34 
AFRICA AND ITS EXPLORATION. 
provisions of all kinds had been made, such as flour, 
wine, vegetables, drugs, and artillery; the personnel of 
the expedition consisted of the best sailors, the cleverest 
pilots, and the most experienced captains. 
G-ama, who had received the title of Capitam mor, 
hoisted his flag upon the Sam-Gabriel of 120 tons. His 
brother Paulo da Gama was on board the Sam-Raphael 
of 100 tons. A caravel of 50 tons, the Berrio , so named 
in memory of the pilot Berrio, who had sold her to 
Emmanuel I., was commanded by an experienced sailor, 
Nicolo Coelho, while Pedro Nunes was the captain of a 
large barque, laden with provisions and merchandise, 
destined for exchange with the natives of the countries 
which should be visited. Pero de Alemquer, who had 
been pilot to Bartholomew Diaz, was to regulate the 
course of the vessels. The crews, including ten crimi¬ 
nals who were put on board to be employed on any 
dangerous service, amounted to 160 persons. What 
feeble means these, what almost absurd resources, com¬ 
pared with the grandeur of the mission which these men 
were to accomplish ! 
On the 8th of July, at sunrise, Gama advanced 
towards the vessels, followed by his officers through an 
immense crowd of people. Around him were a number 
of monks and religious persons, who chanted sacred 
hymns, and besought Heaven’s protection for the 
voyagers. This departure from Rastello must have been 
a singularly moving scene ; all, whether actors or spec¬ 
tators, mingling their chants, their cries, their adieux, 
and their tears, while the sails, filled by a favourable 
breeze, bore away Gama and the fortune of Portugal 
towards the open sea. A large caraval and a smaller 
barque, which were bound for Mina under the command 
of Bartholomew Diaz, sailed in company with Gama’s 
fleet. On the following Saturday, the ships were in 
sight of the Canaries, and passed the night windward of 
Lancerota. When they arrived parallel with the Rio de 
Ouro, a thick fog separated Paul da Gama, Coelho, and 
Diaz from the rest of the fleet, but they joined again 
near the Cape de Yerd Islands, which were soon reached. 
