Travels Of Richard And John Lander Into The Interior Of Africa For The Discovery Of The Course And Termination Of The Niger By Robert Huish
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Satisfied With
The Wealth And Power, To Which They Had Been Raised By This Local And
Limited Commerce, These Celebrated Republics Made An Attempt To Open
A More Extended Path Over The Ocean.
Their pilots, indeed, guided
most of the vessels engaged in the early voyages of discovery, but
they were employed, and the means furnished, by the great monarchs,
whose ports were situated upon the shores of the Atlantic.
The first appearance of a bolder spirit, in which the human mind
began to make a grand movement in every direction, in religion,
science, freedom, and liberty, may be dated from about the end of the
fifteenth century. The glory of leading the way in this new career,
was reserved for Portugal, then one of the smallest, and least
powerful of the European kingdoms.
When in 1412, John I. sent forth a few vessels, to explore the
western shores of Africa, while he prepared a great armament to
attack the moors of Barbary, the art of navigation was still very
imperfect, nor had the Portuguese ever ventured to sail beyond Cape
Non. But what most powerfully contributed to give impulse and
direction to the national ardour, was the enlightened enthusiasm,
with which prince Henry of Portugal, a younger son of John I.,
espoused the interests of science, and the prosecution of nautical
discovery. In order to pursue his splendid projects without
interruption, he fixed his residence at Sagres, near Cape St.
Vincent, where the prospect of the open Atlantic continually invited
his thoughts to their favourite theme. His first effort was upon a
small scale. He fitted out a single ship, the command of which was
entrusted to two gentlemen of his household, who volunteered their
services, with instructions to use their utmost endeavours to double
Cape Bojador, and thence to steer southward. According to the mode of
navigation, which then prevailed, they held their course along the
shore, and by following that direction, they must have encountered
almost insuperable difficulties, in the attempt to pass the cape;
their want of skill was, however, compensated by a fortunate
accident. A sudden squall drove them out to sea, and when they
expected every moment to perish, landed them on an unknown island,
which, from their happy escape, they named Porto Santo. They returned
to Portugal with the good tidings, and were received with the
applause due to fortunate adventurers. The following year, prince
Henry sent out three ships to take possession of the new island; a
fixed spot on the horizon, towards the south, resembling a small
black cloud, soon attracted the attention of the settlers, and the
conjecture suggested itself that it might be land. Steering towards
it, they arrived at a considerable island, uninhabited, and covered
with wood, which, on that account, they called Madeira.
By these voyages, the Portuguese became accustomed to a bolder
navigation, and at length, in 1433, Gilianez, one of prince Henry's
captains, by venturing out into the open sea, succeeded in doubling
Cape Bojador, which, until then, had been regarded as impassable.
This successful voyage, which the ignorance of the age placed on a
level with the most famous exploits recorded in history, opened a new
sphere to navigation, as it discovered the vast continent of Africa,
still washed by the Atlantic Ocean, and stretching towards the south.
A rapid progress was then made along the shores of the Sehara, and
the Portuguese navigators were not long in reaching the fertile
regions watered by the Senegal and the Gambia.
The early part of this progress was dreary in the extreme; they saw
nothing before them but a wild expanse of lifeless earth and sky,
naked rocks and burning sands, stretching immeasurably into the
exterior, and affording no encouragement to any project of
settlement. After, however, passing Cape Blanco, the coast began to
improve in appearance, and when they saw the ivory and gold brought
down from the interior, those regions began to excite the lust of
conquest. This was, however, an undertaking beyond the means of any
force which had as yet sailed from Portugal. In 1443, however, Nuno
Tristan discovered the island of Arguin, and as Gonzalo da Centra was
in 1445 killed by a party of negroes, in attempting to ascend a small
river, near the Rio Grande, the Portuguese considered an insular
position to be the most eligible for a settlement, and the island of
Arguin was accordingly fixed upon.
This establishment had been scarcely formed, when an important event
took place, which afforded a favourable opportunity and pretext for
laying the foundation of the Portuguese empire in Africa. Bemoy, a
prince of the Jaloofs, arrived at Arguin, as a suppliant for foreign
aid, in recovering his dominions from a more powerful competitor or
usurper. He was received with open arms, and conveyed to Lisbon,
where he experienced a brilliant reception, his visit being
celebrated by all the festal exhibitions peculiar to that age,
bull-fights, puppet-shows, and even feats of dogs. On that occasion,
Bemoy made a display of the agility of his native attendants, who on
foot, kept pace with the swift horses, mounting and alighting from
these animals at full gallop After being instructed in the Christian
religion, he was baptized, and did homage to the king and the pope,
for the crown, which was to be placed on his head; for this purpose a
powerful armament under the command of Pero vaz d'Acunha, was sent
out with him, to the banks of the Senegal.
The circumstance, which tended more particularly to inflame the pious
zeal of the Christian monarch, was the information, that to the east
of Timbuctoo there was a territory inhabited by a people who were
neither moors nor pagans, but who, in many of their customs resembled
the Christians. It was immediately inferred, that this could be no
other than the kingdom of the mysterious personage known in Europe,
under the uncouth appellation of Prester John. This singular name
seems first to have been introduced by travellers from eastern Asia,
where it had been applied to some Nestorian bishop, who held there a
species of sovereignty, and when rumours arrived of the Christian
king of Abyssinia, he was concluded to be the real Prester John.
His dominions being reported to stretch far inland, and the breadth
of the African continent being very imperfectly understood, the
conclusion was formed, that a mission from the western coast might
easily reach his capital.
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