One of the signs by which a noble heart is recognised is that it hath no contentment in small matters, but ever seeketh some betterment, that its honour may be increased among the deeds of the noble both in its own land and outside it. And this may we justly say of John Gonçalvez, captain of the island;[CP] for he, not satisfied by the other voyage that his ship had made in the previous year to the land of the Negroes, made ready once more to dispatch there that same Alvaro Fernandez with his caravel well armed, and charged him to make his way still further onward to the utmost of his power, and to toil for some booty which by its novelty and greatness might give testimony of the good will he had to serve that lord who had brought him up. Now Alvaro Fernandez undertook this matter as an honourable burden, like one who had no less desire[CQ] to carry through the mandate which his uncle had laid upon him. And when the ship had been provisioned, they made their voyage straight to Cape Verde, whereat in the past year they had captured the two Guineas of whom we have spoken in another place, and thence they passed on to the Cape of Masts,[N205] and made a stay there to put some men on shore. And for the sole purpose of seeing the land, seven of them joined together, and these, when they had been landed upon the beach, discovered the footprints of men leading along a certain path. And they followed them up and reached a well where they found goats, which it seemeth the Guineas had left there, and this would be, I think, because they perceived that they were being followed. The Christians went so far and no further, for they dared not pursue their course, and returning to their caravel, they voyaged on, and putting out their boat, found on land some elephant's dung of the bigness of a man, according to the judgment of those that saw it; and because it seemed not a place wherein to make booty they returned again to their caravel. And so journeying along the sea coast, in a few days they went on shore again, and came upon a village, and its inhabitants issued forth like men who showed they had a will to defend their houses, and among them came one armed with a good buckler and an assegai in his hand. And Alvaro Fernandez seeing him, and judging him to be the leader of the band, went stoutly at him, and gave him such a great wound with his lance that he fell down dead, and then he took from him his shield and assegai; and these he brought home to the Infant along with some other things, as will be related further on. [Footnote CP: Madeira.] [Footnote CQ: Than his uncle.]