and to spread the Christian religion into other and far distant lands.
The expedition sails 9th July 1497.
Doubles the Cape of Good Hope, 25th Nov.
Sights land at Natal 25th Dec.
With these professed objects and amid splendid
demonstrations, in which the whole population of
Lisbon took part, Vasco de Gama set sail on the 9th
of July 1497. Favoured by a northerly wind and
fine weather, the expedition reached St. Iago, Cape
Verde Islands, in thirteen days from the time of its
departure. Having replenished his stock of provisions,
De Gama shaped his course to the south, and
on the 4th of November anchored in the bay of
St. Helena, on the west coast of Africa. Though
aided by the skill and knowledge of Pedro d'Alemquer,
Dias's pilot, it was not until the 22nd November
that he succeeded in doubling the now famous Cape of
Good Hope, entering on the 25th the bay to the eastward
of it, which Dias had named San Bras. Here
he encountered one of those storms so frequent on the
Agulhas banks, which Correa graphically describes.[1]
The ships were in imminent danger, the crews
mutinied and resolved to put back; and the fine
weather, as had been anticipated, did not restore
either contentment or resignation. At length on
Sunday, the 17th of December, they passed the Rio
do Iffante, the limit of the discoveries of Dias, and on
the 25th of that month sighted land. In commemoration
of the birthday of Christ, De Gama gave to
this spot the name of Costa de Natal. Continuing
his course along the coast to the north-east, he arrived
on the 22nd of January, 1498, at a river which he
named the Rio de Bons Sinaes[2] (now called the
Quillimane), where he was detained for a month,
