From a very young age, Europeans began to import all kinds of spices and jewels from the East. However, at that time, direct trade with the East was controlled by Arabs and Italians, so Europeans had to pay a high price for it.
/kloc-in the 0/5th century, Europeans began to look for ways to trade directly with the East. Among them, Portugal, where the navigation industry is quite developed, is the most active. Adventure at sea, the game of the brave1487 In July, the Portuguese king sent an expedition fleet, led by Marcelo Samuel Diaz, to find a route into the Indian Ocean.
The fleet led by Diaz consists of two clippers and a cargo ship full of food. On a sunny day, Diaz's fleet set out from Lisbon.
The fleet sailed south along the African coast. At first, the voyage was very smooth, and it didn't take long for them to reach Wavis Bay in the middle of the southwest coast of Africa. However, they soon found that the coastline became more and more blurred as they continued to sail south.
Diaz, who has always been passionate about exploration, wants to speed up, but the speed of his cargo ship is too slow. Diaz thinks that if you always do it, you can't do anything. So, he ordered all the food on the cargo ship to be moved to two clippers and let them return first.
Sure enough, the speed of the fleet was greatly accelerated. Two speedboats are breaking the waves in the blue sea. Diaz said happily, "We should go into battle lightly!" "
Just as they were thankful for the smooth sailing, the fleet was caught in a big storm and the roaring waves were overwhelming. Dias quickly ordered: "Quick! Put down the sail! Drive west at full speed! "
In the gale, the sailors had to lie on the deck, climb under the mast and get off the sail. They know that sailing in the storm will bring the danger of capsizing and death.
The sail fell. In the wanton attack of the storm, the two ships swayed westward like duckweeds. Although the fleet tried to sail west, the terrible storm pushed the ships that lost their sails to the south. 10 days later, the storm finally subsided, and the fierce sea was gentle and calm again.
At this time, Diaz and the crew wanted to have a rest. According to his previous sailing experience, Diaz knew that when sailing south along the African continent, as long as he sailed east, he would inevitably dock at the coast. So he ordered: "turn around and sail east!" " "Insist, the other side of success is ahead, and the fleet sailed eastward for several days. However, they did not see the expected African coastline. Diaz said: "This storm has kept us away from the African continent and continued to move eastward! "
The two ships sailed eastward for a few days, but the coastline did not appear, but seemed to be getting farther and farther away.
"Strange, what is this?" Diaz couldn't help wondering. The crew were at a loss and the speed of the fleet slowed down. Suddenly, Diaz was inspired and only heard him shouting excitedly: "Yes! We probably bypassed the southernmost tip of Africa, so the farther we sailed eastward, the farther we were from the mainland. Come on, turn around and go north! "
A few days later, they saw the shadow of land again and soon reached Morsel Bay. At this time, Diaz found that the coastline slowly turned northeast and extended in the direction of India. At this point, Diaz was fully convinced that the fleet had bypassed the southernmost tip of Africa and reached the Indian Ocean. As long as we keep sailing eastward, we will definitely reach the mysterious East.
Diaz was very excited and wanted to move on, but the crew was very tired and urged to return, and there was little food and daily necessities left. So he had to order the ship to turn around and return to Portugal.
On the way back, Diaz passed the southernmost tip of the African continent, where the last storm happened. He thought about it and named it "Storm Corner".
1488 12, Diaz returned to Lisbon and reported the voyage to the Portuguese king. The king was very happy, but he thought the name "Storm Cape" was unlucky, so he renamed it "Cape of Good Hope", which means that if we bypass this cape, we can hope to reach the rich East.
Today, the Cape of Good Hope has become the only place for ships traveling between Europe and Asia. The wind is howling here all the year round, and the raging waves are raging. Huge waves are generally more than 6 meters, sometimes up to 15 meters. No wonder Diaz's fleet encountered such a big storm when passing through here. 1500 may 12, some sailors who like to study the stars to judge their fate saw a comet crossing the sky and rowing towards the cape of good hope, thinking it was a sign of disaster. As it happens, they met a big storm near the Cape of Good Hope. Four ships were destroyed and capsized, and all the people on board were killed, including Diaz. Diaz once crossed the most dangerous route in air india, but failed to reach the real Indian in the end.
Cape of Good Hope