I, Juao de Nova, Admiral of the Portuguese navy was given notice to despatch with all haste, as an advance party with three ships, to reinforce de Cabral, the Portuguese commander in India. who was engaged in battle. After a stormy passage along the West Coast of Africa and around the Cape of Good Hope we entered the Indian Ocean before finally arriving at our destination Calicot. There we met, attacked and defeated a fleet of the Zamorin, ruler of Calicot and I was, thereafter, appointed Commodore of the fleet returning to Europe.
Having rounded the tempestuous Cape of Good Hope and steering a steady course through the great South Atlantic Ocean, running my ships before the south-easterly trade winds, a sailor at the mast-head called out 'Land aho!' On the horizon lay what appeared to be a huge rock, over which lay a blanket of cloud, rising dramatically out of the ocean. It being 21st May 1502, St. Helena's day, I immediately named the unknown island St. Helena. We dropped anchor in a bay on the sheltered, northerly side of the island, under the lee of the towering cliffs and, finding in the deep valley opposite our mooring a stream of sweetest fresh water, immediately set out to explore.
Since the harbour at the Cape of Good Hope was neither a good, nor a safe one and in some situations an extremely dangerous one, I was instantly aware of the vital importance of the discovery of this unexpected, gigantic rock, with sheer barren cliffs, in the path of the constant south-easterly trade winds. It was the very place needed as a victualling station for our ships returning home from the east. In future, once a ship had successfully weathered her way around the Cape, all that need be done was to set all sails and run before the trade-winds until St. Helena and a safe anchorage was reached.
We found no inhabitants on the island but sea-birds, sea-lions and turtles galore which fed on the many fishes which teemed in the sea. We regularly found numerous large flyingfish lying on the decks. These night-time visitors, of a very sweet and delicate taste, probably attracted by the lights on the ship, were often eighteen inches long and weighed up to twenty-six ounces. Numerous porpoises, sometimes more than fifty together, apparently following the abundant shoals of mackeral, were perceived at the mouth of the bay, and in the sandy sediments and rock crevices my men caught eels, of which the bodies were scaleless, of a most delicious flavour.
The terrain was mountainous but, in contrast to the precipitous coast, the interior of the island was covered in dense forest, and there was a plentiful supply of herbs and fruits and many springs of fresh water. Yet there was a surprising lack of land birds and the only one apparent was small with spindly legs which ran along the ground, occasionally taking flight and skimming over the land for short distances. Though so small that one had sight of the ocean from every vantage point, traversing the island was no easy feat for it was criss-crossed by deep, break-neck valleys and ravines, which appeared to have been hacked out by some gigantic hatchet. The rock formations were bizarre the earth of every conceivable hue. The hills in the distance purple, red and all shades of ochre against the deep blue of the atlantic ocean.
On the wetter, central peaks, we found many strange plants. Giant ferns, showing more resemblance to palm trees, grew to a height of about twelve feet, their trunks covered with hair-like, random roots; their dark green fronds more than a meter in length. What appeared to be a gigantic, spreading cabbage, growing up to about twelve feet high, was also conspicuous. The leaves, thick and fleshy, crowd towards the ends of the branches which are dark green in colour, with dense clusters of terminal flowers surrounded by leaves. And we noted that some of the seeds fall on the rugged trunk of the giant ferns and germinate there.
The temperate weather, though with stark differences between the arrid coastal areas and the wetter interior zones, bears a strong resemblance to the mediterranean climate and little what-so-ever to that of main-land Africa at the same latitudes; the mountainous terrain and the trade winds having an equable affect.
We remained many days on this earthly paradise. My men regained their health and strength after the long and arduous voyage from the East and we replenished our provisions and water supplies. At the upper part of the fertile, boulder-strewn valley, at the base of a little, heart shaped waterfall, we sowed many lemon, orange and lime seeds and vegetables. And in the high-lands, we left behind us a few goats to supply fresh meat and milk for subsequent visitors.
One of our carracks, having succumbed to the dreaded ships worms, that grow the length and girth of a man's arm, was no longer seaworthy and had to be broken up. Armory and tackling was drawn ashore, and with her timbers my men built a small chapel at the mouth of the fertile valley, which shall, henceforth, be known as Chapel Valley
Calico: named after Calicot, India, where the fabric originated. Mentioned by historians even before the christian era. It is a plain weave cotton material in one or more colour, having an equal number of warp and weft threads, and was praised by early travellers for its fine texture and beautiful
colours.
