A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume Ii Part 21

Including the voyages of Cada Mosto and Pedro de Cintra, which have been already detailed, as possibly within the period which elapsed between the death of Don Henry in 1463, and King Alphonzo, which latter event took place on the 28th August 1481, and the detached fragments of discovery related in the present Section, we have been only able to trace a faint outline of the uncertain progress of Portuguese discovery during that period of eighteen years, extending, as already mentioned, to Cape St Catherine and the island of Ann.o.bon. A considerable advance, therefore, had been made since the lamented death of the ill.u.s.trious Don Henry; which comprehended the whole coast of Guinea, with its two gulfs, usually named the _Bights_ of Benin and Biafra, with the adjacent islands, and extending to the northern frontier of the kingdom of Congo[4]. If the following a.s.sertion of de Barros could be relied on, we might conclude that some nameless Portuguese navigators had crossed the line even before the death of Don Henry; but the high probability is, that the naval pupils of that ill.u.s.trious prince continued to use his impress upon their discoveries, long after his decease, and that the limits of discovery in his time was confined to Cape Vergas. Some Castilians, sailing under the command of Garcia de Loaysa, a knight of Malta, landed in 1525 on the island of St Matthew, in two degrees of southern lat.i.tude[5]. They here observed that it had been formerly visited by the Portuguese, as they found an inscription on the bark of a tree, implying that they had been there eighty-seven years before[6]. It also bore the usual motto of that prince, _talent de bien faire_.

In the paucity of authentic information respecting these discoveries, it seems proper to insert the following abstract of the journal of a Portuguese pilot to the island of St Thomas, as inserted by Ramusio, previous to the voyage of Vasco de Gama, but of uncertain date; although, in the opinion of the ingenious author of the Progress of Maritime Discover, this voyage seems to have been performed between the years 1520 and 1540. In this, state of uncertainty, it is therefore made a section by itself, detached in some measure from the regular series of the Portuguese discoveries.

[1] Astley, I. 15. Clarke, I. 290. Purchas, I. Harris, I. 664.

[2] Clarke, I. 295.

[3] These may possibly be the nuts of the Ricinus Palma Christi, from which the castor oil is extracted.--E.

[4] Strictly speaking the northern limits of Loango, one of the divisions of the extensive kingdom of Congo, is at the Sette river, ten leagues S.S. E. from Cape St Catherine.--E.

[5] There is no island of that name in this position; so that the island of St Matthew of de Barros must refer to Ann.o.bon.--E.

[6] These dates would throw back the discovery of this island, and the pa.s.sage of the line by the mariners of Don Henry, to the year 1438, at a time when they had not reached the lat.i.tude of 25 N. which is quite absurd.--E.

SECTION II.

Voyage of a Portuguese Pilot from Lisbon to the Island of St Thomas[1].

Before I left Venice, I was requested by letter from Signior Hieronimo Fracastro of Verona, that, on my arrival at Conde, I would send, him an account of my voyage to San Thome, to which island our s.h.i.+ps often sail for cargoes of sugar. The pa.s.sage of the equinoctial line, under which that island, is situated, appeared to that gentleman so extraordinary a circ.u.mstance as to merit the attention of men of science; and you likewise made me a similar request. I began, therefore, immediately after my return, to draw up an account of my voyage, from those notes which we pilots usual keep of all occurrences, and I compared it in my progress with the journals of some friends who had formerly made the same voyage.

When I afterwards attentively perused my ma.n.u.script, it did not appear to me worthy of being communicated to a gentleman of such scientific character as Signor Hieronimo, whose talents I had duly appreciated, by the perusal of his publications, which I received from you before my departure from Venice. I therefore laid my ma.n.u.script aside, not wis.h.i.+ng that any one might peruse it; but as you have again urged the performance of my promise, I now anxiously obey a request, which, as coming from you, I must always consider a command. Apprehensive, likewise, of appearing forgetful of your polite attentions, I prefer the danger of exposing my ignorance, to the possibility of being charged with ingrat.i.tude or want of attention. Being a sailor, and unused to composition, I pretend to little more than copying the remarks of those who have sailed from our continent to _Ethiopia_, without attempting to reduce my narrative into lucid order, or to embellish it with fine writing. You will therefore have the goodness to destroy this account, after its perusal, that the errors I have committed, by compliance with your commands, may not draw upon me the imputation of presumption.

