COVILHAM.' 333 



tions of all kinds were at that time unpopular in 

 Lisbon. The Guinea trade did not pay, and it was 

 strenuously urged at the council that the West African 

 Settlements should be abandoned. The friends of ex- 

 ploration were obliged to stand on the defensive. They 

 could not carry the proposal of Columbus ; it was all 

 that they could do to save the African expeditions. 

 But when Columbus had won for Castile the east coast 

 of Asia (as was then supposed), the king perceived that if 

 he wished to have an Indian empire he must set to work 

 at once. He accordingly conducted the naval expedi- 

 tions with such vigour that the Cape of Storms was 

 discovered, was then called the Cape of Good Hope, 

 and was then doubled, though without immediate re- 

 sult, the sailors forcing their captain to return. The 

 king also sent a gentleman, named Covilham to visit 

 the countries of the East by land. His instructions 

 were to trace the Venetian trade in drugs and spices to 

 its source, and to find out Prester John. 



Covilham went to Alexandria in the pilgrim's garb, 

 but instead of proceeding to the Holy Land, he passed 

 on to Aden, and sailed round the Indian Ocean or the 

 Green Sea, that Lake of Wonder with the precious 

 ambergris floating on its waters and pearls strewed 

 upon its bed, whitened with the the cotton sails of the 

 Arab vessels, of the Guzerat Indians, and even of the 

 Chinese, whose four-masted junks were sometimes to 

 be seen lying in the Indian harbours with great 

 wooden anchors dangling from their bows. The east 

 coast of Africa, as low down as Madagascar, or the 

 Island of the Moon, was lined with large towns in 

 which the Arabs resided as honoured strangers, or in 

 which they ruled as kings. On this coast Covilham 

 obtained information respecting the Cape. He then 



