When the general had returned thanks to God for his preservation and success, he sent notice of his arrival to the king, who sent Diego de Sylva y Menesis, Lord of Portugalete, and many other gentlemen, to conduct him honourably to court, which they did through a prodigious concourse of people, eager to see the man who had made so wonderful a voyage, and whom they had long thought dead.  Being come into the presence, the king honoured him as one who, by the discovery of the Indies had done so much for the glory of God, for the honour and profit of the king of Portugal, and for the perpetual fame of the Portuguese name in the world.  The king made him afterwards a knight, and gave him and his heirs permission to bear the royal arms of Portugal, as also to set at the foot of the escutcheon two does, which are called gamas in the Portuguese language.  He also gave him a perpetual pension or rent-charge of 300,000 rees[76] yearly, out of the tythe fish in the village of Sinis, in which he was born, and a promise of being made lord of that village; and till these grants were executed in form, he allowed him 1000 crowns a-year; which, after the royal grants were made, reverted to the house of the Contratation of the Indies.  It was also granted, that when the trade with India should be established, he might bring home spices to the value of 200 ducats yearly, without paying any duty.  He also gave him other possessions and rents, and a note of remembrance or promise to make him a lord[77].  Nicholas Coello was promoted to be a gentleman of the royal household, and received possessions and rents to bear his charges[78].  The king himself, in consequence of these discoveries, assumed the new title, of Lord of the conquest and navigation of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, and the Indies.

[1] By Mr Clarke this person is named Goncalo Nunez.

[2] Mr Clarke alleges, that Lichefield, our original translator, has
    fallen into an error in this date, which ought to have been the 28th
    July.—­E.

[3] If Saturday were the 5th July, on which the fleet sailed from Lisbon,
    the 3d of August must have been on Thursday.  But it does not seem
    necessary to insist upon such minute critical accuracy; which, besides,
    is unattainable.—­E.

[4] This strange expression probably means, that Gama stretched directly
    across the gulf of Guinea, not creeping as usual along the coast, and
    endeavoured to make a direct course for the Cape of Good Hope.—­E.

[5] Our old English translator, Lichefield, strangely mistakes in calling
    this place the island of Sancta Haelena; which is assuredly St Elena
    bay, in lat. 32 deg. 40’ S. It has since been sometimes named St Martin’s
    bay, but the proper and general name is the bay of St Elena, the S. W.
    point of entry being called St Martin’s Point.—­E.

[6] Perhaps the Berg river, at the bottom of St Elena bay.—­E.