TRADING VESSELS OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 155 other of 900. Such large vessels did not usually belong to one person, but several parties would engage in a trading venture, of which parties the Government often formed onc. Before the practice of marine assurance reduced the hazard of the sea to almost arithmetical certainty, it was more necessary than now for shipowners to divide the risk by holding shares in several vessels rather than embarking too much of their capital in one bottom, and as early as the year 1100 we find a half-share of one vessel, and a quarter of another, held by Godrick, a native of Walpole, in Norfolk. The celebrated Whittington, who lived in the reign of Henry IV., at the beginning of the fifteenth century, appears to have been a successful mercantile speculator, whose ship was named The Cat. Commerce now began to engross more of the attention of maritime people, and the progress of discovery opened a road to the introduction of Europeans to nations and countries before unknown. During these ages also the missions undertaken to different parts of the world, by land and sea, in order to convert the natives. to Christianity, conduced to the general improvement of the human race. The expeditions of travellers promoted the same beneficial end, and particularly the journeys of that most remarkable of all travellers, Marco Polo, the Venetian, who, born in 1251, journeyed over Asia, from the Hellespont to the wall of China, for twenty-six years, seventeen of which were passed in the service of the Mongul Emperor of China. Marco Polo brought home varied information respecting the different countries of the East, which, being of a novel and wonderful character, was in a great measure disbelieved, and even burlesqued in the comedies of the times, though, as in the case of Bruce and other travellers, succeeding visitors have confirmed the truth of his statements respecting the countries and peoples of the East, and only recently Mr. Baber, in his report of the Grosvenor Mission, certifies to the correctness of the great traveller's account of Yunnan. Marco Polo returned to Venice in 1297, and two years later, when a prisoner in the hands of the Genoese, dictated the account of his travels and discoveries to one Rustigielo, of Pisa. Editions of this work were published at Venice in 1496, at Trevigi in 1590, and an inaccurate and mutilated translation of the original manuscript, in Latin, towards the end of the fifteenth century, by Pepuri, a Dominican friar, of which Ramusio published a translation in his 'Collection of Voyages and Travels.' In more modern times, editions of Polo's travels have been published in most European languages, but it was reserved for that eminent scientific geographer, Colonel H. Yule, C.B., R.E., to produce an edition enriched with notes and commentaries, which will ever remain a monument to his own erudition and research, no less than to the pre-eminence of the greatest citizen of Venice. The mariner's compass, which is believed to have been first introduced into Europe at the commencement of the fourteenth century, gave a great impetus to nautical research, for by its means the sailor was enabled to venture without fear into the open sea, which was thus robbed of half its terrors. Some attribute the honour of its invention to Flavio Gioia, of Amalfi, in Campania, though it was doubtless long before known to the Chinese. However, it is certain that the common introduction into Europe of the mariner's compass dates from the year 1420; and the discovery of the variation of the compass needle from the true point, which was early observed by the Chinese, is claimed by MECHANICAL AIDS TO NAVIGATION. 157 both Columbus and Sebastian Cabot. At this time the plane chart was the only one in use, but, in the year 1545, two Spanish treatises were published by Pedro de Medina and Martin Cortes, which contained a complete system of the art of navigation as then practised. Medina's book was translated into Flemish, French, and Italian, but Cortes' was the favourite guide among English navigators, into which tongue it was translated in the year 1561, the system hitherto in use being that of Ptolemy. In 1530, Gemma Frisius invented the nautical quadrant, and, seventeen years later, Pedro Nunez, or Nonius, published a book exposing the errors of the plane chart, and invented a method of dividing a quadrant by means of concentric circles, which was improved by Halley, and is known as the 'Nonius.' In the year 1577 William Bourne published his treatise on navigation, and, in 1599, Simon Steven issued, at Leyden, his work, known in its English translation as the 'Haven-finding Art,' in which the method of estimating the speed of a ship by a 'log' is described. Michael Coignet published a treatise on navigation, at Antwerp, in 1581, and the same year the dipping-needle was discovered by Robert Norman. Though Gerard Kremer,* commonly known as Mercator, published his map on the principle known as 'Mercator's Projection,' in 1569, it was not until the year 1592 that its utility found acceptance, and this was chiefly due to Edward Wright's famous 'Correction of certain Errors in Navigation.' Other works were published, in 1608, by Simon Steven, and in 1624 by Kremer, or Mercator, was born of German parents in Flanders in 1512, settled at Duisburg at the age of forty, and died there in 1594. The first stone of a monument to his honour was laid in 1869, but lack of funds delayed its completion until September, 1878, when it was publicly unveiled. Snellius; and the invention of logarithms, by John Napier, of Merchiston, was of the greatest use to navigation. Gunter also constructed his scale, and, in 1657, Norwood published his 'Seaman's Practice,' and also a manual called the 'Epitome.' In 1620 William Johnson wrote his 'Light of Navigation; but, more than to any one, the exposition of the true principles of the art is due to Wright, while many other Englishmen gave valuable co-operation, chief among whom was Bond, who, in 1645, published in Norwood's 'Epitome' an improvement of Wright's method. During the last and present centuries new works have been written by those standard authorities, Mackay, Norman, Riddle, and Norie. For nearly two centuries, British shipping was subject to what were known as the Navigation Laws. These enactments, due to legislation of a protectionist character, were doubtless of service in their day, but at the date of their abrogation, in 1846, had ceased to serve any useful object. Though the repeal of these laws was strenuously opposed, and the worst consequences were predicted, experience has shown that they were prejudicial to the interests of commerce. England has made greater progress during the last thirty-five years than in the preceding century. Her vast mercantile marine, her illimitable commerce, and her magnificent Colonial Empire make her the wonder and envy of nations. Pope's lines, though written of the England of Queen Anne, apply with greater truth to the England of Queen Victoria: 'There mighty nations shall enquire their doom, The world's great oracle in time to come, There kings shall sue, and suppliant States be seen CHAPTER VII. Prince Henry the 'Navigator,' and Portuguese Maritime ResearchDiscovery of the Islands and Capes of West Africa-The Legend of Prester John-Further Discoveries on the West Coast of Africa -Diaz rounds the Cape of Good Hope. MARITIME discovery in the Middle Ages is most indebted to the Portuguese, among whom its chief patron was Prince Henry, surnamed the 'Navigator,' son of King John I., whose discoveries have found an able historian in Mr. Major, while his praises have been sung by an English poet, Bowles, in the following lines: 'Henry, thy ardent mind first pierced the gloom Of dark disastrous ignorance that sat Upon the southern wave, like the deep cloud Is black upon the surge, whilst she rolls on Aloft, the weather-beaten ship, and now Streams by the watch-tower !' In the early part of the fifteenth century, John I., King of Portugal, had effected some important conquests over the Moors, in which he had been very materially |