From The Bay Of St. Helena Till They Passed Cape Corrientes, There Had Been
No Trace Of Navigation, - No Symptom
That the natives used the sea at all.
But after they passed this cape, they were visited by the natives
In boats,
the sails of which seem to have been made of the fibres of the cocoa-palm.
A much more encouraging circumstance, however, occurred: some of the
natives that came off in these boats were clothed in cotton, silk, and
sattin, - evident proofs that intercourse, either direct or indirect, was
practicable, and had in fact been held between this country and India. The
language of these people was not understood; but from their signs it was
inferred that they had seen ships as large as the Portuguese, and that they
had come from the north.
This part of Africa lies between latitudes 19 deg. and 18 deg. south; and as Gama
had the corrected chart of Covilham on board, in which Sofala was marked as
the limit of his progress, and Sofala was two degrees to the south of where
he then was, he must have known that he had now passed the barrier, and
that the discovery was ascertained, his circumnavigation being now
connected with the route of Covilham. This point of Gama's progress is also
interesting and important in another respect, for we are here approaching a
junction with the discoveries of the Arabians, the Egyptians, the Greeks,
and the Romans.
At this place Gama remained till the 24th of February, repairing his ships
and recruiting his men. On the 1st of March, he arrived off Mozambique;
here evidences of a circumnavigation with India were strong and numerous.
The sovereign of Mozambique ruled over all the country from Sofala to
Melinda. The vessels, which were fitted out entirely for coasting voyages,
were large, undecked, the seams fastened with cords made of the cocoa
fibres, and the timbers in the same manner. Gama, in going on board some of
the largest of those, found that they were equipped with charts and
compasses, and what are called aest harlab, probably the sea astrolabe,
already discovered. At the town of Mozambique, the Moorish merchants from
the Red Sea and India, met and exchanged the gold of Sofala for their
commodities, and in its warehouses, which, though meanly built, were
numerous, pepper, ginger, cottons, silver, pearls, rubies, velvet, and
other Indian articles were exposed to sale. At Mombaca, the next place to
which Gama sailed, all the commodities of India were found, and likewise
the citron, lemon, and orange; the houses were built of stone, and the
inhabitants, chiefly Mahomedans, seemed to have acquired wealth by
commerce, as they lived in great splendour and luxury.
On the 17th of March, 1498, Gama reached Melinda, and was consequently
completely within the boundary of the Greek and Roman discovery and
commerce in this part of the world. This city is represented as well built,
and displaying in almost every respect, proofs of the extensive trade the
inhabitants carried on with India, and of the wealth they derived from it.
Here Gama saw, for the first time, Banians, or Indian merchants:
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