and leaves Cananore, 20th Nov.
Reaches Melinde, 8th Jan., 1499.
- tuguese ships took their departure from Cananore
on the 20th of November, 1498, but finding that the monsoons were not then sufficiently set in to be favourable for the homeward voyage, they anchored at "Angediva,"[1] an island on the coast of Malabar, where there were good water springs, and where they "enjoyed themselves much." After remaining there ten days, they departed on their voyage to Melinde. They were, however, delayed for a time by corsairs, fitted out at Goa, in the hope that the Portuguese ships might be captured by stratagem, a hope which was rudely demolished; the fleet of "fustas" were entirely destroyed, and Vasco de Gama arrived, homeward bound, without further molestation or misfortune, safely at the African port (Melinde), on the 8th January, 1499.
Having been received with great rejoicings, De Gama, in reply to the affectionate welcome of the king, made a glowing speech, in which by the way he remarked that "the king, our sovereign, will send many ships and men to seek India, which will be all of it his, he will confer great benefits on his friends, and you will be the one most esteemed above them all, like a brother of his own; and when you see his power, then your heart will feel entire satisfaction."
A letter, written "on a leaf of gold," was then prepared for the king of Portugal, in which all that had taken place at Melinde was mentioned, with many requests that the Christian sovereign
- ↑ Correa, p. 239. The termination of the name (like Laccadive, Maldive, &c.) shows it to have been an island, but its exact situation has not been determined.
