Man upon the sea : or, a history of maritime adventure, exploration, and discovery, from the earliest ages to the present time ... . anuel thendelivered him the journal of Covillam, with such charts as werethen in existence, and letters to all the Indian potentates whohad become known to the Portuguese. Among these was ofcourse one addressed to the renowned Prester John. A map of Africa had been lately designed, in accordancewith the discoveries made by land, as we have mentioned, byCovillam. The accompanying specimen is a fac-simile of onewhich belonged to Juan de la Cosa—the pilot of Columbu
Man upon the sea : or, a history of maritime adventure, exploration, and discovery, from the earliest ages to the present time ... . anuel thendelivered him the journal of Covillam, with such charts as werethen in existence, and letters to all the Indian potentates whohad become known to the Portuguese. Among these was ofcourse one addressed to the renowned Prester John. A map of Africa had been lately designed, in accordancewith the discoveries made by land, as we have mentioned, byCovillam. The accompanying specimen is a fac-simile of onewhich belonged to Juan de la Cosa—the pilot of Columbus. 170 MAN UPON THE SEA. Upon it the principal cities are indicated by a roughly sketchedhouse or church; the government is denoted by a picture of aking, closely resembling the royal gentry in a pack of cards;while flags, planted at intervals, indicate boundary lines andfrontier posts. The winds are represented by fabulous divinitiessitting round the world upon leathern bottles, whose sides theyare pressing to force out the air. The celebrated statue of theCanaries is often seen flourishing his club at the top of his MAP OF AFRICA DRAWN IN THE YEAR 1497. Abyssinia figures with its Prester John, his head being adornedwith a brilliant mitre. Other kingdoms are marked out byportraits of their kings in richly embroidered costumes. Theinhabitants of Africa, in maps of the world, are represented asgiraffes, black men, and elephants. Portuguese camps are de-noted by colored tents, while groups of light cavalry, splendidlycaparisoned, dotting the territory at numerous points, indicatethat the Portuguese army is making the tour of that mysteriouscontinent. These quaint specimens of ohartographical art are, MAN UPON THE SEA. 171 in short, the faithful expression of the geographical science ofthe age. The fleet equipped for da Gamas voyage consisted of threeships and a caravel,—the San Gabriel, of one hundred andtwenty tons, commanded by da Gama, and piloted by PeroDalemquer,
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