On July 8, 1497, Captain-Major Vasco da Gama, set out from Portugal on board the Sao Gabriel, accompanied by two ships and a supply vessel. A crewman aboard one of the ships kept a detailed record of the voyage. He began by writing:
In the name of God. Amen.
In the year 1497, the King Dom Manuel, the first of this name in Portugal, sent out to discover, four ships, which went in search of spices, of which ships there went as Captain-Major Vasco da Gama...We left Restelo on a Saturday, which was the eight of July of the said Year of 1497, on our way, which may God our lord allow to be completed in his service...
(November 8)...we cast anchor in this bay, and we remained there eight days, cleaning the ships, mending the sails, and taking in wood....
(November 9)...we landed with the captain-major, and made captive one of the natives, who was small of stature like Sancho Mexia. This man had been gathering honey in the sandy waste, for in this country the bees deposit their honey at the foot of the mounds around the bushes....
(November 10)...fourteen or fifteen natives came to where our ship lay. The captain-major landed and showed them a variety of merchandise, with the view of finding out whether such things were to be found in their country. This merchandise included cinnamon, cloves, seed-pearls, gold, and many other things, but it was evident that they had no knowledge whatever of such articles...
(November 12) about forty or fifty natives made their appearance...we landed, and in exchange...we obtained shells, which they wore as ornaments in their ears, and which looked as if they had been plated, and foxtails attached to a handle, with which they fanned their faces....Fernao Velloso...expressed a great desire to be permitted to accompany the natives to their houses, so that he might find out how they lived and what they ate....Soon after they had left us they caught a seal, and when they came to the foot of a hill in a barren place they roasted it, and gave some of it to Fernao Velloso....After this meal they expressed a desire that he should not accompany them any further, but return to the vessels. When Fernao Velloso came abreast of the vessels he began to shout...We were still at supper; but when his shouts were heard the captain-major rose at once, and so did we others, and we entered a sailing boat. The negroes then began running along the beach, and they came as quickly up with Fernao Velloso as we did, and when we endeavored to get him into the boat they threw their assegais, and wounded the captain-major...
(November 19)...we once more made for the Cape, but were again unable to round it, for the wind blew from the S.S.W., whilst the Cape juts out towards S.W.. We then again stood out to sea, returning to the land on Monday night...
(November 22)...At last, on Wednesday, at noon, having the wind astern, we succeeded in doubling the Cape, and then ran along the coast. To the south of this Cape of Good Hope, and close to it, a vast bay, six leagues broad at its mouth, enters about six leagues into the land.
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