22 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 



from CMna to tlie Persian Gulf, in tlie latter part of 

 the thirteentli century. He did not see it himself, but 

 only gathered accounts in regard to it from others. He 

 calls it Giaua, and says it produces cloves and nut- 

 megs, though we know now that they were all 

 brought to Java from the Spice Islands, farther to 

 the east. In regard to gold, he says it yielded a 

 quantity " exceeding all calculation and belief." 

 This was also probably brought from other islands, 

 chiefly from Sumatra, Borneo, and Celebes. 



In 1493, one year after the discovery of America 

 by Columbus, Bartholomew Dias, a Portuguese, dis- 

 covered the southern extremity of Africa, which he 

 called the Cape of Storms, but which his king said 

 should be named the Cape of Good Hope, because 

 it gave a good hope that, at last, they had discovered 

 a way to India by sea. Accordingly, the next year, 

 this king *'" sent Pedro da Covilham and Alfonso de 

 Payva directly to the east to settle this important 

 question. From Genoa they came to Alexandria in 

 the guise of travelling merchants, thence to Cairo, 

 and down the Bed Sea to Aden. Here they sepa- 

 rated — Payva to search for " Prester John," a Chris- 

 tian prince, said to be reigning in Abyssinia over 

 a people of high cultivation ; and Co\^lham to visit 

 the Indies, it having been arranged that they should 

 meet again at Cairo or Memphis. Payva died before 

 reaching the principal city of Abyssinia, but Covil- 

 ham had a prosperous journey to India, where he 

 made drawings of the cities and harbors, especially 

 of Goa and Calicut (Calcutta), and marked their 



* Valentyn, " History of the Moluccas." 



