A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume Ii Part 16

[3] Hist. of the Disc. of India, prefixed to the translation of the Lusiad, I. 158.

CHAPTER IV.

ORIGINAL JOURNALS OF THE VOYAGES OF CADA MOSTO, AND PIEDRO DE CINTRA TO THE COAST OF AFRICA; THE FORMER IN THE YEARS 1455 AND 1456, AND THE LATTER SOON AFTERWARDS[1].

INTRODUCTION.

Alvise Da Cada Mosto, a Venetian, in the service of Don Henry of Portugal, informs us in his preface, that he was the first navigator from the _n.o.ble city of Venice_, who had sailed on the ocean beyond the Straits of Gibraltar, to the southern parts of Negroland, and Lower Ethiopia. These voyages at Cada Mosto are the oldest extant in the form of a regular journal, and were originally composed in Italian, and first printed at Venice in 1507. This first edition is now exceedingly scarce, but there is a copy in the kings library, and another in the valuable collection made by Mr Dalrymple. These voyages were afterward published by Ramusio in 1613, and by Grynaeus in Latin. The latter was misled in regard to the date; which he has inadvertently placed in 1504, after the death of Prince Henry, and even subsequent to the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope by Bernal Diaz. Even Ramusio, in his introduction to the voyages of Cada Mosto, has made a mistake in saying that they were undertaken by the orders of John king of Portugal, who died in 1433.

Ramusio imagined that the discoveries of Cada Mosto might tend to great importance, as he considered the rivers Senegal and Rio Grande to be branches of the Niger, by which means the Europeans might open a trade with the rich kingdoms of Tombuto and Melli on that river, and thus bring gold from the countries of the Negroes, by an easier, safer, and more expeditious manner, than as conveyed by the Moors of Barbary by land, over the vast and dangerous deserts that intervene between the country on the Niger and Senegal rivers, and Barbary. As, by the account of Leo, salt is the most valuable commodity throughout the countries of the Negroes, Ramusio proposed that the ships should take in cargoes of salt at the island of _Sal_, one of the Cape de Verds, and thence supply the countries on the Niger, which was reported to be navigable for 500 miles into the interior; and that they should bring back gold and slaves in return; the latter to be brought to market at St Jago, another of the Cape de Verd islands, where they would be immediately bought up for the West Indies. All this fine speculation, however, rested on mistaken foundations; as the Niger is altogether an inland river, running to the east, and has no communication with the Senegal and Gambia, which run west into the Atlantic. Yet time, and the civilization of the natives on the Senegal and Gambia, may hereafter realize this scheme of a valuable traffic into the interior of Africa; but it is fervently to be hoped, that the trade in slaves may never be revived.

In his preface, after an apology for his performance, and making a declaration of his strict adherence to truth in all the particulars he relates, Cada Mosto gives some account of the infant Don Henriquez, or Henry, of Portugal, the great author and promoter of maritime discoveries.

He praises him, as a prince of a great soul and sublime genius, and of great skill in astronomy; and adds, that he applied himself entirely to the service of Christ, by making war against the Moors. While on death- bed, in 1432, Don John, king of Portugal, exhorted his son Don Henry to pursue his laudable and holy purpose, of _persecuting_ the enemies of the Christian faith, which he promised to perform; and, accordingly, with the a.s.sistance of his brother Don Duarte, or Edward, who succeeded to the throne of Portugal, he made war in Fez with success for many years.

Afterwards, the more effectually to hara.s.s the Moors, he used to send his caravels, or ships of war, annually, to scour the coasts of Azafi, or Al Saffi, and Messa, on the coast of Africa, without the Mediteranean, by which he did them much damage. But, having in view to make discoveries along that western coast, he ordered them every year to advance farther towards the south. They accordingly proceeded till they came to a great cape, which put a stop to their progress southwards for several years, being afraid to go beyond it; whence it took the name it still retains of Cape Non[2]; meaning, that such as went beyond should never return. Don Henry, however, was of a different opinion, and adding three other caravels to those which had been at the cape, sent them again next year to make the attempt. They accordingly penetrated about 100 miles beyond that cape, where they found only a sandy coast with no habitations, and returned back to Portugal.

Encouraged by this commencement of successful progress, Don Henry sent the same fleet back next year, with orders to extend their discoveries 150 miles farther to the south, and even more if they found it proper; and promised to enrich all who should embark in this navigation. They went again; and, although they obeyed the instructions of the prince, they could not improve the discoveries. Yet, firmly persuaded by the strength of his own judgment, that people and habitations would certainly be found at length, Don Henry continued to send out his caravels from time to time, and they came at length to certain coasts frequented by the Arabs of the desert, and to the habitations of the Azanaghi, a tawny race.

