imitators in time, the greatest in achievement; he was not a mere
follower of the Portuguese initiative, for he struck out a new line or
at least a neglected one, made the greatest of all geographical
additions to human knowledge, and took the most daring plunge into the
unknown that has ever been taken--but Columbus, beside his independent
position and interest, was certainly on one side a disciple of Henry the
Navigator, and drew much of his inspiration from the impulse that the
Prince had started. Da Gama, the first who sailed direct from Lisbon to
India round Africa, and Albuquerque, the maker, if not the founder, of
the Portuguese empire in the East, were simply the realisers of the vast
ambitions that take their start from the work and life of Prince Henry,
and he has a right to claim them as two leading champions of his plans
and policy. In many points Albuquerque, like Columbus, is more than a
follower; but in the main outline of his achievement he follows upon the
work of other men, and, among these men, of none so much as the Hero of
Portugal and of modern discovery.

Lastly. I have to thank many friends generally for their constant
kindness and readiness to assist in any way, and in particular several
for the most generous and valuable help in certain parts.

Mr. T.A. Archer, besides the benefit of his suggestions throughout, has
given special aid in Chapters I., III., V., and the Introductory
Chapter, especially where anything is said of the connection of
geographical progress with the Crusades.[7]

[Footnote 7: Compare Archer and Kingsford, _The Crusades_, in the
_Stories of the Nations_.]

Mr. F. York Powell has revised Chapter II. on the Vikings, and Professor