the Prince
resolved to double the Cape, which he successfully accomplished in
1434. Seven years passed away, till in 1441 two men--Gonsalves, master
of the wardrobe (a strange qualification for difficult navigation),
and Nuno Tristam, a young knight--started forth on the Prince's
service, with orders to pass Cape Bojador where a dangerous surf,
breaking on the shore, had terrified other navigators. There was a
story, too, that any man who passed Cape Bojador would be changed from
white into black, that there were sea-monsters, sheets of burning
flame, and boiling waters beyond. The young knight Tristam discovered
the white headland beyond Cape Bojador, named it Cape Blanco, and took
home some Moors of high rank to the Prince. A large sum was offered
for their ransom, so Gonsalves conveyed them back to Cape Blanco and
coasted along to the south, discovering the island of Arguin of the
Cape Verde group and reaching the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone,
reached by Hanno many centuries before this.

Here he received some gold dust, and with this and some thirty negroes
he returned to Lisbon, where the strange black negroes "caused the
most lively astonishment among the people." The small quantity of gold
dust created a sensation among the Portuguese explorers, and the
spirit of adventure grew. No longer had the Prince to urge his
navigators forth to new lands and new seas; they were ready and willing
to go, for the reward was now obvious. The news was soon noised abroad,
and Italians, then reckoned among the most skilful seamen of the time,
flocked to Portugal, anxious to take service under the Prince.

"Love of gain was the magic wand that drew them on and on, into unknown
leagues of waters, into wild adventures and desperate affrays."

The "Navigator" himself looked beyond these things. He would find a
way to India; he would teach the heathen to be Christians. He was always
ready to welcome those with superior knowledge of navigation; so in
1454 he sent an Italian, known to history as Cadamosto, to sail the
African seas. The young Venetian was but twenty-one, and he tells his
story simply.

"Now I--Luigi Ca da Mosto--had sailed nearly all the Mediterranean
coasts, but, being caught by a storm off Cape St. Vincent, had to take
refuge in the Prince's town, and was there told of the glorious and
boundless conquests of the Prince, the which did exceedingly stir my
soul--eager it was for gain above all things else. My age, m