_ 251 _ or Sumatra, and in fact one of them had already reached Sumatra. The ambassador added that a certain Pera and the Portuguese pilot who lives at La Rochelle' (doubtless the well-known Jean Alfonse of Saintonge) had been taken on as pilots(A). What can one state by way of conclusions? French navigation to the East Indies had begun around 1525, thanks to the maritime knowledge of the Verrazzani, the money of Lyon bankers and the long experience of Norman sailors. There can be no doubts about the determination and tenacity shown in the face of repeated shipwrecks and of Portuguese opposition, and this can only be explained by a real knowledge of the conditions governing navigation and trade in the East. Is it possible that Giovanni Verrazzano met men with experience of trade in the Indian Ocean when he was at Cairo(B)? There can be no doubt about the careful preparations preceding the Parmentier voyage. The (A) Torre de Tombo, CC, 1, m.49, d.61. See also M. Mollat, 'Quelques aspects de la vie économique et sociale de la France dans la première moitié du XVle siècle à travers la correspondance des diplomates portugais’, (Bulletin d'Etudes Portugaises,Lisbon 1949). (B) Such as Francesco Carli, a relative of the Fernando Carli mentioned above (see n.8, Archivio Storico Italiano, vol.IX, 1953, Append.n.28,pp.53-5.
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