Conquerors
Page 35
In the process, the Portuguese set rolling endless global interactions, both benign and malign. They brought firearms and bread to Japan and astrolabes and green beans to China, African slaves to the Americas, tea to England, pepper to the New World, Chinese silk and Indian medicines to the whole of Europe, and an elephant to the pope. For the first time, peoples from opposite ends of the planet could view one another—subjects for description and wonder. Japanese painters imaged their strange visitors in enormous ballooning trousers and colorful hats. The Sinhalese were perplexed by their endemic restlessness and their eating habits, declaring the Portuguese to be “a very white and beautiful people, who wear hats and boots of iron and never stop in one place. They eat a sort of white stone and drink blood.” Such images, impressions, and trades left a huge and long-lasting influence on the culture, food, flora, art, history, languages, and genes of the planet. They also marked the start of five hundred years of domination by the West that is reversing only now; in its wake, multistory container ships plow the oceans, returning with the manufactured goods of the Orient. China projects new forms of soft power across the Indian Ocean and into the heart of Africa.
In Belém today, close to Vasco da Gama’s tomb, the statue of gruff Albuquerque, and the shore from which the Portuguese sailed away, there is a venerable pâtisserie and café, the Antiga Confeitaria de Belém. It is perhaps a shrine to the more benign influences of Portugal’s global adventure. People flock here to eat its specialty, the pastéis de Belém, sweet custard tarts, baked golden brown and sprinkled with cinnamon, accompanied by hits of coffee, black as tar. Cinnamon, sugar, coffee: the tastes of the world first landed here in sailing ships.
To Pascal,
who inspired and encouraged the voyage, with many thanks
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Writing about the Portuguese discovery of the world has been a fascinating personal adventure, and I am deeply grateful to the many individuals and organizations who helped along the way.
First, to Pascal Monteiro de Barros, who sent me an email and launched a hundred thousand words, for suggesting this project and then supporting it throughout, and to Patrick Monteiro de Barros. They opened doors for me in Lisbon, and I have received much kindness and good advice—not all of which I have been wise enough to follow—both in the city where all the voyages begin and end and in England. My thanks to Mary-Anne Stillwell d’Avillez and Isabel Stillwell and their families, to Isabel Cruz Almeida for a personal tour of the Jeronímos Monastery, João Lúcio da Costa Lopes for a chance to step aboard the caravel the Vera Cruz, Admiral José Vilas Boas Tavares and Admiral Bossa Dionísio for access to the library at the Museu de Marinha, Pedro de Avillez for invaluable books, Ricardo Noronha for translation help, and Carlos Damas at the Center for the History of Banco Espírito Santo. I also had much hospitality and fascinating conversations with Francisco de Bragança van Uden and his guests, with Eduardo Costa Duarte and his guests (who introduced me to the lines of Pessoa at the front of this book), Francisco Andrade, Francisco and José Duarte Lobo de Vasconcellos, Joaquim and Alison Luiz Gomes, Manuel de Melo Pinto Ribeiro, and Francisco Magalhães Carneiro.
Thank you, too, to Stan and Tom Ginn and Ron Morton for reading and commenting on the manuscript, to Julian Loose, Kate Ward, and Eleanor Rees for their care in refining and producing this book, to Andrew Lownie, and, as always, to Jan. Many others, not mentioned above, contributed insights and ideas. I can only apologize for not thanking all of you personally.
Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to the Authors’ Foundation at the Society of Authors for its grant that supported the writing of this book.
NOTES
The following abbreviations are used in the notes below:
CAD: Albuquerque, Afonso de [1500–80]. The Commentaries of the Great Alfonso de Albuquerque. Translated by Walter de Gray Birch. 4 vols. London, 1875–84.
CPR: Albuquerque, Afonso de. Cartas para El-Rei D. Manuel I. Edited by António Baião. Lisbon, 1942.
JVG: Ravenstein, E. G., ed. and trans. A Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama, 1497–99. London, 1898.
VPC: The Voyage of Pedro Álvares Cabral to Brazil and India, trans. W. B. Greenlee, London 1938.
VVG: Teyssier, Paul, and Paul Valentin, ed. and trans. Voyages de Vasco de Gama: Relations des Expéditions de 1497–1499 et 1502–1503. Paris, 1995.
“The sea with limits”: from “Padrão,” Pessoa, p. 59.
PROLOGUE: THE PROW OF EUROPE
“with the body of a deer”: Sheriff, p. 309.
“its hoofs do not tread”: Hall, p. 84.
“Our sails…loftily unfurled”: ibid., p. 81.
“to go to the [barbarians’] countries”: Ferguson, p. 32.
“The countries beyond the horizon and at the end of the earth”: Sheriff, p. 297.
“the flower of all other cities”: Diffie and Winius, p. 53.
“Ethiopia, Alexandria, Syria”: ibid.
“Our poor houses looked like pigsties”: Rogerson, p. 287.
“beyond the axis”: Diffie and Winius, p. 53.
“Of late we have dispatched missions”: http://www.ceylontoday.lk/64-75733-news-detail-galles-fascinating-museums.html.
1 THE INDIA PLAN
“In the era of 6681”: http://www.socgeografialisboa.pt/en/coleccoes/areas-geograficas/portugal/2009/08/05/padrao-de-santo-agostinho.
“to invade, search out, capture, vanquish”: The Bull Romanus Pontifex (Nicholas V), January 8, 1455, in http://www.nativeweb.org/pages/legal/indig-romanus-pontifex.html.
“more powerful than any other man”: Russell, p. 122.
“an air of such gravity”: Fonseca (2005), p. 179.
“a man who commanded others”: ibid., p. 181.
“the deep desire to do great things”: ibid.
“a sea route from here to India”: letter from Toscanelli to Fernam Martins, canon of Lisbon, June 25, 1474, in http://cartographic-images.net/Cartographic_Images/252_Toscanellis_World_Map.html.
“The king, because he saw this Cristóvão”: Garcia, p. 67.
“the well-founded hope of exploring”: ibid., p. 69.
“He shall have dominion”: Psalm 72:8.
“Here arrived the ships”: Winius, p. 97.
2 THE RACE
“information of all new discoveries…by ocular inspection”: Kimble, p. 658.
“to carry extra provisions”: Fonseca (2005), p. 105.
“a man who by his experience”: ibid.
“the king ordered that they were to be dropped…called Prester John”: ibid., p. 106.
“with woolly hair, like those of Guinea”: Barros, Década I, part 1, p. 187.
“when Dias was taking in water”: JVG, p. 10.
“with one voice began to murmur”: Barros, Década I, part 1, p. 187.
“when [he] departed”: ibid.
“He saw the land of India”: Peres, p. 300.
“because it promised the discovery of India”: Barros, Década I, part 1, p. 190.
“from the joy of seeing his companions”: ibid., p. 191.
“Note, that in December of this year”: Ravenstein (2010), p. 20.
“every day we are trying”: “La Configuration Cartographique du Continent Africain Avant et Après le Voyage de Bartolomeu Dias,” in Randles, p. 115.
“he had seen and found out”: Ficalho, p. 107.
“caravels that frequent Guinea”: ibid., p. 108.
“the desire he had for his friendship”: Diffie and Winius, p. 165.
“puffed up in manner”: Fonseca, pp. 120–21.
“from the Arctic to the Antarctic pole”: Gardner, p. 90.
“Show me the clause in Adam’s will”: Fuentes, p. 159.
3 VASCO DA GAMA
“Among all the western princes of Europe”: Oliviera e Costa, p. 176.
“the first shall b
e last”: Matthew 19:30.
“And giving as an overriding reason”: Barros, Década I, part 1, pp. 269–70.
“an unmarried man and of the age”: Gois (1926), p. 49.
“bold in action, severe in his orders”: Bouchon (1997), p. 101.
“bigger than Nuremberg and much more populous”: Vasconcelos, p. 27.
“an enormous and extraordinarily well-made golden map”: ibid., p. 22.
“of which they gave us a lot”: ibid., p. 27.
“an enormous workshop”: ibid.
“They were built by excellent masters”: Duarte Pacheco Pereira, p. 166.
