"Sail as far as the wind will take you.'
That was the order given to Captain
Bartholomeu Dias by King John II of
Portugal as he instructed the navigator
to find a trade route to India.
In August 1487, Dias set sail with two
ships and headed south. Buffetted by
high winds and mountainous waves, he
sailed for weeks far from the sight of
land.
Then, one clear day, he noticed he
was following the coastline in a north-
easterly direction. He had rounded the
Cape of Good Hope without seeing it!
Dias was determined to continue on
to India but the crew refused to go
further.
On his return trip he tied up at the
cape and named it the Cape of Storms
before continuing on to complete a
journey in which he had explored 1260
miles of coastline. He arrived in Lisbon
in December 1488.
Fearful that the name, Cape of
Storms, would frighten away future
navigators, King John changed it
to Cape of Good Hope.
But for Dias, the original name was
prophetic. He perished in a storm off
the cape on May 29,1500.
This advertisement, prepared by Gulf
Oil, a leading supplier of quality ma-
rine fuels and lubricants, is one of a
series paying tribute to the great ex-
plorers of the sea. It is published in the
interest of the shipping industry and
those associated with it.
GULF OIL TRADING COMPANY,
NEW YORK, N.Y. U.S.A.
Digital Wave Publishing