6. The king named the "lands-end" Diaz had reached the _Cape of Good Hope_, for he believed that by rounding that Cape the sea-route to India would be gained. And he was right. This, however, was not actually proved until 1498, when Vasco da Gama, another Portuguese mariner, rounded the Cape, crossed the Indian Ocean, and anchored in the harbour of Calicut, on the west coast of India. 7. The discovery of a sea-route to India had important results, and in time proved a great advantage to English commerce. Hitherto the merchandise of India and the East had been carried overland on the backs of camels to the ports of Syria and Asia Minor, and thence shipped chiefly to Venice. When once the treasures of the East reached that port they were safe from plunder; for Venice with its sea-girt walls was perfectly secure. But in the course of their long passage from India and the East, the goods were always exposed to plunder. The caravans, with their long string of loaded camels, were often attacked by bands of Arab robbers; and the merchant-ships, though armed, were often boarded by Turkish pirates. 8. The sea-route, via the Cape, offered great advantages. It was both cheaper and safer; cheaper, because the goods could be brought the whole way in ships; and safer, because the voyage was made across the open ocean, where the risk from pirates was not nearly so great. The Portuguese were the first to take advantage of the new route, and for many years kept the whole trade to themselves; for in those days it was generally thought that the discoverer of new lands had the sole right to trade with them. 9. The Venetians soon found themselves unable to compete with the Portuguese. Lisbon, accordingly, became the centre of trade for the spices, silks, calicoes, gums and drugs of the East, and the glory of Venice departed. The Dutch were not slow to avail themselves of this new opening for trade. They freighted their ships at Lisbon, and made Antwerp the chief entrepôt of trade for the countries round. London dates its rise as the great centre of the world's commerce from the capture and sack of Antwerp by the Duke of Parma about a hundred years later (1585). It was not till the year 1600, near the end of Elizabeth's reign, that our English merchants ventured on trade with India direct, and then the East India Company was chartered by the queen for that purpose. It was destined to take a large share, not only in trade with the East, but in the great work of making the empire. (4) DISCOVERY OF A WORLD TO THE WEST.