Scurvy during Vasco da Gama's first voyage (1497-1499)

Scurvy during Vasco da Gama’s first voyage (1497-1499) Scurvy was described on Vasco da Gama’s first voyage to India, which appears to be the first description of scurvy during sea voyages. This document describes the extracts that are relevant about scurvy from Ravenstein’s translation of the journal of the voyage. Contents Page Kenneth Carpenter’s description of scurvy on Vasco da Gama’s first voyage 2 Biographies of Vasco da Gama and discussions of the first voyage 3 Clements Markham (1898) Vasco da Gama 4 Digitized versions of Ravenstein’s translation of Vasco da Gama’s voyage 6 Scurvy during Vasco Da Gama’s first voyage 7 Appendix B. Girolamo Sernigi’s first letter to a gentleman at Florence 23 Appendix D. Vasco da Gama’s ships 24 Appendix E. Muster-roll of Vasco da Gama’s fleet 26 Appendix F. The Voyage Home 28 Introduction of Ravenstein’s translation 29 Interpretations of ancient texts of scurvy: comments by Lind, Hirsh, and Immermann 39 Section of Luís de Camões’ poem “The Lusiads” (1572) on the first occurrence of scurvy on Vasco da Gama’s first voyage 47 Yellow is used to indicate the more important sections. This text is available at: https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.17781206 2025-12-1 This annotated version was prepared by: Harri Hemilä, University of Helsinki, Finland https://www.mv.helsinki.fi/home/hemila https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4710-307X https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=hemila+h https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=2mkomzUAAAAJ https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17085738 Reports on scurvy uploaded to Zenodo by Harri Hemilä. 1 Kenneth Carpenter’s description of scurvy on Vasco da Gama’s first voyage In his book “History of Scurvy and Vitamin C”,1 Kenneth Carpenter extracted descriptions of scurvy symptoms described on Vasco da Gama’s first voyage as follows (p.1-2): Vasco da Gama led an expedition designed to go by this route all the way to the Indies. The fleet of four ships, with a total of about 140 people on board, left Lisbon on July 9. By January 24 of the new year 1498, they had rounded the Cape and reached a river mouth on the southeast coast of Africa. They spent a month there cleaning the ship hulls and refitting a mast. Da Gama notes that “many of our men fell ill here, their feet and hands swelling, and their gums growing over their teeth so that they could not eat.” [p.20-21] They ran up the eastern coast, and on April 6, while beached at night, two boats manned by Moorish traders approached, one laden with fine oranges “better than those of Portugal.” [p.34] Two of the moors remained on board, accompanying them that day to Mombasa. “In front of the city there lay numerous vessels all dressed in flags… Anxious not to be outdone we even surpassed their show, for we wanted in nothing but men, even the few we had being very ill.” [p.34-35] By April 12, “it pleased God in his mercy that… all our sick recovered their health for the air of this place is very good.” [p.39] On the return journey across the Arabian Sea, they were hindered by “frequent calms and foul winds,” and were twelve weeks at sea (October to December, 1498). The sailors “again suffered from their gums; their legs also swelled, and other parts of the body, and these swellings spread until the sufferer died, without exhibiting symptoms of any other disease.” [p.87] As on the previous occasion, thirty men died, and only seven or eight were fit enough to navigate each ship. [p.87] In another two weeks there would have been no men at all to navigate the ships… [p.87] all bonds of discipline had gone… [p.87] we addressed vows and petitions to the Saints… [p.87] it pleased God in his mercy to send us a wind which, in the course of six days, carried us within sight of land… at this we rejoiced as… [p.87] we hoped to recover our health there as we had done once before… [p.87] On Monday, the 7th of January we again cast anchor off Mitindy… [p.89] the Captain-Major sent a man on shore to bring off a supply of oranges which were much desired by our sick [p.89]. … What can we conclude from this record? First, it seems that the sickness they encountered had been quite outside their previous experience; nor do they relate it to anything they had read. It would also seem that, by the time of its second appearance, the crew were convinced that the oranges that they had eaten on the earlier occasion were powerful curatives, because they were specifically asking for them… The purpose of this document is to provide Carpenter’s extracts easily available with wider textual contexts for the events, and to provide links to the digitized version of Ravenstein’s translation of “Roteiro”, the journal of Vasco da Gama’s first voyage. The page numbers given above in the square brackets indicate the number of page in Ravenstein’s translation, which are shown on the right-hand side of the extracts. This document is primarily focused on the contexts describing the symptoms and the contexts of scurvy. The most useful document of da Gama’s first voyage is the Roteiro, which was translated by Ravenstein. The sections on scurvy during da Gama’s voyage described by Correa and Castanheda are shown in footnotes, and the section of Camoens poem Lusiad on scurvy is shown at the end of this document. 1 Kenneth J. Carpenter (1988) The History of Scurvy and Vitamin C. Cambridge https://www.cambridge.org/fi/universitypress/subjects/history/history-medicine/history-scurvy-and-vitamin-c 2 Biographies of Vasco da Gama and discussions of the first voyage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasco_da_Gama https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vasco-da-Gama https://exploration.marinersmuseum.org/subject/vasco-da-gama/ The Fourth Centenary of Vasco da Gama’s Voyage to India (1898) https://doi.org/10.2307/1774494 Vasco da Gama (1898) https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17779397 https://www.jstor.org/stable/25208011 The Fourth Centenary of the Death of Vasco Da Gama (1925) https://doi.org/10.2307/1782341 Vasco da Gama–First Count of Vidigueira (1940) https://doi.org/10.2307/2506808 A Mediaeval Navigator: Vasco da Gama (1944) https://www.jstor.org/stable/717806 Discovery of the Sea-Route to India (1982) https://www.jstor.org/stable/45071773 Vasco da Gama and Africa: An Era of Mutual Discovery, 1497-1800 (1998) https://www.jstor.org/stable/20078728 Da Gama’s Blundering: Trade Encounters in Africa and Asia during the European ‘Age of Discovery,’ 1450-1520 (1998) https://doi.org/10.2307/494876 Vasco da Gama’s Voyage: Myths and Realities in Maritime History (2003) https://www.jstor.org/stable/41105193 Did Vasco da Gama Matter for European Markets? (2009) https://www.jstor.org/stable/20542963 Vasco da Gama and his successors: 1460-1580 (1910) https://archive.org/details/vascodagamahissu00jayn/page/32/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/vascodagamahissu00jaynuoft/page/32/mode/2up The Career and Legend of Vasco da Gama by Sanjay Subrahmanyam (1997; Book reviews) https://doi.org/10.1086/235226 https://doi.org/10.1177/084387149901100222 https://doi.org/10.2307/2543592 https://doi.org/10.2307/2651265 https://doi.org/10.2307/2659376 https://www.jstor.org/stable/20078794 https://www.jstor.org/stable/206259 https://www.jstor.org/stable/24424663 https://www.jstor.org/stable/27586624 https://www.jstor.org/stable/40107945 https://www.jstor.org/stable/41105073 https://www.jstor.org/stable/4407158 3 Clements Markham (1898) Vasco da Gama2 We are assembled this evening to commemorate one of the events in the history of the world–the discovery of the ocean route to India by the Portuguese… Prince Henry3 gave the first impetus, and during a quarter of a century he created a school of seamen who rounded Cape Bojador in 1435, Cape Blanco in 1443, Cape Verde in 1445, and reached the Gambia in 1454. All this was dona in the lifetime of the Prince Navigator. At his death the work was continued, with almost equal zeal, by the kings–his nephews–Alfonaso the African, Joaõ the Perfect Prince, Manoel the Fortunate… The padraos were intended to be eternal monuments of Portuguese achievement. They were stone pillars with an inscription, and the arms of Portugal carved upon them–the wellknown “cinco chagas,” with the orle of the seven castles of Algarve. Each explorer was to plant one on a conspicuous point at his furthest point. The padraos were named after saints… It was the ambition of each successive Portuguese voyager to plant a national monument beyond the furthest point reached by his predecessor… The goal was well in sight. The eastern side of Africa had been reached by Diaz,4 and was known through the report of Covilham.5 Thence the next explorer would stretch across to the shores of India. King Joaõ prepared for the final and crowning expedition by the building of two suitable ships, which were commenced under the superintendence of Bartholomeu Diaz, the ablest and most successful Portuguese explorer of that age. But in 1495 the king died, and the great work remained to be achieved in the reign of his successor, King Manoel (“O Fortunado”),6 who was at the head of Portuguese affairs for the next fifty-six years. He continued