CHAPTER XX.

WRECK OF THE SAN RAFAEL.CHAPTER XX.THE MOORS IN HINDUSTAN—CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY UPON THE ARRIVAL OF DA GAMA—HOSTILITY OF THE MOORS—THEY PREJUDICE THE KING OF CALICUT AGAINST THE PORTUGUESE—CONSEQUENT HOSTILITIES—DA GAMA SETS OUT UPON HIS RETURN—WILD CINNAMON—A MOORISH PIRATE DISGUISED AS AN ITALIAN CHRISTIAN—A TEMPESTUOUS VOYAGE—WRECK OF THE SAN RAFAEL—HONORS AND TITLES BESTOWED UPON DA GAMA—AN EXPEDITION FITTED OUT UNDER ALVAREZ CABRAL—ACCIDENTAL DISCOVERY OF BRAZIL—COMETS AND WATER-SPOUTS—LOSS OF FOUR VESSELS—A BAZAAR ESTABLISHED AT CALICUT—ATTACK BY THE MOORS—CABRAL WITHDRAWS TO COCHIN—VISITS CANANOR AND TAKES IN A LOAD OF CINNAMON—IS RECEIVED WITH COLDNESS UPON HIS RETURN—VASCO DA GAMA RECALLED INTO THE SERVICE BY THE KING—HIS ACHIEVEMENTS AT SOFALA, CANANOR, AND CALICUT—HE HANGS FIFTY INDIANS AT THE YARD-ARM—PROTECTS COCHIN AND THREATENS CALICUT—WITHDRAWS TO PRIVATE LIFE.Some two hundred years before this time, the Malabar coast of Hindustan was united under one single native prince—named Perimal—whose capital was in the interior. It was at this period that the Arabians discovered India. Perimal embraced the Mohammedan religion, and resolved to make a pilgrimage to Mecca and to finish his days there. He intrusted the government to other hands, and embarked for Arabia from the spot where Calicut now stands. The Arabians were led by this circumstance toregard Calicut with peculiar veneration, and by degrees abandoned the former capital: it was thus that Calicut gradually became the great spice and silk market of the East.In the time of Vasco da Gama, India Proper, or Hindostan, was divided into several independent kingdoms, such as Moultan, Delhi, Bengal, Orissa, Guzarate or Cambaia, Deccan, Canara, Bisnagar, and Malabar. The divisions of Farther India were Ava, Brama, Pegu, Siam, Cambodia, Cochin-China, and Tonkin. The Portuguese fleet had arrived upon the coast of Malabar, which is the edge of the southwestern promontory of Hindostan. It was here, and upon the western coast generally, that the Portuguese were now enabled to plant establishments and to form treaties of alliance and commerce.The Moors of Arabia had already, as we have said, a foothold in the country, and were alarmed at seeing Europeans arrive by sea at the scene of a trade of which they had hitherto held the exclusive monopoly. They succeeded in throwing obstacles in the way of the Portuguese admiral, and in poisoning the ear of the Indian zamorin, or king, against him. They even laid a plot for the destruction of the fleet and all on board, that no one might return to Europe to tell of the new route to the Indies. The native monarch was induced by them to testify dissatisfaction with the presents da Gama had brought, and to ask for the golden statue of the Virgin that ornamented the admiral's ship, as a more suitable offering to one of his rank. Da Gama replied that it was not a golden Virgin, but a wooden one gilt; that it had nevertheless preserved him from the perils of the sea, and that he could not part with it. After many proofs of the hostility of the Moors and the treachery of the natives, da Gama obtained from the zamorin the following laconic epistle to his sovereign:—"Vasco da Gama, a gentleman of thy house, has visited my country. His arrival has given me pleasure. My land is full of cinnamon, cloves, pepper, and precious stones. What I desire to obtain in return from yours isgold, silver, coral, and scarlet." With this missive da Gama set sail upon his return early in September. The zamorin sent sixty armed barks to attack him, but a broadside or two and a favorable wind enabled him to make good his escape. Upon a neighboring island some of the crew discovered a large forest of wild cinnamon. Not far from here, da Gama discovered the Angedive, or Five Islands, and in the vicinity had a brush with Indian pirates. An elderly person, differing in appearance from the natives, came on board and represented himself as an Italian Christian. He had come from the Indians of the island of Goa, he said, to beg the admiral to go thither and trade. This well-behaved old gentleman proved to be a sort of Moorish buccaneer, and, upon being put to the torture, confessed that he was a spy, and that he had been sent to reconnoitre the fleet and count their numbers. Da Gama retained him as a trophy to present to King Emmanuel. He finally left the Indian coast on the 15th of October.When they were fairly out at sea, the pirate-prisoner made a complete confession, and his evident sincerity quite won da Gama's heart. He gave him clothes and a supply of money. The Moor repented of his evil ways and of his pagan faith, and forthwith embraced Christianity. He was baptized by the name of Gaspardo da Gama.The voyage back to Melinda, across the gulf, was disastrous in every sense. The weather was tempestuous and hot. The scurvy carried off thirty men in the first week, and consternation seized the officers and crew. After four months' navigation, when hardly sixteen men able to work were left on each vessel, they descried the African coast, thirteen leagues above Melinda. Descending to the latter city, they were received with joy by the king, who was anxiously awaiting their return. They took on board an ambassador sent by him to King Emmanuel. The San Rafael was lost upon this coast, and the fleet thus reduced to two vessels. Da Gama discovered theisland of Zanzibar, and received offers of service from the sovereign. He doubled the Cape successfully on the 20th of March, and anchored soon after at the Cape Verds. Here, during the night, Nicolao Coelho, the captain of the caravel, slipped away, and made all haste to Portugal, in order to be the first to carry to Europe the intelligence of the grand discovery.Da Gama now found that he could prosecute the voyage no further in his disabled vessel, the San Gabriel, and chartered a caravel in which to proceed to Lisbon. On the way his brother Paulo died, and was buried at the island of Terceira. Vasco arrived at Belem in September, 1499, two years and two months after his departure. The king, informed of his approach by the previous arrival of Coelho, sent a magnificent cortège to conduct him to court. He overwhelmed him with honors, wealth, and distinctions. He himself took the title of Lord of the Conquest of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, and the Indies. Coelho was ennobled, and a pension of one thousand ducats secured to him. Of the one hundred and sixty men who departed upon this voyage, only fifty-five had returned, and all these were munificently rewarded for their share in the brilliant achievements of their commander. The king ordered a series of public festivities, which were preceded by a solemn service of thanksgiving to Heaven for the glory vouchsafed to the Portuguese name and nation.Emmanuel allowed not a week to pass before he directed the necessary preparations to be made for fitting out another and more powerful fleet, to follow in da Gama's track and attempt to colonize the Indies. He determined that da Gama should enjoy his dignities and renown in peace, however, and intrusted the command to one Pedro Alvarez Cabral, a gentleman of merit and distinction. The fleet numbered thirteen vessels, manned by twelve hundred men, among whom were eight Franciscans to convert the pagans, and some thirty condemned malefactorsto undertake communications with the savages. Cabral carried a hat blessed by the Pope and deemed to possess miraculous virtues. Among the captains were Bartholomew Diaz and his brother Diego. The specific object of the expedition was to obtain permission from the Zamorin of Calicut to establish a trading station there, the Portuguese promising in return to furnish him the same articles which the Moors furnished him, and on more advantageous terms.The squadron set sail on the 9th of March, 1500. It will appear almost incredible that, in order to avoid the calms known to prevail at that season off the coast of Guinea, they proceeded so far to the west that, late in April, they touched at the continent now known as South America; where, however, Yanez Pinzon had been before them. Cabral gave to it the name of Land of the Holy Cross; but this, as well as the name given by Pinzon, was subsequently changed to that of Brazil, from a species of dye-wood which grew in abundance there. The inhabitants were friendly, and exchanged parrots of brilliant plumage for bits of paper and cloth. Cabral put two of his criminals ashore and left them, with instructions to inquire into the history of the country and the customs of its inhabitants. He also sent one of his vessels back to Lisbon with intelligence of the discovery.The fleet left Brazil on the 2d of May, steering to the southeast, in order to double the Cape. A terrible comet visible day and night, a storm which lasted three weeks, a water-spout reaching to the clouds,—this latter being a phenomenon which the Portuguese had never before seen,—now menaced and harrassed them in quick succession. Four vessels were lost, and among them that of Bartholomew Diaz, with all on board. The rest were severely injured; but Cabral was rejoiced to find that during the storm he had weathered the redoubtable promontory. Encountering some Moorish vessels laden with gold, he seized them, but not until the crews had thrown a portion of the preciousmetal into the sea. At Mozambique he took a pilot for the island of Quiloa, three hundred miles to the north, whose sovereign was enriched by his gold-trade with the African port of Sofala. Here he attempted to enter into a treaty of commerce; but the prejudices entertained against Christians prevented any concessions on the part of the Moors. At Melinda Cabral landed two criminals and the presents for the king sent out by Emmanuel. Obtaining pilots for the Indian coast, he departed on the 7th of August, and arrived at Calicut on the 13th of September.From this point dates the first European establishment in the East Indies. Stimulated by considerations of interest, the zamorin, after many delays, granted the admiral an interview, in which the latter stated the ardent desire of his master, the King of Portugal, to furnish the zamorin's subjects with all articles of European production or manufacture, taking in exchange the spices and jewels of the East. A market or bazaar was at once opened, and the cargoes of the ships, being transferred to it, were rapidly converted into cinnamon, diamonds, and drugs.The Moors now became seriously jealous of the activity, power, and success of their rivals. They resorted to every means to excite the hostility of the zamorin and his subjects against them. They attacked and destroyed the Portuguese market, plundering it of goods to the amount of four thousand ducats. The inconstant zamorin offering neither apology nor restitution, Cabral determined on vengeance. He boarded two large Moorish vessels, killed six hundred men, and salted down three elephants for food. He then bombarded the town: palaces, temples, and store-houses crumbled to dust beneath the thunders of the artillery. The zamorin fled, and Cabral withdrew with his victorious fleet to Cochin, a rich capital one hundred and fifty miles to the south of Calicut, where pepper was abundant and the king was poor. Trimumpara, the monarch, was informedof the summary vengeance wreaked by the fleet upon his brother of Calicut, and at once offered the strangers hospitality and protection. The admiral sent him a silver basin full of saffron and a silver vial filled with rose-water. Trade and barter rapidly loaded the ships with the fragrant commodities of the country. A fleet of twenty-five sail now appeared in the offing, and Trimumpara told Cabral that their object was to attack him, and that they were sent by the zamorin of Calicut. Cabral, having been separated from his most efficient ship, determined not to venture a combat, and made for the north, casting anchor before Cananor, a town a little above Calicut. Here he found a commodious roadstead, an independent prince, and a soil abounding in ginger, cardamom-seeds, tamarinds, and cinnamon. Of the latter article he took four hundred quintals. The king, judging, from the insignificance of this purchase, that he was short of money, offered him a further supply upon credit. Cabral expressed his sense of appreciation of this generosity, but declined the proposition. The fleet now sailed homewards: one of the vessels was lost upon the African coast, and, taking fire, was destroyed with its contents. The six ships remaining of the twelve which had left Brazil, arrived at Lisbon on the 31st of July, 1501. Cabral was received with coldness by the king, partly on account of the loss of ships and men he had met with, and partly on account of his failure at Calicut, to which place he,—the king,—relying on Cabral's success, had sent out, three months previous to his return, a fleet of four vessels under Juan de Nueva. This expedition was singularly happy in its results,—Nueva lading his vessels to great advantage at Cananor, and discovering the island of St. Helena upon his homeward voyage.DA GAMA'S FLAG-SHIP.It was now evident to the Portuguese that without the employment of force it would be impossible to obtain a permanent foothold in the Indies. After listening to a deliberation as to whether it were not best to abandon the attempt altogether, Emmanuel ordered the equipment of a grand fleet of twenty vessels, to be placed under the command of Vasco da Gama, who consented to resume active life. It was to be divided into three portions: the first, consisting of ten sail, under da Gama, was to undertake the subjugation of the refractory kings of Malabar; the second, of five sail, under Vincent Sodrez, was to guard the entrance of the Red Sea into the Indian Ocean, and thus prevent the Turks and Moors from trading with the ports of Africa and Hindostan; and the third, of five vessels, under Stefano da Gama, was to be detailed upon any service the admiral might direct. They sailed early in 1502, and formed a treaty of alliance and commerce with the king of Sofala, without difficulty. Da Gama obtained from the king of Quiloa an engagement to pay to the crown of Portugal an annual tribute in gold fresh from the mine. Upon the Indian coast near Cananor, he fell in with an Egyptian vessel of the largest size, laden with costly merchandise and crowded with Moors of high rank on their way to Mecca. He attacked, plundered, and burned her: three hundred men and women perished in the flames, in the sea, or by the sword. Twenty children were saved and conveyed to the ship of da Gama, who made a vow to educate them as Christians, in atonement for the apostasy of one Portuguese who had become a Mohammedan. After this sanguinary lesson, da Gama found no obstacles to the establishment of a trading station at Cananor, where his fleet landed a portion of their cargoes. He then sailed to Calicut, determined to inflict summary vengeance upon the faithless and treacherous zamorin.Not far from the coast he seized a number of boats in which were fifty Indians. He sent word to the zamorin that, unless satisfaction were given for the late destruction of the Portuguese bazaar before noon, he would attack the city with fire and sword, and would begin with his fifty prisoners. The time having expired, the unfortunate captives were hung simultaneously at the yard-arms of the various vessels. The town was then reducedto ashes. A squadron was left to sweep the Moorish vessels from the seas, and da Gama proceeded down the coast to Cochin, the city of the friendly Trimumpara. Presents and compliments were here exchanged,—the offerings of the King of Portugal being a golden crown, vases of embossed silver, a rich tent, a piece of scarlet satin, and a bit of sandal-wood, while those of his majesty of Cochin were a Moorish turban of silver thread, two gold bracelets set with precious stones, two large pieces of Bengal calico, and a stone said to be a specific against poison, and taken from the head of an animal called bulgodolph,—a fabulous creature, declared by some to be a serpent and by others to be a quadruped.An apology was now received from the zamorin, and da Gama returned to Calicut with only one vessel. Seeing him thus single-handed, the zamorin sent thirty-three armed canoes against him, and, without the prompt assistance of Sodrez' cruising squadron, da Gama would inevitably have perished. The zamorin now threatened Trimumpara with his vengeance if he continued to harbor the Portuguese and to trade with Christian infidels. Da Gama promised Trimumpara the assistance and alliance of the King of Portugal, and set sail with well-laden vessels. He met the zamorin's fleet of twenty-nine sail, and, having captured two, put the rest to flight with great slaughter. In the two that were taken he found an immense quantity of porcelain and Chinese stuffs, together with an enormous golden idol, with emeralds for eyes, a robe of beaten gold for a vestment, and rubies for buttons. Leaving Sodrez and his fleet to defend Cochin against Calicut and to exterminate the traders from Mecca, da Gama returned with thirteen vessels to Portugal. The king conferred upon him the titles of Admiral of the Indian Ocean and Count de Vidigueira. He again withdrew to privacy, and did not a second time emerge into public life till the year 1524, when the interests of the country under John III. again reclaimed his services in the East.VESSELS EMPLOYED IN THE SPICE-TRADE: SIXTEENTH CENTURY.CHAPTER XXI.SPREAD OF THE PORTUGUESE EAST INDIAN EMPIRE—ALPHONZO D'ALBUQUERQUE—IMMENSE SACRIFICE OF LIFE—ANCIENT ROUTE OF THE SPICE-TRADE WITH EUROPE—COMMERCE BY CARAVANS—REVOLUTION PRODUCED BY OPENING THE NEW ROUTE—FRANCESCO ALMEIDA—DISCOVERY OF CEYLON—TRISTAN D'ACUNHA—THE PORTUGUESE MARS—HIS VIEWS OF EMPIRE—AN ARSENAL ESTABLISHED AT GOA—REDUCTION OF MALACCA—SIAM AND SUMATRA SEND EMBASSIES TO ALBUQUERQUE—THE ISLAND OF ORMUZ—DEATH OF ALBUQUERQUE—EXTENT OF THE PORTUGUESE DOMINION—ORMUZ BECOMES THE GREAT EMPORIUM OF THE EAST—FALL OF THE PORTUGUESE EMPIRE.Having narrated, in the preceding chapters, the incidents which led to the circumnavigation of Africa, and having described the several voyages which introduced the Europeans into the East, by the new route of the Indian Ocean and the Cape of Tempests, we must briefly allude to the sequel,—the spread of European commerce among the islands and seaports of this highly favored region. Alphonzo and Francesco d'Albuquerque, with a fleet of nine vessels, and Edoardo Pacheco, with three vessels, carried terror and revenge to the Malabar coast: forts were built to protect the Portuguese commerce, kings were forced to pay tribute, fleets were swept from the seas; and, as a proverb of the time expressed it, pepper began to cost blood. Again the King of Portugal sent out a formidable squadron,—thirteenships of the line, the largest yet constructed, under Lopez Soarez. Sea-battles now took place, in which the proportions of the slain were one thousand infidels to seventy-five Portuguese,—in which a single European vessel contended successfully with myriads of the native barks. The sacrifice of life was truly awful; but gradually the whole eastern coast of Africa, and, opposite to it, the whole western coast of India, fell under Portuguese sway.The entire commerce of this quarter of the world was of course revolutionized by these discoveries and conquests. Before this period the productions of the East had been carried to Europe in the following manner. The city of Malacca, in the peninsula of the same name, was the central market to which came the camphor of Borneo, the cloves of the Moluccas, the nutmegs of Banda, the pepper of Sumatra, the gums, drugs, and perfumes of China, Japan, and Siam. These products were taken by water, either in the clumsy boats of the natives or the more solid vessels of the Moors, to the ports of the Red Sea, were landed at Tor or at Suez, whence they were transported by caravans to Cairo, and thence by the Nile to Alexandria, where they were placed on board of vessels bound to all the ports of Europe. Those intended for Armenia, Trebizonde, Aleppo, Damascus, were taken by the Persian Gulf to Bassorah, and thence distributed by caravans. The Venetians and Genoese took their portion at Beyrout, in Syria. The East Indians preferred the manufactures of Europe to gold and silver, and consequently the trade was generally in the form of barter and exchange. In addition to the products of Farther India which we have mentioned must be added those of India Proper,—the fabrics of Bengal, the pearls of Orissa, the diamonds of Golconda, the cinnamon of Ceylon, the pepper of Malabar.Thus, not only thousands of laborers, sailors, conductors of caravans, saw themselves suddenly deprived of their livelihoodby this diversion of the traffic into the hands of the Portuguese, but rich cities lost their revenues and princes lost their tribute. While the Venetians resolved to appeal to arms, the Sultan of Egypt addressed a protestation to Rome. But the King of Portugal tranquillized the Pope by declaring his intention of extending the jurisdiction of the apostolic faith, and he prepared to resist violence by sending out, in 1507, Don Francesco Almeida, with twenty-two ships and fifteen hundred regular soldiers: he bestowed upon the new commander the title of Viceroy of the Indies. Almeida deposed the King of Quiloa, and crowned another of his own appointment; he built a fort in twenty days, garrisoned it with one hundred and fifty men, and left a brigantine and a caravel to scour and protect the coast. He bombarded Mombassa, killed fifteen hundred men and lost five. He erected forts and established trading stations at Onor, Cananor, Surat and Calicut, upon the Malabar coast. To the important point of Sofala, upon the African coast, Emmanuel sent a distinct expedition of six ships, under Pedro da Nayha and Juan da Quiros, who compelled the king to admit their nation to a share in the famous gold mines which constituted his kingdom and his wealth. In 1508, Lorenzo, the son of Almeida, while chasing the flying Moors with six men-of-war, discovered the island of Ceylon, to the south of Hindustan. Here he found the Moors and natives loading vessels with elephants and cinnamon.Again King Emmanuel, drawing upon resources which seemed almost inexhaustible, sent out thirteen vessels, with thirteen hundred men, under Tristan d'Acunha. This fleet was driven to the coast of Brazil, and upon the way thence to the Cape of Good Hope the commander discovered the islands which now bear his name. He burned and pillaged the town of Oja, near Melinda; he reduced a neighboring shah to the payment of an annual tribute of six hundred golden ducats. His soldiers would not give the captured women of Brava time to removetheir bracelets and ear-rings, but in their ruthless haste cut off their arms and ears.It was now evident to the King of Portugal that his rule in the East could not be consolidated and extended by the same means which had obtained him his first foothold upon the coast,—chance, intrepidity, and unscrupulous violence. What was required was a carefully conceived system of government, and a man capable of administering it. Emmanuel's choice fell upon Alphonzo d'Albuquerque, whose services in the East had already been meritorious, and to whom, in 1509, he gave the title and power of viceroy. Albuquerque, whose courage obtained for him the name of the Portuguese Mars, ranks, by his talents, his severe virtues, and his disinterested zeal, among the greatest men whom the world has produced. He at once formed the plan of founding an empire which should extend from the Persian Gulf to the peninsula of Malacca; and, determining to abandon Calicut, which had