But over and above these five reasons I have a sixth that would seem to be the root from which all the others proceeded: and this is the inclination of the heavenly wheels. For, as I wrote not many days ago in a letter I sent to the Lord King, that although it be written that the wise man shall be Lord of the stars, and that the courses of the planets (according to the true estimate of the holy doctors) cannot cause the good man to stumble; yet it is manifest that they are bodies ordained in the secret counsels of our Lord God and run by a fixed measure, appointed to different ends, which are revealed to men by his grace, through whose influence bodies of the lower order are inclined to certain passions. And if it be a fact, speaking as a Catholic, that the contrary predestinations of the wheels of heaven can be avoided by natural judgment with the aid of a certain divine grace, much more does it stand to reason that those who are predestined to good fortune, by the help of this same grace, will not only follow their course but even add a far greater increase to themselves. But here I wish to tell you how by the constraint of the influence of nature this glorious Prince was inclined to those actions of his. And that was because his ascendent was Aries, which is the house of Mars and exaltation of the sun, and his lord in the XIth house, in company of the sun. And because the said Mars was in Aquarius, which is the house of Saturn, and in the mansion of hope, it signified that this Lord should toil at high and mighty conquests, especially in seeking out things that were hidden from other men and secret, according to the nature of Saturn, in whose house he is. And the fact of his being accompanied by the sun, as I said, and the sun being in the house of Jupiter, signified that all his traffick and his conquests would be loyally carried out, according to the good pleasure of his king and lord.[[48]]
CHAPTER VIII.
Why ships had not hitherto dared to pass beyond Cape Bojador.
So the Infant, moved by these reasons, which you have already heard, began to make ready his ships and his people, as the needs of the case required; but this much you may learn, that although he sent out many times, not only ordinary men, but such as by their experience in great deeds of war were of foremost name in the profession of arms, yet there was not one who dared to pass that Cape of Bojador and learn about the land beyond it, as the Infant wished. And to say the truth this was not from cowardice or want of good will, but from the novelty of the thing and the wide-spread and ancient rumour about this Cape, that had been cherished by the mariners of Spain from generation to generation. And although this proved to be deceitful, yet since the hazarding of this attempt seemed to threaten the last evil of all, there was great doubt as to who would be the first to risk his life in such a venture. How are we, men said, to pass the bounds that our fathers set up, or what profit can result to the Infant from the perdition of our souls as well as of our bodies—for of a truth by daring any further we shall become wilful murderers of ourselves? Have there not been in Spain other princes and lords as covetous perchance of this honour as the Infant? For certainly it cannot be presumed that among so many noble men who did such great and lofty deeds for the glory of their memory, there had not been one to dare this deed. But being satisfied of the peril, and seeing no hope of honour or profit, they left off the attempt. For, said the mariners, this much is clear, that beyond this Cape there is no race of men nor place of inhabitants: nor is the land less sandy than the deserts of Libya, where there is no water, no tree, no green herb—and the sea so shallow that a whole league from land it is only a fathom deep, while the currents are so terrible that no ship having once passed the Cape, will ever be able to return.[[49]]
Therefore our forefathers never attempted to pass it: and of a surety their knowledge of the lands beyond was not a little dark, as they knew not how to set them down on the charts, by which man controls all the seas that can be navigated. Now what sort of a ship's captain would he be who, with such doubts placed before him by those to whom he might reasonably yield credence and authority, and with such certain prospect of death before his eyes, could venture the trial of such a bold feat as that? O thou Virgin Themis, saith our Author, who among the nine Muses of Mount Parnassus didst possess the especial right of searching out the secrets of Apollo's cave, I doubt whether thy fears were as great at putting thy feet on that sacred table where the divine revelations afflicted thee little less than death, as the terrors of these mariners of ours, threatened not only by fear but by its shadow, whose great deceit was the cause of very great expenses. For during twelve years the Infant continued steadily at this labour of his, ordering out his ships every year to those parts, not without great loss of revenue, and never finding any who dared to make that passage. Yet they did not return wholly without honour, for as an atonement for their failure to carry out more fully their Lord's wishes, some made descents upon the coasts of Granada and others voyaged along the Levant Seas, where they took great booty of the Infidels, with which they returned to the Kingdom very honourably.[[50]]
CHAPTER IX.