Thus the countries of the negroes were discovered; and different nations afterwards, which will be mentioned in the following relation.

Thus far the preface of Cada Mosto, as given in the collection of Astley, from the edition of Ramusio, with which we must be satisfied in this work, as that in the royal library is inaccessible for our use. The present version has been carefully formed, by a comparison of Astley, with the original in Ramusio, and with the summary by the Reverend James Stanier Clarke, in his curious work on the progress of maritime discoveries, which only gives a selection of what he considered to be its most material parts. In this edition, the narrative style of Cada Mosto, in his own person, is restored as much as possible. It may be noticed, that Alvise is the Portuguese form of the name Louis, or Lewis.

In addition to the two voyages of Cada Mosto himself, there is a third voyage included in the present chapter, performed by Piedro de Cintra to the same coast, the narrative of which was communicated to Cada Mos...o...b.. one who had accompanied Cintra, and had been clerk to Cada Mosto in the two former voyages.

[1] Astley, Col. of Voy. and Trav. I. 573. Clarke, Prog. of Marit. Disc.

I. 235.

[2] According to De Faria, as already mentioned in Chap. II. Sect. I Cape Non was doubled, and Cape Bojador discovered in 1415, many years before the death of King John. The present recapitulation by Cada Mosto has been left in his own words, without insisting on the exactness of his chronology.--Astley.

SECTION I.

_Voyage of Cada Mosto from Venice to Cape St Vincent: He enters into the service of Don Henry, and sets out for the New Discoveries: Relation of the Voyage to Madeira and the Canaries; with some Account of these islands, and their Inhabitants_.

I, Alvise Da Cada Mosto, after visiting many parts of our Mediterranean Sea, being in our city of Venice in the year 1454, at which time I was about twenty-two years of age, determined to return into Flanders, a country which I had formerly visited as a merchant; for my constant attention was, in the first place to acquire wealth, and secondly to procure fame. On the 8th of August in that year 1454, I embarked in one of the gallies belonging to the republic, commanded by Marco Zen, a Venetian cavalier. Contrary winds detained us for some days off Cape St Vincent; during which, I learnt that Don Henry, the infant of Portugal, resided in the adjoining village of Reposera, or Sagres, to which he had retired in order to pursue his studies without interruption from the tumult of the world. Hearing of our arrival, the prince sent on board of our galley Antonio Gonzales his secretary, accompanied by Patricio de Conti[1], a Venetian, who was consul for the republic in Portugal, as appeared by his commission, and who also received a salary or pension from Don Henry. These gentlemen brought on board, and exhibited to us samples of Madeira sugar, dragons blood, and other commodities of the countries and islands belonging to the prince, which had been discovered under his patronage. They asked us many questions, and informed us that the prince had caused some lately discovered and uninhabited islands to be settled and cultivated, as a proof of which, they had shewn us the before-mentioned valuable productions; adding, that all this was next to nothing, in comparison of the great things which Don Henry had performed; as he had discovered seas which had never been navigated before, and the countries of divers strange, and hitherto unknown nations, where many wonderful things were found. They told us farther, that the Portuguese who had been in these remote parts, had reaped great advantages by trading with the inhabitants; having gained as high as 700 or even 1000 per cent, on the capitals employed. We were all much astonished at these things; and I Cada Mosto in particular, being inflamed with the desire of visiting these newly discovered regions, inquired if the prince permitted any person who might be so inclined to embark for these places? To this they answered in the affirmative; and they likewise stated to me the conditions on which any one would be allowed to make the adventure. These were, either to be at the whole expence of fitting out and freighting a vessel; or at the expence of the freight only, the prince providing a vessel. In the former case, the adventurer had to allow on his return one quarter of his cargo, as duty to the prince, the rest remaining his own entire propriety; in the latter case, the homeward cargo was to be equally divided between the prince and the adventurer. In case of no returns, the prince was at the entire expence of the voyage; but that it was hardly possible to make the voyage without great profit. They added, that the prince would be much pleased to have any Venetian in his service, and would shew him great favour, being of opinion that spices and other rich merchandise might be found in these parts, and knowing that the Venetians understood these commodities better than any other nation.

