Vasco de Gama (narration)

Christopher Columbus and Vasco de Gama both set off for India. Vasco de Gama was going to sail from Portugal, around the Cape of Good Hope, and back up to India. Christopher Columbus thought that it would be faster to cross the Atlantic Ocean to get there. Were they going to the same spot? They were totally different spots. Columbus did not make it to India. He ended up in the Dominican Republic although back then he named it Hispaniola which he thought was an island near China.
When Vasco de Gama got to India there were some people waiting on the bank. Some people brought him to the king's palace and the king welcomed him warmly. This was only the first day and he thought it was going to go well. The second day one of the guards came up to his room and said, “It is time to give the king gifts." He went and got the gifts he brought -- he brought sea weed, sugar, salt, and other things like that. The king was furious. He thought that he was a pirate. Where is the gold? So from then on they treated him as if he was a pirate and when he left they said that he would have to pay a tax for everything he was bringing back. Before he left he captured 3 people as [hostages] and sailed off back to Portugal.

2 comments:

Tina in CT said...

I haven't heard his name in many, many years. Thank you for the posting the very good report.

Anonymous said...

Nice story.
Olga