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sight. Another thirteen years and Diego Cam, a knight of the King's household, found the mouth of the Congo
and erected a great Portuguese pillar on the famous spot. It was in the year 1484 that Diego Cam was ordered
to go "as far to the south as he could." He crossed the Equator, which for past years had been the limit of
knowledge, and, continuing southwards he reached the mouth of the mighty river Congo, now known as the
second of all the African rivers for size. The explorer ascended the river, falling in with peacefully inclined
natives. But they could not make themselves understood, so Cam took back four of them to Portugal, where
they learned enough Portuguese to talk a little. They were much struck with Portugal and the kind treatment
they received from the King, who sent them back to their country laden with presents for their black King at
home. So with Diego Cam they all sailed back to the Congo River. They were received by the King in royal
state. Seated on a throne of ivory raised on a lofty wooden platform, he could be seen from all sides, his
"black and glittering skin" shining out above a piece of damask given to him to wear by the Portuguese
explorer. From his shoulder hung a dressed horse's tail, a symbol of royalty; on his head was a cap of palm
leaves.
It was here in this Congo district that the first negro was baptized in the presence of some twenty-five
thousand heathen comrades. The ceremony was performed by Portuguese priests, and the negro King ordered
all idols to be destroyed throughout his dominions. Here, too, a little Christian church was built, and the King
and Queen became such earnest Christians that they sent their children to Portugal to be taught.
[Illustration: NEGRO BOYS, FROM CABOT'S MAP, 1544.]
But even the discoveries of Diego Cam pale before the great achievement of Bartholomew Diaz, who was
now to accomplish the great task which Prince Henry the Navigator had yearned to see fulfilled--the rounding
of the Cape of Storms.
The expedition set sail for the south in August 1486. Passing the spot where Diego Cam had erected his
farthest pillar, Diaz reached a headland, now known as Diaz Point, where he, too, placed a Portuguese pillar
that remained unbroken till about a hundred years ago. Still to the south he sailed, struggling with wind and
weather, to Cape Voltas, close to the mouth of the Orange River. Then for another fortnight the little ships
were driven before the wind, south and ever south, with half-reefed sails and no land in sight. Long days and
longer nights passed to find them still drifting in an unknown sea, knowing not what an hour might bring
forth. At last the great wind ceased to blow and it became icy cold. They had sailed to the south of South
Africa. Steering north, Diaz now fell in with land--land with cattle near the shore and cowherds tending them,
but the black cowherds were so alarmed at the sight of the Portuguese that they fled away inland.
We know now, what neither Diaz nor his crew even suspected, that he had actually rounded, without seeing,
the Cape of Good Hope. The coast now turned eastward till a small island was reached in a bay we now call
CHAPTER XXI 82
Algoa Bay. Here Bartholomew Diaz set up another pillar with its cross and inscription, naming the rock Santa
Cruz. This was the first land beyond the Cape ever trodden by European feet. Unfortunately the
natives--Kafirs--threw stones at them, and it was impossible to make friends and to land. The crews, too,
began to complain. They were worn out with continual work, weary for fresh food, terrified at the heavy seas
that broke on these southern shores. With one voice they protested against proceeding any farther. But the
explorer could not bear to turn back; he must sail onwards now, just three days more, and then if they found
nothing he would turn back. They sailed on and came to the mouth of a large river--the Great Fish River.
Again the keen explorer would sail on and add to his already momentous discoveries. But the crews again
began their complaints and, deeply disappointed, Diaz had to turn. "When he reached the little island of Santa
Cruz and bade farewell to the cross which he had there erected, it was with grief as intense as if he were
leaving his child in the wilderness with no hope of ever seeing him again." To him it seemed as though he had
endured all his hardships in vain. He knew not what he had really accomplished as yet. But his eyes were soon
to be opened. Sailing westward, Diaz at last came in sight of "that remarkable Cape which had been hidden
from the eyes of man for so many centuries."
[Illustration: THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA. From Martin Behaim's map, 1492.] [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]