Evening star., 1924-12-26

hopes Of wealth, was far outshons by
| the immediate ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF
Portugars trade with the Indies,
| made possible by the newly found
the credit Of which was assumed by
de Cana
Another discoverer cotemporaneous
| with Vasco de Cana and Christopher
Columbus was Pedro Alvarez Cabral
He accomplished, by accident, far
| more than de Cana, and thereby be-
| came the object Of de Gama's intense
jealousy. Perhaps 1t was poetic JUS
tice" which deprived Cabral OF the
| credit Of accidentally discovering
South America and adding to the
Portuguese possessions what later
became known as Brazil, for the story
OF the wonders and resources of that
new world" was told so eIoquently
by Amerigo Vespucius that the whole
hemisphere became known, not as Co.
lumbta, nor even as Cabraliana, but
| as America
In 1900 CabrA was given command
of fleet with 1900 men, and COM
mfssioned TO make voyage to the
| lndies by the route traverSed by de
Cana two years previous. On that
voyage Diaz, the original discoverer
Of the water-gateway to India, via
Cape OF Good Hope, was q subordinate
| under Cabral. and in a storm was
lost when his ship went down.
on the coast Of Africa the fleet sail
| ed farther out into the Atlantic than
| intended. It was there caught In the
Westward current and driven by
| storms across that narrow part of
| the ocean, until, without prescience,
| the voyagers came upon the unknown
| coast of South America. There they
| took possession, in the name of their
King, OF what Is now known as Brazil.
| Cabral sent one vessel back to re-
| port the discovery and possession to
the Portuguese throne. while with the
others he proceeded across the At
lantic, around Africa to the Indies
Q4s9).
When de Cana left India, after his
entry there in 1893, he left behind 40
| Portuguese to establish q factory and
a base for commerce. In 1899, when
Cabral finally reached that country
after his adventure in discoverins
South America, he found that the
jealousy of Arab merchants in India
had caused all the Portuguese to be
massacred, and Cabral brought tha,
news home to King Manoel.
| To avenge that massacre, the King
equipped 20 ships, and, refusing
Cabral the command, put the feet
under Vasco de Cana, who made the
plea that he had to fight his way out
Of India, and that 1t was his men who
had been massacred, hence he should
be the one to avenge tho deed. Cabral
went as subordinate, just as Diaz
the discoverer of Cape OF Good Hope
had sailed In the first Cabral expedi.
ton in subordinate rank.
| De Cana bombarded and conuuere6
| tho cities of India and then pushed
his expedition on to China, where he
unexpectedly died. His body was
brought back to Portugal in highes,
honor. as that of Portugaps greatest
hero.
An incident Of De Gama's expedition
of revenge, which was apart from In.
dia, throws light upon the standards
Of tho age and Of the hero whose
memory was observed yesterday
While crossing the Indian Ocean he
oarne upon a single ship laden with
SEQ passengers-Mussulm and
women and children en- route to Meccs
as pilgrims. Assuming that tho pas
sengers were African Moors, with
whom his King was at war, De Cana
burned the ship and drowned al
aboard, except some 20 women, whom
he saved" Later he was convinced
of his error, but the mistake was
easily condoned by his King, and die
not detraot from his fame.
6ConyuSAt 1874 ~ R1R Il ceI1t1Aa