How Gil Eannes, a native of Lagos, was the first who passed the Cape of Bojador, and how he returned thither again, and with him Affonso Gonçalvez Baldaya.
Now the Infant always received home again with great patience those whom he had sent out, as Captains of his ships, in search of that land, never upbraiding them with their failure, but with gracious countenance listening to the story of the events of their voyage, giving them such rewards as he was wont to give to those who served him well, and then either sending them back to search again or despatching other picked men of his Household, with their ships well furnished, making more urgent his charge to them, with promise of greater guerdons, if they added anything to the voyage that those before them had made, all to the intent that he might arrive at some comprehension of that difficulty. And at last, after twelve years, the Infant armed a "barcha" and gave it to Gil Eannes, one of his squires, whom he afterwards knighted and cared for right nobly. And he followed the course that others had taken; but touched by the self-same terror,[[51]] he only went as far as the Canary Islands, where he took some captives and returned to the Kingdom. Now this was in the year of Jesus Christ 1433, and in the next year the Infant made ready the same vessel, and calling Gil Eannes apart, charged him earnestly to strain every nerve to pass that Cape, and even if he could do nothing else on that voyage, yet he should consider that to be enough. "You cannot find", said the Infant, "a peril so great that the hope of reward will not be greater, and in truth I wonder much at the notion you have all taken on so uncertain a matter—for even if these things that are reported had any authority, however small, I would not blame you, but you tell me only the opinions of four mariners, who come but from the Flanders trade or from some other ports that are very commonly sailed to, and know nothing of the needle or sailing-chart.[[52]] Go forth, then, and heed none of their words, but make your voyage straightway, inasmuch as with the grace of God you cannot but gain from this journey honour and profit." The Infant was a man of very great authority, so that his admonitions, mild though they were, had much effect on the serious-minded. And so it appeared by the deed of this man, for he, after these words, resolved not to return to the presence of his Lord without assured tidings of that for which he was sent. And as he purposed, so he performed—for in that voyage he doubled the Cape, despising all danger, and found the lands beyond quite contrary to what he, like others, had expected. And although the matter was a small one in itself, yet on account of its daring it was reckoned great—for if the first man who reached the Cape had passed it, there would not have been so much praise and thanks bestowed on him; but even as the danger of the affair put all others into the greater fear, so the accomplishing of it brought the greater honour to this man. But whether or no the success of Gil Eannes gained for him any genuine glory may be perceived by the words that the Infant spoke to him before his starting; and his experience on his return was very clear on this point, for he was exceeding well received, not without a profitable increase of honour and possessions. And then it was he related to the Infant how the whole matter had gone, telling him how he had ordered the boat to be put out and had gone in to the shore without finding either people or signs of habitation. And since, my lord, said Gil Eannes, I thought that I ought to bring some token of the land since I was on it, I gathered these herbs which I here present to your grace; the which we in this country call Roses of Saint Mary. Then, after he had finished giving an account of his voyage to that part, the Infant caused a "barinel" to be made ready, in which he sent out Affonso Gonçalvez Baldaya, his cupbearer, and Gil Eannes as well with his "barcha", ordering him to return there with his companion. And so in fact they did, passing fifty leagues beyond the Cape, where they found the land without dwellings, but shewing footmarks of men and camels. And then, either because they were so ordered, or from necessity, they returned with this intelligence, without doing aught else worth recording.[[53]]
CHAPTER X.
How Affonso Gonçalvez Baldaya reached the Rio d'Ouro.
