e idea
of exploring along this west coast of Africa and possibly reaching
India by sea.

Let us recall what was known of the Atlantic only six centuries ago.
"It was," says an old writer, "a vast and boundless ocean, on which
ships dared not venture out of sight of land. For even if the sailors
knew the direction of the winds they would not know whither those winds
would carry them, and, as there is no inhabited country beyond, they
would run great risk of being lost in mist and vapour. The limit of
the West is the Atlantic Ocean."

The ocean was a new and formidable foe, hitherto unconquered and
unexplored. At last one had arisen to attempt its conquest. As men
had lifted the veil from the unknown land of China, so now the mists
were to be cleared from the Sea of Darkness.

On the inhospitable shores of southern Portugal, amid the "sadness
of a waste of shifting sand, in a neighbourhood so barren that only
a few stunted trees struggled for existence, on one of the coldest,
dreariest spots of sunny Portugal," Prince Henry built his naval
arsenal. In this secluded spot, far from the gaieties of Court life,
with the vast Atlantic rolling measureless and mysterious before him,
Prince Henry took up the study of astronomy and mathematics. Here he
gathered round him men of science; he built ships and trained
Portuguese sailors in the art of navigation, so far as it was known
in those days.

Then he urged them seawards. In 1418 two gentlemen of his household,
Zarco and Vaz, volunteered to sail to Cape Bojador towards the south.
They started off and as usual hugged the coast for some way, but a
violent storm arose and soon they were driven out to sea. They had
lost sight of land and given themselves up for lost when, at break
of day, they saw an island not far off. Delighted at their escape,
they named it Porto Santo and, overjoyed at their discovery, hastened
back to Portugal to relate their adventures to Prince Henry. They
described the fertile soil and delicious climate of the newly found
island, the simplicity of its inhabitants, and they requested leave
to return and make a Portuguese settlement there. To reward them,
Prince Henry gave them three ships and everything to ensure success
in their new enterprise. But unfortunately he added a rabbit and her
family. These were turned out and multiplied with such astonishing
rapidity that in two years' time they were numerous enough to destroy
all the vegetation of the isla