SECTION I

RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE PORTUGUESE

For five centuries the tide of Mahomedan invasion had rolled across the Indus from Central Asia, and spread from north to south. A new era now dawns upon us, ushered in by the appearance of a European fleet, and the progress is, henceforth, from south to north. The Mahomedans entered India in the spirit of conquest; the Europeans came in search of trade. The productions of the East had, from time immemorial, been a great object of desire to the inhabitants of the West, who had been accustomed to obtain them through many circuitous channels. In the middle ages the trade had enriched the republics of Venice and Genoa, and a general anxiety was created to obtain direct access to India. During the fifteenth century the spirit of maritime adventure was strongly developed in Europe, and more especially in the small but spirited kingdom of Portugal, in which great progress had been made in the science of naval architecture. This spirit was warmly encouraged by its sovereigns, who fitted out a succession of expeditions, and gradually advanced along the coast of Africa, making fresh discoveries in each voyage. At length, John II. sent three vessels, under the command of Bartholomew Dias, to discover the southern limit of the African continent.