;^58 DISCOVERY OF THE CAPE. 



erected there which had previously been dedicated to the Holy 

 Cross. 



The name " Islands of the Cross," on the ether 'hand, would 

 be most appropriate if, on the larger island, a wooden cross 

 had been erected similar to that which was afterwards erected 

 by Vasco da Gama at Mossel Bay. 



The island, which is of grey rock, and 195 feet high, is in 

 many respects the most conspicuous object in the western half 

 of Algoa Bay, standing out very clearly against the background 

 of the low and sandy shore. To a voyager entering the bay 

 after rounding Cape Recife, it would naturally suggest itself 

 as the most suitable place on which to erect a sea-sign, and it 

 had the added merit of being secure from the destructive 

 activities of the Hottentots, who, on one occasion at least, 

 destroyed a padrao and a cross erected by Vasco da Gama before 

 he was out of sight of them. The evidence, then, as it stands, 

 is in favour of the supposition that Dias landed on the island 

 and erected there, not a padrao, but a wooden cross, which 

 would serve to assist both him and subsequent explorers to 

 correct their bearings. 



2. The position of the padrao of Sao Gregorio, the furthest 

 padrao erected by Dias. 



Three of the maps give its position — Martelus, Dr. Hamy's, 

 and Cantjno — and all agree in placing it on the coast to the 

 east of Algoa Bay, in the vicinity of the present Cape Padrone ; 

 but the maps are on such a small scale that it is impossible 

 to take them as cfifering more than the general evidence 

 that Dias erected the pillar within the thirty miles or so from 

 the Cape to the Kowie. The only written evidence of early 

 date is the reference in the " Roteiro " ; but this is so important 

 that it must be given in detail. For the sake of clearness, 

 the modern geographical names are given after the ancient ones 

 as they occur. 



" On the morning of Friday. 15th December, we saw the 

 land near the Ilheos Chaos (Bird Island, Seal Rock, and 

 Doddington Rock). These are 5 leagues beyond the Ilheo 

 da Crux (S. Croix). From the Golfo de Sao Braz (Mossel 

 Bay) to Ilheo da Cruz is a distance of 60 leagues, and as much 

 from the Cabo de Boa Esperanqa (Cape of (^ood Flope) to 

 the Golfo de Sao Braz. From the Ilheos Chaos to the last 

 pillar erected by B. Dias is five leagues, and from this pillar to 

 the Rio do Infante is fifteen leagues." 



These distances, given l)y the writer of the " Roteiro " on 

 the authority of Pero d'Alemquer, show that the latter well 

 merited his reputation as a skilful pilot, and, indeed, that he 

 possessed what we may call " sea-sense " to an almost uncanny 

 degree. Two of the distances can be easily checked. Sixty 

 Portuguese leagues are equal to 204 geographical miles, which 

 is the correct distance from Cape Point to Mossel Bay, within 



