YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

THE VOYAGE FROM LISBON TO
INDIA 1505-6
BY
ALBERICUS VESPUCCIUS.

*** Only Two Hundred and Fifty copies are printed, of which
Nos. i to 6 are on parchment.
This is No. 1 5

THE
VOYAGE FROM LISBON TO INDIA
1505-6
BEING AN ACCOUNT AND JOURNAL BY
ALBERICUS VESPUCCIUS
TRANSLATED FROM THE CONTEMPORARY FLEMISH, AND
EDITED WITH PROLOGUE AND NOTES
BY
C. H. COOTE
DEPARTMENT OF PRINTED BOOKS (GEOGRAPHICAL SECTION)
BRITISH MUSEUM

LONDON
B. F. STEVENS, 4, TRAFALGAR SQUARE
1894

CHISWICK PRESS : — CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO.
TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON.

PROLOGUE.
" Puis Americ Vespuce de Florence
Qui a les Noirs mis en claire apparence.
Parquoy LeSeur a. tous eux grace rendz
Et des Labeurs des autres le fruici prens.
En discourant en repos domestique
Des yeux d' esprit les regions d'Aphrique
Ou tu verras mainte noualite
Auec plaisir ioinft a utilite
Car (comme on diS les vieux proverbiaux)
Tousiours Aphrique apporte eas Nouueaux." 1
J. TEMPORAL in Giov. Lioni Africano's
De FAfrique, Lyon, 1556, fol.
HEREWITH we lay before the reader an exadt
facsimile, with an interleaved translation of
an exceedingly rare Flemish book preserved in the
British Museum Library (C. 32, f. 26). From the
stamped date of 4 Dec. 55, to be observed on the last
page, we may safely conclude that the original has
been hidden away among the treasures of our national
Kau %k^nai Se tij Trapoi/xla, on «ei AijSvn <pepei ri nouvov. — Hence it is
proverbially said that Libya always produces something new. ARIS
TOTLE, De Animal. Hist., Lib. viii., cap. xxviii., 45. Also
quoted by PLINY THE ELDER, " Unde etiam vulgare Graeciae
diSum : Semper aliquid novi Africam afferre."— Hence the saying
which was common in Greece, that Africa is always producing some
thing new. Nat. Hist., Lib. viii., 17.
V b

collection for nearly forty years, almost forgotten, and
entirely unknown to our lynx-eyed bibliographers of
the literature relating to Vespucci. At the present
time there is only one other copy extant, which is pre
served in a well-known private library in America.1 The
book is not even mentioned in F. A. de Varnhagen's
Amerigo Vespucci, Lima, 1865, fol., and has also
escaped the notice of H. Harrisse both in his Bibliotheca
Americana Vetustissima, with its additions to 1872,
and in his later works. It is also unknown to my
friend, Prof. E. Arber, as will be seen below.
The work is entitled Die reyse van Lissebone, etc.,
and is a small quarto of twelve leaves. Below the
colophon on the last page is a curious device,
apparently used for the first time (1508) by the printer,
J. van Doesborch, containing in somewhat primitive
Greek characters the well-known Ciceronian motto,
TvuQi (tbxvtov. An inspection of the paper, with its
water-marks to be observed on the fifth leaf, shows
that in the British Museum copy we are dealing with
a genuine specimen of the Antwerp press of the first
decade of the sixteenth century.
A careful examination of our Flemish text also
shows us that the book is divided into three distinct
portions ; the first, comprised in the first four leaves,
containing a general geographical description of the
countries between Portugal and India and beyond,
interspersed with curious ethnographical notes upon
their various peoples and their manners and customs.
Now hereby hangs a tale. Prof. E. Arber, in his The
first Three English Books relating to America, 1885,
1 Carter Brown Library, Providence, R.I.
vi

informs us, when describing Of the newe landes and of ye
people founde by the messengers of the Kynge of portyngale
named Emanuel, etc., printed by J. vanDoesborch about
1 52 1 (not 151 1 as he suggests), that it "is mainly
a compilation from two early Dutch tracts," viz.,
Van der nieuwer werelt, etc. (known as the Dutch
Vespuccius), circa 1 507, and the Van . . . Pape Jans
landen des., circa 1508. That a translation of the
latter is to be found at the end of the Of the newe
landes, etc., is quite true, but that a compilation of the
former is to be found in it is obviously an error. If we
turn to Of the newe landes? etc., leaf 3 recto, commen
cing, " At the fyrste cam we in the lande of Canarien,"
we find on comparison that these words are an im
perfect translation by a Fleming of the commencement
of the first four leaves of our text of 1508, and not
from the said Van der nieuwer werelt, etc., of the pre
ceding year.
The second portion of our text, comprising leaves
five to eleven, contains the hitherto unidentified letter
from Vespucci to Lorenzo di Pier Francisco de Medici
which professes to give an account of the Voyage
from Lisbon " from point to point/' and also day by
day in the form of a journal, as will be seen from the
chronology of the days and months recorded therein.
To this we shall return presently. The third portion,
contained on the verso of the twelfth and last leaf,
forms no part either of the geographical description
or of Vespucci's letter, but is obviously a feeble attempt
on the part of the compiler or printer to apply, in an
1 Cf. the unique copy, Brit. Mus., Gr. 7106, Arber, op. cit., p. xxvi,
Harrisse, " B. A. V.," No. 116, and our Illustrative Note 29, end.
vii

abridged form, the demonstration and illustration to be
found at the end of the Van der nieuwer werelt. It is of
interest to note that the unique " Dutch Vespu.ccius "
of 1507 has also found a resting-place in the above-
mentioned private library in America.1
We now return to the second portion of our text,
containing the newly-discovered letter of Vespucci.
It is prefaced by the following heading, " Die reyse van
Indien, van Calcoenen ende vanden Nyeuwen landen
de doen geuonden waren geschyet Int iaer ons heren
Mvijfhondert in die maent van meerte." The
reader will observe in the accompanying translation,
after the words " one thousand five hundred," we have
inserted in brackets — " and five" For, at the very
outset, we are met with one of the difficulties that beset
all the known printed accounts of Vespucci's voyages,
namely, the usual perplexing question of uncertain
chronology. As I pointed out in the Athenceum for
5th November, 1892 (p. 624), whereas the date of
the voyage given in the Flemish text was ostensibly
from 25th March, 1500, to 15th November, 1501,
I was unable to square it with any of the known
letters of Vespucci, or any of the early voyages to
India of the Portuguese which cover this period. In the
Athenceum for 20th January, 1 894^. 86), I was afforded
the opportunity of stating the reasons for my inability
to perform this insuperable task, which were, that
the dates of 1 500-1 501, given by the printer, or in the
original MS. letter now lost, were wrong, as I was
in a position to prove that the whole of the transac-
1 Cf. F. Muller, Books on America, Amst., 1872, No. 24,
Harrisse, " B. A. V.," Add. No. 15, and Arber, op. cit., p. xxv.
viii

tions recorded in the letter undoubtedly referred to a
later voyage, namely, that of 25th March, 1505-6,
made by Dom Francisco d' Almeida, the first Portu
guese Viceroy of India. This I confirmed by giving six
parallel passages, three from Mr. R. H. Major's Life
of Prince Henry the Navigator (first edition), 1868,
p. 415, and three from pp. 26, 34, and 27 OI" tne
translation of our text.
Shortly after my last letter to the Athenceum I
received a friendly, but private, communication from
one of our most distinguished geographers, who drew
my attention to a series of facts and dates relating to
Vespucci which apparently traversed the possibility of
Vespucci being engaged in the service of Portugal, or
even voyaging to India in 1505-6. With these
adverse facts and dates, however, I have nothing to
do, as from the very nature of the case it does not
fall within the scope of these introductory pages
to attempt to reconcile all the well-known chrono
logical difficulties of the Vespucci question, scarcely
one of which is not open to dispute, partly on account
of the method of computing the beginning of the
year, to say nothing of the claims set up for the
other voyages of Vespucci with La Cosa, May —
December, 1505, and March — November, 1507 (cf.
J. Fiske's Discovery of America, vol. ii., p. 62). As
has been well said by MM. P. GafFarel et C. Cariod in
the Compte rendu du Cong. Inter, des Americanistes,
8me Session, Paris, 1892, p. 235, Note 2 : " mais rien
n'est moins certain que la chronologie de Vespucci."
Doubtless these disputed points will receive adequate
treatment at the hands of* Sig. L. Hugues in the
ix

forthcoming Part v., vol. ii., section 2, of the Rac-
colta di Documenti e Studi pub. dalla R. Commissione
Colombiana, Rome. In the meantime we gladly
refer the reader to Mr. Clements R. Markham's recent
work, The Letters of Amerigo Vespucci (Hakluyt
Society), 1894.1
My duty as editor of this translation requires me to
take my stand upon the only reasonable and tenable
position open to me in that capacity. This position
is, that having regard to the date of the printing of
this hitherto unknown voyage associated with the
name of Vespucci, and also to other voyages ascribed
to him at this period, our text, taken on its own
merits, has as good a claim to be admitted into the
Vespuccian Canon as the Epistola [1504?], the Letter a
[1505 ?], the St. Die Cosmographies Introdutlio [ 1 507], or
any of the editions of the Mundus Novus published
down to the time of the decease of Vespucci in 15 12.
We are accustomed to associate the name of Vespucci
so exclusively with the discovery of the New World of
America, that the idea of his ever having designed to
proceed to the new lands of Portuguese India comes
to us almost with the charm of novelty. Nevertheless,
if we turn to his accounts of his third and fourth
voyages (the first and second for Portugal), as recorded
in the Letter a of 1505, we observe at once that,
although Vespucci coasted the east shores of South
America in these two voyages, this leading idea, if not
exactly implied in the third voyage, is certainly ex-
1 The learned editor's note, p. xii, questioning the genuineness
of our text without examination, serves no purpose beyond inviting
useless controversy. X

