November 1488



When we return to the first bay that we landed on Africa, I am amazed only three of the nine men that I lost have survived. I am glad that they still have a supply ship. When I go in, I cannot stop vomiting. The ship is rotting and worms are eating our precious foods. It smells like rotting human body. Disgusted, I go out in the forest to create fire. I think I need to burn that ship down so no one becomes ill because of that. Now the ship is useless. It is better to burn down than keeping it and intoxicating the water. After burning the rotten supply ship, we sail to the western gulf of the Africa. When I look at an island at the gulf with my binocular, I find several people desperately waving at me. I am worried if they are foreign invaders; however, I decide to trust them. When I approach them, they start to speak in Portuguese. One of those people, Duarte Pacheco, explains that they are here because their ship is wrecked. Merrily, I let them join our crew. I hope we return Portugal as soon as possible.

No comments: