic, some 200 leagues west, to reach the Cape of Good Hope, rather than follow the old coast-hugging African route.

Some older historians (like Rodrigues) have suggested that the First Armada followed the 'Rota da Mina' - that is, drifted with the Guinea current for a while, until somewhere before São Tomé Island, then turned southeast, and sailed down, approximately parallel to the African coast, until the Cape. This was, by and large, the route followed by earlier Portuguese explorers Diogo Cão and Bartolomeu Dias in the 1480s.

The Mina hypothesis suffers from the fact that the First Armada's diarists do not report seeing land during those three months. This is not impossible, but it is unlikely along what is essentially a coast-hugging route.

The main problem with using the Mina Route to reach the Cape is that it is very difficult to sail south from there. When ships cross below the equatorial doldrums into the South Atlantic, they are sailing straight against the strong southeasterly trade winds and the northbound Benguela Current. A lateen-rigged caravel can inch ahead by tacking against the wind, but it is long and tiresome process, particularly all the way down to South Africa. For the First Armada's less maneouverable large naus (primarily dependent on square sails), this would be particularly painful.

Probable Atlantic route of Vasco da Gama (1497), showing approximate sea currents (blue) and wind latitudes (green). Based on hypothesis of Gago Coutinho.

Gago Coutinho argued that the First Armada avoided the Mina Route, and instead plotted an entirely novel route, a wide arc through the South Atlantic. In Coutinho's estimation, in the environs of Sierra Leone, the Armada struck sharply southwest, cutting across the Atlantic doldrums and the Guinea Current, to catch the south equatorial drift, which would have taken them westwards towards the (as-yet-undiscovered) coast of Brazil. But before they reached the South American landmass, they would have caught the caught the Brazil Current, and glided south with it until they approached the wind-changing horse latitudes (30°S), where they were picked up by the prevailing northwestern Westerlies and taken straight across the South Atlantic towards the Cape of Good Hope.

The principal objection to Coutinho's hypothesis is that this arc route was never sailed before. No Portuguese sailor would have known of the existence of the Brazil Current. Nor is it likely they would have agreed to strike into unknown open ocean in the opposite direction (southwest) of their ultimate destination (southeast).

But Gago Coutinho, a navigator himself, dismisses those objections as underestimating the knowledge and instincts of real navigators of the time - and the First Armada carried aboard some first rate veteran pilots.

The plotting of this wide arc would have been largely due to the genius of Pêro de Alenquer, the pilot of the São Gabriel. Having served previously as the pilot on the 1487-88 expedition of Bartolomeu Dias, Alenquer was among the first to discover the prevailing westerlies that lay below the southeasterly trade winds belt and the South Atlantic Current that flowed to the east below the Benguela Current. Indeed, Dias and Alenquer used precisely those winds and that current to sail around the Cape back in 1488.

So, from the information he already had, it would not have been outlandish for Pêro de Alenquer to conclude that the South Atlantic currents and winds mirrored the North Atlantic ones exactly. In other words, he would have naturally hypothesized the existence of a counter-clockwise South Atlantic Gyre (mirroring the northern one), and thus the probable existence of the Brazil Current to the west, which could be used to catch the prevailing westerlies to get to the Cape.

Naturally, there was an element of risk. The South American landmass was not known to exist, so the hypothesized Brazil Current could turn out to be quite far away. But that didn't really matter. Even if the Brazil current did not exist, Alenquer knew the westerlies did. So just keeping the armada sailing steadily southwest with the equatorial drift, he knew they would eventually catch the westerlies anyway. The Brazil current just provided a short-cut.

While inexperienced captains and sailors might have balked at the suggestion, Alenquer's reasoning and hypothesis would likely have been accepted by other experienced pilots in the fleet, particularly Pedro Escobar (the pilot of the Bérrio). Having sailed the Mina route several times before, Escobar knew the tiresomeness of tacking against the contrary trade winds and the Benguela current. What Alenquer proposed would have seemed natural, correct and appealing - likelier to get to the Cape much faster, even if it meant a lengthy period in open ocean. Moreover, keep in mind that Bartolomeu Dias himself accompanied the expedition up to Sierra Leone. If the route was discussed with him, Dias would have corroborated Alenquer's statements and likely supported his arguments. So, altogether, it was probably was not too hard to prevail on the captain-major, Vasco da Gama, to attempt the wide arc route.

One final piece of evidence exists for the wide arc hypothesis: namely, that precisely such an arc was plotted by the next armada, the Cabral expedition of 1500. While historians have scrambled to explain 'why' Cabral struck southwest to discover Brazil, the answer may simply be 'because Gama did' (it helps that both Pêro de Alenquer and Pedro Escobar (along with other veterans) were on the Cabral expedition. Cabral just happened to have followed the south equatorial drift a little longer than Gama, and so ended up stumbling on the Brazilian landmass by accident.

Coutinho insists that the 'wide arc' route would have been natural, instinctive and reasonable for any intelligent navigator, with the information they had available in 1497. It was the route followed by Cabral immediately after, and indeed, the route that is still recommended today to sailing ships.

The inner Mina route, by contrast, was simply unlikely. Yes, it was used exclusively before - but that was before the discovery of the South Atlantic westerlies and current by the expedition of Bartolomeu Dias in 1488. No navigator worth his salt, Coutinho assures us, would have ignored that information and gone back to the old Mina route to reach the Cape.

