Chapter XLVI: Section II

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

Before I left Venice, I was requested by letter from Signior Hieronimo Fracastro of Verona, that, on my arrival at Conde, I would send, him an account of my voyage to San Thome, to which island our ships often sail for cargoes of sugar. The passage of the equinoctial line, under which that island, is situated, appeared to that gentleman so extraordinary a circumstance as to merit the attention of men of science; and you likewise made me a similar request. I began, therefore, immediately after my return, to draw up an account of my voyage, from those notes which we pilots usual keep of all occurrences, and I compared it in my progress with the journals of some friends who had formerly made the same voyage. When I afterwards attentively perused my manuscript, it did not appear to me worthy of being communicated to a gentleman of such scientific character as Signor Hieronimo, whose talents I had duly appreciated, by the perusal of his publications, which I received from you before my departure from Venice. I therefore laid my manuscript aside, not wishing that any one might peruse it; but as you have again urged the performance of my promise, I now anxiously obey a request, which, as coming from you, I must always consider a command. Apprehensive, likewise, of appearing forgetful of your polite attentions, I prefer the danger of exposing my ignorance, to the possibility of being charged with ingratitude or want of attention. Being a sailor, and unused to composition, I pretend to little more than copying the remarks of those who have sailed from our continent to _Ethiopia_, without attempting to reduce my narrative into lucid order, or to embellish it with fine writing. You will therefore have the goodness to destroy this account, after its perusal, that the errors I have committed, by compliance with your commands, may not draw upon me the imputation of presumption.

The Portuguese ships which sail to the island of St Thomas from Lisbon, for cargoes of sugar, usually put to sea in February, though some vessels make this voyage at every period of the year. Their course is S.S.W. until they reach the Canary Islands; after which they steer for the island of Palmas, which is opposite to Cape Bojador on the coast of Africa, and is about ninety leagues from the kingdom of Castile. This island has plenty of provisions, and abounds in wine and sugar. The north- west wind prevails most, and a great sea rages continually on its coast, particularly in the month of December[2].

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

On leaving the island of Sal, our ships steer next for St Jago, another of the Cape Verd islands. This island is situated in _fifteen degrees on the equinoctial and thirty leagues towards the south_[3].It is seventeen leagues long, and has a city on the coast, with a good harbour called _Ribiera Grande_, or the Great River, now St Jago. From two high mountains, one on each side, a large river of fresh water flows into the harbour; and, from its source, full two leagues above the city, its banks are lined on each side with gardens, having fine groves of oranges, cedars, pomegranates, several sorts of figs, and the cocoa-nut palm, which has been long planted on this island. It produces all kinds of vegetables in great abundance and perfection; but they do not afford good seeds, so that it is necessary to procure these every year from Europe. The city is on the south coast of the island, and is well built of stone, being inhabited by about 500 families of distinction, Portuguese and Castilians. Its government is entrusted to a corregidor or governor, appointed by the king of Portugal; and two judges are chosen annually, one for the determination of naval and maritime causes, and the other for regulating the police. This island is very mountainous, and is very barren in many parts, which are entirely destitute of wood; but its vallies are fertile and well cultivated. In June, when the sun enters Cancer, the rains are so incessant that the Portuguese call that month _La Luna de las Aquas_, or the Water Month. Their seed-time begins in August, when they sow maize, called _miglio zaburo_. This is a white bean, which is ready to be gathered in forty days, and is the chief food of these islanders, and of all the inhabitants of the coast of Africa[4]. They also sow much rice and cotton; the latter of which comes to great perfection, and is manufactured into striped cloths, which are exported to the country of the Negroes, and bartered for black slaves.

To give a distinct view of the commercial transactions with the Negroes, it is proper to inform you, that the western coast of Africa is divided into several countries and provinces, as Guinea, _Melegote_[5], the kingdom of Benin, and the kingdom of Manicongo. Over all this extent of coast, there are many Negro kings or chiefs, whose subjects are Mahometans and idolaters, and who are continually at war with each other. These kings are much respected by their subjects, almost to adoration, as they are believed to have originally descended from heaven. When the king of Benin dies, his subjects assemble in an extensive plain, in the centre of which a vast pit or sepulchre is dug, into which the body is lowered, and all the friends and servants of the deceased are sacrificed and thrown into the same grave, thus voluntarily throwing away their own lives in honour of the dead. On this coast there grows a species of _melegete_, extremely pungent like pepper, and resembling the Italian grain called _sorgo_. It produces likewise a species of pepper of great strength, not inferior to any of that which the Portuguese bring from Calicut, under the name of _Pimienta del rabo_, or _Pepe dalla coda_, and which African pepper resembles _cubbebs_, but so powerful that an ounce will go farther than a pound of the common sort; but its exportation is prohibited, lest it should injure the sale of that which is brought from Calicut[6]. There is also established on this coast a manufacture of an excellent kind of soap from palm-oil and ashes, which is carried on for the king's account. All the trade of this coast, to the kingdom of _Manicongo_ exclusively, is farmed out every four or five years to the highest bidder. Great Negro caravans bring gold and slaves to the stations on the coast. The slaves are either prisoners taken in war, or children whom their parents have parted with in the hope of their being carried to a more fertile country. For above ninety years after the first discovery of this coast, the Portuguese merchants were accustomed to enter the large rivers by which the country is everywhere intersected, trading independently with the numerous tribes inhabiting their banks; but now the whole of this commerce is in the hands of stationary licensed factors, to whom it is farmed.

