What was bartolomeu dias looking for

Dias departed circa August , rounding the southernmost tip of Africa in January Dias was lost at sea during another expedition around the Cape in In August , Dias' trio of ships departed from the port of Lisbon, Portugal. Dias' expedition party included six Africans who had been brought to Portugal by earlier explorers. Dias dropped off the Africans at different ports along the coastline of Africa with supplies of gold and silver and messages of goodwill from the Portuguese to the Indigenous peoples.

The last two Africans were left at a place the Portuguese sailors called Angra do Salto, probably in modern Angola, and the expedition's supply ship was left there under the guard of nine men. In January , as Dias' two ships sailed off the coast of South Africa, storms blew them away from the coast.

10 facts about bartolomeu dias

Dias is thought to have ordered a turn to the south of about 28 degrees, probably because he had prior knowledge of southeasterly winds that would take him around the tip of Africa and keep his ships from being dashed on the notoriously rocky shoreline. Dias' decision was risky, but it worked. The crew spotted landfall on February 3, , about miles east of present-day Cape of Good Hope.

From the shoreline, Indigenous Khoikhoi pelted Dias' ships with stones until an arrow fired by either Dias or one of his men felled a tribesman. Dias ventured further along the coastline, but his crew was nervous about the dwindling food supplies and urged him to turn back. As mutiny loomed, Dias appointed a council to decide the matter. The members came to the agreement that they would permit him to sail another three days, then turn back.

On the journey back, Dias observed the southernmost point of Africa, later called Cabo das Agulhas, or Cape of Needles. Dias named the rocky second cape Cabo das Tormentas Cape of Storms for the tempestuous storms and strong Atlantic-Antarctic currents that made ship travel so perilous.