the equipment of the expedition, which had been commenced by his predecessor. Then it was that Da Gama appeared on the scene… Estevan da Gama,7 their father, was chief magistrate of Sines;8 and here Vasco and his brothers were born. The little town of Sines is situated in a bay, about halfway between Lisbon and Cape St. Vincent. To the west are the blue waves of the Atlantic, but to landward an undulating sandy plain extends for several leagues. On the north side of the bay there is a granite ridge running out into the sea, and on the top of the cliff there is a small church built by Vasco da Gama towards the end of his life. The four sons of Estevan da Gama appear to have been born and brought up at Sines; but I believe that little or nothing is known of them before the date of the great expedition… … Six padraos were taken out, to be set up on prominent headlands, but not one of them is now known to exist.9 The fleet was accompanied by the great navigator, Bartholomeu Diaz, as far as the Cape Verde islands… 2 Markham C. The Fourth Centenary of Vasco da Gama’s Voyage to India. Geographical Journal 1898;12(1):10–19. https://doi.org/10.2307/1774494 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clements_Markham https://www.rgs.org/our-collections/stories-from-our-collections/explore-our-collections/portrait-of-sir-clements-markham 3https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Henry_the_Navigator 4https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartolomeu_Dias 5https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%AAro_da_Covilh%C3%A3 6https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_I_of_Portugal 7https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Est%C3%AAv%C3%A3o_da_Gama_(15th_century) 8https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sines 9 There is a Vasco da Gama pillar in Malindi. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasco_da_Gama_Pillar,_Malindi https://museums.or.ke/vasco-dagama-pillar 4 Vasco da Gama passed the coast, which was named by him “Natal,”10 on Christmas Day, and was well received by the natives of Delagoa bay. He was at Quillimane in January, 1498; at Mozambique in March; and he reached Melinde on April 15. There was a terrible outbreak of scurvy off Mozambique, and again on the way home; and then it was that Paulo da Gama proved the guardian spirit of the expedition, giving up all his own private stores for the use of the sick, ministering to them, and warding off despondency by his words of encouragement and by his example. The King of Melinde supplied the Portuguese with an Indian pilot, a native of Gujarat, and on April 24 the voyage was commenced across the Indian Ocean, from the east coast of Africa to Malabar. Before starting, Vasco da Gama, with the hearty concurrence of the King of Melinde, set up one of the padraos,9 with the escutcheon of the Quinas carved on one side, and a shield bearing a sphere on the other. Beneath was King Manoel’s name. It was placed on a hill above the town. … Luis Camoens, the great epic poet, is said to have been born in the year that Da Gama died; and Lord Stanley says, I think truly, that the name Vasco da Gama has left in history is due largely to the great genius of Camoens. “The discovery of India,” says Schlegel, “the greatest event of modern times, could only be worthily celebrated by one who had himself passed a portion of his life in those regions. A warrior could only thus have written. At the proudest moment of that brief but glorious period of Portugal’s greatness, one great national song broke forth, like the dying note of the fabled swan, a dirge for the departing hero-nation. The remembrance of her departed glory is enshrined in this immortal work, created by the divine genius of lier national poet to immortalize her fame. The exquisite bloom and grace of the diction of Camoens are unparalleled among modern writers.” … The Hakluyt Society,11 of which I have the honour to be President, has also laboured to make the achievement of Vasco da Gama better known in this country. In 1869 we brought out the ‘Lendas’ by Gaspar Correa,12 translated and edited by Lord Stanley of Alderley;13 and this year [1898], with a view to celebrating the present commemoration, we have published the ‘Roteiro’ of the first voyage, which has been ably translated and edited by Mr. Ravenstein.14 10 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KwaZulu-Natal 11 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakluyt_Society 12 https://archive.org/details/voyageroundworld01tayl/page/n7/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/threevoyagesvas00corrgoog/page/n13/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/pli.kerala.rare.7020/page/n3/mode/2up 13 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Stanley,_3rd_Baron_Stanley_of_Alderley 14 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Georg_Ravenstein 5 Ravenstein EG (1898) A Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama, 1497-1499 Ravenstein’s translation of Vasco da Gama’s first voyage is widely available in digitized versions. Ravenstein translated the journal, wrote Introduction and added Notes, but the original author of the journals is unknown, see section “Introduction of Ravenstein’s translation”. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511708480.002 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46440 https://archive.org/details/ajournalfirstvo00ravegoog/page/n10/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/ajournalfirstvo01ravegoog/page/n12/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/ajournalfirstvo02ravegoog/page/n11/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_13stAAAAMAAJ/page/n9/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_13stAAAAMAAJ_2/page/n9/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.15443/page/n5/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.106906/page/n5/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.181606/page/n9/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.49451/page/n7/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.536306/page/n5/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.21285/page/n5/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/journaloffirstvo0000unse/page/n7/mode/2up https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/002811069 https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015019066623&seq=13 https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044014417612&seq=11 The route followed in Vasco da Gama’s first voyage (1497-1499) (from Wikipedia) 6 A JOURNAL OF THE FIRST VOYAGE OF VASCO DA GAMA, 1497-1499. Translated and Edited, with Notes, an Introduction and Appendices, BY E. G. RAVENSTEIN, F.R.G.S., LONDON: PRINTED FOR THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY. M.DCCC.XCVIII. 7 A JOURNAL OF THE FIRST VOYAGE OF VASCO DA GAMA IN 1497-99.15 [Words and Dates not in the MS. have been placed within square brackets.] https://archive.org/details/ajournalfirstvo00ravegoog/page/n50/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/ajournalfirstvo02ravegoog/page/n49/mode/2up IN the name of God. Amen! p.1 In the year 1497 King Dom Manuel, the first of that name in Portugal, despatched four vessels to make discoveries and go in search of spices. Vasco da Gama was the captain-major16 of these vessels; Paulo da Gama, his brother, commanded one of them, and Nicolau Coelho another. [Lisbon to the Cape Verde Islands.]17 We left Restello on Saturday, July 8, 1497. May God our Lord permit us to accomplish this voyage in his service. Amen! On the following Saturday [July 15] we sighted the p.2 Canaries, and in the night passed to the lee18 of Lançarote. During the following night, at break of day [July 16] we made the Terra Alta, where we fished for a couple of hours, and in the evening, at dusk, we were off the Rio do Ouro.19 … 15 See the original footnotes in the digitized version. Except for Ravenstein’s note about symptoms consistent with scurvy; here Footnote 25, other footnotes are additions to this version by Hemilä. 16 Captain major. Commander in chief. 17 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Verde 18 Lee. Downwind side. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windward_and_leeward 19 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%ADo_de_Oro 8 https://archive.org/details/ajournalfirstvo00ravegoog/page/n68/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/ajournalfirstvo02ravegoog/page/n67/mode/2up [Rio dos Bons Signaes.] On Monday [January 22] we discovered a low coast p.19 thickly wooded with tall trees. Continuing our course we perceived the broad mouth of a river. As it was necessary to find out where we were, we cast anchor. On Thursday [January 25], at night, we entered. The Berrio was already there, having entered the night before—that is eight days before the end of January [i.e., January 24.] The country is low and marshy, and covered with tall trees yielding an abundance of various fruits, which p.20 the inhabitants eat. These people are black and well made. They go naked, merely wearing a piece of cotton stuff around their loins, that worn by the women being larger than that worn by the men. The young women are good-looking. Their lips are pierced in three places, and they wear in them bits of twisted tin. These people took much delight in us. They brought us in their almadias20 what they had, whilst we went into their village to procure water. When we had been two or three days at this place two gentlemen (senhores) of the country came to see us. They were very haughty, and valued nothing which we gave them. One of them wore a touca,21 with a fringe embroidered in silk, and the other a cap of green satin. A young man in their company—so we understood from their signs—had come from a distant country, and had already seen big ships like ours. These tokens (signaes) gladdened our hearts, for it appeared as if we were really approaching the bourne22 of our desires. These gentlemen had some huts built on the river bank, close to the ships, in which they stayed seven days, sending daily to the ships, offering to barter cloths which bore a mark of red ochre. And when they were tired of being there, they left in their almadias for the upper river. 