ABSTRACT
At this same time the Patriarch of Ethiopia had arrived at Goa. After leaving Portugal he had spent the winter in Mosambique at the time when I was travelling along the coast of Melinde; and, leaving that island in March, he arrived at Goa after a voyage of fifty-four days. And since he was coming there to go to his Church of Ethiopia at the first opportunity, when he learned of our return and of the information that there was no possible way to enter Ethiopia by way of the coast of Melinde, communicating with us through letters, he settled upon entering Ethiopia by way of Dio and Muslim ships which go every year to the Strait of the Red Sea. He wrote that he was relying upon us - those of us who were in the locality ofDio - to make arrangements so that there would be a ship to take both him and those of us who were to be his companions. From May to November we stayed inDio both because of the winter and to try to see that there would be some ship for our purpose. 1 Even with the captain being a friend of ours and working hard for us on this matter, it was impossible to make any such arrangements. The reason for this was that the merchants who went to the Red Sea were so victimized by the cruelty and robbery of the Turks there that none of them wanted to return for more of the same, but wished rather to recoup their past losses by sailing to other places. With the information that we could not depend upon Muslim merchant shipping to take us into the Red Sea, we left Diu for Damao and Basaim. On the way we entered the Gulf of Cam bay where we saw Goga and the memorials that are there to the former deeds of the Portuguese, the islands of the Cows and of the Dead, Castellete, Baroche, Surate, in which port, according to the reports of the people, there were at that time fifteen beautiful Dutch ships.2 On
thatday,whichwasAllSaints'Day,theremusthavebeenexceptional toastingaboardthoseships,foragunwasfiredeachtimetherewas atoast.Icountedthirty-fouroftheseontheoccasion.Andaswewere passingwithinsightofthem,becausewewereavoidingtheirvicinity andbecausethewateratthesametimewascarryingusmorethanwe thought,wefoundourselvesatmidnightwiththewholefleetinthe midstofthefamousshoalsintheseaofDamao. 1Alloftheshipsstruck againstthem,andthedangerwasnotsolittlethat,ifthewaterhadbeen morerapidandrunningwithgreaterforce,andmostcertainlyifthere hadbeentheslightesthighwind,weshouldhavebeenirremediably lost.Forthewhirlpoolsinthatdangerousgulfwerelarge,andturning intothemwiththeforceofthecurrentandwindistheequivalentof theship'shittingontherocks.God'smercysparedusthis,andthe dangerceasedtobeanythingforustofear.Onthefollowingdaywe enteredDamao,afortressandcityofthePortuguese.
