Chap. VI I.]
VASCO DE GAMA'S FIRST VOYAGE.
15;3
discovery would thus die with hiiii. Happily for his owii fame he spurned the ad. 1497. infamous suggestion ; and Columbus, after a becoming reception, not less honour- able to tlie giver than it must have been gratifying to the receiver, continued his triumphant progress to the court of Spain.
John was succeeded in l-i95 by his cousin Emanuel, who was thoroughly Portuguese imbued with the s])irit of enterj)rise which had animated his predecessors, under Timid counsellors were not wanting who advised him to rest satisfied with the ' ""'"^ ' discoveries already made, and not run the risk of impoverishing his hereditary dominions by expensive expeditions, of which it was impossible to foresee the final result ; but his resolution had been formed, and there could be no doubt what it was, when he was seen, in the third year of his reign, fitting out a new expedition for the avowed purpose of not only doubling the Ca])e of Good Hope, but afterwards continuing the voyage without intermission till the coast of India was reached. In this expedition, which consisted of three small ships, carrying 160 men, Bartolommeo Diaz held only a subordinate station. Nor had he even the satisfaction of seeing his discovery prosecuted by others ; for, on arriving at the fort of El Mina, he wsis sent back to Portugal, and not long after his return perished at sea.
The command of the expedition, thus rather ungenerously withheld from Diaz, was conferred on Vasco de Gama, a gentleman of the royal household, who had previously done good sei*vice at sea, and, by his subsequent conduct, justified the choice which had been made of him. After a pompous ceremonial, more in accordance with the great object contemplated by the expedition than with the very inadequate means furnished for its accomplishment, the three small ships left the port of Belem, on Saturday, the 8th of July, 1497- They were accomjxinied by a small l)ark cam-ing provisions, and a caravel, of which Diaz was captain. Ofi" tlie Canaries the vessels encountered a storm, which separated them, but they met again at Cape Verd, which had been fixed as the place of rendezvous. Ha ng next day anchored at Santa Maria, on the African coast, they repaired their damages, and took in water. Diaz, proceeding no farther, returned homewards ; the other vessels pursued their voyage. Another storm, still more violent than tlie former, over- took them ; and they had almost given up all hope of weathering it, when it De canm
^ J t> 1 I o ^ enters the
abated, and they took shelter in a bay, to which they gave the name of Santa bayofsanta Elena. Vasco de Gama attempted to hohl communication with the natives, but Vol. I. 20
Vasco de Gama.
From Vincent's Voyage of Nearchu*.
