Gama, Vasco da

GAMA, VASCO da. - Portuguese navigator, b. in 1469 at Sines in Estremadura, of a noble family that had already produced valiant men of the sea and of war. Very little is known of his life before 1495, the year in which he was designated by John II to complete the enterprise of Bartolomeu Dias, who seven years earlier had discovered the southern extremity of Africa. But owing to the king's death, the expedition was deferred: only in 1496 did John's successor, Manuel, take up the plan again: five small ships fitted out by the Florentine house of the Sernigi, of which a branch resided in Lisbon, carefully equipped and provisioned, departed from Belém on the Tagus estuary on 25 March 1497.

Dias accompanied the fleet as far as Cape Verde. On 22 Nov. the southern extremity of Africa was reached, the Cabo tormentoso of Dias, Cape of Good Hope according to the auspicious name imposed on it by the Portuguese sovereign; on Christmas Day the shore of the country today called Natal was reached, then the expedition continued, by way of Delagoa and Mozambique, as far as Mombasa, where it was received hostilely by the inhabitants, influenced by the class of Arab merchants. Better was the reception received at Melinde, whence on 24 Apr. 1498, under the guidance of a skilled local pilot, the crossing of the Indian Ocean was begun which was to lead the ships to Calicut (18 May) in the State of the royal Samurin (Zamorin). The initially favourable reception then turned hostile, again through the influence of the Arabs; nevertheless the expedition was able to take on a good cargo of precious goods and, having set out again on 5 Oct., after a difficult crossing of the Ocean, touched at Melinde again, doubled the Cape of Good Hope only on 20 May 1499, diverted as far as the Azores and in mid-Sept. returned to Lisbon. The expedition, although it had suffered grave losses (even the leader's brother, Paolo da G., had died during the return, at Terceira in the Azores) had fully attained its objectives and received a grandiose, well-merited welcome. Appointed admiral of the Indies, V. da G. received in 1502 the command of a new expedition, during which, after carrying out harsh reprisals against elements hostile to the Portuguese in India, he laid the foundations for the construction of a first Portuguese factory. But on his return he lost interest in colonial enterprises, withdrawing to Evora, until John III again had recourse to him to restore Portuguese influence in India, compromised after the death of Albuquerque: he set out in 1524 in command of a powerful fleet with the title and powers of viceroy, but a few months after his arrival he met his death at Cochin, at Christmas 1524. His enterprise inspired, as is well known, the poem of Camoens, The Lusiads; it is commemorated by a great votive temple erected at Belém.

V. da G. left no personal account of his expedition: the narrative of it is derived chiefly from Portuguese historians, such as Barros and Castanheda. There also exists the account of a Florentine gentleman who witnessed the return to Lisbon; furthermore the simple but faithful logbook (roteiro) of a sailor, and a few other sources of lesser importance.

Roberto Almagia