EXPEDITION TO CONGO. 
63 
full dominion of all the lands which they should 
discover, from Cape Bojador to the Indies inclu- 
sive. This grant, made first to Henry, grand- 
father of the present monarch, had been confirm- 
ed to his father Alfonso. It was indeed, observes 
the historian, less a donation, than the confirma- 
tion of a hereditary title, since the kings of Por- 
tugal had always considered as rightfully theirs, 
every territory which they were able to conquer 
from the infidels. After three years' possession of 
the fort of Mina, the king no longer hesitated to 
add to his other titles that of " Lord of Guinea." 
From this time, he gave directions, that the naval 
commandei's who discovered any new line of coast, 
should no longer content themselves, according to . 
former custom, with planting merely a cross of 
wood upon the shore. They were to raise a pillar 
of stone, twice the height of the human body, and 
adorned with an escutcheon of the royal arms of 
Portugal. On this pillar were to be placed two 
inscriptions, one in Latin, and the other in Por- 
tuguese, expressing the date of the discovery, the 
name of the king who had sent the expedition, 
and that of the captain by whom the pillar had 
been erected. On the top, a cross of stone, in- 
laid with lead, was to be erected. The first who 
set out to establish these ensigns of dominion was 
Diego Cam, who took his departure from the 
castle of Mina. He touched first at Cape Lopez 
25. 
