OF ACCOMPANYING ANIMALS AND PLANTS. 845 



Passing a bay beyond, called by him " De los vaqueros " on account of the great herds of cattle, he 

 touched at a small island named by him " Santa Cruz ; " entered the mouth of a river, named by him 

 "Del infante; " — and after sailing some distance Eastward, returned, and "May 1487" (Humb. 

 cosm. iv.) reached the Southern puint of the continent, which he named cape " Tormentoso ; " a name 

 afterwards changed to cape of "Good Hope." 



The '■ vaqueros " having herds of cattle were of course Hottentot tribes : the animal having reached 

 them through the neighbouring Caffers, who call a cow "go" — (Thunb. trav. iv. 10). The Hotten- 

 tots are further described by Thunberg as not cultivating the soil ; carrying on neither war nor com- 

 merce with remote neighbours ; having no kind of money but-exchanging articles directly, or bartering; 

 having no calendar nor new year's day, but reckoning their age by the annual flowering of certain bulb- 

 ous plants ; possessing two musical instruments, the " kora " and " rabekin ; " burying old people alive ; 

 the custom of circumcision in his day becoming obsolete. 



"The same year" (Humb. iii. 8), on the Mexican table-land, building of the stone teocalli, or 

 pyramidal mound, by the emperor Ahuitzotl. 



First edition of the " Margarita philosophica," an encyclopasdic work by Father Reisch (Humb. 

 cosm.). 



1487 A. D. (= " 1412 an. jav.," Raffles xi.), Pangeran Sabrang Lor succeeded at Demak by his 

 brother Pangeran Tranggana, third sultan of Java. 



" May " (Major ind. voy. p. lxxxii, and M. Russel 127), under instructions from John II. of Portu- 

 gal Pedro de Covilham leaving Lisbon for Egypt and the Red Sea. From Aden he proceeded to 

 Calicut and Goa, being the " first " Portuguese " who had sailed on the Indian Ocean." — Crossing to 

 Sofala, he obtained information respecting the Southern termination of Africa, and returning as far as 

 Egypt transmitted home the intelligence, That ships from Guinea on arriving "in the Eastern ocean, 

 their best direction must be to enquire for Sofala, and the Island of the Moon " (Madagascar). After 

 a visit to Ormuz, Covilham entered Abyssinia, where he was cordially received by king Iscander and 

 conducted to the royal residence at Shoa, but was either persuaded or compelled to remain in the 

 country: he married, held highly important posts, welcomed his countrymen on the arrival of an 

 embassy "in 1525," and died after a residence of "thirty-three years." 



" In this year " (Markham p. liii), accession of Hosein Meerza as sultan at Herat in Persia. He 

 encouraged Literature, and his court was frequented by the poets Jami and Hatafi, and the historians 

 Mirkhond and Khondemir. — He died " in 1506." 



His grand vizier Ali Shir Beg composed a poem in the Toorki language, also wrote a complete 

 prosody — (Markham p. liii). 



" The same year " (Lubke and Lutrow), in Spain, building of the chapel of Hernandez de Velasco 

 in the cathedral at Burgos. 



"In this year" (Markham edit. Ciez. p. 140), Cacha, last scyri of Quito defeated and slain in 

 battle by the Inca Huayna Capac ; who married his only daughter Paccha, annexing the country to 

 Peru. 



Nectandra cinnamomoides of the Eastern slope of the Equatorial Andes. The American cinna- 

 mon, a Lauraceous tree, cultivated in the region around Quito as early probably as this date, its dried 

 calyx brought also from forests to the Eastward and used as a spice, making a warm cordial drink — 

 (Ciez. xl.) : N. cinnamomoides was found by Gonzalo Pizarro "in 1539" growing wild in the district 

 of Quijos, East of Quito, this and El Dorado being the objects of his expedition (Ovied., Schomb. 

 edit. Ralegh, and Markham) ; but according to Garcilasso de la Vega, the product of the wild trees is 

 inferior to that obtained from cultivation by the natives : N. cinnamomoides was observed by Hum- 

 boldt and Bonpland n. g. ii. 169 cultivated about Mariquita, substituted for cinnamon in New Granada, 

 and called " canela " (Lindl.). From transported specimens, is termed " cinnamomum sylvestre ameri- 

 canum " by Seba thes. ii. pi. 84. 



" 1488 A. D. = 'houng-tchi,' 1st year of Hiao-tsoung-king-ti " or Hiao-tsoung II., " of the Ming " 

 or Twenty-third dynasty,* — (Chinese chron. table). 



* Salacia Sinensis of Tropical China. A small Hippocrateaceous tree called in Tagalo " matang- 

 olang " (Blanco) ; and from early times, its insipid berries eaten : — received by Linnajus from China; 

 and observed by Blanco in Malinta on the Philippines. 



Munchausia spcciosa of Tropical China and the Philippines. A beautiful flowering tree called in 

 Tagalo " banaba " (Blanco) ; and from early times, its tough durable timber much used : — observed 

 by Blanco frequent on the Philippines ; is known to grow also in China (Pers.). From transported 

 specimens, is termed " muncbhausia speciosa" by Linnaeus. 



Paspalum viliosum of the Philippines and Japan. A grass two feet high, called in Tagalo 

 "parag-is" (Blanco); and from early times, its root used by women medicinally: — observed by 

 Blanco on the Philippines. 