The Portuguese s.h.i.+ps which sail to the island of St Thomas from Lisbon, for cargoes of sugar, usually put to sea in February, though some vessels make this voyage at every period of the year. Their course is S.S.W.

until they reach the Canary Islands; after which they steer for the island of Palmas, which is opposite to Cape Bojador on the coast of Africa, and is about ninety leagues from the kingdom of Castile. This island has plenty of provisions, and abounds in wine and sugar. The north- west wind prevails most, and a great sea rages continually on its coast, particularly in the month of December[2].

If the s.h.i.+ps which are bound for the island of St Thomas find it necessary to obtain a quant.i.ty of salt after having taken on board a sufficient supply at the island of _Sal_, they steer for the coast of Africa at the Rio del Oro; and, if they have calm weather and a smooth sea; they catch as many fish in four hours, with hooks and lines, as may suffice for all their wants during the remainder of the voyage. But, if the weather is unfavourable for fis.h.i.+ng at the Rio del Oro, they proceed along the coast to Cape Branco; and thence along the coast to the island of Arguin. The princ.i.p.al sorts of fish on this coast are _pagros_, called _albani_ by the Venetians; likewise _corvi_ and _oneros_, which latter are only a larger and darker-coloured species of _pagros_. As soon as taken, the fish are opened and salted, and serve as an excellent supply of provisions to navigators. All the coast of Africa, from Cape Bojador, otherwise called _Cabo della Volta_, as far as Cape Branco and even to Arguin, is low and sandy. At Arguin, which is inhabited by Moors and Negroes, and which is situated on the confines between these two nations, there is a capacious harbour, and a castle belonging to our king of Portugal, in which some Portuguese always reside with the royal agent.

On leaving the island of Sal, our s.h.i.+ps steer next for St Jago, another of the Cape Verd islands. This island is situated in _fifteen degrees on the equinoctial and thirty leagues towards the south_[3].It is seventeen leagues long, and has a city on the coast, with a good harbour called _Ribiera Grande_, or the Great River, now St Jago. From two high mountains, one on each side, a large river of fresh water flows into the harbour; and, from its source, full two leagues above the city, its banks are lined on each side with gardens, having fine groves of oranges, cedars, pomegranates, several sorts of figs, and the cocoa-nut palm, which has been long planted on this island. It produces all kinds of vegetables in great abundance and perfection; but they do not afford good seeds, so that it is necessary to procure these every year from Europe.

The city is on the south coast of the island, and is well built of stone, being inhabited by about 500 families of distinction, Portuguese and Castilians. Its government is entrusted to a corregidor or governor, appointed by the king of Portugal; and two judges are chosen annually, one for the determination of naval and maritime causes, and the other for regulating the police. This island is very mountainous, and is very barren in many parts, which are entirely dest.i.tute of wood; but its vallies are fertile and well cultivated. In June, when the sun enters Cancer, the rains are so incessant that the Portuguese call that month _La Luna de las Aquas_, or the Water Month. Their seed-time begins in August, when they sow maize, called _miglio zaburo_. This is a white bean, which is ready to be gathered in forty days, and is the chief food of these islanders, and of all the inhabitants of the coast of Africa[4].

They also sow much rice and cotton; the latter of which comes to great perfection, and is manufactured into striped cloths, which are exported to the country of the Negroes, and bartered for black slaves.

To give a distinct view of the commercial transactions with the Negroes, it is proper to inform you, that the western coast of Africa is divided into several countries and provinces, as Guinea, _Melegote_[5], the kingdom of Benin, and the kingdom of Manicongo. Over all this extent of coast, there are many Negro kings or chiefs, whose subjects are Mahometans and idolaters, and who are continually at war with each other.

These kings are much respected by their subjects, almost to adoration, as they are believed to have originally descended from heaven. When the king of Benin dies, his subjects a.s.semble in an extensive plain, in the centre of which a vast pit or sepulchre is dug, into which the body is lowered, and all the friends and servants of the deceased are sacrificed and thrown into the same grave, thus voluntarily throwing away their own lives in honour of the dead. On this coast there grows a species of _melegete_, extremely pungent like pepper, and resembling the Italian grain called _sorgo_. It produces likewise a species of pepper of great strength, not inferior to any of that which the Portuguese bring from Calicut, under the name of _Pimienta del rabo_, or _Pepe dalla coda_, and which African pepper resembles _cubbebs_, but so powerful that an ounce will go farther than a pound of the common sort; but its exportation is prohibited, lest it should injure the sale of that which is brought from Calicut[6]. There is also established on this coast a manufacture of an excellent kind of soap from palm-oil and ashes, which is carried on for the king's account. All the trade of this coast, to the kingdom of _Manicongo_ exclusively, is farmed out every four or five years to the highest bidder. Great Negro caravans bring gold and slaves to the stations on the coast. The slaves are either prisoners taken in war, or children whom their parents have parted with in the hope of their being carried to a more fertile country. For above ninety years after the first discovery of this coast, the Portuguese merchants were accustomed to enter the large rivers by which the country is everywhere intersected, trading independently with the numerous tribes inhabiting their banks; but now the whole of this commerce is in the hands of stationary licensed factors, to whom it is farmed.