Playing an important factor was the phenomenon of the "Atlantic monsoon", i.e. the seasonal shift of the doldrums further south in the winter, and further north during the summer. Meaning that during the summer (March to September), there will be more southerly winds around the equator (fed by the SE trades), whereas during the winter (September to March), there will be more northerly winds (fed by the NE trades). This suggests it is impossible for Vasco da Gama to have pressed straight south from Cape Verde, as he would have been going against the prevailing winds. Turning southwest at Cape Verde was also not an option - as the Atlantic monsoon would have pushed him along the equator, above the bend of Brazil, sending him headlong to the Caribbean. It was consequently necessary to strike southeast from Cape Verde, and continue along the African coast until Sierra Leone, and only turn southwest then.

(by contrast, in 1500, the Second Armada under Pedro Álvares Cabral, left in March, early enough to be still in the winter Atlantic monsoon, and thus the NE trades pushed him along further, and was well south before he had to turn his "arc", thereby hitting the Brazilian mainland was almost an inevitability. Or put another way, because he was in the winter, Cabral didn't have to turn sharply southeast at Cape Verde, as Gama had done. So while both the Gama and Cabral arcs have the same "dimension", Gama's arc started further east, and while his arc went far west, maybe even beyond 30 W, it did not go far enough to touch Brazil.)

Some of these conditions, including the Atlantic monsoon, would have been known to the Portuguese already. Ships returning from Mina usually had to undertake a wide arc of their own, often below the equator, to return to Portugal via the Azores.

"José Maria Rodrigues"

Gago Coutinho, C.V. (1949) "Discussao sobre a rota seguida por Vasco da Gama ente Santiago e S. Bras", Anais da Academia Portuguesa da Historia, vol. 2,p.99-131. Reprinted as Chapter

Gago Coutinho, C.V. (1951-52) A Nautica dos Descobrimentos: os descobrimentos maritimos visitos por um navegador, 2 vols., Lisbon: Agencia Geral do Ultramar.

Axelson, E. (1988) "The Dias Voyage, 1487-1488: toponymy and padrões", Revista da Universidade de Coimbra, Vol. 34, p.29-55 [offprint]

Waters, D.W. (1988) "Reflections Upon Some Navigational and Hydrographic Problems of the XVIth Century Related to the voyage of Bartolomeu Dias", Revista da Universidade de Coimbra, Vol. 34, p.275-347. [offprint]

Gama in Africa

November 7, 1497 - After a long, three-month Atlantic sweep (longest open sailing thus far), Vasco da Gama's armada makes landfall in South Africa, anchoring in St. Helena Bay, and rest and repair for about a week. They encounter some Khoisan people, a meeting which goes well at first, until one of the sailors, a certain Fernão Veloso, ventures to accompany the natives to their settlement. On his return, Veloso calls out to ships to send a launch to collect him, but his signals are misinterpreted as trouble. Armed sailors aboard the launch flash threatening gestures at the group of Khoisan on the beach, prompting the frightened Khoisan to launch a volley of spears in return and flee. A few sailors are wounded.

November, 16 - The armada sets sail out of St. Helena.

November, 22 - Facing headlong winds, guided by veteran Pêro de Alenquer, who had piloted the Dias expedition back in 1488, the armada finally rounds the Cape of Good Hope.

November 25 - Armada lands in Angra de São Brás (Mossel Bay) where they rest for nearly two weeks. The supply ship is dismantled and burnt here on Gama's orders and its sailors redistributed among the remaining three ships. After about a week, a large group of Khoikhoi appear at the watering hole. Contarary to the hostile reception given Dias a decade earlier at the very same spot, this encounter goes surprisingly well at first, with some small level trade between the Khoikhoi and the Portuguese. But the Portuguese turn suddenly suspicious when the Khoikhoi begin suddenly driving away their cattle herds, and a Portuguese sailor reports finding a substantial cache of native weaponry hidden in a nearby copse. Fearing an ambush, the Portuguese withdraw and arm themselves. There is no confrontation, just a couple of intimidating shots in the air.

December 8 - As the armada sails out of Mossel Bay, they see the Khoikhoi return to the beach to tear down and deface the pillar (padrão) Gama's men had set up. The fleet sails on, passing through Algoa Bay, sailing past the Ilheus Chaos ( Bird Islands) and the Ilheus da Cruz (St. Croix islands).

December 16 - Vasco da Gama reaches the Rio do Infante (Great Fish River) and the last pillar (padrão) set up by Bartolomeu Dias back in 1488. From here on out, the armada is sailing into unfamiliar waters. Facing the strong contrary Agulhas Current, the armada moves forward slowly.

December 25, 1497 - Around 70 leagues forward, on Christmas Day, they sight a coast which they name Natal (Portuguese for Christmas). They anchor by Porto de Natal (modern Durban) on December 28, to repair a mast and do some fishing, before continuing on that same evening. Apparently, they do not take water there.

January 6, 1498 - Vasco da Gama's fleet, pass by what they call Rio dos Reis (Incomati River) named on account of the Three Kings Day

Terra de Boa Gente (Inharrime)

January 10, 1498 - The First Armada meets the terrifying headland of Cape Correntes, the entry to the Mozambique Channel. They struggle to make headway against the complicated winds and currents, but to no avail. The fast currents push the armada backwards. The first known casualties are suffered here.

