he word for returning. How the brave Coello must
have hated to give, even in stratagem, such craven counsel, and how
carefully he must have chosen words that might carry the double meaning
to his friend.

Coello need not have feared: Da Gama knew his brave colleague too well
to imagine that he was really thinking of retreat. Possibly he already
suspected something amiss; at any rate, he knew which of his men he
could trust, and, with their aid, he discovered the names of the
ringleaders. Then, calling the crew together on deck, he announced to
them that, acting upon the advice of his friend, the captain of the _San
Miguel_, he had decided to give up the expedition and return to
Portugal.

'But,' he continued, 'that I may not appear as a traitor before the
King, I will myself draw up an account of what we have undergone, and
those of most repute among you shall sign it, that all may see that you
hold with me in my judgment.'

The mariners agreed readily, and Da Gama, having prepared his statement,
sent for the chief men among the crew to his cabin to sign it, managing
to include among them the most dangerous of the conspirators. All
unsuspecting, down they went, leaving their companions to wonder what
had made the captain change his mind. Then came a summons from below,
more signatures were wanted, and down to the cabin went another band of
picked men.

As they crossed the threshold, one at a time, they found themselves
pinioned, and, staring round them in dismay, saw their fellow-mutineers
in irons, guarded by the loyal members of the crew. At Da Gama's order
all were marshalled on deck, and stood, sullen and powerless, before the
captain.

'Where are your instruments?' he asked sternly of the pilot, who was
among the prisoners.

Then, as the man pointed to them with his chained hands, he flung them
into the sea.

'You will use them no more,' he said; 'henceforth I will myself be pilot
to my own ship. If God sees us worthy He will guide us to our
destination, but be sure that I will never return alive to Portugal with
my purpose unfulfilled.'

That day's work made Vasco da Gama master once for all of the men who
sailed with him. He spared the lives of the conspirators after a
captivity long enough to teach them an enduring lesson, so winning their
allegiance by mercy as well as severity.

And we may like to remember that a famous colony of our own was first
sighted by Europeans on the Christmas Day of that