Itinerary: Voyage to the East or Portuguese Indies

to the East or Portuguese Indies.

Chapter 2.

Concerning the Beginning of my Voyage or Navigation to the East or Portuguese Indies.

A Preacher is now found to be appointed Archbishop of the Indies.

While staying in Lisbon and seeing that trade was diminished due to the recent discord between the Portuguese and the Spaniards Following the death of King Sebastian, Philip II of Spain claimed the Portuguese throne in 1580, leading to a period of political tension and the "Union of the Crowns.", and seeking an opportunity by which I might satisfy my desire to travel; it happened at that same time that there was in Lisbon a Monk of the Order of Saint Dominic named Don Frey Vicente da Fonseca, of noble descent. Because of his great learning, he had for a long time been the Preacher to King Sebastian of Portugal King Sebastian (r. 1557–1578) disappeared at the Battle of Alcácer Quibir; his death triggered the succession crisis., with whom he was taken captive in Africa in the great battle in which the said Don Sebastian was killed. He was later ransomed, and as King Philip Philip II of Spain (Philip I of Portugal). recognized his ability and knowledge, he held him in high esteem, allowing him to keep the same office of Preacher to His Majesty. Desiring to advance his rank, and seeing that the Seat of the Archbishopric of all the Indies stood vacant, the King provided him with that office and obtained confirmation from the Pope of Rome. Although the monk initially refused, fearing the dreadful and long journey, the King persuaded him that it was for his service and will, promising to release him from there within four or five years and provide him with an improved position in Portugal; with this promise, he accepted the journey.

Jan Huygen joins the service of the newly appointed Archbishop to proceed with his journey to the Indies.

Considering my own situation, I diligently sought a way to enter into service with this Archbishop and undertake the journey with him. This succeeded to my advantage because my brother—who was weary of following the Court—had obtained from his master (who was a Secretary to His Majesty) an office as a clerk original: "schzibijn" (escrivão); a ship's writer or clerk responsible for documentation and cargo manifests. on one of the ships that was to sail to the East Indies that year. This occasion served me well in reaching my goal, as my brother's master was a very close friend of the aforementioned newly chosen Archbishop. Through him, with little persuasion, I was received into the service of the same Archbishop and enrolled among others, who numbered over forty in total. Because my brother had the choice of all the ships, he chose the ship prepared for the Archbishop so that we might better assist one another. Thus we made ourselves ready to begin our voyage, being in a company of five ships, each of the size of seven or eight hundred lasts A "last" was a unit of weight or volume, roughly equivalent to two metric tons.. Their names were: the Admiral Saint Philip; the Vice-Admiral Saint James. These two were new ships, the first named after the King and the other after his son; the others were the Saint Lawrence and the Saint Francis, and our ship was named the Saint Savior original: "S. Salvador"..

On April 8th, 1583, the fleet set out from Lisbon for Madeira.

On the 8th of April, being Good Friday, in the year 1583—which is usually the time that the ships set sail, a day or four or five earlier or later—we all together sailed out from the River of Lisbon to sea, setting our course for the Island of Madeira and placing our affairs in God's hands, without whose favor and help we can achieve nothing, and all our intentions are in vain.

Chapter 3.

Regulations of the same Ships on their Voyages and Passage to the Indies.

The ships to the Indies each have about 400 or 500 men aboard.

Few wares are sent to the Indies, but mostly pieces of eight to pay for the pepper.

The whole company of the India-farers must be registered and mustered in Portugal before going to sea.

The ships generally have between 400 and 500 persons each, sometimes fewer, at times more, as the time offers, including sailors and soldiers. On the outbound journey, they are lightly laden, carrying some pipes A "pipe" was a large cask used for liquids, especially wine or oil. of oil and wine, and some other merchandise belonging to private individuals; otherwise, they carry nothing but ballast and victuals for the crew. However, the most important thing sent to the Indies are Pieces of Eight original: "Kealen van achten" (Realen van achten); Spanish silver coins that were the international reserve currency of the era.. The capital or principal sum belonging to the contractors of the pepper trade The pepper trade was a royal monopoly often leased to private "contractors" (pachters). is sent every year in a great sum of money to buy the pepper there. Much money is also sent by private merchants, as this is the best "ware" one can take to the Indies, since they profit on the Pieces of Eight by over forty percent. As soon as the ships are out of the river and reach the sea, all the people on each ship are mustered—both the sailors and those who come as soldiers. Those who are absent and remained on land, though they appear in the Register, are noted by the ship's Master so that they may later face their fine in Portugal; for they must all provide a guarantor. The goods found in the ship belonging to those who are absent are immediately sold at auction to the highest bidder, and an inventory is made and placed in deposit in the Captain's hands; the same is done for anyone who dies. But little of this reaches the rightful hands; most of it is embezzled.

Explanation of the ship's wages.

The Master and the Pilot receive 120 Milreis original: "Milreps"; the Milréis was the Portuguese currency unit. 1,000 réis. for the entire voyage there and back as their salary. Each Milreis is worth 7 Carolus guilders in Dutch money. Because the accounting of Portuguese money is all arranged with one kind of currency called Reis, which is the smallest coin they have, even very large sums are always calculated in Reis. 160 Reis is as much as one Carolus guilder, or 4 silver Reals; so that two Reis are 4 pennies, and one Reis is two pennies in Hollandish money. I wished to provide this explanation to better understand the calculation of the "Reis" used in Portugal. Returning to our subject: the Master and Pilot each receive 24 Milreis in advance. Besides this, they have their cabins both below and above in the ship, which they rent out for great profit, in addition to their allowances and wages; and all other officials and sailors receive pay in proportion. And although they receive money, nonetheless it costs them more in bribes than the wages themselves before they obtain them; which are all given by favor and not according to merit by the Proveador, who is the chief of the King's Admiralty. However, there is no fixed ordinance for this salary, as it is changed daily; I speak only of the salary that was commonly given according to the ordinance of our ship and the arrival of that year. The Counter-Master, who is the Boatswain, has 50 Milreis for his total salary and receives 10 Milreis in advance. The Guardiaen, who is the Boatswain's Mate, receives 1400 Reis per month and...