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EARLY portuguesf: DISCOVKRTES TN AFKTCA. 



to whom he gave a full account of his voyage. As he mentioned 

 the difficult crossing of the Stormy Cape, King John directed 

 that it should henceforward be known as the Cape of Good 

 Hope, as he conceived a great idea of the results of Bias's dis- 

 covery, and entertained a great hope that the scheme in view 

 would soon be accomplished. 



Bartholomeu Dias. 



I may mention here incidentally a bitter disappointment 

 wliich befell King John II in the midst of his efforts to enlarge 

 the field of discoveries. A man came to Portugal with the 

 promise of magnificent discoveries in the western extremity of 

 the Atlantic. This man, a native of Genoa, had travelled a great 

 deal in the Levant. Rumour went that he had settled in 

 Madeira where, one day, he received in his home the dying 

 pilot of a wrecked French ship, who told him of an unknown 

 continent across the ocean. King John did not take this man 

 seriously and rejected his proposals. So did other European 

 Powers until after seven years of untold striving and rebuffs the 

 Genoese succeeded in getting Queen Elizabeth of Spain to equip 

 three ships, which he led across the Atlantic in search of the New 

 World. Some time later, these ships anchored in front of the 

 City of Lisbon, and Christopher Columbus informed King John 

 that he had discovered America for the Spanish Crown. 