20 A canoe made from tree bark, formerly used in Africa. A boat formerly used by traders off the coast of India, about eighty feet long and six or seven feet wide. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/almadie 21 Touca. Hairdress. https://www.jstor.org/stable/717806 22 Bourne. Boundary, limit. 9 After the malice and treachery planned by these dogs had been discovered, we still remained on Wednesday and Thursday [April 11 and 12]. [Mombaça to Malindi.]43 We left in the morning [April 13], the wind being light, and anchored about eight leagues from Mombaça, close to the shore. At break of day [April 14] we saw two boats (barcas) about three leagues to the leeward,44 in the open sea, and at once gave chase, with the intention of capturing them, for we wanted to secure a pilot who would guide us to where we wanted to go. At vesper-time we came up with one of them, and captured it, the other escaping towards the land. In the one we took we found seventeen men, besides gold, silver, and an abundance of maize and other provisions; as also a young woman, who was the wife of an old Moor of distinction, who was a passenger. When we came up with the boat they all threw themselves into the water, but we picked them up from our boats. That same day [April 14] at sunset, we cast anchor off a place called Milinde (Malindi), which is thirty leagues45 p.40 from Mombaça. The following places are between Mombaça and Milinde, viz., Benapa, Toça and Nuguoquioniete. … explanations for recovery from the symptoms consistent with scurvy than the climate. 43 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malindi 44 Leeward is downwind from the point of reference, i.e., along the direction towards which the wind is going. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windward_and_leeward 45 Distance between Mombasa and Malindy is about 120 km, which corresponds to 1 League ~ 4 km. 16 https://archive.org/details/ajournalfirstvo00ravegoog/page/n128/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/ajournalfirstvo02ravegoog/page/n127/mode/2up [THE VOYAGE HOME.] p.79 I now again speak of our voyage home. Going thus along the coast we kept tacking, with the aid of the land and sea breezes, for the wind was feeble. When becalmed in the day we lay to. On Monday, September 10, the captain-major landed one of the men whom we had taken, and who had lost an eye, with a letter to the Çamolin, written in Moorish [Arabic] by one of the Moors who came with us. The country where we landed this Moor was called Compia, and its king, Biaquolle, was at war with the King of Calecut.46 On the following day [September 11], whilst becalmed, boats approached the ships, and the boatmen, who offered fish for sale, came on board without exhibiting any fear. [Santa Maria Islands.]47 p.80 On Saturday, the 15th of said month, we found ourselves near some islets, about two leagues from the land. We there launched a boat and put up a pillar on one of these islets, which we called Santa Maria, the king having ordered three pillars (padrãos), to be named S. Raphael, S. Gabriel, and Santa Maria. We had thus succeeded in erecting these three,48 scilicet,49 the first, that of S. Raphael, on the Rio dos bons signaes; the second, that of S. Gabriel, at Calecut; and this, the last, named Santa Maria. Here again many boats came to us with fish, and the captain made the boatmen happy by presenting them with shirts. He asked them whether they would be glad if he placed a pillar upon the island. They said that they 46 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kozhikode See the location on page 6. “Calicut [Kalikut, Kozhikode] … had become the emporium [trading post] of the trade of the Indian Ocean. Spices and pepper were collected here from different places in India, as also from Ceylon and South East Asia, for export and re-export.” https://www.jstor.org/sta ble/45071773 47 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Mary%27s_Islands 48 There is still a Vasco da Gama pillar in Malindi “erected by the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama”; it is not clear how that relates to the three pillars mentioned here. In addition, Markham wrote “Six padraos were taken out”, see page 4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasco_da_Gama_Pillar,_Malindi https://museums.or.ke/vasco-dagama-pillar 49 Scilicet. Namely, as follows. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scilicet 17 would be very glad indeed, for its erection would confirm the fact that we were Christians like themselves. The pillar was consequently erected in much amity. [Anjediva, September 20 to October 5.]50 That same night, with a land breeze, we made sail and pursued our route. On the following Thursday, the 20th of the month, we came to a hilly country, very beautiful and salubrious, close to which there were six small islands. There we anchored, near the land, and launched a boat to p.81 take in water and wood to last us during our voyage across the Gulf, which we hoped to accomplish, if the wind favoured us. On landing we met a young man, who pointed out to us a spring of excellent water rising between two hills on the bank of a river. The captain-major gave this man a cap, and asked whether he was a Moor or a Christian. The man said that he was a Christian, and when told that we too were Christians he was much pleased. Paulo da Gama, in the meanwhile, had sought the p.85 Christians who had come with this visitor, and asked who he was. They said he was a pirate (armador), who had come to attack us, and that his ships, with many people in them, had remained on the coast. Knowing this much, and conjecturing the rest, we seized him, took him to the vessel drawn up on the beach, and there began to thrash him, in order to make him confess whether he was really a pirate, or what was the object with which he had come to us. He then told us that he was well aware that the whole country was ill-disposed towards us, and that numbers of armed men were around, hidden within the creeks, but that they would not for the present venture to attack us, as they were expecting some forty vessels which were being armed to pursue us. He added that he did not know when they would be ready to attack us. As to himself he said nothing except what he had said at first. p.86 Afterwards he was “questioned” three or four times, and although he did not definitely say so, we understood from his gestures that he had come to see the ships, so that he might know what sort of people we were, and how we were armed. At this island we remained twelve days, eating much fish, which was brought for sale from the mainland, as also many pumpkins and cucumbers. They also brought us boat-loads of green cinnamon-wood with the leaves still on. 50 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anjediva_Island 18 When our ships had been careened, and we had taken in as much water as we needed, and had broken up the vessel which we had captured, we took our departure. This happened on Friday, October 5. Before the vessel referred to was broken up, its captain offered us 1000 fanões for it, but the captain-major said that it was not for sale, and as it belonged to an enemy he preferred to burn it. When we were about two hundred leagues out at sea, the Moor whom we had taken with us declared that the time for dissembling was now past. It was true that he had heard at the house of his master that we had lost ourselves along the coast, and were unable to find our way home; that for this reason many vessels had been despatched to capture us; and that his master had sent him to find out what we were doing and to entice us to his country, for if a privateer had taken us he would not have received a share of the booty, whilst if we had landed within his territory we should have been completely in his power, and being valiant men, he could have employed p.87 us in his wars with the neighbouring kings. This reckoning, however, was made without the host. [The Voyage across the Arabian Sea.] Owing to frequent calms and foul winds it took us three months less three days to cross this gulf, and all our people again suffered from their gums, which grew over their teeth, so that they could not eat. Their legs also swelled, and other parts of the body,51 and these swellings spread until the sufferer died,52 without exhibiting symptoms of any other disease. Thirty of our men died in this manner— an equal number having died previously—and those able to navigate each ship were only seven or eight, and even these were not as well as they ought to have been. I assure you that if this state of affairs had continued for another fortnight, there would have been no men at all to navigate the ships. We had come to such a pass that all bonds of discipline had gone. Whilst suffering this 51 Scurvy can cause heart failure, which can cause swellings, e.g. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38504249 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35282368 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38464798 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27682441 52 Scurvy can cause sudden deaths, probably due to acute heart events, e.g. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/40505 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17455962 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10685194 19 affliction we addressed vows and petitions to the saints on behalf of our ships. The captains had held council, and they had agreed that if a favourable wind enabled us we would return to India whence we had come. But it pleased God in his mercy to send us a wind which, in the course of six days, carried us within sight of land, and at this we rejoiced as much as if the land we saw had been Portugal, for with the help of God we hoped to recover our health there, as we had done once before.53, 54 53 Correa (~1556); English translation (1869) p.253 footnote by Alderlay https://archive.org/details/voyageroundworld01tayl/page/252/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/pli.kerala.rare.7020/page/252/mode/2up “… Castanheda gives a few additional details of the return voyage from Angediva to Melinde, which he says lasted four months, what with calms and other causes: the crew were again sick, with their gums swollen and rotten as at the river Bons sinaes, and they had ulcers in their arms and legs, and thirty persons died, and others could hardly move; they were also short of water, which had to be served out by measure. The pilots wanted to put back to Calicut, and made a conspiracy, which Vasco da Gama discovered, upon which he arrested them, and took the care of directing the ships’ course.” 54 Castanheda (1551); English translation (1582) p.65 https://archive.org/details/firstbookeofhist00cast_0/page/n147/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/b30327982/page/n151/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/firstbookeofhist00cast/page/n147/mode/2up The Skurfe: “And going in this necessitie, and also with fowle weather, the people began to fall sicke with a disease in their gums, as they did in the river, De buenas Sennales, when as they went to Calicut, & also their armes and legs did swell, besides other swellings which did rise in their bodyes, by reason of a pestilent stinking humour, which did cast them into a laske [diarrhea], and of this new infirmitie, there dyed to the number of thirtie persons. And after that they began once to die, and had continued this kinde of weather uppon the Seas, ther arose such a feare amonst those that did remain alive, that they fared in the same, as it were men amazed, and beleeved verely that they should never goe from thence, for that as they thought this kinde of weather was alwayes durable there, and that the same was the cause that it indured so long. The Pasters and Pilots of the Fleete were of the lyke opinion, which made the rest beleeve it the sooner, that by this meanes the crye of all those that were there, as well of them that were sicke as of the other, was great, saieng that since the weather would not serve them to goe from thence, yet they requested him not to be an occasion of their death, but rather consent to retourne unto Calycut, or els to some other place in the Indias, and beeing ther, to receive what God shuld appoint them, rather then to dye in those seas of so terrible diseases, for which ther was no like lihoode [state] of any remedie, in especiall having lacke of all other things, as of victuals and water, which as then they began to want, by reason that by their long continuaunce in the said place was all spent.” 20 This happened on January 2, 1499. It was night when we came close to the land, and for this reason we put about ship and lay to. In the morning [January 3] we reconnoitred the coast, so as to find out whither the p.88 Lord had taken us, for there was not a pilot on board, nor any other man who could tell on the chart in what place we were. Some said that we must be among certain islands off Moçambique, about 300 leagues from the mainland; and they said this because a Moor whom we had taken at Moçambique had asserted that these islands were very unhealthy, and that their inhabitants suffered from the same disease which had afflicted us. [Magadoxo.]55 We found ourselves off a large town, with houses of several stories, big palaces in its centre, and four towers around it. This town faced the sea, belonged to the Moors, and was called Magadoxo. When we were quite close to it we fired off many bombards, and continued along the coast with a fair wind. We went on thus during the day, but lay to at night, as we did not know how far we were from Milingue [Malindi] whither we wished to go. On Saturday, the 5th of the month, being becalmed, a thunderstorm burst upon us, and tore the ties of the Raphael. Whilst repairing these a privateer came out from a town called Pate with eight boats and many men, but as soon as he came within reach of our bombards we fired upon him, and he fled. There being no wind we were not able to follow him. [Malindi.] p.89 On Monday, the 7th [of January] we again cast anchor off Milindy, when the king at once sent off to us a long boat56 holding many people, with a present of sheep, and a message to the captain-major, bidding him welcome. The king said that he had been expected for days past, and gave expression to his amicable and peaceable sentiments. The captain-major sent a man on shore with these messengers with instructions to bring off a supply of oranges, which were much desired by our sick. These he brought on the following day, as also other kinds of fruit; but our sick did not much profit by this, for the climate affected them in such a way that many of them died here. Moors 55 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogadishu 56 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longboat 21 also came on board, by order of the king, offering fowls and eggs. When the captain saw that all this attention was shown us at a time when we stood so much in need of it, he sent a present to the king, and also a message by the mouth of one of our men who spoke Arabic, begging for a tusk of ivory to be given to the King [of Portugal], his Lord, and asking that a pillar be placed on the land as a sign of friendship.57 The king replied that he would do what was asked out of love for the King of Portugal, whom he desired to serve; and, in fact, he at once ordered a tusk to be taken to the captain and ordered the pillar to be erected. He also sent a young Moor, who desired to go with us p.90 to Portugal, and whom he recommended strongly to the captain-major, saying that he sent him in order that the King of Portugal might know how much he desired his friendship. We remained five days at this place enjoying ourselves, and reposing from the hardships endured during a passage in the course of which all of us had been face to face with p.91 death. We left on Friday [January 11], in the morning, and on Saturday, which was the 12th of the month, we passed close to Mombaça. On Sunday [January 13] we anchored at the Baixos de S. Raphael, where we set fire to the ship of that name, as it was impossible for us to navigate three vessels with the few hands that remained to us. p.92 … 57 Vasco da Gama pillar in Malindi. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasco_da_Gama_Pillar,_Malindi https://museums.or.ke/vasco-dagama-pillar 22 Appendix B. GIROLAMO SERNIGI’S FIRST LETTER TO A GENTLEMAN AT FLORENCE. https://archive.org/details/ajournalfirstvo00ravegoog/page/n172/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/ajournalfirstvo02ravegoog/page/n171/mode/2up On July x 1499 the vessel of 50 tons came back to this city. p.124 The captain, Vasco da Gama, remained at the Cape Verde islands with one of the vessels of 90 tons in order to land there his brother Paulo da Gama, who was very ill. The other vessel of 90 tons was burnt because there were not people enough to navigate and steer her. The store-ship also was burnt, for it was not intended she should return. In the course of the voyage there died 55 men from a disease which first attacked the mouth, and thence descended to the throat; they also suffered great pain in the legs from the knee downwards.58 [Food.] p.132 Corn in abundance is found in this city of Chalichut, it being brought thither by the Moors. For 3 reals, which are smaller than ours, bread sufficient for the daily sustenance of a man can be purchased. Their bread is unleavened, resembling small cakes, which are baked daily in the ashes. Rice, likewise, is found in abundance. There are cows and oxen. They are small, but yield much milk and butter. Oranges of indifferent flavour are plentiful, as also lemons, citrons and limes, very good melons, dates, fresh and dried, and great variety of other kinds of fruit. The king of this city of Chalichut eats neither of meat nor fish nor anything that has been killed, nor do his barons, courtiers, or other persons of quality, for they say that Jesus Christ said in his law that he who kills shall die. For this reason they refuse to eat anything that has been killed, and it is a great thing that they should be able to support themselves without eating meat or fish. The common people eat meat and fish, but they do not eat oxen or cows, for they hold these animals to be blessed (benedetto), and when they meet an ox on the highway they touch him, and afterwards kiss their hand, as a sign of great humility. The king lives on rice, milk and butter, and so do his barons and some of the other men of quality. And the king is waited p.133 upon right royally at table. He drinks palm-wine out of a silver cup. This cup he does not put to his mouth, but holds at some distance and pours the wine down his throat. 