Influenced by all this, I accompanied the secretary and consul on sh.o.r.e, and waited on the prince, who confirmed all those things which they had said, and encouraged me to embark in the voyage to his new countries, by promises of honour and profit. Being young, and of a const.i.tution to endure fatigue, and desirous to visit those parts of the world which had never been even known to any Venetian, and likewise in hopes to advance my fortune, I accepted of the invitation. Having, therefore, procured information respecting the commodities which it was proper to carry with me on such a voyage, I returned to the gallies, where I disposed of all the goods I had shipped for the low countries, and carried to land such things as were necessary for my intended expedition; and leaving the gallies to pursue their voyage to Flanders, I landed in Portugal. The prince evinced much satisfaction at my resolution, and entertained me handsomely at Sagres for a considerable time. At length he ordered me to fit out a new caravel, of about ninety tons burden, of which Vincent Diaz, a native of Lagos, about sixteen miles from Sagres, was commander. The caravel being in readiness, and furnished with every thing necessary for the voyage, we set sail on the 22d of March 1455, having a favourable wind at north-east, and by north[2], and steered our course for the island of Madeira. On the 25th of that month we came to the island of _Puerto Santo_, which is about 600 miles southward from Cape St Vincent, whence we took our departure.

Puerto Santo was discovered by the Portuguese on All Saints day, about the year 1418[3], and Don Henry first sent inhabitants to settle there under Bartholomew Perestrello, whom he appointed governor. It is about fifteen miles in circuit[4]. It bears good bread corn, and a sufficiency of oats for its own use; and abounds with cattle and wild hogs, and innumerable rabbits[5]. Among other trees, it produces the drago or dragon tree, the sap or juice of which is drawn out only at certain seasons of the year, when it issues from cuts or clefts, made with an axe near the bottom of the tree in the preceding year. These clefts are found full of a kind of gum; which, decocted and depurated, is the dragons- blood of the apothecaries[6]. The tree bears a yellow fruit, round like like a cherry, and well tasted. This island produces the best honey and wax in the world, but not in any quant.i.ty. It has no harbour, but a good road in which vessels may moor in safety, being well sheltered on all sides, except the quarters between the south and east, all of which winds make it unsafe to ride here at anchor. There is plenty of excellent fish on its sh.o.r.es; such as dentili, gilded fish, and others.

From Puerto Santo, which was discovered twenty-seven years before, we sailed on the 28th of March, and came the same day to _Monchrico_ or Machico, one of the ports of the island of Madeira, forty miles distant from Puerto Santo. In fair weather these islands may be seen from each other. This latter island was only inhabited within the last twenty-four years, when the prince appointed two of his gentlemen to be its governors.

Tristan Vaz having the government of that half of the island in which the port of Monchrico is situated; and the other district of the island, in which Fonzal, Fonchial, or Funchal stands, is under the government of John Gonzales Zarcho. The island of Madeira is inhabited in four several places: Monchrico, Santa Cruz, Fonzal, and Camera-di-Lupi, which are its princ.i.p.al places, though there are other minor establishments; and is able to muster about 800 men able to bear arms, of whom an hundred are horse. There are about eight rivers, which pervade the island in different places; by means of which they have many saw-mills, from which Portugal and other places are supplied with boards of many different sorts. Of these boards, two sorts are in particular estimation, and turn most to account. The one is cedar, which has a strong odoriferous smell, and resembles the cypress tree; of this they make fine, large, and long boards or deals, which they employ for building houses, and for various other purposes. The other, called na.s.so[7], is of a red-rose colour, and extremely beautiful; of which they make excellent and very beautiful bows and cross-bows, which are sent into the west. In order to clear the land, the first settlers set fire to the woods, and the fire spread with such fury, that several persons, with their families, and Gonzales Zarcho among the rest, were forced to take shelter in the sea to save themselves from the flames, where they stood up to their necks for two days and two nights without sustenance. Though this island is mountainous, its soil is rich and fertile, and it produces yearly 30,000 Venetian _staras_[8] of bread corn. At first, the newly cultivated land yielded seventy for one, but has since been reduced to thirty or forty, for want of good husbandry.

Owing to the excellence of its soil and climate, and the abundance of springs and rivers, Prince Henry procured sugar canes from Sicily, which he sent to this island, where they have yielded abundant produce; insomuch, that 400 cantaros of sugar, each containing 112 pounds large weight of Venice, have been made at one boiling, and the quant.i.ty was likely to increase[9]. They have likewise good wines, considering how shortly this culture has been introduced; and in such abundance, that large quant.i.ties are exported. Among other kinds of vines, Don Henry sent thither _Malvasia_ plants, procured from the island of Candia, which have succeeded well. The soil has turned out so favourable for the vine, that in general there are more grapes than leaves, and the bundles are very large, even from two to four spans long. They have likewise the black _Pergola_ grape, without stones, in great perfection; and so well is the climate adapted to this culture, that they begin their vintage about Easter, or at least by the octave after.

