[Illustration: THE PORTUGUESE ROUTE TO INDIA The broken lines show the old trade routes to the East. The solid line shows the new Portuguese route] CAPE OF GOOD HOPE DISCOVERED. At last in 1487 the end of what seemed to be an endless coast was reached. The fortunate captain who accomplished this was Bartholomew Diaz, who came of a family of daring seamen. He had been sailing southward along the coast for nearly eight months, when a northerly gale drove him before it for thirteen days. The weather cleared and Diaz turned eastward to find the coast. As he did not see land he turned northward and soon discovered land to the west. This showed that he had passed the southern point of Africa. His crew were unwilling to go farther and he followed the coast around to the western side again. The southern point he called the Cape of Storms, but the king of Portugal, when the voyagers returned, named it the Cape of Good Hope, for now he knew that an expedition could be sent directly to the Indies. Diaz had sailed thirteen thousand miles, and his voyage was the most wonderful that Europeans had ever heard about. THE SEA ROUTE TO INDIA. Eleven years later the Portuguese king sent Vasco da Gama, another captain, to attempt to reach the coast of India by sailing around the Cape of Good Hope which Diaz had discovered. Da Gama was successful and landed at Calicut on the south-western coast of India. He returned to Portugal in 1499, and his cargo was worth sixty times the cost of the voyage. This was the beginning of a trade with the East which enriched Portugal and especially the merchants of Lisbon. QUESTIONS 1. What dangers threatened traders in the Middle Ages who traveled by sea or land? What was a fair? 2. What products were brought from the East? By what routes? Point these out on a map. What rival trading cities were in Italy? How did the Venetians get their wares to London? 3. Who were the Crusaders? Why did they attack the Mohammedans? What did the Venetian traders gain by these wars? Describe a large Venetian ship of this time. 4. When was the compass invented? Why was it dangerous to sail great seas and oceans without a compass? Tell how an astrolabe was made. 5. What at first kept men from attempting to sail to eastern Asia? Who was Marco Polo? Describe his adventures. How did he return to Venice? How did people learn about the lands he had visited? 6. Why after 1453 was it necessary to find a sea route to Asia? What did Prince Henry the Navigator succeed in doing? How was the Cape of Good Hope discovered? Who went with Diaz on this voyage? 7. Who first sailed to India by the Cape of Good Hope? Was the voyage profitable? What city was made rich by the new trade? EXERCISES