The discoveries of rival nations, however, which most excited the attention and jealousy of the Spanish Crown were those of the Portuguese. Vasco de Gama, a man of rank and consummate talent and intrepidity, had at length accomplished the great design of the late Prince Henry of Portugal, and by doubling the Cape of Good Hope in the year 1497, he opened the long-sought-for route to India.

Immediately after Gama's return a fleet of thirteen sail was fitted out to visit the magnificent countries of which he brought accounts. This expedition sailed on the 9th of March, 1500, for Calicut, under the command of Pedro Alvarez de Cabral. Having passed the Cape Verde Islands he sought to avoid the calms prevalent on the coast of Guinea by stretching far to the west. Suddenly, on the 25th of April, he came in sight of land unknown to any one in his squadron; for as yet they had not heard of the discoveries of Pinzon and Lepe. He at first supposed it to be some great island; but after coasting it for some time he became persuaded that it must be part of a continent. Having ranged along it somewhat beyond the fifteenth degree of southern latitude, he landed at a harbor which he called Porto Securo, and taking possession of the country for the Crown of Portugal,

despatched a ship to Lisbon with the important tidings. In this way did the Brazils come into the possession of Portugal, being to the eastward of the conventional line settled with Spain as the boundaries of their respective territories. Dr. Robertson, in recording this voyage of Cabral, concluded with one of his just and elegant remarks :

"Columbus's discovery of the New World was," he observes, "the effect of an active genius, guided by experience and acting upon a regular plan, executed with no less courage than perseverance. But from this adventure of the Portuguese it appears that chance might have accomplished that great design, which is now the pride of human reason to have formed and perfected. If the sagacity of Columbus had not conducted mankind to America, Cabral, by a fortunate accident, might have led them a few years later to the knowledge of that extensive continent."† * Lafiteau, Conquêtes des Portugais, lib. ii. † Robinson, Hist. America, book ii.

Τ

BOBADILLA.

[1501.]

HE numerous discoveries briefly noticed in the preceding chapter had produced a powerful effect upon the mind of Ferdinand. His ambition, his avarice, and his jealousy were equally inflamed. He beheld boundless regions, teeming with all kinds of riches, daily opening before the enterprises of his subjects; but he beheld at the same time other nations launching forth into competition, emulous for a share of the golden world which he was eager to monopolize. The expeditions of the English and the accidental discovery of the Brazils by the Portuguese caused him much uneasiness. To secure his possession of the continent he determined to establish local governments or commands in the most important places, all to be subject

to a general government, established at San Domingo, which was to be the metropolis.

With these considerations, the government heretofore granted to Columbus had risen vastly in importance; and while the restitution of it was the more desirable in his eyes, it became more and more a matter of repugnance to the selfish and jealous monarch. He had long repented having vested such great powers and prerogatives in any subject, particularly in a foreigner. At the time of granting them he had no anticipation of such boundless countries to be placed under his command. He appeared almost to consider himself outwitted by Columbus in the arrangement; and every succeeding discovery, instead of his grateful sense of the obligation, only made him repine the more at the growing magnitude of the reward. At length, however, the affair of Bobadilla had effected a temporary seclusion of Columbus from his high office, and that without any odium to the Crown, and the wary monarch secretly determined that the door thus closed between him and his dignities should never again be opened.

Perhaps Ferdinand may really have entertained doubts as to the innocence of Columbus with respect to the various charges made against him. He may have doubted also the

sincerity of his loyalty, being a stranger, when he should find himself strong in his command, at a great distance from the parent country, with immense and opulent regions under his control. Columbus himself, in his letters, alludes to reports circulated by his enemies, that he intended either to set up an independent sovereignty or to deliver his discoveries into the hands of other potentates, and he appears to fear that these slanders might have made some impression on the mind of Ferdinand. But there was one other consideration, which had no less force with the monarch in withholding this great act of justice-Columbus was no longer indispensable to him. He had made his great discovery; he had struck out the route to the New World, and now any one could follow it. A number of able navigators had sprung up under his auspices and acquired experience in his voyages. They were daily besieging the throne with offers to fit out expeditions at their own cost, and to yield a share of the profits to the Crown. Why should he therefore confer princely dignities and prerogatives for that which men were daily offering to perform gratuitously?

Such, from his after conduct, appears to have been the jealous and selfish policy which actuated Ferdinand in forbearing to reinstate Co