The admiral was most anxious to despatch supplies and re-enforcements to his brother, and he succeeded in sending off two caravels in advance, under the command of Hernandez Coronel, who had been appointed chief magistrate of Espafiola.

Before setting out however, Budomel made me a present of a beautiful negress, about twelve years of age, who, he said, was meant to serve me in the cabin; and I received the gift, and sent her on board the caravel.

The Adelantado ordered a caravel to be sent round to Xaragua to be freighted with cotton and bread, and returned himself to Isabella after taking a cordial farewell of his native friends.

Longing to go in quest of this gold, I took my leave of Budomel, and repaired to the river Senegal, where I went on board the caravel and got under weigh, as soon as possible.

BOOK IX TO THE SAME CARDINAL LUDOVICO D'ARAGON Vincent Yañez Pinzon and his nephew Arias, who accompanied the Admiral Columbus on his first voyage as captains of two of the smaller vessels which I have above described as caravels, desirous of undertaking new expeditions and making fresh discoveries, built at their own expense four caravels in their native port of Palos, as it is called by the Spaniards.

When they saw the other caravels bearing down upon them, they dropped their oars, and taking up their bows, sent a flight of arrows on board.

By means of his spies, Pacheco got notice of the construction of these floating castles, and likewise that the enemy were preparing certain fireworks to set the caravels on fire.

The boats accordingly proceeded up the river for two miles, leaving the small caravel at anchor, and found the banks everywhere beautiful, with sixteen fathoms water.

One Cogeal, a Moor of Repelim who had been a great traveller, and had seen many warlike devices, proposed a new invention for attacking the caravels at the ford, which was considered to be perfectly irresistible.

They described Nicuesa as wandering aimlessly, after having lost his caravel in a storm, and that he was practically lost among salt marshes and desert coasts, being destitute of everything and reduced to a most miserable plight, since for seventy days he had eaten nothing but herbs and roots and drunk nothing but water, of which indeed he had not always enough.

At length, in 1440, Don Henry resumed his project of maritime discovery, and dispatched two caravels from Sagres, which were forced back by unfavourable weather, apparently without even reaching the coast of Africa.

After the departure of the Albuquerques from Cananor, Duarte Pacheco, who was left with the command in India, remained there for some time to take in provisions, having along with him the caravel commanded by Pedro Raphael, while the other ship of his small squadron, under the command of Diego Perez, was repairing at Cochin.

At the isle De las Garças they found another caravel, commanded by Lourenço Dias, which formed part of a considerable squadron that had been lately fitted out from Lagos.

About three next morning, the other three caravels that had remained at anchor without the river, sailed with the rising tide and a light breeze, into the river, to rejoin the small caravel, and to proceed up the river, hoping to meet with a more civilized people than had been seen in the almadias.

We now linked all the three caravels together, and dropped one anchor, which was sufficient for us all, as it was calm weather, and the current by no means strong.

Once on the other side of those mountains," he said, indicating with his finger another mountain range towards the south, "another sea which has never been sailed by your little boats [meaning the caravels] is visible.

In Astley, the following incident is mentioned: When off Cape Verd, Vasco de Gama met a caravel bound from La Mina, on the western coast of Africa, carrying much gold to Lisbon.

There, after cruising about in those waters for about a fortnight without falling in with a vessel of any sort, at the end of that time they overhauled a caravel bound from Puerto Bello to Cartagena, which vessel they took, and finding her loaded with nothing better than raw hides, scuttled and sunk her, being then about twenty leagues from the main of Cartagena.

Likewise, to prevent the caravels from being overlooked by the floating castles, one Peter Raphael built certain turrets on the decks of the caravels of spars set upright, in each of which seven or eight men had room to handle their arms.

In the meantime the master had reached the caravel, and made known the perilous state in which he had left the vessel.

As he could not get sight of the place where they landed, as the hermitage to which they had gone was covered by a point jutting out into the sea, he removed the caravel right opposite the hermitage, where he saw many people on the shore, some of whom went into his boat and put off towards the caravel.

Well, sir, one day we sighted a Spanish caravel very rich ladened with a prodigious quantity of plate, but were without so much as a capful of wind to fetch us up with her.

The building of the fort went on expeditiously, as the admiral went on shore daily to superintend and hasten the works, but always slept on board the caravel Ninna.

He advised likewise, to send false intelligence to these places, saying that they had taken our caravels and slain all our men; on which news the people of Cananor and Coulan would put the people in our factories to death.

Don Henry, however, was of a different opinion, and adding three other caravels to those which had been at the cape, sent them again next year to make the attempt.