that navigator's return, was put under the command of Juan de Nova. The succeeding expedition, fitted out upon a scale of greater magnitude than either of its predecessors, was wisely committed to the proved skill and experience of Da Gama. It consisted of twenty vessels, divided into three squadrons. The largest, consisting of ten ships, sailed under Da Gama's own command; of the two other divisions of the fleet, five ships each, one was commanded by his brother Stephen. To so formidable an armament, no obstacle could be opposed on the part of the Moorish sovereigns of Eastern Africa; and Da Gama established commercial factories both at Sofala and Mozambique, on his way to the Indian coasts. There he first visited Cananore, with the ruler of which place he formed an alliance, and thence proceeded to Calicut—not, as on his former visit, in the posture of a suppliant, but as the delegate of a powerful sovereign, armed with means to enforce compliance with his desires. He obtained from the Zamorin compulsory redress for injuries which had been sustained by the Portuguese who had taken part in the expedition of Cabral, and who, during the absence of that commander, had been massacred at the instigation of the Moors; adopting retaliatory measures which were almost equally worthy of censure, and but too characteristic of the mode of treatment generally employed by European adventurers, alike in that and succeeding ages, in their intercourse with foreign races. After destroying part of the city of Calicut by means of his cannon, the Portuguese admiral sailed to Cochin, and renewed there the alliance which its sovereign had formed with Cabral. The establishment founded at Cochin proved the cradle of Portuguese dominion in the eastern world. Ultimately leaving a squadron upon the coast of Malabar, Da Gama returned to Lisbon with twelve vessels, laden with the rich productions of the East, at the close of 1503, and had the title of Count of Vidigueyra added to his previous honours. The ensuing twenty-one years of Da Gama's life were passed in honourable repose—whether due to his own inclinations, or to unmerited neglect on the part of the Portuguese court, does not clearly appear. During the interval, the power founded by the Portuguese in the East had made steady advances; and a vast empire had been established by the genius of the great Albuquerque. After his death in 1515 the Portuguese affairs in India fell into some confusion; and when it became necessary in 1524 to appoint a new viceroy of India, Vasco da Gama, then at an advanced period of life, again entered the service of his country. He died, however, at Cochin within three months after the date of this, his third arrival in India, in December, 1524. His remains, first interred at Cochin, were conveyed to Portugal in 1558, where they were received with great pomp by John III., the reigning monarch, and were finally deposited at Vidigueyra. Vasco da Gama is said to have been of middle stature, stout in person, and of very sanguineous complexion.—Paul da Gama, a brother of the admiral, referred to above as having accompanied him on his first expedition, died at the Azores, worn out by sickness and fatigue, on the voyage homeward.—Stephen da Gama, another brother of Vasco, also referred to above, commanded a squadron of five ships in the expedition of 1502.—Another (and more distinguished) Stephen da Gama, was a son of the admiral. After holding during some years the government of Malacca, and rendering some important services in the neighbouring seas, he returned to Goa—already become the capital of Portuguese dominion in the East—in 1540, at the moment when the viceroy, Garcias de Noronha, was at the point of death, and was temporarily appointed to succeed him. This selection was not confirmed by the Portuguese court; and Stephen da Gama, superseded in his high office by Alphonso da Sousa, returned to Lisbon in 1542. In the interim, however, he had ably fulfilled the duties he had undertaken, and had successfully conducted an expedition into the Red Sea, with the purpose of attacking the Turks, and destroying their hostile armaments collected on its shores. He visited Souakin, Cosseir, Toor, and Suez, at which latter place he met with a stout resistance, and failed to accomplish all his wishes. On his return he sent a detachment of Portuguese, under the command of his brother Christopher, to aid the king of Abyssinia in his conflict with the Turks. We owe to this expedition of Da Gama the first account, accessible to Europeans, of the Red Sea. Stephen da Gama was cordially received by his sovereign on his return, but, declining compliance with the wishes expressed by the king respecting his marriage, retired to Venice, where he long remained in self-imposed exile from his native country. He finally returned, however, to Portugal.—Christopher da Gama, son of the admiral, was still young when he accompanied his brother Stephen on his expedition to the Red Sea, the preparations for which had been made by him with consummate skill and forethought. At the head of a detachment of five hundred men, he left his brother at the port of Massowah in June, 1541, and marched into the heart of Abyssinia. Though at first successful in his operations on behalf of the king of that country, he was subsequently, in an engagement rashly undertaken, overpowered by numbers, and suffered death at the hands of the victorious chief into whose power he had fallen.—Another son of the great Vasco, Paul da Gama, is also mentioned, as having taken an active part in the conflicts which were waged by the Portuguese with the native sovereigns of the eastern archipelago, where he lost his life in an encounter with the king of Bintang.—W. H.
