Pedro Álvares Cabral

“ The Portuguese, for their part, assert that the territories of Brazil were first sighted by their great navigator, Pedro Alvarez Cabral. The discovery was in one sense something of an accident. It was necessary for the seamen who were setting their course for the East Indies to steer well to the west, in order to avoid the zones of calms which prevail in the neighbourhood of the African coast. Cabral appears to have steered so boldly into the west that he fell in with the coast of Brazil. ”

“ Was there some vexation in the heart of the "Admiral of India" when the command of the new fleet was given to Pedro Cabral? History is silent. Anyhow, in the March of 1500 we find this "Gentleman of Great Merit" starting off with thirteen powerfully armed ships and some fifteen hundred men, among them the veteran explorer Bartholomew Diaz, a party of eight Franciscan friars to convert the Mohammedans, eight chaplains, skilled gunners, and merchants to buy and sell in the King's name at Calicut. The King himself accompanied Cabral to the waterside. ”

“ Whilst he was returning to Europe Alvarès Cabral might have encountered a fleet of four caravels under the command of Joao da Nova, which King Emmanuel had despatched to give fresh vigour to the commercial relations which Cabral had been charged to establish in the Indies. This new expedition doubled the Cape of Good Hope without misadventure, discovered between Mozambique and Quiloa an unknown island, which was named after the commander of the fleet, and arrived at Melinda, where Da Nova was informed of the events which had taken place at Calicut. ”

“ Cabral’s voyage, besides beginning the Portuguese dominion in India, had really two desirable results: it swept away the two legends of Prester John and of the “sea of darkness.” He discovered Brazil and returned to tell Emmanuel that the supposed emperor of the East was a miserable black heathen king, intrenched in the inaccessible mountains of Abyssinia. In pursuit of a myth, drawn by an abyss, Portugal discovered the continents and islands of the Atlantic and reached India. For the sake of an illusion they achieved the reality which struck the world with wonder. ”

“ On his outward voyage Cabral was driven by stress of weather to the coast of Brazil. Ultimately he reached Calicut, and established factories both there and at Cochin, in the face of active hostility from the natives. In 1502 the king of Portugal obtained from Pope Alexander VI. a bull constituting him “lord of the navigation, conquest, and trade of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, and India.” ”

“ Alvarez Cabral, the discoverer of Peru, who succeeded him, was by no means particular in his policy. On the slightest suspicion of evil intention, he fell upon the people and made havoc amongst them. The inhabitants of Calicut, between the intrigues of the Moorish merchants and those of the Portuguese adventurers, were always the dupes and the sufferers. They attempted to drive out the Portuguese, and Cabral, in revenge, burnt all the Arabian vessels in the harbour, cannonaded the town, and then sailed, first to Cochin, and then to Cananor. ”

“ Cabral discovered Brazil and the Moluccas, and established commercial relations with the Indian and African coasts. Through these expeditions and others under Albuquerque, the influence of Portugal was rendered predominant on the coasts of South Africa and the Indian archipelago, and an inexhaustible field for commerce and Colonization was opened up to the Portu- guese. ”

“ These four men lead each horse, two at the headstall like the Prester’s mule, and the other two with their hands on the saddle, one on each side. In front of these horses go six mules saddled and very well furnished, and with each one four men, as with the horses. In front of these mules go twenty gentlemen of high rank dressed in their cloaks, and we the Portuguese went in front of these gentlemen, for there they assigned to us our place. No other people—horse, foot, or mule—approach for a great distance ”

“ Cabral gave to it the name of Land of the Holy Cross; but this, as well as the name given by Pinzon, was subsequently changed to that of Brazil, from a species of dye-wood which grew in abundance there. The inhabitants were friendly, and exchanged parrots of brilliant plumage for bits of paper and cloth. Cabral put two of his criminals ashore and left them, with instructions to inquire into the history of the country and the customs of its inhabitants. He also sent one of his vessels back to Lisbon with intelligence of the discovery. ”

