The following is the paper by P. G. von Méllendorff, Bsq., read, on the occasion of the Saran Litteratio e Musical em homer:
Vasco da Gama, by R. S. Fischer, The fifteenth century ushers in the beginning of modern history, the Middle Ages disappear, a new era begins. Moro than anything else the development of navigation brought this about. After a series of discoveries on the West Coast of Africa Columbus discovered America and Vasco da Gama found the way to India by sea.
Daring the Middle Ages commerce hod vastly extended, but continued more or less on the lines laid down in antiquity by the Phanicians and their successors, the Carthaginians. The Italian cities, Venice and Genoa, as the leaders in the South, the Hanseatic Towns and the Netherlan: in the North, had not made any remarkable progress in navigation, nor had they discovered new countries. The trade routes were the same as in ancient times and ships never went out of sight of land. The voyages undertaken by the Arabs and the geographical knowledge gained thereby, were not made common property, although it seems strange that the ambition to become better acquainted with the Orient, which originated in the Crusades, should not have fed to researches in this direction.
Marco Polo's travels during the Intter part of the 13th century, rond with avidity in all countries, opened up visions of unknown Lauds heretofore shrouded in mystery. He informed ignorant Europe of Asiatic trade routes and how Indian products were brought to us by way of Egypt. The charts of the period represented Africa extending as far as the Malay Archipelago, making the Indian Ocean to be an inland sea. It was Marco Polo's book, together with Arabic tales of Indian commerce, which drew the attention of the King of Portugal to the feasibility of reaching Indin by sea and thus appropriating the trade of the Aravs, Portugal had the great fortune to be ruled by a succession of highly intelligent Princes. Joio I., 1389/1433, paid great, attention to foreign commerce, increased the importance of the Portuguese navy, and thus Inid the foundation of his country's greatness. This Prince " da boa memoria," was the first to acquire the Spirit of the Age. He foresaw the change that was coming and led his country to gather the first' fruits. His emissaries to Enst Africa and to Arabia brought him corroboration of what ho had divined, namely that Africa coild be sailed round and that it ended in a Southern Cape.
Este 6 0 primeiro Rei que se desierra De Patria por fazer que o Africano Conhecs belas annas quanta exetlo A lei de Christo a lei de Mehanedo.
First King was he who, with these thoughts imbued, Banished hitnself that Africans might know By force of arms how greatly doth exceed The law of Christ the law of Mahommed.
Thus a series of discoveries were made, which culminated in those of America by Columbus and of the sea route to India by 'Vasco da Gama. Columbus had an erroneous conception of the position of India; he believed he could reach it by sailing westwards. Vasco da Gama's voyage was based on a scientific calculation. Colum bus' discovery was a happy accident,. Gama's success was the scientific solution of a great problem. We can hereby conceive what it meant in those times to undertake voyages into unknown regions, Everyone still believed the stories of terrible sea-monsters, of the jelly sea, ete.,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.