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   Pedro de Covilham(1490) Portugal
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Title page of the book of Father Francesco Alvarez (1520) who went to Ethiopia and there spoke with Covilham. It is in this book that the following extract is found.

Taken from: NARRATIVE OF THE PORTUGUESE EMBASSY TO ABYSSINIA DURING THE YEARS 1520-1527 by FATHER FRANCISCO ALVAREZ of the Hakluyt Society’s English edition, The Portuguese Embassy to Abyssinia . . . 1520–1727, London, 1881)

P268-269-270

Afonso de Payva (2), Pero de Covilham (3) ……. and from there they passed to Rhodes; and he says that at this time there were not more than two Portuguese in Rhodes, one was named frey Gonzalo, and the other frey Fernando, and they lodged with these. From here they passed to Alexandria in a ship of Bartolomeu de Paredes (4) : and in order to pass as merchants, they bought much honey, and they arrived at Alexandria. Here both the companions fell ill of fevers; and all their honey was taken by the Naib of Alexandria (5), thinking that they were dying, and God gave them health, and they paid them at their pleasure (6). Here they bought other merchandise and went to Cairo. Here they remained until they found some Moghreby Moors (7) of Fez (8) and Tremecem (9), who were going to Aden, and they went with them to Tor (10), and there they embarked and went to Suaquem (11), which is on the coast of Abyssinia; and thence they went to Aden, and because it was the time of the monsoon, the companions separated, and Afonso de Payva went to the country of Ethiopia, and Pero de Covilham to India, agreeing that at a certain time they should both meet in Cairo to come and give an account of what they had found to the King. And Pero de Covilham departed thence and came to Cananor (12), and thence to Calicut, and from there he turned back to Goa, and went to Ormuz (13), and returned to Tor and Cairo in search of his companion, and he found that he was dead. Whilst he was about to set out on the way to Portugal, he had news that there were there two Portuguese Jews who were going about in search of him; and by great cleverness they heard about each other, and when they had met, they gave him letters from the King of Portugal. These Jews were named, one Rabbi Abraham, a native of Beja (14), the other, Josef, a native of Lamego (15), and he was a shoemaker. This shoemaker had been in Babilonia, and had heard news or information of the city of Ormuz, and had related it to King Don Joan (16), with which news, he said, the King had been much pleased. And Rabbi Abraham had sworn to the King that he would not return to Portugal without seeing Ormuz with his own eyes. When the letters had been given and read, their contents were, that if all the things for which they had come were seen, discovered, and learned, that they should return and welcome, and they should receive great favours: and if all were not found and discovered, they were to send word of what they had found, and to labour to learn the rest; and chiefly they were to go and see and learn about the great King Prester John (17), and to show the city of Ormuz to the Rabbi Abraham. Besides the letters, these Jews made requisitions to Pero de Covilham that he should go and learn about Prester John, and show the city of Ormuz to Rabbi Abraham. Here he at once wrote by the shoemaker of Lamego, how he had discovered cinnamon and pepper in the city of Calicut, and that cloves came from beyond, but that all could be had there; and that he had been in the cities of Cananor, Calicut, and Goa, all on the coast, and to this they could navigate by their coast and the seas of Guinea, coming to make the coast of Sofala, to which he had also gone, or a great island which the Moors call the island of the moon; they say that it has three hundred leagues (18) of coast, and that from each of these lands one can fetch the coast of Calicut. Having sent this message to the King by the Jew of Lamego, Pero de Covilham went with the other Jew of Beja to Aden, and thence to Ormuz, and left him there, and returned thence and came to Jiddah (19) and Mekkah and El Medina, where lies buried the Zancarron, (1) and from thence to Mount Sinai. Having seen all well he again embarked at Tor and went as far as outside the strait to the city of Zeila (20), and thence travelled by land until he reached Prester John, who is very near to Zeila; and he came to the Court, and gave his letters to the King Alexander who then reigned and he said that he received them with much pleasure and joy, and said that he would send him to his country with much honour. About this time he died, and his brother Nahum reigned, who also received him with much favour, and when he asked leave to go he would not give it. And Nahum died, and his son David reigned, who now reigns; and he says he also asked him for leave and he would not give it, saying that he had not come in his time, and his predecessors had given him lands and lordships to rule and enjoy, and that leave he could not give him, and so the matter remained. This Pero de Covilham is a man who knows all the languages that can be spoken, both of Christians, Moors, and Gentiles, and who knows all the things for which he was sent; moreover he gives an account of them as if they were present before him.

Note: Father Francisco Alvarez has a good knowledge of Arab vocabulary for East Africa. On p390 he mentions: King Don Manuel, who always conquers, …… Lord of Africa and Guinea, and of the mountains and island of the moon, and of the Red Sea, and of Arabia, ………… He uses that knowledge also to describe the travels of Pedro de Covilham who according to him seems to have gone to Sofala in Mozambique. As Pedro needed to be back in time in Cairo and the trip to Sofala would not have given him extra information requested by his king; It seems to me he did not make that trip.