falling into ruin, nothing is done to arrest the march of destruction. If an edifice be shaken with an earthquake, it is abandoned-it is seldom or never raised again on its foundations; that which is overthrown is never rescued or renovated. A ruined building, like a felled oak, remains in the dust forever. Even in the populous parts of some of the great cities of Syria, the heaps of ruins which have been left in the pathways by successive earthquakes, have not been removed. A few hours' labor would clear the wrecks away, but the passengers prefer to clamber up and down the piles of stones and fragments, rather than to displace them. So little disposition is there to alter or to interfere with what has been, that," continues Mr. Bowring, "we found the apartments of the castle of Aleppo in precisely the state in which they were abandoned to the conquerors; the halls strewed with armor, covered with broken bows, quivers, and arrows in tens of thousands, and numberless despatches with the sultan's signet, still scattered about the floor.

"Added to these obstacles, and operating in the same direction, the unchangeableness of the Mohammedan usages and institutions, is an almost invariable impediment to the development of commercial prosperity. The merchant is rarely an honored being. Those who wield the power of the sword and the authority of the book, the warrior and the ulema, are the two really distinguished races of society. All productive labor, all usefully employed capital, is regarded as belonging to something mean and secondary. In the ports of Syria, the presence of Europeans has modified, to some extent, the commercial usages of the country; but in the towns of the interior, in the great depôts, the bazaars represent the same system of commerce which existed many hundred years ago. Huge kahns receive the foreign merchants, who come with caravans from remote regions, and carry on their trades, both of sale and purchase, precisely as it was conducted by their forefathers. The bazaars are divided into different regions, such as that of the druggists, of spicemen, of the woollendrapers, of the silk merchants, of the traders in cotton goods, the shoemaker, the garment seller, the ironmongers, and a variety of others. Each generally has a separate street for its particular department, and the sale and purchase of goods are carried on with considerable formality. The buyer goes to the shop of the seller-is treated to coffee and a pipe, and he then discusses the merits and the price of the merchandise in which he trades. The bargain is generally of slow arrangement. Inde. pendently of the bazaars, there are certain days on which auctions are held, and all sorts of goods are paraded up and down for public sale."

"But notwithstanding all impediments and difficulties, wherever repose and peace have allowed the capabilities of Syria to develop themselves, production and commerce have taken rapid strides. One of the immediate consequences of Ibrahim Pasha's conquest was, a sense of security, the establishment of an improved police, and an immediate extension of trading relations, principally due to the presence of Europeans. When the policy of peace was interrupted, commercial intercourse was deranged; the amount of imports and exports diminished, the number of merchants from foreign countries sensibly lessened, and the hopes of progressive improvement were all checked and disappointed. But both for agriculture and manufactures, Syria has great capabilities. Were fiscal exactions checked and regulated, could labor pursue its peaceful vocations, were the aptitude which the country and its inhabitants present for the development of

industry called into play, the whole face of the land would soon be changed. It appeared to me," continues Mr. Bowring, "that there was a great disposition to activity among large bodies of the peasantry, and much skill among the manufacturing laborers of the towns. There would, if properly encouraged, be no want of demand for European articles, nor of the means of paying for them; and among the articles most required, those furnished by British industry are particularly prominent.

"But the articles for which the sale would be most likely to extend, are such as, having undergone a process of manufacture as raw materials, lend themselves to further and final manufacture,-such as iron, copper, and tin plates for the making of sundry vessels; threads and yarns of silk, flax, woollen and cotton, &c. These and other such would be suited by oriental skill to oriental taste, better than western ignorance of those tastes could possibly fashion them. I noticed a reflux of opinion favorable to the manufactures of the country, they having already greatly benefited by the import of the half-wrought materials to which I have been referring; for in the finishing of most articles, the Syrians are not wanting in dexterity and experience; they have, like all orientals, a pretty accurate sense of the beauty and arrangement of forms and colors; the patterns they work, though not very varied, are generally graceful; their dyeing is excellent; their artisans dexterous and intelligent. They use, for the most part, a rude machinery, but their wages are high enough to keep them in tolerable condition; and were some of the modern improvements* introduced, there would be a revival of manufacturing prosperity."

ART. IV.-COMMERCIAL VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES.

CHAPTER IV.

VOYAGE OF PEDRO ALVAREZ CABRAL.-VOYAGE OF JUAN DE NUEVA.-SECOND VOYAGE OF VASCO DE GAMA.