pressed in the fourth. It is to be observed, even in the
former, that not only did he reach the port of Bissagos,
but he informs us that it was his intention to make his
sea way southerly through the Atlantic Gulf. In the
account of his fourth voyage he adds, " we departed
from the port of Lisbon six ships in company, with
the intention of going to discover an island towards
the east, which is called Melaccha, and this Melaccha
is more westerly (sic) than Caligut, and much more
to the southward." To assume that Vespucci entirely
abandoned the idea of this project on behalf of the
Portuguese after his fourth voyage, is a somewhat
equivocal position to take up in the light of the follow
ing document. It is a letter addressed by Alonso Cuaco
to the Emperor [Charles V.], and is dated St. Domingo,
Hispaniola, 22 January, 1 5 1 8 : " Hay otro secreto. En
el Oriente posee Portugal mucho que es de V. M.
La misma ciudad de Malaca que tiene 25,000 vecinos,
le toca, segun parece, por este mapa mundi qui hizo
imprimir Americo que anduvo por aquellas partes ; el
cual tiene en forma redonda el Senor Infante [D.
Fernando] en su camara." Anglice : There is another
secret. In the East, Portugal possesses much which
belongs to your majesty. The very city of Malacca,
which contains 25,000 inhabitants, belongs to her,
as appears from the map of the world which
Americus, who has travelled in those parts, caused to be
printed, and which the Infante possesses in spherical
form in his room." Pacheco, Documentos ineditos del
Archivo de Indias, torn, i., p. 296, Madrid, 1864, 8vo.
Cf. Harrisse, Discovery of North America, 1892, p. 472.
Perhaps, for our present purpose, this evidence will
xi

serve to obtain for our text the attention it deserves.
We will now turn our attention to the voyage itself.
One of the most interesting, but least known contem
porary accounts of the setting forth of this voyage of
1505-6 is given us by Leonardo da Cha Masser, or
Ca Masser, a Venetian residing in Lisbon at this
period (cf. Note 19, end).
He informs us that " in 1505 a fleet was despatched ;
it started on 25th March, commanded by Don Francisco
d' Almeida, although SignorTristano da Cunha had been
previously chosen, and should have gone, but he lost
his eyesight at this time, so that His Highness [King
Manoel] made choice of thesaid Captain Don Francisco,
who, with thirty sail, large and small, of which one
called the Nuncia was lost in the mouth of the harbour
of Lisbon, with a disabled galleon, with much mer
chandise." We are informed that the fleet comprised
fourteen ships and sixteen (?) caravels ; (this last figure is
probably an error, as six is given in the Relacao das
Ndos e Armadas da India (Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 20902).
To these Ca Masser adds two light galleys, which he
[d' Almeida] carried in pieces on the ship \_Jesus],
These are doubtless the "galley and a barge" referred
to on p. 33 of our text. Our Venetian authority also
informs us that " the ships of this fleet that went on
the voyage to India, started from Lisbon in February,
March, and also in April, suiting the time to their
convenience." These dates serve to explain how it was,
when, according to our text (p. 30), d' Almeida stormed
Mombasa on the 15th August, 1505, he found the
Flemish merchants had three ships there. These
must have formed part of the fleet that sailed in
xii

February. According to the Armadas MS. the third
portion of the fleet, composed of six ships, sailed on
the 1 8th May with Pero da Nhaya as chief captain,
who was ordered to remain behind at Sofala in order
to establish a fortress and a factory-house there.
D'Almeida in his voyage of 25th March did not touch
at Sofala, but only descried the land between this
place and Mozambique on the 19th July (cf. p. 25).
One of the most recent and graphic accounts of this
voyage appears in Dr. F- H. H. Guillemard's Life
of Ferdinand Magellan, from which we have taken
a few of the following remarks, as Magellan himself
was a volunteer in this great armada of Dom Francisco
d' Almeida. In those days, the departure upon an
expedition such as this was looked upon as a serious
matter, to be solemnized, as custom demanded, with
special confession and mass, at which attendance was
enjoined. On the present occasion the ceremony was
invested with more than ordinary interest, for the
standard of the Viceroy of India, after being blessed by
the bishop, was to be formally presented to d'Almeida
by the king. We have little difficulty in realizing the
scene in the cathedral at Lisbon : d'Almeida kneeling
at the king's feet and receiving it into his solemn care
and keeping ; his silent prayer before the high altar
with the standard in his hand ; and finally, the loud-
voiced proclamation by the herald, " Dom Francisco
d'Almeida, Governor, Viceroy of India for our Lord
the King." The blessing of the flag over, the fleet
dropped down the river to Belem and anchored off the
church, or, as Vespucci describes it, " the monastery
of Rostel [Rastello], one mile from the town "
xiii c

(p. 1 8). Next day — the 25th March, 1 505 — the final
departure took place. The king came down in state
from the city, and went on board the viceroy's ship ;
anchors were then weighed, and the whole fleet pro
ceeded slowly towards the bar, the king accompanying
them, going from ship to ship and speaking to the
captains, taking leave of them, and wishing them a
prosperous voyage. The omission of this last scene in
Vespucci's letter is probably accounted for by the fact
that his ship belonged to merchants and not to the
king. Castenheda relates an amusing incident that took
place at the moment of departure, which is interesting
as possibly marking the date of the introduction of the
words larboard and starboard into the Portuguese navy.
We here give a translation of it in extenso : " As the
fleet was going down the river [Tagus], and the pilots
were directing the man at the helm to steer to larboard
(bombordo) or starboard (estribordo) , as they are accus
tomed to do when coming out of a river, the sailors
became embarrassed through never having heard these
words used, and especially those on Joao Homem's
caravel ; so when they had to steer to larboard, that is
to say to the right, they steered to starboard, which is
to say to the left. Now Joao Homem, dire&ly he saw
this, told the pilot to direct the sailors by means of
familiar words, and that when he wanted them to steer
to starboard, he should say [alios] garlic, and when to
larboard [cebolas] onions, and he ordered a string to be
hung on either side, so when the pilot directed them by
these words, the sailors were no longer confused, and
steered in the right direction" (op. cit., lib. ii., cap. 1).
As we have endeavoured, to the best of our ability,
xiv

in the Illustrative Notes to be found at the end of
our text, to elucidate most of the obscure points in the
narrative, we shall content ourselves with setting forth
a short chronological summary which will serve as a
general outline of the events of the voyage from its
commencement to its close.
On the 25th March, 1505, they set sail, and encoun
tered a series of surprises that would only have
astonished a landsman. The wonder of this day was the
" black and terrible fish the length of two men," it
might have been a whale. The next day they were
fairly out into the sea of Portugal ; on the 27th they
observed another sea monster, whose counterfeit may
be seen on the recently discovered Carta Marina by
Olaus Magnus of 1539. On the 28th they apparently
came athwart Madeira, and the Canaries were descried
on the 31st March. On the 3rd April they sailed
along the Guinea Coast, and on the following day they
saw many whales " both long and terrible, and some
were longer than others." On the 7th they made Cape
Verd, and anchored "three miles off a town called
Bissagos." On 15th April they sailed with the whole
of their fleet towards the Cape of Good Hope. Then
followed a tempestuous voyage of fifteen weeks, during
which time, according to our narrative (p. 25),
they did not come within three hundred miles of the
Cape. In fact, they sailed so far out to sea south of it
that they probably reached lat. 440 S. (cf. Note 1 5, end).
Vespucci's contemporary, Ca Masser, informs us that
from the time of their departure from Lisbon upon
this voyage, they were about three months without
seeing land, and that the vessels were directed by the
xv

Altare (southern constellations), by the sun, or by the
arctic pole and the astrolabe. Of the latter he writes
that by its use " they truly tell where they find them
selves — and that after many days I shall arrive at a
certain place ; which is certainly a fine thing, and of
great use to many steersmen, who know this journey
with as much familiarity and ease as a voyage from
the Levant" (op. cit., torn, ii., p. 25).
By way of confirmation we will compare this
portion of the voyage related in our text (p. 25) with
Osorio's version : "In the meanwhile Francis
Almeed was steering his course to India, but being
hindered by bad weather, and long calms, he made
but slow progress in his voyage, and could not make
the Cape of Good Hope : it was then winter in
those parts, and our people were harassed with con
tinual storms, besides, the pilots, mistaking their course,
sailed too far to the southward, where the days were
extremely short, the sun being then in the northern
tropic. The thickness of the air, the immoderate
showers of rain, and great fallings of snow, made them
likewise seem shorter than they really were, and our
men suffered greatly also' by the excessive cold. At
length, on the twentieth day they turned the Cape ;
Almeed then ordered the fleet to keep near the land.
On the second of July a violent storm arising, greatly
distressed the fleet. The tempest being abated, our
men sailed along the coast of Caffers, and at last made
the port of Quiloa " (op. cit., lib. iv., p. 227).
It is also interesting to compare this portion of the
voyage with the earlier navigation to the southern
hemisphere by Vespucci, as recorded in the summary
xvi

of his third voyage, and translated by Eden from
Ramusio's version : " Departyng from Lisbona (com
monly cauled Lusheburne) the viii. day of May, in the
yeare 1501, we sayled fyrst to the Islandes of Canarie,
and from thense to Capouerde, which the Ethiopians or
blacke Moores caule Bisineghe [Bissagos], being xiiii
degrees on this syde the Equinoctiall line. From
whense directynge owre course towarde the South
pole by the South-west, we saw no more land for the
space of three moonethes and three dayes. Of which
tyme durynge xl dayes, we had cruell fortune : In so
much that for that space, the heaven in a maner neuer
ceased thunderyng, roryng, and lyghtenyng with
terrible noyse, and fearfull syghtes of fyery exhalations
flyinge abowt in the ayer, and in maner continuall
showers of rayne with darke clowdes couerynge the
heaven in such sorte that as well in the day as in the
nyghte we coulde see none otherwyse but as when the
moone-giueth no lyght by reason of thicke and darke
clowds. The sea was in lyke case unquieted with
surgies and monsters. After these greuous and
cruel days, it plesed god to haue compassion on owr
liues. For we suddenly espied land, wherby we
recoured owr spirites and strength. This land which
wee founde is from Capo Verde 700. leagues, although
I suppose that we sayled more then 800. by reason of
the cruel tempest and ignoraunce of the Pylottes and
mariners whereby wee were lyke to haue byn cast
away. For wee were in such daungerous places
wanderynge in unknowen coastes, that if I had not byn
skylfull in the science of Cosmographie we had surely
peryshed, forasmuch as there was not one pylot that
xvii