On quitting St Jago we steer southerly for the Rio Grande, which is on the north of Ethiopia, beyond which we come to the high mountain of Sierra Liona, the summit of which is continually enveloped in mist, out of which thunder and lightning almost perpetually flashes, and is heard at sea from the distance of forty or fifty miles. Though the sun is quite vertical in pa.s.sing over this mountain, and extremely hot, yet the thick fog is never dissipated. In our voyage we never lose sight of land, yet keep always at a considerable distance, carefully observing the declination of the sun, and keeping a southerly course till we arrive in _four degrees on the equinoctial_[7], when we suddenly change our course to the south-east, keeping the Ethiopian coast always on our left hand in our way to the island of St Thomas. On this coast, between the tropic and the equinoctial, we never meet with any hard gales, as storms are very rarely found within the tropics. On nearing the land, the soundings in many parts of the coast do not exceed fifty _braccia_, but farther out the depth rapidly increases, and the sea usually runs high at a distance from the land. When we arrived at Rio del Oro, as mentioned before, we observed four stars in the form of a cross, of an extraordinary size and splendour, elevated thirty degrees above the antarctic pole, and forming the constellation called _il Crusero_. While under the tropic of Cancer, we saw this constellation very low; and, on directing our _balestra_[8]

to the lowermost of these stars, we found it to be directly south, and concluded that it must be in the centre of the antarctic polar circle. We observed the same constellation very high when we were at the island of St Thomas; and remarked that the moon, after rain, produces a rainbow similar to that occasioned by the sun during the day, except that the colours were dim and ill-defined. On leaving the straits of Gibraltar, I did not observe any sensible change on the ebb and flow of the sea; but when we approached Rio Grande, which is eleven degrees to the north of the equinoctial, we observed a considerable tide at the mouth of that river, and the rise in some places was much the same as on the coast of Portugal, whereas at the isle of St Thomas it was nearly the same as at Venice.

The island of St Thomas was discovered above eighty[9] years ago, by some captains in the royal navy of Portugal, and was altogether unknown to the ancients. Its horizon or parallel pa.s.ses at an equal distance between the arctic and antarctic poles, and its days and nights are always equal. The arctic polar star is there invisible, but the _guardiani_ are seen in some measure to revolve, and the constellation which is known by the name of _il crusero_, is seen in the heavens at a high alt.i.tude. To the eastwards[10] of St Thomas, and at the distance of 120 miles, the small island called _Il Principe_ is situated. This latter island is inhabited and cultivated, the produce of its sugar canes belonging to the revenue of the kings eldest son, from which circ.u.mstance the island derives its name. To the S. S. W. or S. and by W. and in the lat.i.tude of almost 2 S.

is the uninhabited island of Ann.o.bon, on which numbers of crocodiles and venomous serpents are found. Its rocky sh.o.r.es abound in fish, and are much resorted to by the inhabitants of St Thomas on that account. When first discovered, the island of St Thomas was an entire forest, containing a variety of trees, which, though barren, were extremely verdant. These trees were all remarkably tall and straight, their branches all drawn close to the stems, and not spreading out as with us.

After clearing away a great part of the forest, the inhabitants built a princ.i.p.al town called _Pouoasan_, which has an excellent harbour. The princ.i.p.al dependence of the settlers in this island is upon their sugars, which they exchange yearly with the merchants who trade thither, for flour in barrels, wines, oil, cheese, leather, swords, gla.s.s beads, drinking-cups, pater-nosters, and _buzios_, which are a small kind of sh.e.l.ls, called by the Italians _white porcelain_, and which pa.s.s in Ethiopia as money. The Europeans who reside on this island depend much for provisions on the s.h.i.+ps, as they cannot subsist on the fare used by the Negroes. The slaves employed in their sugar plantations are procured from Guinea, Benin, and Congo; and some rich planters have from 150 to 300 Negroes. These work five days in every week for their masters, and are allowed the Sat.u.r.days to themselves, when they cultivate various articles of provision, as the _miglio zaburo_, a species of bean formerly mentioned, a root called _igname_, and many species of culinary vegetables, the seeds of which must be imported from Europe, as they do not come to perfection in this climate.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Chart of North Western Africa]

