On April 1, 1498, Da Gama's fleet finally arrived at the port of Mombasa in Kenya on the east coast of Africa and stopped here.
Columbus looked at the "Navigation Cheats" handed to him by Marin, and was so shocked (or frightened) that he couldn't speak. Because Marin counted the day when the Da Gama fleet arrived in Mombasa.
Then, Columbus saw the following instructions—don't worry about the Vasco da Gama fleet, take advantage of the da Gama fleet's stay in Mombasa, go north at full speed to Malindi...
Then, Columbus did as he did. Instead of approaching the port of Mombasa, he took the fleet around Mombasa and headed north. In this regard, Columbus's fleet finally stopped tailing Vasco da Gama's fleet, but began to explore its own route...
However, Da Gama's fleet encountered cold reception from the locals in Mombasa. Because the local chiefs believed that the Portuguese were their competitors in maritime trade, so naturally they would not have a good face.
Of course the locals knew about the Indian route, but under the chief's instruction, no one disclosed the information of the Indian route to Vasco da Gama. After staying and resting in the local area for a few days, Da Gama had to lift the anchor again and sail north with the fleet.
At this time, people in Da Gama's fleet had already begun to suffer from scurvy. Of course, Da Gama was not aware of the origin and treatment of scurvy. Moreover, scurvy is not a rare thing these days, so I can only consider myself unlucky...
However, what Da Gama didn't know was that when they docked in Mombasa on April 1, Columbus had already led the fleet to sail northward along the coast at full speed with full sail.
Malindi is only 104 kilometers away from Mombasa. Although Columbus does not know the exact distance, Marin said that it is not far from Mombasa.
Despite the wrong wind direction and constant observation of the situation on land, on April 6, Columbus's fleet arrived at the port of Malindi. The way to find Columbus is very simple, that is, sail along the coast of Africa, and when you see the port, put a boat and send an Arabic translator to ask.
In this era, the coastal areas of East Africa were invaded and colonized by Arabs from the Arabian Peninsula. Many small coastal emirates were established by Arabs or descendants of Arabs. For example, Mombasa and Malindi belong to this nature.
Moreover, the Arabs had long been selling black slaves on the east coast of Africa and transporting them to all over the world for sale. Not only that, Arabs treat blacks much more cruelly than Europeans. Europeans are only more cruel to black slaves, while Arab slave traders directly castrated male black slaves before selling them...
Therefore, in the Arab world, especially in West Asia, although black slaves were used in large numbers, no black slaves left offspring. Because male black slaves were all castrated by Arab slave traders, and female black slaves were disdainful to be violated by Arab men. Because Arab men have several wives themselves, and they can't take care of them. How can they have the time to rape female black slaves
However, in East Africa, the Arab conquerors did not exterminate the local blacks, but also integrated with the locals. Therefore, there are more local mixed-race people. For example, the main ethnic group in Malindi, the Swahili, is the mixed-race race produced by the Arab conquerors and local blacks. However, local chiefs generally use Arabic as their official language.
When Columbus arrived in Malindi with his fleet, he was not immediately welcomed. At the beginning, the Malindi people were still very wary of Columbus and his party.
However, Columbus had the "tips and tricks" given by Marin. After seeing the local officials, Columbus began to translate through Arabic and began to curse the Mombasa people, saying that he was at odds with the Mombasa people...
Soon, this remark reached the ears of Chief Malindi. The local chief Ali was very happy when he heard that Columbus and the others were enemies of Mombasa, and soon invited Columbus and his party into the palace of Malindi to discuss how to deal with the chief of Mombasa. matters.
Seeing this scene, Columbus sighed, and with great admiration for Marin, he began to follow Marin's written instructions and generously sent 6 bronze Franco cannons to Malindi chief Ali on the spot, and sent someone to guide them how to fire.
Seeing such a weapon of naval warfare, Chief Ali was extremely happy, and treated Columbus as the most honored guest, entertaining him with delicious food and drink every day.