“ Cabral, who is quite young, was born in the year 1891, in Huatusco, a picturesque village in the State of Veracruz. As a child of three or four years he amused himself by tracing figures on the ground and before the age of fourteen he delineated figures of animals and saints on the walls of the village church. ”

“ Alvarado had been, as the historical reader is aware, left in Mexico, the jailer of Montezuma and the warden of the city, during the absence of Cortes, when he marched against Narvaez. It was supposed, therefore, that Don Pedro was better acquainted with the persons of the principal nobles than any other cavalier. He examined the captive curiously, and at last said, shaking his head,
"Methinks his visage is not unknown; and yet I wot not to whom it belongs. The knave is but a boy. If he be a noble, never trust me but he is one of Guatimozin's making, and therefore not yet of consequence." ”

“ Emmanuel allowed not a week to pass before he directed the necessary preparations to be made for fitting out another and more powerful fleet, to follow in da Gama's track and attempt to colonize the Indies. He determined that da Gama should enjoy his dignities and renown in peace, however, and intrusted the command to one Pedro Alvarez Cabral, a gentleman of merit and distinction. The fleet numbered thirteen vessels, manned by twelve hundred men, among whom were eight Franciscans to convert the pagans, and some thirty condemned malefactors [201] to undertake communications with the savages. ”

“ Vasco de Gama, a man of rank and consummate talent and intrepidity, had, at length, accomplished the great design of the late Prince Henry of Portugal, and by doubling the Cape of Good Hope, in the year 1497, had opened the long-sought-for route to India.
Immediately after Gama's return, a fleet of thirteen sail was fitted out to visit the magnificent countries of which he brought accounts. This expedition sailed on the 9th of March, 1500, for Calicut, under the command of Pedro Alvarez de Cabral. ”

“ He, in command of an expedition in 1499–1500, was the first Spaniard to cross the Equator, discovered the Brazilian coast at Cape San Agostinho, added 300 miles to the known coast of South America, and found the mouth of the Amazon. The Portuguese Cabral, who has been commonly hailed as the discoverer of Brazil, actually reached its coast some three months after Pinzon, having been driven far from his course round the Cape of Good Hope to the Indian seas in the wake of Vasco da Gama (Chapter VII) . In the following years many expeditions crossed the Atlantic for discovery and conquest. ”

“ On receiving intelligence of these favourable measures, Cabral brought back the fleet into the harbour of Calicut, and sent his compliments of thanks to the zamorin for his gracious and favourable dispositions. After this, our factory had tolerably good fortune in conducting its trade by the assistance of Cosebequin: and the natives, finding our factory favoured by the zamorin, behaved so very civilly to our people that they could go about wherever they pleased, with as much freedom and safety as in Lisbon. ”

“ He first encountered a picked band of 200 rebels, whom he easily routed; and then, being joined by his reinforcements, fell upon the main body, which his also dispersed. Alvares succeeded in escaping for a time, but at last he was taken and brought to Lisbon. Here, after being exposed to public infamy, he was hanged amid the jeers of the populace.
Nine years later, in 1594, another impostor appeared, this time in Spain, under the very eyes of King Philip, who had seized the Portuguese sovereignty. Again an ecclesiastic figured in the plot ”

“ Cabenza put an arm across the shoulders of each and drew their heads close while he whispered confidential scandal about Pasquale and Ramon Culvera. The two men listened greedily, eager for more. It happened that there was no truth in the salacious tidbits which Pedro retailed, but he invented glibly and that did just as well. ”

“ Petrus do not be vexed, for in your days the people of your country will come to this country and to these kingdoms: and now you have to give thanks to the Lord. The ambassador further said to the Abima that the King of Portugal had been informed of His Holiness by Matheus his brother, and by other persons, and therefore he sent to entreat him to make the Prester be strong and constant in this enterprise, as was to be hoped from such men as they were. ”

