Ten years, and another reign, and great
debates in the council of Portugal were requisite before it was resolved
that the attempt to prosecute the discovery of Diaz to its completion was
expedient, or could be of any advantage to the nation at large. At last,
when Emanuel, who was their sovereign, had determined on prosecuting the
discovery of India, his choice of a person to conduct the enterprise fell
on Gama. As he had armorial bearings, we may justly suppose that he was of
a good family; and in all respects he appears to have been well qualified
for the grand enterprise to which he was called, and to have resolved, from
a sense of religion and loyalty, to have devoted himself to death, if he
should not succeed. Diaz was appointed to a command under him, but he had
not the satisfaction of witnessing the results of his own discovery; for he
returned when the fleet had reached St. Jago, was employed in a secondary
command under Cabral, in the expedition in which Brazil was discovered, and
in his passage from that country to the Cape, four ships, one of which he
commanded, perished with all on board.
As soon as the fleet which Gama was to take with him was ready for sea, the
king, attended by all his court, and a great body of the people, formed a
solemn procession to the shore, where they were to embark, and Gama assumed
the command, under the auspices of the most imposing religious ceremonies.
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