The soil of St Thomas consists of a red and yellow marl, or clay, of great fertility, which is kept soft and mellow by the heavy dews which fall nightly, contributing greatly to vegetation, and preventing it from being dried up by the great heats; and so great is the luxuriant fertility of the soil, that trees immediately spring up on any spots left uncultivated, and will grow as high in a few days as would require as many months with us. These sprouts are cut down and burnt by the slaves, and their ashes are used as manure for the sugarcanes. If planted in January, the canes are ready to be cut in June, and those which are planted in February become ripe in July; and in this manner they keep up a succession throughout the whole year. In March and September, when the sun is vertical, the great rains set in, accompanied with cloudy and thick weather, which is of great service to the sugar plantations. This island produces yearly above 150,000 arobas of sugar, each containing thirty-one of our pounds, of which the king receives the tenth part, which usually produces from 12,000 to 14,000 arobas, though many of the planters do not pay this tythe fully. There are about sixty _ingenios_ driven by water, for bruising the canes and pressing out the juice, which is boiled in vast chaldrons, after which it is poured into pans in the shape of sugar-loaves, holding from fifteen to twenty pounds each, in which it is purified by means of ashes. In some parts of the island, where they have not streams of water, the canes are crushed by machines worked by the Negroes, and in others by horses. The bruised canes are given to the hogs, which hardly get any other food, yet fatten wonderfully, and their flesh is so delicate and wholesome as to be preferred to that of poultry. Many sugar refiners have been brought here from Madeira, on purpose to endeavour to manufacture the sugars of St Thomas more white and harder than its usual produce, but in vain. This is alleged to proceed from the extreme richness of the soil injuring the quality of the sugar; just as with us, wines produced in soils of too great fertility are apt to have a peculiar flavour. Another cause of this is supposed to proceed from the climate of the island being too hot and too moist, except in the month of June, July, and August, at which season a fresh dry wind blows from Ethiopia to this island; and they then make their best sugars.

The planters are obliged, to s.h.i.+p off their sugars as soon as they can procure s.h.i.+pping, because they would become liquid if attempted to be kept for a length of time. At present, not above two-thirds of the island are appropriated to the cultivation of sugar; but any person who comes to this island for the purpose of settling, whether from Spain or Portugal, or any other country, may procure from the royal intendant as much land as he is able to cultivate, and at a moderate price. The esculent root which is known in the Spanish islands by the name of _batata_, is here named ingame by the Negroes, and is their princ.i.p.al food, either boiled or roasted under the ashes. There are different kinds of this root produced on the island, but that which is known by the name of _igname cicorero_ is preferred by the merchant vessels, all of which purchase considerable quant.i.ties as a sea-stock for their homeward voyage, and the Negroes cultivate them largely for the express purpose of supplying the s.h.i.+ps[11]. This island is distinguished by a high mountain in the middle, thickly covered by tall, straight, and verdant trees, and its summit is continually enveloped in clouds, whence water is diffused in numerous streams all over the island. A large shallow stream flows through the city of Pouoasan, supplying it with abundance of excellent water, which the inhabitants reckon of a medicinal quality, and allege that St Thomas would not be habitable if it were not for this river and its other numerous springs and rivulets. The native trees are chiefly barren, and though some olives, peaches, and almonds, were planted by the early settlers, which soon grew with great luxuriance, they never bore any fruit, and this has been the case with all stone fruits that have been tried. But the cocoa-nut palm, brought hither from Ethiopia, has thriven satisfactorily. Repeated attempts have been made to cultivate wheat, but always unsuccessfully, though tried at different seasons of the year; as the ear would never fill, but always ran up to straw and chaff only.

In March and September, the sky is always overcast with clouds and mists, and continual rains prevail, which season is considered by the inhabitants as their winter. In May, June, July, and August, which they call _Mesi di Vento_, or windy months, the prevalent winds are from the south, southeast, and southwest; but the island is sheltered by the continent from the north, northeast, and northwest winds; The summer months are December, January, and February, when the heat is excessive, and the atmosphere being continually loaded with vapour, occasions the air to feel like the steam of boiling water. The sh.o.r.es of this island abound in many kinds of fish, and, during the months of June and July, the inhabitants catch a kind which they name _le chieppe_, which are singularly delicate. In the seas between this island and the coast of Africa, there are prodigious mult.i.tudes of whales, both of the large and small kinds.--Should you, Sir, be unsatisfied with my ill-written and confused information, I beg of you to consider that I am merely a seaman, unpracticed in literary composition.

