138 



HISTORY OF THE SEA. 



voyages of discovery along the African coast. The narrative 

 of his adventures, being in the first person, is the oldest nautical 

 journal extant, with the single exception of one of Alfred the 

 Great, still in existence. But, as it is principally occupied with 

 descriptions of the manners and customs of the Africans, and as 

 he did not proceed beyond the Rio Grande, thus adding little or 

 nothing to maritime discovery, an account of his voyage would 

 be out of place here. Don Henry died shortly after the return 

 of Cada-Mosto from his second voyage, and for a season this 

 calamity palsied the naval enterprise of his countrymen. They 

 had been accustomed to derive from him, not only the encourage- 

 ment necessary for the prosecution of such attempts, but even 

 sailing directions and instructions upon all matters of detail. 

 It can easily be conceived that the demise of this illustrious 

 prince should temporarily dishearten navigators and paralyze 

 discovery. Under his auspices the Portuguese had pushed their 

 discoveries from Cape Non to Sierra Leone, — from the twenty- 

 ninth to the eighth degree of north latitude. He died at Sagres 

 — the city, half ship-yard, half arsenal, which he had founded 

 upon the Sacrum Promontorium. 



SEA SWALLOW. 



