The Geographical Journal (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society): Volume XVI, No. 6 [‎361v] (75/232)

648 THE VOYAGES OF DIOGO CaO AND BARTHOLOMEU DIAS, 1482-88.
the southern extremity of which, if we may believe Barros (p. 190), he
named Cabo Tormentoso, in memory of the storms which he had
experienced, a name which the king, whose hopes of reaching India by
an ocean route seemed about to be realized, changed into Cabo da boa
Esperan^a—the Cape of Good Hope.* We fancy that this is one of
those pretty legends frequently associated with great events. Duarte
Pacheco, a contemporary, distinctly tells us that it was Dias who gave
the Cape its present name; Christopher Columbus, who was present when
Dias made his report to the king, says the same. Barros, indeed, seems
alone to be responsible for this legend, for if Camoens (‘ Canto, v. 50)
speaks of a “Cabo Tormentorio,” we must remember that he lived
through the terrible tempest which overwhelmed a part of C abral s fleet.
This was during the season of storms, in winter. Dias, who spent
several months on the south coast, may of course have met with gales,
which would justify an appellation such as “Cape of Storms.” Still, on
his homeward voyage, when alone he was in the immediate vicinity of
the Cape, he seems to have been fortunate, for Pero d’Alemquer, his
pilot, informs us that he left the Cape on a morning with a stern wind,
which rapidly carried him northward.f
Before leaving the Cape, Dias erected the last of his padroes,
which was dedicated to St. Philip.|
After an absence of nine months, Dias rejoined his store-ship. He
found that six men had been killed in a trade dispute with the natives,
and Fernao ColaQO, one of the three survivors, died of joy on beholding
his comrades. The vessel, being worm-eaten, was burnt after the pro
visions had been taken out of her.
It was now about the middle of August, if we assume Dias to have
parted from his store-vessel about the middle of November. There
thus remained four months for making his way to Lisbon. Of what
he did during these four months we know very little. We do not even
know whether he called at the Congo. § We know, however, that he
touched at the Ilha do Principe, where he met Duarte Pacheco with
part of his shipwrecked crew,|| all of whom he took on board-; that
he then touched at Bio do Resgate—trade river—where he seems to
have purchased some slaves, “ so as not to come home empty-handed; ”
that Joao Fogaga, the Governor of S. Jorge da Mina, placed on board
his vessel the gold he had obtained by barter; and that ultimately, in * * * §
* We have already seen that, according to the Spanish pilots, the Cape was originally
called Cabo d’El-Rei (see p. 641).
f ‘ A Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama ’ (Hakluyt Soc.), p. 9 .
I The site of this pillar is absolutely unknown.
§ The question of whether it was he or Cao who brought the envoy of the King of
Congo to Portugal has already been discussed, p. 637.
|| De Barros, loc. cit., p. 191.