Antonio Galvano, The Author Of The Following Summary Of The Discoveries
Of The World, Was A Portuguese Gentleman, Who Was
Several years governor
of the Molucca Islands, and performed signal service to his country in
that honourable station, by dissipating
A formidable league, which had
been entered into by the native princes of these islands, for the
expulsion of the Portuguese; and, though possessing very inadequate
resources for the protection of so important a commercial establishment,
he confirmed and extended the dominion and influence of Portugal in these
islands. When first appointed to the command in the Moluccas, Galvano
carried with him a private fortune of 10,000 crusadoes, all of which he
expended in the public service. Though he added a clear revenue to the
crown of 500,000 crusadoes, in consequence of his successful, vigilant,
and pure administration, he was so zealous in patronizing the propagation
of the Christian religion among the islands belonging to his government,
that, on his return to Lisbon in 1540, he was reduced to such extreme
poverty, as to be under the necessity of taking refuge in the _hospital_,
where he died in 1557.
Francis de Sousa Tavares, the original Portuguese editor of this treatise,
in a dedication of the work to Don John Duke of Aveira, gives the
following account of the work, and of its author:
"Antonio Galvano, when on his death-bed, left me this book, along with
his other papers, by his testament; and, as I am certain he designed that
it should be presented to your highness, I have thought proper to fulfil
his intentions in that respect. It was fitting that this treatise should
be written by a native of Portugal, as it treats of the various ways in
which the spiceries and other commodities of India were formerly brought
to our part of the world, and gives an account of all the navigations and
discoveries of the ancients and moderns, in both of which things the
Portuguese have laboured above all other nations. In this treatise, and
in nine or ten other books, concerning India and the Moluccas, this true
Portuguese described the unfortunate and sorrowful times, before our day,
in which he had been engaged. When he was appointed to the command of the
islands and fortresses of the Moluccas, all the kings and chiefs of these
islands had agreed to make war against our nation, and to drive them out
of the country. Yet he fought against them all in Tidore, though he had
only 130 Portuguese soldiers, against their whole united power, and gave
them a signal overthrow, in which their king, and one Ternate, the
principal author of the war, were both slain; besides which, he conquered
their fortresses, and compelled them all to submit to the obedience and
service of our sovereign. In this war, two great and wonderful events
took place: the _first_, that all the chiefs and kings of these islands
united against us, who used ever to be at variance among themselves; and
_secondly_, that Galvano, with only the ordinary garrison, should obtain
the victory against so great a combination. It has happened to other
governors of the Moluccas, with an extraordinary number of European
troops, and assisted by all the other native lords, to go to war with one
king only, and to come back with loss; whereas he, with a small and
inadequate force, successfully waged war against a confederacy of all the
lords of these islands.
"Three brilliant exploits have been performed in India, beyond all others.
The capture of Muar by Emanuel Falcon; the winning of Bitam by Peter
Mascarenas; and this victory obtained by Galvano. Besides this great
exploit, his father and four brothers were all slain in the kings service;
and he, being the last of his lineage, carried with him about 10,000
crusadoes into the Moluccas, all of which he expended in propagating our
holy faith, and in preserving these valuable islands, using all his power
and influence to bring all the cloves into the kings coffers, by which he
added 500,000 crusadoes yearly to the royal revenue. Had he gathered
cloves on his own account, as other governors of the Moluccas have done,
he might have come home very rich; but returning poor, and, in the
simplicity of his nature, expecting to be rewarded for his honest
services, he was entirely neglected, and had to take refuge in an
hospital, where he remained seventeen years, till his death, when he was
2000 crusadoes in debt; partly for demands upon him from India, and
partly borrowed from his friends to maintain him in the hospital. After
his death, the cardinal desired me to give his other writings to Damien
de Goes, promising to content me for them, which otherwise I should not
have done; yet hitherto I have not received any thing with which to
execute his will. Yet, for all this, as in the prosperity of his
victories he made no boast, so, in his adversity, he always preserved an
unabated spirit. Your grace, therefore, may perceive, that this treatise,
and his other works, were written under great afflictions; yet was he not
willing to use the remedy of Zelim, the son of the great Turk Mahomet,
who took Constantinople, and died in Rome, who used to make himself drunk,
that he might forget the high estate from which he had fallen. Neither
would he follow the councils of many of his friends, in withdrawing from
the kingdom; saying, he had rather resemble Timocles the Athenian, than
the Roman Coriolanus. For all which, this treatise ought to receive
favour from your grace, allowing for any oversights of the author, if
there be any such, as I am unfit to detect or correct then. God prosper
your grace with long life, and increase of honour."
[1] Oxford Collection, II. 353. Clarke, Progr. of Marit. Disc. I. App 1.
[2] Oxford Collection, I. viii.
SECTION I.
_Epitome of the Ancient and Modern Discoveries of the World, chiefly by
means of Navigation, from the Flood to the close of the Fifteenth
Century._
When I first desired to compose an account of the ancient and modern
discoveries by sea and land, with their true dates and situations, these
two principal circumstances seemed involved in such difficulty and
confusion, that I had almost desisted from the attempt.
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