GAM A. 



359 



by Earth. Diaz), for which great preparations had 

 been already made by his predecessor, John II. By 

 his command, four vessels, manned with 100 marines 

 and sailors, were fitted out, and Gama intrusted 

 with the chief command. Emanuel solemnly 

 delivered to him the flag, which he was to take with 

 bom, with the cross of the order of Christ (of which 

 Henry the Navigator had been grand-master; em- 

 broidored on it July 9, 1497, Gama went on board 

 the admiral-ship, which bore the name of St Gabriel. 

 His brother Paul had the command of the second, 

 and Nicolaus Coelho of the third armed ship. The 

 fourth vessel, a barge with provisions, was com- 

 manded by Gonzalo Nunez. November 20, Gama 

 doubled the cape of Good Hope. In the beginning 

 of the year 1498, he reached the eastern coast of 

 Africa, and March 1, entered the harbour of Mozam- 

 bique, where his crew were in great danger, on 

 account of the hostility of the inhabitants to Chris- 

 tians. His guns saved him. In Mombaza, he met 

 with similar enmity. His reception by the king of 

 Melinda was more friendly. He gave the admiral a 

 Mohammedan from Guzerat, skilled in navigation, 

 and an experienced pilot. Holding his course 

 straight towards the coast of Malabar, Gama arrived 

 in May (i. e., the beginning of winter in those 

 regions) at Calicut, a city inhabited by Hindoos, 

 where the ruler over the country, called the zamorin 

 (i. e., chief king or emperor), had his residence. 

 Gama, on his arrival, was favourably received ; but 

 the Mohammedan merchants, who visited Calicut, 

 prompted by motives of commercial jealousy, found 

 means to disturb this amicable understanding. 

 Gama, however, restored it by his resolution and 

 prudence. The zamorin afterwards sent the admi- 

 ral a letter for king Emanuel. Gama took several 

 Indians with him, in order to give these people an 

 idea of his native country. On his way homeward, 

 he again visited the king of Melinda. Nicolaus 

 Coelho, sailing before the other vessels, first reached 

 the harbour of Lisbon, where Gama arrived soon 

 after. His brother Paul, who died on the voyage, 

 he had buried in the island of Tercera. His voyage 

 lasted two years and two months. Of 160 men, 

 only fifty-five returned with him. 



After his arrival in the capital, he spent a week 

 in pious exercises in the convent, which had been 

 built by the infant Henry. The king sent some of 

 the first officers of his court to salute him, and, when 

 Vasco made his solemn entrance into the city, pub- 

 lic festivals were celebrated in honour of him. 

 Emanuel bestowed rewards upon all the companions 

 of the bold navigator. Vasco received for himself 

 and his descendants the title of don, and the dignity 

 of admiral of the Eastern seas, with an income of 

 3000 ducats ; he was permitted to add part of the 

 arms of the kingdom to his family coat of arms, and, 

 on every voyage to the Indies, to employ 200,000 

 crusados on his own account. Some time after, the 

 king also bestowed on him the dignity of count of 

 Vidigueira. The result of this expedition promised 

 such great advantages, that all those who had been 

 opposed to voyages of discovery changed their 

 opinion. Not long after Gama's return, king Ema- 

 nuel sent a squadron of thirteen sail to the Indies, 

 under the command of Pedro Alvarez Cabral. Alli- 

 ances and commercial treaties were concluded with 

 the Indian princes, and Cabral's squadron, as well 

 as a lesser one under the command of Juan Coelho, 

 returned to Portugal with rich cargoes. The 

 greatest zeal for engaging in the commerce with the 

 Indies was kindled among all classes of the nation, 

 and the liarbour of Lisbon was crowded with foreign 

 vessels, to obtain the merchandise of the East. 



In the year 1502. the king again fitted out a 



squadron consisting of twenty large ships, with which 

 Gama set sail the second time for the Indies. Hav- 

 ing forced the hostile king of Quiloa to pay tribute 

 to the crown of Portugal, ne took his course towards 

 the Indian coast, where he confirmed the treaty with 

 the kings of Cananor and Cochim, which had been 

 concluded by Cabral. Both kings were enemies of 

 the zamorin, who, since Gama's first voyage, had 

 treated the Europeans in a hostile manner ; forty 

 Portuguese had been killed in Calicut, during 

 Cabral's stay in India, by the inhabitants, who, incited 

 by the intrigues of the Mohammedans, had taken 

 the factory of the strangers by assault. Gama now 

 resolved to punish the zamorin. He appeared on 

 the coast of Calicut, and, paying no regard to the 

 peaceable proposals of the terrified king, made an 

 attack on the ships that lay in the harbour, and 

 ordered the city to be bombarded. His cannon car- 

 ried terror and destruction into the city. At the 

 same time, he hung up thirty Arabs, who had been 

 made prisoners, at the yard-arms, and sent their 

 heads, hands, and feet to the king. He then paid a 

 visit with his squadron to his ally, the king of Co- 

 chim, where he received a deputation from the 

 Christians of St Thomas, so called (see Christians of 

 St Thomas), who lived in the neighbourhood, and 

 solicited his protection against the pagans. A 

 bramin of rank, accompanied by two of his relations, 

 presented himself before him, expressing a wish to 

 accompany him to Portugal, that he might be in- 

 structed in the Christian religion. Some days after, 

 this person succeeded in persuading him, that the 

 differences between the Portuguese and the zamorin 

 might be settled by his mediation. Gama was the 

 more easily imposed upon, as the bramin surren- 

 dered to him his son and nephew, as pledges of his 

 sincerity. Committing the command of the squa- 

 dron to an approved officer, he sailed with the 

 largest of his ships and a caravel, to Calicut, hop- 

 ing to join, on the voyage, Vincent Sodre, who 

 had escorted the deputies of the Indian Christians 

 home. It soon became evident, however, that the 

 bramin had deceived him ; but here also his resolu- 

 tion saved him. He punished the treachery of the 

 bramin, returned to Cochim, and, after having 

 established a factory there, sailed, with ten ships, to 

 Cananor. Here he was attacked by the squadron 

 of the king of Calicut, consisting of twenty-nine 

 ships. After a short engagement, Gama put them 

 to flight. Among the rich booty found in the vessels 

 that had fallen into the power of the Portuguese, 

 there was a gold idol of a monstrous figure, weighing 

 more than thirty pounds. Gama then set out on his 

 return to Lisbon, where he arrived with rich cargoes. 

 At his solemn entrance, a vessel of silver, contain- 

 ing the tribute of the king of Quiloa, was carried 

 before him, out of which king Emanuel ordered a 

 costly pyx to be made, which he presented to the 

 convent at Belem (Bethlehem), built by him instead 

 of the little chapel that had been erected by Henry 

 the Navigator, in order to render the memory of the 

 great discoverer immortal. Francis de Almeida and 

 the great Albuquerque had gloriously confirmed the 

 power of Portugal in India, when Gama was sent for 

 the third tune to the theatre of his renown by Ema- 

 nuel's successor, John III. He was authorized to 

 assume the administration of the new colonies, winch 

 already extended from the Persian gulf to the Mo- 

 luccas, with the title of viceroy. In 1524, he left the 

 harbour of Lisbon, with fourteen vessels. Immedi- 

 ately after his arrival, he visited several small colo. 

 nies, using all means in his power for their defence 

 and the preservation of the authority of the Portu- 

 guese arms among the natives ; but he had scarcely 

 administered his office for the space of three months, 



