• DISCOVKRY OF THE CAPE. 359 



a mile or two, while from ]\Iossel Bay to S. Croix is very 

 little less — it is about 197 geographical miles. His accuracy at 

 gauging distances is confirmed in other places in the " Roteiro " — 

 the dimensions of False Bay are given as six leagues each way. 

 which is correct to within a mile, while the distance from 

 S. Helena Biay to Cape Point was guessed by him at thirty 

 leagues, though he had never been in the bay before — a very 

 remarkable guess, as the actual distance is just over thirty-two. 

 In his estimate cf the distance from S. Croix to Bird 

 Island he is less accurate, his five leagues being considerably 

 under the real distance, which is about seven and a half. 

 Perhaps the explanation of this miscalculation is that d'Alemquer 

 had, when the " Roteiro '' was written, done this part of the 

 journey only once, as Vasco da Gama made his landfall at Bird 

 Island, and did not enter the Bay. 



His estimate for the distance from Bird Island to the 

 padrao rested on his cbservations in three voyages, outward and 

 homeward with Dias. and outward with da Gama. This would 

 place the site of the pillar 17 geographical miles, or 19 standard 

 miles, east of Bird Island, that is, on the coast to the east of 

 Cape Padrone, at or near the mouth of the Bokana's River, 

 On Vasco da Gama's voyage. Bird Island was sighted on 

 Friday morning, but the padrao was not passed until Saturday, 

 At that time the pillar was apparently still standing; but it 

 has never been recorded since, and perhaps it- soon met, at the 

 hands of the natives, the fate of that erected by da Gama at 

 Mossel Bay ; da Gama actually saw natives on this coast. 



In 1575. Pere'strello tried to determine the position of the 

 pillar, but had not apparently much data to go on. His language, 

 as will be seen from the following, is very vague and uncertain : — 

 " The Pontas da Padrao ( Points of the Pillar) are four leagues 

 east of the islets Chaos, in lat. 33, ... its mark of recognition 

 is 2 points of sand rising steeply from the sea, with a flat patch 

 of bushes above, and close by is an islet . . . which may be 

 as large as a caravel. This is probablv the place where the 

 pillar of Sao Gregorio stood, which iBartholcmeu Dias set up 

 wdien he was exploring- that coast by order of the King, Dom 

 Joao the Second, for it is stated that he left it fixed in an 

 islet between the Chaos and the Rio Infante, in which locality 

 there is no other, and therefore I gave it this name." 



The spot described by Perestrello is not our modern Cape 

 Padrone, which he has previously described as follows : — 

 "Thence (i.e., from the islets called Chaos) towards the north- 

 east there is a pcint east by north, which ends very low in the 

 sea, with great sandflats along the shore between black patches 

 of bushes."' This is the exact bearing of our Cape Padrone 

 from Bird Island. 



From a careful exploration of some thirty miles of that 

 coast, I am able to vouch for the fact that there is cnlv one 



