Vasco da Gama
and the sea route to India

This page from a 16th century catalogue shows Vasco da Gama’s fleet. Clockwise from upper left is the “Sao Gabriel”, then the “Sao Rafael”, the “Berrio” (incorrectly shown as a square-rigged carrack), and finally the storeship that was deliberately set on fire.

Part 4. The small fleet of
Vasco da Gama left the Cape Verde Islands and Bartholomew Dias, da Gama’s predecessor. Now da Gama was on his own and he was going to do what no man had done before.
Instead of continuing down the African coast, like most previous seafarers had done, constantly fighting their way against winds and currents, Vasco da Gama set out on a south-westerly course.
He kept that course for almost ten weeks until he was approximately 30° south of the equator. Then he chose an easterly direction. Why he did so we will never know, but he probably thought that he was at the same latitude as the Cape of Good Hope.

The men on board didn’t have any idea of where they were and could do nothing but sail on, day after day. The crews were constantly searching the horizon without seeing any land, and the soundings gave no indication of their whereabouts. The sea never seemed to shallow.
The men on board were worried and scared, and of course, afraid of dying. Africa ought to be somewhere before them, but they didn’t know for sure. Many strange things happened at sea that neither man, nor the Almighty Himself could explain or do anything about.
The average sailor at this time had no knowledge of the compass, courses and nautical estimations. He could very well get the idea that they were sailing towards the fearful edge of the world instead of nearer to the African coast. But finally, on the first day of November, after ninety long days at sea, they saw rockweed on the ocean surface. Now Vasco da Gama and his officers were sure that they were not far from land. Three days later, they sounded 200 meters depth and the next day, the 4th November, at nine a clock in the morning the African continent was spread out along the horizon. The lookouts in the crew-nests were all excited and screamed “TIERRA! TIERRA!” and all the people on deck were gathering in joy around their captains. Now they were sure that it really was land and not clouds, illusions, imagination or mirages, as it had been so many times before.
The unknown man wrote in the diary: “When we saw land, the ships sailed very close to each other. We dressed up in our finest clothes and cheered da Gama by shooting with the guns and hoisting our flags and standards.”
It was obvious that everyone felt great relief. They had finally found land after a long and uncertain voyage. They had sailed 4,000 n.m. in 95 days. That was really nothing to boast about, as this was not more than 45 n.m. per day and only 1.75 knots at an average speed. But it was an achievement by the standards of the day.

The navigators knew almost nothing about the seldom-sailed waters so far to the South.
They knew that the Cape Verde Islands were at 16° North and the Cape of Good Hope was at 16° South. But despite this, they didn’t know where the winds and currents were taking them. Da Gama had landed approximately where he had hoped to land. When he went ashore and estimated their position with the help of an astrolabium on terra firma instead of from a constantly moving deck, he found to his great joy and surprise that they were only 1° north of the Cape.
They were in what has been called St. Helena Bay since that day. Before they continued, the ships were careened and the underwater bodies were cleaned and caulked.
In the diary we read: “The inhabitants of this country have golden brown skin and are only dressed in small cloths hanging down to cover the most virile parts. The dogs look like the dogs we have in Portugal and they bark in the same way.” They were, like Dias before them, in the land of the Hottentotts.

They lifted anchor at dawn on 16th November and sighted the Cape of Good Hope two days later. They continued further to the east along the south coast of Africa and anchored in Mossel Bay. The natives were very friendly and welcomed the strangers with music and feasts. They were also very easy to do business with. Da Gama’s men traded three useless necklaces for a big, fat ox. The unknown man wrote in the diary: “We had the ox for dinner last Sunday. It was very fat and the meat was just as good and tender as at home.”
Before leaving, they emptied the store ship. The old ship was put on ground and burned. Now the fleet was reduced to three ships.
They met heavy northerly winds and a strong south-westerly current but not only that. The wind increased to storm force and kept on blowing for so long that the crews demanded that they should turn back. They were not far from a mutiny when the ships started to leak. But the orders from Vasco da Gama were clear and not negotiable: “If the alternative to turning back is death, then we choose death.” He was determined not to make the same mistake as Dias had done, and he would not sail back with empty holds. He would not begin the return voyage until he had been to India.

