HISTORICAL NOTICES OF DISCOVERIES IN AFRICA. 



In the time of Herodotus, and long afterward, the ge- 

 neral opinion was that Africa did not extend so far south 

 as the equatorial line. There existed, however, a tradition 

 that Africa had heen circumnavigated hy the Phoenicians 

 about six centuries before the Christian era ; but, if the 

 southern promontory of Africa had really been reached, 

 it is difficult to conceive how so erroneous an impression 

 could have prevailed as to the extent of the continent. It 

 is, therefore, most probable that such a voyage had never 

 succeeded; and, indeed, the circumstances under which it 

 was prosecuted, according to the accounts which have come 

 down to us, only add an additional feature of improbability 

 to the story. Turning to modern times, we find, at the 

 commencement of the fifteenth century, that Europeans 

 were only acquainted with that portion of the western 

 coast of Africa which extends from the Straits of Gibraltar 

 to Cape Nun, — a line of coast not exceeding six hundred 

 miles in length. The Portuguese had the honor of extend- 

 ing this limited acquaintance with the outline of the African 

 continent. Their zeal for discovery in this direction became 

 truly a national passion, and the sovereigns and princes of 

 Portugal prosecuted this object with singular enthusiasm. 

 By the year 1471 the Portuguese navigators had advanced 

 2£° south of the Line In 1484, Diego Cam reached 22° 

 south latitude. The next navigator, Bartholomew Diaz, 

 was commanded to pursue his course southward until he 

 should reach the extremity of Africa; and to him belongs 

 the honor of discovering the Cape of Good Hope, the name 

 given to it at the time by the King of Portugal, though 

 Diaz had named it Cabo Tormontoso, (the Cape of Tem- 

 pests.) The Cape of Good Hope was at first frequently 

 called the Lion of the Sea, and also tho Head of Africa 

 In 1497, Yasco de Gama set forth with the intention of 

 reselling India by sailing round the Cape of Good Hope 

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