thus far been looked upon as the best point for an arsenal, he selected the island of Goa, a little to the north, captured it, and made its admirable harbor a Portuguese roadstead and its town a Portuguese capital. He built bazaars and citadels along the coast from north to south, and then turned his eyes towards Malacca,—a magnificent country, ruled by a despot and inhabited by slaves. As we have said, its principal seaport was the central resort of the ships of China, Japan, Bengal, the Philippines and the Moluccas, Coromandel, Persia, Arabia, and Malabar.The Portuguese had first visited Malacca two years previously, Emmanuel having sent one Siguiera to make a treaty with the king. He had been perfidiously treated, and Albuquerque now, in 1511, appeared before the city to call the monarch to account. A long and obstinate battle resulted in the defeat of the natives and the unconditional surrender of the peninsula. The Kings of Siam, Sumatra, and Pegu sent ambassadors to Albuquerque, asking the honor of his friendship. He built acitadel and returned to Cochin. But, as he left one spot to repair to another, revolt was sure to follow; and, as the Venetians now joined the Moors to repel the Portuguese, he saw that his dominion could not be complete till he controlled the navigation of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. The city of Aden, in Arabia, was the key to the Red Sea, commanding, as it did, the Straits of Babelmandel; and the island of Ormuz was the key to the Persian Gulf. He failed to take Aden, but he succeeded easily with Ormuz, whose king acknowledged himself the vassal of Emmanuel. Albuquerque then formed a gigantic plan in reference to the Red Sea. Unable to command it by the capture of Aden, he determined to ruin Suez, at the other extremity of the sea, by forming an alliance with the King of Ethiopia, and inducing that monarch to dig a new course for the Nile and make it empty into the Red Sea instead of into the Mediterranean, thus rendering Egypt uninhabitable and Suez desert. The invasion of Egypt by the Turks, however, prevented the accomplishment of this undertaking. Thus the people and kings of the East everywhere gave way before the grand plans and deeds of Albuquerque, whom they both feared for his energy and loved for his justice. When, in 1515, he died at Goa, disgraced by his king and worn out by a thankless service, the heathen monarchs wept over his grave, and for many years went in pilgrimage to his tomb, asking his protection against the cruelty or injustice of his successors.The Portuguese, in little more than fifty years from the first expedition of Vasco da Gama, had established an empire in these seas of truly wonderful extent and power. They held exclusive possession of the Malabar and Coromandel coasts of India Proper, were masters of the Bay of Bengal, ruled the peninsula of Malacca, and held tributary the islands of Ceylon, Sumatra, Java, and the Moluccas. To the westward, towards Africa, their authority extended as far as the Persian boundary, and over all the islands of the Persian Gulf. In Arabia, even,they had tributaries and allies, and no Arabian prince dared confess himself their enemy. They exercised an influence in the Red Sea: and upon the eastern coast of Africa, they were the masters of Quiloa, Sofala, Mozambique, and Melinda.As Albuquerque had foreseen, Ormuz—from its fortunate situation, as an emporium of trade, at the mouth of the Persian Gulf—became the most important of the Portuguese conquests. The island was by nature little more than a barren rock, and was entirely destitute of water. Its wealth and splendor, however, during the period of its commercial supremacy, gave the world an example of the power of trade which had never yet been witnessed. The trading season lasted from January to March and from August to November: during these months, the houses fronting on the streets were opened like shops, and decorated with piles of porcelain and Indian curiosities, and perfumed with fragrant dwarf shrubs set in gilded vases. Camels laden with skins of water stood at the corners of the streets. The richest wines of Persia and the most costly odors of Asia were offered in profusion to those who visited the city to trade. Thick awnings stretched from roof to roof across the promenades, excluding the rays of the sun. The luxury and magnificence of the place seemed to flow rather from the lavish extravagance of an idle prince than from the legitimate pomp of a stirring and active commercial population.In 1580, Portugal was conquered and annexed to Spain, and the Portuguese Empire in the East at once declined, and the Dutch Empire sprang up upon its ruins. Ormuz was plundered by the Persians and English united in 1662: the very stones of which its edifices were built were carried away as ballast, and it speedily sank back into its primitive state—a barren and desolate rock. Hardly a vestige of the proud city now remains to vindicate history in its record that here once stood one of the most famous emporiums of commerce and most frequented resorts of man.PONCE DE LEON AND THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH.CHAPTER XXII.PONCE DE LEON—THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH—DISCOVERY OF FLORIDA—THE MARTYRS AND THE TORTUGAS—THE BAHAMA CHANNEL—VASCO NUÑEZ DE BALBOA—HE GOES TO SEA IN A BARREL—MARRIES A LADY OF THE ISTHMUS—HIS SEARCH FOR GOLD—HEARS OF A MIGHTY OCEAN—UNDERTAKES TO REACH IT—PREPARATIONS FOR THE EXPEDITION—LEONCICO THE BLOODHOUND—BATTLE WITH A CACIQUE—ASCENT OF THE MOUNTAINS—BALBOA MOUNTS TO THE SUMMIT ALONE—THE FIRST SIGHT OF THE PACIFIC—CEREMONIES OF TAKING POSSESSION—BALBOA UP TO HIS KNEES IN THE OCEAN—EVERY ONE TASTES THE WATER—A VOYAGE UPON THE PACIFIC, AND A NARROW ESCAPE—IGNOMINIOUS FATE OF BALBOA—JUAN DIAZ DE SOLIS—DISCOVERS THE RIO DE LA PLATA—HIS HORRIBLE DEATH BY CANNIBALS.We now return, in due chronological progression, to the discoveries of the Spaniards in the West. We have not space to describe, or even to mention, all the successive expeditions made to various points of the great American Continent: we select, therefore, only the more important and interesting episodes among the Spanish maritime achievements. Three heroes willoccupy our attention from 1510 to 1514,—Ponce de Leon, Juan Diaz de Solis, and Vasco Nuñez de Balboa.Juan Ponce, surnamed de Leon from his native province, was one of the Spanish captains who emigrated to Hispaniola shortly after its discovery by Columbus. After an active and prosperous career, he found himself, in 1510, by the withdrawal of the king's favor, without place or occupation. He was, however, rich, and resolved to attempt to regain his credit by means of discoveries. He was avaricious, too, and would willingly have augmented his already large possessions. He had heard from the Indians of Cuba of the existence, to the north of Hispaniola, of an island named Bimini, where, they asserted, was a spring whose waters had the virtue of restoring youth to the aged and vigor to the decrepit. Ponce thought that if he could discover and seize this fountain it would be an inexhaustible source of revenue to him, as he could levy a tax upon all who derived benefit from its influence. He determined to set out in search of it, and fitted out two stout ships at his own expense. With these he left St. Genevieve, in Porto Rico, on the 1st of March, 1512, and steered boldly through the intricate group of the Lucayos. Wherever he stopped, he drank of all the running streams and standing pools, whether their waters were fresh or stagnant, that he might not miss the famous spring. He inquired of all the natives he met where he could find the wondrous Fountain of Youth.At last he discovered a land till then unknown to Europeans. Early in April, and in Easter week, he touched what he supposed was an island, but what in reality was a portion of the continent. As the landscape was covered with flowers, he named the spot "Florida." He had several severe fights with the Indians, one of whom he made prisoner, that he might learn Spanish and give him information concerning the country. He now sailed to the south and doubled Cape Florida on the 8th of May, which, on account of the currents, he named Cabo de las Corrientes.On the 15th, he sailed along a line of small islands as far as two white ones, and called the whole group Los Martyros, or The Martyrs, from the high rocks at a distance which had the appearance of men undergoing crucifixion. The name was singularly applicable, for the large number of seamen who have since been wrecked upon these islands has made them in reality a place of martyrdom. He discovered another group to the southwest, which he called the Tortugas, as his men took one hundred and seventy tortoises upon one of them in a short time, and might have had more if they would. Ponce de Leon continued ranging about here till September, when he returned to Porto Rico, sending one of his ships to Bimini—the smallest of the Bahamas—to see if he could discover the spring. The vessel went and returned, the captain, Perez de Ortubia, reporting that the island was pleasantly diversified with hills, groves, and rivers, but that none of the latter possessed any unusual charm.One great advantage which resulted from the voyage of Ponce de Leon was the discovery, by his second captain, Ortubia, of the passage now known as the Bahama Channel, by which ships bound from Havana to Spain pass out into the Atlantic Ocean. This new passage became the universal track even during Ponce de Leon's life. Upon his return to court, he was well rewarded for his discoveries both by land and sea, but his gathering years caused him often to regret that he had missed the Fountain of Youth.We have now to relate the manner in which the Pacific Ocean, which had rolled for centuries in its accustomed bed, unknown to Europeans, was first seen by Continental eyes. The islands discovered by Columbus were still under the exclusive dominion of the Spaniards; Hispaniola was the central point of their operations of discovery and conquest. Settled here, upon a farm, was a man, still in the prime of life, named Vasco Nuñez de Balboa. He was a native of Xeres, in Spain, and hadeagerly enlisted in the late voyages of adventure. He was known to be a mere soldier of fortune, and of loose, prodigal habits, and is described as an "egregius digladiator," or adroit swordsman. His farm had involved him in debt; and, to escape his embarrassments and elude his creditors, he caused himself, in 1511, to be nailed up in a cask, to be labelled "victuals for the voyage," and to be conveyed on board a ship starting upon an expedition to the mainland. When the vessel was out of sight of the shore, he emerged from the cask, and appeared before the surprised captain, Hernandez de Enciso. Being tall and muscular, evidently inured to hardships and of intrepid disposition, he found favor with the captain, especially when he told him that a venerable priest had asserted "that God reserved him for great things."In the course of two years, Balboa had acquired authority over a tract of the Isthmus of Darien, and had married the young and beautiful daughter of the Cacique of Coyba. After a victory obtained over one of the neighboring monarchs, from whom four thousand ounces of gold and a quantity of golden utensils had been extorted, Balboa ordered one-fifth to be set apart for himself and the rest to be shared among his followers. While the Spaniards were dividing it by weight, a dispute arose respecting the fairness of the award, when the Indian who had given the gold spoke to the disputants as follows:"Why should you quarrel for such a trifle? If gold is to you so precious that you abandon your homes for it and invade the peaceful lands of others, I will tell you of a region where you may gratify your wishes to the utmost. Beyond those lofty mountains lies a mighty sea, which from their summits may be easily discerned. It is navigated by people who have vessels almost as large as yours, and, like them, furnished with sails and oars. All the streams which flow from these mountains into the sea abound in gold: the kings who reign upon its borders eat anddrink out of golden vessels. Gold, in fact, is as common there as iron among you Spaniards."BALBOA AND THE INDIAN.Fired by this discourse, Balboa inquired whether it would be difficult to penetrate to this sea and its golden shores. "The task," the prince replied, "is arduous and dangerous. Powerful caciques will oppose you with their warriors; fierce cannibals will attack you, and devour those whom they kill. To accomplish your enterprise, you will require at least a thousand men, armed like those you have with you now." To prove his sincerity, the prince offered to accompany Balboa upon the expedition, at the head of his warriors. This was the first intimation received by a European of the splendid expanse of water which was so soon to receive the name of Pacific. It exerted an immediate and radical change upon the character and conduct of Balboa. The soldier of fortune became animated by an honorable and controlling ambition; the restless and reckless desperado saw before him a glorious path to immortality. He baptized the prince who had given him informationso priceless, and proceeded to Darien to obtain the means of accomplishing his scheme.For a long time he was baffled. A terrific tempest laid waste the fields and devastated the harvests. He sent to Hispaniola for men and provisions; but the emissary was wrecked upon the coast of Jamaica. He wrote to Don Diego Columbus, who governed at San Domingo, informing him of the existence of a new ocean, bordered with shores of gold, and asking for a thousand men with whom to prosecute its discovery. He forwarded the sum of fifteen thousand crowns in gold, to be transmitted to the king as his royal fifths. Many of his followers, too, sent sums intended for their creditors in Spain.While waiting for a reply, Balboa learned indirectly that he had fallen into disfavor with the king. One brilliant achievement might restore him to consideration and forever fix him in the good graces of the monarch. He chose one hundred and ninety of the most vigorous and resolute of his men, and took with him a number of bloodhounds. His own peculiar bodyguard was a dog named Leoncico,—one of the numerous progeny sired by the famous warrior-dog of Juan Ponce de Leon. Leoncico was covered with scars received in his innumerable fights with the natives. Balboa often lent him to others, and received for his services the same share of booty an able-bodied man would have claimed. Leoncico had earned for his master in this way several thousands of dollars.BALBOA DISCOVERING THE PACIFIC OCEAN.On the 1st of September, 1513, Balboa embarked with his followers in a light brigantine and nine canoes, and ascended a stream which was navigable as far as Coyba. Here he received accessions of men, and, having sent back those who were ill or disabled, prepared to penetrate the wilderness on foot. In a battle with a cacique named Quaragua, he slew six hundred of the natives. Some were transfixed with lances, others hewn down with swords, and others torn to pieces by the bloodhounds. He advanced hardly seven miles a day, but at last reached a village lying at the foot of the mountain that commanded the long wished for prospect. Only sixty-seven men out of two hundred remained to make this last grand effort. Balboa ordered them to retire early to repose, that they might be ready at the cool hour of dawn. They set forth at daybreak on the morning of the 26th of September. In a short time they emerged from the forests, and arrived at the upper regions of the mountain, leaving the bald summit still to be ascended. Balboa ordered them to halt, that he might himself be alone to enjoy the scene and the first to discover the ocean. He reached the peak, and there the magnificent sight burst upon his view. The water was still at the distance of two days' journey; but there it lay, beyond the intervening space, grand, boundless, and serene. He fell upon his knees, and returned thanks to God. He summoned his followers to ascend, and thus addressed them:—"Behold, my friends," he said, "the glorious sight which we have so ardently longed for. Let us pray to God that he will aid and guide us to conquer the sea and land which we have discovered, and in which no Christian has ever entered to preach the holy doctrine of the Evangelists. By the favor of Christ you will thus become the richest Spaniards that have ever come to the Indies." The priest attached to the expedition chanted that impressive anthem, the Te Deum; and the Spaniards, in whom religious fervor and the thirst for pillageseemed to be mingled in equal proportions, joined in the chorus with heart and voice.Balboa now called upon all present to witness that he took possession of the sea, its islands and surrounding lands, in the name of the sovereigns of Castile; and the notary of the expedition made a record to that effect, to which all present, to the number of sixty-seven men, signed their names. Balboa then caused a tall tree to be cut down and fashioned into the form of a cross: this he erected on the spot whence he had first beheld the ocean. A mound of stone was likewise piled up as a monument, and the names of Ferdinand and Juana were carved upon the neighboring trees.A scouting party under Alonzo Martin, sent by Balboa to discover the best route to the sea, came after two days' journey to a beach, upon which were two canoes, stranded as it were, and apparently out of the reach of water. But the tide soon came rushing in, and floated them; upon which Alonzo Martin stepped into one of them, and was thus the first European who embarked upon the ocean which Balboa had discovered and which Magellan was to name. Balboa soon arrived upon the coast: the tide had ebbed, and the water was nearly two miles distant. But it soon returned, invading the place where the Spaniards were seated. Upon this Balboa arose, and, taking a banner representing the Virgin and Child and bearing the arms of Castile and Leon, marched knee-deep into the water, and, waving the flag, pronounced the following act of taking possession:"Long live the high and mighty monarchs Don Ferdinand and Donna Juana, sovereigns of Castile, Leon, and Aragon, in whose name I take real and actual and corporeal possession of these seas, and lands, and coasts, and ports, and islands of the South, and all thereunto annexed; and of the kingdoms and provinces which do or may appertain to them in whatever manner or by whatever right or title, ancient or modern, in times past, present, or to come, without any contradiction; and if other prince or captain, Christian or infidel, or if any law, condition, or sect whatsoever, shall pretend any right to these lands and seas, I am ready to maintain and defend them in the name of the Castilian sovereigns, whose is the empire and dominion over these Indies, islands, and terra firma, Northern and Southern, with all their seas, both at the Arctic and Antartic poles, on either side of the equinoctial line, whether within or without the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, both now and in all time, as long as the world endure, and until the final day of judgment of all mankind."BALBOA TAKING POSSESSION OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN.As may be supposed, no one appeared to dispute these formidable pretensions, and no champion entered the lists in behalf of the original owners of the seas, islands, and surrounding lands in question; so that Balboa called upon his companions to bear witness that he had duly and uninterruptedly taken possession. The notary drew up the necessary legal document, which was signed by all present. Then they all tasted the water, which, from its saltness, they felt assured was the ocean. Balboa carved a cross on a tree whose roots were below high-water mark, and, lopping off a branch with his sword, bore it away as a trophy.Balboa now wished to perform a voyage upon the bosom of the new-found ocean. In spite of the advice of friendly Indians, who represented the season as stormy, he embarked with sixty of his men in nine canoes. A tempest compelled them to seek refuge upon an island. In the night the tide completely submerged it, and rose to the girdles of the Spaniards. Their canoes were broken to pieces, and at low tide they managed with great difficulty to effect their escape to the mainland. After numerous forays against the caciques ruling the neighboring tribes, Balboa arrived at the Darien River, on the 19th of January, 1514, after having accomplished one of the most remarkable feats on record, and after an expedition which must ever be memorable among deeds of intrepidity and adventure.The king created him Adelantado of the South Sea, and Governor of Panama and Coyba, but subject to Pedrarias, the Governor of Darien. The latter regarded him as his rival, and, by a successful series of treacherous arts, brought against him a well-contrived charge of treason to the king. He was reluctantly found guilty by the alcalde, and by Pedrarias condemned to be beheaded, as a traitor and usurper of the territories of the crown. The execution took place in the public square of a small town near Darien, and was witnessed by Pedrarias from between the reeds of the wall of a house some twelve paces from the scaffold. Balboa and four of his officers were beheaded in quick succession during the brief twilight of a tropical evening. Pedrarias confiscated Balboa's property, and ordered his head to be impaled upon a pole and exposed upon the public square till decomposition should ensue.Thus perished, at the age of forty-two years,—the victim of the meanest envy and the most odious treachery,—a man who will be ever remembered as one of the most illustrious of the early discoverers. Events transformed him from a rash and turbulent adventurer into a discreet and patriotic captain; and, from the moment when he felt that he had drawn the attention of the world upon him, his conduct was that of a man born and predestined to greatness. He fell in the zenith of his glory, a worthy contemporary? of Columbus, da Gama, and Magellan.Juan Diaz de Solis, who, with Yanez Pinzon, Amerigo Vespucci, and Juan de la Cosa, the pilot of Columbus, was a member of the Spanish council appointed to deliberate upon discoveries yet to be made, sailed to South America in 1514, and, doubling Capes St. Roque, St. Augustin, and Frio, entered the bay upon which now stands the city of Rio Janeiro, and was probably the first European to set foot upon the coast thus far to the south. He supposed the bay to be the mouth of a passage through to the South Sea so lately discovered by Balboa. He proceeded to the south, ascertaining the position of every headland andindentation with all the precision the instruments and science of the time would permit. At last he found a great opening of the sea towards the west: he took possession of the northern coast for the King of Spain, and named the gulf Fresh-Water Sea. Subsequently, finding that it was a river, and that silver-mines existed there, he named the stream Rio de la Plata. The Indians called it Paraguaza. He found the country fertile and attractive, and an abundance of the wood which had given to the whole region the name of Brazil. He went on shore with a small party, but soon fell into an ambuscade laid for them by the natives. Solis and five of his companions were taken, killed, roasted, and devoured by the horrible cannibals who inhabited the country. The Spaniards who remained on board the ships witnessed the shocking catastrophe, which so appalled and horrified them that they fled in dismay and sailed hastily back to Spain.FATE OF DE SOLIS AND HIS COMPANIONS.

