A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 02 - Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the - Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, - by Sea and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Ti by Robert Kerr
page 63 of 674 (09%)
page 63 of 674 (09%)
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the mountain of Sierra Liona, which is on this side of the line, in lat.
8° 30' N. where no man had been before. In 1469, the king of Portugal let out the trade of Guinea, afterwards called the Minas, to Fernan Gomez, for five years, at the yearly rent of 200,000 rees[13]; and under the express condition that he was every year to discover 100 leagues farther along the coast of Africa to the south. In 1470, this king went into Africa, accompanied by his son Prince John, where he took the town of Arzila; and the inhabitants of Tangier having fled from fear, he took possession of it also. In the year 1471, John de St Aren and John de Scovar, under the orders of Fernan Gomez, continued the discovery of the coast of Guinea as far as St George del Mina, in lat. 5° N. and 2° W. long.; the coast from Cape Verde to Cape Palmas trending S.E. after which it goes to the east, with even a small northerly inclination for about twelve degrees of longitude. In 1472, one Fernando da Poo discovered the island now called after his name, beyond Cape Formosa, in lat. 3° 40' N. and about the same time the islands del Principe and St Thomas were discovered, the latter of which is situated under the equinoctial line. The firm land also was explored at the same time, all the way from the kingdom of Benin to Cape St Catherina, in lat. 1° 40' S. This last discovery was made by Sequetra, a person in the king's immediate service. Many suppose that then were these countries and islands discovered which had never been before known since the flood. In the year 1480, the valiant King Don Alphonzo died, and was succeeded by his son Don John II. who, in 1481, gave orders to Diego d'Azambuxa to construct the castle of St George del Mina, on the African coast. In 1484, Diego Caon, a knight belonging to the court, discovered the coast as far as the river Congo, on the south side of the line, in seven or eight degrees of latitude[14], where he erected a stone pillar, with the royal |
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