Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Algoa Bay






I found this quote about the discovery by the explorer Bartolomeo Diaz in 1488 in Joshua Slocum s book, _Sailing Alone Around the World_:

"The early Portuguese navigators, endowed with patience, were more than sixty-nine years struggling to round this cape before they got as far as Algoa Bay, and there the crew mutinied. They landed on a small island, now called Santa Cruz, where they devoutly set up the cross, and swore they would cut the captain's throat if he attempted to sail farther. Beyond this they thought was the edge of the world, which they too believed was flat; and fearing that their ship would sail over the brink of it, they compelled Captain Diaz, their commander, to retrace his course, all being only too glad to get home. A year later, we are told, Vasco da Gama sailed successfully round the "Cape of Storms," as the Cape of Good Hope was then called, and discovered Natal on Christmas or Natal day; hence the name. From this point the way to India was easy."

One of the highlights of Port Elizabeth in the natural environment. There are long stretches of beautiful beach in and near the city.

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