I Was In A Ship Called The St Vincent, Belonging To One Bartholomew A Florentine, Who Was A Citizen Of Lisbon.

She was a vessel of great size, and carried seven hundred tons of spices of all kinds.

We passed the island of St Helena, near which we saw certain fishes of such enormous bigness that one of them was as large as a great house. When they rise above water, or gape or yawn, the upper jaw covers all the forehead, as it were a soldier in shining armour, and when they swim along the surface of the deep, the forehead seems three paces broad. As they swam about near the ships, they raised such a commotion in the sea that we discharged all our artillery to drive them away. We soon afterwards came to an island named _Ascension,_ where we saw many birds about the size of ducks, which were so stupid that we took them with our hands, yet immediately afterwards they shewed wonderful fierceness. In that island we saw no outer living creatures besides these birds, which seemed as if they had never seen mankind before, and there were prodigious quantities of fish around its shores.

Having sailed many days beyond that island, we seemed to have returned again into our own world, as the north star, the guide of mariners, appeared to us. Here we have a good opportunity of refuting the opinion of those who think that it is impossible to sail in the regions of the antartic pole by the guidance of the north star; for it is undeniable that the Portuguese sail by the aid of the north polar star, although entirely hidden from their sight in the antartic region of the sea. Yet they frequently refresh the virtue of the needle by means of that stone which ever naturally points towards the north. A few days afterwards we arrived at a fair region, in which are seen many islands called the _Astures_ Acores, so named from the multitude of that species of eagles or hawks which are called acores or _azores_. These islands are variously named, as _Pico_, _Martii_, _Corvo_, _Flores_, _St George_, _Gratiosa_ and _Fyal_. From thence we went to the island of _Tercera_, where we remained two days. All these are very fertile, and have abundance of all the necessaries of life.

Departing from thence, we came in seven days sailing to _Luxburne_ or _Ulisbona_, [_Lisbon_] in Portugal. On my arrival I was carried to the presence of the king, whose hand I had the honour to kiss, and with most humble reverence I thanked his majesty for the great favour I had found with his officers and subjects in India. He entertained me very graciously at his court, until I had informed him fully of all that I had observed in my peregrinations in various parts of India. Some days afterwards, I shewed his majesty the letters-patent by which his viceroy in India had honoured me with the order of knighthood, and humbly requested of his majesty to confirm the same under his great seal, which he was graciously pleased to grant.

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