However, according to Marin's written instructions, Columbus knew that the Da Gama fleet was coming. So, he began to slander Malindi chief Ali according to the instructions, saying that the Portuguese in Vasco da Gama's fleet had already formed an alliance with Mombasa and might come to Malindi to spy on the news...
At this time, Chief Ali was angry, and ordered to go down, as long as he saw the fleet flying the flag of the Portuguese royal family depicted by Columbus, it was forbidden to dock...
After shaming Da Gama, Columbus proposed to borrow a navigator from Chief Ali to take them to India. At the same time, Columbus vowed that he will bring more artillery when he comes to Malindi next time...
Chief Ali expressed his appreciation for Columbus' initiative to provide naval weapons and artillery, so he recruited his most powerful navigator, Ahmed Ibn Majid, and asked him to lead Columbus's team and take Columbus's fleet to the southernmost point in India. The busy trading port - Calicut, which is where Zheng He landed.
On April 12, Columbus's fleet replenished a batch of fresh water in Malindi, heated the wooden barrels and barrels containing the fresh water, and sealed them with sealing mud for shipment. At the same time, he also purchased a lot of food that is not easy to perish.
Then, under the guidance of Majid, Columbus's fleet embarked on a voyage across the Arabian Sea...
After Da Gama's fleet arrived on the coast of Malindi on April 14, history changed dramatically—because of Columbus' slander, the chief of Malindi believed that Vasco da Gama's fleet was a spy sent by the Mombasa people, Malindi's deadly enemy. Therefore, the Malindi people refused the request of da Gama's fleet to stop.
In desperation, da Gama could only take the fleet to continue sailing north along the coast of Africa, looking for stops and inquiring about news from India...
While da Gama's fleet was still searching for information on the east coast of Africa, Columbus's fleet had already set off from Malindi and headed straight for Calicut.
Along the way, Columbus recorded the captain's log to the west every day, recording the course, as well as the wind direction and hydrological characteristics along the way. As Marin said to Columbus before setting off, you can't always count on the Malindi people to lead the way. Until the next voyage, Columbus will need to lead the voyage himself. Therefore, Columbus recorded in detail the voyage from Malindi to Calicut.
At the same time, Columbus spent a lot of money, bought Majid, and asked him for various information in the Arabian Sea. Such as monsoons, natural disasters, and piracy issues.
For the sake of the gold coins, Majid gave a detailed answer and presented Columbus with a guidebook for navigating the West Indian Ocean written by himself. Columbus found a treasure, so he directly arranged an interpreter on board to help him translate it into European languages. At the same time, Columbus also asked Draka, the head of trade of the fleet, to learn Indian language from Majid with the help of a translator, and to understand the local customs and trading habits of India.
During the voyage, Majid was very interested in several solar cookers carried by the Columbus fleet. Because solar cookers are too practical for Arabs.
Both the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa are very dry and sunny places. In these places, it is very convenient to use a solar cooker. Moreover, because it is a semi-desert area, there is less firewood. Therefore, the solar cooker is of great significance.
When Majid expressed his desire to study solar cookers, Columbus decisively agreed. Majid is from Oman, and Oman is located on the Arabian Peninsula, a semi-desert area with plenty of sunshine. Therefore, Majid obviously wanted to bring the solar cooker back to China for use. In this regard, Columbus, who wanted to extract navigation technology from Majid, naturally could not refuse.
Of course, it is difficult for the solar cooker to keep secret. Because everyone cooks on the Arabian Sea, relying on solar cookers. Moreover, the Arabian Sea is also sunny. Majid is not a dead person. Seeing sailors cooking with solar ovens, why not study it
However, Columbus's most important secret, the telescope, was not disclosed to Majid. Every time Columbus used the telescope, he took out the telescope and used it after he quietly boarded the observation room above the captain's cabin. In the presence of Majid, Columbus never used a telescope. After Majid discovered the novelty of the solar cooker, he was very interested, so he naturally didn't pay attention to the use of the telescope by Columbus...
In this way, after the separation of Mombasa, Columbus's fleet and Vasco da Gama's fleet parted ways, and the situation was very different. Columbus went straight to India, and Da Gama still needed to inquire about India on the east coast of Africa...