When This Man
Landed, He Was Immediately Surrounded By Great Numbers Of The Natives,
Staring At Him As A Stranger.
These people asked of the fishermen what
man this was whom they had brought on shore?
To which they answered, that
they supposed him to be a Moor, and that he belonged to the three ships
which were riding without the bar. But the people of Calicut wondered
much to see a person who was clothed so very differently from the Moors
who came from the Red Sea. Some of these people who had knowledge of
Arabic spoke to this man, but he could not understand or answer them, at
which they were much astonished. Yet, believing him to be a Moor, they
conducted him to a house where two Moors dwelt who came originally from
Tunis and had established themselves in Calicut. On his appearance, one
of these Moors whose name was Bontaybo[56], who could speak Spanish,
immediately recognized him for a Portuguese, having often seen people of
our nation at Tunis in the reign of King John, in a ship named La Reyna
which often traded to that port. As soon as Bontaybo saw the Portuguese,
he exclaimed in Spanish, _Devil take you, what brought you here_? He
farther inquired which way he had travelled so as to arrive at Calicut?
To this the banished man answered, telling how many ships our general had
brought with him; at which Bontaybo was much amazed, wondering how they
could possibly come by sea from Portugal to India.
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