t I say _Portugal_ and
not _Lusitania_, contrary to the opinion of many persons who certainly
are not ignorant, but are not less certainly, sadly mistaken. For if
it be Lusitania which eminent geographers locate between the Douro and
the Guadiana, in what part of Lusitania does Portugal lie?

BOOK VIII

During the reign of King John of Portugal, uncle and predecessor of
King Emanuel, now happily reigning, a serious divergence existed
between the Portuguese and the Spaniards concerning their discoveries.
The King of Portugal claimed that he alone possessed navigation rights
on the ocean, because the Portuguese had been the first since ancient
times to put out on the great sea. The Castilians asserted that
everything existing on the earth since God created the world is the
common property of mankind, and that it is, therefore, permissible to
take possession of any country not already inhabited by Christians.
The discussion on this point was very involved, and it was finally
decided to leave it to the arbitration of the Sovereign Pontiff.
Castile was at that time governed by the great Queen Isabella, with
whom was associated her husband, for Castile was her marriage portion.
The Queen being cousin to King John of Portugal, an agreement
between them was speedily reached. By mutual consent of both parties
concerned, and by virtue of a bull, the Sovereign Pontiff, Alexander
VI., under whose pontificate this discussion took place, traced from
north to south a line lying one hundred leagues outside the parallel
of the Cape Verde Islands.[1] The extreme point of the continent lies
on this side of that line and is called Cape San Augustin, and by
the terms of the Bull the Castilians are forbidden to land on that
extremity of the continent.

[Note 1: The famous bull marking the respective spheres of
discovery and colonisation for Spain and Portugal was given on May
4, 1493. Its terms were revised by the two states whose claims were
finally embodied in the conventions of Tordesillas, June 7, 1494, and
Setubal, September 4, 1494.]

After collecting the gold given him by the natives of the fertile
province of Chamba, Vincent Yanez returned from Cape San Augustin and
directed his course towards a lofty mountain chain which he saw on the
southern horizon. He had taken some prisoners in the Gulf of Paria,
which, beyond contest, lies in the Spanish dominions. He conducted
them to Hispaniola, where he delivered them to the youn