FOOTNOTES:
[1] As is well known, there is considerable variation in the dates assigned to different portions of Vasco de Gama’s voyages by different writers. It has been thought, on the whole, best on this occasion to follow those given by Gaspar Correa, whose narrative has been translated from the Portuguese and edited for the Hakluyt Society by the Hon. H. E. J. Stanley (now Lord Stanley of Alderley): Lond. 1869. Correa states that he went to India sixteen years after it was discovered, which would be therefore in 1514, and that he had access to the Journals of Joam Figueira, a priest who accompanied De Gama in his first voyage. Correa, when in India, was secretary to the governor, Alfonzo d’Albuquerque; and died at Goa, some time before 1583.
[2] The two young men were named, respectively, Pero de Covilhan, and Gonsalvo de Pavia. Though accounts differ, they seem to have travelled together by Venice, Alexandria, and Cairo, to Mecca, where they separated. One of them (and here again accounts vary) went on to Aden, Cananore, Calicut, and Goa (Mr. Stanley and Mr. Major think this was Covilhan), the other to Abyssinia. It is certain that Pavia died soon afterwards, probably at Cairo; and that, by the agency of a Spanish Jew, Covilhan was able to send home word that India could be reached by sea by continuing the coasting voyage from Guinea round the Cape to Sofala. Mr. Major, therefore (p. 339), is justified in stating that to him belongs the honour of the theoretical discovery of the Cape. His report to the king, however, did not reach Portugal till shortly after Bartholomew Dias and Joam Infante had started, in August 1486. Covilhan, on his way home, went to Abyssinia, and was detained there for the rest of his life (33 years).
[3] The author is of opinion that the vessels engaged under Vasco de Gama were, as in the case of Columbus, much larger than historians have represented, though very much alike, as Correa describes, especially in the size of their yards and sails. Unable to find any work which furnished an illustration of any kind of these vessels, he applied to his friend Mr. Edward Pinto Basto, of Lisbon, for information on the subject. After considerable research, (for which he is greatly indebted,) Mr. Basto furnished the author with the drawing—[see following page]—which in his letter he describes as a “sketch representing the San Gabriel passing the Cape of Good Hope on November 25th, 1497. This sketch,” he remarks, “is copied from an original picture in Lisbon that belonged to D. Ioam de Castro, and I have no doubt,” he adds, “that it is a correct representation of Gama’s ship. I have spoken,” he continues, “to the Marquis of Nisa, whom you know, and who is the lineal descendant of the renowned navigator, and he confirms that opinion. The expedition,” he adds, “sailed from Lisbon (Belem) on July 9th 1497. It consisted of the San Gabriel, commanded by Vasco de Gama; San Raphael, commanded by his brother Paulo de Gama; Birrio, under charge of Nicolas Coelho; and a transport which was a storeship to carry provisions, called a naveta.” Mr. Pinto Basto confirms the opinion the author entertained with regard to the dimensions of these ships. “The San Gabriel,” he says, “had a high poop and forecastle. The tonnage in those days was calculated by the number of pipes of wine the vessel could carry. The San Gabriel was constructed to carry 400 pipes,” equivalent to about 400 tons measurement, or about from 250 to 300 tons register, which is much more likely to have been the size of the vessels engaged on so distant and hazardous an expedition than those which historians describe. It should be added that Correa calls De Gama’s ship the Sam Rafael.
[4] Correa, p. 33.
[5] Correa, pp. 55-57.
[6] Ibid. p. 74. Note.
[7] Correa, p. 128.
[8] Correa, p. 146.
[9] Our calico (in French, calicot) derives its name from Calicut, as muslin from Mosul, &c.
[10] It should be remembered that with most of our early writers and navigators “Moor” was a generic name for Muhammedan. The governor of Calicut is called by the Portuguese “Zamorin,” a corruption, probably, of “Samudri-Rajah.”
[11] Correa, p. 156.
[12] Correa, p. 176.
[13] Correa, p. 222.
[14] Correa, p. 225, et seq.
[15] Ibid., p. 232.
[16] Correa, p. 239. The termination of the name (like Laccadive, Maldive, &c.) shows it to have been an island, but its exact situation has not been determined.
[17] Correa, p. 259.
[18] Sargarço (or as it is more usually written Sargaço) is the Portuguese name for what is known (botanically) as the “Nasturtium aquaticum.”—Linschoten, Hist. Orient., pt. iii. p. 34.
[19] Correa, pp. 264-5.
[20] Correa, p. 269.
[21] A cruzado is worth about 2s.; a quintal equivalent to 128 lbs.
[22] Cabral was originally selected to command this expedition; but the king, having some doubts of his ability, though on his previous voyage to India in 1500-1 he had discovered the Brazils, gladly availed himself of De Gama’s expressed desire to take charge of it; another fleet was to be despatched in the following year (Correa, p. 279). There were two grievances against the king of Calicut, the original one of De Gama, and his subsequently similar treatment of Cabral.
[23] Correa, p. 282.
[24] Ibid. p. 283.
[25] Correa, p. 292.
[26] Correa, p. 294.
[27] Correa, pp. 295-6.
[28] Correa, p. 303.
[29] Ibid., p. 306.
[30] The names “Baticala” and “Cochym” have been retained as those used by Correa; the more modern names are “Batticola” and “Cochin.”
[31] Correa, p. 311.
“Degenerate trade, whose minions could despise
The heart-born anguish of a thousand cries;
Could lock with impious hands its teaming stores,
Whilst famished nations died along its shores;
Could mock the groans of fellow men, and bear
The curse of kingdoms peopled with despair;
Could stamp disgrace on man’s polluted name,
And barter with their gold eternal shame.”—Campbell.
[33] Correa, p. 315.
[34] Correa, pp. 321-2.
[35] Correa, p. 324.
[36] Correa, p. 331.
[37] Correa, pp. 331-2.
[38] Correa, p. 349.
[39] Ibid., p. 352.
[40] Correa, p. 358.
[41] Correa, pp. 363-4.
[42] Correa, pp. 371-2.
[43] Ibid., p. 373.
[44] Correa, p. 373.
[45] Ibid., p. 377.
[46] Correa, p. 397.
[47] The Popish nations of the south of Europe have, throughout all history, been remarkable for atrocities of cruelty found among no other races. But neither the cruel persecution of the Jews by the soi-disant deliverers of the Holy City, nor the greatly exaggerated crimes of the Hindus and Muhammedans, who may at least have believed they were ridding their native land of robbers and oppressors by the Indian mutiny of 1856-7, can compare with the cruelties of Vasco de Gama, or with the atrocities of the mob at Palermo during the insurrection of 1849.