Bartolomeu Dias 2

BARTHOLOMEW DIAZ -BARTOLOMEU DIAS - 1450-1499 A fact finding history of the 1487-88 voyage that rounded the Cape of Good Hope. Part 2

Bartholomew Diaz Pt 2 and other voyages of exploration along the Namibia Coast

Vasco da Gama was Commander in Chief of the next voyage of discovery. The fleet of four ships, sailed from Lisbon on 8 July 1497 on a course that took them to the Canary Isles then to Terra Alta, just south of Cape Bojador, following the coast to Rio do Ouro. They then sailed south west to the Cape Verde Islands from where they rounded 'bulge' of Africa. . Surviving reports of Vasco Da Gama's voyage make no reference to Namibia. He rounded the Cape and established the route to Goa in India.

It is interesting to note that Bartholomew Diaz sailed with the Vasco da Gama fleet as far as Sao Jorge de Mina.

Bartholomew Diaz and a brief discussion about Brazil.

Duarte Pacheco Pereira wrote that in 1498 King Manuel, "ordered us to discover the Western region (of the Atlantic), a very large land mass...located beyond the greatness of the ocean... this distant land is densely populated and extends 28 ½º (South) on the other side of the Equator towards the Antarctic Pole." On this evidence It is thought that Brazil may have been discovered in 1498, and that the voyage of Pedro Alvares Cabral in 1500 was merely the "official celebration of discovery". The voyages of discovery had sent small fleets of up to 4 ships into the unknown. Whereas Cabral commanded an Armada of 13 ships carrying over 1500 men, including Bartholomew Diaz, that sailed form Lisbon on 9 March 1500. Could this be an indication that the duration of the voyage to the great land that lay to the west was known of, and that the section of coastline targeted has been previously charted.

Cabral sailed from Brazil on 3 May 1500 and headed for the Cape of Good Hope where on 29 May the fleet was ravaged by a storm in which 4 ships were lost along with the life of Bartholomew Diaz .

1795, the British occupied the then Dutch held Cape in South Africa. They were quick to dispatch the warship Star to hoist the English flag at all of the possible anchorage points from the Cape Point to 15 deg south, where the present day Namibe in Angola. The British also claimed to having the exclusive rights to catch whales and seals along this coastline of over 2000 km. However no official declaration of sovereignty was made by the British Government to the territory.

1825 the British ship HMS Barracuda recorded its brief stay in at Angra Pequena . A Lieutenant T. Botelar wrote that the Diaz Cross was in poor condition and had been partially destroyed. Possibly by somebody under the illusion that coins or even treasure may have buried underneath it.

The Incident Over Guano, and the Cross. 1842 the guano deposits on the offshore islands, especially on Ichabo Island where in places it lay over 22 meters in depth, started to be exploited. The guano was much sought after as a fertilizer and commanded a high market price. A ‘guano rush’ ensued, and at times over twenty ships would be anchored around the Islands. The competition to harvest and load the guano became so fierce, with roughened gangs of guano collectors often getting involved in violent clashes that the British Authorities in Cape Town were forced to dispatch a gunboat to the area to restore some form of order. 1855 there were only four broken pieces of the Diaz Cross laying at the rocky outpost these were loaded onto a ship by some guano collectors and taken to Cape Town. One of these pieces can be seen in the Museum there. Some years later The Portuguese laid claim to two of the pieces of the Diaz Cross which were shipped, to Lisbon where they were fitted together and are now displayed in the Geographical Society’s Museum. The guano industry brought attention to the area and in 1856 firm of De Pass, Spence & Company started a fishing and sealing factory. They began exporting dried fish and oils to Cape Town, and later they built a ship repair yard.

1861 Sir George Grey, Governor of the Cape formally proclaimed the annexation of the guano islands. This was repealed for the duration of the American civil war for diplomatic reasons, and the islands were re-annexed in 1865. Sir George was later appointed as the Governor of New Zealand, and with him he took as a memento, one of the pieces of the Diaz Cross that had been sent to Cape Town was. It is now displayed in the Grey Collection of the Auckland Library and Art Gallery. 1953 Professor Eric Axelson, his wife, and Dr C. Lemmer were excavating on the Dias point at the place where the lighthouse Fog-Horn is located. The professor believed that this would have been the original location point for the padrao, and they uncovered the fragments (the root) of the Diaz Cross . They could be viewed at the Alte Feste Museum in Windhoek. Sadly during the 1990s they were 'lost'.

Acknowledgements and further reading: H2, H8, H12, H13, H15, H16. P1

• Bartolomeu Dias 1
• Map of Luderitz Peninsular
• Luderitz
• Luderitz Diamonds

Before you rely on this

This subject changes over time. Verify it with current official sources before relying on it.

Related pages