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AFRICA AND ITS EXPLORATION. 
It was in 1486 that Bartholemew Dias was sent out 
on an expedition, which should always be memorable; 
for the first time the south part of Africa was discovered, 
though it was only on his return, after reaching the 
Great Fish River, that Dias actually saw the Cape, 
which he named the Cape of Storms, owing to the hard¬ 
ships encountered while passing it ; ultimately the name 
was changed to the Cape of Good Hope. 
FOREST SCENE. 
It was now clear that Africa could be rounded, and that 
the sea-route to India had at last been discovered. But 
long before Dias reached Lisbon, Vasco da Gama had 
started on one of the most memorable of voyages; for 
not only did he round the Cape, but he sailed all along 
the east coast of Africa, and across the ocean to India. 
The story deserves to be told in some fullness, and this 
we shall best do in the words of M. Jules Verne :— 
At the same time that the King of Portugal, 
John II., despatched Diaz to seek in the south of Africa 
