"Of a truth I tell you," replied Lançarote, "that this purpose of yours was also mine above all else, before you had said anything concerning it; and it pleaseth me to fall in with your proposal, inasmuch as it was so commanded me of the Infant, my lord." "And I," said Alvaro de Freitas, "am not a man to hold aloof from such a company; but I say, let us press on by all means whither soever you desire to go, be it even to the terrestrial Paradise."[[137]] With these men three others agreed, to wit, Rodrigue Annes de Travaços, a knight of the Regent's household, and Laurence Diaz of the same standing in the household of the Infant Dom Henry, and Vicente Diaz, a trader. And all these, being settled in this purpose, began at once to pursue their voyage. And after these there set out other two caravels, to wit, one of Tavilla, and another belonging to a man of Lagos called Bicanço, but concerning the voyage of these latter we will defer our account to another place, forasmuch as they did not arrive at the land of the Negroes.
And so those six caravels having set out, pursued their way along the coast, and pressed on so far that they passed the land of Sahara, belonging to those Moors which are called Azanegues, the which land is very easy to distinguish from the other[[AM]] by reason of the extensive sands that are there, and after it by the verdure which is not to be seen in it[[AN]] on account of the great dearth of water there, which causeth an exceeding dryness of the soil. And to this land resort usually all the swallows, and also all the birds that appear at certain times in this our kingdom, to wit, storks, quails, turtle-doves, wry-necks, nightingales and linnets, and other birds of various species. And many are there, by reason of the cold of the winter, that go from this land[[AO]] and journey to that one[[AP]] for the sake of its warmth. But other kinds of birds leave it in the winter, such as falcons, herons, ring-doves, thrushes, and other birds that breed in that land, and afterwards they come and take refuge in this because of the food they find here suitable to their nature. And of these birds the men of the caravels found many upon the sea, and others on land at their breeding-places. And since I have begun to speak of this matter, I will not omit to say a little more about the divers other kinds of birds and fishes that I hear are to be found in that land: among which we may speak first of all of some birds called flamingoes, which are of the same size as herons, with necks as long, but with short feathers; also their heads are small in comparison with their bodies, but their beaks are huge, though short, and so heavy that their necks are not well able to support the weight of them, in such wise that for the aid of these same necks they always have their beaks against their legs and rested upon them, or else upon their feathers for the residue of the time.[[138]] And there also are other birds larger than swans, called hornbills, of which I have already spoken. And as for the fishes of these parts, there are some that have mouths three or four palms long, some smaller and others larger, in which mouths there are teeth both on the one side and on the other, so close together that a finger could not be put between one and another, and all are of fine bone, a little larger than those of a saw and farther apart; and these fish are some as large as and others greater than sharks, and the jaw-bones of these are in size not greater than those of other fish. And there is another kind of fish there, as small as mullet, that have, as it were, crowns on their heads, like gills, through which they breathe; and if they are turned over and put with these crowns below in a basin, they lay hold so firmly that on attempting to withdraw them they lift the basin with them, even as the lampreys do with their mouths while they are quite[[139]] alive. And there are also many other birds and animals and fish in that land whose appearance we do not care to describe at length, as it would be an occasion of wandering too far from our history.
[AL] Viz., pushing forward.
[AM] Which they had now come to.
[AN] The Sahara.
[AO] Portugal.
[AP] The Sahara.
CHAPTER LX.
How those caravels arrived at the river of Nile, and of the Guineas that they took.
Now these caravels having passed by the land of Sahara, as hath been said, came in sight of the two palm trees[[140]] that Dinis Diaz had met with before, by which they understood that they were at the beginning of the land of the Negroes. And at this sight they were glad indeed, and would have landed at once, but they found the sea so rough upon that coast that by no manner of means could they accomplish their purpose. And some of those who were present said afterwards that it was clear from the smell that came off the land how good must be the fruits of that country, for it was so delicious that from the point they reached, though they were on the sea, it seemed to them that they stood in some gracious fruit garden ordained for the sole end of their delight. And if our men showed on their side a great desire of gaining the land, no less did the natives of it show their eagerness to receive them into it; but of the reception they offered I do not care to speak, for according to the signs they made to our men from the first, they did not intend to abandon the beach without very great loss to one side or the other. Now the people of this green land[[141]] are wholly black, and hence this is called Land of the Negroes, or Land of Guinea. Wherefore also the men and women thereof are called "Guineas," as if one were to say "Black Men." And when the men in the caravels saw the first palms and lofty trees as we have related, they understood right well that they were close to the river of Nile, at the point where it floweth into the western sea, the which river is there called the Senegal.[[AQ]] For the Infant had told them that in little more than 20 leagues after the sighting of those trees they should look out for the same river, for so he had learnt from several of his Azanegue prisoners.[[142]] And so, as they were going along scanning the coast to see if they could discern the river, they perceived before them, as it might be about two leagues of land measure, a certain colour in the water of the sea which was different from the rest, for this was of the colour of mud. And they thought that this might arise from shoals, so they took their soundings for the safety of their ships, but they found no difference in this place from the others in which there was no such movement, and at this they were all amazed, especially by the difference in colour. And it happened that one of those who were throwing in the sounding lead, by chance and without any certain knowledge, put his hand to his mouth and found the water sweet. "Here we have another marvel," cried he to the others, "for this water is sweet;" and at this they threw a bucket forthwith into the sea and put the water to the test, all drinking of it as a thing in which nothing was wanting to make it as good as possible. "Of a surety," said they, "we are near the river of Nile, for it seemeth that this water belongeth to the same, and by its great might the stream doth cut through the sea and so entereth into it."[[143]] Thereat they made signs to the other caravels, and all of them began to coast in and look for the river, and they were not very long in arriving at the estuary.
And when they were close to its mouth, they let down their anchors on the seaward side, and the crew of the caravel of Vicente Diaz launched their boat, and into it jumped as many as eight men, and among them was that Esquire of Lagos called Stevam Affonso, of whom we have already spoken, and who afterwards died in [[AR]]Canary; he had undertaken a part of the armament of that caravel.