knewe where wee were by the space of fiftie leagues.
In so much that if I had not in tyme prouyded for the
safegarde of myne owne lyfe and them that were with
me, with my quadrant and Astrolabie instrumentes of
Astronomie, wee had styl wandered lyke blynde men.
But when in fine I had persuaded the pylots by
demonstrations pertaynynge to that arte, they gaue me
great honour and confessed that the ordinarie pilottes
and mariners ignorant in Cosmographie, are not to be
compared to men of speculative knowledge, etc."
(Eden's Decades, etc., 1555, p. 245 ; Arber, op. cit.,
p. 277).
We again revert to our text. On the 19th July
they descried the land of South Africa between Sofala
and Mozambique ; and, passing on, they anchored off
the bar of Quiloa on 22nd July. Two days later,
the whole fleet, consisting of eight ships, sailed up to
the town ; being badly received by the then reigning
king, d'Almeida landed his forces, stormed the city,
and founded the fort of Santjago upon the site of " a
castle with four towers which was already half built "
(p. 26). Upon the 27th July the king of the town
fled away, and another king, Muhammed Ancon,
reigned in his stead, after receiving the golden crown
at the hands of d'Almeida. It would appear, also,
from Osorio's account, that the new king only
accepted the crown provisionally, as regent, or duke,
as our text has it, on behalf of the infant son of the
old king, whose dynasty he refused to allow either
himself or his family to supplant. Muhammed Ancon's
magnanimity in this matter seemed so extraordinary
and inexplicable to the Portuguese, that it called for
xviii

special mention at some length by subsequent Portu
guese historians. These remarks will serve to correct
the somewhat confused accounts of the events of the
4th August as given in our text (p. 26). On 6th
August, a large garrison having been left to complete
the work of the fort, the fleet sailed for Mombasa.
On the 13th August they entered this harbour ; two
days later they stormed the town of Mombasa, in
two companies, and took it after severe fighting.
Although the Portuguese had a very large number
of wounded, yet, according to our narrative, they only
lost two men. It was in this action that Dom
Lourenco, the only son of the future Viceroy, first
distinguished himself. In our account of this storming
of Mombasa we are afforded some interesting parti
culars relating to the composition of the Portuguese
fleets at this period. The fleet of eight ships was now
augmented by those of " the Flemish merchants "
who " had three ships there ; " and we are informed
that these ships, whose names are given, were in all
their subsequent actions and conflicts. We also learn
that there were others of the fleet which " belonged
to the Flemish merchants and the Lombards likewise,"
and that " the King of Portugal had at first no more
than three ships of his own." This is confirmed by
Ca Masser, whom I have quoted more at length
(Note 19, end). He also tells us that a part-owner of
one of these Flemish ships was Bartolo the Florentine.
Max. Transylvanus 1 also informs us that one of the
Antwerp traders residing at Lisbon about this period
1 Johann Scboner, edited by Stevens and Coote, 1888 (text leaf
A iii., trans, p. in). xix

was Christopher de Haro, a Spaniard who had
relations with Portugal concerning the Guinea
trade. These two facts may serve somewhat to
explain why the original account of our narrative first
saw the light in Antwerp, and not in Florence, as
might be expected. On 23rd August they set sail for
Melinda, but " did not come thereunto," but kept
along the coast until the 27th August, when they
changed their course north-east across the Arabian Gulf
until the 12th September, when they descried land
which " was the beginning of India." The following
day they reached the island of Anjediva, where they
lay for thirty-three days, during which time they
made the galley and the barge also referred to by Ca
Masser (p. xii, ante). On the 16th October they sailed
thirty miles south, to Onor. The king of this
province had already made a treaty of peace with
d'Almeida, but being foolish enough to send an
insolent message in reply to a request made to him by
the future Viceroy respecting some horses that had
swum ashore from certain Persian galleys which the
latter was desirous of capturing, the Portuguese
entered the river, burnt the ships, and took the town,
which soon brought the monarch to his senses. Dom
Lourenco, his stalwart son, headed the storming party,
but he had little opportunity of distinguishing himself,
as the enemy yielded almost without a blow; the
Portuguese only lost one man in the assault (cf. Note
22, end). Dom Lourenco died two years later at the
battle of Chaul. Leaving Onor, they sailed for
Cananor, where they arrived on the 22nd October,
and lay there for four days, finding " a good trade of
xx

pearls and precious stones, and of ginger and cinna
mon." Here our author's narrative becomes somewhat
confused; he writes : " Then the king of the country
[Cananor] did repair unto us to entreat and arrange
that after his death our captain should become king."
This probably refers to one of the visits of ceremony
where d'Almeida was asked to assume the full rank
and title of Viceroy, as he had hitherto only called
himself Governor. During this four days' stay at
Cananor, the Viceroy, at the request of the resident
Portuguese factor, ordered a fortress to be built for the
protection of the native king against the Arab traders.
There is, however, no mention of this in our narrative.
On the 27th October they set sail for Cochin, sailing
by night past Calicut. On the 30th October they
cast anchor in front of Cochin. On 2nd November,
after lading four ships, three returned northward to
Cananor to await the remainder of the fleet. It was
during this period that Nambeadora, King of Cochin,
received at the hands of the Viceroy the " golden
crown which the King of Portugal had sent him"
(p. 37). The remaining ships sailed for Cananor on
20th December, where they arrived on Christmas eve.
On 2nd January, 1506, the first homeward bound
squadron of five ships set sail for Portugal under the
command of Fernao Soarez. This fleet arrived at
Lisbon on 23rd May, 1506 (Guillemard, op. cit.,
p. 41) ; Ca Masser says 3rd July — probably the latter
date. Anyway, this voyage of Soarez is remarkable
from the fact that the east coast of Madagascar was
discovered for the first time.
Our fleet, which included the Leonard, sailed from
xxi d

Cananor on 21st January for Anjediva, from which
island they set sail for Lisbon on 5th February. After
recrossing the Arabian Gulf, or " wild sea of Maga-
doxo," they sighted the island of " Shrove Tuesday "
on 8th March. Next day they descried the island of
St. Christopher, near Meyotto, one of the Comoro
group (cf. Note 23, end). Three days later they
made the mainland of Africa, and on 19th March
they cast anchor before the island of Mozambique,
where they took in wood and water and victuals.
On 14th April they sailed for the Cape. After tossing
up and down the Mozambique Channel from the 30th
of" May until the 9th of June, where the movements of
the fleet as recorded in the text (p. 38) are as confused
as the chronology, they arrived 1 1 th June in Rocky
Bay (cf. Note 25). Three days later they set sail, and
arrived on 15th June at Delagoa Bay. Here they
victualled their ships and had intercourse with the
natives, as described on pp. 6 and 41 of our text.
On 1 st July they arrived at the watering-place of
St. Blaze or St. Bras (cf. Note 26, end). On 7th
July they passed the Cape, and sighted St. Helena on
the 2 1 st. On 15th August they descried the Cape
Verd Islands, and anchored at St. Jago for three days,
where they found a caravel from Guinea bound for
Lisbon. On 8th September, after having gone sixty
leagues from the Cape Verd Islands, they were driven
back to St. Jago, where they remained until the 20th,
when they set out once more. On the 21st October
they anchored at Madeira until the 3rd November, when
they set sail again for Portugal, and finally cast anchor
before the town of Lisbon, 15th November, 1506.
xxii *

Although one looks in vain in Fracanzano's Paesi
Nouamente Retrouate of 1507, or the Itinerarium Por-
tugalensium of 1508, for a contemporary account of
Vespucci's voyage, we are fortunately in a position to
refer to an earlier work which narrates and confirms
at some length all the events on the east coast of
Africa and India recorded in our text. This is no
other than the Gesta proxime per Portugalenses in
India: Ethiopea: et aliis orinetalibus (sic) tern's. Imp.
Rome per Joannem Besicken. Anno mcccccvi. Die
vii mensis Novembris, 6 ff. 4to. It is of great interest
as giving an account of the erection of the four
fortresses by the Portuguese at Quiloa, Mombasa,
Anjediva, and Cananor, accounts of three of which are
given in our text. In all probability the Gesta, which
is in the form of a letter sent by King Manoel to
G. da Costa, Cardinal-Bishop of Lisbon, in Rome,
was brought home by the first portion of the fleet
that sailed from India under Fernao Soarez, 2nd
January, 1506, and arrived at Lisbon 23rd May,
according to Guillemard (p. 41), or 3rd July, accord
ing to Ca Masser. Although a second edition of this
letter was printed in Cologne in February, 1 507,
there is nothing to show that the author of our text
even knew of it. The only allusion to navigation in
the Gesta is the bare mention of the fact, that
d' Almeida's fleet left Portugal in March, 1505, thus
far confirming the correctness of the contents of our
text. We have already alluded to Vespucci's intention to
proceed to Malacca by way of Africa and the East
Indies, and also to the belief held by the Spaniards
.... xxiii

