Charles David Ley (1913–1996)

The preface to this volume (No 986 in the Everyman’s Library) says the aim in this volume is to give the human record, from contemporary accounts, of the great Portuguese Age of Discovery. Published in 1947 it wished to celebrate the achievements of the Portuguese explorers as Edgar Prestage makes clear in his introduction;

“In our day Portugal has built up a new colonial empire in East and West Africa, and after fifty years of warfare and unrest has pacified the natives and made them into loyal subjects. Great public works have been undertaken, and the other needs of modern civilisation supplied”

However although the selections were supposed to show the achievements of the Portuguese, in that they tamed the barbarity of the native peoples, what actually comes through is the barbarity and religious zeal of the explorers themselves, because these are contemporary records written by men who made no bones about what they were doing and who they were doing it for.

First up is an extract from the journal of the First Voyages of Vasco Da Gama in 1497-9, which was written by a crew member. It is entitled The Route to India and is a fairly straightforward account of the explorers having to land on various parts of the African coast for water and wood. They meet various native people and generally are able to negotiate with them for what they need. There are isolated attempts by natives to steal from the boats, but generally violence is avoided. It makes fascinating reading. The second is a letter complete in itself by Luis Vaz de Caminha titled “The Discovery of Brazil. On the Brazilian coastline they encounter the Tupi Indians and this is what he says about them:

“They seem to be such innocent people that, if we could understand their speech and they ours, they would immediately become Christians, seeing that, by all appearances they do not understand about faith.”

The tactics of the Portuguese is to leave exiles (convicted Portuguese criminals sentenced to exile) in the Indian villages to learn their language and customs. The Tupi do not want them to stay and try and drive them away and this cat and mouse game is played out again and again.

“The Lands of Prester John” describes the Portuguese attempts to search for Christian communities in ancient Abyssinia in East Africa. The account is fairly confused and difficult to follow. However it is not as tiresome to read as ‘The Furthest East’ by far the longest extract in the collection. This is a journal by a Portuguese privateer Antonio de Faria of his adventures in China and Japan. It starts with the ships crew landing on the Chinese coast where there are large graveyards/tombs guarded by religious hermits. They drive off the hermits and smash open the tombs searching for silver and gold. They travel further inland are denounced as thieves and become prisoners. The account becomes more fantastical as various civilisations are described as they cheat and bribe their way across the Chinese mainland, eventually taking ship to Japan. Much of it sounds wildly exaggerated with endless descriptions of pageants and parades. It was a relief to get to the next extract which was a description of two shipwrecks off the coast of Natal. These stories were popular in Portugal and they are vivid descriptions full of hardship and violence with few survivors. The piece was entitles ‘The Tragic History of the Sea 1552 and 1585.

‘The Jesuits in Abyssinia’ is a lively account of Father Lobo’s bravery and missionary zeal amongst the natives of what is now Ethiopia. This was translated by Samuel Johnson in 1735 and is full of detail and makes for an interesting read. The final piece is an extract from an account by another Jesuit Father Manuel Godinho and describes a difficult and dangerous journey overland from India back to Europe in 1663. This reads more like a modern travelogue as he describes fighting his way through bandit country.

A mixed bag of contemporary reports and journals from the Portuguese explorers, adventurers and missionaries. 3 stars.… (meer)

This is a very good collection of writings. It is interesting, because the writings bring to life some of the greatest voyages of discovery.

The European world does owe a lot to these early travellers. They did brave some incredible adventures and hardships.

In a strange manner, their religious prejudices are laid bare, where they believe that the others follow false Gods and are idolators. However, the figure of Jesus, which is an idol, figures prominently in all churches. Why blame other religions?

Having said that, if you do want a first person account of some of the greatest voyages of discovery, this is a great place to start.… (meer)