Ga'ma, Vasco

or VASQUEZ DE, an illustrious navigator, B. at Sines, in Portugal, of a noble family; and to him belongs the merit of having discovered the route to the East Indies by the Cape of Good Hope. Having under his command 3 ve els, manned with 160 marines and sailors, G. set sail, July 9, 1497; in the beginning of the next year he reached the E. coast of Africa, and holding his course straight towards the coast of Malabar, arrived in May at Calicut, a city inhabited by Hindoos, where the ruler of the country, called the zamorin, or king, had his residence. He returned to Lisbon in two years and two months from the time of his setting out; and the result of the expedition promised such great advantages, that, in 1502, he went out with 20 ships, but he was attacked by an opposing fleet on the part of the zamorin, which he defeated, and returned the following year with 13 rich ve els that he captured in the Indian seas. John III. of Portugal appointed him Viceroy of India on the death of Albuquerque in 1524; on which he went there a third time, and established his government at Cochin, where he died in 1525. The Lusiad of Camoens, who accompanied G., is founded on the adventures of his first voyage. His portrait (Fig. 45) illustrates our article AFRICA. Ga'ma-gra , n . [From Gama , a group of islands in the Maldives. ( Bot .) See TRIPS A CUM. Gamaliel, a celebrated Pharisee in the generation after Christ, a doctor of the law, and member of the Sanhedrim. He po e ed great influence among the Jews, and is said by some to have presided over the Sanhedrint during the reigns of Tiberius, Caius, and Claudius. The Talmudists say that he was the son of rabbi Simeon, and grandson of Hillel, the celebrated teacher of the law, and that upon his death the glory of the law departed. His noble intervention before the Sanhedrim saved the apostles from an ignominious death, and shows that he was gifted with great wisdom and tolerance, if not strongly inclined towards the gospel. ( Acts v. 33-40.) The apostle Paul thought it a high honor to have been one of his pupils, ( Acts xxii. 3,) and no doubt received from him not only a zealous enthusiasm for the Jewish law, but many le ons of candor, impartiality, and liberality His high renown, however, among the Jewish rabbis of later ages, seems inconsistent with the tradition that he embraced Christianity. Gamba'do, n.; pl . GAMBADOES. [It. gamba , leg.] Leather coverings for the legs in riding on horseback. (Sometimes called spatterdashes .) Gambia, a British colony of W. Africa, at the mouth of the river Gambia; Lat. 130° 30′ N., Lon. 14° 40′ W. Area , 20 sq. m. It is one of the healthiest settlements in W. Africa, and enjoys an active trade. Chief town, Bathurst. Gambia, a large river of W. Africa, traversing the centre of Sene gambia, and after a course of 1.000 m., falling into the Atlantic at the British settlement of Bathurst, 110 m. from Cape Verd.