The sun., 1891-05-10
SOME NEW BooKs.
TIE yaNs Of rerdinssa prseeiisa. ssa the
FIRST Clrour,ssvtsstion or the Globe.

The Iins or rerdi.sss pSseeiiss. ssa tss
First characterization or ths Globe.
When the great Portuguese viceroy. Dom
Francisco d'Aimeida, was about to set sail for
india in March. 1905, the occasion was marked
By a splendid and Impressive celebration In
the Lisbon Cathedral Tho King was present.
and Almcida nftor receiving from him the royal
nag of white damask. bordored With kold and
boaring q eross Of crimson sstln. knelt at the
high altar in prayer. A deep RELIGIOUS ssnti-
ment mored the Portuguese Of that time. At
the same moment AlmeIda's fleet OF twenty
shps rode IN the TsRus, bristling with cam
mons. arauebuses. and spears. De Bry. who
was not happy with pcrspeciive, but who hal
q truthful instinct and On observing mind. has
left us n picture Of Lisbon harbor. showing
:ust how the fleet OF Almeda must have
looked-a stirring scene. indeed, the bombnrds
thrustlng their muzzles through tho ports
tho fortified tops made cactus-like with Jave-
Inns. sails bellyinR and pennnnts flying. boat
load OF crave. e.visaged. long bearded. steel
cuirassed mariners laboriously boarding tho
nearest ship, the waves dancing With some
what stiff regularity which may be ascribed TO
the artistic TASTE In waves OF that day. . hock
Of sec gulls on the wing in the far distance.
and most remarkable sun. triple-ringed and
limned radiance over oil.
This was an era OF religion and discovery.
The Portuguese and sraniards Of that time oc-
cupied themselves IN ransaoking the world for
gold and opics. In oonruorinG. proselytinR. and
staying They strewed Africa, the Indies. and
America With crosses and dead men. including
plenty Of tn. mselves Frenchman has OBJ
served that Spaniard Is q man wiib believes
that two and two make i've. IIe would have
said the same OF the Portuguese. We suppose.
and this was tho era when tue magnificent on
thusiasm OF these people was accomplishing
wonders. There lies before us . book. Tho
Life of Ferdinand Magellan, and the First Cir
cunnnaptoation of the Globe by f. H. II. GurL-
I.EMAnD tDodd. Mead 4 co., which affords A
highly Interesting and suggestive picture Of It
NIL Tho book ia notable In giving more data
regarding Magellan previous to tho time OF his
great voyage than have heretofore been pre-
sented In any single document No life OF tho
explorer. inieed has ever before been written
in English. and only one other TINT OF Diego
de Barros Arsna. translated into Portuguese In
1881. exists In any language. But, after all.
not much is known OF Magellan which 10 not
Immediately associated with tho FIRST circun-
navigation. Barros devoies only five pages to
his early Indian service under Almoida and Al
buquerque. aud so much seems ample for all
description OF tho voyages aud conQuests OF
these great comm anders is q picture Of the
sch, ol In which Magellan W as trained; It ena-
bles us to gather great deal ,garding the ex-
ploier from inference; aud II is afforded By
Mr.. Guilomard wisely and accordingly.
Magellan was born about 1880 At Sabrosss.
nenr Chaves. in the province OF Traz-os. Mon
tes ono OF the widest districts OF Portugal.
Mr.. Guillemard offers the opinion that his
character was shaped by the riRor OF his ma
turn surroundings. and It may SO be. though
plenty ofindomitable mn have been born and
nurtured amid landscapes altogether genial
and lovely. But whatever strong seed his mind
may have gathered among his native noun
tatns he dill not stay at homo to await their
qualification. He was Of noble birth, and. be-
ing ransplanted to tho capital in his child
hood to become page to the Queen widow Of
Jono tho Perfect he was enabled to 500 what
was going on in the world. and to choose .
calling for himself To an aspiring and von-
ture some youth not born to fortune. thsre
could 10 small doubt as to what that calling
would be. These were times, as has been said.
Of great enterprise In discovery. Spain and
Portugal, covetous Of gold and spice.
were seeking . way to India In 1888.
or thereabout. Bsrtolomeu Disz had rounded
the Cape Of Good Hore. while envoys
from Portugal were founderinR about some
whare in the region OF the Nile. trying to pens-
trnte 10 the fabulous region Of Prester John
overnn,. In 1492 Columbus had accom-
plshS his first voyage and believed that he
hal reached India: and Ave years later Vasco
dn Cana. whom Csmoens sang, had followed
in the track OF Diaz. pushed on across the To-
dian Ocean. and resched IL In reality. How
early Magellan went as q page to Lisbon we
do not know. but Of the expedition OF Dx Cana.
at least. he must have had what may be called
imme late cosnIznnoo. He must have seen
the armada Of that fortunate Captain: ho must
have looked on with fascination at the fitting
out OF the ships: he must have lonRed to sail
with them. and he must have been moved to
enthusasm. as all tho ret Of Lisbon was.
when they brought back tho prize Of India to-
the Portuguese King
1t would be strange II he had not caught the
spirit OF the place and time. There was only
ono sort OF enthusiasm In the air. The popu-
conquest, for gold. and apice. Spain and
Portugal had drawn u meridian lenGthwise OF
the earth. Tho rava 1t was cal,ed-the great
line. To all the new lands on one side OF It
Spain was to have tho right and to all tho new
lands on the other side the right was 10 belong
to Portugal Tho ship wards Of Lisbon were
ringing with m amazing Industry. Ships were
wanted as never bsfors. There was gold to
bring from India. and, moro precious still. tho
Gloves and nulmees Of the Moluooas. All Eu-
rope seemed to have gone mad for spice. To
read the history Of thsss expeditions 10 TO %
amazed at the spice appetite Of that day.
The Spice IslanIs wore tho King Solo-
mons's Mines Of the ums. It 10 ossv to
think that the synonym for thing most
precious must have been Glove. II the greed
for nutmegs continued III anything like its
original strength 1t is no wondey that, three
conturies later. tho State OF Connecticut, with
its phllsnthropio spirit and It's rars initiative
genius. should have been moved to assist the
supply. The Portuguese left their country In
shoals. They burned wrh'the fever Of glory
and gain. There was . general understanding
that whoever went should return rich-pro-
vlded hs returned ut all That thsre was, in
Decd an element Of uncertainty in tho N after.
and that life on these expeditions was some
what insecure. ID indicated in the fact that
out OF every six who sailed upon the first voy-
age of circumnavigstion only one returned.
We can never know Just what part Magellan
hN. L., tho JoJf 1una