AFRI C'A.
theory of thefe regions, fhould have totally omitted this ftriking feature.
The Arabian geographer Edrifi, who wrote in the' twelfth century,
feems to indicate the Gir dply, when he fosakjs, „of, the Ni-lg Negroes,'^
Vunuii^io the weft, and loft in an inland' fea.. in which was
the ifle U'lil. -The river Balir Kulla; of Browne appears-td be...the Gir
qf Ptolemy. A fu^«i>£-bnrideratipn of this curious fubje^ft is referral
for the laft fedtion of this brief defcription, mjvhich the difcoveries and
conje&ures concerning the central parts are recapitulated. | :.puffice it
here to ob'ferve, that as the ancient difcovery of the fiver .Nigh was
made from the north, and not from the weft, it cannot be con fide red
as affecting the queflion concerning their .knowledge 'of the weftern
fhores. ; ; . . -■ ; , . /vv- .«• . ... ...
It is remarkable.' that Ptolemy’s defcriptidd of"’thefe .motes, pretends
little beyond the Fortunate or 'Canary iflaffd^, though it rqayhave been
expedted, that as One of thefe iflands was affumed as the firft
their pofition fhould have been pretty accurately , deter®^m The^n-
bienflcnowledge of the opposite fhores might be beft illuftrp.ted by views
of the head lands and mountains', vifible from the fea, fo as, to Juag^df
thera^^ rah0es'which give name fo fhe Chariot of the^Gods^prt^ p ly
a mountain b e t t e d two fmaller lifee wheel^ of fome oihe^fancafgret
fethblance. Meanwhile it feems moft lifHy tKa,‘csfpe Bpjd5TOrs'TsRe
Arfinarium of Ptolemy; and that the White 'Mountaids^'or perhapsTh^
Seven Hills, or Angel Hills, are the noted Chariot o f the 0 b is f dffrthe
ancients had difeovered Cape Verd, it is probable ,thatfthe iflafidsvalled
by the fame name could not have efcaped tbeit knowledge-;.;yet n#
geographical enquirer has been led ter infer that''theii ^
tended fo far; nor do the Arabs appear to havp made, any.difcpveries
in this quarter. On the contrary, even the memory of the Fortunate
Iflands appears to have been loft, when the Normans of France, a people
who inherited ..from their anceftors the Norwegians, Sj lingular, difpofi-
tion for maritime enterprife, again difeovered them in the fourteenth
century; and; in 1402 they were conquered by. Bethencourt.1 This
achievement appears to have adted as the firft impulfe towards any
efforts in that* quarter. In 1412 John I. king of Portugal, refolving to
* Hiftoire de la premiere defebuverte et conquefte dcs Canaries. Paris, 1630, 8VO.
t.-, retaliate
4F.R'"bGrA;
-retaliate -the '.atta?k$j (|fitt?^i^0^^s,~JSttqd‘ put(a^flegtjq afla.il the oft
Barbary : 1 and Kg fgvft .vpffels ^em^tpatche^-- ^ the, fouthem
pasbrof that! as; 'Sps^att^l-fr^pm., behind, *pr;, in \n.;yQgua™^'
quarter,- r n f i g l t - o r e a ^ ^ y « „ „ C a p e ]sjup
-had. befoae -|i^h-.4 Mi^Qftih n a i^ iq g^ r^ l^ ;^.^ntures whi&h jw.as
now Baiajdipr.,>ti g^nte^gi^ry^iihpJjforj?fa fd^fiklng
John,, being fpjtunat^ly p;ur p^gfey^
•theiidifeg^e^,;.- g - i^ ^ i^ i ^ g n d ^ f s ^ferlmv
and. ex quiff to icH m^lpifcgQp Jny j^ed 14 cfoa^L.mfe|iw.. ^
Yet fo-flow, was^theTmr6^efafo4 d^ y,vaRVMdn Africa,'' th^GiBc^ma*
;dhi paffgd^^g^:* but t^ ^ ^ | ( e ^ v |Q ^ e p n ie yieStaufc,
the,difcoverjfs^§rer,no^r^prijj^japiJ ^ n®.dl W vlh&|pMq-pi" a fey
years adlsthe epafttgrom Cage ^iapeq.t«o%]yjy erd’
«negal; was -unveileft ]oy the,Rormmel^.Iflifted .by Jralian. rtayiratcS -
SQifimpqrtant did, thefe^^t^^ies^nqw anpe^r,s< that nopetcfa^ n eaS^.
granted a.b,ull-Q§ ppffefftqn^a jt^ie P.ort ngaiefehf arl 1 the
thqy ffapuMtidifcpy^sf sfrom C^pg . ^ p ^ .Jndial ’iflands .g'OSpc
Verd wSe^idifcpyerfd, in 1446. ;^iinff,thfitAzpres^^h i $Jjrgvnf tblj.r.re-
•idtliisept^^jSij belong,to Europe, ^ere.. all. Jarawn^efhre^ rJftn.
w-faen-j pyinoe . Henry cU.edLrnot Agye ■ i- cg
epsrft.of AfriqdJa^d^be^n yifjted;^pd,^the, eqpatq&.wasrSi^'paUerTrill
1.4^1. But the .di4;pyepj4 qf Qnmea, whj^l1 in £-b^ m ient
iddas might hivefhpen p^pedsed tg terrmnate^he contin e n t and M rhp
ftif furthet'IBuffilrtf W6tradHoiJ|a the. Africammoret: were T ar'from
being, isncoofider^ble achievements. |
* Bergeron, p. ( ’ T * Madeira had been already difeovered by the Engbib, 1344.
-|- This word in the JPortuguefe fignifies a doubling Jhore : in the Spanifh iojar is to compafs or
. go around. Currents render this whole coaft extremely dangerous; and the fafefi navigation is
, on the W. of the Canaries. The ,an’cient.s.,difplayed no fmall courage in paffing Cape Bojador,
long an object of terror to'the Portuguefe. ..
1 'Robertfon’ s America, i. 59. The commander w:3s Gilianez. Barros, Dec. 1. fol. 10. Italian
.tranflation by Ulloa, Venice, 1562, 4to.
4 Robertfon, ib. Barros is not precife in dates; ;but fays, fol. 32; that\fhe ifles of Cape Verd
were difeovered by Antonio' Yli'N.olle of Genoa. He is the Antoniettus Ligurdof. Cadamofto,
who was prefent; and whofe firfl; voyage'was thus 1445, the feeond 1446; not.1455 and 145.6,
as corruptly dated in the Italian edition, Vicenza 1-567,'. -4*0.