"As you have found traces of men and camels", said the Infant to Baldaya, "it is evident that the inhabited region cannot be far off; or perchance they are people who cross with their merchandise to some seaport with a secure anchorage for ships to load in, for since there are people, they must of necessity depend upon what the sea brings them, and especially upon fish, however bestial they may be. Much more so the inland tribes. Therefore I intend to send you there again, in that same 'barinel', both that you may do me service and increase your honour, and to this end I order you to go as far as you can and try to gain an interpreter from among those people, capturing some one from whom you can obtain some tidings of the land—for according to my purpose, it will not be a small gain if we can get someone to give us news of this sort." The ship was soon ready to sail, and Affonso Gonçalvez departed with great desire to do the Infant's will. And sailing on their way they passed seventy leagues beyond where they had been before, a space of 120 leagues beyond the Cape of Bojador, and found an estuary, as of a river of some size, in the which were many good anchorages.[[54]] And the entering in of this water ran eight leagues within the land, and in this they anchored. And because among the things he had brought, Affonso Gonçalvez had two horses, which were given him by the Infant to mount two youths upon, he now had the horses put on shore, and before any one else disembarked, he ordered the youths to ride on those horses, and go up country as far as they could, looking about carefully on every side for villages, or people travelling by some path. And to cause them and their horses the less fatigue, he told then to take no arms of defence, but only their lances and swords, wherewith to attack, if needed. For if they came on people who tried to capture them, their best remedy would be in their horses' feet, unless they found one man alone of whom they might make use without danger.
Now in the performing of this action the youths shewed clearly what sort of men they would prove. For although they were so far distant from their own country and knew not what kind of people, or how many, they would find, not to speak of the dread of wild beasts, whose fearful shadow might well have alarmed them, considering their youth (for they were not either of them more than seventeen years of age), yet putting all this aside, they set out boldly and followed the course of the river for the space of seven leagues, where they found nineteen men all banded together without any other arms of offence or defence, but only assegais. And as soon as the youths saw them, they attacked them with great courage. But that unknown company, although so many in number, dared not meet them on the level, but rather for security retired to some rocks, whence they fought with the youths for a good space. And during the fight one of those youths was wounded in the foot, and although the wound was slight, it did not remain unavenged, for they wounded one of the enemy likewise. And they kept on fighting until the sun began to give warning of night, on which account they went back to their ship. And I am sure that the injuries of that combat would not have been so small, if the enemy had remained upon the open ground. Two things I consider in this place, saith he who wrote this history.[[55]] And first, what would be the fancy in the minds of those men at seeing such a novelty, to wit, two such daring youths, of colour and features so foreign to them; what could they think had brought them there, aye and on horseback, with lances and swords, arms that some of them had never seen. Of a surety I ween that their hearts were not so faint, but that they would have displayed greater bravery against our men, had it not been for the wonderment that was caused by the novelty of the thing. Secondly I consider the daring of these two youths, who were in a strange land, so far from the succour of their companions, and yet were bold enough to attack such a number, whose power of fighting was so uncertain to them. One of the youths, I knew in after time as a noble gentleman, very valiant in the profession of arms, and he was called Hector Homem: the same you will find in the Chronicle of the Kingdom well proved by great deeds. The name of the other was Diego Lopez d'Almeida, also a gentleman and a man of good presence, as I have learnt from some that knew him. So they held on their journey to the ship, as we have related, and reached it about dawn and took a little repose. And as soon as it was light, Affonso Gonçalvez had the boat made ready, and putting himself and some of his people into it, followed the course of that river, sending the youths on horseback along by the land, till he reached the place where the Moors had been found the other day, intending to fight with them and capture some; but their toil was in vain, for so great was the alarm that, although the youths had retreated, the natives were possessed with a great fear and departed, leaving behind them the greater part of their poor belongings, with the which Affonso Gonçalvez loaded his boat as a witness of his toil. And seeing that it would not profit to pursue any further, he returned to the ship. And because he saw on a bank at the entrance of the river a great multitude of sea-wolves, the which by the estimate of some were about 5,000, he caused his men to kill as many as they could, and with their skins he loaded his ship—for, either because they were very easy to kill, or because the bent of our men was towards such an action, they made among those wolves a very great slaughter.
But with all this Affonso Gonçalvez was not satisfied, because he had not taken one of those Moors, so going on beyond this for a space of fifty leagues to see if he could make captive some man, woman, or child, by which to satisfy the will of his Lord, he came to a point, where stood a rock which from a distance was like a galley. And for this reason they called that port from that day forward the "Port of the Galley". And there they went on land, where they found some nets, which they took on board. And here you may note a new matter, new I say to us who live in this Spain, that the thread of those nets was of the bark of a tree, so well fitted for such a use that without any other tanning or admixture of flax, it could be woven right excellently, and nets made of it, with all other cordage.[[56]]