No Brilliant Discovery, Indeed, Rewarded The
Perseverance Of Don Henry, And The Courage Of His Servants; But An
Indestructible Foundation
Of useful knowledge was laid, for overthrowing
the ignorant prejudices of the age, and by which, not long afterwards,
his
Plans were perfected by completing the circumnavigation of Africa,
and by the discovery of the _New_ World. Dr Vincent, the learned editor
and commentator of the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, is disposed to
limit the discoveries of Don Henry to Cape Verd[2], but Ramusio believed
that the Island of St Thomas was settled in his time; and the ingenious
translator of the Lusiad of Camoens is of opinion that some of his
commanders passed beyond the equator[3]. According to Mickle, it was the
custom of his navigators to leave his motto, _Talent de bien faire_,
wherever they came; and in 1525 Loaya, a Spanish captain, found that
device carved on the bark of a tree in the island of St Matthew, or
Anabon, in the _second_ degree of southern latitude. But this proof is
quite inconclusive, as the navigators long reared in the school of this
great prince might naturally enough continue his impress upon the
countries they visited, even after his lamented death.
About seven years before the decease of Don Henry, two voyages were made
to the African coast by Alvise da Cada Mosto, a Venetian navigator, under
the auspices of the Duke of Viseo; but which we have chosen to separate
from the historical deduction of the Portuguese discoveries, principally
because they contain the oldest nautical journal extant, except those
already given in our First Part from the pen of the great Alfred, and are
therefore peculiarly valuable in a work of this nature.
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