though by no means well provided with arms. Our order of sailing was now reversed, and my ship was foremost in going down the river. We soon came to the almadias, which separated into two divisions, having my ship between them, when I had an opportunity to count their numbers, as they gave over rowing, raised their oars, and gazed in wonder at our ship: There were in all fifteen almadias of considerable length, having from 130 to 150 negroes, all well made, of a good size, and very black. They wore white cotton shirts, having white caps, like those worn by the Germans, on their heads; but with a wing on each side, and a feather in the middle, which I supposed to be a distinguishing mark of their being soldiers. There stood a negro on the prow of each almadia, having a round target, apparently of leather, on his arm; and for some time they neither attacked us, nor we them. When they saw the other caravels bearing down upon them, they dropped their oars, and taking up their bows, sent a flight of arrows on board. Seeing this attack, our ships discharged four pieces of cannon, at them, and they were so stupified by the report, that they threw down their bows, and stared about in amazement, at the effect which the stones from the cannon made on the water around them. They continued in this astonishment for some time; but seeing that the cannon ceased to fire, they plucked up courage, and renewed the fight, advancing within a stones throw of the ship. On this our sailors began to use their cross-bows; and the first shot, which was made by the natural son of the Genoese gentleman, hit a negro on the breast, who instantly fell down dead. Those in the almadia where he fell, took up the dart and gazed at it with wonder; yet they continued the attack with great vigour, and were courageously opposed by our caravels, insomuch that many of the Negroes were soon killed, without the loss of one man on our side. The Negroes now changed their mode of attack, and made a furious united attack on the stern of our smallest caravel, which was both ill manned, and insufficiently armed. On observing this, I brought up my ship to her assistance, and the other large caravel doing the same, we placed the small one between us, and we all vigorously plied our cannon and cross-bows against the almadias, which were at last forced to retire. We now linked all the three caravels together, and dropped one anchor, which was sufficient for us all, as it was calm weather, and the current by no means strong.
We next endeavoured to enter into some conversation with the Negroes, and often hailed them by means of our interpreters. At length one of the almadias drew near, and on being asked the reason of their hostility to strangers, who came among them only to trade in a friendly manner, as they had already done with the Negroes of the kingdom of Senegal, and were desirous of being on the same friendly terms with them, if they thought proper, and were come from a far distant country, with presents for their king or lord, from the king of Portugal, who was desirous of peace and friendship with them. Our interpreters also entreated the Negroes to inform us what country we were in, who was their king, and what was the name of the river; and desired them to come freely on board, and take what goods they pleased; adding, that they might make a return in any commodities they thought proper, and in any quantities they pleased, or might have our goods for nothing. To all this they made answer, "That they had some intelligence of the Christians already, and of their dealings with the Negroes of Senegal, who must be very wicked people for entering into friendship with them; as they were well assured the Christians were meneaters, who bought the Negroes only to devour them, and, for this reason, they were resolved to have no correspondence with them, except to destroy them, and then to send their effects to their lord, who dwelt three days journey up the country." They added, that the name of their country was Gambra, but I have forgotten the name they gave the river[10]. At this time a brisk breeze sprung up, and, as we now thoroughly knew the hostile dispositions of the Negroes, we bore down upon their almadias; but they fled to the shore, and we dropt down to the mouth of the river.
[10] From this it would appear, that Gambra or Gambia is the name of the country, not of the river. Johnson says that the natives always call it Gee , which merely signifies the river.--Astl.
While we remained off the mouth of this river, we only once saw the north star in clear weather, and it was then so low as hardly to appear above the height of a lance above the sea[11]. We likewise observed, in about the same elevation, due south by the compass, a constellation of six large bright stars, in the figure of a cross, in this form: (Illustration)
[11] The centre of the mouth of the Gambia is in lat. 13° 30' N.--E.
We conjectured this to be the southern chariot , but could not expect to observe the principal star, as we had not yet lost sight of the north pole. In this place, on the first of July, we found the night to be eleven hours and a half long, and the day twelve hours and a half. The climate is always hot, and I was told, that even the rain in the inland parts falls warm, in consequence of the great heat of the air. It is true, that there is some difference of the heat at different seasons, and when the heat is a little diminished, the natives call it winter. The rains begin in July, and continue till the end of October, and fall every day about noon; at which time certain clouds arise in the N.E. by E. or E.N.E. which are accompanied by prodigious thunder and lightning, and vast torrents of rain. In this season, which is in the beginning of July, the Negroes sow their grain, in the same manner with the people in Senegal. Their provisions consist of millet, pulse, flesh and milk. There is not so much dawn at break of day in this southern latitude as with us in Italy; for, within half an hour after the darkness of the night begins to dispel, the sun appears, and during all that dawn the atmosphere is turbid, as if filled with smoke, and the moment the sun appears this mist is dissipated. I could only account for this phenomenon, by attributing it to the low and flat surface of this country, which is destitute of mountains, and my companions were of a similar opinion.
On holding a consultation among the commanders of the three caravels, we came to a resolution of proceeding about an hundred miles up the river, in hopes of meeting with a less ferocious, and better disposed people in the interior, than those we had encountered at the mouth of this river: But the sailors were impatient to return home, without incurring any farther dangers, and unanimously and loudly refused their consent to our determination, declaring that they had already done enough for the present voyage. Upon this being made known to us, and being well aware that seamen are of headstrong and obstinate dispositions, we conceded to their clamours, and steered next day for Cape Verd, on our return to Portugal[12].
[12] It may be noticed, that during the whole of his narrative, Cada Mosto constantly speaks of Spain, and the Spanish language, as if forgetting that the ships and crews were Portuguese.--Clark.
SECTION VIII.
The Second Voyage of Cada Mosto, in 1456, to the coast of Africa, in which the Cape de Verd Islands were Discovered [1].
[1] There is some difficulty respecting the date of this second voyage. In the former, Cada Mosto sailed from Portugal in March 1455. In the course of his proceedings, the month of November is mentioned, and some subsequent transactions are said to have happened in July, which, on this arrangement, must necessarily have been of the year 1456. If, therefore, the dates of the former voyage be accurate, the second ought to have been dated in 1457.--E.
As I could say little or nothing about the condition of the country of Gambia, on my return to Portugal, on account of being obliged to leave it so suddenly; partly owing to the intractable and fierce disposition of the natives, and partly through the perversity of our sailors, who refused to proceed in exploring the river; the Genoese gentleman, Antonio, who had been with me in the former voyage, and I, resolved next season to fit out two caravels, in order to return to the river Gambia, and Don Henry, who was much pleased with our intentions, determined to send one of his caravels along with us. Every thing being made ready for our voyage, we sailed from Lagos, near Cape St. Vincent, with a favourable wind, in the beginning of May, and steered for the Canaries, which we made in a few days; but, as the wind continued favourable, we did not touch there, and continued our course, to the southward; and, as we were favoured by a current setting to the S. W. we sailed on at a great rate. At last we came in sight of Cape Branco, keeping well out at sea, and on the following night we were assailed by a great storm from the S. W. which occasioned us to steer W. by N. for two days and three nights, in order to weather the tempest, rather
