[2] The two young men were named, respectively, Pero de Covilhan, and Gonsalvo de Pavia. Though accounts differ, they seem to have travelled together by Venice, Alexandria, and Cairo, to Mecca, where they separated. One of them (and here again accounts vary) went on to Aden, Cananore, Calicut, and Goa (Mr. Stanley and Mr. Major think this was Covilhan), the other to Abyssinia. It is certain that Pavia died soon afterwards, probably at Cairo; and that, by the agency of a Spanish Jew, Covilhan was able to send home word that India could be reached by sea by continuing the coasting voyage from Guinea round the Cape to Sofala. Mr. Major, therefore (p. 339), is justified in stating that to him belongs the honour of the theoretical discovery of the Cape. His report to the king, however, did not reach Portugal till shortly after Bartholomew Dias and Joam Infante had started, in August 1486. Covilhan, on his way home, went to Abyssinia, and was detained there for the rest of his life (33 years).
[3] The author is of opinion that the vessels engaged under Vasco de Gama were, as in the case of Columbus, much larger than historians have represented, though very much alike, as Correa describes, especially in the size of their yards and sails. Unable to find any work which furnished an illustration of any kind of these vessels, he applied to his friend Mr. Edward Pinto Basto, of Lisbon, for information on the subject. After considerable research, (for which he is greatly indebted,) Mr. Basto furnished the author with the drawing—[see following page]—which in his letter he describes as a “sketch representing the San Gabriel passing the Cape of Good Hope on November 25th, 1497. This sketch,” he remarks, “is copied from an original picture in Lisbon that belonged to D. Ioam de Castro, and I have no doubt,” he adds, “that it is a correct representation of Gama’s ship. I have spoken,” he continues, “to the Marquis of Nisa, whom you know, and who is the lineal descendant of the renowned navigator, and he confirms that opinion. The expedition,” he adds, “sailed from Lisbon (Belem) on July 9th 1497. It consisted of the San Gabriel, commanded by Vasco de Gama; San Raphael, commanded by his brother Paulo de Gama; Birrio, under charge of Nicolas Coelho; and a transport which was a storeship to carry provisions, called a naveta.” Mr. Pinto Basto confirms the opinion the author entertained with regard to the dimensions of these ships. “The San Gabriel,” he says, “had a high poop and forecastle. The tonnage in those days was calculated by the number of pipes of wine the vessel could carry. The San Gabriel was constructed to carry 400 pipes,” equivalent to about 400 tons measurement, or about from 250 to 300 tons register, which is much more likely to have been the size of the vessels engaged on so distant and hazardous an expedition than those which historians describe. It should be added that Correa calls De Gama’s ship the Sam Rafael.
[4] Correa, p. 33.
[5] Correa, pp. 55-57.
[6] Ibid. p. 74. Note.
[7] Correa, p. 128.
[8] Correa, p. 146.
[9] Our calico (in French, calicot) derives its name from Calicut, as muslin from Mosul, &c.
[10] It should be remembered that with most of our early writers and navigators “Moor” was a generic name for Muhammedan. The governor of Calicut is called by the Portuguese “Zamorin,” a corruption, probably, of “Samudri-Rajah.”
[11] Correa, p. 156.