The
Object Of This Expedition, Besides Hostility To The King Of Spain, Was
That They Might Purchase The Spices And Other Commodities Of Asia At A
Cheaper Rate Than They Had Hitherto Been Accustomed To In Portugal.
The
fleet sailed from Amsterdam on the 13th of May 1598; arrived at Madeira
on the 15th, and at the Canaries on the 17th, where they both took in
wine.
On the 29th they were in the latitude of 6 deg. S. and passed the line
on the 8th of June; a wonderful swiftness, to me incredible! On the
24th July they saw the Cape of Good Hope, where three of the ships were
separated in a violent storm and arrived at the island of Banda in
April[419]. The other four ships under the admiral discovered the
island of Madagascar on the 24th of August, coming to Cape St Julian on
the 30th of that month. On the 20th of September they came to the island
of Cerne or Cisne, in lat. 21 deg. S. to which they gave the name of
Mauritius. Here they found tortoises of such magnitude that one of
them carried two men on its back, and birds which were so tame as to
allow themselves to be killed with sticks, whence they concluded that
the island was not inhabited. At Banda they joined the other three
ships, and having laded four with spices they were sent away to Holland,
while the other three went on to the Moluccas.
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