turned home. And Don Henry, growing ever
keener for discovery, and excited by the opposition as it were of
nature, sent out again and again till his sailors had reached beyond the
Desert Coast to the land of the Arabs and of those new races called
Azaneguys, people of a tawny colour.

And finally there appeared to these bold mariners the land of AEthiopia,
which lies upon the shore of the Southern ocean, and here again from day
to day the explorers discovered new races and new lands.

"Now I, Luigi Ca da Mosto, who had sailed nearly all the Mediterranean
coasts, once leaving Venice for 'Celtogallia' (France), but being caught
by a storm off C. St. Vincent, had to take refuge in the Prince's town,
near the said Cape, and was here told of the glorious and boundless
conquests of the Prince, whence accrued such gain that from no traffic
in the world could the like be had.

"The which," continues the candid trader, "did exceedingly stir my soul,
eager as it was for gain above all things else; and so I made suit to be
brought before the Prince, if so be that I might gain leave to sail in
his service, for since the profit of this voyage is subject to his
pleasure, he doth guard his monopoly with no small care."

With the Prince, at last, Cadamosto made terms: either that he, the
adventurer, should furnish the ships at his own cost, and take the whole
risk upon himself, and of the merchandise that he might gain a fourth
part to go to his lord; or that the Prince should bear the cost of
equipment and should have half the profits. But in any case, if there
was no profit, the whole expense should fall upon the trader. The Prince
added that he would heartily welcome any other volunteers from Venice,
and on Cadamosto himself he urged an immediate start. "As for me,"
repeats the sailor, "my age, my vigour, my skill equal to any toil,
above all my passionate desire to see the world and explore the
unknown, set me all on fire with eagerness. And especially the fact that
no countryman of mine had ever tried the like, and my certainty of
winning the highest honour and gain from such a venture, made me forward
to offer myself. I only stayed to enquire from veteran Portuguese what
merchandise was the most highly prized among the AEthiopians and people
of the furthest South, and then went home to find the best light craft
for the ocean coasting that I had in mind." Meantime the Prince ordered
a caravel to be equipped, which he gave to on