Our Daily Ration Of Water Was

This passage from the Roteiro (Journal of the First Voyage) records the severe food and water shortages that Vasco da Gama's crew endured during the crossing. A quartilho was a very small Portuguese liquid measure — roughly a quarter of a pint. Scurvy, malnutrition, and other diseases killed approximately 55 of the original 170 crew members during the voyage to India and back. The conditions documented in the Roteiro make the expedition's success all the more remarkable: it established the Cape Route to India that Portugal would dominate for over a century, fundamentally reshaping global trade.