The India Road

“In the name of God, Amen. In the year 1497, did the king, Dom Manoel, first of this name in Portugal, send out to discover four ships, which went in search of spices. The Captain-General was Vasco da Gama, and of the others, in one his brother Paulo da Gama, in the other Nicolau Coelho.” So begins the informal diary of the expedition, the only surviving account of the journey to Calicut. It was a hot July morning, a Saturday. Tradition held that the evening before departure should be spent in prayer, and so it was on this occasion. Captains and pilots had spent the night at the little chapel of Santa Maria of Bethlehem, ten minutes walk from the Cais Novo, or New Quay, where the fleet was berthed. Apart from the higher ranking saints, captained by the Gama brothers, there was a smaller saint, the São Miguel, and the inevitable supply ship, which would be sacrificed along the way. Men and victuals would be distributed across the other vessels at the time when both had disappeared in sufficient quantity. * * * The pilots aboard both vessels, who had been carefully plumbing the approach, now blew their whistles, and both captains ordered their caravels to anchor. Dias boarded the first longboat, and was rowed ashore by the crew. The second boat, carrying the first mate of the São Pantaleão, four sailors, Álvaro and a convict, followed close behind. The men were headed for a well near the beach, for the Aguada, replenishment of their water supply. Dias approached the natives awaiting them on the beach. “Hail, good day, we come in friendship!” he pronounced, holding up bright beads, cloths and an ornate mirror. “here are some gifts for you. We bring greetings to your chief from his serene majesty, King John of Portugal!” The negress who had accompanied them ashore spoke out in her native dialect. The tribesmen on the shore stared uncomprehendingly, gazing nervously at the newcomers. Before them they saw a gang of hirsute, gaunt white men, dressed in coarse cloths, their thick beards long and straggling. Most had a gold earring in the right ear, and felt hats, some wore leather plates on their chests, and bore strange metallic tubes, with arrows and handles. Their gums were black and the teeth were rotted and falling, the eyes rayed with blood. The smell was appalling. * * * Francis was as handsome as he was unscrupulous, a combination which has been the undoing of many a woman. Ana’s maid was intercepted by a tall, well-dressed man in his early thirties; a good-looking fellow with a strong nose, curly brown hair and playful eyes. He had on a thigh-length tunic, and his legs were clad in green hose. “Where is a fair maiden such as yourself headed on this beautiful morning? Why, your beauty will pale the sunshine!” he exclaimed, laughter in his voice. It was not unusual for a maid to be addressed by her betters, often with lewd intentions, especially if she was young and pretty. Francis would have to move quickly, in order to fulfill his plan by tomorrow. He looked at the girl, basking in his attentions. She had thick brown hair, braided into a bun at the back, full lips, and a teasing look on her face. She cocked her elbow, hand resting lightly on her hip in mock anger, and arched her back slightly, knowing full well that it pushed her breasts higher and forward. “Bullseye,” Francis thought. * * * The following day, the King once more summoned Columbus, having spent the evening in private with his advisers, under the pretext that the Admiral must be in need of well-deserved rest. Both Vizinho and Abraham confirmed the opinion of the Perfect Prince. They were adamant that Columbus could not have reached Asia, but an altogether different land mass. The pilot Alenquer agreed. “All our knowledge, not only of cartography but also the information on Cathay obtained by the Spy suggests that there is a substantial ocean to the east of India,” said the cosmographers. “Indeed, the Spy’s reports on the origin of spices, like the journey from Banda, the island of nutmeg, or from the pepper island of Sumatra, suggest nothing but sea,” added the Pilot. “Reports from Lisbon also suggest that Columbus brought back very little gold, and that the natives are copper-coloured, naked and uneducated,” the King had received word from Ruy de Pina earlier in the day. “Furthermore,” he added with a twist of irony, “although our special friend Christovam calls them Indians, I imagine this is mainly wishful thinking.” The men laughed. “It would appear to us,” the King continued, “that they are a poor match to the descriptions of Pero da Covilhã, and do not seem capable of having transmitted the value of Pi to the Arabs, correct to three decimal places!” The King’s wit caused general mirth. Even Armand the Priest, who was of a dour disposition, allowed himself a smile. “Sire, these men apparently have nothing more than canoes, with which to dive for corals. These are primitive people!” said the Pilot. * * * The Spanish position was anchored in the concerns about a change in Portuguese policy for western exploration, together with the knowledge that giving away a part of the Atlantic would encourage the Perfect Prince to focus on Africa, giving him less time and resources to compete with the Columbine discoveries. Both nations could ill-afford another war, though Castile always had more men and stronger armies. Nevertheless, Don Guttierre, Don Enrique and the others knew that this small nation, which by all accounts should be part of the great Iberia, subdued by Castile just as the Basques, Catalans and Galicians had been, was the one that got away. Inexplicably, they had defended their borders against all odds, won battles against invading armies in Portugal, and even had the audacity to march on Spain. This little country had thrown out the Moors from their last bastion in the south 250 years earlier, renaming the kingdom to “Portugal and the Algarve”, while the Catholic Kings Ferdinand and Isabella had only managed to expel the Moors from Granada in 92, just as Columbus arrived in the New World. What a victory that had been, Guttierre proudly told Armand and the others: “Hace dos años, two years ago, we conquered the Alhambra.” He told them the famous story of the surrender. “Fue la favorita del harem: ‘Cry like a woman, for what you were unable to defend like a man!’ was the withering remark from the Sultan’s favourite.” Meanwhile, the Portuguese had occupied the North African enclaves of Ceuta and Tangier, a stone’s throw from the Spanish mainland, for several decades. * * * And how had the new king repaid the astronomer from Salamanca? Dom Manoel was by nature an easy-going and tolerant man, and was well disposed to continue the policy of the Perfect Prince, receiving the Sephardi who were in exodus from Spain, running from the horrors of Torquemada, the zealot of Isabella La Católica. “A small country,” old King John had said, “can only grow in two ways: by making itself bigger, and by trade. For size, it is easier to conquer in Africa or the Indies than to fight a war in Europe. Also more profitable.” Turning to his small council, he looked at the group and repeated: “courage, science and politics. Three pillars. But an animal which has three legs can only stand. It may make some progress, but with considerable difficulty.” He smiled, looking at the Jew Vizinho. “To run, it needs four! That fourth leg is trade. And for trade, well, we have the Jews.”