“ Faria y Sousa, p. 29) . He had been with Dias in the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, and with the Congo mission in 1490.
* João de Coimbra, pilot of the S. Raphael (Barros, I, pt. 1, p. 279) . A negro slave belonging to him deserted at Moçambique (see p. 30) .
Pero Escolar, pilot of the Berrio (Barros, ib.; Faria y Sousa, p. 29) . On February 18, 1500, the King granted him a pension of 4,000 reis. He went as pilot with Cabral.
176
Gonçalo Alvares, master of the S. Gabriel (Barros, ib.) . He subsequently held the office of pilot-major of India (Correa, Lendas, I, p. 570) . ”

“ Even in numbers he is true to the high-flown conceits of the condoreiro school; the raising of Napoleon’s forty to the young Brazilian’s thousand is indicative of the febrile passion that flamed in all his work. Castro Alves was a torch, not a poem. When he beholds visions of a republic (as in Pedro Ivo) , man himself becomes a condor, and liberty, like the poet’s truth, though crushed to earth will rise again. ”

“ Thy faith repent not, nor lament thy wrong.—P. Alvarez Cabral, the second Portuguese commander who sailed to India, entered into a treaty of alliance with Trimumpara, king of Cochin, and high priest of Malabar. The zamorim raised powerful armies to dethrone him. ”

“ So they said it was true that on the day when they sighted land and we succoured them, there was not a single drop of water in the galloon, nor had either the sound or the sick tasted it: and that they had sight that day miraculously of the land and port, and we of them; because they already despaired of their lives. I heard this from the ambassadors, Don Rodrigo de Lima who went to the Prester John, and Alicacanate, the ambassador of the Prester, who is going to Portugal ”

“ The Moors now became seriously jealous of the activity, power, and success of their rivals. They resorted to every means to excite the hostility of the zamorin and his subjects against them. They attacked and destroyed the Portuguese market, plundering it of goods to the amount of four thousand ducats. The inconstant zamorin offering neither apology nor restitution, Cabral determined on vengeance. He boarded two large Moorish vessels, killed six hundred men, and salted down three elephants for food. ”

“ First, Don Rodrigo de Lima, Jorge d’Abreu, Lopo da Gama, Joam Escolar, clerk of the embassy, Joam Gonzalvez, its interpreter and factor, Manoel de Mares, player of organs, Pero Lopez, mestre Joam, Gaspar Pereira, Estevan Palharte, both servants of Don Rodrigo; Joam Fernandez, Lazaro d’Andrade, painter, Alonzo Mendez, and I, unworthy priest, Francisco Alvarez. [6] These went in company [10] with Don Rodrigo; the Captain General here said, in the presence of all: Don Rodrigo, I do not send the father Francisco Alvarez with you, but I send you with him, and do not do anything without his advice. ”

“ Cap. lxxxvii.—Of the number of men, horse and foot, who go with the Prester when he travels.
We departed from this place, turning back by the road by which we had come. The people who continually go on the road with the Court is a thing scarcely credible: for certainly the distance between each place of encampment is three or four leagues, and the people are so many and so close together that they look like a procession of Corpus Domini in a great city, without diminution in any part of the road. The people are of this kind ”

“ It was during this period that the brilliant young artist came to the notice of President Madero, who decided to send him to Paris to continue his studies at the expense of the Mexican Government. Cabral settled in Paris in 1912 and pursued his studies at the free academies of Colorossi and the Grande Chaumiére. Cabral’s native land was soon afterwards passing through the agonies of revolution and the tragic death of Madero left the artist penniless, as the new Government stopped all the bursaries of Mexican students then studying under{10} official patronage in Europe. ”

“ This worthy is supposed to have formed one of Cabral's expedition. For some reason or other he was marooned at that place. The Indians, instead of slaying him, had conceived a great veneration for this white man, who had, as it were, dropped from the clouds into their midst. The marooned sailor had become a kind of professional adviser, whose counsel was sought by the natives on every important occasion. Many of the early navigators maintain that the comparatively easy colonization of this portion of the Brazilian coast was due to the presence of the much-esteemed Correia. ”