Translation, page 4
Likewise, they are supposed to visit each and every island and harbor along the sea to inquire what has happened to the two large ships which went there with the fleet and have been lost sight of as of this present year of 1505, and which are the largest ships which have belonged to the fleet. Hence they want to search all the sea ports to see whether they might have perished, or perhaps might have run aground and are unable to regain the sea.1 In the latter event they are to take the sailors along on board ship together with the best cargo contained in the ship. And should they not find them, which God forbid, then they should be gone three years and should search in India and everywhere, and thereafter take on cargo of spices, as other ships do.
Another item of information to be reported is the fact that the great fleet of over twenty ships will sail to India.2 That will take place in April 1506. For this purpose several ships are being well equipped, and they are to be guided in their conduct by the following directives. Some shall be gone for six years and some for three years, and should God prosper them in this mission, then they shall recondition the ships on land with all that is needed in the best manner as may be required. Thereafter they should sail with the captain who will be called the admiral, and who had been in India prior to the past two voyages3 and has been in command of the whole distance from Calicut to Kayl.4 These he will seek to conquer: indeed he intends to sail to Ylla Hasserland, and island which he will conquer, perhaps, if he be able.5 After that he will sail to Scharmarttar (Sumatra), which is an island, the largest to be found in the world, and is located not far from the mainland of the country of Mossa.6 If they should then conquer all of these islands, afterwards they want to sail to Mellicka (Malacca), and are they expect to load the ships with precious cargo, and thereupon they will seek to return home.7 For this enterprise they will require seven years. But what his reward will be is not known to me. Also he is a valiant man, and is well to do in material goods. Moreover, he is a man above forty years of age, and one estimates his wealth to embrace approximately five kingdoms which he is reputed to have won in India. Moreover, he had previously been a poor nobleman. Hence it is supposed, should God prosper him together with his crew and give him good fortune on his journey and provide him with bountiful goods, he might be enriched by 300,000 crowns, for he is a more intrepid hero than the king has at his court among all his captains.8 He is also spoken of as a hero of the high seas.*
Notes:
1. The ships being sought were from two previous fleets. Francisco de Alburquerque departed from Lisbon on April 14, 1503, in command of three ships which were a part of a larger fleet. One of his ships was lost on the way to India, but theother two loaded cargo and sailed from Cananor on February 5, 1504. These ships were never heard from again. Pedro de Mendoza commanded a ship in the second fleet of Vasco da Gama which sailed for India on April 22, 1504. Mendoza's ship was stranded at St. Braz in Southern Africa, and was never found.
2. This is a reference to the fleet sent out on April 18, 1506, under the general command of Tristaõ de Cunha. Five of the twenty-one ships, however, were commanded by Afonso de Albuquerque.
3. This is a reference to Afonso de Albuquerque rather than Tristaõ de Cunha. Albuquerque sailed with the rank of captain in the fleet, but he was destined for a much higher office -- he carried with him secret instructions that after three years he was to be viceroy of India, replacing Francisco de Almeida. Albuquerque had made on previous trip to India, in 1503. "The past two voyages" refers to those since that of Albuquerque. In April 1504, Lopo Soarez de Algabaria led a fleet of thirteen ships to India, and in March 1505 Francisco de Almeida was sent out as viceroy with a fleet of twenty-two ships. Three of thse ships, the Rafael, the Lionardo, and the St. Jeronimo, were equipped and financed by a German-Italian company. Two Germans accompanied the fleet; they were Balthasar Springer, a company official, and Hans Mayr, who was an official in the service of the Portuguese king.
4. The region of Albuquerque's operations was from Calicut ot Quilon, and there is no indication in the Commentaries of Albuquerque that he went as far to the southeast as Caell. It is probable that the author confused Quilon with Caell.
5. Ylla Hasserland refers to the island of Socotra near Arabia, for it was this island that Albuquerque and Da Cunha conquered in 1507 on their way to India. Socotra was known to antiquity for its production of aloe, and the name Hasserland appears to be a corruption of the Portuguese word for aloe, namely azeure.
6. Probably Tenasserim, a region of the Malay Peninsula. It was designated in the sixteenth century by a variety of spellings, such as Danasagium, Tanasari, and Damasa. This latter form is the one used by Johann Ruysch in his world map of 1508, which is the nearest major map in point of time to this account.
7. The Portguese reached Malacca in 1509 when Diogo Lopez de Sequeira arrived there only to be denied the right to trade, and some of his crew were held as hostages Albuquerque's expedition to Malacca, foreseen here, was undertaken from Goa in 1511.
8. The original "kapitanieren," a verbal form, is most likely to be interpreted as referring to those men high in the royal command of army and naval forces and constituting an advisory council to the king.
*This translation includes the first 2 lines of page 5.