[132] This pilot was a native of Gujarat, whom Goes (c. 38), Barros (Dec. I, liv. 4, c. 6), and Faria y Sousa call Malema Cana, or Canaqua. Malema is a corruption of Mallim, master or teacher, whilst Canaqua (Kanaka), is the name of his caste. It is also used for sailing master.
[133] The island in question is Kilwa. The information furnished by this Malindi pilot is scarcely more correct than that previously obtained from the Moors (see note 3, p. 32).
[134] Alcochete, a town on the left bank of the estuary of the Tagus, above Lisbon.
[135] From April 15 to 23 is nine days.
[136] The “Bay” is the Arabian Sea, which the “Strait” of Bab el Mandeb joins to the Red Sea. Cambay (Khambhat), in Gujarat, when the Portuguese first came to India, was one of the most flourishing marts of commerce. The silting up of the Gulf accounts, in a large measure, for its commercial decline since then.
[137] The MS. says 17th, but Friday was the 18th.
[138] From April 24 to May 18, both days inclusive, is twenty-five days; the African coast was within sight for several days.
[139] Mount Eli (Dely) was probably the land first sighted, a conspicuous hill forming a promontory about 16 miles to the north of Cananor, and named thus from the Cardamoms which are largely exported from this part of Malabar, and are called Ela in Sanscrit (Yule’s Marco Polo, ii, p. 321).
[140] The rains in Malabar begin about April or May, and continue until September or October. They are synchronous with the S.W. monsoon, and are heaviest in June, July, and August. The annual rainfall exceeds 150 inches!
[141] Cotta Point, or Cape Kadalur, the “Monte Formosa”, of the Portuguese, 15 miles N.N.W. of Calecut.