314 AITENDIX. 



torians docs not permit us to fix precisely anything; hut ihere is 

 here a conjecture ivherehy the truth may he found., for the year of this 

 discovery is restricted between the year 1506 by the voyage of 

 Fernand Soares, and the year 1507 by the voyage of Tristan da Cunha. 



The Third Circumstance. — The fleet of fourteen sail of Tristan 

 da Cunha and of Alfonso d'Albuqiierquc arrived at Mozambique 

 in November 1506, consequently at tl)e commencement of the 

 contrary (North-East) monsoon, which prevented him from fol- 

 lowing his course. We find again a part of these fourteen ships 

 at Madagascar on the Sth December 1506. 



Some days afterwards Alfonso d'Albuquerque, next Tristan da 

 Cunha, returned to Mozambique. The dates fail to fix the time 

 that each of them stayed there before proceeding to Melinda, for 

 commencing together their operations. Osorius fixes one useful 

 date ; they arrived at Brava " at a time when the wind arose and 

 a fierce hurricane", which indicates the time of the change of 

 monsoon, about the 1st May 1507. If we calculate back, before 

 the 1st May, the time necessary to visit the Kiug of Melinda, and 

 the expedition against the cities of Oja and Lamo, in estimating 

 fully this time at two months, it is seen that we can only follow 

 the Portuguese fleet to the beginning of March. Castanheda says 

 that Alfonso d'Albuquerque left Mozambique in February ; and 

 considering the adverse monsoon, the more we dismiss this 

 juncture the more we shall be in the truth. Let us admit, then, 

 the end of February. Until the month of March the Portuguese 

 historians only relate the most important of the cruises of some 

 ships ; they say nothing of the less important incidents which are 

 wanting. 



BaiTos mentions three ships, named Galega, Santa-Maria, and 

 Cirne. 



The ship Gcdega is mentioned {^Decade II, liv. 7, chapter 2) 

 as having arrived from India at Mozambique in 15lL'; it had 

 remained there in tlie impossibility of sailing. This sliip was per- 

 haps one of the fleet of Tristan da Cunha. 



The Scuita-2Iaria des Virtudes was the ship commanded by Jean 

 Comes d'xVbreu. There was again in this fleet another ship, the 

 Sajita-JIarta, commanded by Alvaro Fernandes. 



