ABSTRACT

Even prior to the great voyages of exploration which took Europeans to India, China and the New World, there had been a steady exploration of the coast of Africa (mainly by the Portuguese) in the years before 1453. Thus, in 1415 Portugal had conquered the Moroccan port of Ceuta. In 1419 Prince Henry the Navigator was made governor of Algarve and he subsequently sponsored voyages of discovery. In 1427 the Azores were discovered by Diogo de Silves. In 1434 Gil Enneas sailed beyond Cape Bojador, the limit of previous African exploration. By 1444 Portugal had reached the Senegal River.