On quitting St Jago we steer southerly for the Rio Grande, which is on the north of Ethiopia, beyond which we come to the high mountain of Sierra Liona, the summit of which is continually enveloped in mist, out of which thunder and lightning almost perpetually flashes, and is heard at sea from the distance of forty or fifty miles. Though the sun is quite vertical in passing over this mountain, and extremely hot, yet the thick fog is never dissipated. In our voyage we never lose sight of land, yet keep always at a considerable distance, carefully observing the declination of the sun, and keeping a southerly course till we arrive in _four degrees on the equinoctial_[7], when we suddenly change our course to the south-east, keeping the Ethiopian coast always on our left hand in our way to the island of St Thomas. On this coast, between the tropic and the equinoctial, we never meet with any hard gales, as storms are very rarely found within the tropics. On nearing the land, the soundings in many parts of the coast do not exceed fifty _braccia_, but farther out the depth rapidly increases, and the sea usually runs high at a distance from the land. When we arrived at Rio del Oro, as mentioned before, we observed four stars in the form of a cross, of an extraordinary size and splendour, elevated thirty degrees above the antarctic pole, and forming the constellation called _il Crusero_. While under the tropic of Cancer, we saw this constellation very low; and, on directing our _balestra_[8] to the lowermost of these stars, we found it to be directly south, and concluded that it must be in the centre of the antarctic polar circle. We observed the same constellation very high when we were at the island of St Thomas; and remarked that the moon, after rain, produces a rainbow similar to that occasioned by the sun during the day, except that the colours were dim and ill-defined. On leaving the straits of Gibraltar, I did not observe any sensible change on the ebb and flow of the sea; but when we approached Rio Grande, which is eleven degrees to the north of the equinoctial, we observed a considerable tide at the mouth of that river, and the rise in some places was much the same as on the coast of Portugal, whereas at the isle of St Thomas it was nearly the same as at Venice.

The island of St Thomas was discovered above eighty[9] years ago, by some captains in the royal navy of Portugal, and was altogether unknown to the ancients. Its horizon or parallel passes at an equal distance between the arctic and antarctic poles, and its days and nights are always equal. The arctic polar star is there invisible, but the _guardiani_ are seen in some measure to revolve, and the constellation which is known by the name of _il crusero_, is seen in the heavens at a high altitude. To the eastwards[10] of St Thomas, and at the distance of 120 miles, the small island called _Il Principe_ is situated. This latter island is inhabited and cultivated, the produce of its sugar canes belonging to the revenue of the kings eldest son, from which circumstance the island derives its name. To the S. S. W. or S. and by W. and in the latitude of almost 2° S. is the uninhabited island of Annobon, on which numbers of crocodiles and venomous serpents are found. Its rocky shores abound in fish, and are much resorted to by the inhabitants of St Thomas on that account. When first discovered, the island of St Thomas was an entire forest, containing a variety of trees, which, though barren, were extremely verdant. These trees were all remarkably tall and straight, their branches all drawn close to the stems, and not spreading out as with us. After clearing away a great part of the forest, the inhabitants built a principal town called _Pouoasan_, which has an excellent harbour. The principal dependence of the settlers in this island is upon their sugars, which they exchange yearly with the merchants who trade thither, for flour in barrels, wines, oil, cheese, leather, swords, glass beads, drinking-cups, pater-nosters, and _buzios_, which are a small kind of shells, called by the Italians _white porcelain_, and which pass in Ethiopia as money. The Europeans who reside on this island depend much for provisions on the ships, as they cannot subsist on the fare used by the Negroes. The slaves employed in their sugar plantations are procured from Guinea, Benin, and Congo; and some rich planters have from 150 to 300 Negroes. These work five days in every week for their masters, and are allowed the Saturdays to themselves, when they cultivate various articles of provision, as the _miglio zaburo_, a species of bean formerly mentioned, a root called _igname_, and many species of culinary vegetables, the seeds of which must be imported from Europe, as they do not come to perfection in this climate.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[7] This strange expression seems to imply 4° of north latitude.--E.

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

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

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

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

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