January 11 - Unable to pass the violent Cape Correntes, Vasco da Gama's fleet decides to make a watering stop nearby by at a place they name Rio do Cobre ('River of Copper', since identified as Inharrime or Zavora). Here they encounter Bantu peoples with whom Martim Afonso, who had spent some time in the Congo, somehow manages to communicate with. The Portuguese are well received and Vasco da Gama names the area Terra de Boa Gente ('Land of Good People'). A brisk trade of Bantu copper for Portuguese linen ensues. But the Portuguese also notice some of the peoples are wearing some Arab clothing and accoutrements, the first evidence of trade nearby.

Rio dos Bons Sinaes (Quelimane)

January 16, 1498 - After a five day sojourn in Inharrime, the Armada sets sail once again, pushing past Cape Correntes into the Mozambique Channel.

January 25 - The ships battered by the Cape Correntes and the crew in the throes of scurvy, the First Armada decides to stop at the Zambezi River delta. They anchor at the mouth of the Quá-Qua river, a tributary of the Zambezi, just below the small settlement of Quelimane. Gama names the area the Rio dos Bons Sinais ('River of Good Omens'). The Portuguese spend nearly a month here making repairs and recovering from illness. They are well-received by the local population, but the Portuguese trinkets do not seem to impress them. The inhabitants have plenty of Arab clothing and the Portuguese also see some dhows sailing in the area, the first boats they have seen since they left Sierra Leone. The Portuguese realize they are now within an established Muslim trading area (as it turns out, the Swahili Coast, dominated by the Kilwa Sultanate). The Portuguese stay close to the ships in the river near Quelimane, and try to keep interaction with the locals to a minimum, lest they be revealed as Christian interlopers in Muslim waters. As a result, they don't learn that Sofala, probably one of their mission objectives, was just a few leagues south of them.

February 24 - After nearly a month's rest at the Zambezi delta, Gama orders the erection of a stone pillar (padrão) there and, leaving behind two degredados , the First Armada set sail north.

Mozambique Island

March 1, 1498 - Vasco da Gama's fleet approaches Mozambique Island,a flourishing commercial town and outpost of the Kilwa Sultanate. They are guided by local canoes to the ample harbor of the island. The local sheikh Zacoeja (Çacoeja, Shah Khwajah?) of Mozambique rows out to meet them. But the sheikh is unimpressed by the Portuguese cargo. Lacking quality goods, the sheikh probably deduces they are not merchants, perhaps pirates? - and presses them suspiciously for more information about their origins and purpose. Vasco da Gama (via the translator Fernão Martins) is deliberately coy in his responses, and subtly dodges all questions about religion, allowing the sheikh to assume they might be Turks. Vasco da Gama negotiates the hiring of two Swahili pilots, keeping one of them permanently aboard ship.

March 11 - Several of the Portuguese row out to the nearby island of São Jorge to conduct Christian mass in secret. But a group of small Mozambican boats rows out after them, requesting them to return to Mozambique Island. Believing the masquerade was up, that their Christian identity had been discovered, Gama opens fire on the boats, surprising them and forcing them to hurry away. Returning to the main ships, Gama orders the armada to set sail out of the area at once, but contrary winds prevent them from getting far. The armada return to São Jorge and anchor in, waiting for the weather to turn.

March 15-25 - While the armada is idling nervously at São Jorge, the Mozambican sheikh sends a couple of emissaries out to them offering friendship and asking them to return to Mozambique Island, but Gama is too wary and nothing comes of it. But the anchored fleet soon runs out of fresh water, so after about a week or so, Gama decides to take up the offer of one of the Mozambican visitors to lead them to a watering hole on the coast. Following the visitor's instructions, they set out on rowboats at night to a mainland watering spot (probably in the Cabaceira inlet), but the visitor fails to show up. They try again the next evening, find the watering hole, but it is guarded by some 20 armed men. Gunfire sends the guards scattering, and the Portuguese go ashore to collect water.

A couple of days later, deciding on a show of force in open daylight, Gama returns to the watering hole, now shielded by a makeshift palisade, and another armed guard. A small battle ensues, the guard is overpowered, and a couple of Mozambican boats captured, with a cargo of cotton cloth. The Portuguese take water again. When they go to the watering hole for a final time on May 25th, it is undefended. Gama nonetheless fires a few bombards over the main town, just to show he can.

Principal cities of East Africa, c. 1500. The Kilwa Sultanate held overlordship from Cape Correntes in the south to Malindi in the north.

May 29th - The winds changing in their favor, Vasco da Gama orders the armada to leave São Jorge islet, taking one (or two) of the Mozambican pilots with him. By this time, from conversations with the Mozambicans, the Portuguese had been told that the gold port of Sofala (one of the mission objectives) lay to the south, but Gama decides instead to set sail north, aiming for a town (probably Kilwa), where, at least according to rumors heard back in Mozambique, a Christian community can be found, whom might offer the Portuguese a modicum of safety.

Mombassa

April 4, 1498 - If Gama was aiming for Kilwa, he did not seem to have informed his Mozambican pilot immediately. They had already reached Mafia Island when the question of the destination is brought up, and the Mozambican pilot informs Gama that they had already sailed past Kilwa. Gama orders the fleet to turn around, but contrary winds prevent it. The pilot suggests they make for Mombassa instead, where, he assures Gama, some Christians can also be found.

