NO. 59. — 1907.] PORTUGUESE IN CEYLON. 



317 



of the Augustine order, delivered a lengthy oration, entirely 

 in laudation of the pope, to whom he ascribed not a little of 

 the glory of the event (see B 5). That the news was received 

 in Venice with anything but pleasure, we can well imagine, 

 though on that point the Venetian diarist is discreetly silent 

 (see B 6). It is greatly to be regretted that the instructions 

 issued by Dom Manuel in 1510, for the painting of a set of 

 pictures commemorating the chief discoveries made during 



Joao da Nova's ship, the Flordela mar, being in a very leaky condition, 

 the cargo had to be discharged ; wherefore, says the writer of the 

 Com. of Af. Dalb. (i. 33), Tristao da Cunha "bought a merchant ship, of 

 which Andre Dias (who was afterwards Alcaide of Lisbon) was captain 

 and factor, and ordered all the cargo of the Flor de la mar to be stowed 

 in it, and gave the command of it to Antonio de Saldanha, and sent it 

 to Portugal, and in company with it a ship of Fernao de Loronha, of 

 which the captain was Diogo Mendez Correa." According to Bar. 

 (II. i. ii.) the cargo was transferred to the Sancta Maria, a ship of 

 Tristao da Cunha' s fleet, the captain of which, Alvaro Fernandes, had 

 died. Andre Dias was the ship's factor (see Cast. ii. c. xxx.). Cast., 

 Cor., and Albuquerque (Cartas i. 5, 417) call her "the ship from Lagos." 

 With respect to the other ship I am puzzled. We have seen above that 

 the Madalena, Captain Diogo Fernandes Correa, had to remain at 

 Mozambique and discharge her cargo ; and we might infer it was she 

 that accompanied the Sancta Maria, and that Mendez " in the above 

 extract was an error for " Fernandez." But Cor. (i. 719) mentions a 

 Diogo Mendes Correa who had come out to be factor of Coulam, but who 

 returned to Portugal in disgust because the viceroy would not give him 

 the factorship of Cochin. This, however, would seem to have been in 

 1507 (see the viceroy's letter in Cor. i. 908). And yet a Diogo Mendes 

 (Correa ?) did apparently accompany Antonio de Saldanha back to 

 Portugal, as will be seen from the list of letters which the latter carried , 

 the summaries of which are printed in the Cartas. One of these 

 (ii. 390) is headed " Remembrances that Diogo Mendes retained of his 

 letter " (evidently a letter that had miscarried). Among the letters 

 brought to Portugal by Antonio de Saldanha were the following : — 

 From Albuquerque of 10 November 1506 (i. 417, where " 1507 " 

 is an error), another of 6 February 1507 (text at i. 1-6, and sum. 

 at i. 417), another of same date (i. 416), another of 14 February 

 1507 (i. 417) ; from Pero Vaz d'Orta, factor of Tristao da Cunha's 

 fleet, of 4 March 1507 (iii. 277) ; and from Joao da Nova (quoted 

 above) of 5 March 1507 (ii. 397). This last date shows us that 

 Antonio de Saldanha must have set sail from Mozambique early in 

 March 1507 ; and Bar. tells us (II. rv. iii.) that he reached Portugal in 

 August, and was favourably received by the king in Abrantes (of. B 3, 

 B 4, infra), but did not get what he asked for — the carrying out of the 

 " discovery " of Madagascar. 



D 2 



