r I ^HERE exists an anonymous narrative of the first voyage 

 JL of Vasco da Gama to India under the title Roteiro da 

 Viagem de Vasco da Gama em MCCCCXCVII. Although it is 

 called a roteiro, it is in fact a purely personal and popular 

 account of the voyage, and does not contain either sailing direc- 

 tions or a systematic description of all the ports which were 

 visited, as one might expect in a roteiro. There is no reason to 

 believe that it was written by Vasco da Gama. An officer in 

 such high authority would not be likely to write his narrative 

 anonymously. The faulty and variable orthography of the 

 roteiro also renders improbable the hypothesis that Vasco da 

 Gama was the author. 



The journal of the first voyage of Columbus contains many 

 allusions to the birds which were seen in the course of it by the 

 great discoverer. In this respect the roteiro of the first voyage 

 of Vasco da Gama resembles it. The journal of Columbus is 

 the earliest record of an important voyage of discovery which 

 recognises natural history as an aid to navigators, the roteiro 

 is the next. 



The author of the roteiro notes that birds resembling large 

 herons were seen in the month of August, 1497, at which time, I 

 opine, the vessels of Da Gama were not far from the Gulf of 

 Guinea, or were, perhaps, making their way across that gulf. 



