Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. II.djvu/205

181 SECOND VOYAGE. 181 for redress to the court of Rome, which answered chapter him bj reference to its bulls, recently published. In L_ this emergency, he came to the resolution at last, which should have been first adopted, of deciding the matter by a fair and open conference. It was not until the following year, however, that his dis- content so far subsided as to allow his acquiescence in this measure. At length, commissioners named by the two treaty of o ' J Tordesillas. crowns convened at Tordesillas, and on the 7th of June, 1494, subscribed articles of agreement, which were ratified, in the course of the same year, by the respective powers. In this treaty, the Spaniards were secured in the exclusive right of navigation and discovery in the western ocean. At the urgent remonstrance of the Portuguese, however, who complained that the papal line of demarcation coop- ed up their enterprises within too narrow limits, they consented, that instead of one hundred, it should be removed three hundred and seventy leagues west of the Cape de Verd islands, beyond which all discoveries should appertain to the Span- ish nation. It was agreed that one or two caravels should be provided by each nation, to meet at the Grand Canary, and proceed due west, the appoint- ed distance, with a number of scientific men on board, for the purpose of accurately determining the longitude ; and if any lands should fall under the meridian, the direction of the line should be ascertained by the erection of beacons at suitable distances. The proposed meeting never took place. But the removal of the partition line was followed