Panama and the canal . •one supposed that Spain had beatenPortugal in the race for the untold riches of Asia. Now itwas the turn of King John to be en-\ious. Alas for poorColumbus! Though he did not know it, he had not reachedAsia after all, only Haiti and Cuba! This second trip lasted many months and proved mostdisappointing. The West India Islands were explored,thousands of fierce cannibal Indians encountered, but therewere no rich cities nor coasts of Asia nor shipdoads ofwealth brought back to Spain. Columbuss enemies nowbegan to call him a humbug and to plot his ruin. Andthe king, too, be
Panama and the canal . •one supposed that Spain had beatenPortugal in the race for the untold riches of Asia. Now itwas the turn of King John to be en-\ious. Alas for poorColumbus! Though he did not know it, he had not reachedAsia after all, only Haiti and Cuba! This second trip lasted many months and proved mostdisappointing. The West India Islands were explored,thousands of fierce cannibal Indians encountered, but therewere no rich cities nor coasts of Asia nor shipdoads ofwealth brought back to Spain. Columbuss enemies nowbegan to call him a humbug and to plot his ruin. Andthe king, too, began to think that his voyages were oflittle value after all. Yet a third voyage was made in1497. At the same time a number of other Spanish cap-tains crossed the Atlantic on similar voyages of discovery. BETWEEN TWO OCEANS. Map II.—Columbus and the Isthmus. TRIUMPH OF DA GAMA 9 Hundreds of miles of the coasts of North and South America\Yerc explored. A little gold was found and some Indianscaptured to be sold as slaves; but the ships returned withno shorter route to Asia discovered and with the sadtidings of the horrible death of hundreds of Spaniards atthe hands of the fierce Indians of the West Indies. Imagine, then, the feelings of King Ferdinand and ofColumbus, when the news came, in the summer of 1499,that Vasco da Gama, in the service of King John, hadsailed around Africa by the Portuguese route and hadactually reached India, had seen its rich cities, and broughtback his ships to Portugal loaded with silks, satins, ivory,spices, rubies, and emeralds. Asia had been reached!How mean Columbuss voyages now looked in comparisonwith this triumph! Portugal had won the race by the longer African Avonder that men began to doubt the existence of Co-lumbuss shorter route. Not so Columbus. _ , ^ Col
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