WRECK OF THE SAN RAFAEL.CHAPTER XX.THE MOORS IN HINDUSTAN—CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY UPON THE ARRIVAL OF DA GAMA—HOSTILITY OF THE MOORS—THEY PREJUDICE THE KING OF CALICUT AGAINST THE PORTUGUESE—CONSEQUENT HOSTILITIES—DA GAMA SETS OUT UPON HIS RETURN—WILD CINNAMON—A MOORISH PIRATE DISGUISED AS AN ITALIAN CHRISTIAN—A TEMPESTUOUS VOYAGE—WRECK OF THE SAN RAFAEL—HONORS AND TITLES BESTOWED UPON DA GAMA—AN EXPEDITION FITTED OUT UNDER ALVAREZ CABRAL—ACCIDENTAL DISCOVERY OF BRAZIL—COMETS AND WATER-SPOUTS—LOSS OF FOUR VESSELS—A BAZAAR ESTABLISHED AT CALICUT—ATTACK BY THE MOORS—CABRAL WITHDRAWS TO COCHIN—VISITS CANANOR AND TAKES IN A LOAD OF CINNAMON—IS RECEIVED WITH COLDNESS UPON HIS RETURN—VASCO DA GAMA RECALLED INTO THE SERVICE BY THE KING—HIS ACHIEVEMENTS AT SOFALA, CANANOR, AND CALICUT—HE HANGS FIFTY INDIANS AT THE YARD-ARM—PROTECTS COCHIN AND THREATENS CALICUT—WITHDRAWS TO PRIVATE LIFE.Some two hundred years before this time, the Malabar coast of Hindustan was united under one single native prince—named Perimal—whose capital was in the interior. It was at this period that the Arabians discovered India. Perimal embraced the Mohammedan religion, and resolved to make a pilgrimage to Mecca and to finish his days there. He intrusted the government to other hands, and embarked for Arabia from the spot where Calicut now stands. The Arabians were led by this circumstance toregard Calicut with peculiar veneration, and by degrees abandoned the former capital: it was thus that Calicut gradually became the great spice and silk market of the East.In the time of Vasco da Gama, India Proper, or Hindostan, was divided into several independent kingdoms, such as Moultan, Delhi, Bengal, Orissa, Guzarate or Cambaia, Deccan, Canara, Bisnagar, and Malabar. The divisions of Farther India were Ava, Brama, Pegu, Siam, Cambodia, Cochin-China, and Tonkin. The Portuguese fleet had arrived upon the coast of Malabar, which is the edge of the southwestern promontory of Hindostan. It was here, and upon the western coast generally, that the Portuguese were now enabled to plant establishments and to form treaties of alliance and commerce.The Moors of Arabia had already, as we have said, a foothold in the country, and were alarmed at seeing Europeans arrive by sea at the scene of a trade of which they had hitherto held the exclusive monopoly. They succeeded in throwing obstacles in the way of the Portuguese admiral, and in poisoning the ear of the Indian zamorin, or king, against him. They even laid a plot for the destruction of the fleet and all on board, that no one might return to Europe to tell of the new route to the Indies. The native monarch was induced by them to testify dissatisfaction with the presents da Gama had brought, and to ask for the golden statue of the Virgin that ornamented the admiral's ship, as a more suitable offering to one of his rank. Da Gama replied that it was not a golden Virgin, but a wooden one gilt; that it had nevertheless preserved him from the perils of the sea, and that he could not part with it. After many proofs of the hostility of the Moors and the treachery of the natives, da Gama obtained from the zamorin the following laconic epistle to his sovereign:—"Vasco da Gama, a gentleman of thy house, has visited my country. His arrival has given me pleasure. My land is full of cinnamon, cloves, pepper, and precious stones. What I desire to obtain in return from yours isgold, silver, coral, and scarlet." With this missive da Gama set sail upon his return early in September. The zamorin sent sixty armed barks to attack him, but a broadside or two and a favorable wind enabled him to make good his escape. Upon a neighboring island some of the crew discovered a large forest of wild cinnamon. Not far from here, da Gama discovered the Angedive, or Five Islands, and in the vicinity had a brush with Indian pirates. An elderly person, differing in appearance from the natives, came on board and represented himself as an Italian Christian. He had come from the Indians of the island of Goa, he said, to beg the admiral to go thither and trade. This well-behaved old gentleman proved to be a sort of Moorish buccaneer, and, upon being put to the torture, confessed that he was a spy, and that he had been sent to reconnoitre the fleet and count their numbers. Da Gama retained him as a trophy to present to King Emmanuel. He finally left the Indian coast on the 15th of October.When they were fairly out at sea, the pirate-prisoner made a complete confession, and his evident sincerity quite won da Gama's heart. He gave him clothes and a supply of money. The Moor repented of his evil ways and of his pagan faith, and forthwith embraced Christianity. He was baptized by the name of Gaspardo da Gama.The voyage back to Melinda, across the gulf, was disastrous in every sense. The weather was tempestuous and hot. The scurvy carried off thirty men in the first week, and consternation seized the officers and crew. After four months' navigation, when hardly sixteen men able to work were left on each vessel, they descried the African coast, thirteen leagues above Melinda. Descending to the latter city, they were received with joy by the king, who was anxiously awaiting their return. They took on board an ambassador sent by him to King Emmanuel. The San Rafael was lost upon this coast, and the fleet thus reduced to two vessels. Da Gama discovered theisland of Zanzibar, and received offers of service from the sovereign. He doubled the Cape successfully on the 20th of March, and anchored soon after at the Cape Verds. Here, during the night, Nicolao Coelho, the captain of the caravel, slipped away, and made all haste to Portugal, in order to be the first to carry to Europe the intelligence of the grand discovery.Da Gama now found that he could prosecute the voyage no further in his disabled vessel, the San Gabriel, and chartered a caravel in which to proceed to Lisbon. On the way his brother Paulo died, and was buried at the island of Terceira. Vasco arrived at Belem in September, 1499, two years and two months after his departure. The king, informed of his approach by the previous arrival of Coelho, sent a magnificent cortège to conduct him to court. He overwhelmed him with honors, wealth, and distinctions. He himself took the title of Lord of the Conquest of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, and the Indies. Coelho was ennobled, and a pension of one thousand ducats secured to him. Of the one hundred and sixty men who departed upon this voyage, only fifty-five had returned, and all these were munificently rewarded for their share in the brilliant achievements of their commander. The king ordered a series of public festivities, which were preceded by a solemn service of thanksgiving to Heaven for the glory vouchsafed to the Portuguese name and nation.Emmanuel allowed not a week to pass before he directed the necessary preparations to be made for fitting out another and more powerful fleet, to follow in da Gama's track and attempt to colonize the Indies. He determined that da Gama should enjoy his dignities and renown in peace, however, and intrusted the command to one Pedro Alvarez Cabral, a gentleman of merit and distinction. The fleet numbered thirteen vessels, manned by twelve hundred men, among whom were eight Franciscans to convert the pagans, and some thirty condemned malefactorsto undertake communications with the savages. Cabral carried a hat blessed by the Pope and deemed to possess miraculous virtues. Among the captains were Bartholomew Diaz and his brother Diego. The specific object of the expedition was to obtain permission from the Zamorin of Calicut to establish a trading station there, the Portuguese promising in return to furnish him the same articles which the Moors furnished him, and on more advantageous terms.The squadron set sail on the 9th of March, 1500. It will appear almost incredible that, in order to avoid the calms known to prevail at that season off the coast of Guinea, they proceeded so far to the west that, late in April, they touched at the continent now known as South America; where, however, Yanez Pinzon had been before them. Cabral gave to it the name of Land of the Holy Cross; but this, as well as the name given by Pinzon, was subsequently changed to that of Brazil, from a species of dye-wood which grew in abundance there. The inhabitants were friendly, and exchanged parrots of brilliant plumage for bits of paper and cloth. Cabral put two of his criminals ashore and left them, with instructions to inquire into the history of the country and the customs of its inhabitants. He also sent one of his vessels back to Lisbon with intelligence of the discovery.The fleet left Brazil on the 2d of May, steering to the southeast, in order to double the Cape. A terrible comet visible day and night, a storm which lasted three weeks, a water-spout reaching to the clouds,—this latter being a phenomenon which the Portuguese had never before seen,—now menaced and harrassed them in quick succession. Four vessels were lost, and among them that of Bartholomew Diaz, with all on board. The rest were severely injured; but Cabral was rejoiced to find that during the storm he had weathered the redoubtable promontory. Encountering some Moorish vessels laden with gold, he seized them, but not until the crews had thrown a portion of the preciousmetal into the sea. At Mozambique he took a pilot for the island of Quiloa, three hundred miles to the north, whose sovereign was enriched by his gold-trade with the African port of Sofala. Here he attempted to enter into a treaty of commerce; but the prejudices entertained against Christians prevented any concessions on the part of the Moors. At Melinda Cabral landed two criminals and the presents for the king sent out by Emmanuel. Obtaining pilots for the Indian coast, he departed on the 7th of August, and arrived at Calicut on the 13th of September.From this point dates the first European establishment in the East Indies. Stimulated by considerations of interest, the zamorin, after many delays, granted the admiral an interview, in which the latter stated the ardent desire of his master, the King of Portugal, to furnish the zamorin's subjects with all articles of European production or manufacture, taking in exchange the spices and jewels of the East. A market or bazaar was at once opened, and the cargoes of the ships, being transferred to it, were rapidly converted into cinnamon, diamonds, and drugs.The Moors now became seriously jealous of the activity, power, and success of their rivals. They resorted to every means to excite the hostility of the zamorin and his subjects against them. They attacked and destroyed the Portuguese market, plundering it of goods to the amount of four thousand ducats. The inconstant zamorin offering neither apology nor restitution, Cabral determined on vengeance. He boarded two large Moorish vessels, killed six hundred men, and salted down three elephants for food. He then bombarded the town: palaces, temples, and store-houses crumbled to dust beneath the thunders of the artillery. The zamorin fled, and Cabral withdrew with his victorious fleet to Cochin, a rich capital one hundred and fifty miles to the south of Calicut, where pepper was abundant and the king was poor. Trimumpara, the monarch, was informedof the summary vengeance wreaked by the fleet upon his brother of Calicut, and at once offered the strangers hospitality and protection. The admiral sent him a silver basin full of saffron and a silver vial filled with rose-water. Trade and barter rapidly loaded the ships with the fragrant commodities of the country. A fleet of twenty-five sail now appeared in the offing, and Trimumpara told Cabral that their object was to attack him, and that they were sent by the zamorin of Calicut. Cabral, having been separated from his most efficient ship, determined not to venture a combat, and made for the north, casting anchor before Cananor, a town a little above Calicut. Here he found a commodious roadstead, an independent prince, and a soil abounding in ginger, cardamom-seeds, tamarinds, and cinnamon. Of the latter article he took four hundred quintals. The king, judging, from the insignificance of this purchase, that he was short of money, offered him a further supply upon credit. Cabral expressed his sense of appreciation of this generosity, but declined the proposition. The fleet now sailed homewards: one of the vessels was lost upon the African coast, and, taking fire, was destroyed with its contents. The six ships remaining of the twelve which had left Brazil, arrived at Lisbon on the 31st of July, 1501. Cabral was received with coldness by the king, partly on account of the loss of ships and men he had met with, and partly on account of his failure at Calicut, to which place he,—the king,—relying on Cabral's success, had sent out, three months previous to his return, a fleet of four vessels under Juan de Nueva. This expedition was singularly happy in its results,—Nueva lading his vessels to great advantage at Cananor, and discovering the island of St. Helena upon his homeward voyage.DA GAMA'S FLAG-SHIP.It was now evident to the Portuguese that without the employment of force it would be impossible to obtain a permanent foothold in the Indies. After listening to a deliberation as to whether it were not best to abandon the attempt altogether, Emmanuel ordered the equipment of a grand fleet of twenty vessels, to be placed under the command of Vasco da Gama, who consented to resume active life. It was to be divided into three portions: the first, consisting of ten sail, under da Gama, was to undertake the subjugation of the refractory kings of Malabar; the second, of five sail, under Vincent Sodrez, was to guard the entrance of the Red Sea into the Indian Ocean, and thus prevent the Turks and Moors from trading with the ports of Africa and Hindostan; and the third, of five vessels, under Stefano da Gama, was to be detailed upon any service the admiral might direct. They sailed early in 1502, and formed a treaty of alliance and commerce with the king of Sofala, without difficulty. Da Gama obtained from the king of Quiloa an engagement to pay to the crown of Portugal an annual tribute in gold fresh from the mine. Upon the Indian coast near Cananor, he fell in with an Egyptian vessel of the largest size, laden with costly merchandise and crowded with Moors of high rank on their way to Mecca. He attacked, plundered, and burned her: three hundred men and women perished in the flames, in the sea, or by the sword. Twenty children were saved and conveyed to the ship of da Gama, who made a vow to educate them as Christians, in atonement for the apostasy of one Portuguese who had become a Mohammedan. After this sanguinary lesson, da Gama found no obstacles to the establishment of a trading station at Cananor, where his fleet landed a portion of their cargoes. He then sailed to Calicut, determined to inflict summary vengeance upon the faithless and treacherous zamorin.Not far from the coast he seized a number of boats in which were fifty Indians. He sent word to the zamorin that, unless satisfaction were given for the late destruction of the Portuguese bazaar before noon, he would attack the city with fire and sword, and would begin with his fifty prisoners. The time having expired, the unfortunate captives were hung simultaneously at the yard-arms of the various vessels. The town was then reducedto ashes. A squadron was left to sweep the Moorish vessels from the seas, and da Gama proceeded down the coast to Cochin, the city of the friendly Trimumpara. Presents and compliments were here exchanged,—the offerings of the King of Portugal being a golden crown, vases of embossed silver, a rich tent, a piece of scarlet satin, and a bit of sandal-wood, while those of his majesty of Cochin were a Moorish turban of silver thread, two gold bracelets set with precious stones, two large pieces of Bengal calico, and a stone said to be a specific against poison, and taken from the head of an animal called bulgodolph,—a fabulous creature, declared by some to be a serpent and by others to be a quadruped.An apology was now received from the zamorin, and da Gama returned to Calicut with only one vessel. Seeing him thus single-handed, the zamorin sent thirty-three armed canoes against him, and, without the prompt assistance of Sodrez' cruising squadron, da Gama would inevitably have perished. The zamorin now threatened Trimumpara with his vengeance if he continued to harbor the Portuguese and to trade with Christian infidels. Da Gama promised Trimumpara the assistance and alliance of the King of Portugal, and set sail with well-laden vessels. He met the zamorin's fleet of twenty-nine sail, and, having captured two, put the rest to flight with great slaughter. In the two that were taken he found an immense quantity of porcelain and Chinese stuffs, together with an enormous golden idol, with emeralds for eyes, a robe of beaten gold for a vestment, and rubies for buttons. Leaving Sodrez and his fleet to defend Cochin against Calicut and to exterminate the traders from Mecca, da Gama returned with thirteen vessels to Portugal. The king conferred upon him the titles of Admiral of the Indian Ocean and Count de Vidigueira. He again withdrew to privacy, and did not a second time emerge into public life till the year 1524, when the interests of the country under John III. again reclaimed his services in the East.

