The women looked through every part of the ship--masts, helm, anchors,
sails, and oars. The eyes painted on the bow excited them: the ship had
eyes and could see before it, and the men who used it must be wonderful
enchanters like the demons. "This specially they wondered, that we could
sail out of all sight of land and yet know well enough where we were,
all which, said they, could not happen, without black art. Scarcely less
was their wonder at the sight of lighted candles, as they had never
before seen any light but that of fire, when I shewed them how to make
candles from wax which before they had always thrown aside as worthless,
they were still more amazed, saying there was nothing we did not know."
And now Cadamosto was ready to put off from the coast into the ocean and
strike south for the kingdom of Gambro, as he had been charged by the
Prince, who had told him it was not far from the Senegal, as the
negroes had reported to him at Sagres. And that kingdom, he had been
told, was so rich in gold that if Christians could reach it they would
gain endless riches.
So with two aims, first to find the golden land, and second to make
discoveries in the unknown, the Venetian was just beginning to start
afresh, when he was joined by two more ships from Portugal, and they
agreed to round Cape Verde together.
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