58 Pain in the legs is a common symptom of scurvy. e.g. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17455962 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10685194 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15797491 23 Appendix D. VASCO DA GAMA’S SHIPS https://archive.org/details/ajournalfirstvo00ravegoog/page/n214/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/ajournalfirstvo02ravegoog/page/n215/mode/2up The hold was divided into three compartments. Amidp.165 ships59 were the water barrels, with coils of cable on the top of them—a very inconvenient arrangement; abaft was the powder-magazine, and most arms and munitions, including iron and stone balls, were kept there; the forward compartment was used for the storage of requisites, including spare sails and a spare anchor. The lower deck was divided by bulkheads into three p.166 compartments, two of which were set apart for provisions, presents, and articles of barter. The “provisions”, according to Castanheda, were calculated to suffice for three years, and the daily rations were on a liberal scale, consisting of 1½ pounds of biscuit, 1 pound of beef or half a pound of pork, 2½ pints of water, 1¼ pints of wine, one-third of a gill of vinegar, and half that quantity of oil. On fast days, half a pound of rice, of codfish, or cheese was substituted for the meat. There were, in addition, flour, lentils, sardines, plums, almonds, onions, garlic, mustard, salt, sugar and honey. These ships’ stores were supplemented by fish, caught whenever an opportunity offered, and by fresh provisions obtained when in port, among which were oranges, which proved most acceptable to the many men suffering from scurvy. The merchandise was not only insufficient in quantity, but proved altogether unsuited to the Indian market. It seems to have included lambel (striped cotton stuff), sugar, olive-oil, honey, and coral beads. Among the objects intended for presents, there were wash-hand basins, scarlet hoods, silk jackets, pantaloons, hats, Moorish caps; besides such trifles as glass beads, little round bells, tin rings and bracelets, which were well enough suited for barter on the Guinea coast, but were not appreciated by the wealthy merchants of Calecut. Of ready money there seems to have been little to spare. All this is made evident by the letters of D. Manuel and Signor Sernigi. The scientific outfit of the expedition, it may safely be presumed, was the best to be procured at the time. The 59 Amidship. In the middle of a ship (as opposed to bow or stern). https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/amidship 24 learned D. Diogo Ortiz de Vilhegas furnished Da Gama with maps and books, including, almost as a matter of p.167 course, a copy of Ptolemy, and copies of the information on the East collected at Lisbon for years past. Among these reports, that sent home by Pero de Covilhão found, no doubt, a place, as also the information furnished by Lucas Marcos, an Abyssinian priest who visited Lisbon about 1490. The astronomical instruments were provided by Zacut, the astronomer, and it is even stated that Vasco enjoyed the advantage of being trained as a practical observer by that learned Hebrew. These instruments included a large wooden astrolabe, smaller astrolabes of metal, and, in all probability, also quadrants; and they were accompanied by a copy of Zacut’s Almanach perpetuum Celestium motuum cujus radix est 1473,60 a translation of which, by José Vizinho, had been printed at Leiria in 1496. These tables enabled the navigator to calculate his latitudes by p.168 observing the altitude of the sun… 60 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Zacuto 25 Columbus after the return from the Fourth Voyage, Jamaica and Puerto Rico (Spagnola) are placed 6° too far to the north. Verily, the Portuguese of those days were superior as navigators to their Spanish rivals and the Italians. Posterity is fortunate in possessing a very full abstract of the Journal which Columbus kept during [p.xx] his first voyage to the West Indies.73 No such trustworthy record is available in the case of Vasco da Gama, whose original reports have disappeared. They were consulted, no doubt, by João de Barros and Damião de Goes; but these writers, much to our loss, dealt very briefly with all that refers to navigation. The only available account written by a member of the expedition is the Roteiro or Journal, a translation of which fills the bulk of this volume, and of which, later on, we shall speak at greater length. The only other contemporary accounts, which we also reproduce, are at second-hand, and are contained in the letters written by King Manuel and Girolamo Sernigi immediately after the return of Vasco da Gama’s vessels from India. Apart from these, our chief authorities regarding this voyage are still the Decades74 of João de Barros75 and the Chronicle of King Manuel,76 by Damião de Goes.77 Both these authors held official positions which gave them access to the records preserved in the India House. Castanheda relied almost wholly upon the Roteiro, but a few additional statements of interest may be found in his pages. As to the Lendas of Gaspar Correa, we are unable to look upon his account of Vasco da Gama’s first voyage as anything but a jumble of truth and [p.xxi] fiction, notwithstanding that he claims to have made use of the diary of a priest, Figueiro, who is stated to have sailed in Vasco’s fleet. Correa’s long residence in India—from 1514 to the time of his death—must have proved an advantage when relating events which came under his personal observation, but it also precluded him from consulting the documents placed on record in the Archives of Lisbon. This much is certain: that whoever accepts Correa as his guide must reject the almost unanimous evidence of other writers of authority who have dealt with this important voyage. A few additional facts may be gleaned from Faria y Sousa’s Asia Portuguesa, from Duarte Pacheco Pereira and Antonio Galvão; but in the main we are dependent upon the Roteiro, for recent searches in the Torre do Tombo have yielded absolutely nothing, so far as we are aware, which throws additional light upon Da Gama’s First Voyage, with which alone we are concerned. 73 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus%27s_journal https://archive.org/details/journalofchristo00colu_0/page/n5/mode/2up 74 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9cadas_da_%C3%81sia 75 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%A3o_de_Barros 76 https://archive.org/details/chronicadelreidm01gi/page/n5/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/chronicadosereni00gisd/page/n5/mode/2up 77 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dami%C3%A3o_de_G%C3%B3is 32 And now we shall proceed to give an account of the Roteiro. [p.xxii] The Manuscript of the “Roteiro”. In giving an account of the manuscript of this Journal, we entrust ourselves to the guidance of Professors Kopke and Antonio da Costa Paiva, the two gentlemen who first published it. … The manuscript originally belonged to the famous Convent of Santa Cruz at Coimbra, whence it was [p.xxiii] transferred, together with other precious MSS., to the public library of Oporto. It is not an autograph, for on fol. 64 (p. 77 of this translation), where the author has left a blank, the copyist, to guard against his being supposed to have been careless in his task, has added these words: “The author has omitted to tell us how these weapons were made”. This copy, however, was taken in the beginning of the sixteenth century, as may be seen from the style of the writing as exhibited in the facsimile of the first paragraph of the work, shown on preceding page. The MS. is in folio, and is rudely bound up in a sheet of parchment, torn out of some book of ecclesiastical offices. The ink is a little faded, but the writing is still perfectly legible. The paper is of ordinary strength, and of rather a dark tint; the manufacturer’s water mark is shown in the above facsimile. Blank leaves of more modern make, and having a different water-mark, have been inserted at the front and