WRECK OF THE SAN RAFAEL.

WRECK OF THE SAN RAFAEL.

WRECK OF THE SAN RAFAEL.

THE MOORS IN HINDUSTAN—CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY UPON THE ARRIVAL OF DA GAMA—HOSTILITY OF THE MOORS—THEY PREJUDICE THE KING OF CALICUT AGAINST THE PORTUGUESE—CONSEQUENT HOSTILITIES—DA GAMA SETS OUT UPON HIS RETURN—WILD CINNAMON—A MOORISH PIRATE DISGUISED AS AN ITALIAN CHRISTIAN—A TEMPESTUOUS VOYAGE—WRECK OF THE SAN RAFAEL—HONORS AND TITLES BESTOWED UPON DA GAMA—AN EXPEDITION FITTED OUT UNDER ALVAREZ CABRAL—ACCIDENTAL DISCOVERY OF BRAZIL—COMETS AND WATER-SPOUTS—LOSS OF FOUR VESSELS—A BAZAAR ESTABLISHED AT CALICUT—ATTACK BY THE MOORS—CABRAL WITHDRAWS TO COCHIN—VISITS CANANOR AND TAKES IN A LOAD OF CINNAMON—IS RECEIVED WITH COLDNESS UPON HIS RETURN—VASCO DA GAMA RECALLED INTO THE SERVICE BY THE KING—HIS ACHIEVEMENTS AT SOFALA, CANANOR, AND CALICUT—HE HANGS FIFTY INDIANS AT THE YARD-ARM—PROTECTS COCHIN AND THREATENS CALICUT—WITHDRAWS TO PRIVATE LIFE.

Some two hundred years before this time, the Malabar coast of Hindustan was united under one single native prince—named Perimal—whose capital was in the interior. It was at this period that the Arabians discovered India. Perimal embraced the Mohammedan religion, and resolved to make a pilgrimage to Mecca and to finish his days there. He intrusted the government to other hands, and embarked for Arabia from the spot where Calicut now stands. The Arabians were led by this circumstance toregard Calicut with peculiar veneration, and by degrees abandoned the former capital: it was thus that Calicut gradually became the great spice and silk market of the East.

In the time of Vasco da Gama, India Proper, or Hindostan, was divided into several independent kingdoms, such as Moultan, Delhi, Bengal, Orissa, Guzarate or Cambaia, Deccan, Canara, Bisnagar, and Malabar. The divisions of Farther India were Ava, Brama, Pegu, Siam, Cambodia, Cochin-China, and Tonkin. The Portuguese fleet had arrived upon the coast of Malabar, which is the edge of the southwestern promontory of Hindostan. It was here, and upon the western coast generally, that the Portuguese were now enabled to plant establishments and to form treaties of alliance and commerce.

The Moors of Arabia had already, as we have said, a foothold in the country, and were alarmed at seeing Europeans arrive by sea at the scene of a trade of which they had hitherto held the exclusive monopoly. They succeeded in throwing obstacles in the way of the Portuguese admiral, and in poisoning the ear of the Indian zamorin, or king, against him. They even laid a plot for the destruction of the fleet and all on board, that no one might return to Europe to tell of the new route to the Indies. The native monarch was induced by them to testify dissatisfaction with the presents da Gama had brought, and to ask for the golden statue of the Virgin that ornamented the admiral's ship, as a more suitable offering to one of his rank. Da Gama replied that it was not a golden Virgin, but a wooden one gilt; that it had nevertheless preserved him from the perils of the sea, and that he could not part with it. After many proofs of the hostility of the Moors and the treachery of the natives, da Gama obtained from the zamorin the following laconic epistle to his sovereign:—"Vasco da Gama, a gentleman of thy house, has visited my country. His arrival has given me pleasure. My land is full of cinnamon, cloves, pepper, and precious stones. What I desire to obtain in return from yours isgold, silver, coral, and scarlet." With this missive da Gama set sail upon his return early in September. The zamorin sent sixty armed barks to attack him, but a broadside or two and a favorable wind enabled him to make good his escape. Upon a neighboring island some of the crew discovered a large forest of wild cinnamon. Not far from here, da Gama discovered the Angedive, or Five Islands, and in the vicinity had a brush with Indian pirates. An elderly person, differing in appearance from the natives, came on board and represented himself as an Italian Christian. He had come from the Indians of the island of Goa, he said, to beg the admiral to go thither and trade. This well-behaved old gentleman proved to be a sort of Moorish buccaneer, and, upon being put to the torture, confessed that he was a spy, and that he had been sent to reconnoitre the fleet and count their numbers. Da Gama retained him as a trophy to present to King Emmanuel. He finally left the Indian coast on the 15th of October.

When they were fairly out at sea, the pirate-prisoner made a complete confession, and his evident sincerity quite won da Gama's heart. He gave him clothes and a supply of money. The Moor repented of his evil ways and of his pagan faith, and forthwith embraced Christianity. He was baptized by the name of Gaspardo da Gama.

The voyage back to Melinda, across the gulf, was disastrous in every sense. The weather was tempestuous and hot. The scurvy carried off thirty men in the first week, and consternation seized the officers and crew. After four months' navigation, when hardly sixteen men able to work were left on each vessel, they descried the African coast, thirteen leagues above Melinda. Descending to the latter city, they were received with joy by the king, who was anxiously awaiting their return. They took on board an ambassador sent by him to King Emmanuel. The San Rafael was lost upon this coast, and the fleet thus reduced to two vessels. Da Gama discovered theisland of Zanzibar, and received offers of service from the sovereign. He doubled the Cape successfully on the 20th of March, and anchored soon after at the Cape Verds. Here, during the night, Nicolao Coelho, the captain of the caravel, slipped away, and made all haste to Portugal, in order to be the first to carry to Europe the intelligence of the grand discovery.

Da Gama now found that he could prosecute the voyage no further in his disabled vessel, the San Gabriel, and chartered a caravel in which to proceed to Lisbon. On the way his brother Paulo died, and was buried at the island of Terceira. Vasco arrived at Belem in September, 1499, two years and two months after his departure. The king, informed of his approach by the previous arrival of Coelho, sent a magnificent cortège to conduct him to court. He overwhelmed him with honors, wealth, and distinctions. He himself took the title of Lord of the Conquest of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, and the Indies. Coelho was ennobled, and a pension of one thousand ducats secured to him. Of the one hundred and sixty men who departed upon this voyage, only fifty-five had returned, and all these were munificently rewarded for their share in the brilliant achievements of their commander. The king ordered a series of public festivities, which were preceded by a solemn service of thanksgiving to Heaven for the glory vouchsafed to the Portuguese name and nation.

Emmanuel allowed not a week to pass before he directed the necessary preparations to be made for fitting out another and more powerful fleet, to follow in da Gama's track and attempt to colonize the Indies. He determined that da Gama should enjoy his dignities and renown in peace, however, and intrusted the command to one Pedro Alvarez Cabral, a gentleman of merit and distinction. The fleet numbered thirteen vessels, manned by twelve hundred men, among whom were eight Franciscans to convert the pagans, and some thirty condemned malefactorsto undertake communications with the savages. Cabral carried a hat blessed by the Pope and deemed to possess miraculous virtues. Among the captains were Bartholomew Diaz and his brother Diego. The specific object of the expedition was to obtain permission from the Zamorin of Calicut to establish a trading station there, the Portuguese promising in return to furnish him the same articles which the Moors furnished him, and on more advantageous terms.

The squadron set sail on the 9th of March, 1500. It will appear almost incredible that, in order to avoid the calms known to prevail at that season off the coast of Guinea, they proceeded so far to the west that, late in April, they touched at the continent now known as South America; where, however, Yanez Pinzon had been before them. Cabral gave to it the name of Land of the Holy Cross; but this, as well as the name given by Pinzon, was subsequently changed to that of Brazil, from a species of dye-wood which grew in abundance there. The inhabitants were friendly, and exchanged parrots of brilliant plumage for bits of paper and cloth. Cabral put two of his criminals ashore and left them, with instructions to inquire into the history of the country and the customs of its inhabitants. He also sent one of his vessels back to Lisbon with intelligence of the discovery.

The fleet left Brazil on the 2d of May, steering to the southeast, in order to double the Cape. A terrible comet visible day and night, a storm which lasted three weeks, a water-spout reaching to the clouds,—this latter being a phenomenon which the Portuguese had never before seen,—now menaced and harrassed them in quick succession. Four vessels were lost, and among them that of Bartholomew Diaz, with all on board. The rest were severely injured; but Cabral was rejoiced to find that during the storm he had weathered the redoubtable promontory. Encountering some Moorish vessels laden with gold, he seized them, but not until the crews had thrown a portion of the preciousmetal into the sea. At Mozambique he took a pilot for the island of Quiloa, three hundred miles to the north, whose sovereign was enriched by his gold-trade with the African port of Sofala. Here he attempted to enter into a treaty of commerce; but the prejudices entertained against Christians prevented any concessions on the part of the Moors. At Melinda Cabral landed two criminals and the presents for the king sent out by Emmanuel. Obtaining pilots for the Indian coast, he departed on the 7th of August, and arrived at Calicut on the 13th of September.

From this point dates the first European establishment in the East Indies. Stimulated by considerations of interest, the zamorin, after many delays, granted the admiral an interview, in which the latter stated the ardent desire of his master, the King of Portugal, to furnish the zamorin's subjects with all articles of European production or manufacture, taking in exchange the spices and jewels of the East. A market or bazaar was at once opened, and the cargoes of the ships, being transferred to it, were rapidly converted into cinnamon, diamonds, and drugs.

The Moors now became seriously jealous of the activity, power, and success of their rivals. They resorted to every means to excite the hostility of the zamorin and his subjects against them. They attacked and destroyed the Portuguese market, plundering it of goods to the amount of four thousand ducats. The inconstant zamorin offering neither apology nor restitution, Cabral determined on vengeance. He boarded two large Moorish vessels, killed six hundred men, and salted down three elephants for food. He then bombarded the town: palaces, temples, and store-houses crumbled to dust beneath the thunders of the artillery. The zamorin fled, and Cabral withdrew with his victorious fleet to Cochin, a rich capital one hundred and fifty miles to the south of Calicut, where pepper was abundant and the king was poor. Trimumpara, the monarch, was informedof the summary vengeance wreaked by the fleet upon his brother of Calicut, and at once offered the strangers hospitality and protection. The admiral sent him a silver basin full of saffron and a silver vial filled with rose-water. Trade and barter rapidly loaded the ships with the fragrant commodities of the country. A fleet of twenty-five sail now appeared in the offing, and Trimumpara told Cabral that their object was to attack him, and that they were sent by the zamorin of Calicut. Cabral, having been separated from his most efficient ship, determined not to venture a combat, and made for the north, casting anchor before Cananor, a town a little above Calicut. Here he found a commodious roadstead, an independent prince, and a soil abounding in ginger, cardamom-seeds, tamarinds, and cinnamon. Of the latter article he took four hundred quintals. The king, judging, from the insignificance of this purchase, that he was short of money, offered him a further supply upon credit. Cabral expressed his sense of appreciation of this generosity, but declined the proposition. The fleet now sailed homewards: one of the vessels was lost upon the African coast, and, taking fire, was destroyed with its contents. The six ships remaining of the twelve which had left Brazil, arrived at Lisbon on the 31st of July, 1501. Cabral was received with coldness by the king, partly on account of the loss of ships and men he had met with, and partly on account of his failure at Calicut, to which place he,—the king,—relying on Cabral's success, had sent out, three months previous to his return, a fleet of four vessels under Juan de Nueva. This expedition was singularly happy in its results,—Nueva lading his vessels to great advantage at Cananor, and discovering the island of St. Helena upon his homeward voyage.

DA GAMA'S FLAG-SHIP.

DA GAMA'S FLAG-SHIP.

DA GAMA'S FLAG-SHIP.

It was now evident to the Portuguese that without the employment of force it would be impossible to obtain a permanent foothold in the Indies. After listening to a deliberation as to whether it were not best to abandon the attempt altogether, Emmanuel ordered the equipment of a grand fleet of twenty vessels, to be placed under the command of Vasco da Gama, who consented to resume active life. It was to be divided into three portions: the first, consisting of ten sail, under da Gama, was to undertake the subjugation of the refractory kings of Malabar; the second, of five sail, under Vincent Sodrez, was to guard the entrance of the Red Sea into the Indian Ocean, and thus prevent the Turks and Moors from trading with the ports of Africa and Hindostan; and the third, of five vessels, under Stefano da Gama, was to be detailed upon any service the admiral might direct. They sailed early in 1502, and formed a treaty of alliance and commerce with the king of Sofala, without difficulty. Da Gama obtained from the king of Quiloa an engagement to pay to the crown of Portugal an annual tribute in gold fresh from the mine. Upon the Indian coast near Cananor, he fell in with an Egyptian vessel of the largest size, laden with costly merchandise and crowded with Moors of high rank on their way to Mecca. He attacked, plundered, and burned her: three hundred men and women perished in the flames, in the sea, or by the sword. Twenty children were saved and conveyed to the ship of da Gama, who made a vow to educate them as Christians, in atonement for the apostasy of one Portuguese who had become a Mohammedan. After this sanguinary lesson, da Gama found no obstacles to the establishment of a trading station at Cananor, where his fleet landed a portion of their cargoes. He then sailed to Calicut, determined to inflict summary vengeance upon the faithless and treacherous zamorin.

Not far from the coast he seized a number of boats in which were fifty Indians. He sent word to the zamorin that, unless satisfaction were given for the late destruction of the Portuguese bazaar before noon, he would attack the city with fire and sword, and would begin with his fifty prisoners. The time having expired, the unfortunate captives were hung simultaneously at the yard-arms of the various vessels. The town was then reducedto ashes. A squadron was left to sweep the Moorish vessels from the seas, and da Gama proceeded down the coast to Cochin, the city of the friendly Trimumpara. Presents and compliments were here exchanged,—the offerings of the King of Portugal being a golden crown, vases of embossed silver, a rich tent, a piece of scarlet satin, and a bit of sandal-wood, while those of his majesty of Cochin were a Moorish turban of silver thread, two gold bracelets set with precious stones, two large pieces of Bengal calico, and a stone said to be a specific against poison, and taken from the head of an animal called bulgodolph,—a fabulous creature, declared by some to be a serpent and by others to be a quadruped.

An apology was now received from the zamorin, and da Gama returned to Calicut with only one vessel. Seeing him thus single-handed, the zamorin sent thirty-three armed canoes against him, and, without the prompt assistance of Sodrez' cruising squadron, da Gama would inevitably have perished. The zamorin now threatened Trimumpara with his vengeance if he continued to harbor the Portuguese and to trade with Christian infidels. Da Gama promised Trimumpara the assistance and alliance of the King of Portugal, and set sail with well-laden vessels. He met the zamorin's fleet of twenty-nine sail, and, having captured two, put the rest to flight with great slaughter. In the two that were taken he found an immense quantity of porcelain and Chinese stuffs, together with an enormous golden idol, with emeralds for eyes, a robe of beaten gold for a vestment, and rubies for buttons. Leaving Sodrez and his fleet to defend Cochin against Calicut and to exterminate the traders from Mecca, da Gama returned with thirteen vessels to Portugal. The king conferred upon him the titles of Admiral of the Indian Ocean and Count de Vidigueira. He again withdrew to privacy, and did not a second time emerge into public life till the year 1524, when the interests of the country under John III. again reclaimed his services in the East.

VESSELS EMPLOYED IN THE SPICE-TRADE: SIXTEENTH CENTURY.CHAPTER XXI.SPREAD OF THE PORTUGUESE EAST INDIAN EMPIRE—ALPHONZO D'ALBUQUERQUE—IMMENSE SACRIFICE OF LIFE—ANCIENT ROUTE OF THE SPICE-TRADE WITH EUROPE—COMMERCE BY CARAVANS—REVOLUTION PRODUCED BY OPENING THE NEW ROUTE—FRANCESCO ALMEIDA—DISCOVERY OF CEYLON—TRISTAN D'ACUNHA—THE PORTUGUESE MARS—HIS VIEWS OF EMPIRE—AN ARSENAL ESTABLISHED AT GOA—REDUCTION OF MALACCA—SIAM AND SUMATRA SEND EMBASSIES TO ALBUQUERQUE—THE ISLAND OF ORMUZ—DEATH OF ALBUQUERQUE—EXTENT OF THE PORTUGUESE DOMINION—ORMUZ BECOMES THE GREAT EMPORIUM OF THE EAST—FALL OF THE PORTUGUESE EMPIRE.Having narrated, in the preceding chapters, the incidents which led to the circumnavigation of Africa, and having described the several voyages which introduced the Europeans into the East, by the new route of the Indian Ocean and the Cape of Tempests, we must briefly allude to the sequel,—the spread of European commerce among the islands and seaports of this highly favored region. Alphonzo and Francesco d'Albuquerque, with a fleet of nine vessels, and Edoardo Pacheco, with three vessels, carried terror and revenge to the Malabar coast: forts were built to protect the Portuguese commerce, kings were forced to pay tribute, fleets were swept from the seas; and, as a proverb of the time expressed it, pepper began to cost blood. Again the King of Portugal sent out a formidable squadron,—thirteenships of the line, the largest yet constructed, under Lopez Soarez. Sea-battles now took place, in which the proportions of the slain were one thousand infidels to seventy-five Portuguese,—in which a single European vessel contended successfully with myriads of the native barks. The sacrifice of life was truly awful; but gradually the whole eastern coast of Africa, and, opposite to it, the whole western coast of India, fell under Portuguese sway.The entire commerce of this quarter of the world was of course revolutionized by these discoveries and conquests. Before this period the productions of the East had been carried to Europe in the following manner. The city of Malacca, in the peninsula of the same name, was the central market to which came the camphor of Borneo, the cloves of the Moluccas, the nutmegs of Banda, the pepper of Sumatra, the gums, drugs, and perfumes of China, Japan, and Siam. These products were taken by water, either in the clumsy boats of the natives or the more solid vessels of the Moors, to the ports of the Red Sea, were landed at Tor or at Suez, whence they were transported by caravans to Cairo, and thence by the Nile to Alexandria, where they were placed on board of vessels bound to all the ports of Europe. Those intended for Armenia, Trebizonde, Aleppo, Damascus, were taken by the Persian Gulf to Bassorah, and thence distributed by caravans. The Venetians and Genoese took their portion at Beyrout, in Syria. The East Indians preferred the manufactures of Europe to gold and silver, and consequently the trade was generally in the form of barter and exchange. In addition to the products of Farther India which we have mentioned must be added those of India Proper,—the fabrics of Bengal, the pearls of Orissa, the diamonds of Golconda, the cinnamon of Ceylon, the pepper of Malabar.Thus, not only thousands of laborers, sailors, conductors of caravans, saw themselves suddenly deprived of their livelihoodby this diversion of the traffic into the hands of the Portuguese, but rich cities lost their revenues and princes lost their tribute. While the Venetians resolved to appeal to arms, the Sultan of Egypt addressed a protestation to Rome. But the King of Portugal tranquillized the Pope by declaring his intention of extending the jurisdiction of the apostolic faith, and he prepared to resist violence by sending out, in 1507, Don Francesco Almeida, with twenty-two ships and fifteen hundred regular soldiers: he bestowed upon the new commander the title of Viceroy of the Indies. Almeida deposed the King of Quiloa, and crowned another of his own appointment; he built a fort in twenty days, garrisoned it with one hundred and fifty men, and left a brigantine and a caravel to scour and protect the coast. He bombarded Mombassa, killed fifteen hundred men and lost five. He erected forts and established trading stations at Onor, Cananor, Surat and Calicut, upon the Malabar coast. To the important point of Sofala, upon the African coast, Emmanuel sent a distinct expedition of six ships, under Pedro da Nayha and Juan da Quiros, who compelled the king to admit their nation to a share in the famous gold mines which constituted his kingdom and his wealth. In 1508, Lorenzo, the son of Almeida, while chasing the flying Moors with six men-of-war, discovered the island of Ceylon, to the south of Hindustan. Here he found the Moors and natives loading vessels with elephants and cinnamon.Again King Emmanuel, drawing upon resources which seemed almost inexhaustible, sent out thirteen vessels, with thirteen hundred men, under Tristan d'Acunha. This fleet was driven to the coast of Brazil, and upon the way thence to the Cape of Good Hope the commander discovered the islands which now bear his name. He burned and pillaged the town of Oja, near Melinda; he reduced a neighboring shah to the payment of an annual tribute of six hundred golden ducats. His soldiers would not give the captured women of Brava time to removetheir bracelets and ear-rings, but in their ruthless haste cut off their arms and ears.It was now evident to the King of Portugal that his rule in the East could not be consolidated and extended by the same means which had obtained him his first foothold upon the coast,—chance, intrepidity, and unscrupulous violence. What was required was a carefully conceived system of government, and a man capable of administering it. Emmanuel's choice fell upon Alphonzo d'Albuquerque, whose services in the East had already been meritorious, and to whom, in 1509, he gave the title and power of viceroy. Albuquerque, whose courage obtained for him the name of the Portuguese Mars, ranks, by his talents, his severe virtues, and his disinterested zeal, among the greatest men whom the world has produced. He at once formed the plan of founding an empire which should extend from the Persian Gulf to the peninsula of Malacca; and, determining to abandon Calicut, which had thus far been looked upon as the best point for an arsenal, he selected the island of Goa, a little to the north, captured it, and made its admirable harbor a Portuguese roadstead and its town a Portuguese capital. He built bazaars and citadels along the coast from north to south, and then turned his eyes towards Malacca,—a magnificent country, ruled by a despot and inhabited by slaves. As we have said, its principal seaport was the central resort of the ships of China, Japan, Bengal, the Philippines and the Moluccas, Coromandel, Persia, Arabia, and Malabar.The Portuguese had first visited Malacca two years previously, Emmanuel having sent one Siguiera to make a treaty with the king. He had been perfidiously treated, and Albuquerque now, in 1511, appeared before the city to call the monarch to account. A long and obstinate battle resulted in the defeat of the natives and the unconditional surrender of the peninsula. The Kings of Siam, Sumatra, and Pegu sent ambassadors to Albuquerque, asking the honor of his friendship. He built acitadel and returned to Cochin. But, as he left one spot to repair to another, revolt was sure to follow; and, as the Venetians now joined the Moors to repel the Portuguese, he saw that his dominion could not be complete till he controlled the navigation of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. The city of Aden, in Arabia, was the key to the Red Sea, commanding, as it did, the Straits of Babelmandel; and the island of Ormuz was the key to the Persian Gulf. He failed to take Aden, but he succeeded easily with Ormuz, whose king acknowledged himself the vassal of Emmanuel. Albuquerque then formed a gigantic plan in reference to the Red Sea. Unable to command it by the capture of Aden, he determined to ruin Suez, at the other extremity of the sea, by forming an alliance with the King of Ethiopia, and inducing that monarch to dig a new course for the Nile and make it empty into the Red Sea instead of into the Mediterranean, thus rendering Egypt uninhabitable and Suez desert. The invasion of Egypt by the Turks, however, prevented the accomplishment of this undertaking. Thus the people and kings of the East everywhere gave way before the grand plans and deeds of Albuquerque, whom they both feared for his energy and loved for his justice. When, in 1515, he died at Goa, disgraced by his king and worn out by a thankless service, the heathen monarchs wept over his grave, and for many years went in pilgrimage to his tomb, asking his protection against the cruelty or injustice of his successors.The Portuguese, in little more than fifty years from the first expedition of Vasco da Gama, had established an empire in these seas of truly wonderful extent and power. They held exclusive possession of the Malabar and Coromandel coasts of India Proper, were masters of the Bay of Bengal, ruled the peninsula of Malacca, and held tributary the islands of Ceylon, Sumatra, Java, and the Moluccas. To the westward, towards Africa, their authority extended as far as the Persian boundary, and over all the islands of the Persian Gulf. In Arabia, even,they had tributaries and allies, and no Arabian prince dared confess himself their enemy. They exercised an influence in the Red Sea: and upon the eastern coast of Africa, they were the masters of Quiloa, Sofala, Mozambique, and Melinda.As Albuquerque had foreseen, Ormuz—from its fortunate situation, as an emporium of trade, at the mouth of the Persian Gulf—became the most important of the Portuguese conquests. The island was by nature little more than a barren rock, and was entirely destitute of water. Its wealth and splendor, however, during the period of its commercial supremacy, gave the world an example of the power of trade which had never yet been witnessed. The trading season lasted from January to March and from August to November: during these months, the houses fronting on the streets were opened like shops, and decorated with piles of porcelain and Indian curiosities, and perfumed with fragrant dwarf shrubs set in gilded vases. Camels laden with skins of water stood at the corners of the streets. The richest wines of Persia and the most costly odors of Asia were offered in profusion to those who visited the city to trade. Thick awnings stretched from roof to roof across the promenades, excluding the rays of the sun. The luxury and magnificence of the place seemed to flow rather from the lavish extravagance of an idle prince than from the legitimate pomp of a stirring and active commercial population.In 1580, Portugal was conquered and annexed to Spain, and the Portuguese Empire in the East at once declined, and the Dutch Empire sprang up upon its ruins. Ormuz was plundered by the Persians and English united in 1662: the very stones of which its edifices were built were carried away as ballast, and it speedily sank back into its primitive state—a barren and desolate rock. Hardly a vestige of the proud city now remains to vindicate history in its record that here once stood one of the most famous emporiums of commerce and most frequented resorts of man.

VESSELS EMPLOYED IN THE SPICE-TRADE: SIXTEENTH CENTURY.

VESSELS EMPLOYED IN THE SPICE-TRADE: SIXTEENTH CENTURY.

VESSELS EMPLOYED IN THE SPICE-TRADE: SIXTEENTH CENTURY.

SPREAD OF THE PORTUGUESE EAST INDIAN EMPIRE—ALPHONZO D'ALBUQUERQUE—IMMENSE SACRIFICE OF LIFE—ANCIENT ROUTE OF THE SPICE-TRADE WITH EUROPE—COMMERCE BY CARAVANS—REVOLUTION PRODUCED BY OPENING THE NEW ROUTE—FRANCESCO ALMEIDA—DISCOVERY OF CEYLON—TRISTAN D'ACUNHA—THE PORTUGUESE MARS—HIS VIEWS OF EMPIRE—AN ARSENAL ESTABLISHED AT GOA—REDUCTION OF MALACCA—SIAM AND SUMATRA SEND EMBASSIES TO ALBUQUERQUE—THE ISLAND OF ORMUZ—DEATH OF ALBUQUERQUE—EXTENT OF THE PORTUGUESE DOMINION—ORMUZ BECOMES THE GREAT EMPORIUM OF THE EAST—FALL OF THE PORTUGUESE EMPIRE.

Having narrated, in the preceding chapters, the incidents which led to the circumnavigation of Africa, and having described the several voyages which introduced the Europeans into the East, by the new route of the Indian Ocean and the Cape of Tempests, we must briefly allude to the sequel,—the spread of European commerce among the islands and seaports of this highly favored region. Alphonzo and Francesco d'Albuquerque, with a fleet of nine vessels, and Edoardo Pacheco, with three vessels, carried terror and revenge to the Malabar coast: forts were built to protect the Portuguese commerce, kings were forced to pay tribute, fleets were swept from the seas; and, as a proverb of the time expressed it, pepper began to cost blood. Again the King of Portugal sent out a formidable squadron,—thirteenships of the line, the largest yet constructed, under Lopez Soarez. Sea-battles now took place, in which the proportions of the slain were one thousand infidels to seventy-five Portuguese,—in which a single European vessel contended successfully with myriads of the native barks. The sacrifice of life was truly awful; but gradually the whole eastern coast of Africa, and, opposite to it, the whole western coast of India, fell under Portuguese sway.

The entire commerce of this quarter of the world was of course revolutionized by these discoveries and conquests. Before this period the productions of the East had been carried to Europe in the following manner. The city of Malacca, in the peninsula of the same name, was the central market to which came the camphor of Borneo, the cloves of the Moluccas, the nutmegs of Banda, the pepper of Sumatra, the gums, drugs, and perfumes of China, Japan, and Siam. These products were taken by water, either in the clumsy boats of the natives or the more solid vessels of the Moors, to the ports of the Red Sea, were landed at Tor or at Suez, whence they were transported by caravans to Cairo, and thence by the Nile to Alexandria, where they were placed on board of vessels bound to all the ports of Europe. Those intended for Armenia, Trebizonde, Aleppo, Damascus, were taken by the Persian Gulf to Bassorah, and thence distributed by caravans. The Venetians and Genoese took their portion at Beyrout, in Syria. The East Indians preferred the manufactures of Europe to gold and silver, and consequently the trade was generally in the form of barter and exchange. In addition to the products of Farther India which we have mentioned must be added those of India Proper,—the fabrics of Bengal, the pearls of Orissa, the diamonds of Golconda, the cinnamon of Ceylon, the pepper of Malabar.

Thus, not only thousands of laborers, sailors, conductors of caravans, saw themselves suddenly deprived of their livelihoodby this diversion of the traffic into the hands of the Portuguese, but rich cities lost their revenues and princes lost their tribute. While the Venetians resolved to appeal to arms, the Sultan of Egypt addressed a protestation to Rome. But the King of Portugal tranquillized the Pope by declaring his intention of extending the jurisdiction of the apostolic faith, and he prepared to resist violence by sending out, in 1507, Don Francesco Almeida, with twenty-two ships and fifteen hundred regular soldiers: he bestowed upon the new commander the title of Viceroy of the Indies. Almeida deposed the King of Quiloa, and crowned another of his own appointment; he built a fort in twenty days, garrisoned it with one hundred and fifty men, and left a brigantine and a caravel to scour and protect the coast. He bombarded Mombassa, killed fifteen hundred men and lost five. He erected forts and established trading stations at Onor, Cananor, Surat and Calicut, upon the Malabar coast. To the important point of Sofala, upon the African coast, Emmanuel sent a distinct expedition of six ships, under Pedro da Nayha and Juan da Quiros, who compelled the king to admit their nation to a share in the famous gold mines which constituted his kingdom and his wealth. In 1508, Lorenzo, the son of Almeida, while chasing the flying Moors with six men-of-war, discovered the island of Ceylon, to the south of Hindustan. Here he found the Moors and natives loading vessels with elephants and cinnamon.

Again King Emmanuel, drawing upon resources which seemed almost inexhaustible, sent out thirteen vessels, with thirteen hundred men, under Tristan d'Acunha. This fleet was driven to the coast of Brazil, and upon the way thence to the Cape of Good Hope the commander discovered the islands which now bear his name. He burned and pillaged the town of Oja, near Melinda; he reduced a neighboring shah to the payment of an annual tribute of six hundred golden ducats. His soldiers would not give the captured women of Brava time to removetheir bracelets and ear-rings, but in their ruthless haste cut off their arms and ears.

It was now evident to the King of Portugal that his rule in the East could not be consolidated and extended by the same means which had obtained him his first foothold upon the coast,—chance, intrepidity, and unscrupulous violence. What was required was a carefully conceived system of government, and a man capable of administering it. Emmanuel's choice fell upon Alphonzo d'Albuquerque, whose services in the East had already been meritorious, and to whom, in 1509, he gave the title and power of viceroy. Albuquerque, whose courage obtained for him the name of the Portuguese Mars, ranks, by his talents, his severe virtues, and his disinterested zeal, among the greatest men whom the world has produced. He at once formed the plan of founding an empire which should extend from the Persian Gulf to the peninsula of Malacca; and, determining to abandon Calicut, which had thus far been looked upon as the best point for an arsenal, he selected the island of Goa, a little to the north, captured it, and made its admirable harbor a Portuguese roadstead and its town a Portuguese capital. He built bazaars and citadels along the coast from north to south, and then turned his eyes towards Malacca,—a magnificent country, ruled by a despot and inhabited by slaves. As we have said, its principal seaport was the central resort of the ships of China, Japan, Bengal, the Philippines and the Moluccas, Coromandel, Persia, Arabia, and Malabar.

The Portuguese had first visited Malacca two years previously, Emmanuel having sent one Siguiera to make a treaty with the king. He had been perfidiously treated, and Albuquerque now, in 1511, appeared before the city to call the monarch to account. A long and obstinate battle resulted in the defeat of the natives and the unconditional surrender of the peninsula. The Kings of Siam, Sumatra, and Pegu sent ambassadors to Albuquerque, asking the honor of his friendship. He built acitadel and returned to Cochin. But, as he left one spot to repair to another, revolt was sure to follow; and, as the Venetians now joined the Moors to repel the Portuguese, he saw that his dominion could not be complete till he controlled the navigation of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. The city of Aden, in Arabia, was the key to the Red Sea, commanding, as it did, the Straits of Babelmandel; and the island of Ormuz was the key to the Persian Gulf. He failed to take Aden, but he succeeded easily with Ormuz, whose king acknowledged himself the vassal of Emmanuel. Albuquerque then formed a gigantic plan in reference to the Red Sea. Unable to command it by the capture of Aden, he determined to ruin Suez, at the other extremity of the sea, by forming an alliance with the King of Ethiopia, and inducing that monarch to dig a new course for the Nile and make it empty into the Red Sea instead of into the Mediterranean, thus rendering Egypt uninhabitable and Suez desert. The invasion of Egypt by the Turks, however, prevented the accomplishment of this undertaking. Thus the people and kings of the East everywhere gave way before the grand plans and deeds of Albuquerque, whom they both feared for his energy and loved for his justice. When, in 1515, he died at Goa, disgraced by his king and worn out by a thankless service, the heathen monarchs wept over his grave, and for many years went in pilgrimage to his tomb, asking his protection against the cruelty or injustice of his successors.

The Portuguese, in little more than fifty years from the first expedition of Vasco da Gama, had established an empire in these seas of truly wonderful extent and power. They held exclusive possession of the Malabar and Coromandel coasts of India Proper, were masters of the Bay of Bengal, ruled the peninsula of Malacca, and held tributary the islands of Ceylon, Sumatra, Java, and the Moluccas. To the westward, towards Africa, their authority extended as far as the Persian boundary, and over all the islands of the Persian Gulf. In Arabia, even,they had tributaries and allies, and no Arabian prince dared confess himself their enemy. They exercised an influence in the Red Sea: and upon the eastern coast of Africa, they were the masters of Quiloa, Sofala, Mozambique, and Melinda.

As Albuquerque had foreseen, Ormuz—from its fortunate situation, as an emporium of trade, at the mouth of the Persian Gulf—became the most important of the Portuguese conquests. The island was by nature little more than a barren rock, and was entirely destitute of water. Its wealth and splendor, however, during the period of its commercial supremacy, gave the world an example of the power of trade which had never yet been witnessed. The trading season lasted from January to March and from August to November: during these months, the houses fronting on the streets were opened like shops, and decorated with piles of porcelain and Indian curiosities, and perfumed with fragrant dwarf shrubs set in gilded vases. Camels laden with skins of water stood at the corners of the streets. The richest wines of Persia and the most costly odors of Asia were offered in profusion to those who visited the city to trade. Thick awnings stretched from roof to roof across the promenades, excluding the rays of the sun. The luxury and magnificence of the place seemed to flow rather from the lavish extravagance of an idle prince than from the legitimate pomp of a stirring and active commercial population.

In 1580, Portugal was conquered and annexed to Spain, and the Portuguese Empire in the East at once declined, and the Dutch Empire sprang up upon its ruins. Ormuz was plundered by the Persians and English united in 1662: the very stones of which its edifices were built were carried away as ballast, and it speedily sank back into its primitive state—a barren and desolate rock. Hardly a vestige of the proud city now remains to vindicate history in its record that here once stood one of the most famous emporiums of commerce and most frequented resorts of man.

PONCE DE LEON AND THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH.CHAPTER XXII.PONCE DE LEON—THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH—DISCOVERY OF FLORIDA—THE MARTYRS AND THE TORTUGAS—THE BAHAMA CHANNEL—VASCO NUÑEZ DE BALBOA—HE GOES TO SEA IN A BARREL—MARRIES A LADY OF THE ISTHMUS—HIS SEARCH FOR GOLD—HEARS OF A MIGHTY OCEAN—UNDERTAKES TO REACH IT—PREPARATIONS FOR THE EXPEDITION—LEONCICO THE BLOODHOUND—BATTLE WITH A CACIQUE—ASCENT OF THE MOUNTAINS—BALBOA MOUNTS TO THE SUMMIT ALONE—THE FIRST SIGHT OF THE PACIFIC—CEREMONIES OF TAKING POSSESSION—BALBOA UP TO HIS KNEES IN THE OCEAN—EVERY ONE TASTES THE WATER—A VOYAGE UPON THE PACIFIC, AND A NARROW ESCAPE—IGNOMINIOUS FATE OF BALBOA—JUAN DIAZ DE SOLIS—DISCOVERS THE RIO DE LA PLATA—HIS HORRIBLE DEATH BY CANNIBALS.We now return, in due chronological progression, to the discoveries of the Spaniards in the West. We have not space to describe, or even to mention, all the successive expeditions made to various points of the great American Continent: we select, therefore, only the more important and interesting episodes among the Spanish maritime achievements. Three heroes willoccupy our attention from 1510 to 1514,—Ponce de Leon, Juan Diaz de Solis, and Vasco Nuñez de Balboa.Juan Ponce, surnamed de Leon from his native province, was one of the Spanish captains who emigrated to Hispaniola shortly after its discovery by Columbus. After an active and prosperous career, he found himself, in 1510, by the withdrawal of the king's favor, without place or occupation. He was, however, rich, and resolved to attempt to regain his credit by means of discoveries. He was avaricious, too, and would willingly have augmented his already large possessions. He had heard from the Indians of Cuba of the existence, to the north of Hispaniola, of an island named Bimini, where, they asserted, was a spring whose waters had the virtue of restoring youth to the aged and vigor to the decrepit. Ponce thought that if he could discover and seize this fountain it would be an inexhaustible source of revenue to him, as he could levy a tax upon all who derived benefit from its influence. He determined to set out in search of it, and fitted out two stout ships at his own expense. With these he left St. Genevieve, in Porto Rico, on the 1st of March, 1512, and steered boldly through the intricate group of the Lucayos. Wherever he stopped, he drank of all the running streams and standing pools, whether their waters were fresh or stagnant, that he might not miss the famous spring. He inquired of all the natives he met where he could find the wondrous Fountain of Youth.At last he discovered a land till then unknown to Europeans. Early in April, and in Easter week, he touched what he supposed was an island, but what in reality was a portion of the continent. As the landscape was covered with flowers, he named the spot "Florida." He had several severe fights with the Indians, one of whom he made prisoner, that he might learn Spanish and give him information concerning the country. He now sailed to the south and doubled Cape Florida on the 8th of May, which, on account of the currents, he named Cabo de las Corrientes.On the 15th, he sailed along a line of small islands as far as two white ones, and called the whole group Los Martyros, or The Martyrs, from the high rocks at a distance which had the appearance of men undergoing crucifixion. The name was singularly applicable, for the large number of seamen who have since been wrecked upon these islands has made them in reality a place of martyrdom. He discovered another group to the southwest, which he called the Tortugas, as his men took one hundred and seventy tortoises upon one of them in a short time, and might have had more if they would. Ponce de Leon continued ranging about here till September, when he returned to Porto Rico, sending one of his ships to Bimini—the smallest of the Bahamas—to see if he could discover the spring. The vessel went and returned, the captain, Perez de Ortubia, reporting that the island was pleasantly diversified with hills, groves, and rivers, but that none of the latter possessed any unusual charm.One great advantage which resulted from the voyage of Ponce de Leon was the discovery, by his second captain, Ortubia, of the passage now known as the Bahama Channel, by which ships bound from Havana to Spain pass out into the Atlantic Ocean. This new passage became the universal track even during Ponce de Leon's life. Upon his return to court, he was well rewarded for his discoveries both by land and sea, but his gathering years caused him often to regret that he had missed the Fountain of Youth.We have now to relate the manner in which the Pacific Ocean, which had rolled for centuries in its accustomed bed, unknown to Europeans, was first seen by Continental eyes. The islands discovered by Columbus were still under the exclusive dominion of the Spaniards; Hispaniola was the central point of their operations of discovery and conquest. Settled here, upon a farm, was a man, still in the prime of life, named Vasco Nuñez de Balboa. He was a native of Xeres, in Spain, and hadeagerly enlisted in the late voyages of adventure. He was known to be a mere soldier of fortune, and of loose, prodigal habits, and is described as an "egregius digladiator," or adroit swordsman. His farm had involved him in debt; and, to escape his embarrassments and elude his creditors, he caused himself, in 1511, to be nailed up in a cask, to be labelled "victuals for the voyage," and to be conveyed on board a ship starting upon an expedition to the mainland. When the vessel was out of sight of the shore, he emerged from the cask, and appeared before the surprised captain, Hernandez de Enciso. Being tall and muscular, evidently inured to hardships and of intrepid disposition, he found favor with the captain, especially when he told him that a venerable priest had asserted "that God reserved him for great things."In the course of two years, Balboa had acquired authority over a tract of the Isthmus of Darien, and had married the young and beautiful daughter of the Cacique of Coyba. After a victory obtained over one of the neighboring monarchs, from whom four thousand ounces of gold and a quantity of golden utensils had been extorted, Balboa ordered one-fifth to be set apart for himself and the rest to be shared among his followers. While the Spaniards were dividing it by weight, a dispute arose respecting the fairness of the award, when the Indian who had given the gold spoke to the disputants as follows:"Why should you quarrel for such a trifle? If gold is to you so precious that you abandon your homes for it and invade the peaceful lands of others, I will tell you of a region where you may gratify your wishes to the utmost. Beyond those lofty mountains lies a mighty sea, which from their summits may be easily discerned. It is navigated by people who have vessels almost as large as yours, and, like them, furnished with sails and oars. All the streams which flow from these mountains into the sea abound in gold: the kings who reign upon its borders eat anddrink out of golden vessels. Gold, in fact, is as common there as iron among you Spaniards."BALBOA AND THE INDIAN.Fired by this discourse, Balboa inquired whether it would be difficult to penetrate to this sea and its golden shores. "The task," the prince replied, "is arduous and dangerous. Powerful caciques will oppose you with their warriors; fierce cannibals will attack you, and devour those whom they kill. To accomplish your enterprise, you will require at least a thousand men, armed like those you have with you now." To prove his sincerity, the prince offered to accompany Balboa upon the expedition, at the head of his warriors. This was the first intimation received by a European of the splendid expanse of water which was so soon to receive the name of Pacific. It exerted an immediate and radical change upon the character and conduct of Balboa. The soldier of fortune became animated by an honorable and controlling ambition; the restless and reckless desperado saw before him a glorious path to immortality. He baptized the prince who had given him informationso priceless, and proceeded to Darien to obtain the means of accomplishing his scheme.For a long time he was baffled. A terrific tempest laid waste the fields and devastated the harvests. He sent to Hispaniola for men and provisions; but the emissary was wrecked upon the coast of Jamaica. He wrote to Don Diego Columbus, who governed at San Domingo, informing him of the existence of a new ocean, bordered with shores of gold, and asking for a thousand men with whom to prosecute its discovery. He forwarded the sum of fifteen thousand crowns in gold, to be transmitted to the king as his royal fifths. Many of his followers, too, sent sums intended for their creditors in Spain.While waiting for a reply, Balboa learned indirectly that he had fallen into disfavor with the king. One brilliant achievement might restore him to consideration and forever fix him in the good graces of the monarch. He chose one hundred and ninety of the most vigorous and resolute of his men, and took with him a number of bloodhounds. His own peculiar bodyguard was a dog named Leoncico,—one of the numerous progeny sired by the famous warrior-dog of Juan Ponce de Leon. Leoncico was covered with scars received in his innumerable fights with the natives. Balboa often lent him to others, and received for his services the same share of booty an able-bodied man would have claimed. Leoncico had earned for his master in this way several thousands of dollars.BALBOA DISCOVERING THE PACIFIC OCEAN.On the 1st of September, 1513, Balboa embarked with his followers in a light brigantine and nine canoes, and ascended a stream which was navigable as far as Coyba. Here he received accessions of men, and, having sent back those who were ill or disabled, prepared to penetrate the wilderness on foot. In a battle with a cacique named Quaragua, he slew six hundred of the natives. Some were transfixed with lances, others hewn down with swords, and others torn to pieces by the bloodhounds. He advanced hardly seven miles a day, but at last reached a village lying at the foot of the mountain that commanded the long wished for prospect. Only sixty-seven men out of two hundred remained to make this last grand effort. Balboa ordered them to retire early to repose, that they might be ready at the cool hour of dawn. They set forth at daybreak on the morning of the 26th of September. In a short time they emerged from the forests, and arrived at the upper regions of the mountain, leaving the bald summit still to be ascended. Balboa ordered them to halt, that he might himself be alone to enjoy the scene and the first to discover the ocean. He reached the peak, and there the magnificent sight burst upon his view. The water was still at the distance of two days' journey; but there it lay, beyond the intervening space, grand, boundless, and serene. He fell upon his knees, and returned thanks to God. He summoned his followers to ascend, and thus addressed them:—"Behold, my friends," he said, "the glorious sight which we have so ardently longed for. Let us pray to God that he will aid and guide us to conquer the sea and land which we have discovered, and in which no Christian has ever entered to preach the holy doctrine of the Evangelists. By the favor of Christ you will thus become the richest Spaniards that have ever come to the Indies." The priest attached to the expedition chanted that impressive anthem, the Te Deum; and the Spaniards, in whom religious fervor and the thirst for pillageseemed to be mingled in equal proportions, joined in the chorus with heart and voice.Balboa now called upon all present to witness that he took possession of the sea, its islands and surrounding lands, in the name of the sovereigns of Castile; and the notary of the expedition made a record to that effect, to which all present, to the number of sixty-seven men, signed their names. Balboa then caused a tall tree to be cut down and fashioned into the form of a cross: this he erected on the spot whence he had first beheld the ocean. A mound of stone was likewise piled up as a monument, and the names of Ferdinand and Juana were carved upon the neighboring trees.A scouting party under Alonzo Martin, sent by Balboa to discover the best route to the sea, came after two days' journey to a beach, upon which were two canoes, stranded as it were, and apparently out of the reach of water. But the tide soon came rushing in, and floated them; upon which Alonzo Martin stepped into one of them, and was thus the first European who embarked upon the ocean which Balboa had discovered and which Magellan was to name. Balboa soon arrived upon the coast: the tide had ebbed, and the water was nearly two miles distant. But it soon returned, invading the place where the Spaniards were seated. Upon this Balboa arose, and, taking a banner representing the Virgin and Child and bearing the arms of Castile and Leon, marched knee-deep into the water, and, waving the flag, pronounced the following act of taking possession:"Long live the high and mighty monarchs Don Ferdinand and Donna Juana, sovereigns of Castile, Leon, and Aragon, in whose name I take real and actual and corporeal possession of these seas, and lands, and coasts, and ports, and islands of the South, and all thereunto annexed; and of the kingdoms and provinces which do or may appertain to them in whatever manner or by whatever right or title, ancient or modern, in times past, present, or to come, without any contradiction; and if other prince or captain, Christian or infidel, or if any law, condition, or sect whatsoever, shall pretend any right to these lands and seas, I am ready to maintain and defend them in the name of the Castilian sovereigns, whose is the empire and dominion over these Indies, islands, and terra firma, Northern and Southern, with all their seas, both at the Arctic and Antartic poles, on either side of the equinoctial line, whether within or without the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, both now and in all time, as long as the world endure, and until the final day of judgment of all mankind."BALBOA TAKING POSSESSION OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN.As may be supposed, no one appeared to dispute these formidable pretensions, and no champion entered the lists in behalf of the original owners of the seas, islands, and surrounding lands in question; so that Balboa called upon his companions to bear witness that he had duly and uninterruptedly taken possession. The notary drew up the necessary legal document, which was signed by all present. Then they all tasted the water, which, from its saltness, they felt assured was the ocean. Balboa carved a cross on a tree whose roots were below high-water mark, and, lopping off a branch with his sword, bore it away as a trophy.Balboa now wished to perform a voyage upon the bosom of the new-found ocean. In spite of the advice of friendly Indians, who represented the season as stormy, he embarked with sixty of his men in nine canoes. A tempest compelled them to seek refuge upon an island. In the night the tide completely submerged it, and rose to the girdles of the Spaniards. Their canoes were broken to pieces, and at low tide they managed with great difficulty to effect their escape to the mainland. After numerous forays against the caciques ruling the neighboring tribes, Balboa arrived at the Darien River, on the 19th of January, 1514, after having accomplished one of the most remarkable feats on record, and after an expedition which must ever be memorable among deeds of intrepidity and adventure.The king created him Adelantado of the South Sea, and Governor of Panama and Coyba, but subject to Pedrarias, the Governor of Darien. The latter regarded him as his rival, and, by a successful series of treacherous arts, brought against him a well-contrived charge of treason to the king. He was reluctantly found guilty by the alcalde, and by Pedrarias condemned to be beheaded, as a traitor and usurper of the territories of the crown. The execution took place in the public square of a small town near Darien, and was witnessed by Pedrarias from between the reeds of the wall of a house some twelve paces from the scaffold. Balboa and four of his officers were beheaded in quick succession during the brief twilight of a tropical evening. Pedrarias confiscated Balboa's property, and ordered his head to be impaled upon a pole and exposed upon the public square till decomposition should ensue.Thus perished, at the age of forty-two years,—the victim of the meanest envy and the most odious treachery,—a man who will be ever remembered as one of the most illustrious of the early discoverers. Events transformed him from a rash and turbulent adventurer into a discreet and patriotic captain; and, from the moment when he felt that he had drawn the attention of the world upon him, his conduct was that of a man born and predestined to greatness. He fell in the zenith of his glory, a worthy contemporary? of Columbus, da Gama, and Magellan.Juan Diaz de Solis, who, with Yanez Pinzon, Amerigo Vespucci, and Juan de la Cosa, the pilot of Columbus, was a member of the Spanish council appointed to deliberate upon discoveries yet to be made, sailed to South America in 1514, and, doubling Capes St. Roque, St. Augustin, and Frio, entered the bay upon which now stands the city of Rio Janeiro, and was probably the first European to set foot upon the coast thus far to the south. He supposed the bay to be the mouth of a passage through to the South Sea so lately discovered by Balboa. He proceeded to the south, ascertaining the position of every headland andindentation with all the precision the instruments and science of the time would permit. At last he found a great opening of the sea towards the west: he took possession of the northern coast for the King of Spain, and named the gulf Fresh-Water Sea. Subsequently, finding that it was a river, and that silver-mines existed there, he named the stream Rio de la Plata. The Indians called it Paraguaza. He found the country fertile and attractive, and an abundance of the wood which had given to the whole region the name of Brazil. He went on shore with a small party, but soon fell into an ambuscade laid for them by the natives. Solis and five of his companions were taken, killed, roasted, and devoured by the horrible cannibals who inhabited the country. The Spaniards who remained on board the ships witnessed the shocking catastrophe, which so appalled and horrified them that they fled in dismay and sailed hastily back to Spain.FATE OF DE SOLIS AND HIS COMPANIONS.

PONCE DE LEON AND THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH.

PONCE DE LEON AND THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH.

PONCE DE LEON AND THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH.

PONCE DE LEON—THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH—DISCOVERY OF FLORIDA—THE MARTYRS AND THE TORTUGAS—THE BAHAMA CHANNEL—VASCO NUÑEZ DE BALBOA—HE GOES TO SEA IN A BARREL—MARRIES A LADY OF THE ISTHMUS—HIS SEARCH FOR GOLD—HEARS OF A MIGHTY OCEAN—UNDERTAKES TO REACH IT—PREPARATIONS FOR THE EXPEDITION—LEONCICO THE BLOODHOUND—BATTLE WITH A CACIQUE—ASCENT OF THE MOUNTAINS—BALBOA MOUNTS TO THE SUMMIT ALONE—THE FIRST SIGHT OF THE PACIFIC—CEREMONIES OF TAKING POSSESSION—BALBOA UP TO HIS KNEES IN THE OCEAN—EVERY ONE TASTES THE WATER—A VOYAGE UPON THE PACIFIC, AND A NARROW ESCAPE—IGNOMINIOUS FATE OF BALBOA—JUAN DIAZ DE SOLIS—DISCOVERS THE RIO DE LA PLATA—HIS HORRIBLE DEATH BY CANNIBALS.

We now return, in due chronological progression, to the discoveries of the Spaniards in the West. We have not space to describe, or even to mention, all the successive expeditions made to various points of the great American Continent: we select, therefore, only the more important and interesting episodes among the Spanish maritime achievements. Three heroes willoccupy our attention from 1510 to 1514,—Ponce de Leon, Juan Diaz de Solis, and Vasco Nuñez de Balboa.

Juan Ponce, surnamed de Leon from his native province, was one of the Spanish captains who emigrated to Hispaniola shortly after its discovery by Columbus. After an active and prosperous career, he found himself, in 1510, by the withdrawal of the king's favor, without place or occupation. He was, however, rich, and resolved to attempt to regain his credit by means of discoveries. He was avaricious, too, and would willingly have augmented his already large possessions. He had heard from the Indians of Cuba of the existence, to the north of Hispaniola, of an island named Bimini, where, they asserted, was a spring whose waters had the virtue of restoring youth to the aged and vigor to the decrepit. Ponce thought that if he could discover and seize this fountain it would be an inexhaustible source of revenue to him, as he could levy a tax upon all who derived benefit from its influence. He determined to set out in search of it, and fitted out two stout ships at his own expense. With these he left St. Genevieve, in Porto Rico, on the 1st of March, 1512, and steered boldly through the intricate group of the Lucayos. Wherever he stopped, he drank of all the running streams and standing pools, whether their waters were fresh or stagnant, that he might not miss the famous spring. He inquired of all the natives he met where he could find the wondrous Fountain of Youth.

At last he discovered a land till then unknown to Europeans. Early in April, and in Easter week, he touched what he supposed was an island, but what in reality was a portion of the continent. As the landscape was covered with flowers, he named the spot "Florida." He had several severe fights with the Indians, one of whom he made prisoner, that he might learn Spanish and give him information concerning the country. He now sailed to the south and doubled Cape Florida on the 8th of May, which, on account of the currents, he named Cabo de las Corrientes.On the 15th, he sailed along a line of small islands as far as two white ones, and called the whole group Los Martyros, or The Martyrs, from the high rocks at a distance which had the appearance of men undergoing crucifixion. The name was singularly applicable, for the large number of seamen who have since been wrecked upon these islands has made them in reality a place of martyrdom. He discovered another group to the southwest, which he called the Tortugas, as his men took one hundred and seventy tortoises upon one of them in a short time, and might have had more if they would. Ponce de Leon continued ranging about here till September, when he returned to Porto Rico, sending one of his ships to Bimini—the smallest of the Bahamas—to see if he could discover the spring. The vessel went and returned, the captain, Perez de Ortubia, reporting that the island was pleasantly diversified with hills, groves, and rivers, but that none of the latter possessed any unusual charm.

One great advantage which resulted from the voyage of Ponce de Leon was the discovery, by his second captain, Ortubia, of the passage now known as the Bahama Channel, by which ships bound from Havana to Spain pass out into the Atlantic Ocean. This new passage became the universal track even during Ponce de Leon's life. Upon his return to court, he was well rewarded for his discoveries both by land and sea, but his gathering years caused him often to regret that he had missed the Fountain of Youth.

We have now to relate the manner in which the Pacific Ocean, which had rolled for centuries in its accustomed bed, unknown to Europeans, was first seen by Continental eyes. The islands discovered by Columbus were still under the exclusive dominion of the Spaniards; Hispaniola was the central point of their operations of discovery and conquest. Settled here, upon a farm, was a man, still in the prime of life, named Vasco Nuñez de Balboa. He was a native of Xeres, in Spain, and hadeagerly enlisted in the late voyages of adventure. He was known to be a mere soldier of fortune, and of loose, prodigal habits, and is described as an "egregius digladiator," or adroit swordsman. His farm had involved him in debt; and, to escape his embarrassments and elude his creditors, he caused himself, in 1511, to be nailed up in a cask, to be labelled "victuals for the voyage," and to be conveyed on board a ship starting upon an expedition to the mainland. When the vessel was out of sight of the shore, he emerged from the cask, and appeared before the surprised captain, Hernandez de Enciso. Being tall and muscular, evidently inured to hardships and of intrepid disposition, he found favor with the captain, especially when he told him that a venerable priest had asserted "that God reserved him for great things."

In the course of two years, Balboa had acquired authority over a tract of the Isthmus of Darien, and had married the young and beautiful daughter of the Cacique of Coyba. After a victory obtained over one of the neighboring monarchs, from whom four thousand ounces of gold and a quantity of golden utensils had been extorted, Balboa ordered one-fifth to be set apart for himself and the rest to be shared among his followers. While the Spaniards were dividing it by weight, a dispute arose respecting the fairness of the award, when the Indian who had given the gold spoke to the disputants as follows:

"Why should you quarrel for such a trifle? If gold is to you so precious that you abandon your homes for it and invade the peaceful lands of others, I will tell you of a region where you may gratify your wishes to the utmost. Beyond those lofty mountains lies a mighty sea, which from their summits may be easily discerned. It is navigated by people who have vessels almost as large as yours, and, like them, furnished with sails and oars. All the streams which flow from these mountains into the sea abound in gold: the kings who reign upon its borders eat anddrink out of golden vessels. Gold, in fact, is as common there as iron among you Spaniards."

BALBOA AND THE INDIAN.

BALBOA AND THE INDIAN.

BALBOA AND THE INDIAN.

Fired by this discourse, Balboa inquired whether it would be difficult to penetrate to this sea and its golden shores. "The task," the prince replied, "is arduous and dangerous. Powerful caciques will oppose you with their warriors; fierce cannibals will attack you, and devour those whom they kill. To accomplish your enterprise, you will require at least a thousand men, armed like those you have with you now." To prove his sincerity, the prince offered to accompany Balboa upon the expedition, at the head of his warriors. This was the first intimation received by a European of the splendid expanse of water which was so soon to receive the name of Pacific. It exerted an immediate and radical change upon the character and conduct of Balboa. The soldier of fortune became animated by an honorable and controlling ambition; the restless and reckless desperado saw before him a glorious path to immortality. He baptized the prince who had given him informationso priceless, and proceeded to Darien to obtain the means of accomplishing his scheme.

For a long time he was baffled. A terrific tempest laid waste the fields and devastated the harvests. He sent to Hispaniola for men and provisions; but the emissary was wrecked upon the coast of Jamaica. He wrote to Don Diego Columbus, who governed at San Domingo, informing him of the existence of a new ocean, bordered with shores of gold, and asking for a thousand men with whom to prosecute its discovery. He forwarded the sum of fifteen thousand crowns in gold, to be transmitted to the king as his royal fifths. Many of his followers, too, sent sums intended for their creditors in Spain.

While waiting for a reply, Balboa learned indirectly that he had fallen into disfavor with the king. One brilliant achievement might restore him to consideration and forever fix him in the good graces of the monarch. He chose one hundred and ninety of the most vigorous and resolute of his men, and took with him a number of bloodhounds. His own peculiar bodyguard was a dog named Leoncico,—one of the numerous progeny sired by the famous warrior-dog of Juan Ponce de Leon. Leoncico was covered with scars received in his innumerable fights with the natives. Balboa often lent him to others, and received for his services the same share of booty an able-bodied man would have claimed. Leoncico had earned for his master in this way several thousands of dollars.

BALBOA DISCOVERING THE PACIFIC OCEAN.

BALBOA DISCOVERING THE PACIFIC OCEAN.

BALBOA DISCOVERING THE PACIFIC OCEAN.

On the 1st of September, 1513, Balboa embarked with his followers in a light brigantine and nine canoes, and ascended a stream which was navigable as far as Coyba. Here he received accessions of men, and, having sent back those who were ill or disabled, prepared to penetrate the wilderness on foot. In a battle with a cacique named Quaragua, he slew six hundred of the natives. Some were transfixed with lances, others hewn down with swords, and others torn to pieces by the bloodhounds. He advanced hardly seven miles a day, but at last reached a village lying at the foot of the mountain that commanded the long wished for prospect. Only sixty-seven men out of two hundred remained to make this last grand effort. Balboa ordered them to retire early to repose, that they might be ready at the cool hour of dawn. They set forth at daybreak on the morning of the 26th of September. In a short time they emerged from the forests, and arrived at the upper regions of the mountain, leaving the bald summit still to be ascended. Balboa ordered them to halt, that he might himself be alone to enjoy the scene and the first to discover the ocean. He reached the peak, and there the magnificent sight burst upon his view. The water was still at the distance of two days' journey; but there it lay, beyond the intervening space, grand, boundless, and serene. He fell upon his knees, and returned thanks to God. He summoned his followers to ascend, and thus addressed them:—"Behold, my friends," he said, "the glorious sight which we have so ardently longed for. Let us pray to God that he will aid and guide us to conquer the sea and land which we have discovered, and in which no Christian has ever entered to preach the holy doctrine of the Evangelists. By the favor of Christ you will thus become the richest Spaniards that have ever come to the Indies." The priest attached to the expedition chanted that impressive anthem, the Te Deum; and the Spaniards, in whom religious fervor and the thirst for pillageseemed to be mingled in equal proportions, joined in the chorus with heart and voice.

Balboa now called upon all present to witness that he took possession of the sea, its islands and surrounding lands, in the name of the sovereigns of Castile; and the notary of the expedition made a record to that effect, to which all present, to the number of sixty-seven men, signed their names. Balboa then caused a tall tree to be cut down and fashioned into the form of a cross: this he erected on the spot whence he had first beheld the ocean. A mound of stone was likewise piled up as a monument, and the names of Ferdinand and Juana were carved upon the neighboring trees.

A scouting party under Alonzo Martin, sent by Balboa to discover the best route to the sea, came after two days' journey to a beach, upon which were two canoes, stranded as it were, and apparently out of the reach of water. But the tide soon came rushing in, and floated them; upon which Alonzo Martin stepped into one of them, and was thus the first European who embarked upon the ocean which Balboa had discovered and which Magellan was to name. Balboa soon arrived upon the coast: the tide had ebbed, and the water was nearly two miles distant. But it soon returned, invading the place where the Spaniards were seated. Upon this Balboa arose, and, taking a banner representing the Virgin and Child and bearing the arms of Castile and Leon, marched knee-deep into the water, and, waving the flag, pronounced the following act of taking possession:

"Long live the high and mighty monarchs Don Ferdinand and Donna Juana, sovereigns of Castile, Leon, and Aragon, in whose name I take real and actual and corporeal possession of these seas, and lands, and coasts, and ports, and islands of the South, and all thereunto annexed; and of the kingdoms and provinces which do or may appertain to them in whatever manner or by whatever right or title, ancient or modern, in times past, present, or to come, without any contradiction; and if other prince or captain, Christian or infidel, or if any law, condition, or sect whatsoever, shall pretend any right to these lands and seas, I am ready to maintain and defend them in the name of the Castilian sovereigns, whose is the empire and dominion over these Indies, islands, and terra firma, Northern and Southern, with all their seas, both at the Arctic and Antartic poles, on either side of the equinoctial line, whether within or without the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, both now and in all time, as long as the world endure, and until the final day of judgment of all mankind."

BALBOA TAKING POSSESSION OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN.

BALBOA TAKING POSSESSION OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN.

BALBOA TAKING POSSESSION OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN.

As may be supposed, no one appeared to dispute these formidable pretensions, and no champion entered the lists in behalf of the original owners of the seas, islands, and surrounding lands in question; so that Balboa called upon his companions to bear witness that he had duly and uninterruptedly taken possession. The notary drew up the necessary legal document, which was signed by all present. Then they all tasted the water, which, from its saltness, they felt assured was the ocean. Balboa carved a cross on a tree whose roots were below high-water mark, and, lopping off a branch with his sword, bore it away as a trophy.

Balboa now wished to perform a voyage upon the bosom of the new-found ocean. In spite of the advice of friendly Indians, who represented the season as stormy, he embarked with sixty of his men in nine canoes. A tempest compelled them to seek refuge upon an island. In the night the tide completely submerged it, and rose to the girdles of the Spaniards. Their canoes were broken to pieces, and at low tide they managed with great difficulty to effect their escape to the mainland. After numerous forays against the caciques ruling the neighboring tribes, Balboa arrived at the Darien River, on the 19th of January, 1514, after having accomplished one of the most remarkable feats on record, and after an expedition which must ever be memorable among deeds of intrepidity and adventure.

The king created him Adelantado of the South Sea, and Governor of Panama and Coyba, but subject to Pedrarias, the Governor of Darien. The latter regarded him as his rival, and, by a successful series of treacherous arts, brought against him a well-contrived charge of treason to the king. He was reluctantly found guilty by the alcalde, and by Pedrarias condemned to be beheaded, as a traitor and usurper of the territories of the crown. The execution took place in the public square of a small town near Darien, and was witnessed by Pedrarias from between the reeds of the wall of a house some twelve paces from the scaffold. Balboa and four of his officers were beheaded in quick succession during the brief twilight of a tropical evening. Pedrarias confiscated Balboa's property, and ordered his head to be impaled upon a pole and exposed upon the public square till decomposition should ensue.

Thus perished, at the age of forty-two years,—the victim of the meanest envy and the most odious treachery,—a man who will be ever remembered as one of the most illustrious of the early discoverers. Events transformed him from a rash and turbulent adventurer into a discreet and patriotic captain; and, from the moment when he felt that he had drawn the attention of the world upon him, his conduct was that of a man born and predestined to greatness. He fell in the zenith of his glory, a worthy contemporary? of Columbus, da Gama, and Magellan.

Juan Diaz de Solis, who, with Yanez Pinzon, Amerigo Vespucci, and Juan de la Cosa, the pilot of Columbus, was a member of the Spanish council appointed to deliberate upon discoveries yet to be made, sailed to South America in 1514, and, doubling Capes St. Roque, St. Augustin, and Frio, entered the bay upon which now stands the city of Rio Janeiro, and was probably the first European to set foot upon the coast thus far to the south. He supposed the bay to be the mouth of a passage through to the South Sea so lately discovered by Balboa. He proceeded to the south, ascertaining the position of every headland andindentation with all the precision the instruments and science of the time would permit. At last he found a great opening of the sea towards the west: he took possession of the northern coast for the King of Spain, and named the gulf Fresh-Water Sea. Subsequently, finding that it was a river, and that silver-mines existed there, he named the stream Rio de la Plata. The Indians called it Paraguaza. He found the country fertile and attractive, and an abundance of the wood which had given to the whole region the name of Brazil. He went on shore with a small party, but soon fell into an ambuscade laid for them by the natives. Solis and five of his companions were taken, killed, roasted, and devoured by the horrible cannibals who inhabited the country. The Spaniards who remained on board the ships witnessed the shocking catastrophe, which so appalled and horrified them that they fled in dismay and sailed hastily back to Spain.

FATE OF DE SOLIS AND HIS COMPANIONS.

FATE OF DE SOLIS AND HIS COMPANIONS.

FATE OF DE SOLIS AND HIS COMPANIONS.

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