isking their lives, da Gama begged the
King to order six men who had been condemned to death to be put on board
each ship, that they might be sent ashore in dangerous regions, or left
in certain places, to acquire a knowledge of the language and habits of
the people.  These cut-throat gentlemen were, as may be supposed,
afterwards a source of no small trouble and anxiety to the commanders of
the ships.

The preparations for the voyage being completed, the King and Queen,
with their Court and many of the nobles of the land, assembled in the
cathedral of Lisbon, to hear Mass, and bid farewell to the gallant
explorers.  The three captains, richly dressed, advanced to the curtain
behind which the Royal Family had sat during the service, and dropping
on their knees, kissed their sovereign's hand, and expressed their
readiness to expend their lives in the important undertaking with which
he had entrusted them.  They then, mounting their horses, and
accompanied by numerous nobles and gentlemen, as well as by a procession
of priests and monks, with tapers in their hands, chanting a litany, to
which a great concourse of people uttered responses, rode down to the
harbour.  The King went with them in his barge as they joined their
several ships, bestowing on them his blessing, and earnestly praying
that they might enjoy a prosperous voyage and return home in safety.
Vasco da Gama embarked in the _Saint Raphael_, Paulo in the _Saint
Gabriel_, and Nicholas Coelho in the _Saint Miguel_.  The ships were all
of the same size, measuring about one hundred and twenty tons, and each
carried about eighty persons, officers and men.  They were accompanied
by a store ship of two hundred tons, under the command of Gonzalo Nunez,
which was to continue with them only a part of the way, and to supply
them with provisions and stores.  It was on Saturday, the 8th of July,
1497, the anchors being weighed and the sails loosed, that Vasco da Gama
proceeded down the Tagus on his memorable voyage.

He first steered so as to reach the Cape de Verde