April 6 - Sailing past Zanzibar and Pemba, Paulo da Gama's São Rafael runs aground on some shoals at 'Tamugata' (Mtaganta; since identified to be probably Tongoni, now vanished). They are forced to wait for high tide to dislodge him. While waiting, they are greeted and plied with oranges by the local population, a welcome for the scurvy-addled crew.

April 7 - The First Armada anchors off the island-city of Mombassa (Mombaça), where the pilot assures them there is a Christian quarter. The ruler of Mombassa dispatches emissaries and gifts of sheep and fruit. Gama sends two men (probably degredados) to port as emissaries. They return laden with spices (cloves, pepper, ginger) and the sultan's invitation to anchor in and visit the city. Gama contemplates going in to attend Holy Week with the Christian community he believes is in the city, and maybe even to just load up with spices here. What happens next is complicated. In one account, the Mozambican pilots dive into the sea, hoping to catch a ride with a passing boat to the city, and the Mombassa hostages, fearing they'll be punished for it, dive in too. In another account, Gama decides to sail into harbor, but the São Gabriel, scraping the harbor bed, can't move easily. There ensues a series of suspicious movements, which the Muslim hostages take as treachery, and dive into the sea, followed by the pilots. Whichever the csse, the Portuguese lose their African pilots. Gama takes forcible hold of the two remaining Muslim hostages on board and tortures them into "revealing" the sultan of Mombassa's plot to capture the fleet and avenge Gama's bombardment in Mozambique.

April 13 - Seeing no point in remaining in Mombassa, Vasco da Gama orders the armada to head out, pilotless. They capture a small merchant ship, hoping it might have a local pilot. The captive merchant informs they might attempt to procure a pilot in nearby Malindi, where "Christian" boats from India sometimes come and, being rivals of Mombassa, might welcome him.

Malindi

April 15, 1498 (Easter Sunday) - The First Armada arrives at Malindi (Melinde). They are not greeted upon arrival, but the captured merchant is dispatched to make contact with the sultan of the city (his name is not given). A meeting is arranged between Gama and the sultan of Malindi aboard two rowboats on April 18. Although the sultan refuses invitations to come aboard Gama's ship, and Gama refuses to visit the sultan's palace, the encounter goes relatively smoothly. The Sultan promises to help the Portuguese find a pilot, offering to leave his own son and a noble sharif hostage while Gama sends two of his men to the city. Gama orders a cannonade of honor and releases remaining Muslim prisoners as a goodwill gesture.

For much of the next week, despite repeated entreaties to go ashore, Gama remains aboard ship. Malindans set up fanfares, a mock fight and some sort of fireworks display on the beach to entertain the Portuguese crew on the ships. It is reported by Alvaro Velho (p.45) that, at some point, they are approached by some 'Christian' Indian merchantmen, who observing images of the Virgin Mary on board the Portuguese ships, "fall into devotions". Later, the Indian merchants take to hailing 'Christ! Christ!' from their ships, as they pass the Portuguese ships in harbor. While they could very well be St. Thomas Christians, many historians have interpreted this as a misunderstanding, that the Indian merchants were in fact Hindu, who mistook the garish Renaissance portraits of Mary for images of a Hindu goddess, possibly Durga or Parvati, and what the diarist took to be chants of Cristo! may have been in fact Krishna!.

April 22 - Gama finally pressures the sultan of Malindi to provide him the pilot he promised. At length, he receives the pilot known to history as Malema Cana (Malemo Canaca, Malim Canaqua), identified by the leading chroniclers (Barros, Castanheda, Gois) as a 'Moor of Gujarat', by Alvaro Velho as a 'Christian' (Hindu?). [Later historians have sought to prove 'Malema Cana' was none other than the famed Arab pilot Ahmad ibn Majid, but this is highly improbable.]

April 24 - The monsoon winds beginning to finally turn in their favor, the three ships of the First Armada, piloted by Malema Cana, sets out of Malindi, for its Indian Ocean crossing.

Gama in India

The beach of Kappad in Kerala.

May 20, 1498 - Arrival in India After an ocean crossing from Malindi (three weeks, 3,700 km), the First Armada, guided by Malema Cana, sights Mount d'Eli on the Indian Malabar coast, just north of Cannanore. The pilot steers south and glides down the Indian coast for a bit. The armada finally drops anchor before a beach just north of Calicut and wait. It has been 309 days since they left Lisbon.

May 21 - Approached by curious Malabari boats, Vasco da Gama sends the convict-exile (degredado) João Nunes (a converted Jew) ashore with them. Nunes is escorted by the curious crowds on the beach to two Tunisian Arab merchants. The Tunisians, who spoke a bit of Castilian and Genoese, had immediately recognized the ships as Portuguese. There ensued the famous exchange: "The devil take you! What brought you here?", to which Nunes (not Gama) gave the famous reply: "We came to seek Christians and spices.". The Tunisians assured him there is certainly plenty of that - and more wealth besides - to be found in India.

