144 
History. -towards the east, promised a speedy accomplishment of 
—Y— the great object of all their expeditions, the circumna- 
vigation of Africa. It was just at the dawn of these 
hopes, that the death of Prince Henry, the author of all 
the grand projects of the Portuguese, threatened to put 
an end to exertions equally honourable to his country, 
and beneficial to the interests ofscience. The spirit of 
the prince, however, had by this time been communica- 
ted to the nation, and the progress of discovery scarce- 
ly suffered any interruption. Prince’s Island, St Tho- 
mas, and Annobon, were discovered in 1471; in 1484, 
Diego Cam entered the river Zaire, or Barbela, in the 
kingdom of Congo; and finally in 1486, fifty-three 
years after Gilianez had first doubled Cape Nun, Bar- 
thelemy Diaz reached the southern point of Africa, 
which he named’ the Stormy Cape, but which King 
John II. afterwards more properly denominated the 
Cape of Good Hope. 
ile the slow progress of the Portuguese in explo- 
ring the west coast of Africa, has generally been ac- 
counted for from the imperfect state of navigation at 
that period, it has also been considered by some geo- 
graphers, as a conclusive argument against the pre- 
tended circumnavigation of Africa by the Phoenicians, 
it being quite incredible, in their opinion, that the lat- 
ter should have been able to accomplish in three years, 
twice as much as the Portuguese, with the assistance 
of the compass, could effect in half a century. With- 
out at all entering again into the merits of the ques- 
tion, we would observe, that the conclusion drawn from 
the preceding fact is by no means legitimate, The 
Portuguese, in all their expeditions, seem to have con« 
fined themselves chiefly to the coast, where the com- 
pass could be of comparatively little use; and there can 
be no doubt, we think, that in every thing connected 
with coasting navigation, the Phoenicians had ‘acquired 
much greater skill and dexterity than the Portuguese 
could possibly have at the commencement of their Afri- 
can expeditions. But to proceed with their discove- 
Ties. 
In 1497, Vasco de Gama was dispatched for the pur 
pose of exploring a passage to India by the Cape of Good 
Hope, at the same time invested with a commission to 
eonclude a treaty with Prester John, whom the Portu- 
guese supposed to be the prince of Abyssinia, or some 
other country on the eastern coast of Africa. That cele- 
brated navigator, after touching successively at Port Na- 
tal, Mozambique, and Melinda, obtained pilots at the last 
of these places, and traversing the Arabian sea, in 1498, 
landed at Calicut, onthe Malabar coast, the wholeof which 
he soon after explored. About 1506, succeeding navi- 
gators pushed their discoveries along the eastern coast 
of Africa, as far as the straits of Babelmandel, and thus 
completed the circumnavigation of that continent... In 
the same year they discovered Ceylon, and in 1511 
established themselves in Malaeca. Their discoveries 
aiter this period are too numerous to be particularized. 
It is en te observe, that by 1520 they had visited 
the Sunda islands, the Moluccas, Philippines, and in- 
deed almost all’the islands to the south-east and. east 
of Asia, as far north as the thirtieth degree of latitude. 
Their being prohibited from entering China, probably 
led to the iscovery of many islands in the Pacific at a’ 
mu¢h earlier period than would have 
happened, had 
the Portuguese been permitted to open mmercial 
a con 
GEOGRAPHY. 
-vast and daring projects of Columbus, Hitherto the 
‘Columbus, leaving the guidanée of the shore, and'trust- 
reasoning by which a man of peeing might be natural- 
chowever, that the character and merits of Colu 
course of navigators, in’ all voyages of discovery, had 
beorr determined ly: Wile Winédtion/6f the. eben) wna ands 
probably, for the most part, within sight of and; but py 
pa the compass alone, ventured across an ocean of / 
unknown extent, in search of a continent whose exist- 
ence was extremely doubtful. In order still further 
to excite our admiration’ of this extraordinary man, it 
has been said, that he was strongly impressed with the 
idea of there being a great western continent, and at- 
tempts have even been made to point out the train of 
ly led to form such an- on, We do not think, 
require any adventitious enppers of this kind. If 
circumstances to which we have already alluded r¢ 
apouting the adventure of the Zeni, in 1390, be we 
founded, it proves, that Columbus was not distin- 
‘guished for prudence than for intrepidity ; and if it be 
Ise, we a that his adventure is to be ascribed 
to an error common to him with Aristotle and many of 
the ancients, that the eastern extremity of Asia as 
not far distant from the shores of Spain. But what- 
ever was the origin or the nature of the opinion 
by Columbus on this subject, it is certain that he un- 
dertook his voyage under a strong conviction of his ul- 
bya success ; =e is a curious coincidence, that at 
e very time when Vasco de Gama was taking p 
prahey of the peninsula of Hindostan in he eit 
the King of Portugal, Columbus was adding a new 
continent to the kingdom of Spain. It is unnecessa 
here to detail the circumstances connected with the 
discovery of America, as we have already done so in 
another part of our work, (See America and CoLum- 
Bus.) We cannot, however, avoid noticing the striking 
contrast which the history of that vod exhibits; be 
tween the speculations of a few bold and aspiring in- 
dividuals, and the childish prejudices which still en- 
slaved the t bulk of ‘ean Ni: "While Columbus — 
supposed that the nearest route to the eastern shores of 
Asia was by the western ocean, the Pope imagined, 
that, by a’l el edhe Mi = side of | 
the globe, he had completely separate e discoveries 
of the Spaniards and Poecugaeest on 
Though Spain, in exploring a nearer passage to the 
East Indies, had’ discovered and taken possession of a 
new continent, she did not relax her endeavours to ef “ 
fect her first’ object. Accordingly, in 1520, an 
was sent out on another voyage of discovery, when he 
succeeded in passing the extremity of South Aen tien, 
by the strait which still bears his name, and, pursuing 
his voyage westward, reached the islands on the e: 
coast of Asia. After his death, which happened at one 
of the Philippines, his companions ‘continued’ 
course, and, “hed touching at the Moluccas, rene 
by the Cape of Good We having accomplished the 
first navigation of the globe in 1124 days. The 
tempts of the Spaniards to discover a passa 
n of America were not so successful, — t 
deed have imagined; ‘from their description of 
Strait of Anian, that it was Bhering’s’ Straits” 
they had reached by the north-west ; but it is 
that this strait was no other than Hiadson’s Strait, 
oy 
w 
v 
the position of which the navigators of that p ws 
formed some erroneous notions. =) GOS 
The success that had hitherto attended the adven- 
tures of the Spaniards and Portuguese, soon stimulat 
other nations, particularly such as had thrown off the gli 
Diseovery 
y Jntercourse with that country. 
of America 
: While geographical discovery was making ‘such ra- 
pid progress in the East, the West also had frecige the 
4. D. 1492. Seene of very interesting and important events, by the 
5 
