70 EARLY PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES IX AFRICA. 



The Prince's activities were the subject of bitter attacks on 

 the part O'f the Court. It was contended, among other thing^s, 

 that it was criminal to distract good and strong men from the 

 war against the Aloors and to send them to certain death over 

 the terribly stormy seas ; that no profit could be derived from 

 the unknown lands which could not possibly be anything else 

 but uninhabitable and burning areas, similar to the deserts of 

 North Africa; that if indeed those lands could offer any advan- 

 tage, the Romans and the Phoenicians would not have failed to 

 attempt that kind of exploration, and the very fact that they 

 had not done so was a sure proof of the vanity of the scheme. 

 - Such criticisms did not abate the Prince's courage, nor, 

 fortunately, did they carry weight with the King, and when 

 Dom Henrique died in 1460. after forty years of continuous and 

 strenuous work, the whole of the West Coast of Africa down 

 to Sierra Leone had been discovered, and the way was open for 

 those skilful navigators, who astonished and revolutionised 

 Europe bv taking the fleets of the Kings of Portugal to the 

 remotest parts of the world. 



Not much work was done for about twenty years after the 

 Infante's death. Portugal was too busy with the conquests in 

 Mauretania and the war with Castille to be able to equip any 

 considerable exploring expedition. It was not until 1481, when 

 King John II ascended the throne, that full advantage was taken 

 of the rich seed sown by the Infante. King John, whom we 

 rightly call the Perfect Prince, was fullv alive to the vastness 

 and greatness of his uncle's ideals and schemes, dnd realised 

 what their execution would mean for his countrv and for the 

 world's pr(^gress. 



His officers went further south along the West Coast and 

 discovered Guinea and the Congo River. Their dealings with 

 the inhabitants of those lands were so friendly that they brought 

 back to Lisbon some natives with a request from the Congo 

 King that he might be supplied with ministers of religion, 

 teachers in the art of reading and writing, mechanics, agricul- 

 tural labourers, bakers, etc.. while some of the members of the 

 expedition remained behind in order to explore the interior. 

 " Further south," however, was King John's constant aim. and 

 in T486 a fleet, under P)artholomeu Dias, left the Tagus in searcii 

 of the -Southern Cape. This expedition is styled by a distin- 

 guished geographer as the " most delicate and difficult undertaking 

 attempted in modern times." 



Navigation was then beginning to be made somewhat easier 

 owing to the results achieved by the mathematicians kept at 

 Court, whom the King constantly pressed for new observations 

 and new inventions. Thev prepared the pilot's declination tables 

 and greatly improved the measurement of the altitude of th^ 

 sun bv means of the astrolabe. The ablest of these scientists 

 were Rodrigo. Joseph Hebrew and Martin P)ehaim. of Nurem- 

 berg. They rendered the world a great service. Their names 



