GAMA, Vasco da, an illustrious Portuguese, fills a place in the records of maritime adventure which is second only to that of Columbus. He accomplished the first maritime passage from Europe to India, and thus led the way to a field of enterprise which has continued, during the succeeding three and a half centuries to engage a large share of the attention of mankind. Vasco da Gama was descended from an ancient family, and was born about 1469, at the little seaport town of Sines in Portugal. The exact year of his birth is unknown, nor have the circumstances of his early life been recorded; he had, however, already acquired a reputation for nautical skill at the time when the great enterprise to which his fame is due was committed to his care. This enterprise was one of the results of the awakened spirit of inquiry which distinguished the age, and formed the sequel to the efforts made by the Portuguese nation through nearly the whole period of the fifteenth century. Early in that century Prince Henry, the fifth son of John I. of Portugal, had fixed his residence at Sagres—immediately beside the promontory of Cape St. Vincent—and with enlightened zeal had perseveringly directed his efforts to the exploration of the great ocean which thence rolled its waters to the west and south. At the time of Prince Henry's death in 1463, the expeditions of discovery which he had sent, year after year, to trace the African shores to the southward, had passed Cape Verd, and coasted the regions watered by the Senegal and Gambia. Further efforts in the same direction extended the range of Portuguese knowledge, and in 1484 Diego Cam reached the mouth of the great river Zaire, or Congo, 7° south of the equator. Two years later, Bartholemew Diaz passed the southern extremity of the African continent, and, returning to Portugal in 1487, brought hack an account of the perils which wait on the vicinity of "the Stormy Cape."—(See Diaz.) The way to India was now open; but a further term of ten years elapsed ere the great train of discovery in this direction was pursued to its issue. Within those ten years, Columbus, seeking to attain the same object by a. westerly route, discovered the New World in 1492. In 1497 Emanuel, then king of Portugal, equipped a fleet of four ships for the purpose of reaching India by a passage round the Cape, and gave the command of the expedition to Vasco da Gama. It is difficult to over-estimate either the greatness of the undertaking in such an age, or the heroic qualities which the safe conduct of the enterprise required on the part of its leader. These qualities were found worthily united in Da Gama. The expedition destined to open a way to India from the west sailed from the mouth of the Tagus on July 8, 1497, having in all a hundred and sixty men on board. The circumstances attending its departure were such as beseemed the lofty hopes by which it was inspired, and the almost sacred character with which the undertaking was invested in the eyes of the Portuguese nation. The king of Portugal bestowed on its leader with his own hands the colours he was to carry; and on this banner—emblazoned with the cross of the military order of Christ—Da Gama took the oaths of fidelity to his sovereign and his country. The day before his departure Da Gama led his companions to a chapel situated on the seashore, a few miles from Lisbon, and passed the night there in devotion. On the following day, as the voyagers passed to their ships, the beach was crowded with the people of Lisbon, who offered up solemn prayers for the successful issue of the enterprise. As the expedition neared the Cape of Good Hope, tempestuous weather was encountered; and both the seamanship and the moral courage of Da Gama were put to the severest trial. The genius of "the Stormy Cape" might well seem (as represented in the imagery of Camoens) to forbid to mortals the passage of the barrier which it was his province to guard. The sailors mutinied, seeking to compel their leader to a homeward course, and even formed a conspiracy against his life. But the firmness and address of Da Gama overcame all obstacles. On the 20th November the southern extremity of Africa was passed; and on the 17th December the fleet reached the mouth of the Rio del Infante (Great Fish River), the furthest point at which Diaz had arrived in this direction. Thence the fleet steered along the eastern shore of the African continent, touching at various points on the way for the purpose of watering and refitting. At Mozambique the Portuguese first came into contact with the Moors, who then commanded the trade of the entire seaboard of Eastern Africa. Jealousy of interference with their trade, combined with difference of religious faith, prompted hostile proceedings towards the