Bartolomeu Dias K. Shadle By PresenterMedia.comPresenterMedia.com
Portugal led the way in exploration. They developed new ships that could travel farther and could carry more cargo.
In 1434, a Portuguese ship was the first to sail beyond Cape Bojador on the west coast of Africa.
Frequent trips brought gold, ivory and slaves
While these trips brought great wealth, the Portuguese were still eager to find a way around Africa to get to India.
In 1487 Bartolomeu Dias set out with 2 ships to follow the west coast of Africa. But when winds and currents drove them to unknown waters, 1 ship was lost.
With the remaining ship, Dias turned north. When he found land again, he was amazed…while sailing north, the land was on the left side of the boat. Why was this so amazing?
Dias had sailed around the southern tip of Africa! His sailors were too weary to keep going on to India, so they turned back to go home. Cape of Storms, later renamed as the Cape of Good Hope