that he had been in those parts ; it remains to consider
how far Vespucci, as a cosmographer, is supposed to
have contributed to our knowledge of the cartography
of these regions. Ca Masser informs us that he " saw a
Carta da navigar of this voyage, and how much
is shown there of all the places that these Portuguese
have opened up, and made practicable, and discovered
up to now [1508] ; they have discovered a good deal,
and are about to discover more in the future, being
thus well informed by means of the chart " (op. cit.,
p. 31). It does not appear to be generally known,
even by modern writers upon Portugal, that one of the
best maps of the Portuguese conquests and discoveries
upon the coasts of Africa and the East Indies is to
be found in J. Ruysch's Universalior Cogniti Orbis
Tabula, etc. which he made for Fra Marco Beneventano
for insertion in the Geographia of Claudaeus Ptolemsus,
Rome, 1508. Larger, but much less accurate, rough
woodcut maps are also to be found in the Ptolemy of
151 3. The prototypes of the Hydrographia siue
Charta Marina, to be found in the later Strasburg
Ptolemy, are, as is well known, the Caneiro and
Cantino Cartas da navigar of 1 501-2 respectively.
Ruysch's map was compiled in Rome from entirely
different data. That for the New World portion of his
maps was undoubtedly Columbian and Spanish ; hence
his solution of the geographical conundrum to be found
on the north-west portion of the Tabula Terre Nove
in the 151 3 Ptolemy, about which our modern experts
are hopelessly at issue to this hour.1 That his data for
1 Cf. Stevens and Coote, op. cit., pp. xix and xxxix.
xxiv

the South American, African, and East Indian portions of
his map are undoubtedly Vespuccian, and therefore Por
tuguese, is proved by his record in South Africa of the
C. de S. Roch, the Rocky Bay of our text (p. 38),
and the distinct indication of Anjediva as an island off
the west coast of India — two features wholly wanting
in the Charta Marina of 151 3, and its two earlier
prototypes of 150 1-2.
That Vespucci put his hand to a Carta da navigar
is almost certain from the following piece of evidence
given by Peter Martyr d'Anghiera in his Decades,
translated by R. Eden : " Whereupon I repayred to
the byshoppe of Burges [J. R. de Fonseca], being the
chief refuge of this navigation. As wee were therfore
secretly together in one chamber, we had many
instrumentes pertaynynge to these affayres as globes
and many of those mappes which are commonly cauled
the shipmans cardes, or cardes of the sea. Of the
which, one was drawen by the Portugales, were unto
Americus Vesputius is sayde to have put to his hande,
being a man moste experte in this facultie and a
Florentyne borne : who also under the stipende of the
Portugales, hadde sayled towarde the southe pole many
degrees beyond the equinoctiall. . . . To an other,
Colonus the Admiral whyle he yet lyved and searched
those places had gyven the beginnynge with his owne
handes : Whereunto Bartholomeus Colonus his brother
and Lieutenaunt had addid his judgement, for he also
had sayled aboute those coastes " (Dec. 2, book 10 ; cf!
Arber, op. cit., p. 134).
Oddly enough, Fra Marco Beneventano appears to
have undergone a similar experience. While in
xxv

Venice about 1507, he had seen, and probably pro
cured, copies of a MS. map by Columbus the discoverer
and Columbus nepos (sic), and also an engraved
mappa universalis by a certain un-named Florentine.
This last was probably by no other than Vespucci.
These copies Beneventano no doubt handed to Ruysch
for the compilation of his famous map, which earned
for him the following eulogium, " Geographorum meo
iudicio peritissimus : ac in pingendoorbe diligentissimus,
cuius adminiculo in hac lucubratiuncula usi sumus. —
In my opinion, the most skilful of geographers and
the most careful in depicting the world, whose aid we
have had in compiling this treatise" (Orbis noua
descriptio, cap. iii. (a 3), in Ptolemaei Geographia, 1508).
There can be but little doubt that the MS. map by
Columbus the discoverer and Columbus nepos secured
for Ruysch by Beneventano in Venice was a copy of
the one seen eight or ten years later by Peter Martyr in
Seville. Areduced copy of the Columbus map, however,
may be the identical one recently discovered in Florence
by Dr. Wieser.1 The engraved map by the anonymous
Florentine was probably a copy of the map by Vespucci
referred to by Cuaco (see ante, p. xi) ; if so, it was
probably executed in the spring of 1 507, shortly after
the return of this voyage, and immediately before the
appearance of the two Ptolemy s of 1507-8. The
interest attached to Ruysch's map for our purpose is,
that it is the only contemporary one which exactly
illustrates and confirms the genuineness of the text
of our voyage, and which also suggests the great
1 Facsimile in Mittbeil. des Inst, fur Oesterr. Geschichtsforschung,
iv., Erganzungsband, Innsbruck, 1893.
xxvi

probability that those portions showing the Portuguese
" new landes " in Africa and the East Indies were
based on the earlier map reported to the Emperor
Charles V. as having been made by Vespucci, who
" travelled in those parts." The Carta da navigar seen
by Ca Masser was probably of the 1 5 1 3 Ptolemy type.
Future researches in early sixteenth century biblio
graphy and among MSS. may possibly bring to light
new evidence respecting the original text of our
voyage ; in the meantime we venture to affirm that
henceforth, no recognized authority on Vespucci's
writings will have the courage to eliminate from the
Vespuccian Canon the long lost specimen of the
Antwerp press of 1508. In conclusion, my best
thanks are due to my friend, Mr. B. F. Stevens, for
his valuable assistance in producing this volume ; and
also to my friends, Mr. G. F. and Mrs. Barwick, for
their excellent translation of the Flemish text of this
voyage.

xxvn

Albericus Vespuccius
His Account and Journal of The
Voyage from Lisbon to Great India

The Voyage from Lisbon to sail unto the island of
Nagore which lieth in Great India, beyond
Calicut and Cochin, wherein is the
staple of the spices. Wondrous
things befell us therein, and
we beheld much, as
hereinafter is
described.
This said voyage was
undertaken by the will and command
of Emanuel, the most serene King of Portugal.

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Guinea.
FIRST of all we came to the country of the Canaries,
which lieth 250 miles1 from Lisbon, and on the way
thither there are two islands. In the one dwelleth a fine race
of people, who make great store of cheese from large wild
goats ; fish, also, and sugar are exceeding cheap. The other
island is uninhabitable, and the few people who dwell therein
are quite shy and wild. Also thereagainst lieth the land of
Barbary, and from thence to Guinea is 250 miles ; this is the
land of the blackamoors, and at the beginning of the land is
a promontory called Cape Verd, and close thereby standeth
the town of Bissagos, 500 miles from Lisbon, and here
abouts there be many whales and flying fishes. On the
other side of Bissagos, at a distance of 250 miles, we sailed
so far beneath the sun that the northern sailing star, called the
polum arcticum or the waggon, could be no longer seen, but
we forthwith saw the polum antarcticum, or southern guiding
star. This aforesaid land of the Moors is 1,400 miles in ex
tent, and the inhabitants thereof go entirely naked with golden
rings on their hands and feet. In Madeira there are trees where
in they hack notches in order to climb up and gather the fruits.
5 A3

ADelagoa Bay.
FTER this we sailed unto the country of Delagoa
Bay, which extendeth up to the beginning of Arabia 2,
being 550 miles long, and herein is a kingdom called
Sofala. In this country the people are clothed as shown
in the above picture ; they wear as garments the skins
of animals, and the men cover their nakedness with a
sheath of wood or leather, while their women use the
fur and skins of beasts, and wear as head coverings the
skins of sheep and other animals. Also they bepitch
the forehead and hair of the men in the same manner
as one doth pitch ships; and their dwellings are be
neath the ground. Many cows, oxen, and large sheep,
besides other beautiful animals, are found there, and
it is a fair and luxuriant country with large rivers,
and full of sweet scented herbage. The people have
a quick and hasty speech. They have no money
save of iron, which is accepted by everyone for his wares.
They carry little white staves, and their weapons and
arms are long spears and stones, wherewith they throw
right forcibly. This country is so full of sand that
they must needs walk on broad plates in order not
to sink or fall therein. And so we came into Arabia.
6

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W Arabia.
HEN we came into Arabia we found the people
clothed as drawn and shown above. Now from this
kingdom came one of the three holy kings. Item,
the people here do bind Arabian gold on the horns and
ears of the oxen, and also golden rings round their legs,
and in exchange for gold they take silk and linen cloth
from the merchants. Item, hard by there be five more
islands, whereof the first is called Mozambique, and
there the ships take in sweet water. Sixty miles from
Sofala standeth a town named Quiloa, which we did
conquer, killing many of the inhabitants, and plunder
ing and spoiling the town. Outside this town their
king had built a stronghold or castle which was called
the Castle of Santiago3, and we left an hundred valiant
men there to guard and keep it.
9

SEVENTY miles from Quiloa lieth a town called
Mombasa, which we burned, and we there slew
much people, and from some of them we plundered
great store of goods. {[ Item, twenty-four miles fur
ther on lieth another great town called Mellinda ; here
they were friendly to us, and in this town there are
many slaves, or people who are sold, from Guinea. From
Mellinda it is ninety miles to Persia, and so we navi
gated through the Gulf or sea past the town of Maga-
doxo as far as an island called Anjediva. From there
also came one of the three holy kings.
{[ Item, from there it is an hundred miles unto the
kingdom of Cananor, and in that kingdom the spices
begin to grow ; and thence we sailed into Great India.

