d been once
awakened, there was not much hope of great results from the efforts of
individuals.

The first contingent now equipped in Lagos--for the Prince at once
approved of his men's idea--numbered fourteen caravels--fourteen of the
best sailing ships afloat, as Cadamosto said a little later; but this
was only the central fleet, under Lancarote as Admiral. Three more ships
came from Madeira, one of them under Tristam Vaz, the coloniser of
Funchal; Diniz Diaz headed another contingent from Lisbon; Zarco, the
chief partner in the discovery and settlement of Madeira, sent his own
caravel in command of his nephew; in all there were seven and twenty
ships--caravels, galleys, and pinnaces. Since the Carthaginians sent out
their colonists under Hanno beyond the Pillars of Hercules, a larger and
braver fleet had not sailed down that desolate West of Africa.

Gil Eannes, who had rounded Bojador, was there, with the Diaz, who had
passed the Green Headland and come first to the land of the Negroes, and
the list of captains was made up of the most daring and seasoned of
Spanish seamen. Scarcely a man who had ventured on the ocean voyages of
the last thirty years was still alive and able-bodied who did not sail
on the 10th August, 1445.

At the start Cape Blanco was appointed as the rendezvous; with favouring
wind and tide the ships raced out as far as Arguin. Lawrence, a younger
brother of the Diaz family, drew ahead, and was the first to fall in
with Pacheco's three caravels, which were slowly crawling home after
their losses. Now, hearing of the great fleet that was coming after to
take vengeance, they turned about to wait for them, "as it was worth
while to have revenge though one had to live on short rations." So, now,
thirty European ships and their crews were included in the fleet. The
pioneer, Lawrence Diaz, and the rest, lay to at the Isle of Herons in
the Bank of Arguin; while waiting there they saw some wonderful things
in birds, and Azurara tells us what they told him, though rather
doubtfully. The great beaks of the Marabout, or Prophet Bird, struck
them most,--"a cubit long and more, three fingers' breadth across, and
the bill smooth and polished, like a Bashaw's scabbard, and looking as
if artificially worked with fire and tools,"--the mouth and gullet so
big that the leg of a man of the ordinary size would go into it. On
these birds particularly, says Azurara, our men refreshed themselves
during their three day