No More Learning

The
arts and valour of the Portuguese had now made a great impression on the
minds of the Africans. The King of Congo sent the sons of some of his
principal officers to Lisbon, to be instructed in arts and religion; and
ambassadors from the King of Benin requested teachers to be sent to his
kingdom. On the return of his subjects, the King and Queen of Congo,
with 100,000 of their people, were baptized. An ambassador also arrived
from the Christian Emperor of Abyssinia, and Pedro de Covillam and
Alonzo de Payva were sent by land to penetrate into the East, that they
might acquire whatever intelligence might facilitate the desired
navigation to India. Covillam and Payva parted at Toro in Arabia, and
took different routes. The former having visited Conanor, Calicut, and
Goa in India, returned to Cairo, where he heard of the death of his
companion. Here also he met the Rabbi Abraham of Beja, who was employed
for the same purpose by King John. Covillam sent the Rabbi home with an
account of what countries he had seen, and he himself proceeded to Ormuz
and Ethiopia, but, as Camoens expresses it--

"To _his_ native shore,
Enrich'd with knowledge, _he_ return'd no more. "

Men, whose genius led them to maritime affairs began now to be possessed
by an ardent ambition to distinguish themselves; and the famous Columbus
offered his service to King John, and was rejected. Every one knows the
discoveries of this great adventurer, but his history is generally
misunderstood. [52] The simple truth is, Columbus, who acquired his
skill in navigation among the Portuguese, could be no stranger to the
design, long meditated in that kingdom, of discovering a naval route to
India, which, according to ancient geographers and the opinion of that
age, was supposed to be the next land to the west of Spain. And that
India and the adjacent islands were the regions sought by Columbus is
also certain. John, who esteemed the route to India as almost
discovered, and in the power of his own subjects, rejected the proposals
of the foreigner. But Columbus met a more favourable reception from
Ferdinand and Isabella, the king and queen of Castile. Columbus,
therefore, proposed, as Magalhaens afterwards did, for the same reason,
to steer a westward course, and having in 1492 discovered some western
islands, in 1493, on his return to Spain, he put into the Tagus with
great tokens of the riches of his discovery.
Some of the Portuguese
courtiers (the same ungenerous minds, perhaps, who advised the rejection
of Columbus because he was a foreigner) proposed the assassination of
that great man, thereby to conceal from Spain the advantages of his
navigation. But John, though Columbus rather roughly upbraided him,
looked upon him now with a generous regret, and dismissed him with
honour. The King of Portugal, however, alarmed lest the discoveries of
Columbus should interfere with those of his crown, gave orders to equip
a war-fleet to protect his rights. But matters were adjusted by
embassies, and that celebrated treaty was drawn up by which Spain and
Portugal divided the western and eastern worlds between them. The
eastern half of the world was allotted for the Portuguese, and the
western for the Spanish navigation. A Papal Bull also, which, for
obvious reasons, prohibited the propagation of the gospel in these
bounds by the subjects of any other state, confirmed this amicable and
extraordinary treaty.

Soon after this, however, while the thoughts of King John were intent on
the discovery of India, his preparations were interrupted by his death.
But his earnest desires and great designs were inherited, together with
his crown, by his cousin Emmanuel; and in 1497 (the year before Columbus
made the voyage in which he discovered the mouth of the river Oronoko),
Vasco de Gama sailed from the Tagus for the discovery of India.

Of this voyage, the subject of the Lusiad, many particulars are
necessarily mentioned in the notes; we shall therefore only allude to
these, but be more explicit on the others, which are omitted by Camoens
in obedience to the rules of epic poetry.

Notwithstanding the popular clamour against the undertaking, Emmanuel
was determined to prosecute the views of Prince Henry and John II. Three
sloops of war and a store ship, manned with only 160 men, were fitted
out; for hostility was not the purpose of this expedition. Vasco de
Gama, a gentleman of good family, who, in a war with the French, had
given signal proofs of his naval skill, was commissioned admiral and
general, and his brother Paul, with his friend Nicholas Coello, were
appointed to command under him. It is the greatest honour of kings to
distinguish the characters of their officers, and to employ them
accordingly. Emmanuel in many instances was happy in this talent,
particularly in the choice of his admiral for the discovery of India.
All the enthusiasm of desire to accomplish his end, joined with the
greatest heroism, the quickest penetration, and coolest prudence, united
to form the character of Gama. On his appointment he confessed to the
king that his mind had long aspired to this expedition.