Landing of Vasco da Gama at Kappad, just north of Calicut (1880 picture)

Gama next sends two men ashore to search out the Zamorin (Zamorim, Samoodri Raja, loosely translated as 'King of the Sea'), the ruler of Calicut (Calecute, Kozhikode), and ostensible overlord of the Malabar coast. They are informed that the Zamorin is currently at Ponnani (south of Calicut) but that he will be returning to Calicut shortly, and has sent a pilot to help the Portuguese anchor in the harbor of Pandarane (Pantalayini Kollam), the service port just north of Calicut.. Gama agrees to make his way there, but warily anchors outside of the harbor.

Vasco da Gama retinue meets the reception party of the Bale of Calicut

May 28 - The Zamorin dispatches a Bale (a city official) to invite Vasco da Gama ashore. After a week aboard ship, Vasco da Gama finally assembles his embassy, some dozen men in full regalia, flags and trumpets, in a longboat and steps ashore for the first time, on a spot thought be the beach of Kappad (Capua, Capocate). Gama's retinue is received with full pomp by the Bale of the Zamorin.

Calicut

After offering refreshments, the Bale of Calicut takes Gama's party on a set of small boats via the backwaters into the city of Calicut. Upon arrival, they visit what they believe is a church of some curious sect of "Eastern Christianity" (turns out to be a Hindu Vaishnava temple).

By sunset, Gama reaches the palace, and enters the court of the Zamorin of Calicut. After some preliminary niceties with courtiers, Vasco da Gama explains he is an ambassador of a foreign potentate and wishes to speak directly to the Zamorin. Vasco da Gama, accompanied only by Fernão Martins, is taken to an inner chamber, where the Zamorin is found, and asked speak his piece (Martins interprets Gama's Portuguese speech into Arabic, which the Zamorin's own translators proceed to translate into Malayalam).

Vasco da Gama relates the purpose of his trip to the Zamorin, in an extended speech embellished with exaggerations. Gama claims he is an emissary of king Manuel I of Portugal, the 'richest and most powerful' monarch of Europe, and that he has not come searching for gold or spices (as the King of Portugal is so wealthy, he already has plenty of that). Rather, he explains that the King of Portugal had for a long time been sending out discoverers to search for a Christian king to make ally and brother. The speech, interrupted by occasional questions about this powerful foreign king, continues late into the night. At length, the Zamorin retires, and Gama is invited back to return the palace tomorrow and continue discussions about a treaty.

May 29 - The next day, Gama assembles his gifts for the Zamorin - some cloth, coats, hats, butter, honey, sugar and coral. But the agent assigned to escort Gama to the palace bursts out laughing, pointing out that these are some rather modest gifts from a king whom Gama boasted of yesterday as being so wealthy. An indignant Gama decides not to go see the Zamorin after all.

May 30 - The Zamorin sends for Vasco da Gama, inquiring about his failure to appear the previous day and the absence of the gifts. The embarassed Gama replies he is just the discoverer, that "others will bring the real gifts". The Zamorin then asks for the letter from King Manuel I - of which Gama has two copies, one in Portuguese, another in Arabic. But he is wary of giving the Arabic one to the Zamorin's Muslim translators, whom he suspects might twist the words, and demands a Christian Arabic-speaker to read the letter. A boy is found who fits the bill - but, alas, he is illiterate! The Muslim courtiers read the letter, but the Zamorin is unimpressed. He asks about the kind of trade and industry found in the Kingdom of Portugal, and Gama relates the best he can (wheat, cloth, iron, bronze, but this time, no mention of any gold or silver!). At length impatient, Zamorin instructs Gama to go back to his ship, unload his cargo, sell it at the best price he can, and be done with it. They won't meet again.

It seems evident, from this intercourse, that the Zamorin is quite disappointed, and probably concluded Vasco da Gama was just some pompous merchant from some distant, poor country of little interest, trying to grease favors from the Zamorin with some tall tale about being an important emissary.

May 31 - Vasco da Gama's entourage leave Calicut for Pandarane (where the ships are anchored). But the men get lost in the streets, and don't arrive there before nightfall. Gama demands rowboats to make his way to ship, but the Bale asks them to stay in an inn and wait until morning. But in the morning, the Bale refuses to provide rowboats unless Gama orders his ships into the harbor. Sensing a trap to seize his ships, Gama refuses and things quickly get heated. The Bale's men lock down the inn, and refuse to let Gama go, insinuating he must surrender his rudders and sails. Gama manages to slip word to Nicolau Coelho and Paulo da Gama (who were on the ships), to get ready for trouble.

June 2 - After a tense day and night under guard in the inn, at last the Bale explains his position more clearly, that the Portuguese have nothing to fear, that there is no plot to seize the ships, that his demands were merely to ensure Vasco da Gama's compliance with Calicut port laws - namely, that all merchants must unload their cargoes at Pandarane put them on sale before the city's merchant guilds. The confusion clarified, Coelho dispatches some merchandise to shore, and Gama and the bulk of his men are allowed to leave the inn and go back on board.

Diogo Dias and some assistants stay ashore at Pandarane taking care of the sale of the goods. But the coarse Portuguese merchandise doesn't sell in the local markets for weeks. This brings up serious difficulties for the cash-poor Portuguese, who expected to use the sale of the goods to raise the money to buy the spices. The Portuguese commercial agents blame the Arab merchant guilds of colluding in a boycott of Portuguese goods (not unlikely - the established Arab merchants had little interest in new competition, and had probably used a similar collusive tactic to drive out Chinese merchants earlier in the century).

June 24 - After petitioning the Zamorin, Diogo Dias gets permission to move his cargo to Calicut city itself, and try his luck in the markets there. His luck doesn't improve, and not much is sold. During this period, a routine is also established whereby one or two Portuguese sailors were permitted to go ashore daily to sell trinkets and buy "samples" of spices and other goods.

Late July/early August - Vasco da Gama decides to petition the Zamorin for permission to establish a permanent Portuguese factory (feitoria) in Calicut, with Diogo Dias as factor (feitor), and Alvaro Braga as his secretary. In his petition letter, Gama adds the condition that the Zamorin must supply an equal number of Calicut men for the Portuguese to take as hostages as insurance for the factory's safety. The Zamorin turns down the request, and instead presents them with a bill for the customs duties already owed the Calicut authorities - some 600 ashrafis

August 12 - Fearing the Portuguese might slip away without paying customs duties, the Zamorin orders Diogo Dias and his assistants detained and the Portuguese merchandise impounded until they pay up. To dial up the pressure, the Zamorin also issues orders to the harbor masters to forbid local boats from sailing up to the Portuguese ships at anchor to sell supplies or trinkets. In this small piecemeal fashion, the Portuguese manage to gradually accumulate spices.

August 19 - After a tense and nervous week, with no news of Dias and no visits from the locals, a boat carrying an embassy from the Zamorin finally approaches the ships. Gama immediately seizes the embassy - some 18 men, including six high nobles - and dispatches the boat back informing the Zamorin that he will hold them as hostages until Dias and his assistants are released.

August 23 - Receiving no reply from the Zamorin, and not knowing what else to do, Gama orders the armada to lift anchor and sail out of Calicut. But unfavorable winds don't allow them to get far.

August 26 - Idling not far out of Calicut, waiting for the winds to turn, the armada is caught up by a Malabari ship, informing the admiral that Diogo Dias is in audience with the Zamorin and that things will be all right and he ought to sail back to harbor. Gama refuses, and demands to speak to Dias himself.

August 27 - Diogo Dias and one of his assistants are brought to the Portuguese ships on a Malabari skiff. Dias informs Gama that indeed had an audience with the Zamorin, that the Zamorin informed him that the Bales actions at Pandarane inn were not approved, but merely a freelance attempt by the Bale to extract some sort of bribe for himself from the Portuguese (and that he would be punished accordingly), and that the Zamorin would be happy to have the Portuguese stay and trade in the city, citing Calicut's need for "gold and silver, scarlet and coral", for which they would be happy to trade spices and precious stones. Delighted at he positive news, Gama immediately releases the six noblest hostages. He proceeds to send back a few men with a stone pillar (padrão) to erect on Kappad beach, and an offer to release the remaining Calicut hostages, once the impounded Portuguese merchandise were returned to the ships.

August 28 - Calicut boats arrive at the ships to deliver the impounded Portuguese merchandise. But Vasco da Gama turns back on his deal, and refuses to release the remaining hostages, telling them he intends to bring them back to Portugal, and that they will only return on his next visit to Calicut. The first armada lifts anchor and sails out due north. Among their passengers are the two Tunisian Arabs encountered earlier at Kappad, who now seek passage back to the Mediterranean (one of the Tunisian Arabs, known as 'Bontaibo', will be particularly useful as translator).

Anjediva

August 29, 1498 - Winds allow the First Armada only slow progress up the Indian coast. They are soon caught up by a fleet of some 70 Malabari ships, probably dispatched by the Zamorin to rescue the hostages. Gama opens fire on the fleet, and a short skirmish ensues, lasting about an hour, before the winds break up the encounter. This is the first hostilities the Portuguese engage in Indian Ocean waters.

September 10 - Winds still unfavorable, the First Armada inches only slowly north along the coast. Around this time, they have only gotten as far as the environs of Mount d'Eli. Another Calicut hostage is released, charged with carrying a letter from Gama to the Zamorin, explaining his actions.

September 15 - The First armada reaches some islets around the South Cannara coast, where another Portuguese stone padrão is erected.

September 19 - First Armada reaches Anjediva island (Angediva, Anjadip), in the environs of Goa. They make landing here and collect water and food from the locals. A small fleet (either from Calicut, or, more probably, local pirates) tries to sneak up on them, but flee when Gama notices them. Some crash on rocks and are investigaged - arms are found aboard.

Interacting with the local fisherman at Anjediva, Vasco da Gama becomes more fully convinced in his tentative thesis that the Hindu religion is just a 'eastern' form of Christianity. The fisherman warn them that the area is replete with pirates, and the Portuguese enter into a few skirmishes with a handful of local pirate ships (which the chroniclers later assert were commanded by the renowned Hindu corsair Timoja, although the diarists of the time make no such note).

A few days later, the Portuguese at Anjediva are visited by a mysterious visitor, fluent in Venetian Italian, who presents himself as a Levantine Christian, who arrived in India years earlier and entered the service of a local Muslim potentate (Yusuf Ali Shah, sultan of Bijapur), now offering friendship on his master's behalf. Vasco da Gama is enchanted by the visitor, but Paulo da Gama has suspicions and pursues inquires with the local fisherman. The locals identify him as a renowned local pirate, and inform Gama that he has a fleet of some seven ships hidden nearby, armed and ready to seize the Portuguese vessels. Paulo da Gama communicates his discoveries to his brother, who reluctantly orders the visitor arrested and flogged. The visitor confesses that he is in fact a spy, sent out to assess the Portuguese arms and merchandise for his fellow pirates.

