The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea. Vol. IZurara, Gomes Eannes de
History
The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea. Vol. I
Zurara, Gomes Eannes de
Guinea (Region) -- Discovery and exploration -- Early works to 1800
[Endnote 61: (p. 45). _That emulation which Socrates praised in
gallant youths_.--Cf. Xenophon, _Memorabilia_, Bk. I, c. 7; Bk. III, cc.
1, 3, 5, 6, and especially 7; also Plato, _Laches_, 190-9; _Protagoras_,
349-350, 359. On the history that follows, cf. D. Pacheco Pereira,
_Esmeraldo_, cc. 20-33. Pereira must have had a copy of this Chronicle
before him, for in places he transcribes _verbatim_; see _Esmeraldo_, c.
22.]
[Endnote 62: (p. 47). _"Portugal" and "Santiago."_--The latter war-cry
is of course derived from St. James of Compostella, which being in
Gallicia was not properly a Portuguese shrine at all. All Spanish
crusaders, however, from each of the five Kingdoms, made use of this
famous sanctuary. See note 11, p. 7 of this version.]
[Endnote 63: (p. 48). _Port of the Cavalier._--[This is marked in two
Portuguese maps of Africa in Paris, both of the sixteenth century, as on
this side of Cape Branco, which is in 20° 46' 55" N. lat.]--S.]
[Endnote 64: (p. 49). _Azanegues of Sahara ... Moorish tongue._--[Cf.
Ritter, _Géographie Comparée_, III, p. 366, art. _Azenagha_. Ritter says
they speak Berber. On this language see the curious article, _Berber_,
by M. d'Avezac, in his _Encylopédie des gens du Monde_. On the
Azanegues, Barros says (_Decade I_, Bk. I, ch. ii): "The countries which
the Azanegues inhabit border on the negroes of Jaloff, where begins the
region of Guinea." _Sahará_ signifies desert. Geographers spell Zahará,
Zaara, Ssahhará, Sarra, and Sahar. The inhabitants are called
Saharacin--Saracens--"sons of the desert" (cf. Ritter, _Géographie
Comparée_, III, p. 360), a term immensely extended by mediæval
writers--thus Plano Carpini expects to find "black Saracens" in India.
On the etymology, cf. Renaud's _Invasions des Sarrasins en France_, Pt.
IV, pp. 227-242, etc. He confirms Azurara's statement that the Sahara
language differed from the Mooris--_i.e._, it was Berber, not
Arabic--and he refers us to the Arab author Ibn-Alkûtya, in evidence of
this.]--S.
The "Other lands where he learned the Moorish tongue" were probably
Marocco, or one of the other Barbary States along the Mediterranean
littoral, where Arabic was in regular use. This language stopped, for
the most part, at the Sahara Desert. Santarem's derivation of the word
"Saracen" is much disputed.]
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