João Pires went from Ormuz by way of Aden to Abyssinia, where he was well received by the ruler of that country. Here, after all his wanderings he found a home, for as he was not permitted to leave again, he married and had children, living upon property given to him by the government. In 1515 Dom Rodrigo de Lima arrived in Abyssinia as ambassador of the king of Portugal, and found him still alive. With the embassy was a priest, Francisco Alvares by name, who wrote an account of the mission and of the statement made to him by João Pires, and also gave such information on his return home as enabled the Portuguese historians to place on record the above details. As far as actual result in increase of geographical knowledge is concerned, this expedition of Affonso de Paiva and João Pires therefore effected nothing.
Historical Sketches.
In the laudable spirit of modern times, prompted by a desire to rectify error, men do not hesitate to question the accuracy of even the most renowned writers of old. But the great authority of De Barros requires that very substantial proof should be supplied before any date given by him is overturned, especially when that date is given three different times, and is indirectly corroborated by other contemporary historians. In an article entitled The Voyages of Diogo Cão and Bartholomeu Dias 1482-88, by E. G. Ravenstein, in the Geographical Journal, Vol. XVI, July to December 1900, page 625, an attempt is made to substitute other dates for the voyages of Diogo Cam and Bartholomeu Dias than those given by João de Barros, but the arguments supplied do not seem to me to be of much weight.
This is what Mr. Ravenstein says:
“We do not know whether Cão was given the command of one or of more vessels, nor have the names of any of his officers been placed on record.
“Cão was the first to carry padrões, or pillars of stone, on an exploring voyage. Up to his time the Portuguese had been content to erect perishable wooden crosses, or to carve inscriptions into trees to mark the progress of their discoveries. King John conceived the happy idea of introducing stone pillars surmounted by a cross, and bearing, in addition to the royal arms, an inscription recording in Portuguese, and sometimes also in Latin, the date, the name of the king by whose order the voyage was made and the name of the commander. The four padrões set up by Cão on his two voyages have been discovered in situ, and the inscriptions upon two of them (one for each voyage) are still legible, notwithstanding the lapse of four centuries and have been deciphered.
“During the first voyage two padrões were set up—one at the Congo mouth, the other on the Cabo do Lobo in latitude 13° 26 S., now known as Cape St. Mary. The latter has been recovered intact. It consists of a shaft 1.69 m. high and 0.73 m. in circumference, surmounted by a cube of 0.47 m. in height and .33 in breadth. Shaft and cube are cut out of a single block of liaz, a kind of limestone or coarse marble common in the environs of Lisbon. The cross has disappeared, with the exception of a stump, from which it is seen that it also was of stone, and fixed by means of lead.
“The arms of Portugal carved upon the face of the cube are those in use up to 1486; in which year João II, being then at Beja, caused the green cross of the Order of Avis, which had been improperly introduced by his grandfather, who had been master of that order, to be withdrawn and the position of the quinas, or five escutcheons, to be changed.
Criticisms of the Account by Barros.
“The inscription covers the three other sides of the cube. It is in Gothic letters and in Portuguese, and reads as follows: ‘In the year 6681 of the World, and in that of 1482 since the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, the most serene, most excellent and potent prince, King D. João II. of Portugal did order (mandou) this land to be discovered and these padrões to be set up by Dº Cão, an esquire (escudeiro) of his household.’ There is no inscription in Latin.