A GRAND EPOCH. 



281 



LISBON IN THE 16TH CENTURY. (After an Engraving of t/ie period.) 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



DECISIVE VOYAGES IN HISTORY. DIAZ COLUMBUS. 



An Important Epoch in the History of Discovery King John II. of Portugal and his Enterprises Diaz the Bold- 

 Ventures out to Sea Rounds the Cape-Ignorant of the Fact The Cape of Storms King John re-christens it- 

 Columbus and the Narrative of his Son His Visit to Portugal Marriage An un-royal Trick Sends [his Brother to 

 England His Misfortune Columbus in Spain A prejudiced and ignorant Report The One Sensible Ecclesiastic 

 Again Repulsed A Friend at Court Queen Isabella Won to the Cause Departure of the Expedition Out in the 

 Broad Atlantic Murmurs of the Crews Signs of Land Disappointment Latent Mutiny Land at Last -Discovery 

 of : St. Salvador Cuba Natives Smoking the Weed Utopia in Hispaniola-Columbus Wrecked Gold Obtained 

 First Spanish Settlement Homeward Voyage Storms and Vows Arrival in Europe Triumphant Reception at 

 Barcelona. 



THE Arctic and Antarctic voyages, purposely kept together and followed to their latest 

 developments, having been described, we now go back to the most interesting and important 

 period in the world's history, geographically considered. In little less than a dozen years three 

 of the grandest discoveries in geography were made. First, the discovery of a passage round 

 the Cape of Good Hope, the sea-portal to the Indian Ocean, the Orient generally; 

 Australasia (not, indeed, then discovered, or even dreamt of), and the innumerable islands of 

 the various Eastern Archipelagos. Next, the passage of the Atlantic ocean to the far west, 

 the discovery of the "West Indies and the New World. Last, and not least, in its ultimate 

 bearings on the prosperity of Great Britain, the passage by sea direct to India its conquest 

 and settlement by the Portuguese. What other epoch can boast so much accomplished in a 

 time so brief ? 



To King John of Portugal are we indebted for the first of these great discoveries. He 

 fitted out a small squadron under Bartholomew Diaz, a knight of the royal household, to attempt 

 the passage by sea to India, after endeavouring to learn all that was then known about that 

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