[1] Ramusio. Clarke I. 298. This voyage was communicated by the relator to Count Raimond della Torre, a n.o.bleman of Verona.--Clarke.

[2] A description of the islands of Cape Verd, and an account of the supply of salt usually taken on board by the Portuguese s.h.i.+ps at the island of Sal, for the purpose of laying in a sea store of salt fish, is here omitted.--Clarke.

[3] This geographical expression is utterly unintelligible, but may be a strange mode of denoting its lat.i.tude, which is 15 N. but I know not what to make of the thirty leagues towards the south, unless the author meant that it was thirty leagues in extent from north to south, and seventeen leagues from east to west.--E.

[4] The description in the text is not applicable to maize, and must refer to some species of bean, or kidney-bean.--E.

[5] Called likewise Maleguette, and named also the Grain-Coast and the Pepper-Coast. Manicongo is obviously the kingdom of Congo.--E.

[6] Some of this is smuggled and sold in England.--Clarke.

This Guinea pepper is probably that now known under the name of Jamaica pepper; but the extremely pungent kind must be some of the numerous species of capsic.u.ms, usually called Cayenne pepper.--E.

[7] This strange expression seems to imply 4 of north lat.i.tude.--E.

[8] Called likewise Balestriglia, being the Venetian name for the cross- staff, or fore-staff, an astronomical instrument which has been superseded by the quadrant and s.e.xtant.--E

[9] In an after part of this narrative, the pilot informs us, that his first voyage to the island of San Thome was in 1520, and that he made five voyages to that place. If, therefore, the date of his present voyage were fixed to 1530, it would carry us back to 1450, or even earlier, for the date of this discovery, near thirteen years before the death of Don Henry.--Clarke.

In Mr Clarkes note on this pa.s.sage, he erroneously calculates on the above data that the discovery might have been in 1460, which is only seventy years back from 1530. But the result of the data in the text shews, that either the pilot was mistaken as to the real date of the discovery, or that his narrative has been corrupted, so that no reliance can be placed on his dates.--E.

[10] The direction of _Il Principe_, or Princes Island, from St Thomas, is N. N. E. and the distance does not exceed seventy miles.--Clarke.

[11] These _batatas_ are probably a different species from our potatoes, and may be what are called sweet potatoes in the West Indies; perhaps the _igname cicorero_ is the West Indian _yam_. Four species of _igname_ or _batata_, are mentioned in Barbot as originally from Benin, Anwerre, Mani-Congo, and Saffrance. The first of these is remarkably sweet, and the second keeps well. A variety of esculent roots might prove of high utility to navigators, and are too much neglected. Among these, the parsnip and Jerusalem artichoke deserve notice, as being very nutritive, and proof against all weathers.--Clarke.

SECTION III.

_Continuation of Portuguese Discoveries, from Cape St Catherine to the kingdom of Congo_.

We are still obliged to continue the account of the Portuguese discoveries historically, from the want of any regular journals of their early voyages along the African coast. In the original efforts of the ill.u.s.trious Don Henry, although the progress was extremely slow, we have much to admire in the character of that prince, who possessed genius to stretch beyond the trammels of custom and authority, boldly thinking for himself, pointing out the way of extending the knowledge of our globe by maritime discoveries, and persevering n.o.bly in his renewed efforts, in spite of the timid ignorance of his unexperienced pilots and mariners.