GAMACHES, Etienne Simon, a learned French ecclesiastic, born at Meulan in 1672; died at Paris in 1756. A treatise upon astronomy which he published in 1740, and which was reprinted in 1771, procured him admission into the Academie des Sciences, of which he was one of the most versatile and accomplished members. He wrote, with equal learning and grace, upon subjects of morals and upon scientific topics. His "Systeme du Cœur," &c., a treatise on the passions, is a good specimen both of his reasoning and his style; but it is, perhaps, inferior in interest to another of his works—"Les agrémens du langage réduits à leurs principes."—J. S., G.
GAMACHES, Phillipe de, a French divine, born in 1568; died at Paris in 1625. He occupied a chair of theology in the Sorbonne, and for a period of twenty-five years expounded with great authority the doctrines of Aquinas. His commentaries upon St. Thomas have not yet quite fallen out of repute. Gamaches was a man of character as well as talent, and in some relations which he had with Richelieu, demeaned himself with honourable pride and firmness.—J. S., G.
GAMBA, Bartolomeo, was born at Bassano in 1780. Having received an excellent education, he was appointed vice-librarian at St. Mark's library, and a member of the Florentine Academy. His principal work is a "Biographical History of the Illustrious Men of Bassano." Tippaldo mentions in flattering terms Gamba's "Life of Dante," and several other biographical works. He died in 1841.—A. C. M.
GAMBA, Pietro, Count, whose name is well known in England from his connection with Byron, whom he accompanied in his last journey to Greece, was born at Ravenna in 1801, and was the brother of the Countess Guiccioli. Devoted to the cause of freedom in his own country, Count Gamba took a deep interest in the Greek struggle for emancipation. He was present at Byron's death, and after that event he remained in Greece fighting with the insurgents till 1826, when he died suddenly. He wrote an interesting narrative of "Byron's Life in Greece," which was printed in London in 1825.—A. S., O.
GAMBACORTA, a powerful and influential family of Pisa during the fourteenth and part of the fifteenth century. Andrea, the founder of the house, was a rich tradesman, who was elected chief magistrate of the Pisan republic in 1348, when the popular party, known under the nickname of the Bergolini, conquered the Raspanti, who represented the ancient aristocracy. Andrea proved as able and active a governor, as he had formerly been an enterprising and thrifty merchant. Under his prudent sway the republic improved, both in internal economy and in external influence. Preserving a neutral attitude in the contest between the Visconti of Milan, then the leaders of the imperial party in Northern Italy, and the democratic commonwealths of Tuscany, he was often called upon to act as mediator between the contending parties. He died, highly honoured and regretted by his fellow-citizens in 1355.—Francesco his cousin succeeded him with the title of "Conservatore del buono stato" (Preserver of public order and welfare). The Raspanti having attempted to overthrow the popular government, he placed the town under the protection of the Emperor Charles IV. whom he had the honour of entertaining on the occasion of his visit to Pisa. But he soon had reason to repent of this step, for the emperor, instead of defending the rights of the people, joined with the aristocratic faction and the external enemies of the republic, and particularly with the rival town of Lucca, against Gambacorta and his party. Francesco was arrested and beheaded with some of his relatives and friends, whilst the rest of his supporters