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W Great India.
E sailed from the kingdom of Cananor into Great
India. There the men go entirely naked, save that they wear
linen round their loins ; they are dark brown and have long
hair. The women have not been described, but on the sea
shore I beheld people who were wonderful in their ways, and
saw women carrying their children and household goods with
them. Here we found ginger, pepper, cloves, cummin and
all manner of spices and precious stones, which could be
bought for a small sum of money. Also many kinds of fruits
are found there ; figs of good flavour seven inches long and
three inches wide 4 ; and we saw buffaloes and cows, but they
do not kill the cows. Therein is produced good wine, abun
dance of honey, rice, and excellent corn quite white like wheat
flour. There standeth the town of Panderani, and it is seven
miles from there unto Calicut. From thence merchants go
forty miles to obtain all manner of spices, which have hitherto
been carried to Venice over the Red Sea by way of Alexandria,
but now a new passage has been discovered straight across the
sea to Calicut. In Calicut there are many people from the
land of Saint
Thomas [Malia-
pur] who are also
Christians, and
likewise people
from other
countries and
nations. From
thence we sailed
to the kingdom
called Cochin,
as hereafter is
described.

l3

TOf the Kingdom of Cochin.
HEREUPON we came into the kingdom of Cochin,
where the King of Portugal has caused two castles to be built ;
and from hence came the third of the three holy kings.
Much pepper groweth there, and it formeth the chief staple
of the kingdom. At a distance of twenty-four miles lieth the
kingdom of Quilon, where there be many Christians. There
too are found plenty of great elephants and various kinds of
wild and wondrous animals passing the power of man to
describe ; and all manner of fruit are much bigger there than
in our countries in Europe. Eight hundred miles further
lieth the island of Malacca containing many precious spices,
and there are two more islands, one called Bantam5,
wherein groweth nought save cloves, the other called
Tanjore or Nagore6, which produceth only white and red
sandal wood. Here, too, it has sometimes happened that a
handful of pearls has been given in exchange for a bell or a
looking glass. In Cochin they sometimes carry their king,
but this is done' by his chiefs, and they maintain obedience
among themselves. They manage their affairs very badly,
for when they are assembled together their chief crieth " I will
sow," and upon hearing this his subjects do forthwith sow and
mow, and then each one taketh his share, leaving the remainder,
which their lord doth take without contradiction from any
body ; and they act thus in all their business.
H

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38

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3t

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3

Thirty miles beyond the kingdoms of Cochin, Quilon,
Bandam7 [Nega]patam and Nagore, in Narsinga8, the
king has twelve other kings under him. And Saint
Thomas the Apostle lies buried there 9.

This is the manner in which the king of Cochin is
sometimes borne by his chiefs 10.
17 b 2

The voyage to India, to Calicut u and to the new countries which
were discovered at this time, took place in the year of Our Lord
one thousand five hundred [and five] 12, in the month of March.
MY friend Lorenzo : — I Albericus 13 did write to
you aforetime about my voyages to the new
lands in general ; now I am writing to you a true ac
count thereof from point to point. This voyage was
undertaken by the command of Emanuel the most
serene king of Portugal. We first journeyed from
Lisbon with a great company unto the monastery of
Rastello, one mile from the town ; and on the twenty-
fifth day of March, when we set sail, there came out
of the sea into the harbour a fish of the length of two
men, exceeding black and terrible, having fins on
its back nearly as long as a man. After this, on the
twenty-sixth day of March, we came into the sea of Por
tugal, and many fishes from the sea followed alongside
the ships. The aforesaid black fish, which blew the
water into the air as high as a man's length, came from
the sea of Portugal into the harbour of Lisbon. {[ Item,
on the twenty-seventh day of March the crew shot a tunny
in the sea ; it was as long as a man and had as much
flesh upon it as a pig or boar, and had organs like a boar,
and it had likewise blubber and flesh, and entrails or
bowels of similar kind, and a beak like a bird, but a little
broader and with small teeth therein. This fishprovided
food for one'day for an hundred and twenty-six persons.
On the twenty-eighth day of March we sailed by night
between two islands lying sixty miles apart; one is
called Canary and the other Madeira, and therein
there be many black men or Moors. These two is
lands are distant from Lisbon the one an hundred and
eighty miles, the other two hundred and fifty miles,
18

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bacl; uaSfipitlle ootetot tefcljepeaent ianbt naebatooec
<$e bercfjte <Cabomeerbeg&e^eete.5Daer,otnrjl)ettJto©
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taertmUnbt.€ubaeemotpempancIiermmtbttemt!en bpeenftebebie)6pu"a0ittjsg^el]eetent0t^iert0eenen
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f^cUbiebeeftenainaecetgttdQdiCioanmoebergeboteneft liter ootegljemadtert gefignrcercftjn. enbebaer ftjtt
Ijaerfc^epeijjoUe boomenbaer it tnncotlTdien^p befen
uoere ft aerd1 oter mannen nu ttuee fcjjepen ae ono boerc
<?nbefg tpuhen poit ttgaclfctjo met ono.alfoe.batmefe
toeloerAonbc<8nbemljaerlanb;fonbee[legbenocc;eii ucmen g^een gbdt baer note iUant 0 bat npeten hent tc
liter roit^oeubere/oOrfienliopat eft gfieptengltntoec^
43ft b a'rclt uptcn f iin baer onber bteboomen gjjemaecnt
Oi^dijtliecncnbacaoeJicuoft g'ndncuintrrf met cerbai

and herein there be many slaves and half Moors who
are sold to the Christians. {J Item, on the last day of
March we descried the Canary Islands, whereof there
are nine one after another; in these there be none
but slaves who are sold to the Christians. These nine
islands appertain unto the king of Spain, and taking
the nine together they make a rich kingdom, and in
them groweth abundance of sugar. And on this day
we were two hundred and fifty miles from Lisbon.
{[ Item, after this, on the third day of April, we came
unto the sea of Guinea, where we sailed for twelve or
fifteen miles along the country of the blackamoors.
There we saw on this dayandonthe fourth many whales
both long and terrible, and some were longer than
others. ^J Item, on the 6th day of April we sailed
towards the promontory called Cape Verd, where we
caught many fishes with hooks, while the ship was sail
ing. ^1 Item, on the seventh day of April wesailedpastthe
mount of Cape Verd right into the country of the black
amoors, and there we cast anchor, three miles offa town
called Bissagos. Here there is a king of the Moors,
and the people go herded together like cattle, and naked
as their mothers bore them ; as they are shown in
the foregoing picture [p. 4]. Their boats are hollow
trees, and in them they fish. On this day four of their
men came out to us in two boats, and came on board ;
they spoke Portuguese with us, so that we could under
stand them perfectly. In their land there is abundance
of cattle, and they take no money for them, seeing that
they know nothing thereof. Fowls, oxen, cows and
goats abound there ; and the houses are built under the
trees, and are like unto an oven, or to huts with earthen

21 B*

walls, and are thatched with straw or with littlesticks, and
when they wish to remove their house into the fields,
twelve of them do thereupon carry it away thither.
{[ Item, This country lieth five hundred miles from
Lisbon. And on the second day of this month the king
sent his son to our ships, and we all paid mock homage
unto him, and we lay there in the harbour in front of this
land for the space of eight days with nine ships. {[ Item,
on the fifteenth day of April we sailed with our whole
fleet outof the country of the blackamoors, from the great
sea of Guinea which is one thousand four hundred miles
long, unto the promontory called Capede BoneSperanza
or Good Hope. Fourteen miles by land from the king
dom of Bissagos lieth another great kingdom many
hundred miles long, which is called the kingdom of
Guinea. But it is an evil land full of ill-natured people
and foul vapours. Item, thereupon we came to Cape
Verd, which is a round mountain and very high and
lieth in the sea, and no person dwelleth thereon; but
beneath round about the mountain there are large thick
trees, and the fruits which grow thereon look like the
Spanish baskets called cabasses ; these trees are full four
fathoms thick and they have leaves like the nut trees.
fj Item, on this sea, as before said, we sailed in like manner
beneath the sun and moon 14. And in this sea there are
many wondrous kinds of fishes ; there are little white
fishes which fly out of the sea in flocks, just as birds do
in the field, and their wings are like the wings of bats.

22

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oan 1pH"ebonen<(£ftopbemjeeben ban) oefermacndbi
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ttji^emfpottdtfeeeerealg^ecHenoe 2E>aer lag^etoiatlj c
bagmen ooer bat lanttn bte baiiatentrrnegtjien(cl;epen
{[Item ben otjfttjtenftenbacr;. uaKpiiUe uoerettrintec
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laticbto totaenbeberd>get)eete <£abebebone|bpera;e
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C Item, we sailed so far into this sea that we found neither
birds nor fishes nor any other living creatures, and it was like
a wilderness. Thereupon we sailed back again to the Cape of
Good Hope, from which we had sailed away full fourteen
hundred miles 15, and when we had returned about five hundred
miles towards the Cape of Good Hope, it was as cold there
in June as it is in our country at Christmas. Upon this sea
great storms of rain and violent winds do often descend unex
pectedly, and they are sometimes quite strong enough to
overturn a vessel which ventures to encounter them. At this
time we sailed far out to sea in order to journey into India,
and we did not come within three hundred miles of the
promontory, and we sailed for so long a time that we knew
not where we were until we had gone many hundred miles.
After that we sailed yet a long time without knowing where
we were, until at last we beheld many tunnies and whales
which were exceeding large and long beyond measure, and
other horrible fishes likewise very long and narrow. We
sailed from Cape Verd for full fifteen weeks without seeing
either land or shore, but afterwards, in the fifteenth week, on
the nineteenth day of the month of July, we beheld fishes in
abundance, and not long afterwards, in about two hours, we
descried the land between Sofala and Mozambique. How-
beit we did not make the land there, but passed on to another
island which is an hundred and fifty miles further off", and in
this land the capital is called Quiloa, and it is a heathen
kingdom. On the twenty-second day of July we cast anchor
before the town of Quiloa, and on the following day we went
in force with all our boats into the harbour before the
king's house to discover if they were friendly to us and if
they would give tribute, but there was no sign of friend
ship ; on the contrary, they were ready to fight furiously
against us. C Item, on the morning of the twenty-fourth
day of this month we went quickly with our whole
25

force, being eight ships all armed, to the town, and did
kill all the heathens and plundered the town of great
store of gold, silver, pearls and precious stones, and
beautiful garments. And on this same day we found
outside the town a castle with four towers I6, which
was fully half built. {[ Item, on the twenty-seventh
day of this month the king of this town had fled away
with many heathens, after we had taken possession of it,
and thereupon our captain [Francisco de Almeida] did
make another king with very great honour, and crowned
him with a golden crown, as it is beseeming to do unto a
king, and restored unto him the kingdom with all his
rights, on condition that he should be faithful and true
to the king of Portugal and should keep the kingdom
open for all his needs andcommands. {J On the fourth day
of August the lawful king of the country, who had been
expelled by the king whom we had previously driven
out, did repair unto us, and entreated nothing of us save
that he might be a duke until such time as the king should
die, and then become king and receive the crown ; and
he did desire it solely because the king had brought him
up when he was a child, and that was as much as to say
that he was a father to him, for the king was his father's
brother ; and because the king had brought him up,
therefore he loved the king. And thereupon, according
to his desire, he was made duke with great honour, as
thereto belongeth, in the presence of many great princes
and lords 17. Afterwards, on the sixth day of August,
being all assembled together, we went on board with all
our people and came no more to land. And after that
we sailed right away into Mombasa. {[ Item, on the
thirteenth day of this month we came with ten ships into
the harbour of Mombasa, where they were hostile to us.
This town has a beautiful harbour, and on one extremity
26

