I. 40.
SECTION III.
_Voyage of Pedro Alvarez Cabral to India in 1500; being the second made
by the Portuguese to India, and in the course of which Brasil was
Discovered._
The certainty of a navigable communication with India, and the vast
riches that were to be had in that country, being now ascertained, the
king resolved to prosecute the discovery, on purpose to spread the gospel
among the idolaters, and to augment his own revenues and the riches and
prosperity of his subjects. For these purposes, he determined to attempt
the settlement of a factory in Calicut by gentle means; hopeful that they
might be persuaded to a friendly intercourse, and might afterwards listen
to the word of God.
He therefore commanded that a fleet of ten ships and two caravels should
be got ready against next year, to be well laden with all the commodities
which De gama had reported to have current sale in Calicut. There went
others also to Sofala and Quiloa, where also he commanded factories to be
established, both on account of the gold which was to be found there, and
that the ships might have a place to touch and refresh at in their way to
and from India. Over the fleet intended for Calicut, he appointed Pedro
Alvarez Cabral, a gentleman of an honourable house, to be captain-general,
Sancho de Toar being captain of his ship.
