View non-flash version
"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.
