After This, Taking His Leave Of The King, He Rowed Past The
Ships Of The Indian Merchants, Which He Saluted In Passing With His
Ordnance; And When They Saw Us Pass, They Held Up Their Hands, Exclaiming
Christe!
Christe!
That night, having obtained leave from the king, our men made them a
great feast, with much diversion, also of squibs, firing of guns, and
loud cries. The fleet remained at anchor for two days without any message
from the shore, on which account the general was much distressed, fearing
the king had taken offence at his refusal to go on shore, and might break
the peace and amity between them, and not send him any pilot. But on
Sunday the 21st of April, a person who was in high credit with the king,
came off to visit the general, who was much disappointed when this person
brought no pilot, and again began to entertain suspicions of the kings
intentions. When the king learnt this, and that the general remained
merely for the purpose of having a pilot, he sent him one who was a
Gentile, called _Gosarate_[43] in their language, and whose name was
_Canaca_, sending an apology at the same time for not having sent this
person sooner. Thus the king and the general remained friends, and the
peace continued which had been agreed between them.
"De Barros and Faria give this pilot the name of _Malemo Cana_, and say
that he belonged to one of the Indian ships of Cambaya, then at Melinda.
De Barros adds, that he shewed De Gama a very small chart of the coast of
India, laid down with meridians and parallels, but without rhumbs of the
winds. This pilot shewed no surprise on seeing the large wooden and metal
astrolabes belonging to the Portuguese, as the pilots of the Red Sea had
long used brass triangular instruments and quadrants for astronomical
observations, and that he and others who sailed from Cambaya, and the
ports of India, navigated by the north and south stars, and the
constellations of the eastern and western hemispheres; and, though they
did not use these instruments in navigation, they employed one made of
three pieces of board, similar to the _balhestillia_, or cross-staff of
the Portuguese.
"In a collection of papers published in 1790, called _Documentos
Arabicos_, from the royal archives of Lisbon, chiefly consisting of
letters between the kings of Portugal and the tributary princes of the
east in the sixteenth century, the _zeque, sheik_, or king of Melinda,
with whom De Gama afterwards made a treaty of alliance, and whose
ambassador he carried into Portugal, was named Wagerage[44]."
Having thus procured a pilot, and provided all things necessary for the
voyage, De Gama departed from Melinda for Calicut, on Friday the 26th of
April 1498[45], and immediately made sail directly across the gulf which
separates Africa from India, which is 750 leagues[46]. This golf runs a
long way up into the land northwards; but our course for Calicut lay to
the east[47]. In following this voyage, our men saw the north star next
Sunday, which they had not seen of a long while; and they saw the stars
about the south pole at the same time. They gave thanks to God, that,
whereas it had been represented to them, that in this season, which was
the winter of the Indies, there were always great storms in this gulf,
they now experienced fair weather. On Friday the 18th of May, twenty-
three days after leaving Melinda, during all which time they had seen no
land, they came in sight of India, at eight leagues distance, the land
seeming very high. Canaca, the pilot, tried the lead and found forty-five
fathoms, upon which he altered his course to the south-east, having
fallen in with the land too far to the north. Upon the Saturday, he again
drew near the land, but did not certainly know it, as the view was
obscured by rain, which, always falls in India at this season, being
their winter. On Sunday the 20th of May, the pilot got view of certain
high hills which are directly behind the city of Calicut, and came so
near the land that he was quite sure of the place; on which he came up
with great joy to the general, demanding his _albrycias_, or reward, as
this was the place at which he and his company were so desirous to arrive.
The general was greatly rejoiced at this news, and immediately satisfied
the pilot, after which, he summoned all the company to prayers, saying
the _salve_, and giving hearty thanks to God, who had safely conducted
them to the long wished-for place of his destination. When prayer was
over, there was great festivity and joy in the ships, which came that
same evening to anchor two leagues from Calicut. Immediately upon
anchoring, some of the natives came off to the ships in four boats,
called _almadias_, inquiring whence our ships came, as they had never
before seen any resembling their construction upon that coast. These
natives were of a brown colour, and entirely naked, excepting very small
aprons. Some of them immediately came on board the general, and the
Guzerat pilot informed him these were poor fishermen; yet the general
received them courteously, and ordered his people to purchase the fish
which they had brought for sale. On conversing with them, he understood
that the town whence they came, which was in sight, was not Calicut,
which lay farther off, and to which they offered to conduct our fleet.
Whereupon the general requested them to do this; and, departing from this
first anchorage, the fleet was conducted by these fishermen to Calicut.
Calicut is a city on the coast of Malabar, a province of the second India,
which begins at the mount of Delhi, and ends at Cape Comory, being sixty-
one leagues in length, and fifteen leagues broad[48]. The whole of this
country is very low, and apt to be covered with water, having many
islands in its rivers, which flow into the Indian Sea.
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