The Merit Of
Gonzales Had Raised Him To The Rank Of A Gentleman In The Household Of
Don Henry, And
His character was held in much estimation; but his
confidence was obtained and betrayed by a moor of the Assanhaji
Tribe[10],
whom he had taken on board to serve as an interpreter with the natives on
the coast of Africa. Misled by this crafty African, who held out great
hopes of acquiring plunder, Gonzales steered for the island of Arguin,
and put into a creek or bay on the coast, in lat. 22 deg. 48' N. about
fourteen leagues to the south of Rio del Ouro, and forty-five to the
north of Cape Branco. The Moor got leave to go on shore, under pretence
of visiting some relations, but escaped in the night with another of his
countrymen. Gonzales was much mortified at allowing himself to be
circumvented by the cunning of his interpreter, and rashly embarked in a
boat with only twelve men, with the intention of pursuing the fugitive.
Pressing onwards with too much eagerness, he neglected to attend to the
tide, which happened then to be on the ebb. His boat stuck fast, and when
the morning broke, he was surrounded by two hundred Moors. Unable to
extricate himself, or to contend against such mighty odds, Gonzales and
seven of his men were slain; the other five made their escape by swimming
to the ship, which immediately set sail for Lagos. The clumsy
denomination of _Angra de Gonzales da Cintra_, to this bay, still
commemorates the death of this commander.
In the subsequent year, 1446, Don Henry sent out a small squadron of
three caravels, under the command of Antonio Gonzales, assisted by Diego
Alfonso, and by Gomez Perez, the kings pilot. They were directed to
proceed for the Rio del Ouro, and were strictly enjoined to cultivate the
friendship of the natives by every possible means, to establish peace
with them and to use their utmost endeavours to convert them to the
Christian religion; among other instructions, they were urged to pass
unnoticed the insults or neglect of honour which they might experience
from the negroes. The Portuguese endeavoured, but ineffectually, to
conciliate the natives, and to remove the angry prejudices which they
entertained. They returned to Lagos with no other fruit from their voyage
except one negro whom they had received in ransom, and an aged Moor who
requested permission to accompany them to Portugal. One of their own
companions, Juan Fernandez, from an ardent desire to procure information
for the prince, got leave to remain among the Assanhaji Arabs.
Next year, 1447, Antonio Mendez was ordered to return in search of Juan
Fernandez, from whose inquisitive disposition much information was
expected. In this expedition he was accompanied by two other caravels,
commanded by Garcia Mendez and Diego Alfonso, but they were separated by
a storm in the early part of the voyage. Alfonso was the first who
reached the coast at Cape Branco, where he landed, and set up a wooden
cross as a signal to his consorts, and then proceeded to the islands of
Arguin, which afforded shelter from the tremenduous surf which breaks
continually on the coast of Africa.
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