. 1. 



M %!& Calnnnd 8*L 



bo* this island had bean visited 



LSI : 

 tbe PoHu- 



* b 



ait oa are, an said to have bmraed for seven years. 

 la . amend eoedWo*. hi the year 148*. fehaae. 



ri with for seta, which, being 



M leames brruod thie osne. Ma landed o ooest where be saw 

 ,d lace* end to which, from a 6-h which he found there, be 

 U rf ths Aafim de Kuivos, or Bay of OurnU In 1440 

 Lfa Qnonlrr twesded es far M to Cape Blanco, in Ut 20 



47', 

 The 



whieh buwvr wa. only ia 144J doubled by Nunno TrisUn. 

 mttsr aariaator also dieoovered at the same time the isles of Adeget 

 aad La* OarBi, two of UM Arguin group, lying imnwdiatoly to the 

 south of the cap*. The Portuguese aftarwatil* feroted a sett lem sat 



In 1444 a number of iadividuals in UM town of Lagos ia Portugal 

 farmed taenii lives into a company far the prosecution of African 

 dMeoverr ; aad aa expedition, fitted oat at their expense the same 

 year. dttaovend and took soanasi in of two of the other Arguiu isles. 

 aii.lTi.lrr. Ial44oDmkFenndMauledaifara*Cape 

 II . - N Ut, along a coast maniac nearly due south from 

 Next year Laacarote discovered, between Cape Bl 



Verde, a great river catted by the native* Oredeo, but to 

 wUah aa fa the name of Sanagk or Caatga, UM same which is called 

 ia UM Baciieh map* UM Senegal 



LaaoaroCe ahw on this voyage touched at Palm* and Gomera, two 

 uf UM Canaries, which group, however, wa* known to the ancient*, 

 sad had been re-discovered and in part taken pneemsinn oC by the 



; about a oentury before this time. In 1447 Nunno Tristan 

 about 0O leagues beyond Cape Verde, along a coast now 

 to the 8.B., and discovered the Rio Grande, in sailing up 

 which hews* attacked by the natives, and killed, with the greater part 

 of his men. The following year the Azores which, although lying 

 nearly due west from Lisbon, have bean considered by Malte-Brun and 

 other geographer* to belong properly to Africa were discovered by 

 "mil'- Velio, and about 13 yean afterward* colonised under the 

 aaapwesof Prince Henry. In 1449 (Sous* says 1460, and other autho- 

 nties IMI), the Cape Verde Islands, the nearest of which lies about 

 300 mils* west from Cap* Verde, were discovered by Antonio di Noli, 

 a Oiaissi in the aarvioe of Priaee Henry. The prince died in 1463, 

 at the age of 67 ; but the seal for African discovery, which, in the face 

 of loug continued ridicule and opposition, he had so far fostered, was 

 now beuoass a national passion, and the work of prosecuting what had 

 beea eo wall begun was taken up by the government The coast of 

 Sierra Leone, about 400 miles south of the Rio Grande, was reached 

 m 1447. By the year 1469 the navigation had advanced as far as to 

 the portion of northern Guinea called tbe Grain Coast, from the 

 cochineal (then, and for a long time afterwards, erroneously supposed 

 to be a vegetable seed) thence obtained ; and in the course of that year 

 ido To discovered UM island in the Bight of Biafra now known 

 , but at Ant called Horace* (tbe Fair). Fernando Gomez 

 I fruD th* government, at a rent of 600 ducat*, a monopoly 

 of UM commerce to Guinea for five yean, binding himself during that 

 period to explore 600 leagues more of the coast Soon after were 

 JhuuiHiil Princes Island (about 1* 50' N. lat), that of San Thorn.'. 

 oath* line), and that of Anno Bom (about 1 40' &). Inl471 

 i Sautaram and Pedro de Keoalona advanced a* far aa Cape St- 

 .inrSO'RUt Thiswa* the farthest point reached during 

 the nap of Alpboaao, who died in 1481, and wa* succeeded by his 

 eon. John II. That mme year the Castle or Fort of St -George of 

 i (the MUM) was built by the government near the mouth of 



' Africa was prosecuted 

 Mb mMWed spirit Tbe deep Otilf of Guinea had now carried the 

 roes* about S7- ess* of UM meridian of Cape Verde, and it was not 



' attain to recede wertward. In 1484 took place the voyage of 



Cam. H sailed froBEhntea, and advanced as far as the river 

 .orZaire, the ootlet of which is about 8' 8. lat ; after having 

 which far SOSM miles he returned, and pursued hi* way 

 the eoaet till he reached fls* what he called Caps 8t-Augustine 

 that Gape Cross, or De Padrono (in 98* a 



having 

 .i.t. 



loaf 



(to fr HIM.), aad ,_ 



UA At each of these points he set up a great cross of tr.n. 

 UMSrike* apoo H the kuM/. name and Us own, with the d 

 other particulars of iu ersstiosx 



TW next was the cil.bressd voyage of Bartholomew Dia*. who, 

 HMtageirt wHh three ships, was commanded, if peeslbU, to pursue 

 '*'' " the south until b. should arrive at thVextremity of the 

 H "** aowrdtasHr peeMd the farthest point reached by 

 * l*"*"'"l until ne came to what l now called 

 'aUt), when he erected hi* first cross, calling it 



ii ' *" *"* d *" resahed O^T 

 i tat). wlMrs be was detained for flredaye 



Psdrao 



Volu. 