But it is not easy to explain the continuance of that slow progress, which was even r.e.t.a.r.ded during the years which elapsed between the demise of that prince of mariners in 1463, and that of Alphonso in 1481; when the increased experience of the Portuguese, in their frequent voyages to the new discovered Atlantic islands and African coast, ought to have inspired them with fresh vigour and extended views of discovery and commerce. The military character of Alphonso may, however, explain this in a great degree, as all his energies were directed towards the extension of dominion in the Moorish kingdom of Fez; and the business of discovery was devolved as a burdensome and unprofitable task on the farmers of the trade to the coast of Africa, which appears to have become extensive and lucrative, after the discovery of Guinea and its islands, and the establishment of the sugar colonies in these islands. We learn, likewise, from the preceding voyage of the Portuguese pilot to the island of St Thomas, that the mariners still confined themselves almost entirely to creeping along the coast, from cape to cape, and from island to island, not daring to trust themselves to the trackless ocean, under the now sure guidance of the heavenly luminaries; but which they then did not sufficiently understand, nor did they possess sufficient instruments for directing their course in the ocean. It would appear that they had then no other method of computing the longitude but by means of the log, or dead reckoning, which is liable to perpetual uncertainty from currents and lee-way, and which a storm, even of short continuance, must have thrown into total confusion. Their instruments and methods for determining even the lat.i.tudes, appear to have then been imperfect and little understood. In the sequel of this deduction, we shall find the first Portuguese squadron which sailed for India, conducted across the Indian ocean by a Moorish pilot.

On the accession of John II. to the throne of Portugal in 1481, the discoveries along the coast of Africa were resumed with a new spirit.

While infante or hereditary prince, his princ.i.p.al revenue was derived from the profits of the Guinea trade, and of the importation of gold from the haven of Mina; and among the first measures of his reign, he turned his attention to the improvement and extension of that valuable branch of commerce. For this purpose, he gave orders to make all necessary preparations for building a fortress and church at the port of Mina. All the requisite materials, even to stones and tiles, were accordingly s.h.i.+pped from Lisbon in a squadron of ten caravels and two transports, with 500 soldiers and 200 labourers or workmen of various kinds. This expedition was placed under the command of Don Diego d'Azumbuja, an experienced officer, under whom were the following naval captains, Goncalez da Fonseca, Ruy d'Oliveira, Juan Rodrigues Gante, Juan Alfonso, Diego Rodrigues Inglez, Bartholomew Diaz, Pedro d'Evora, and Gomez Aires.

This last was a gentleman belonging to the household of Pedro king of Arragon, all the others being n.o.blemen of the household of King John.

Pedro de Cintra and Fernam d'Alfonso commanded the transports, and a small vessel attended the squadron as an advice-boat. This squadron sailed on the 11th December 1481, and reached their destination on the 19th January 1482, at an African village named _Aldea_, where they found Juan Bernardo, who had previously sailed for the coast in quest of gold.

Bernardo was immediately sent by Azumbuja, to inform Camaranca, the Negro chief of the district, with the arrival of the Portuguese armament, and to desire a conference, with directions to endeavour to impress that chief with a high sense of the rank and character of the Portuguese officers, and of the irresistible power of the armament now upon his coast. Early next morning, Azambuja landed with all his followers, who were secretly armed, in case of meeting with any hostilities from the natives; and moved forwards in great form to a large tree, not far from the Negro village of Aldea, on a spot which had been chosen as a convenient situation for the intended fortress. A flag, bearing the royal arms of Portugal, was immediately displayed upon the tree, and an altar was placed under the shade of its boughs, at which the whole company united in a.s.sisting at the first ma.s.s that was celebrated in Guinea, offering up their solemn prayers to G.o.d for the speedy conversion of the idolatrous natives, and for the perpetual continuance and prosperity of the church which was to be erected on this spot. The day on which this impressive ceremony was performed being dedicated to St Sebastian, that name was given to the valley on which the tree stood, under which they were now a.s.sembled.

Soon after the completion of this religious ceremony, Camaranca approached with a numerous train. Azambuja, sumptuously dressed, and ornamented by a rich golden collar, prepared to receive the Negro chief, seated on an elevated chair, having all his retinue arranged before him, so as to form an avenue. The Negroes were armed with spears, s.h.i.+elds, bows, and arrows, and wore a kind of helmets made of skins, thickly studded with fish teeth, giving them a very martial appearance. The subordinate chiefs were distinguished by chains of gold hanging from their necks, and had various golden ornaments on their heads, and even on their beards. After the exchange of presents, and other tokens of mutual respect and confidence, Azambuja made a speech to Camaranca, through the mediation of an interpreter, in which he explained the purpose of his emba.s.sy and expedition, and used every argument he could think of, to conciliate the friends.h.i.+p of the Negro chief, to make him fully sensible of the power of the king of Portugal, and to reconcile him to the intended permanent establishment upon the toast. Camaranca listened to the harangue, and the explanation of it by the interpreter, in respectful silence, keeping his eyes steadily fixed on the countenance of Azambuja.

After which, casting his eyes for some time on the ground, as if profoundly meditating on what he had heard, he is said to have made the following guarded and judicious answer: