Iberian Conquest : 143 



Francisco de Almeida went out as the first governor and established 

 Portuguese forts at Calicut, Cananor, and Cochin. In 1509 he won a 

 victory over the Moslem fleet and destroyed it. A year later Alfonso 

 de Albuquerque made Goa the capital of the Portuguese Empire in 

 India and within a year he had taken Malacca and thus opened up 

 communication with Siam, the East Indies and China. 



In 1542 two Portuguese vessels reached Japan and before 1560 the 

 Portuguese had established a permanent settlement at Macao near 

 Canton. At the same time they were, of course, holding and develop- 

 ing their African interests. They had been inland in Africa as far as 

 Timbuktu. They had been 200 miles up the Congo River and had 

 entrenched themselves there. On the east coast they had established 

 Mozambique and sent missionaries far up the Zambezi River and had 

 other stations on the East African coast. 



With such a start and such a momentum of accomplishment, the 

 Portuguese naturally attracted to themselves additional proposals for 

 voyages and the services of men with new ideas. Just here, while the 

 Portuguese Empire was still in its early growth, some defect in the 

 system began to reveal itself — possibly it was complacency or preoc- 

 cupation, possibly it was lack of imagination. Certainly it was an 

 inability to judge the talents of men and to deal with them justly. 



In those days nationalism was less marked and rigid than it is 

 today. Along with this, although the patriotism or loyalty of individ- 

 uals was probably as frequent as it is today, it had more channels for 

 expression. It was quite common for military leaders as well as com- 

 mon soldiers to become mercenaries and offer their services to some 

 king or country of which they were not a subject. The same thing 

 was true of navigators and explorers. We have seen already how Ver- 

 razano, an Itahan, sailed for the French and how John Cabot, 

 another Italian, found his opportunity in England and particularly 

 with the merchants of Bristol. 



In at least two cases these changes of allegiance were starding and 

 far-reaching. Columbus in 1483 or 1484 laid his plans for a westward 

 voyage to India before Joao II of Portugal. Fernao de Magalhaes, 

 whom we call Magellan, who was a native of Portugal likewise made 

 his original proposal for his great voyage to the Portuguese court. 

 Both these great adventurers, that later revealed to Europe the true 

 character of the world, were rejected by Portugal and both later 

 found support in Spain. Naturally after diis there was hostility be- 

 tween the countries that cast a long historic shadow and naturally 

 also the initiative in new ventures passed to Spain. 