This visitor is the man later known as 'Gaspar da Gama'. He was not a Levantine Christian, but a Alexandrian Jew, of Polish descent. And his true story (as he revised it later) was that he had been sent by Yusuf Adil Shah to see if he could cajole the Portuguese into military service fot the Sultanate of Bijapur. His original name is unknown, he will later take up the Christian baptismal name of 'Gaspar da Gama', with Vasco da Gama standing as his godfather.

October 5, 1498 - The three ships of the First Armada set out from Anjediva for their Indian Ocean crossing back to Africa.

Return Journey

January 2, 1499 - The Indian Ocean crossing takes a surprisingly long and harrowing three months, during which some 30 sailors died of scurvy, and few remained in standing condition. At length, they sight the coast of Africa around Mogadishu. Informed of the likely hostile state of the Muslim city, the Portuguese fire some warning cannonades, and continue down the coast. They engage in a little skirmish along the way with some pirates from Pate.

Pillar of Vasco da Gama, at Malindi

January 7 - First Armada arrives in Malindi in a terrible shape, a ghost fleet with torn sails and sick and dying crew. The sultan of Malindi dispatches food and fruit to assist the travelers. An exchange of symbolic gifts follows - Gama erects a pillar at Malindi, and the king gives him a gift of ivory for King Manuel. The sultan also assigns a Malindan ambassador to go with Gama to the Portuguese court.

January 11 - the First Armada sets sail out of Malindi.

January 16 - Sailing past Mombassa, the fleet approaches the dangerous shoals near Tamugata (Tongoni) again. Finding it hard to navigate them with so little able-bodied crew, Vasco da Gama decides to scuttle, dismantle and burn the São Rafael. Its captain, Paulo da Gama joins Vasco da Gama. Its crew and cargo are redistributed aboard the remaining two ships, the São Gabriel and the Bérrio (On Portuguese maps, the shoals of Tamugata are denoted as the Baixas de São Rafael, after the ship.) Water and supplies are procured from nearby Tamugata and there is an extended rest.

January 27 - The remaining two ships of the First Armada finally leave Tamugata. They sight the island of Zanzibar, but do not stop.

February 1 - First armada reaches Mozambique Island, but land at the nearby the island of São Jorge (site of their earlier mass) and plant a padrão pillar there.

March 3 - First Armada reaches the Angra de São Brás (Mossel Bay), where they make a stop to repair, take on water, catch fish (anchovies) and hunt penguins and seals for meat.

March 12 - First Armada resumes its journey, but facing difficult winds, only manage to cross the cape around March 20.

See also

• Portuguese India Armadas

Sources

Primary Accounts

Diário de bordo de Álvaro Velho

• Álvaro Velho Roteiro da viagem que em descobrimento da India pelo Cabo da Boa Esperança fez Dom Vasco da Gama em 1497, segundo um manuscripto coetano existente na Bibliotheca Publica Portuense (First published 1838 edition, Porto: Typographia Commercial Portuense; 1861 2nd ed., Lisbon: Imprensa Nacional; 1898 English trans. by E.G. Ravenstein as A Journal of the first voyage of Vasco da Gama, 1497–1499. London: Haklyut Society.

• Girolamo Sernigi, "Relazione d'un Gentil'huomo Fiorentino", anonymous letter first published in the Francanzano Montalbado anthology Paesi nuovamente retrovati et Novo Mondo da Alberico Vesputio Florentino intitulato (1507, Vicenza). Condensed version reprinted in the collection of Giovanni Ramusio Primo volume delle navigationi et viaggi nel qua si contine la descrittione dell'Africa, et del paese del Prete Ianni, on varii viaggi, dal mar Rosso a Calicut,& infin all'isole Molucche, dove nascono le Spetierie et la navigatione attorno il mondo (1550, Venice, p.130a-138a). Once mistakenly believed to be by Amerigo Vespucci, it is now confidently attributed to Girolamo Sernigi. For an English translation, see Ravenstein (1898: p.123)

Chronicles

• João de Barros (1552) Décadas da Ásia: Dos feitos, que os Portuguezes fizeram no descubrimento, e conquista, dos mares, e terras do Oriente.. (1777–78 ed. Da Ásia de João de Barros e Diogo do Couto, Lisbon: Régia Officina Typografica. vol. 1, Dec. I, Lib. 4)

• Luís Vaz de Camões (1572) Os Lusíadas. (Portuguese 1819 ed.); English translations by W.J. Mickle, 1776 trans., as The Lusiad, or the discovery of India, an epic poem (Mickle ed.), by T.M. Musgrave, 1826, as The Lusiad, an epic poem (Musgrave ed.), by R.F. Burton, 1880, as The Lusiads (Burton ed.); bilingual by J.J. Aubertin, 1878, The Lusiads of Camoens (Aubertin: v.1, v.2).

