ld open it themselves, and the
standard of St. Vincent, Patron of Lisbon, was planted, before dark
came, upon the highest tower of Ceuta.

King John offered Henry, for his gallant leadership, the honours of the
day and the right to be knighted before his brothers, but the Prince,
who had offered at the beginning of the storm to resign his command to
Edward, as the eldest, begged that "those who were before him in age
might have their right, to be first in dignity as well," and the three
Infantes received their knighthood in order of birth, each holding in
his hands the bare sword that the Queen had given him on her deathbed.

It was the first Christian rite held in the great Mosque of Ceuta, now
purified as the Cathedral, and after it the town was thoroughly and
carefully sacked from end to end. The plunder, of gold and silver and
gems, stuffs and drugs, was great enough to make the common soldiers
reckless of other things. The "great jars of oil and honey and spices
and all provisions" were flung out into the streets, and a heavy rain
swept away what would have kept a large garrison in plenty.

The great nobles and the royal Princes took back to Portugal some
princely spoils. Henry's half-brother, now Count of Barcellos,
afterwards more famous and more troublesome as Duke of Braganza, chose
for his share some six hundred columns of marble and alabaster from the
Governor's palace. Henry himself gained in Ceuta a knowledge of inland
Africa, of its trade routes and of the Gold Coast, that encouraged him
to begin from this time the habit of coasting voyages. His earlier
essays in exploration had been attempts, like the unconnected and
occasional efforts of Spanish and Italian daredevils. It is from this
year that continuous ocean sailing begins; from the time of his stay in
Ceuta, Henry works steadily and with foresight towards a nearer goal
well foreseen, a first stage in his wider scheme which had been
traversed by men he had known and talked with. They had come into Ceuta
from Guinea over the sea of the desert; he would send his sailors to
_their_ starting-point by the longer way, over the desert of the sea.

Thus the victory at Ceuta is not without a very direct influence on our
subject; and for the same reason, it was important that the conquerors,
instead of razing the place, decided to hold it. When most of the
council of war were for a safe and quick return to Portugal, one
noble, Pedro de Menezes, a trusted fri