“the oriental riches so celebrated”: Barros, Década I, part 1, p. 273.
“a place of tears for those going”: ibid., p. 278.
“for so many centuries hidden”: ibid., p. 276.
“in this discovery and conquest”: ibid., p. 278.
“In this ceremony everyone wept”: ibid.
“And with one party looking back at the land”: ibid., p. 279.
“In the name of God. Amen!”: JVG, p. 1.
“And having got speech with him”: ibid., p. 3.
“On Thursday 3 August”: ibid.
“as if making for the land”: ibid., p. 4.
“On Friday 27 October”: ibid.
“and we lay to under foresail”: ibid., p. 3.
“the watch is changed”: Disney and Booth, p. 89.
“we had soundings in 110 fathoms”: JVG, p. 5.
“tawny colored…bark like them”: ibid., pp. 5–6.
“they speak as if they have hiccups”: Bouchon (1997), p. 111.
“one of the sheaths which they wore”: JVG, p. 7.
“All this happened because we looked upon these people”: ibid., p. 8.
“that we had the means of doing them an injury”: ibid., p. 12.
“They brought with them about a dozen oxen”: ibid., p. 11.
“Henceforward it pleased God…thus always!”: ibid., p. 16.
“Black and well-made…nothing which we gave them”: ibid., p. 20.
“They invited us to proceed further”: ibid., p. 22.
4 “THE DEVIL TAKE YOU!”
“God…had given the sea in common”: Sheriff, p. 314.
“They came immediately on board”: Castanheda, vol. 1, p. 19.
“gold, silver, cloves…collected in baskets”: JVG, p. 23.
“Prester John resided not far from this place”: ibid., p. 24.
“we cried with joy and prayed God”: ibid., p. 24.
“with all of which he was much pleased”: Castanheda, vol. 1, p. 21.
“We anchored here with much pleasure”: JVG, p. 35.
“who showed them a paper”: ibid., p. 36.
“And when this torture was being applied”: ibid., p. 37.
“seeing themselves discovered”: ibid.
“because the climate of this place is very good”: ibid., p. 39.
“and at once gave chase”: ibid.
“gold, silver, and an abundance of maize”: ibid.
“would rejoice to make peace with him”: ibid., p. 41.
“he was not permitted by his master to go on land”: ibid., p. 42.
“much pleased, made the circuit of our ships”: ibid.
“they prostrated themselves”: ibid., p. 45.
“Christ! Christ!”: ibid.
“These Indians are tawny men”: ibid.
“We remained in front of this town during nine days”: ibid., p. 46.
“for a city called Calicut”: ibid.
“he told us that they were above Calicut”: ibid., p. 48.
“thanks to God”: Castanheda, vol. 1, p. 35.
“The Devil take you!”: Roteiro da Viagem, pp. 50–51.
“We came…Signoria of Venice send men here?”: ibid., p. 51.
“Good fortune!…where there are such riches!”: Subrahmanyam (1997), p. 129.
“We were so amazed”: ibid.
“gladly receive the general as ambassador”: Castanheda, vol. 1, p. 42.
“In Calicut…no matter where a ship is from”: Subrahmanyam (1997), p. 104.
“Formerly…there was a king”: Sheriff, p. 188.
“It is not my intention”: Castanheda, vol. 1, p. 44.
“We put on our best attire”: JVG, p. 51.
“They had all come to see us…entered his palanquin”: ibid., p. 52.
“of a tawny complexion”: ibid., p. 49.
“as a rule, short and ugly”: ibid.
“well-disposed and apparently of mild temper”: ibid., p. 50.
“a large church”: ibid., p. 52.
“within this sanctuary stood a small image”: ibid., p. 53.
“gave us some white earth”: ibid., p. 54.
“painted variously, with teeth protruding”: ibid., p. 55.
“We passed through four doors”: ibid., p. 56.
“a great hall, surrounded with seats”: Castanheda, vol. 1, p. 48.
5 THE SAMUDRI
“The king was of a brown complexion”: Castanheda, vol. 1, p. 48.
“On the right side of the king”: JVG, p. 56.
“some poured the water into their throats”: Castanheda, vol. 1, p. 49.
“the possessor of great wealth of every description”: JVG, p. 58.
“the poorest merchant from Mecca”: ibid., p. 60.
“he was no merchant but an ambassador”: ibid., pp. 60–61.
“As to us others”: ibid., p. 61.
“this separation portended no good”: ibid., p. 62.
“What had he come to discover”: ibid.
“Not golden…own country”: ibid.
“we ate, notwithstanding our fatigue”: ibid., p. 64.
“The captain said that if he ordered his vessels”: ibid., p. 65.
“who was a Christian like himself”: ibid.
“none of us being allowed to go outside…bear it”: ibid.
“with orders to go back to the ships”: ibid., p. 66.
“once inside they could easily be captured”: ibid.
“We passed all that day most anxiously”: ibid., pp. 66–67.
“better faces”: ibid., p. 67.
“it was the custom of the country”: ibid.
“At this we rejoiced greatly”: ibid.
“They spat on the ground”: ibid., p. 68.
“This was done”: ibid.
“bracelets, clothes, new shirts and other articles”: ibid., p. 69.
“to eat or to sleep”: ibid.
“sometimes it was night…and not evil”: ibid.
“island called Ceylon…Malacca”: ibid., p. 77.
“wore their hair long…like those of Spain”: ibid., p. 131.
“if he [the samudri] desired it”: ibid., p. 70.
“that then he might go”: ibid., p. 71.
“that we were thieves”: ibid., pp. 71–72.
“all were made welcome by us”: ibid., p. 72.
“six persons of quality”: ibid.
“until the ships of Mecca”: ibid., p. 73.
“as is the custom of the country”: ibid., pp. 74–75.
“Vasco Gama, a gentleman of your household”: ibid., p. 75.
“promised to surrender if on the morrow”: ibid.
“be careful, as he hoped shortly to be back”: ibid., p. 76.
“We therefore set sail and left”: ibid.
“About seventy boats approached us…we pursued our route”: ibid., p. 77.
“although at heart still a Christian”: JVG, p. 84.
“we might have anything in his country…who had come to attack us”: ibid., p. 85.
“said that it was not for sale”: ibid.
“frequent calms and foul winds”: ibid., p. 87.
“all our people again suffered from their gums…that all the bonds of discipline had gone”: ibid.
“much desired by our sick”: ibid., p. 89.
“desired to go with us to Portugal”: ibi
d., p. 90.
“the rain fell so heavily”: ibid., p. 92.
“at times nearly dead from the cold”: ibid., p. 93.
“did reach and discover…with much pleasure and satisfaction”: ibid., p. 114.
“His Holiness and Your Reverence”: ibid.
“God ordered and wished”: Subrahmanyam (1997), p. 162.
“three caravels belonging to the king of Portugal”: Priuli, p. 153.
“And it all goes to pay…to destroy this venture”: VVG, p. 182.
6 CABRAL
“the Indians…might more completely have instruction”: VPC, p. 170.
“and the king went with them to the beach”: Correia (1860), vol. 1, p. 155.
“when they have the wind behind them”: VPC, p. 167.
“first of a large mountain”: ibid., p. 7.
“these people are dark…with long hair”: ibid., p. 59.
“beds set up like looms”: ibid.
“like sparrows at a feeding place”: ibid., p. 22.
“large as a barrel”: ibid., p. 60.
“some as large as hens”: ibid., p. 59.
“it seems impossible to me”: ibid., p. 39.
“They began to weep”: ibid., p. 60.
“with a very long tail in the direction of Arabia”: ibid., p. 61.
“so sudden that we knew…give them aid in any way”: ibid.
“the mouth sickness”: ibid., p. 65.
“If you encounter ships”: ibid., p. 180.
“you shall put them all in one of the ships”: ibid., p. 184.
“food and drink and all other good treatment”: ibid., p. 169.
“with your ships close together”: ibid., p. 261.
“because it comes to us by direct succession”: ibid., p. 180.
“because in this he would comply…and much more”: ibid., p. 181.
“as befits the service of God”: ibid., p. 170.
“were innumerable, with lances and swords…they razed it completely”: ibid., p. 84.