l, calling him his brother and promising to befriend his people.

Vasco da Gama, pleased with the conduct of the native pilots, begged
that two of them might be permitted to accompany him to Portugal, at
which the King expressed his pleasure. To reward the pilots, the
Captain-Major presented them with two hundred cruzados in gold, to be
given to their wives.

Several more men here died, and were buried on shore, so that the crews
of the two ships were reduced to a very small number. Before they took
their departure, the King sent a magnificent present to the King and
Queen of Portugal. Among other articles was a broad gold neck-chain,
with precious stones and pearls, worth ten thousand cruzados; a chest
richly inlaid with silver and ivory, full of white stuffs, silks and
gold thread, and a piece of ambergris set with silver, half an ell long,
and as thick as a man's wrist.

Vasco da Gama, in order to sustain the honour of the King of Portugal,
presented numerous valuable articles in return. After taking an
affectionate farewell of the King of Melinda, the native pilots being
received on board and Mass having been said, the Captain-Major ordered
the anchors to be weighed, and on the feast of San Sebastian, 1499, the
ships sailed from Melinda. They first stood out from the land, and then
made a course along it to the southward. They sighted Mozambique, but
did not put in there, and continued their course until off Sofala, where
they encountered several severe squalls. They escaped danger by furling
all the sails, warned in time by the native pilots. Sometimes they were
exposed to heavy seas with little or no wind, which greatly tried the
ships.

At length they came off the Cape of Good Hope, in sight of which they
passed without accident. Pressing on all sail, they stood into the
Atlantic, when, seeing the Cape astern and that they were steering
towards Portugal, the seamen in their great joy embraced each other, and
then, kneeling down, offered up their praises and thanksgivings to
Heaven for having thus far preserved them.

In order to make the shortest possible course for Portugal they kept
away from the land, but as they approached the equator they suffered
much delay from calms. Paulo da Gama was also taken very ill, and kept
to his bed, when Vasco went on board his ship that he might be with him
leaving Coelho in charge of his own.

Seeing that they were approaching Portugal, the pilots who had mutin