33. The New Trade-Route 33. Die neue Handelsroute 33. La nouvelle route commerciale 33. La nuova rotta commerciale 33.新しい貿易ルート 33. A nova rota comercial 33. Новый торговый маршрут 33. Yeni Ticaret Yolu 33. 新贸易路线

"Then from ancient gloom emerged The rising world of trade. "Poi dall'antica oscurità emerse il mondo nascente del commercio. " —THOMSON. It was some time before the rejoicings subsided which had burst over Portugal on the safe return of Vasco da Gama, who had been laden with every possible honour. Passò un po' di tempo prima che si placasse l'esultanza che si era scatenata in Portogallo per il ritorno sano e salvo di Vasco da Gama, che era stato caricato di tutti gli onori possibili. All eyes now turned to far-off India, even though the way lay through stormy seas, even though it was a well-known fact that Vasco da Gama had lost his brother and more than half his men in the perilous voyage. Tutti gli occhi erano ora rivolti alla lontana India, anche se la strada da percorrere era quella del mare in tempesta, anche se era risaputo che Vasco da Gama aveva perso suo fratello e più della metà dei suoi uomini nel pericoloso viaggio. The pepper, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and mace brought back from Calicut had yielded immense profits at home, and men were eager to go and get more. Il pepe, i chiodi di garofano, la cannella, lo zenzero e il macis portati da Calicut avevano fruttato immensi profitti in patria e gli uomini erano ansiosi di andare a prenderne altri.

So the king fitted out another expedition, and gave the command of it to Pedro Cabral, with whom Bartholomew Diaz, the original discoverer of the Cape, was to sail. Il re preparò quindi un'altra spedizione e ne affidò il comando a Pedro Cabral, con il quale sarebbe salpato Bartolomeo Diaz, lo scopritore originario del Capo. Thirteen ships were well supplied and manned. Monks were to sail with the fleet in order to teach Christianity to the native Indians, while 1200 picked soldiers went in case of trouble. I monaci dovevano navigare con la flotta per insegnare il cristianesimo agli indiani nativi, mentre 1200 soldati scelti andavano in caso di problemi.

The fleet sailed from Lisbon on March 9, 1500. Cabral guided his ships past the Cape Verde Islands safely, and then for some reason, perhaps driven by stormy weather, he took a westerly course that he knew. Cabral guidò le sue navi oltre le isole di Capo Verde in tutta sicurezza e poi, per qualche motivo, forse spinto dal tempo burrascoso, prese una rotta verso ovest che conosceva. On and on he sailed, till a month later he found himself on an unknown coast in an unknown land. Continuò a navigare, finché un mese dopo si ritrovò su una costa sconosciuta in una terra sconosciuta. It was Brazil, in South America. But he named it Santa Cruz, and took formal possession of it in the name of the King of Portugal. Sending a ship home with the news, and some gorgeous paroquets from the country, he then made his way to India. Inviando a casa una nave con la notizia e alcuni splendidi paroquets del paese, si diresse poi verso l'India.

Two months after he left Lisbon he reached the Cape. As the ships sailed round the southern point they encountered a terrific storm. The waves rolled mountains high, the wind whistled and shrieked, and four ships foundered. Le onde si sono sollevate alte come montagne, il vento ha fischiato e strillato e quattro navi hanno fatto naufragio. Among them was one commanded by Diaz, the man who had revealed the secret of the Cape kept through so many long ages. Tra questi ce n'era uno comandato da Diaz, l'uomo che aveva rivelato il segreto del Capo custodito per tante lunghe epoche. For him it was indeed a Cape of Storms. Per lui era davvero un Capo delle Tempeste. With six ships only, Cabral pushed on to Mozambique, and thence to Calicut. He entered into a commercial treaty with the Indians, but treachery was at work and a number of Portuguese were massacred. Stipulò un trattato commerciale con gli indiani, ma il tradimento era all'opera e alcuni portoghesi furono massacrati.

Cabral returned to Lisbon with only three ships out of the thirteen that started, for he lost one on the reefs near Melinda, laden with spices from India. Cabral tornò a Lisbona con solo tre navi delle tredici partite, perché ne perse una sugli scogli vicino a Melinda, carica di spezie provenienti dall'India.

"Sire, my inclination prompts me to make another voyage," said Vasco da Gama one day after the return of Cabral, whose doubtful fortune had disappointed the king. "Wherefore I entreat your Highness to allow it for your service. " "Perciò prego Vostra Altezza di concederlo al vostro servizio". " The king was delighted, and Vasco da Gama was soon afloat again with thirteen ships, ten of which were ships of war, for this was to be an expedition of revenge on the King of Calicut for his double dealing with the Portuguese.

"I feel in my heart a great wish to go and make havoc of the King of Calicut, so that I may take vengeance on him, and that your Highness may be much pleased," were among Gama's last words to his Christian sovereign. "Sento nel mio cuore un grande desiderio di andare a fare scempio del re di Calicut, in modo da potermi vendicare di lui, e che Vostra Altezza ne sia molto contenta", furono le ultime parole di Gama al suo sovrano cristiano. It was a sorry way to carry the message of peace to the natives of India. Si trattava di un modo triste per portare il messaggio di pace ai nativi dell'India.

With banners and standards, and crosses of Christ on every sail, the ships started on March 25, 1502. They had a tremendous storm while rounding the Cape, which separated the fleet, but all save one turned up at Mozambique. It was August before they reached Melinda, where the king received Gama as an old friend, and loaded him with presents. Sailing on to India, the Portuguese commander took a horrible revenge on the Indian traders, whom he wished to impress with the power and the majesty of the great Christian monarch whom he served.

He ordered that some eight hundred merchants, captured in peaceful commerce, should have their hands, ears, and noses cut off, their feet tied together, and be placed in heaps on board ship, covered over with dry mats and leaves. Then the ship was set on fire with her sails set, and so drifted to shore. Poi la nave fu incendiata con le vele spiegate, e così andò alla deriva verso la riva.

No wonder the King of Calicut prepared a fleet to sail against this cruel Portuguese commander. But he was no match for well-equipped ships from the West. More revenge and cruelty followed, until in the end Vasco da Gama terrified the merchants into submission, left a Portuguese colony on the Indian coast, and sailed for home with ten ships laden with wealth from India.

Great were the king's rejoicings when he saw Vasco da Gama again. "You shall be Admiral of the Indian Seas for ever," he cried. Some years later Vasco da Gama went out to India again, and there he died, far away in the country he had discovered for Portugal.

He had rendered great services to his king and to the whole world, but the glory of his fame will ever be stained by the remembrance of his cruel oppression of the traders on the western coast.