Portuguese to round Cape Bojador (1434), and of
Diniz Diaz, the discoverer of Cape Verde (1445). In 1478 a Bartholomeu
Diaz, probably identical with the discoverer, was exempted from certain
customary payments on ivory brought from the Guinea coast. In 1481 he
commanded one of the vessels sent by King John II. under Diogo
d'Azambuja to the Gold Coast. In 1486 he seems to have been a cavalier
of the king's household, and superintendent of the royal warehouses; on
the 10th of October in this year he received an annuity of 6000 reis
from King John for "services to come"; and some time after this
(probably about July or August 1487, rather than July 1486, the
traditional date) he left Lisbon with three ships to carry on the work
of African exploration so greatly advanced by Diogo Cao (1482-1486).
Passing Cao's farthest point near Cape Cross (in the modern German
South-west Africa and) in 21 deg. 50' S., he erected a pillar on what is
now known as Diaz Point, south of Angra Pequena or Luderitz Bay, in 26
deg. 38' S.; of this fragments still exist. From this point (according
to De Barros) Diaz ran thirteen days southwards before strong winds,
which freshened to dangerous stormy weather, in a comparatively high
southern latitude, considerably south of the Cape. When the storm
subsided the Portuguese stood east; and failing, after several days'
search, to find land, turned north, and so struck the south coast of
Cape Colony at Mossel Bay (Diaz' Bahia dos Vaqueiros), half way between
the Cape of Good Hope and Port Elizabeth (February 3, 1488). Thence they
coasted eastward, passing Algoa Bay (Diaz' Bahia da Roca), erecting
pillars (or perhaps wooden crosses), it is said, on one of the islands
in this bay and at or near Cape Padrone farther east; of these no traces
remain. The officers and men now began to insist on return, and Diaz
could only persuade them to go as far as the estuary of the Great Fish
River (Diaz' Rio do Iffante, so named from his colleague, Captain Joao
Iffante). Here, however, half way between Port Elizabeth and East London
(and indeed from Cape Padrone), the north-easterly trend of the coast
became unmistakable; the way round Africa had been laid open. On his
return Diaz perhaps named Cape Agulhas after St Brandan; while on the
southernmost projection of the modern Cape peninsula, whose remarkable
highlands (Table Mountain, &c.) doubtless impressed him as the practical
termination of the continent, he bestowed,