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To reward the pilots, the Captain-Major presented them with two hundred cruzados in gold, to be given to their wives. Several more men here died, and were buried on shore, so that the crews of the two ships were reduced to a very small number. Before they took their departure, the King sent a magnificent present to the King and Queen of Portugal.
After some conversation with the King, satisfied that his intentions were honest, he thanked his Majesty for the refreshments he had sent, and said the Captain-Major, accepting his invitation, would enter when the pilots thought fit.
Coelho kept silence until the King bade him speak. He then, Joab Nunez acting as interpreter, delivered the message he had brought from the Captain-Major. After hearing it, the King bade him retire, saying that the overseer of the treasury would bring him an answer; but Nicolas replied that he could receive no answer but from the King himself.
His only garment was a white cloth, covering his body from the middle to half-way down his legs. He carried a light round shield and a short sword with an iron hilt. Addressing the Captain-Major, who was pointed out to him, he stated that he came to ascertain who the new-comers were, and what they required in the port.
The King, summoning Vasco into his presence, offered him the command of the squadron he proposed sending out to discover a way to the East Indies by sea. The cavalier at once gladly accepted the honourable charge, saying at the same time that he had an elder brother, named Paulo da Gama, whom he requested the King to appoint as Captain-Major to carry the royal standard.
Paulo da Gama, who also had come up within speaking distance, heard all this. When they had heard these words of Nicolas Coelho, who, on ending his speech, at once begun to move away, the captain-major answered him that he would hold a consultation with the pilot and his crew, and that, whatever he determined to do, he would make a signal to him of his resolution.
They then turned her over, and performed the same work on the other. The Saint Raphael being once more loaded, Paulo's ship was next repaired and strengthened with additional knees and ribs and inner planking. The stores of the Saint Miguel being divided between the two ships, the Captain-Major received Coelho on board his own.
The Captain-Major replied that he considered himself fortunate in having met him, and swore that he would reward him richly for the work he performed. Davane then advised him to follow the zambuk, the crew of which, being acquainted with the navigation, would pilot the ships clear of all dangers.
The King now expressed his wish to visit the ships, and the Captain-Major having fixed a day, they were cleaned and ornamented with flags; the quarter-decks were covered with figured stuffs from Flanders, and carpets and rugs, lances with the points burnished, and naked swords and other weapons, with splendid breast-plates, on which were engraved the arms of the Captains, were hung up; while in the cabin was a sideboard covered with plate, all the attendants being splendidly dressed.
As the poor captive was too frightened to understand the signs made, the Captain-Major sent for two negro boys from his ship, and made them sit by him and eat and drink, to banish his fears. At length the negro appeared to have overcome his alarm, on which da Gama induced him to point out by signs where his people were to be found.
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