Thus ended the last voyage undertaken by the great navigator. From San Lucar he was conveyed to Seville, where
he hoped to obtain rest after all his toils; but on arriving there he found his affairs in confusion, as they had been ever since his property had been seized by Bobadilla. His great anxiety was to get to Court to defend himself from the malignant accusations of his enemies; but his patroness, the magnanimous Isabella, fell ill and died. Ferdinand, though he treated him with respect, made constant excuses for not attending to his requests.
At length King Philip with Juana arrived from Flanders to take possession of their throne of Castile, and the Admiral, trusting that in the daughter of Isabella he would once more find a patroness, being too ill to leave his bed, sent his brother the Adelantado to petition for the restoration of his honours and estates.
It was the last time he was to see his gallant brother. Before the return of Don Bartholomew, feeling his end approaching, leaving his eldest son Don Diego his heir, he made his dying bequests in the presence of his faithful followers, Mendez and Fiesco, and on the 20th of May, 1506, at the age of seventy years, he yielded up his dauntless spirit to his Maker.
Chapter Nine.
Voyage of Vasco da Gama, to find a way to India by sea, and to discover the Kingdom of Prester John—A.D. 1497.
Early voyages of Portuguese to coast of Africa—Prince Henry of Portugal—Cape Bojador discovered—Madeira visited by Gonzales—Dom Joao the Second—Bartholomew Diaz discovers Cape of Storms, called by the King Cape of Good Hope—Envoys sent to Prester John—King Manuel fits out a squadron—Appoints Vasco da Gama to command them—Paulo da Gama—Nicholas Coelho—Grand ceremony at leave-taking—Squadron sails—Meet at Cape de Verde Islands—Enter a bay on African coast—Intercourse with natives—Veloso nearly caught by them—Ships stand off the land—Terror of the crews—Wish to return—Da Gama refuses—The Cape of Good Hope doubled—Ships stand along south coast of Africa—No natives seen—A tremendous gale—Clamours to return—Mutiny suppressed by a device of Coelho’s—Da Gama puts his pilots in irons.