We sailed from Madeira, following a southerly course, and arrived at the Canary islands, which are at the distance of about 320 miles from Madeira.

There are seven of these islands in all, four of which have been settled by the Christians, Lancerotta, Fuerteventura, Gomera, and Ferro; over which Herrera[10], a Spanish gentleman, is lord. Large quant.i.ties of an herb called _Oricello_ or Orchel[11], are annually sent from these islands to Cadiz and Seville, which is used in dying, and is sent from these places to all parts of Europe. Great quant.i.ties of excellent goat skins are exported from these islands, which likewise produce abundance of tallow, and good cheese. The original inhabitants of the four islands that are subject to the Christians, are _Canarians_[12], who speak various languages or dialects, not well understood between the different tribes. These people have only open villages, without any fortifications; except on the mountains, which are exceedingly high, and there they have a kind of rude walls or redoubts, to flee to in case of need. The pa.s.ses of these mountains are so difficult of access, that a few resolute men might defend them against an army. The other three islands of this group, Grand Canaria, Teneriffe, and Palma, which are larger and better peopled than the other four, are still unsubdued and possessed by the aboriginal idolaters. Grand Canaria has between eight and nine thousand souls, and Teneriffe, which is the largest of all these islands, is said to contain fourteen or fifteen thousand, and is divided into nine separate lordships.

Palma, however, has very few inhabitants, yet it appears to be a very beautiful island. Every lordship seems to have its own mode of religious worship; as in Teneriffe, there were no less than nine different kinds of idolatry; some worshipping the sun, others the moon, and so forth. They practise polygamy, and the lords have the jus primae noctis, which is considered as conferring great honour. On the accession of any new lord, it is customary for some persons to offer themselves to die as a sacrifice to his honour. On this occasion, the lord holds a great festival on his accession day; when all who are willing to give this cruel proof of their attachment, are attended to the summit of a high cliff in a certain valley, where, after some peculiar ceremonies, and certain words muttered over them, the victims precipitate themselves from the cliff, and are dashed to pieces. In reward of this sanguinary homage, the lords consider themselves bound to heap extraordinary honours and rewards on the parents of the victims.

Teneriffe, which is the largest of these islands, and the best inhabited, is one of highest islands in the world, and is seen in clear weather from a great distance; insomuch, that I was informed by some mariners, that it had been descried at the distance of between sixty and seventy Spanish leagues, which make about 250 Italian miles. In the middle of the island, there is a prodigiously high peaked mountain, shaped like a diamond, which is always burning. I received this account from some Christians, who had been prisoners in the island, who affirmed that it was fifteen Portuguese leagues, or sixty Italian miles, from the bottom of the mountain to the top of the peak.

They have nine lords on this island, who are called dukes, and who do not succeed by inheritance or descent, but by force; on which account they have perpetual civil wars among themselves, in which they commit great slaughter. Their only weapons are stones, maces or clubs, and darts or lances, some of which are pointed with horn, and others have their points hardened in the fire. They all go naked, except a few who wear goat skins before and behind. They anoint their skins with goats tallow, mixed up with the juice of certain herbs, which thickens the skin, and defends them against the cold, of which they complain much, although their country is so far to the south. They have neither walled, nor thatched houses, but dwell in grottos and caverns of the mountains. They feed on barley, flesh, and goats milk, of which they have abundance, and some fruits, particularly figs. As the country is very hot, they reap their corn in April and May.

We learnt all these things from the Christians of the four settled islands, who sometimes go over by night to the three other islands, and make prisoners of the natives, whom they send into Spain to be sold as slaves. Sometimes the Spaniards are themselves made prisoners on these expeditions, on which occasions the natives do not put them to death, but employ them to kill and flea their goats, and to cure the flesh, which they look upon as a vile employment, and therefore condemn their Christian prisoners to that labour in contempt. The native Canarians are very active and nimble, and are exceedingly agile in running and leaping, being accustomed to traverse the cliffs of their rugged mountains. They skip barefooted from rock to rock like goats, and sometimes take leaps of most surprising extent and danger, which are scarcely to be believed.

They throw stones with great strength and wonderful exactness, so as to hit whatever they aim at with almost perfect certainty, and almost with the force of a bullet from a musket; insomuch that a few stones thrown by them will break a buckler to pieces. I once saw a native Canarian, who had become a Christian, who offered to give three persons twelve oranges a-piece, and taking twelve to himself, engaged, at eight or ten paces distance, to strike his antagonists with every one of his oranges, and at the same time to parry all theirs, so that they should hit no part of him but his hands. But no one would take up the wager, as they all knew he could perform even better than he mentioned. I was on land in Gomera and Ferro, and touched also at the island of Palma, but did not land there.

