CHAPTER LXXV

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Of how the caravel of John Gonçalvez Zarco arrived at the land of the Negroes.

It still remaineth for me to relate the hap of the caravel of John Gonçalvez Zarco, who, to my thinking, bore himself in this affair more without hope of gain than any of the others sent there; for all those others, as you have already heard, had a mind to profit themselves, as well as to do service to the Infant. But this John Gonçalvez was noble in all his actions, and so he wished the world to know that for his Lord's service alone he disposed himself to have that voyage made. And therefore he armed a very fine caravel, and the captaincy of this he bestowed on his nephew, named Alvaro Fernandez, whom the Infant had brought up in his household, and he ordered him to have regard to no other profit, save only to see and know any new thing he could. And he was not to hinder himself by making raids in the land of the Moors, but to take his way straight to the land of the Negroes and thenceforward to lengthen his voyage as much as he could,[N168] and endeavour to bring some new thing to the Infant his lord, such as he thought would give him pleasure. The caravel was well victualled and it was manned by men ready for toils, and Alvaro Fernandez was young in years and audacious. So they directed their voyage, determined to second the purpose of him who had dispatched them, and they went sailing over that great ocean sea until they reached the River of Nile,[N169] and they knew it by the signs I have before mentioned, and took on board two pipes of water, one of which they brought to the city of Lisbon. And I know not if Alexander, who was one of the monarchs of the world, drank in his days of water that had been brought him from so far. From hence they went forward until they passed Cape Verde, beyond which they descried an island[N170] on the which they landed to see if they could meet with any natives, but they observed that caution in their own regard which they felt to be proper in such a place. And as they were going through the island, they found tame goats without any persons guarding them, or indeed dwelling in any part of that island, and then they took their refreshment of them; and we have already told how the others found their tracks when they came to those islands, for this Alvaro Fernandez was there first, and because the story could not be told in any other manner we have related it first of all in the way you have heard. Thence they went forward to the spot where the palm tree is, and that huge tree of which we have left an account in the other chapters, and here they found the arms of the Infant, with his device and motto. There they came to an agreement to go and lie near unto the Cape, for it might be that some canoes would come to them with which they could hold converse, at least by signs, for they had no other interpreter. And when they were as near to the Cape as it might be a third of a league, they cast anchor and rested as they had arranged; but they had not been there long when from the land there set out two boats, manned by ten Guineas, who straightway began to make their way direct to the ship, like men who came in peace. And when they were near, they made a signal asking security, which was granted them, and immediately without any other precaution, five of them went on board the caravel, where Alvaro Fernandez had them entertained as hospitably as he was able, giving orders to provide them with food and drink and all other good company that could be made them. And after this they departed, giving signs of great contentment, but it seemeth that they had come with something different conceived in their minds. And as soon as they reached the land they told the rest of their fellows all they had found, and from this it seemed to them that they could easily capture them.[BX] And with this design there put off six boats with thirty-five or forty of their company prepared like men who meant to fight; but when they were near, they felt a fear of coming up to the caravel, and so they stayed a little distance off without daring to make an attack. And when Alvaro Fernandez perceived that they dared not come to him, he commanded his boat to be lowered and in it he ordered eight men to place themselves, from among the readiest that he found for the duty; and he arranged that the boat should be on the further side of the caravel so that it might not be seen by the enemy, in the hope that they would approach nearer to the ship. And the Guineas lay some way off until one of their boats took courage to move more forward and issued forth from the others towards the caravel, and in it were five brave and stout Guineas, distinguished in this respect among the others of the company. And as soon as Alvaro Fernandez perceived that this boat was already in a position for him to be able to reach it before it could receive help from the others, he ordered his own to issue forth quickly and go against it. And by the great advantage of our men in their manner of rowing they were soon upon the enemy, who seeing themselves thus overtaken, and having no hope of defence, leapt into the water, while the other boats fled towards the land. But our men had very great toil in the capture of those who were swimming, for they dived like cormorants, so that they could not get a hold of them; yet they soon captured one, though not without some difficulty; but the capture of the second caused them to lose all the others. For he was so valiant that two men, very mighty as they were, could not drag him into the boat until they took a boathook and caught him above one eye, and the pain of this made him abate his courage and allow himself to be put inside the boat. And with these two captives they returned to the ship. And since Alvaro Fernandez saw that it was of no profit for him to remain in that spot, and that it might rather injure him, because they already had knowledge of him, he said that he wished to go on further to see if he could find some new thing to bring to the Infant his lord. And departing hence, they arrived at a Cape where there were many bare palm trees without palms, and they named this Cape of the Masts.[BY][N171] And going forward on their course, Alvaro Fernandez made seven men embark in the boat and ordered them to row along the coast, and as they went, they caught sight of four Guineas seated by the water's edge; and as the men in the boat saw that they were not perceived by them, six of them leapt out and pursued their way, concealing themselves as much as they could until they were near to the Guineas, when they began to run to capture them. And it seemeth to me that these Guineas were archers who were going to kill their wild game in the hills with poison, even as the bowmen do in this our Spain.[BZ] And as soon as they caught sight of our men, they got up very hastily and began to flee, without having time to put arrows in their bows; but though our men ran a long way they could never take them, although at times they came close to them, and the reason was that these men go naked and have only very short hair, so that it is not possible to capture them by it. And so they got clear of our men, who yet seized their bows and quivers and arrows, together with a quantity of wild boar's flesh that they had roasted. And among these animals that they found was one that looked like a hind,[N172] which these Guineas were taking with a basket as a muzzle over its mouth to keep it from eating; and, so far as our men could see, they were using that animal as a decoy, that it might draw the other deer to them by its gentleness. And since they saw it so tame they would not kill it; and then they returned to their ships, where they took their resolve to come to the Kingdom, making their way straight to the Island of Madeira, and thence to the City of Lisbon. And there they found the Infant and received many bounties at his hands, in the which John Gonçalvez had no small share on account of the good will that had moved him to serve the Infant in that enterprise. And this was the caravel which in this year went further than all the others that voyaged to that land.

[Footnote BX: The Portuguese.]

[Footnote BY: Cabo dos Matos.]

[Footnote BZ: The word Spain is here used to designate the whole Peninsula, as was usual at that time.]

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