back, and the first of these leaves contains the following inscription in a modern hand, which is still legible, although pains have been taken to erase it … Immediately below this we read:— “Dô Theotonio”, and near the bottom of the page, in a modern hand, [p.xxiv] probably that of one of the librarians of the convent:— “Descobrimento da India por D. Vasco da Gamma”. Prof. Kopke suggests that the copyist of this valuable MS. was the famous historian Fernão Lopes de Castanheda, who was Apparitor and Keeper of the Archives in the University of Coimbra, and was engaged there during twenty years, much to the injury of his health and private fortune, in collecting the materials for his Historia do Descobrimento e Conquista da India.78 In support of this assumption he publishes a signature (see the facsimile on page xxii) taken from a copy of the first book of Castanheda’s history, published in 1551. But A. Herculano, whilst admitting this signature to be genuine, points out that the cursive characters of the MS. are of a type exceedingly common during the first half of the sixteenth century, and that it would consequently not be safe to attribute it to any writer in particular. Until, therefore, further evidence is forthcoming, we cannot accept the Professor’s theory that 78 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fern%C3%A3o_Lopes_de_Castanheda English translation (1582): https://archive.org/details/firstbookeofhist00cast_0/page/n5/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/b30327982/page/n9/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/firstbookeofhist00cast/page/n5/mode/2up 33 we are indebted for this copy to Castanheda; though, as we have already said, there can be no doubt that in writing his account of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama he depended almost exclusively for his facts upon the anonymous author of this Roteiro. The Author of the “Roteiro”. [p.xxv] It is quite possible, as suggested by Prof. Kopke, that the title by which the Roteiro was known at the convent of Santa Cruz misled certain bibliographers into a belief that Vasco da Gama himself had written this account of his voyage. Thus Nicoláo Antonio, in his Bibliotheca Hispana Veta (1672), lib. 10, c. 15, § 543, says … The words “quae lucem vidit” need not, however, be understood as conveying the meaning that this narrative was actually printed and published, for the same author, in his Bibliotheca Hispana Nova, makes use of the same equivocal expression when describing another voyage to India, expressly stated by him to be still in MS. Moreri, in his Dictionnaire (1732), quoting as his authority a Bibliotheca Portuguesa in MS., which he had from “a man of judgment and of vast erudition”, states that Vasco da Gama is said to have published an account of his first voyage to India, but that no copy of it had up till then been discovered. Similarly, Barbosa Machado, the author of the standard Bibliotheca Lusitana (t. iii, p. 775), 1752, accepting Nicoláo Antonio as his authority, says [p.xxvi] that Vasco da Gama “wrote an account of the voyage which he made to India in 1497”. We are quite safe in assuming that no such a narrative has ever been published, although it is equally certain that Vasco da Gama furnished official reports of his proceedings, which were still available when João de Barros wrote his Decades, but are so no longer. No one has yet succeeded in discovering the author of the Roteiro. Prof. Kopke attempts to arrive at the name by a process of elimination, and in doing so starts with several assumptions which we cannot accept. First of all he assumes that Castanheda must have known the writer of the MS. of which he made such excellent use in writing his history. But Castanheda only became acquainted with this MS. after 1530, when he took up his residence at Coimbra on his return from India, that is, more than thirty years after it had been written. Of course, the author might then have been still alive, notwithstanding the lapse of years; but had this been the case, and had Castanheda been personally acquainted with him, he would surely have obtained from him an account of the termination of the voyage, instead of abruptly breaking off in the same way as the Roteiro does, with the arrival of the fleet at the shoals of the [p.xxvii] Rio Grande (see p. 93), adding that he had been unable to ascertain the particulars of the further voyage of the captain-major, and only knew that Coelho arrived at Cascaes on July 10th, 1499. It is probable, moreover, that if Castanheda had known the name of the author to whom he was so greatly indebted, he would have mentioned it in his book. Prof. Kopke assumes further that the writer was a common sailor or soldier, and most probably the former: first, because he frequently makes use of the expression “nós outros” (we others) as if to draw a distinction between the officers of the ships and the class to which 34 he himself belonged; and, secondly, because “the style of his narrative would seem to point to his humble condition”. We can admit neither of these conclusions. The author by no means uses the expression “we others” in the restricted sense in which Prof. Kopke understands it. In proof of this we may refer to such sentences as are to be found at pp. 57 and 61:—“When the King beckoned to the captain he looked at us others”; “as to us others, we diverted ourselves”—the “others”, in both these cases, including the thirteen men who attended Vasco da Gama to Calecut, and among whom were the three pursers, the captain-major’s secretary, and others who may [p.xxviii] not have been “persons of distinction” but who nevertheless cannot be classed with “common soldiers or sailors”. As to the literary style of the Journal, we may at once admit that its author cannot take rank with Barros, Castanheda or Correa, but this by no means proves him to have been an uncultured man, or of “humble condition.” His spelling may not have been quite in accordance with the somewhat loose rules followed in the fifteenth century, but his narrative is straightforward and to the point, and shows that he was a man of judgment perfectly able to give an intelligent account of the many novel facts which came under his observation. If he looked upon the Hindus as fellow-Christians, he shared that opinion with the other members of the expedition, including its chief. It only needs a perusal of such a collection of letters, reports, and narratives as is to be found in Alguns documentos do Archivo nacional (Lisbon, 1892) to convince us that there were men holding high positions in those days whose literary abilities fell short of those which can be claimed on behalf of our author. Moreover, it is not likely that access to the information required to enable him to write a Roteiro da Viagem would have been given to a “common sailor or soldier”, even if such a person had been bold enough to ask for it. We shall now follow Prof. Kopke in his “process of elimination”:— 1. The author, in the course of his narrative, mentions a number of persons by name, and these [p.xxix] we must eliminate forthwith. They are: Vasco and Paulo da Gama, Nicolau Coelho (p. 22), Pero d’Alenquer (p. 5), João de Coimbra (p. 30), Martin Affonso (pp. 12, 17), Sancho Mexia (p. 6), and Fernão Veloso (p. 7). 2. We know further that the author served on board the S. Raphael. This disposes of Gonçalo Alvares and Diogo Dias of the S. Gabriel; and of Gonçalo Nunes, Pero Escolar, and Alvaro de Braga, of the Berrio. 3. The author mentions certain things as having been done by persons whose names he does not give. The name of one of these is supplied by Castanheda and Barros. We thus learn from Barros that Fernão Martins was the sailor mentioned by the author (p. 23) as being able to speak the language of the Moors; and from Castanheda (I, p. 51) that he was one of the two men sent with a message to the King of Calecut (p. 50). The convict who was sent to Calecut on May 21st (p. 48) was João Nunez, according to Correa. The author states (p. 64, line 18, and p. 65, last line) that the captain-major sent three men along [p.xxx] the beach in search of the ships’ boats. According to Castanheda (I, pp. 71 and 72), one of these men was Gonçalo Pires. We may therefore strike out all these names from the list of possible authors. 4. Three members of the expedition are reported to have died during the voyage, namely, Pedro de Covilhão, the priest; Pedro de Faria de Figueredo, and his brother Francisco, all of them mentioned by Faria y Sousa alone. 