ore taken with them
a fiercer and more warlike complexion than in any other country. This
feeling was fostered by King Affonso V, the grandson of John the
Great, who ruled in Portugal from 1438 to 1481, and who, from his
many expeditions to Morocco, obtained the surname of _The African_.
His perpetual wars both with the Spaniards and the Moors continued to
keep the Portuguese a nation of soldiers; and when the conquest of
the East demanded the services of daring men, there was never any
lack of soldiers to go upon the most distant expeditions. It was
fortunate for the great enterprises of Vasco da Gama and of Affonso
de Albuquerque that they had no difficulty in obtaining plenty of
brave and experienced warriors; but it is to be deplored that these
soldiers were possessed by a spirit of fanaticism against the
religion of Islam which stained their victories with cruel deeds.
Such fanaticism is indeed deplorable, but considering the past
history of the Portuguese nation and the century in which they
performed their great feats of arms it was not unnatural.

Commerce with the East sprang up in Europe with civilisation. As soon
as any nation became rich it began to desire luxuries which could not
be procured at home. The Romans in the days of their greatness knew
of the products of Asia, and attained them at a {20} great price.
Throughout the Middle Ages the commodities of Asia were known and
valued, and as civilisation progressed and Europe emerged from
barbarism the demand for pepper and ginger, for spices and silks and
brocades increased.

The original trade routes for the products of India were overland.
The goods were borne in caravans from the North-West frontier of
India across Persia to Aleppo and thence by ship to Italy and to
whatever other country was rich enough to purchase them. But after
the growth of Muhammadanism and of the power of the Turks, the
caravan routes across Central Asia became unsafe. Two new routes then
came into use, the one by the Persian Gulf, and the other by the Red
Sea. Goods which went by the Persian Gulf were carried overland to
Aleppo and other ports in the Levant; goods that went by the Red Sea
were carried across Egypt from Suez to Alexandria. From these two
entrepots of Eastern and especially of Indian trade the articles of
commerce were fetched by Venetian ships, and from Venice were
distributed throughout Europe.

In the days of the Renaissance the products of the East passed