• Fernão Lopes de Castanheda (1551) História do descobrimento & conquista da Índia pelos portugueses (1833 edition, Lisbon: Typ. Rollandiana. v.1, Lib. 1

• Gaspar Correia (c.1550s) Lendas da Índia, first pub. 1858-64, Lisbon: Academia Real de Sciencias Vol 1, [partially trans. H.E. Stanley, 1869, as The Three Voyages of Vasco de Gama, and his viceroyalty London: Hakluyt Society. ([online)

• António Galvão (1555) Tratado dos descobrimentos antigos, e modernos, feitos até a Era de 1550 com os nomes particulares das pessoas que os fizeraõ, e em que tempos, e as suas alturas, e dos desvairados caminhos por onde a pimenta, e especiaria veyo da India as nossas partes (1731 ed., Lisbon: Ferreiriana; English trans. 1862, The Discoveries of the World, from their first original unto the year of Our Lord 1555. London: Hakluyt.)

• Damião de Góis (1566–67) Chrónica do Felicíssimo Rei D. Manuel, da Gloriosa Memoria, Ha qual por mandado do Serenissimo Principe, ho Infante Dom Henrique seu Filho, ho Cardeal de Portugal, do Titulo dos Santos Quatro Coroados, Damiam de Goes collegio & compoz de novo. (As reprinted in 1749, Lisbon: M. Manescal da Costa) Pt. 1, c.35ff.

• Jerónimo Osório (1574) De rebus Emmanuelis, Latin ed. Cologne: Birckmann. (Portuguese trans. 1804-06, as Da Vida e Feitos d'El Rei D. Manuel, Lisbon: Impressão Regia., vol. 1; English trans. by J. Gibbs, 1752, as The History of the Portuguese during the Reign of Emmanuel London: Millar. p.36ff)

• Garcia de Resende (1545) Crónica de el-Rei D.João II, vol. 1, vol.2, vol.3, index, [1902 reprint of 1622 edition, Lisbon: Escriptorio] [vol.3]

• Manuel de Faria e Sousa (1666) Asia Portuguesa. Lisbon: Henrique Valente. Vol. 1

Secondary

• Albuquerque, Luís de (1972) "A viagem de Vasco da Gama entre Moambique e Melinde, segundo 'Os Lusíadias' e segundo as crónicas", as reprinted in Estudos de História, Volume I, Coimbra p.241-288

• Axelson, E. (1988) "The Dias Voyage, 1487-1488: toponymy and padrões", Revista da Universidade de Coimbra, Vol. 34, p.29-55 [offprint]

• Gago Coutinho, Carlos Viegas (1951-52) A Náutica dos Descobrimentos: os descobrimentos marítimos vistos por um navegador, 2 vols., Lisbon: Agência Geral do Ultramar. (2nd ed. 1969,A Náutica dos Descobrimentos: colectânea de artigos, conferências e trabalhos inéditos do Almirante Gago Coutinho, organizada e prefaciada pelo Comandante Moura Braz 2 vols., Lisbon: Agência Geral do Ultramar.

• Cunha, J.G. da (1875) "An Historical and Archaeological Sketch of the Island of Angediva", Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volume 11, p. 288-310

• Dames, M.L. (1918) "Introduction" in An Account Of The Countries Bordering On The Indian Ocean And Their Inhabitants, Vol. 1 (Engl. transl. of Livro de Duarte de Barbosa), 2005 reprint, New Delhi: Asian Education Services.

• Danvers, F.C. (1894) The Portuguese in India, being a history of the rise and decline of their eastern empire. 2 vols, London: Allen. vol. 1

• Diffie, B. W., and G. D. Winius (1977) Foundations of the Portuguese empire, 1415-1580. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press

• Logan, W. (1887) Malabar Manual, 2004 reprint, New Delhi: Asian Education Services.

• Madan, K.D. (1998) Life and travels of Vasco Da Gama. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services.

• Mathew, K.N. (1988) History of the Portuguese Navigation in India. New Delhi: Mittal.

• Nair, K.R. (1902) "The Portuguese in Malabar", Calcutta Review, Vol. 115, p.210-51

• Newitt, M.D. (1995) A History of Mozambique. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

• Newitt, M.D. (2005) A History of Portuguese Overseas Expansion, 1400-1668. London: Routledge

• Pedroso, S. J. (1881) Resumo historico ácerca da antiga India Portugueza Lisbon: Castro Irmão online

• Quintella, I.C. (1839–40) Annaes da Marinha Portugueza, 2 vols, Lisbon: Academia Real das Sciencias. vol. 1

• Ravenstein, E.G. (1898) "Introduction" in A Journal of the first voyage of Vasco da Gama, 1497–1499. London: Haklyut Society. online

• Russell-Wood, A.J.R. (1998) The Portuguese Empire 1415–1808: A world on the move. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press.

• Subrahmanyam, S. (1997) The Career and Legend of Vasco da Gama. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

• Teixeira de Aragão, A.C. (1887) Vasco da Gama e a Vidigueira: um estudo historico. Lisbon: Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa online

• Theal, G.M. (1896) The Portuguese in South Africa: with a description of the native races between the River Zambesi and the Cape of Good Hope during the sixteenth century. London Unwin. online

• Theal, G.M. (1902) The Beginning of South African History. London: Unwin. online

• Waters, D.W. (1988) "Reflections Upon Some Navigational and Hydrographic Problems of the XVIth Century Related to the voyage of Bartolomeu Dias", Revista da Universidade de Coimbra, Vol. 34, p. 275–347. offprint

• Whiteway, R. S. (1899) The Rise of Portuguese Power in India, 1497-1550. Westminster: Constable. online