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68 C H A P T E R II My voyage to the East Indies in the company of my brother in the year 1592 Finding myself in Lisbon with such few resources and subject to the work and misery of Europe, my brother and I decided to journey to remote lands where the cost of living was more economical. We chose the East Indies, and to this end we banded together with two companions, one of whom was called Luís López, and the other Christóval Homen. We assembled our provisions by scrimping and saving. Finally, we embarked as soldiers on a carrack that was called Nossa Senhora de Nazaré, captained by Brás Correia, and the captain-major of the entire fleet was called Francisco de Melo Caniveado. While boarding I found myself in quite a predicament; it so happened that my brother had already embarked with our companions and the carracks were setting sail, owing to an oversight I was still on land without knowing which carrack my brother was sailing on. I did not speak either Portuguese or Spanish, which was a great pity. I went down to the beach and saw that many people were embarking on a caravel for the carracks, but I did not know to which carrack they were heading. I went aboard with them—God willed that the caravel was taking those people  Ms. fol. 5 verso–9 verso.  Ms. here and subsequently: Índia Oriental. See the list of place names (sur).  Meaning: Our Lady of Nazareth. 01-02 MJdC.indd 68 10/18/13 10:45:14 AM 69 Jacques de Coutre’s Life in Southeast Asia: Chapter II to the said carrack, the [Nossa Senhora de] Nazaré—we reached the vessel. Seeing that there was nobody who could understand me so that I could ask which carrack this was, and nor did I know which carrack I was boarding, I climbed aboard and found a labyrinth of boxes and people without being able to see a single familiar face. I sat down on a ship’s beam feeling very melancholic since I thought that my brother had sailed aboard another carrack. After a long while had passed I saw Christóval Homen; I was overjoyed—as one can well imagine—who took me to where my brother was. He was sitting on a crate, with a lot of refreshments, fruit, bread and other things, all piled together in a heap as was customary in the case of poor soldiers. He was as happy as a lark to see me again. There were five carracks going to India, apart from another 50 large and small baxeles, some of which were going to the islands of Madeira, others to the Canary Islands and to Cape Verde, Guinea and Brazil. We went to the Cape [of Good Hope] in a convoy on account of the English fleet that was within sight. They did not dare to come near us. As soon as we lost sight of the English fleet, each ship from our company followed their own route and we then reached the vicinity of Guinea, where we ran into an area with no wind and rough seas, which was why our main mast broke, along with the cebadera. Finally, everything was repaired to the greatest extent possible. We crossed the equator with the trade winds, and after passing the Abrolhos —as they are called—people began to fall sick, so much so that we had to throw three or four corpses into the sea daily until we passed the Cape of Good Hope.10 We also sailed pass the land of Natal11 where the seas were tempestuous, but by now there were fewer people dying  Ms. entena.  The route described here is the standard route taken by vessels outbound from India in the age of sail. De Coutre listed Brazil before Guinea and that is probably an oversight on his part or a copy error made by his son Esteban. The sequence of these two names has been reversed here in the translation in order to match geographic realities.  Ms. en conserva.  Ms. lavadera. Probably the cebadera, the bowsprit yard. See also the glossary (cebadera).  Ms. vientos generales. The monsoon or trade winds. See also the glossary (vientos generales).  Ms. Abrollos. 10 Near the southern tip of Africa. See also the list of place names (Cabo de Boa Esperansa). 11 See the list of place names (Natal). 01-02...

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