The fact established that India—the East Indies had the gold, silver, precious gems and stones, ebony, ivory, cloves, cinnamon, cassia, spices and the most beautiful and costly fabrics, articles not obtainable elsewhere and the great desiderata of the Europeans, the question arose as to how they could the most easily, quickly and cheaply be obtained. They could, without much difficulty, find their way to the Indian ocean, but the transportation thence to Europe must be by “the ship of the desert,” the camel, across the Arabian desert and the Isthmus of Suez, “the bridge of nations” to the Mediterranean or by a more northerly route through the Caspian and Black seas. Caravans must be formed by the merchants and armed troops to protect them against the robbers. The land route by the caravans was slow and very expensive, and the hope was cherished that an all-water route might be found which would not only shorten the time, but greatly lessen the expense of transportation. For a considerable time the Phœnicians, occupying a little skirt of land on the eastern end of the Mediterranean, and the first distinctly commercial nation in the world’s history, virtually monopolized this land transportation; and then distributed the articles along the shore of the Mediterranean, where they had planted colonies clear up to the Pillars of Hercules. But Venice and Genoa, rival and wealthy cities of Italy, with fine harbors on this inland sea, sought the India trade, supplanted Phœnicia and became greatly enriched by it. The great desideratum—an all-water route from western Europe to the Indies—had not yet been found, but after the Italian cities had enjoyed, monopolized the trade with India for a period of 150 years, another little skirt of land on the west end of the Mediterranean and on the Atlantic ocean, Portugal, brought about a complete change in the transportation which deprived Venice and Genoa of that business. Henry, Prince of Portugal, surnamed the Navigator, far in advance of his time in geographical knowledge and in the science of navigation, introduced the compass and the astrolabe, which he furnished with nautical maps and other guides for his mariners, whom he inspired to sail along the western coast of Africa and double the Cape of Good Hope. This, Bartholomew Diaz, a Portuguese navigator, did in 1486, and then it seemed certain that an all-water route from western Europe to India had been found, but it was not an accomplished fact until Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese navigator, availing himself of Diaz’s discovery of 1486, made a voyage in 1497 from Lisbon to Calicut (not Calcutta) in southwestern India.