European adventurers on the part of the Moors, and Da Gama with difficulty escaped their stratagems. At Mombas like difficulties were encountered; but at Melinda (lat. 3° S.) Da Gama and his companions experienced a hospitable reception, and the ruler of that city furnished them with an experienced pilot for guidance thence to the shores of India. The voyage from Melinda to the coast of Malabar occupied twenty-three days; and the fleet of Da Gama came to anchor before the city of Calicut on 20th May, 1498. Calicut was then the capital of a native ruler bearing the title of Zamorin, and the emporium of an extensive commerce, exclusively in the hands of the Moors, numerous merchants of which people resided there. By aid of a Moorish interpreter Da Gama entered at once into communication with the Zamorin, who consented to admit him to an interview as the recognized ambassador of the king of Portugal. Regardless of personal danger, Da Gama determined to go on shore; first, with true heroism, giving the strictest orders to his brother, whom he left in command of the fleet during his absence, to incur no delay in the effort to avenge his fate, should he meet with any lengthened detention or ill-treatment, but immediately to set sail for Portugal, to carry home tidings of the great discovery that had been made. His only anxiety was, lest the fruits of this achievement should be lost to his country. Da Gama landed, attended only by twelve followers, and was conducted with great pomp to the presence of the Zamorin. The first interview between Da Gama and the Zamorin was favourable, the Indian prince signifying his willingness to enter into commercial alliance with the Portuguese king; but disagreements, prompted by the jealousy of the Moorish residents at Calicut, who saw with alarm the prospect of interference with the commercial monopoly which they had hitherto enjoyed at the Zamorin's court, subsequently ensued. The presents which Da Gama offered, on behalf of his sovereign, were regarded by the minister of the Zamorin with an eye of contempt. The personal safety of Da Gama was even endangered, and an attempt which he made to return on board his fleet was frustrated. Efforts were eagerly made by the ministers of the Zamorin to get the Portuguese ships brought into the harbour of Calicut, with a view to their ultimate detention; and Da Gama himself was for some time virtually a prisoner. It was to his own lofty bearing and unfailing self-reliance that his ultimate safety was due. He exposed to the Zamorin the motives by which the animosity of the Moors was prompted, and dwelt on the advantages to be realized by entering into commercial relationship with the sovereign whom he represented. These representations at length prevailed, and Da Gama was permitted to return to his ships, leaving behind seven of his twelve attendants as hostages. Compelled to repel by force the treachery he had experienced. Da Gama subsequently captured a native vessel, on board of which were some noblemen of the Zamorin's court, and by this means obtained the restitution of his own countrymen. Skilfully availing himself of a storm to escape beyond reach of a numerous fleet, which the Zamorin had fitted out for the purpose of attacking his little squadron, Da Gama departed from Calicut. In returning along the African coast, antipathy to the Moors prompted him to attack the city of Magadoxo (then a flourishing emporium of commerce), and to burn the ships in its harbour. The Cape of Good Hope was doubled on April 26, 1499; and a continuance of favourable weather enabled the two sole remaining ships of the squadron to reach the island of Santiago, in the Cape Verd group, in safety. In sailing thence, the ships parted company during a storm, and that commanded by Coello, the vice-admiral, reached the Tagus first. The brief delay in the return of Da Gama himself was due to the generous impulsiveness which formed a striking part of his character. He had put into the island of Terceira, one of the Azores, and stayed there to soothe the death-bed of a dying brother, his companion on the voyage. Two years and nearly two months elapsed between the date of Da Gama's departure and his return to Lisbon, where he was welcomed by his sovereign with great pomp and magnificence. He was created admiral of the eastern seas, and had the distinguishing prefix of nobility attached to his name; while public fetes attested the sense of triumph entertained by the Portuguese nation. Da Gama himself appears to have courted repose; and the second Portuguese fleet to the Indies, despatched in the year succeeding his return, was placed under the command of Cabral.—(See Cabral.) A third squadron, designed as a reinforcement to Cabral and despatched a few months prior to