35 5. Lastly, there are four convicts whose names are given by Correa, none of whom is likely to have been the author of the MS. The presence of some of these convicts is, moreover, very doubtful. We have thus accounted for all the members of the expedition whose names are known, with the exception of eight. Four of these—João de Sá, Alvaro Velho, João Palha and João de Setubal—are stated to have been among the thirteen who attended Vasco da Gama to Calecut (p. 51), and of these, João de Sá was clerk in the S. Raphael, the author’s ship. He certainly might have been the author. Prof. Kopke thinks not, first, because of the author’s supposed humble position; secondly, because João de Sá, if we may credit an anecdote recorded by Castanheda (I, p. 57), had his doubts about the people of India being Christians, whilst the author unhesitatingly affirms them to be so. The only other person mentioned [p.xxxi] by Castanheda as having been connected with the expedition is Alvaro Velho, a soldier, who, according to Prof. Kopke, may “fairly be looked upon as the author of this Journal.” He admits, however, that this conclusion is acceptable only on the assumption that Castanheda knew the author: a purely gratuitous assumption, in our opinion. Castanheda only mentions six out of the thirteen who were present at Vasco da Gama’s audience of the Zamorin. Correa mentions two others—João de Setubal and João Palha. Five remain thus to be accounted for; and, although these may have included servants and trumpeters, not likely to have troubled about keeping a journal, our author may have been among them. It will thus be seen that this process of elimination has led to no result, and that we cannot even tell whether the author’s name occurs in any single account of this expedition. Comparing his “Journal” with the contents of Sernigi’s first letter, it almost seems as if he had been the person from whom the Florentine derived the bulk of his information. In that case his name may perhaps turn up some day in the Italian archives. If our choice were limited to Alvaro Velho and João de Sá, we should feel inclined to decide in favour of the latter. Correa mentions three other persons as having been with Vasco da Gama: namely, João Figueiro, whose diary he claims to have used, and who cannot therefore have been the author of a “Journal” the contents of which are so widely different; André [p.xxxii] Gonçalves and João d’Amoxeira. Camões adds a fourth name, that of Leonardo Ribeyra. This exhausts the muster-roll, as far as the names are known to us. The Portuguese Editions of the “Roteiro”. The Roteiro was printed for the first time in 1838. The editors, Diogo Kopke and Dr. Antonio da Costa Paiva, both teachers at the Academia Polytechnica of Oporto, furnished it with an introduction, in which they give an account of the manuscript and discuss its authorship, add sixty-nine notes, explanatory of the text, and append King Manuel’s letters patent of January 10th, 1502 (see p. 230). The illustrations include a map, the facsimile of a page of the MS., a portrait, and an illustrated title-page of poor design. The book was published by subscription. Three hundred and ninety-two copies were subscribed for, including two hundred and thirty-seven by residents in Oporto, among whom British winemerchants figure prominently. Only five copies went abroad, and three of these were subscribed for by Captain Washington, R.N., the Royal Geographical Society, and the Geographical Society of Paris. 36 A second edition appeared at Lisbon in 1861. [p.xxxiii] Its editors, A. Herculano, the famous historian, and Baron do Castello de Paiva, claim to have “got rid of those imperfections in the text, as also in the notes of the first edition, which must be attributed to the inexperience of the editors, and to their eagerness to bring before the public so precious an historical document”. Their emendations, however, are not of a kind to justify this somewhat brutal reference to the work done by their predecessors. They consist, in the main, of a modernisation of the spelling, the introduction of a few “philological” notes of no particular interest, and a short preface in which Correa’s Lendas da India are spoken of in terms of eulogy. These Lendas the editors consider to be “far superior in substance (quanto á substancia) to the Decades of João de Barros, and to the exuberant but evidently honest narrative of Castanheda.” After praising Correa “for depicting in firm contours and vivid colours” the human passions brought into play by close companionship within the narrow limits of a ship, they admit that as to “facts” “he is often vague, forgetful, or ambiguous”. They conclude by saying that the author of the Roteiro and the chronicle-writers mutually complement each other, and jointly acquaint us with all the details of one of the great events in the history of modern nations. The French Translations of the “Roteiro”. [p.xxxiv] Two have been published. The first of these, by M. Ferdinand Denis, will be found in the third volume of Charton’s Voyageurs Anciens et Modernes, Paris, 1855. It is based upon the first Portuguese edition, and ends with the arrival of the two vessels at the Rio Grande. The notes by Professor Kopke are embodied in those of the translator, who has added an introduction, giving a short but excellent biography of Vasco da Gama, and a bibliography. The map of the original is retained, and there are twenty illustrations, including two portraits of Vasco da Gama, the one stated to be from Count Farrobo’s painting, as published in the Panorama, the other from a Paris MS. of Barretto de Rezende. For the second French translation we are indebted to M. Arthur Morelet. It is from the second Portuguese edition, and not a word of either text or notes has been omitted. The translator has confined himself to supplying a short introduction. The map is retained, but a free rendering of Count Farrobo’s painting has been substituted for the poor portrait of Vasco da Gama in the original, and the portrait of King Manuel has been omitted as being “flat, without relief and vigour, and [p.xxxv] wanting even in that unaffected simplicity which marks the works of that period.” The English Translation. In 1869 the Hakluyt Society published Lord Stanley of Alderley’s translation of the Three Voyages of Vasco da Gama,79 from the Lendas of Gaspar Correa, with numerous foot-notes indicating those instances in which Correa differs from Barros, Goes, Castanheda and other historians, as well as from the poetical version of this voyage presented in the Lusiadas of Camões. It was intended at the same time to bring out an English version of the Roteiro, but no definite arrangements were made, and thus the matter was left in abeyance until the present Editor revived the idea, and suggested that the volume proposed might prove acceptable as 79 https://archive.org/details/voyageroundworld01tayl/page/n7/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/threevoyagesvas00corrgoog/page/n13/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/pli.kerala.rare.7020/page/n3/mode/2up 37 an interesting though humble contribution to the literature of the Fourth Centenary of Vasco da Gama’s arrival in India, which Portugal is about to celebrate. The translation of the Roteiro itself is literal and complete. The notes of the Portuguese editors have, however, been abridged, and only the substance of what they say in their introductions has been retained. On the other hand, the Editor has added translations of the letters of King Manuel and Sernigi, and of three Portuguese accounts of the voyage. He has, [p.xxxvi] moreover, added Appendices, among which the one dealing with early maps will, he hopes, prove of some interest. In conclusion, the Editor fulfils an agreeable duty in acknowledging the kindly help and advice extended to him by a number of gentlemen. To Capt. E. J. de Carvalho e Vasconcellos and Senhor José Bastos, of Lisbon, he is indebted for the fine portraits which ornament this edition; to Prof. Gallois for a tracing of the unpublished portion of Canerio’s chart; to Dr. M. C. Caputo for a photograph of the African portion of the Cantino chart; to Prof. Biagi for a copy of Sernigi’s letter in the Biblioteca Riccardiana; to Sir J. Kirk for several illustrations and important notes; to the late Rt. Rev. Dr. J. M. Speechley, and the Rev. J. J. Jaus, of the Basel Missionary Society, for notes on Calecut; and for help in minor matters to Dr. Garnett, of the British Museum; Baron Hulot, Secretary of the Paris Geographical Society; M. Marcel, of the Bibliothèque Nationale; Prof. Dalla Vedova, of Rome; Prof. Berchet, of Venice; and Capt. B. B. da Silva, of Lisbon. His special thanks are due to three members of the Hakluyt Society, namely, Sir Clements Markham, the President; Admiral Albert H. Markham, who acted as the Editor’s nautical adviser; and Mr. William Foster, the Secretary, whose careful reading of the proofs kept this volume free from many a blunder. LONDON, March, 1898. [End of Ravenstein’s Introduction] ####### 80 The Hakluyt Society,81 of which I82 have the honour to be President, has also laboured to make the achievement of Vasco da Gama better known in this country. In 1869 we brought out the ‘Lendas’ by Gaspar Correa, translated and edited by Lord Stanley of Alderley; and this year [1898], with a view to celebrating the present commemoration, we have published the ‘Roteiro’ of the first voyage, which has been ably translated and edited by Mr. Ravenstein.83 80 Markham C. The Fourth Centenary of Vasco da Gama’s Voyage to India. Geographical Journal 1898;12(1):10–19. https://doi.org/10.2307/1774494 81 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakluyt_Society 82 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clements_Markham https://www.rgs.org/our-collections/stories-from-our-collections/explore-our-collections/portrait-of-sir-clements-markham 83 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Georg_Ravenstein 38 Interpretations of ancient texts of scurvy: comments by Lind, Hirsh, and Immermann