[1] In Grynaeus, this person is called a patrician or n.o.bleman of Venice, and his surname is omitted.--Astley.

[2] _Con Veuto da greco et tramantana in poppe_; literally, having a Greek, and _beyond the mountain_ wind in the p.o.o.p. The points of the compa.s.s, in Italian maps, are thus named, N. _Tramontana_. N. E. _Greco_. E.

_Levante_ S. E. _Sirocco_. S. _Mezzoni_. S. W. _Libeccio_. W.

_Ponente_. N. W. _Maestro_.--Clarke.

[3] This date ought to have been 1413.--Astl.

[4] Barbot says eight leagues; other authors say more, and some less. It is about twelve leagues to the north-east of Madeira.--Astl.

[5] When Sir Amias Preston took this island in 1595, it abounded in corn, wine, and oil, and had good store of sheep, a.s.ses, goats, and kine.

There was also plenty of fowl, fish, and fruits.--Astl.

[6] From this account it seems to be an insp.i.s.sated juice.--Astley. This tree has probably received its name from the bark being like the scales of a serpent. About the full of the moon it exudes a vermilion coloured gum. That which grows on the islands and coasts of Africa is more astringent than what comes from Goa. It is found on high rocky land. Bartholomew Stibbs met with it on the banks of the Gambia river, and describes it under the name of _Par de Sangoe_, or blood-wood tree.

The gum is a red, inodorous, and insipid resin, soluble in alcohol and oils; and when dissolved by the former, is used for staining marble.

--Clarke.

[7] The woods of Madeira are cedar, vigniatico, laurus Indicus, which has a considerable resemblance to mahogany, barbuzano, chesnut, and the beautiful mirmulano, and paobranco.--Clark.

[8] This measure is said to weigh about thirty-three English pounds, so that the quant.i.ty mentioned in the text amounts to 1850 quarters English measure.--Astl.

[9] I suppose he means at one crop. The quant.i.ty in the text, reduced to avoirdupois weight, amounts to twenty-eight hogsheads, at sixteen hundred weight each.--Astl.

[10] In Clarke, this person is named Ferrero; perhaps the right name of this person was Fernando Pereira, who subdued Gomera and Ferro.--E.

[11] A species of moss, or lichen rather, that grows on the rocks, and is used by dyers.--Clarke.

[12] Other authors call the natives of the Canaries _Guanchos_.--E.

SECTION II.

_Continuation of the Voyage by Cape Branco, the Coast of Barbary, and the Fortia of Arguin; with some account of the Arabs, the Azanaghi, and the Country of Tegazza._

Leaving the Canaries, we pursued our course towards Ethiopia, and arrived in a few days at Cape Branco, which is about 870 miles from these islands.

In this pa.s.sage, steering south, we kept at a great distance from the African sh.o.r.e on our left, as the Canaries are, far-advanced into the sea towards the west. We stood almost directly south for two-thirds of the way between the islands and the Cape, after which we changed our course somewhat more towards the east, or left-hand, that we might fall in with the land, lest we should have overpa.s.sed the Cape without seeing it because no land appears afterwards so far to the west for a considerable s.p.a.ce. The coast of Africa, to the southwards of Cape Bronco, falls in considerably to the eastwards, forming a great bay or gulf, called the _Forna of Arguin_, from a small island of that name. This gulf extends about fifty miles into the land, and has three other islands, one of which is named _Branco_ by the Portuguese, or the White Island, on account of its white sands; the second is called _Garze_, or the Isle of Herons, where they found so many eggs of certain seabirds as to load two boats; the third is called _Curoi_, or Cori. These islands are all small, sandy, and uninhabited. In that of Arguin there is plenty of fresh water, but there is none in any of the others. It is proper to observe, that on keeping to the southwards, from the Straits of Gibraltar, the coast of exterior Barbary is inhabited no farther than Cape Cantin[1], from whence to Cape Branco is the sandy country or desert, called _Saara_ or _Saharra_ by the natives, which is divided from Barbary or Morocco on the north by the mountains of Atlas, and borders on the south with the country of the Negroes, and would require a journey of fifty days to cross,--in some places more, in others less. This desert reaches to the ocean, and is all a white dry sand, quite low and level, so that no part of it seems higher than any other. Cape _Branco_, or the White Cape, so named by the Portuguese from its white colour, without trees or verdure, is a n.o.ble promontory of a triangular shape, having three separate points about a mile from each other.