- covery from his grand-uncle, Prince Henry, ascended
the throne, a fresh impetus was given to voyages of discovery. These, as we have seen, were prosecuted with increased vigour to the south of the Equator and along the shores of Africa, and soon afterwards preparations were made for extending these voyages round the Cape of Good Hope, till at last India was reached by Vasco de Gama, whose celebrated expedition we shall hereafter attempt to describe.
His formal proposal in 1480 to the crown of Portugal
is referred to a learned junto, who ridicule his idea.
It was not, however, till 1480, when the successful
application of the astrolabe[1] to the purposes of navigation
removed from the contemplated expedition of
Columbus much of its hazardous character, that he
formally proposed his great voyage of discovery to
the crown of Portugal. He had always felt it to be
an enterprise only to be undertaken in the service
of some sovereign state which could assume dominion
over whatever territories he might discover, and
which, with the means of conquest and colonisation
at its disposal, would be also able to spread the
Christian religion, a desire which seems to have been
at all times present in his meditations. In this year
Columbus obtained an audience with the king, and,
being graciously received, revealed his plans fully
to the monarch. Though the king was at the time
discouraged from entering upon any new scheme
of discovery, by the cost and trouble already incurred
in the as yet unsuccessful exploration of the
route along the African coast, he nevertheless gave a
favourable consideration to the scheme of Columbus,
- ↑ This instrument was certainly used by Vasco de Gama in 1497 (Major, p. 393). It was invented by Behaim about the year 1480, with the aid of two physicians, Roderigo and Josef (Major, "Select Letters of Columbus," Introd. p. lvi.).
