I Am Not The Man I

This saying is attributed to Vasco da Gama but cannot be verified in any primary source; it is apocryphal. Da Gama was the second son of a provincial nobleman, Estevão da Gama, and was reportedly chosen to lead the India voyage after his father and his elder brother Paulo were considered. His actual motivation for accepting the commission is not recorded in personal writings; what is documented is that he commanded three subsequent voyages to India (1497, 1502, 1524) and died in Cochin during the third as Viceroy of India at approximately age 55.