His Boat Stuck Fast, And When
The Morning Broke, He Was Surrounded By Two Hundred Moors.
Unable to
extricate himself, or to contend against such mighty odds, Gonzales and
seven of his men were slain; the other five made their escape by swimming
to the ship, which immediately set sail for Lagos.
The clumsy
denomination of _Angra de Gonzales da Cintra_, to this bay, still
commemorates the death of this commander.
In the subsequent year, 1446, Don Henry sent out a small squadron of
three caravels, under the command of Antonio Gonzales, assisted by Diego
Alfonso, and by Gomez Perez, the kings pilot. They were directed to
proceed for the Rio del Ouro, and were strictly enjoined to cultivate the
friendship of the natives by every possible means, to establish peace
with them and to use their utmost endeavours to convert them to the
Christian religion; among other instructions, they were urged to pass
unnoticed the insults or neglect of honour which they might experience
from the negroes. The Portuguese endeavoured, but ineffectually, to
conciliate the natives, and to remove the angry prejudices which they
entertained. They returned to Lagos with no other fruit from their voyage
except one negro whom they had received in ransom, and an aged Moor who
requested permission to accompany them to Portugal. One of their own
companions, Juan Fernandez, from an ardent desire to procure information
for the prince, got leave to remain among the Assanhaji Arabs.
Next year, 1447, Antonio Mendez was ordered to return in search of Juan
Fernandez, from whose inquisitive disposition much information was
expected.
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