Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
4
THE FIRST TRAVELOGUE
The world, or rather the European conception of it, was chan-
ging. By 1600, geographers had a roughly accurate knowledge of the
principal landmasses of Asia, Africa and the Americas, although the
Pacific and any islands and continents it might contain were still mys-
teries, and existing charts underestimated the ocean's width. Mer-
chants appreciated the commercial potential of India, China and the
Spice Islands and were ready to believe that as yet undiscovered
lands might abound in mineral and vegetable wealth. Thus, despite
the appalling experiences recorded by long-distance mariners, there
was plenty of incentive for ocean voyages to the Orient, using either
the eastern or western route.
Political changes also added a spur to voyages of exploration.
In the year that Drake returned triumphantly from his circumnavig-
ation, the crowns of Spain and Portugal were united. The overseas
interests of these once-rival nations were thus merged into the first
truly worldwide empire. With the wealth of both East and West flow-
ing into Philip II's coffers, he seemed secure and invincible. But this
was an illusion. The administrative strains placed upon his govern-
ment by ruling far-flung colonies as well as the Habsburg dominions
in Europe were intolerable. Also, the very extent of his power and the
fact that it was used to reinforce and propagate an inflexible Cath-
olicism obliged other nations to challenge the monumental author-
ity of Spain. Predominantly it was the Dutch and the English who sal-
lied forth as champions of Protestantism and it was these nations
which also took over as leaders of maritime enterprise for the next
two hundred years. In 1588 Philip's attempt to cower England with
his great Armada was frustrated. The following year saw Spain's fi-