A NEW expedition to India was immediately resolved upon, and Pedro Alvarez was selected to command. It consisted of thirteen vessels, and twelve hundred men, besides a goodly missionary establishment of priests, monks, &c., who had orders "to begin with preaching, and if they found that would not do, to then try the sword." They set sail on the ninth of March, 1500, and after being drawn well over to the west, on the twentyfourth of April discovered strange land, to which was afterward given the name of Brazil. After landing at several points, and setting up stone crosses, and having communication with the natives, whom they found well disposed, they left two criminals to inquire into the state of the country, and resumed their voyage to the cape. A few days after, they saw a large comet, and encountered a terrible tornado, by which four ships, with all their men, were lost, in one of which was the celebrated Bartholomew Diaz, the discoverer of the Cape of Good Hope.

After a succession of storms, the formidable cape was passed, and the fleet came to the neighborhood of Sofala, where they captured two Moorish vessels. Passing on to Yuiloa, they made a fruitless attempt to trade with the king, who at first, taking them for Moors, promised to pay in

* Such as the Jacquard loom, for instance.

gold for their merchandise, but who, when he found out they were Christians, pretended that the goods did not suit his market, and the Portuguese were compelled to go on to Melinda. Here they were again well treated, supplied with refreshments, and with two pilots for Kalicut.

On the thirteenth of September, Cabral arrived off Kalicut. Much time was lost from the mutual distrust on both sides, but at length hostages were exchanged, and Cabral visited the samorin, taking with him the present from the king of Portugal, which consisted of several pieces of rich silver plate, cushions of cloth of gold, a carpet, velvets, gold lace, and some pieces of tapestry. The samorin gave permission to establish a factory, and promised to load the fleet with spices and drugs; but the Moors again interfered, as in the case of De Gama, and continual quarrels and misunderstandings took place. The Moors, resolved to bring matters to a crisis, openly violated an order the samorin had given Cabral, for the exclusive purchase of spices, and commenced loading one of their vessels before the cargo of but two of the Portuguese ships had been completed. Cabral, judging that the Moors were acting by the connivance of the samorin, sent to complain of the breach of faith, and the delay which it occasioned. The samorin pretended to be highly incensed, and sent word that he might have liberty to search the Moorish ships that had violated his order. Wishing to bring matters to blows, the Moors commenced lading a ship openly. For some time Cabral refused to take any notice of her, but at length, urged to it by pretended friends, he sent his boats and took possession of her. As soon as this was known, the Moors assembled in a tumultuous manner, and inciting the populace of the city to aid them, they proceeded to the palace of the samorin, and demanded and obtained permission of the weak despot to attack the Portuguese factory. The first party of Moors that advanced were so few that the Portuguese thought it necessary merely to defend the gates with their cloaks and rapiers, but the numbers rapidly increased, and they were compelled to mount to the walls and use their cross-bows. At length they were pressed so hard, and by such an overwhelming force, who were getting up battering engines against the walls, that they were compelled, as a last resort, to make a sally by a gate leading to the beach, in hopes of escaping by the boats. They were closely followed by the crowd, and after performing prodigies of valor, and slaughtering an immense number of their enemies, twenty of them succeeded in getting clear. Among the survivors, was the famous Duarte Pachaco Pereyra,* who first distinguished himself in this expedition, and whose desperate valor soon rendered him famous throughout all Europe and the east, and the hero of a hundred ballads.

Cabral took a speedy revenge. He attacked several ships that were in the harbor, killed six hundred men, seized upon their cargoes of spices and drugs, and burnt the ships in sight of the enraged Moors. He then

*The exploits of the gallant Pachaco equal the most extravagant actions of the knights of romance. No disparity of force was too great for him. With one hundred and sixty men, and two or three small vessels, he repeatedly attacked a large force that had been brought against the king of Cochin, an ally of the Portuguese. He destroyed their ships, with several thousand men, and attacking them by land also, with the aid of three hundred natives, he at one time routed fifteen thousand men, and burnt several towns. At the end of five months, his enemies had lost twenty thousand men out of fifty thousand, and were compelled to give up the contest.

warped his ships close into the town, and commenced battering it with his cannon. Houses and temples soon tumbled about the heads of the terrified inhabitants, who, with their sovereign and his treacherous friends, the Moors, were compelled to fly into the country. After amusing himself in this way for a few hours, Cabral got under weigh and stood down the coast, in the direction of Cape Comorin, the southern extremity of Hindostan, until he came to Cochin. Here he was well received. He at once made a treaty with the king, who was not a little pleased with their treatment of his enemy, the samorin, and afforded them every facility for trade. An invitation also came from the kings of Kananor and Koulan, to visit them. To the first he paid a visit, and completed his lading by taking in four hundred quintals of cinnamon. Receiving an ambassador to the king of Portugal, he commenced his return voyage. After a variety of adventures, escaping a fleet sent after him by the king of Kalicut, encountering severe storms, which separated the vessels of his fleet, and capturing a Moorish vessel, he reached the coast of Africa, stopped to refresh at Mozambique, doubled the Cape of Good Hope, touched at the Cape de Verd, and arrived at Lisbon the thirty-first of July, 1501. Of the fleet that accompanied him, only six ships ever returned.

