[427] This date is doubtful. See p. [3], note 3. The wrong date is not August 18th, but August 22nd.
[428] The variation being about 19° E., according to João de Castro, the true course would have been nearly S. by E.
[430] See Admiralty “Chart showing the tracks of sailing vessels with auxiliary steam power”; the valuable track-charts by Capt. A. Schück in the Jahresbericht of the Hamburg Geographical Society, for 1874; Dr. G. Schott, “Die Verkehrswege” in Zeitschrift für Erdkunde, 1895, with maps; the sailing directories of all ages since Duarte Pacheco wrote his Esmeraldo in 1505.
[431] According to Barros, Bartholemeu Dias kept in his company until he took the direction of Mina.
[432] See, for instance, The Voyage of François Leguat, by Capt. Pasfield Oliver (Hakluyt Society, 1891), i, p. 25.
[433] Modern sailing vessels do much better. The passage from São Thiago to the Cape by way of Trinidad (5,140 miles) is made on an average in forty-six days, being a daily run of 125 miles, as compared with 54 miles daily, with which we have credited Vasco da Gama (see the Table at the end of this Appendix).
[434] One league of Columbus = 4 Italian miles = 3.38 nautical miles.
[435] In note 3, p. 3, we have assumed a somewhat shorter course, but after due consideration we now give the preference to the track laid down upon our chart. On an old map of Africa, by H. Moll, a “tract” passing to the east of Ascension and St. Helena is recommended as “a good course of sailing from Great Britain to the East Indies in the Spring and Fall”. What would Admiral Wharton say to this?
[436] These islands are distinctly shown on the Cantino Chart, but unfortunately not named. They are not, however, the Ys. Tebas of Juan de la Cosa, as is supposed by the Editor of Spruner’s Historical Atlas, for the chart of the Spanish pilot which contains this name was completed before Cabral’s return. If we can credit a statement of Correa (Stanley’s Vasco da Gama, p. 825), who quotes Gaspar da Gama as his authority, Cabral also discovered Tristão da Cunha. He certainly must have been very near these islands when several of his vessels foundered.