Vasco da Gama shackled the navigator on board the flagship and threw all daybooks and calculations overboard. Without his notes, the crew would never find the way home on their own, and so would gain nothing by a mutiny.
During the storm, the ships drifted apart from each other and when the wind had finally calmed down, they sailed towards the coast for the reunion. Then when they continued north, the landscape changed. The flat country became forest and the trees grew bigger and bigger. On Christmas Day 1497, the coastline was more hilly. As they were passing it at Christmas, they named the land Natal. They never set foot ashore, though.
Da Gama’s mission was to find the sea route to India and as they had lost so much time already, they continued north along the coast.

At the beginning of March, they were met by an astonishing sight. The endless forests, so it had seemed, thinned out and made room for a large city with whitewashed houses, high minarets and a harbour with brisk trade. The ships were more slender and tapering than those of the Europeans, and had sails woven from palmleaves.
The Portuguese had reached the city-state of Mozambique. At this time, there were several independent Arabic cities along the coast. Each city was governed by a sultan who carefully guarded his dominions. The Arabs normally spoke two languages, Arabic at the market and Swahili at home.
The trade and commerce flourished to an extent that the Europeans had never seen before. They immediately realised that they could do copious captures in that part of the world. In the markets, local merchants were trading hardwood, gold, cotton fabrics and ivory. The merchants coming from the east offered china from China, and dates and spices from India. Barter was widespread, but money was also used. The most common currency was Persian rupees. The inhabitants of the prosperous city dressed themselves in the most exquisite dresses made of silk and linen, often decorated with embroideries in gold and silver.

When the Portuguese saw the abundance of riches, they realised that they had made a huge mistake when choosing the trading goods they had brought with them.
Vasco da Gama invited the sultan on board for dinner and handed over gifts from “the most powerful Christian ruler in the world”. The sultan and his suite were not impressed and definitely not amused. On the contrary – they were insulted by the simple gifts.
The diary tells us that: “The sultan showed great disgust for everything we gave him. He said he wanted scarlet cloth. We didn’t have that.” The more primitive tribes they had met before had been joyful and happy to receive a necklace of cheap glass pearls and hear the sound from small brass bells.
It was understandable that that kind of toy wasn’t appreciated in a society where gold, genuine pearls and gems in large quantities and to enormous sums changed owners every day. Vasco da Gama suddenly realised that they had nothing to trade with. The merchandise they should trade for spices was worth little more than the ballast. They managed to buy some goats and a couple of pigeons and that was all.
But da Gama had no choice but to continue and try to swap scrap for valuables. They had nothing else to give and he hoped, though in vain, that the sultan he had met had been extraordinary mean and greedy and that it would be easier in the other cities.
They weighed anchor.

They were very well received in the small city of Malindi further up the coast, and were also given the possibility of refilling the almost empty stores. Perdo de Covilhao had been there during his east-African tour nine years earlier. Four ships, unequal to anything they had seen lay at anchor in the harbour. Unlike the Arabic ships, they were armed with canons. When the Portuguese fired a broadside, the greeting was returned in the same way.
The men on board didn’t look like people the Europeans had ever seen before. They had dark-brown skin, long beards and long hair. When the strangers were invited on board Sao Rafael, it became apparent that they were Indians. Finally! Vasco da Gama felt that if they were meeting Indian traders, India itself couldn’t be far away.
When the Indians saw the altar on board, showing the crucified Christ with Maria kneeling below, they too kneeled. Then they went ashore and returned with pepper and other spices which they lay as an offering at the foot of the altar. The Portuguese were astonished and happy. Finally, they had come into contact with the Indians who had all the riches they wanted so badly. But not only that. They were also Christian. Was Vasco da Gama so lucky that he had met traders from Prester John’s long sought for but not yet found kingdom? That would be a triumph which would give him eternal fame and incredible wealth. Just imagine – finding both the sea route to India and the Christian outpost in the Muslim world at the same time!
But the Portuguese and the Indians misunderstood each other. The Indians were Hindu and were kneeling before the altar because they thought that Maria was one of their own Gods. The had never heard of Jesus.

Back to SSG 8, Spetember 20

Latest update 18-10-2006 8:49

All material © Scandinavian Shipping Gazette.

Scandinavian Shipping Gazette | www.shipgaz.com | info@shipgaz.com | webmaster | Contact us | Cookie information