140 FLOWERS AND GARDENS OF MADEIRA 



slaves. They are said to have joined some of their 

 fellow-comrades who had been on the ship when 

 she was driven out to sea. Their past and present 

 adventures, and the descriptions they gave of the 

 beauty of this fairy island, attracted the attention 

 of a fellow-slave, a Spaniard named Juan Morales, 

 an experienced pilot. 



Morales treasured all this information, and was 

 eventually ransomed through the intervention of 

 his Sovereign. On his return to Spain he was 

 taken prisoner by the Portuguese, and carried off 

 to Lisbon by Joao Gonsalvez Zargo, the celebrated 

 navigator, who lost no time in informing his patron 

 Prince Henry of the tales he had heard from 

 nis prisoner of the fertility and beauty of the un- 

 discovered island. 



Prince Henry was the son of John I. of Portugal, 

 and a nephew of our Henry IV. He was called 

 " O Coiiquisador," and the Portuguese are justly 

 proud of him, as through his love of exploration 

 and adventure he added largely to their dominions, 

 and lent a ready ear to rumours of undiscovered 

 lands. Zargo had no difficulty in persuading his 

 patron to fit out an expedition, which he himself 

 was appointed to command. On June 1, 1419, he 

 set sail for Porto Santo, which had been discovered 



