had rounded the southern point of Africa. 'The Stormy
Cape' he called it; the 'Cape of Good Hope,' as his rejoicing countrymen
would have it, when he came home with the news. A few years later,
Columbus, sailing westward, set up the flag of Spain upon the shores of
a new world. And now Manoel, the young King of Portugal, was all on fire
to finish what Diaz had begun, and to earn for his country the glory of
finding the way round the Cape to India, the mysterious land of which
such wonderful tales were told. He could have found no fitter man for
the work than the captain who knelt to-day in the little church above
the river to pray for success in his perilous undertaking. Absolutely
fearless, quick-witted, and prompt in action, delighting in danger and
adventure, and indomitable in perseverance, Vasco da Gama was a brave
leader of men, and he had himself chosen two companions after his own
heart, who were to command the other two ships--his brother, Paolo da
Gama, and his friend, Nicolo Coello. On his knees the captain received
from King Manoel the cross-marked flag on which he swore fidelity to his
sovereign, and then, followed by the cheers and good wishes of all
Lisbon, the good ships set sail.

Near the Canary Isles they met with such heavy weather that, for a week,
Vasco's ship, the _San Raphael_, was parted from the other two, and his
friends had nearly given him up for lost. The ship reappeared, however,
battered but safe, and the expedition waited for awhile to repair in the
Bay of St. Helena.

It was November when they sailed southward again, and now the Cape of
Storms began to prove worthy of its name. Such terrible tempests fell
upon the three ships, as they struggled along, with much ado to keep
within sight of each other, that the hearts of the crew failed them
altogether. The question began to be asked among them whether the report
of Diaz had after all been well founded, whether the sea passage really
existed, or whether the land which bounded the eastern horizon did not
go on for ever and ever until the very world's end. But when the crew of
the _San Raphael_ begged their captain to abandon the hopeless attempt,
his reply was that of the captain in the song--

'"Now I've come so far,
I'm not going back," says he.'

By word and example he encouraged the whole crew, now laughing at their
fears, now turning their thoughts to the triumphant return with glory
for their country, himself sharing the hard