THE PORTUGUESE CROSS THE EQUATOR FROM GUINEA TO CONGO--JOHN II. CONCEIVES THE IDEA OF A ROUTE BY SEA TO THE INDIES--HIS ARTIFICES TO PREVENT THE INTERFERENCE OF OTHER NATIONS--THE OVERLAND JOURNEY OF COVILLAM TO INDIA--THE VOYAGE OF BARTHOLOMEW DIAZ--THE DOUBLING OF THE TREMENDOUS CAPE--ITS BAPTISM BY THE KING--INJURIOUS EFFECTS OF SUCCESS UPON PORTUGUESE AMBITION. During the remainder of the reign of Alphonso V.--which terminated in 1481--the Portuguese advanced over the coast and Gulf of Guinea and the adjacent islands to the northern boundary of the great kingdom of Congo, and had therefore arrived within six hundred and fifty marine leagues of the cape which forms the southern point of the African continent. They had crossed the equator, and not a man had turned black. They had entered into a brisk gold-trade with the savages of Guinea. John II., the son and successor of Alphonso, determined to fortify a point called Mina, from its abundant mines, and sent out twelve vessels with building materials and six hundred men. The negroes at first resisted, but finally yielded their consent. The fort was constructed and named St. Jorge da Mina; the quarry from which the first stone was taken being the favorite god of the tribe that inhabited the coast. John II. now added to his other titles that of Lord of Guinea. In the hope of opening a passage by sea to the rich spice-countries of India, he asked the support and countenance of the different states of Christendom. But the established mercantile interest of these countries was naturally hostile to a project which aimed at changing the route of Eastern commerce. John next applied to the Pope for an increase of power, and obtained from his holiness a grant of all the lands which his navigators should discover in sailing _from west to east_. The grand idea of sailing from east to west--one which implied a knowledge of the sphericity of the globe--had not yet, to outward appearance, penetrated the brain of either pope or layman. One Christopher Columbus, however, was already brooding over it in secret and in silence.