ABSTRACT
The discovery of America and that of a passage to the East Indies by the Cape of Good Hope are the two greatest and most important events recorded in the history of mankind. On July 8, 1497, the whole population of Lisbon was gathered on the banks of the Tagus. In their midst stood an endless procession of priests in long robes. The gaze of the whole multitude was riveted upon the harbour where the four vessels of the Indian expedition lay waiting the word of command. To Vasco da Gama, for his courageous and skilful conduct of the enterprise, unbounded credit is due. But the glory of the exploit itself, of the discovery of an ocean route to India, he must share with a countryman of his own. The honour for its practical discovery is Vasco da Gama's alone; that for its theoretical discovery belongs to Pedro Covilham.
