It may be as well to trace out very shortly the evidence for such a
claim as this and to see, how the Prince's work was followed up, first
on his own lines to south and east; second, on other lines, which his
own suggested, to west and north.
1. King Affonso V., Henry's nephew, though rather more of a hard fighter
and tournament king than a man who could fully take up his uncle's
plans, had yet caught enough of his inspiration to push on steadily,
though slowly, the advance round Africa. He had already done his best to
get the great map of Fra Mauro finished: this, which embodied all the
achievements of the Navigator and gave the most complete and perfect
view of the world that had ever yet appeared, had come out in 1459, just
before Henry's death, the last tribute of science to the Prince's work.
Now, in 1461, left alone to deal with the discovery and conquest of
Guinea, Affonso repaired Henry's fort in the Bay of Arguin and sent one
Pedro de Cintra to survey the coast beyond the Rio Grande, the farthest
point of Cadamosto in his first voyage, as generally known. Pedro went
six hundred miles into the Bight of Benin, passed a mountain range
called Sierra Leone from the lion-like growl of the thunder on its
summits, and turned back near the point afterwards known as Fort La Mina
(1461).
Pages:
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387