_ 253 _ The first French voyages to the Indian Ocean, then, were achieved very much in the wake of the Portuguese. Often it was a case of despite the Portuguese, yet basically the achievements were accomplished thanks to them, the predecessors and the guides. Discussion Cdr Teixeira da Mota. I found Prof. Mollat's talk extremely interesting and useful in tidying up the subject. I wish to put a technical point. Mollat has shown that the assistance given by Portuguese pilots was considerable. He mentioned the La Rochelle pilots and it is known that some of these were Portuguese men in French service. Then there is the question of cartography. You mentioned that a Portuguese map was used on the 1525 voyage. The French made much use of Portuguese maps at this period. An atlas showing the Atlantic, which is not at all well-known (its existence was discovered by M. Destombes quite recently) was certainly used by the French. This is clear from the fact that part of the legend is written in French, moreover in bad French, written by a Portuguese who did not know French well. It is an excellent atlas and can be dated to about 1538. It is interesting that another (and better known) atlas, the 1547 Vallard atlas, was the work of the same Portuguese cartographer. It has
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