Diary of Vasco da Gama's 1497 voyage. This page is from the 'Diario de bordo de Alvaro Velho' (Logbook of Alvaro Velho). Velho was a Portuguese writer who was on the voyage made by Vasca da Gama from 1497 to 1499. It was on this voyage that Vasco da Gama found a maritime trade route around Africa to India, which helped make Portugal a world power. The original manuscript, written in the era when Old Portuguese was used, was lost, and only fragments have survived along with later copies. Photographed at the Portuguese national archive (Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo) in Lisbon, Portugal.