Your Highnesses already know that we had ordered Vasco da Gama, a nobleman of our household, and his brother Paulo da Gama with four vessels to make discoveries by sea, and that two years have now elapsed since their departure. Most high and excellent Prince and Princess, most potent Lord and Lady:
King Manuel’s Letter to the King and Queen of Castile, Announcing Vasco Da Gama’s Voyage to India
'Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama, 1497–1499' (Hakluyt Society Publications, 1898), pp.