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thereof they had builded a bulwark out of which they did
shoot, howbeit they made no stand, but all who were therein
fled away into the town. The bulwark was a little wall
leading from the town into the sea and was built upon a rock.
Then we sailed along until we arrived before the town,
wherein we had not many friends, for they were all enemies.
So we kept as close together as we could, and shot into the
town with all our might. And on the fourteenth day of
August, in the afternoon, we sailed up to the town, and they
thereupon shot with guns, and bows, and with stones, very
terribly, and wounded many of our people, but we shot fire
into the town at two places on different sides, so that .many of
the houses were burnt. Item, a little while before this, in
their vexation and anger, they did drive two elephants against
us. We found three camels in the town and others also in the
fields in front thereof. It was a strong town with narrow streets,
and it would not have been at all possible to take it without
God's help. On the morning of the fifteenth day of August,
which was our Lady's Day, we attacked the town in two
companies and stormed it ; the streets thereof were so exceed
ing narrow that one man could not pass another, but we forced
ourselves through the strongest parts ; yet did the heathens
and Moors shoot so murderously, that had not our Lord God
and his Blessed Mother protected us, we should not have
held or conquered this town. Many heathens were left there
dead, but we lost two men only. When we had taken
possession of the town, and the king had fled unto a wood
in front thereof, wherein lay a wondrous number of Moors, we
set a watch before it, that they should not fall upon us while we
were plundering it. And we found therein such great booty of
gold, of silver and pearls, of golden pieces, and of sundry
precious wares, that it was impossible to reckon their value 18.
29 c

On the twenty-third day we set sail with five ships, but there
were eleven ships when we captured the town, ten of them
arrived first and the eleventh remained behind for a day in
great distress, as I wrote before, and this ship was called
Raphael. The Flemish 19 merchants had three ships there ; the
first was called Hieronimus, the second Raphael and the third
St. Leonard. These three ships were in all our actions and
conflicts. The king of Portugal had at first no more than
three ships of his own, the others belonged to the Flemish
merchants, and the Lombards, likewise, had some ships there.
Item, it is seventy miles from Quiloa unto Mombasa, and
from thence it is two hundred and fifty miles unto another
town called Mellinda, which is a kingdom in itself. Now
they were friendly to us here, and did mightily honour our
people ; and their king warreth continually with the king of
Mombasa. And our captain did sail thither in the night,
about five miles with five ships, so that we did not come there
unto ; and it pleased the king thereof mightily that we had
thus smitten and burned the other town, for after that we had
entirely plundered it we did set fire thereto and burned up all
that was not already consumed, save the large houses with
vaulted walls. C Item, on the twenty- third day of .August
we again sailed away from Mombasa, keeping along the
coast for a long time, from our first sight of land until the
twenty-seventh day of August. Then we set sail over the
great sea and gulf of Magadoxo 20 with fourteen ships. And
it is seven hundred miles from Mellinda unto India. After
that we journeyed on the sea until the twelfth day of
September, when we again descried land, and this was the
beginning of India and the kingdom of Cananor. Also we
sailed on the sea, beneath the sun, before we saw land
again. On the thirteenth day of September we weighed
our anchors and sailed unto a place called Anjediva,
3°

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where we lay for the space of thirty-three days. The
harbour is beautiful, but no one dwelleth upon the island.
From thence we came unto a castle where we saw some
people on the shore. And there is none other harbour
in India save this that affordeth protection against tem
pest. When it is winter in our country it is summer
in India. And upon this island we did make a galley
and a barge 21. Also not far from this same land lieth a
strong town and kingdom that hath also a fortified castle
on a mountain hard by. And there are many high
mountains in this land. And for three days before we
landed, as we journeyed along the coast, many crabs and
straight serpents swam in the sea close to our ship. Near
at hand there is a king's country, and it is called the king
dom of Onor. Now while we lay in that place
there came a ship full of Moors with some horses on
board, and it was driven by the tempest from the sea into
the harbour; so we first of all went into the harbour with
some boats and guns in full view, in such a manner that
we took the land from them so that they could not reach
it. But the wind blew so violently against their ship that
it was dashed against a rock, and thereupon the men and
horses did swim as best they could, and ran away up the
mountain, but the horses stood still by the palings or
hedges. Their ship afterwards went utterly to pieces.
This took place in the land of the king of Onor, and
the king's subjects did keep for themselves the men and
horses which had been in the ship, so that we got none of
them. After that, on the sixteenth day of October, we
set sail again. From Anjediva it is fifteen miles to Onor,
and we reached there on Saint Luke's eve. Then our
captain sent an interpreter unto the king demanding and
requiring the horses from him, but the king made answer
that he knewnothing about such things, but ifwedesired
33 c3

peace and friendship he would sell unto us any kind of food
that his country produced, and would be a good friend unto
us, but that if we would not agree thereto he would be ready
for us, seeing that he had an army of eight thousand men.
On the night of Saint Luke's Day we sailed unto this town
with eighteen boats, wherein were fully eight hundred men,
and at break of day we beheld a great multitude of people on
the land, all wearing white tunics, and without weapons, and
their number could not be counted. And we would do
nothing save according to the will of our captain, who then
commanded us to shoot in among them, whereupon they all
fled away, but in a short while they all came back again bear
ing beautiful shields and swords, and full of confidence. Also
they had some fine ships there, into which we shot fire, as we
did also into some houses, but we did not make much progress
against them on the land. And those of our people who were
on shore came back to their boats, and then we shot among
them with guns, but they did not fear us much, and so we
got but little booty from them 22. Now on this same day we
did again set sail and voyaged along the coast to Cananor,
where we arrived on the twenty-second day of October, and
we lay there for the space of four days, and found a good
trade of pearls and precious stones, and of ginger and cinnamon.
Then the king of the country did repair unto us to entreat
and arrange that after his death our captain should become
king. After that we set sail again on the twenty-seventh
day of October for Cochin, and on the twenty-eighth day
of October by night we sailed past Calicut. On the twenty-
ninth day we were followed from Calicut by four ships and
many sambucks. Now sambucks are ships that are used in
Calicut. On the thirtieth day we cast anchor in. front of
Cochin about a mile distant by the coast.
34

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On the second day of November we began to load four ships
with pepper, and when three were laden we sailed away to
Cananor, the Leonard remaining behind. Thereupon the king
of Cochin came unto the captain of the ship and he gave him a
golden crown which the kingof Portugalhadsenthim. And the
ships remained there laden until the twentieth day of December,
and then they also sailed to Cananor, where they arrived on
Christmas eve, and there they were compelled to unlade again
into two other ships which took two thousand five hundred
centners of pepper, each centner being an hundred pounds, and
there they lay until the second day of January, when the five
ships set sail for Portugal ; and the Leonard remained alone
to lie before Cananor ; and we began to lade other spices and
pepper, when there came in two ships which had remained at
Cochin and which were to sail together to Lisbon. So we set sail
on the twenty-first day of January with the three ships from
Cananor bound for Portugal, straight on to Anjediva. Here
between lieth a kingdom called Batarkalla, which was hostile
to us. And after that we voyaged round by Anjediva on
the fifth day of February, in the wild sea of Magadoxo,
and again sailed through beneath the sun from the fifteenth
until the eighth day of March, when we found the island
called Shrove Tuesday23, because it was found on that day.
Item, forty miles from this island lieth another island
called Saint Christopher, where groweth ginger, and it is a
good land for meat and various kinds of food. This island
lieth an hundred miles from the main land, and we descried
it on the eleventh day of March. But we remained lying
there for the space of two days and a night, and could not
reach the island. And after that there arose a wind which
drove us thence towards the main land. On the fourteenth day
of March we beheld the main land, which is sixty miles from
Mozambique, and then we sailed close to the land until the nine
teenth day of March, and then we cast anchor before the island
37

of Mozambique, and cleaned our ships, and took in water
and wood. There also we found food enough, such as fowls,
goats and other meat, and victualled our ships there well.
Then we departed from Mozambique on the fourteenth day
of April for the Cape of Good Hope, and as we sailed we
were at one time driven to the shore and at another to the
open sea, and we endured many storms and much distress.
And thus we sailed one hundred and twenty-five miles
towards the Cape, and on the way the wind became con
trary, and we were compelled to run into a harbour which
was close by, where we cast two anchors. And there re
mained nothing else in our ship save bread and water, this
being the twenty-ninth day of May 24. Item, on the last day
of June [May] we set sail again for the Cape ; our chief captain
lost two anchors there, so that he was compelled to run out
to sea, where we found him again. But the wind became so
violent that we were obliged to run back to Mozambique,
and our captain commanded us to do so. Hereupon we
took counsel that we should sail to Portugal and not to
Mozambique, but because of the great storm we were con
strained to run thither, and then our chief captain gave com
mandment to our captain the pilot, that at the peril of his life
and property they should not sail away from them anywhere
else save to Mozambique, which is a group of nine islands ; and
so we sailed with him from the third day of July [June] until the
eighth day of July [June]. But then the steward and the crew
cried with one voice Misericordia, and prayed him for God's
sake to return to Portugal so as to save the ship and the crew,
for in the ship there was but bread enough for three months.
And if we had pursued our course to Mozambique we should
all have died of hunger, and have lost our ship and goods. So
we turned our ships again towards the Cape of Good Hope. On
the ninth day of July [June] we formed a procession on board.
And on the tenth day we sailed again to the harbour, and cast
anchor, and the wind became contrary to us, so that we were
again obliged to putinto this harbour. From thence we cameon
the eleventh day of June to the harbour called Rocky Bay25 and
38

