S. Yet
some persons have strangely supposed that this king _Organe_ or _Ogane_
was a corruption of _Jan_ or _Janhoi_, the title given by the Christians
of the east to the king of Abyssinia. "But it is very difficult to
account for this knowledge of Abyssinia in the kingdom of Benin, not only
on account of the distance, but likewise because several of the most
savage nations in the world, the _Galla_ and _Shangalla_, occupy the
intervening space. The court of Abyssinia did indeed then reside in
_Shoa_, the south-east extremity of the kingdom; and, by its power and
influence, might have pushed its dominion through these barbarians to the
neighbourhood of Benin on the western ocean. But all this I must confess
to be a mere conjecture of mine, of which, in the country itself, I never
found the smallest confirmation[2]." To these observations of the
celebrated Abyssinian traveller, it may be added, that the distance from
Benin to Shoa exceeds six hundred Portuguese leagues.
While the king of Portugal continued to encourage his navigators to
proceed to the southwards in discovering the African coast, he became
anxious lest some unexpected rival might interpose to deprive him of the
expected fruits of these discoveries, which had occupied the unremitting
attentions of his predecessors and himself for so many years. Learning
that John Tintam and William Fabian, Englishmen, were preparing, at the
instigation of the Duke of Medina Sidonia, in 1481, to proceed on a
voyage to Guinea, he sent Ruy de Sousa as his ambassador, to Edward IV.
of England, to explain the title which he held from the pope as lord of
that country, and to induce him to forbid his subjects from navigating to
the coast of Africa, in which negotiation he was completely successful.
He likewise used every exertion to conceal the progress of his own
navigators on the western coast of Africa, and to magnify the dangers of
the voyage; representing that the coast was quite inhospitable,
surrounded by most tremendous rocks, and inhabited by savage cannibals,
and that no vessels could possibly live in those tempestuous seas, in
which every quarter of the moon produced a furious storm, except those of
a peculiar construction, which had been invented by the Portuguese ship-
builders.
A Portuguese pilot, who had often made the voyage to Guinea, had the
temerity to assert, that any kind of ship could make this redoubted
voyage, as safely as the royal caravels, and was sent for to court by the
king, who gave him a public reprimand for his ignorance and presumption.
Some months afterwards, the same pilot appeared again at court, and told
the king, "That being of an obstinate disposition, he had attempted the
voyage to Guinea in a different kind of vessel from those usually
employed, and found it to be impossible." The king could not repress a
smile at this solemn nonsense; yet honoured the politic pilot with a
private audience, and gave him money to encourage him to propagate the
deception. About this period, likewise, hearing that three Portuguese
seamen, who were conversant in the navigation of the coast of Africa, had
set out for Spain, intending to offer their services in that country,
John immediately ordered them to be pursued as traitors. Two of them were
killed, and the third was brought a prisoner to Evora, where he was broke
on the wheel. Hearing that the Portuguese seamen murmured at the severity
of this punishment, the king exclaimed, "Let every man abide by his own
element, I love not travelling seamen."
Encouraged by the successful progress of Diego Cam in 1484 and 1485, King
John became sanguine in his hopes of completing the discovery of a
maritime route to India, around the continent of Africa, and determined
upon using every exertion for this purpose. His first views were to
endeavour to procure some information respecting India, by means of a
journey overland; and with this object, _Antonio de Lisboa_, a Franciscan
friar, together with a nameless lay companion, were dispatched to make
the attempt of penetrating into India, through Palestine and Egypt. But,
being ignorant of the Arabic language, these men were unable to penetrate
beyond Jerusalem, whence they returned into Portugal. Though disappointed
in this attempt, by the ignorance or want of enterprise of his agents,
his resolution was not to be repressed by difficulties, and he resolved
upon employing fresh exertions both by sea and land, for the
accomplishment of his enterprise. He accordingly fitted out a small
squadron under Bartholomew Diaz, a knight of the royal household, to
attempt the passage by sea.
[1] Prog, of Mar. Disc. I. 329. note r.
[2] Bruce's Abyssinia, II. 105.
SECTION IV.
_Discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, by Bartholomew Diaz, in 1486_[1].
For this important enterprise, Bartholomew Diaz was only supplied with
two small caravels of fifty ton each, accompanied by a still smaller
vessel, or tender, to carry provisions. Of these vessels, one was
commanded by Bartholomew Diaz, as commodore, the second caravel by _Juan
Infante_, another cavalier or gentleman of the court, and Pedro Diaz,
brother to the commander in chief of the expedition, had charge of the
tender. The preparations being completed, Bartholomew sailed in the end
of August 1486, steering directly to the southwards.
We have no relation of the particulars of this voyage, and only know that
the first spot on which Diaz placed a stone pillar, in token of discovery
and possession, was at _Sierra Parda_, in about 24 deg.40'S. which is said to
have been 120 leagues farther to the south than any preceding navigator.
According to the Portuguese historians, Diaz sailed boldly from this
place to the southwards, in the open sea, and never saw the land again
until he was forty leagues to the east of the Cape of Good Hope, which he
had passed without being in sight of land. The learned geographer, Major
Rennel, informs us, that Sir Home Popham and Captain Thompson, while
exploring the western coast of Africa in 1786, found a marble cross, on
which the arms of Portugal were engraved, in latitude 26 deg.37'S. near a bay
named Angra Pequena:
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 117 of 219
Words from 119200 to 120241
of 224388
