The Progress of Maritime Discovery, From the Earliest Period to the Close of the Eighteenth Century by James Stanier Clarke, 1803

"The Spectre of the Cape"

A textual summary of Mohammedan invasion

A description of the Mongol threat on Hindostan

Title page

A Portuguese fleet commanded by Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope, pictured in the background of this engraving, and traveled onward to India. This voyage, which took place at the end of the 15th century, was widely celebrated as key to establishing Portugal as a player in the Indian Ocean spice trade, and is considered by historians to be the start of a period of increasing European involvement, and eventually, dominion, in the Indian Ocean World.