There are several earlier texts that had been interpreted as scurvy. However, James Lind84 (1757) was not convinced that many old descriptions indicated scurvy. https://archive.org/details/treatiseonscurvy00lind/page/296/mode/2up https://wellcomecollection.org/works/xc2t7736/items?canvas=320 Not that I would be understood to mean, that the p.296. scurvy never afflicted armies of old; but only that the accounts we have of it are dubious and imperfect. The first description of a true scurvy that I have met with, is what occurred in the Christian army in Ægypt, about the year 1260, under Lewis IX. But there mention is made, not only of the legs being affected, but also of the spots. The fungous and putrid gums are particularly described, &c. Vid. Histoire de Lewis IX, par le Sieur Joinville.85 … there seems to have been two p.297 reasons principally why it [scurvy] is so imperfectly, if at all, described by the antients, viz. their little knowledge of the northern countries, where it is peculiarly endemic, and their short coasting-voyages; so we find, that as soon as arts and sciences began to be cultivated among those northern nations (about the beginning of the sixteenth century, a period remarkable for the advancement of learning over all Europe) this disease is mentioned by their historians and other authors. We could not have expelled it sooner from their physicians, if we reflect: upon their extreme ignorance, and the little esteem this science was held in by them.86 But when, after the taking of Constantinople, the Greek writings were dispersed over the western parts of the world, and in the beginning of the next century were made general and public 84 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lind Extracts of Lind’s treatise: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10685194 85 Description of scurvy on the Seventh Crusade by Jean de Joinville (1249). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17341537 86 Description of scurvy symptoms by Olaus Magnus (1555) https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13380745 39 by the late invention of printing, the art of p.298 physic began to flourish in the northern parts of Europe; and we soon after find this disease accurately described there by physicians. In like manner, no sooner were long voyages performed to distant parts of the world, by the great improvement of navigation, and by the discovery of the Indies, which happened much about the same period of time, than the seamen were afflicted with it; as appears by the voyage of Vasco de Gama, who first found out a passage by the Cape of Good Hope to the East-Indies, in the year 1497; above a hundred of his men, out of the number of a hundred and sixty, dying in this distemper. In the relation of which voyage, the first account of this disease at sea is to be met with.87 At that time, and for a considerable time afterwards, it was a disease little known; as appears by the following narration… It was acknowledged, that the best dep.vii scriptions of it [scurvy] are met with in the accounts of voyages: but it was regretted, that those were the productions only of seamen;88 and that no physician conversant with this disease at sea, had undertaken to throw light upon the subject, and clear it from the obscurity under which it had lain in the works of physicians who practised only at land. 87 Lind’s footnote: “See the history of the Portuguese discoveries, &c. by Hermen Lopes de Castanneda.” English translation (1582): https://archive.org/details/firstbookeofhist00cast_0/page/n5/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/b30327982/page/n9/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/firstbookeofhist00cast/page/n5/mode/2up 88 This is not accurate. John Woodall (1617) wrote about scurvy and its treatment with oranges over a century before Lind’s treatise (1st ed 1753, 2nd ed 1757). Woodall was not a seaman, but a surgeon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Woodall Description of scurvy symptoms by John Woodall (1617) https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10651214 40 Olaus Magnus, in his history of the northern nap.303 tions, published ann. 1555, observing what p.304 diseases are peculiar to them, gives us a long description of the scurvy.83 Soon after we find three eminent physicians, all cotemporary, treating expressly of this distemper, viz. Ronsseus,89 Echthius,90 and Wierus.91 [Echthius] … And it p.307 may not be amiss to remark, that this is the first description now extant of the scurvy by a physician. 89 Description of scurvy by Ronsseus (1564) https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17093314 90 Description of scurvy by Echtius (1541) https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17093279 91 Description of scurvy by Wierus (1567) https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17093229 41 Translation by Richard Francis Burton98 (1880), p.205-206 https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.93444/page/n231/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.60855/page/n233/mode/2up https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b4056637&seq=236 https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924102142860&seq=236 Comment in a footnote: “Scurvy, first poetically described here.” 78 ‘Stream of Good Signals ’ christened we the shore: A marble column on this coast we reared… 81 And ‘twas that sickness of a sore disgust, the worst I ever witness’d, came and stole the lives of many; and far alien dust buried for aye their bones in saddest dole. Who but eye-witness e’er my words could trust? of such disform and dreadful manner swole the mouth and gums, that grew proud flesh in foyson till gangrene seemed all the blood to poyson: 82 Gangrene that carried foul and fulsome taint, spreading infection through the neighb’ouring air: No cunning Leach aboard our navy went, much less a subtle Chirurgeon was there; but some whose knowledge of the craft was faint strove as they could the poisoned part to pare, as though ‘twere dead; and here they did aright;— all were Death’s victims who had caught the blight. 98 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Francis_Burton 48 Translation by Thomas Moore Musgrave99 (1826), p.204-206 https://archive.org/details/lusiadanepicpoe00musggoog/page/204/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/lusiadanepicpoe01musggoog/page/204/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/lusiadanepicpoe02musggoog/page/204/mode/2up https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433081599585&seq=235 https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044004454559&seq=233 Note 25 in the text “A morbid virulence assailed the mouth. … The description given by the poet of the terrible effects of the scurvy corresponds with the passage of the Portuguese historian.” And named ‘Good Signs’ the river where we first These tidings so propitious to our hopes Obtain’d. A stone memorial there we rais’d;— For, destin’d our discoveries to mark … Disease with pestilent malignity,— Such as had ne’er been seen,—many depriv’d Of life, and, distant from their native land, Their bones lie sepulchred100 in foreign dust. Who could, unseen, such dire effects believe? A morbid virulence assail’d the mouth, Swelling the gums with strange deformity, While putrefaction rapidly ensued; And this putridity the very air Infected with its noxious fetid scent. Nor any skilful in the healing art, Nor dexterous practitioner had we, His aid to yield; those who but little knew, Boldly extirpated the morbid part, Already dead become; for thus alone From death could the afflicted sufferer Be snatch’d. By this unknown calamity, For ever separated, here we lost Those brave companions who to this disease Victims became in our adventurous voyage. Easy it is to find a sepulchre;— The deep profound, or foreign mountain-grave, Alike is ready to receive our bones, Or those of the illustrious proud and great! 99 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Moore_Musgrave 100 Sepulchre. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb 49 Translation by William Julius Mickle101 (1776), p.158-159 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/32528 https://www.gutenberg.org/files/32528/32528-h/32528-h.htm Comment in an endnote 383: “This poetical description of the scurvy is by no means exaggerated. It is what sometimes really happens in the course of a long voyage.” And, “River of good signs,” the port we name … We rear a column on the friendly bay. … A dread disease its rankling horrors shed, And death’s dire ravage through mine army spread. Never mine eyes such dreary sight beheld, Ghastly the mouth and gums enormous swell’d; And instant, putrid like a dead man’s wound, Poisoned with fœtid steams the air around. No sage physician’s ever-watchful zeal, No skilful surgeon’s gentle hand to heal, Were found: each dreary mournful hour we gave Some brave companion to a foreign grave. A grave, the awful gift of every shore!— Alas! what weary toils with us they bore! Long, long endear’d by fellowship in woe, O’er their cold dust we give the tears to flow; And, in their hapless lot forbode our own, A foreign burial, and a grave unknown! 101 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Julius_Mickle 50