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again we formed a procession on board. On the thirteenth
day of this month we set sail again, and on the fifteenth day
we entered another harbour called Delagoa Bay, where we
caught good store of fishes. C On the sixteenth day of this
month we set sail again, and on the eighteenth day the wind
became contrary, so that we were forced to put back again
into the same harbour. On the twentieth day we launched
our boat to seek for water, and we found there abundance of
water and oxen, cows and sheep, and the Moors sold unto us
as many as we wanted for a small quantity of old iron, nor
would they take anything else. Thus we victualled our ships
with a good supply of meat and water. The men of this
country use a sheath as a covering and wear a pelisse re
sembling a short Flemish cloak, and have broad round shoes,
and go quite naked; also they do grease themselves very
thickly with grease. These people are ugly and ill-formed,
they chatter in their speech and whistle when they talk.
CItem, on the twenty-sixth day the wind again became
favourable, so we set sail again and drew in our boat. And
then we sailed until the first day of July, when we arrived at
the watering place of Saint Brasus, that is the island of Saint
Blasius 26. On the following day we set sail again to the Cape of
Good Hope, and were still sixty miles distant when we met a
favourable wind. C Item, on the morning of the sixth day of
July we saw the Cape of Good Hope, and on that day we kept
sailing in sight of it, the wind being so contrary that we could
not get past it for the whole of that day and night. C Item,
on the seventh day of July we sailed past the Cape of
Good Hope in the name of God, into the great sea of
Guinea, and it is fourteen hundred, or as some say thirteen
hundred, miles from there to Bissagos. And I tell you of
a truth that we ofttimes suffered great distress and anxiety,
41

with mighty tempests and winds, before we passed the Cape.
And if we could not have got by, it would have gone very
hard with us ere we should have reached Portugal. C Item,
for some miles about the Cape it is as cold as it is in our
country in winter, and the days are short and the nights
long. And when it is mid winter there it is the finest time
of summer in our country, and so for about an hundred miles
further into the sea of Guinea. And there we were again
obliged to pass beneath the sun and moon just as upon the
sea of Magadoxo. Upon reaching the Cape there is a
favourable wind in the sea of Guinea for some hundreds of
miles. On the twenty-first day of July we saw land, and it
was an island lying six hundred and fifty miles from the
Cape, and called Saint Helena, howbeit we could not land
there, and so we sailed thence, and the wind became calmer
every day. From this time we sailed until the fifteenth day
of August, when we again descried land, it being this time
the nine islands, but I do not know all their names. One
of them is called Santiago, another May, another Fogo,
that is to say, the island of fire. And after27 we left the
island of Saint Helena we saw another island two hundred
miles from there, which is called Ascension. From these
three islands it is five hundred miles to Lisbon, and we cast
anchor before the island of Santiago and again took in meat,
water and wood, for we had not much more food left in our
ship. We also found there abundance of fruits, and we lay
there until the eighteenth day of August. And there we
found a caravel which had come from Guinea and was bound
for Lisbon. On this island groweth much cotton, and on
the island May lepers or lazar people are restored to health
after sojourning there for several years, and within two or three
years they either recover or die, but when they are well they are
at liberty to go where they please and they remain healthy.
42

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These nine islands belong to the king of Portugal, some
of them being well fortified and others not. On the
eighth day of September we had gone sixty miles from
the islands when a tempest arose which drove us back
again to the islands, and then we had no more bread in
the ship, for we received daily no more than six ounces
of bread. And we took counsel together to run to
the island of Santiago, where we arrived on the thir
teenth day of September. There we bought rice and
meat and millet for the ship and did also take in water.
On the twentieth day we set sail again for Portugal, and
then many of our people fell sick, and more and more as
time went on, of the quartan or four days fever. On
the first day of October twenty men were sick in our
ship, and three of them died. Then we continued to
sail until the twenty-first day of October, when we saw
Madeira. On the twenty-second day we cast anchor7
and lay there until the third day of November. After
that we set sail again for Portugal, having victualled our
ship there with bread and wine. On the twelfth day
we descried land, the Cape or mountain of Saint Vin
cent, and we were then thirty- five miles from Lisbon.
And from thence we sailed straight away until the fif
teenth day of November, and cast anchor before the
town of Lisbon. In the name of God. Amen. Thus
was this voyage ended, for which let God be praised.

45 D2

IN this journey we sailed round the fourth part of
the world. For, reckoning from Lisbon, which
is thirty-nine and a half degrees from the equinoctial
line, we sailed fifty degrees beyond the equinoctial line,
making ninety degrees. Wherefore under the line we
are at the distance from Lisbon of the aforesaid thirty-
nine and a half degrees, in the altitude of the heavens, in
the western longitude, and in regard to those people,
who are fifty degrees beyond the same line from the
south, we are at an angle of five degrees in the line of
the perpendicular, which line when we stand up straight
hangs over our head from the point of heaven, and over
their sides or ribs, and it is represented in the form of a
triangle or three-sided angle 28 as shown above.

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4^epiettt^amroerpe?t»3$pmp fan oan &oefl»o«&f Itnctaeo
^^.ob;.i Member

ACSIMILE BV J.HYATT. L0N0ON

Printed at Antwerp. By me
Jan van Doesborch. In
December of the year 1508.

49

¦ f.

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES.

Note i, Page 5.
250 miles from Lisbon. For
mile distances by sea throughout
the voyage read leagues.
Note 2, Page 6.
Beginning of Arabia. A survival
of the geography of Herodotus,
who regarded the western littoral
of the Red Sea as belonging to
Arabia. This is also its location
on FR A. MAURO'S Mappemonde of
H57-59- Note 3, Page 9.
Saintjago, cf. infra, p. 26, where
we read "on this same day [24
July] we found outside the town [of
Quiloa] a castle with four towers,
which was fully half built." R. H.
MAJOR writes : " He [Dom Fran
cisco de Almeida] also founded a
fort there which he named Sant-
jago" {Prince Henry the Navi
gator, 1st edit., 1868, p. 415).
Note 4, Page 13.
In J. VAN DOESBORCH'S
<[ Of the newe landes and of ye
people founde by the messengers of the
Kynge of portyngale named Emanuel,
which contains a much later transla
tion (1521 circa) into English by a
Fleming of pp. 4-17 and 47 of the

Voyage from Lisbon, is the following
additional passage, wanting in our
text : " and the Fygge tre is so
brode of braunch and leaues that xl
[forty] men may be hydde vnder the
foresayd braunches and leves for the
hete of the sonne, and there for to
reste al together at theyr one plea
sure." Cf. E. Arber, The first
Three English Books on America.
1885, 4to, p. xxix.
Note 5, Page 14.
This evidently refers to Bantam
in Java, and not to Bandam south
of Malacca, or even Banda — the
Spice Islands — as might be sup
posed ; the Portuguese under An
tonio d'Abreu did not reach the
Spice Islands until 15 12.
Note 6, Page 14.
These two names evidently refer
to the kingdom of Tanjore and
its town Nagore, on the southern
mouth of the estuary of the Cauvery,
East coast of India, Madras Pre
sidency. Probably from this loca
tion of Nagore, on p. 1 ante it is
described as an island. This town
was in early times, and still is, the
staple for spices, etc., to and from
the farther East through the Straits
of Malacca.

5i

Note 7, Page 17.
Bandam, i.e. [Nega]patam, trie
metropolis of Patam or of the
Patan Sultans, and chief port of
Tanjore, Madras Presidency.
Note 8, Page 17.
Narsinga (Arsinia of Dutch
text), the ancient Braminical king
dom of the Carnatic or Central
Hindostan. L. DI VARTHEMA,
who was in India about 1 504-5,
writes of the king : " His realms
are placed as it might be the realm
of Naples and also Venice ; so
that he has the sea on both sides."
— Travels, G. P. BADGER [Hak-
luyt Society), 1863, p. 129.
Note 9, Page 17.
The alleged vicinity of Saint
Thomas's tomb points to Maliapur,
three miles south from Fort St.
George, Madras, where, accord
ing to the Portuguese and native
Christian traditions, the saint was
buried in a cave. Some of his
supposed remains were afterwards
transferred to Goa. Cf. G. M.
RAE, Syrian Church in India,
1892, p. 16.
Note 10, Page 17.
In J. VAN DOESBORCH'S Eng
lish version (cf. note 4, p. 13 ante),
after the word " chief" is added
" And before hym is borne many
instruments of musyke as trom-
pettes and other, and iiij [four] of
the nobleste bereth the canapie ouer
his hed lest that the sonn shuld

burne hym, and this kynge is be-
loued of all his estates and common
people." — Arber, op. cit., p.
xxix. Note 11, Page 18.
Calicut. " Calcoene " of our
Flemish text. On p. 34 infra, this
town is named "Callicuten.'' Cal
coene is evidently borrowed from
the narrative by a ship's clerk,
also in Flemish, of the second
voyage of Vasco da Gama in 1502,
printed at Antwerp, circa 1504.
This unique tract, preserved in the
British Museum, entitled Calcoen,
was first translated into French and
afterwards into English, and edited
by J. Ph. BERJEAU, London,
1874, 4to. Another, but much
longer account of this voyage of
1502, was written by THOME
LOPEZ, another ship's clerk, and
published in G. A. RAMUSIO'S
Delle Navigatione et Viagge, vol. i.,
Venice, 1550.
Note 12, Page 18.
One thousand five hundred. From
internal evidence this date is erro
neous, as all the dates and events of
the voyage coincide with those
narrated of the expedition of Dom
Francisco de Almeida in 1505.
Note 13, Page 18.
Lorenzo [di Pier Francisco de
Medici] and Albericus [Vespucci].
The identity of these two persons is
proved by the address of the latter
to the former in the Epistola Albe-

