corruption and oppression, and of the preference of commercial transactions which made fortunes to the harder _régime_ of honesty and uprightness; but for all that the history is one marked by achievements of valour and adventurous daring, unmatched elsewhere in the history of the world. No wonder that Portugal was exhausted by her efforts; the only wonder is that her sons ever did one tithe of these glorious deeds, or exerted themselves one-tenth as much as they did. This story of the Portuguese in India cannot be treated adequately in a single chapter. Only a _résumé_ of the very briefest description can be given, but if it inspires any reader to go, for instance, to the history of De Barros, he will there find the record of many a deed which will justify these remarks and excite both his interest and his admiration. It was in the July of 1497 that the fleet of four ships, destined to double the Cape of Good Hope and find its way direct to India, set sail from Lisbon. King Emmanuel, who in carrying out this project and despatching this squadron was only fulfilling the plan formed by John II., selected for the command Vasco da Gama, a gentleman of his household, and son of an experienced mariner, named Estevão da Gama, who had been the nominee of John II. for this post; and two able captains, Paul da Gama, the brother of Vasco, and Nicolas Coelho, volunteered to accompany him. The perils and dangers of this famous voyage have been told in immortal stanzas by Camoens; it is enough here to say that the Portuguese fleet safely rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and began to work its way up the south-eastern coast of Africa. The rulers of Mozambique and Mombassa showed no disposition to assist the Portuguese admiral in his endeavour to find a pilot to guide him across the Indian Ocean; on the contrary, they proved actively hostile, and the false pilot, whom the chief of Mozambique had given him, under the hostile influence, according to Camoens, of Bacchus, who was fearful lest his fame as _Victor Indicus_ should be surpassed, deserted the fleet at Mombassa. However, Vasco da Gama pressed northwards, and at the little town of Melinda, to the north of Zanzibar, he found a friendly monarch, who gave him a skilful pilot. But the perils of the expedition were not yet over; it was the wrong time of the year for crossing the Indian Ocean, and it was only after encountering fearful storms that the Portuguese heroes cast anchor off the city of Calicut on May 20, 1498, after a voyage of nearly eleven months.