 On leaving 



AFRICA. 108 



knowing it He continued hi* voyage past tbe Bay of Herdsmen till 

 he came to a small island in the recces of Algoa Bay, which he named 

 Santa-Crux, or the Holy Croat (in 33 46 S. Ut), where his crew, 

 according to Barrua, compelled him to put back after he bad erected 

 hi* second croe*. Other account*, however, state that he proceeded 

 for about 26 league* beyond thin, when he found himself at the i 

 of the river Del Infante, so called after the second captain, by whom 

 it was first perceived. On his way back Diaz came in sight of tin- 

 loug-eought promontory which we now call the Cape of Good 1 

 the name given to it by the Portuguese king ; but Diax himself had 

 named it Cabo Tormentoao (the Cape of Tempests), from the stormy 

 sea which he encountered in its neighbourhood. The Cape of Good 

 Hope wa* also sometimes called at first the Lion of the Sea, and the 

 Head of Africa. 



Tbe beginning of the year 1498 was signalised by the return of 

 Columbus from the discovery of America. But this was not tbe only 

 great achievement in navigation which marked the close of this 

 oentury. John IL of Portugal died in 1405. and was succeeded by 

 his cousin Kinanuel the Great, who inherited all the zeal for maritime 

 discovery which had distinguished his predecessor. I'ndrr his 

 direction Vasco de Gama set sail on the 8th of July, 1497, to attempt 

 the passage to India by the course around tbe extremity of Africa 

 discovered by Diaz. In the prosecution .! thin enterprise, De Gama, 

 after having doubled the Cap i w on the 19th of November, 



and put in at the bay of San-BUx, 60 league* beyond it left tu.it, 

 station on the 8th of December, and on the 16th passed the itlum 1 - f 

 rock of Santa-CniK, where Diaa had erected his last cross. He then 

 came to the mouth of a river which he named DOB Reia (of the Kings), 

 from having discovered it on the feast of the Epiphany. The part of 

 the coast to the south of this he had called Tierra de Natal, in allusion 

 to the season of Christmas. To the portion beyond, where he had 

 some intercourse with the natives, he gave the name of the Land of 

 Good People. The next place at which he touched was the Cabo de 

 Correntes (that is, the Cape of Currents), near the Tropic of ( '.-.). 

 from which, keeping out to sea, he passed the river and harbour of 

 Sofala, without having observed the town there situated. font 

 his course to the N.E., he next arrived at Mozambique (15 8. 

 Ut), but did not land, having discovered a plot of the Arabs there 

 established to effect his destruction. By mistak* he passed (,' 

 at which he had intended to put in, having been falsely informed 

 that its inhabitants were Christians ; and the force of the currents 

 preventing him from making his way back, he pushed forward for 

 the town of Mombaca, which stands upon a projecting point of the 

 coast in 3 30' S. Ut From this station he was also induced to take 

 his departure after remaining about a week, on discovering reason to 

 believe that some treachery was intended him ; when be set sail and 

 the same day arrived at the town of Meliuda, about 50 miles farther 

 to the north. Here he remained for some days, and then 

 coast of Africa, steered right across the ocean to India. On his 

 return from this great expedition he passed in sight of the town of 

 Magadoxa, 3 M. Ut, and also, in proceeding along the coast, t. . 

 at some other places besides those which he bad visited in his voyage 

 out Th* ships of Portugal had now, therefore, navigated the 

 extent of the African coast, from the Straits of Gibraltar to the 

 Strait* of Bab-el-Mandob, with the exception of the space of almnt 

 1 000 miles from the Utter strait* to Magadoxa. They had ascertained 

 the general shape of the continent to this extent and the position, at 

 least, of most of the principal riven and headlands. To th. at 

 of Europe the whole of the coast, the line of which hod thus been 

 traced, had ten before entirely unknown, excepting, as already 

 mentioned, the 600 miles, or thereabouts, extending as far as to Cape 

 Nun. But the Arabs bad long been acquainted with the greater |..-n-t 

 of the east coast, along which Vasco de Gama passed'after doubling 

 the Cape of Good Hope ; and the several great towns which he saw 

 or heard of, from Hofiila onwards to Magadoxa, were, in fact, for the 

 most part, settlements wlm-h th.-y had established. :md . h. , 

 possessed, in all cases really, in some cases also nominally, the 

 supreme authority. The chief of these Arab settlements was the 

 town of Quiloa. 



But, in addition to this acquaintance with the coast, the Portuguese, 

 in course of time, also acquired considerable knowledge of the i 

 country, partly through the establishments which they soon began to 

 form at different point*, and partly by means of information that 

 wa* brought to them from other parts by tbe natives. One of the 

 mam object* kept in view in their early expeditiona was the discovery 

 of tbe residence of the mysterious personage known under the name 

 of the Priest John (Presto Joa) or Preeter John, as it ha* been 

 Engtished, of whom we shall only say here that, \\ li.>. \ n- he may 

 have really been, be was, from the flint intercourse with Abyssinia, 

 taken to be the emperor of that country. About the time of Diego 

 Cam's voyage to the Congo, commercial relations were cnterr- I 

 by the garrison of Klmina with the king of Benin, the region 1 \ 

 the head of the Gulf of Guinea ; and from the |.. .;.!. of this kingdom 

 intoIHgettoe was received of a great potentate whom they r;ill.-il King 

 Ogane', bring at a place 250 leagues in the interior, from whom each 

 sovereign of Benin, on his accession to the throne, was said to receive 

 a sort of investiture. It was immediately concluded by the Portu- 

 guese, that thin could be nobody but Prester John ; but Ogane', was, 



