Description of the ships. they were all very similar in size and equipment, in order that each ship might avail itself of any part of the tackle and fittings; and he describes their outfit and cargoes as follows: "The king ordered the ships to be supplied with double tackle and sets of sails, and artillery and munitions in great abundance; above all, provisions, with which the ships were to be filled, with many preserves and perfumed waters, and in each ship all the articles of an apothecary's shop for the sick; a master, and a priest for confession. The king also ordered all sorts of merchandise of what was in the kingdom and from outside of it, and much gold and silver, coined in the money of all Christendom and of the Moors. And cloths of gold, silk, and wool, of all kinds and colours, and many jewels of gold, necklaces, chains, and bracelets, and ewers of silver and silver-gilt, yataghans, swords, daggers, smooth and engraved, and adorned with gold and silver workmanship. Spears and shields, all adorned so as to be fit for presentation to the kings and rulers of the countries where they might put into port; and a little of each kind of spice.
- [Footnote: commanded by Vasco de Gama; San Raphael, commanded by his
brother Paulo de Gama; Birrio, under charge of Nicolas Coelho; and a transport which was a storeship to carry provisions, called a naveta." Mr. Pinto Basto confirms the opinion the author entertained with regard to the dimensions of these ships. "The San Gabriel," he says, "had a high poop and forecastle. The tonnage in those days was calculated by the number of pipes of wine the vessel could carry. The San Gabriel was constructed to carry 400 pipes," equivalent to about 400 tons measurement, or about from 250 to 300 tons register, which is much more likely to have been the size of the vessels engaged on so distant and hazardous an expedition than those which historians describe. It should be added that Correa calls De Gama's ship the Sam Rafael.]
