828 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VII. No. 181. 



jgreatest events in the history of the world — the 

 discovery of the ocean route to India by the 

 Portuguese. Vasco da Gama completed the 

 mighty enterprise on the day when the ghats 

 of India were sighted from the deck of his ship 

 Just 400 years ago. The credit of this discovery 

 was due to the Portuguese people, to their con- 

 stancy and heroic perseverance, even more 

 than to the skill and ability of their leaders, 

 and he thought that many of the illustrious 

 navigators of Portugal were equal in merit and 

 should be equal in renown. They contem- 

 plated the perseverance of this people and the 

 continuity of their work during a century and 

 a half of mighty effort rather than a single 

 stroke of genius. Yet it was right that Vasco 

 da Gama, who forged the last link, should have 

 the first place which Camoens has assigned 

 "to him, primus inter pares. Prince Henry the 

 Navigator gave the first impetus. At his death 

 the work was continued, with almost equal 

 zeal, by the Kings — his nephews — Alfonso the 

 African, Joao the Perfect Prince, Manoel the 

 Fortunate. The Da Gamas came of an an- 

 cient, valiant and loyal house, their ancestors 

 having fought by the side of Alfonso III. in the 

 -conquest of Algarve from the Moors and by the 

 side of Alfonso V., ' the Brave,' at the battle of 

 Salado. Estevan da Gama, their father, was 

 chief magistrate of Sines, and here Vasco da 

 Gama was selected by King Manoel to com- 

 mand his famous expedition when he was 28 

 years of age. His eldest. brother, Paulo was 

 equally fitted for the post, and he insisted upon 

 accompanying and serving under Vasco, in 

 command of the second ship. They both 

 looked upon Nicholas Coelho, who was captain 

 of a third ship, the Berrio, as their brother. 

 The expedition sailed on Saturday, July 8, 

 1497 ; there were about 160 souls all told. 

 The fleet was accompanied by the great navi- 

 gator Bartholomew Diaz as far as the Cape 

 Verde Islands. He was going out in a fast 

 oaraval to take up his command of the new 

 Portuguese settlement of Lamina, on the coast 

 ■of Guinea. In December the expedition reached 

 Eio do Infante, the farthest point of Bartholo- 

 mew Diaz, on the eastern side of Africa, and en- 

 tered upon new ground. There was a mutiny 

 at this critical time. The men feared to pro- 



ceed farther, and wanted to return, according 

 to Correa, who added that Vasco da Gama put 

 the master and pilot in irons for giving the same 

 advice and threw all their instruments over- 

 board. His brother Paulo induced his crew to 

 obey orders by argument and persuasions and 

 interceded for Vasco's prisoners. The first ex- 

 perience of the explorers on entering the previ- 

 ously unknown ocean was the force of the cur- 

 rent, so strong that they feared it might frustrate 

 their plans, until a fresh stern wind sprang up, 

 which enabled them to overcome it. This Agul- 

 has cvirrent was first scientifically investigated 

 by Major Eennell in 1777. Vasco da Gama 

 passed the coast which was named by him 

 'Natal,' on Christmas Day, and was well re- 

 ceived by the natives of Delagoa Bay. He was 

 at Quilimane in January, 1498, at Mozambique 

 in March, and he reached Melinde on April 15th. 

 There was a terrible outbreak of scurvy oflT Mo- 

 zambique and again on the way home, and then 

 it was that Paulo da Gama proved the guardian 

 spirit of the expedition, giving up all his own 

 private stores for the use of the sick, minister- 

 ing to them, and warding ofl" despondency by 

 his words of encouragement and by his example. 

 The King of Melinde supplied the Portuguese 

 with an Indian pilot, a native of Gujarat, and 

 on April 24th the voyage was commenced across 

 the Indian Ocean from the east coast of Africa 

 to Malabar. A voyage of 23 days brought the 

 adventurous discoverers in sight of the moun- 

 tains above Malabar. And thus was the Portu- 

 guese empire in India founded by two of Portu- 

 gal's noblest sons, Vasco and Paulo da Gama. 

 On March 20, 1499, they cleared the Cape, and 

 returned to Lisbon on September 18th. But 

 Paulo da Gama had died at Terceira, in the 

 Azores. 



GENERAL. 



Sir J. Wolfe Barry and Professor Koberts- 

 Austen, who are members of the committee ap- 

 pointed by the British government to report on 

 the advisability of establishing a national phys- 

 ical laboratory in England have visited the 

 Eeichsanstalt and other technical institutions. 



At the anniversary meeting of the Linnasan 

 Society, London, on May 24th, a special gold 

 medal was presented to Sir Joseph Hooker ou 