52

ricij De Novo Mundo [i 504 ?], fol.,
which reads : " Albericus Ves-
putius laurentio petri de medicis
salutem plurimam dicit" ..." Su-
perioribus diebus satis ample tibi
scrips! de reditu meo," fol. 1 . This
may be compared with the unique
Flemish translation of the Mundus
Novus, entitled Van der nieuwer
werelt, circa 1507, which is pre
served in the Carter Brown Library,
Providence, R.I. Translated, this
reads : " Laurentius, good friend,
in past days I Albericus have written
to you of my return," etc. As is
well known, all this is an account of
Vespucci's third voyage (his first
for Portugal) in 1501. Our text
of the Voyage from Lisbon is
evidently a contracted Flemish
translation of a similar letter rela
ting to the voyage of Almeida in
1 505-6. The allusion to a previous
letter relating to his " voyages to
the new lands in general " evidently
refers to another letter now lost.
Note 14, Page 22.
Sailed . . . beneath the sun and
moon, i.e. crossed the equatorial
line. Cf. p. 42 infra.
Note 15, Page 25.
According to F. LOPEZ DE
CASTENHEDA the fleet is said
to have passed the meridian of the
Cape on June 26, and to have gone
seaward, " ceto & setenta & cinco
legaos," i.e. 175 leagues to lat.
44° S. (Historia do Descobrimento
e Conquest 0 da India pelos Portu

gueses, Lisboa, 1833, 4to, liv. 2,
cap. 1, p. 5).
Note 16, Page 26.
The Castle of Saintjago. Cf. p. 4
ante. Note 17, Page 26.
This somewhat confused account
of the crbwning of Muhammed
Ancon, King of Quiloa, by Dom F.
de Almeida, may with advantage
be compared with the one contained
in BISHOP J. OSORIO'S History
of the Portuguese during the reign of
Emmanuel, translated byj. GlBBS,
London, 1752, 8vo, bk. 4, pp.
229, 230. Note 18, Page 29.
In commemoration of this suc
cessful storming of Mombasa, a
white marble column was ereSed
by Dom F. de Almeida. Cf. F.
H. H. GUILLEMARD'S Life of
Ferdinand. Magellan, 1891, p. 37.
Note 19, Page 30.
The Flemish merchants had three
ships there. LEONARDO CA
MASSER, a Venetian residing in
Lisbon at the period of our voyage
writes: " Le navi et altri navilii
che se servano in questo regno,
sono la mazor parte fatte in Bes-
chagia e de Fiandra, perche in
questo regno poca commodita hanno
da far nave e navilii, per manca-
mento de legnami ; salvo nel porto
dove li se faranno qualche nave :
ma, come dico, in questo regno
poco se fanno.'' " The ships and
other boats that are used in this

53

country [Portugal] are for the most
part made in ' Biscaya' and in
' Flanders,' for in this country there
is little means of making ships and
boats on account of the want of
wood, with the exception of ' Porto,'
where some ships are made ; but,
as I say, few are made in this
country" (Relazione sopra il com-
mercio dei Portoghesi nell India,
edited by G. SCOPOLI in Archivio
Storico Italiano, Appendice, torn. 2,
p. 47, 1845). Note 20, Page 30.
As on pp. 10 and 37, so here the
Arabian Gulf or Sea is distinctly
called the " Gulf or Sea of Maga-
doxo." Note 21, Page 33.
In several points VESPUCCI'S
account of this island of Anjediva
is more correS than that of his
contemporary VARTHEMA, who
wrote that it was " inhabited by
Moors and pagans, and that it was
about twenty miles in circum
ference" (op. cit., p. 120). The
island (not a seaport, as mentioned
by my friend W. DE GRAY
BlRCH in his Commentaries of A fonso
Dalboquerque (Hakluyt Society),
vol. 2, p. r68 note), is in possession
of the Portuguese to this day ; it
is about a mile in length, and a
mile and a half distant from the
coast of North Canara. The island,
with its harbour on the east side,
affords the best protection from the
S.W. monsoon to be found on the
west coast of India.

Note 22, Page 34.
Another graphic account of this
fight within the harbour of Onor,
led by Dom Laurenco, the son of
Francisco de Almeida, will be
found in OSORIO (GlBBS), op.
cit., bk. 4, p. 237.
Note 23, Page 37.
From an examination of early
Portuguese portolani and charts it
appears that "Shrove Tuesday"
island never survived as a geo
graphical name. In the beautiful
Portolano of FERNAO VAZ DOU-
RADO of 1573, St. Christovo is
indicated as a small island imme
diately south of St. Spiretto, the
modern Meyotto, one of the Comoro
group. Hitherto it appears to have
been unsuspeSed that the African
and East Indian portions ofthe Porto-
/tftfoofVAZDoURADOwerecloselycopied, even as to scale, by JAN
HUYGEN VAN LlNSCHOTEN in
his charts for the Itinerario of 1596.
Note 24, Page 38.
The five dates immediately fol
lowing the twenty-ninth of May,
1506, have been, either by the ori
ginal scribe or the printer, advanced
exaSly one month ; this error
allowed for, the chronology falls
again into its right order on the
eleventh of June, when the ship
arrived at Rocky Bay, cf. infra.
The true dates have been inserted
in brackets in order to avoid con
fusion in the narrative.

54

Note 25, Page 38.
Rocky Bay, " Le bay de Rock "
of Flemish text. This is probably
an attempt to translate the Portu
guese Angocha, a contraction of
Angra de rocha ; cf. I. d'amgoxa
of Vaz Dourado and Linschoten.
Angoxa survives to-day as a Portu
guese settlement to the south of
Mozambique ; it is the only locality
on this coast that meets the require
ments of the text.
Note 26, Page 41.
Anguado Saint Bras — the
aguada (watering-place) of Sao
Bras or St. Blaze. It was here
that Bartholomew Dias put in to
take water when he first rounded
the Cape in i486. St. Blaze is,
however, a cape, not an island ; it
is near the modern town of Aliwal
(South) in Mossel Bay.
Note 27, Page 42.
Before, or ere, the " Eneer " of
the Flemish text, is evidently a
misprint for " naar," after, which
is required to make the passage
intelligible. Note 28, Page 46.
J. van Doesborch' s Eng
lish version, after the word cornard
(or angle) concludes as follows,
" therefore it must nedes be yat the
sowthlandes be tempered with swete
erthe for the northe wyndes can
nat there blowe." Cf. ARBER,
op. cit., p. xxix.

Note 29, Page vii.
We conclude our Notes with an
endeavour to clear up the biblio
graphical tangle between our Die
reyse van Lissebone of 1508 and
the Of the newe landes, etc., of
1 52 1 (?). The latter is a chapbook
or collection of four trafls com
prised in twenty-four leaves, com
piled and translated from various
sources, probably for the English
settlers at Antwerp of this period.
Trac? 1 consists of two leaves,
the first containing the title and
illustrations, the second containing
an abridgment of an early voyage,
which commences as follows :
" Here aforetymes in the yere of
our Lorde god m.ccccxcvi. (sic) and
so be we with shyppes of Lusseboene
sayled oute of Portyngale thorough
the commandement of the Kynge
Emanuel. So haue we had our
vyage For by fortune ylandes ouer
the great see with great charge and
daunger so haue we at laste founde
oon lordshyp where wee sayled well
ixc mylee by the cooste of Selandes
(sic) there we at ye laste went a lande
but that lande is not nowe knowen for
there haue no masters wryten thereof
nor it knowethe and it is named
Armenica, etc."
Hitherto it has been assumed
that this and the following tra£i
refer to one and the same voyage ;
as will be seen, this is an error.
TraS 2 (leaves 3 to 8 verso)
contains a translation of the first
four and twelfth leaves of our text
of 1508, and therefore relates to Af
rica and India, and not to America.

55

Tract 3 (leaves 9 recto to 14
verso) is entitled C Of the x dyuerce
cristened nacions, being a translation
of one of the many editions of
Divisiones decern nationum totius
Christianitatis. It was first printed
in Rome by Silber, alias Planck,
circa 1490.
Tract. 4 (leaves 15 to 24) is
entitled Of Pope John and his
landes and of the costely keyes and
wonders molodyes that in that lande
is, translated from Van die wonder-
lichede en costelicheden van Pape
fans landen des, circa 1508 (Brit.
Mus., C. 32, h. 6. Cf. MULLER,
Books on America, 1872, No. 2277,
and Arber, op. cit. p. xxvii).
This analysis serves to explain
why the Of the newe landes, etc., of
1 52 1, in virtue of its Tract 1, finds
its proper place in HARRISSE,
" B.A. V.," No. 16, while Traft 2
and its original in Flemish of 1508
has hitherto escaped identification.
HARRISSE, with great acumen,
points out (Discovery of N. America)
that no document has yet been pro
duced to prove that between May,
1497, and October, 1498, Ves
puccius cannot have been engaged
in a maritime expedition (p.
354). Moreover, he adds another
weighty consideration which, he
says, " forces on us the belief that
between 1496 and 1499 Vespuccius
led a seafaring life, and, therefore,
may have been navigating from
May, 1497, to October, 1498"

(p. 357). Assuming this to be
true, it not only accounts for the
voyage of 1496 of Tract 1, but also
serves somewhat to explain how
Vespucci picked up his speculative
knowledge of navigation, which
we know he turned to so good
account at a later period. On the
other hand, there are indications
that the voyage recorded in this tract
is a fragment of an earlier version of
his supposed first voyage for Spain,
1497-99, than is contained in the
Letter a oi 1 505 (?). The mention of
the word Armenica, however, is
suggestive of the influence of
WALDSEEMULLER'S Cosmogra
phies Introduftio of 1 507.
It is interesting to compare this
fragment in Tract 1 with the legend
in German attached to the earliest
known wood-engraving (circa 1504)
of the' natives of the New World,
and now lost, but of which a fac
simile has been preserved, natural
size, in H. STEVENS' American
Bibliographer, 1854, vol. i., No. 1,
p. 8.
Among other incidents men
tioned in the voyage of 1496, the
wood-engraving illustrates the fol
lowing : " But the men and women
haue on theyr heed, necke, armes,
knees and fete, all with feders
bounden . . . and they hange also
the bodyes or persons fleeshe in
the smoke, as men do with us
swynes fleshe " (leaf 2 verso).
Cf. Arber, op. cit., p. xxvii.