plorer, whose cheaply-won
fame has obscured his own, even with the king-loving Portuguese.

It would seem as if the capacity to control men, which was so prominent
a characteristic of the "Discoverer of India," was not of a conciliatory
character, for the Zamorin of Calicut received him but coldly, and
before his ships were loaded the difference had ripened into a quarrel,
and he was obliged to cut his way out of the harbor to begin his
homeward voyage. This lack of complaisance on the part of the Zamorin he
attributed, not without reason, to the jealousy of the Arab merchants,
whose swift-sailing dhows crowded the port. Why should they not be
jealous of him who came to take away their immemorial privilege?
Theretofore the treasures of the Orient had reached the western world
only through the hands of the Arab merchants. The dhow and the camel had
been its carriers. Gama had brought the more capacious caravel to bear
them over a new highway to the western consumers. His success meant the
loss of a great part of the business on which the sailors, merchants,
and camel-drivers of Arabia depended for a livelihood. Why should they
not conspire to kill him and destroy his fleet?

His homeward passage was as fortunate as the outward one had been. That
he did not experience the disasters which befell others, was no doubt
largely due to the fact that he foresaw and avoided peril whenever
possible. He was one of those men who, while shrinking from no
unavoidable danger, take no unnecessary risks. He was received with
unprecedented honors when, after two years and two months' absence, his
ships were again anchored in the Tagus. Their rich cargo attested the
rare value of the trade he had opened up. Despite the gold which the
miners of Espanola were beginning to send to Spain, and the pearls which
had come from Cubagua, the apparent value of the discoveries of Columbus
were as nothing to the boundless wealth which Gama's voyage assured to
Portugal. By the bull of Pope Alexander VI., all lands discovered east
of the meridian of the Azores belonged to the King of Portugal. It was
not only half the world, but that half which was of most inexhaustible
richness, Asia and Africa. Titles and honors and wealth were conferred
upon the fortunate explorer. In consideration perhaps of his royal
extraction, he was permitted to affix the kingly title, "Dom," to his
name. No wonder he was thus honored, when the cargo of one small caravel
loaded