The voyage of Juan de Nueva was less disastrous. The expedition started several months before Cabral returned, and as it was supposed that amicable relations had been established with the samorin, and other Indian and African princes, it was not thought that much force was required, and accordingly De Nueva was furnished with only three ships and a caravel, carrying four hundred men. en. Touching at San Blas, they found in an old shoe a letter that had been written and deposited there by Pedro de Atayda, one of Cabral's captains, giving an account of the state of affairs at Kalicut. Thus warned in time, De Nueva directed his course to Cochin, where he found the factory that had been established by Cabral. The Moorish merchants exerted themselves to depreciate the Portuguese goods, and succeeded so far that De Nueva was unable to purchase a cargo, except for gold, and was compelled to go to Kananor, where the same difficulty awaited him, but which was obviated by the king, who went security for a thousand quintals of pepper, fifty of ginger, and three hundred of cinnamon.

While lying here a large fleet of paraws and boats, sent by the samorin, came into the bay to attack him, but the Portuguese used their great guns so skilfully and vigorously that the samorin's force was driven off with great loss, while the Christians lost not a man. After this exploit, De Nueva set sail for Portugal, where he safely arrived with all his ships.

The difficulties that Cabral had had with the samorin, showed the necessity of an efficient force, if the Portuguese intended to continue the trade, which was so lucrative, that even Cabral's voyage, so disastrous to men and ships, yielded a fair profit. It was accordingly resolved that a powerful force should be fitted out, part of which should be employed in trading, and part in blockading the mouth of the Red Sea, and cutting off the Moors, who were the chief cause of all their troubles. This fleet consisted of twenty sail. At first the command of it was given to Cabral, but it was decided that the exigency required the talents and energy of the great Vasco de Gama, who was invested with the rank of admiral of the eastern seas, with great pomp.

After touching at the usual points upon the African coast, capturing a

number of trading ships, and meeting with divers adventures, which our space compels us to omit, he arrived off the coast of India, near the territory of Kananor. Here he met a ship of great bulk, called the Meri, belonging to the sultan of Egypt, which was very richly laden, and full of Moors of distinction, who were going on a pilgrimage to Mecca. This ship being taken after a vigorous resistance, De Gama went on board and commanded the Moors to produce their merchandise, threatening, if they did not, to have them thrown overboard. They pretended that their riches were all at Kalicut; but one of them having been flung into the sea, bound hand and foot, the rest through fear delivered up their goods. All the children were carried into the admiral's ship,* and the remainder of the plunder given up to the sailors. After which Stephen de Gama, by order of the admiral, set fire to the ship. But the Moors having broken up the hatches under which they were confined, and quenched the flames, Stephen was ordered to lay them aboard. The Moors, desperate with apprehension of their danger, received them with great resolution, and even attempted to burn the other ships. Night coming on, he was obliged to desist without doing his work; but the admiral gave orders that the vessel should be watched, that the passengers might not, under favor of darkness, escape to the land, which was near. All night long the Moors called upon Mohammed to help them. In the morning, Stephen was sent to execute his former orders. He boarded the ship, and setting fire to it, drove them aft, where they defended themselves with great vigor. Many of the Moors, when they saw the flames approach them, leaped into the sea with hatchets in their hands, and swimming, attacked the boats. However, most of them were at length slain, and the others drowned or burnt up in the ship, which soon after sank; so that of three hundred persons, among whom were thirty women, not one escaped the sword, fire, or water."

Such a story as this is enough to make us deny De Gama's right to the epithet humane, which is frequently bestowed, did we not make proper allowance for the barbarity of his times. Besides, it amounts to a trifle compared with the atrocities which marked the course of some of his successors in their career of conquest and crime.

Arrived at Kananor, the admiral sent a message to the king, that he desired an interview with him. "For this purpose a wooden bridge was made, which entered a good way into the water. This was covered with carpets, and at the end towards land, a wooden house was built, furnished also with carpets. The king arrived first, accompanied by a large bodyguard of nobles, with trumpets sounding and other instruments playing before him. Soon after the admiral came, with all the boats of the fleet furnished with flags, musical instruments, and ordnance, under the discharge of which he landed. He was conducted to the door of the house by a body of nobles, where the king received him, embraced him, and they then walked to the hall of audience. At this interview, a treaty of friendship and commerce was concluded, and a factory granted at Kananor, in consequence of which De Gama laded some of his ships, and then departed for Kalicut."

Arrived at Kalicut, he captured several vessels in port, but made no

According to De Faria, to make them all friars, as an equivalent for one Portuguese, who had turned Mohammedan. Their number was twenty, and they were attached to St. Mary's church, at Belem, about a league from Lisbon.