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Bartolomeu Dias was a Portuguese navigator who for the first time dubbed the Cape of Good Hope, preparing the way for the definitive expedition of Vasco da Gama (1497-1499), which would reach India and would mean the opening of a new trade route between Europe and Asia.
The expedition that would give him fame began in 1487, when he received the order of King John II to navigate the African coast as far south as possible and discover if Africa was united with India, as proposed by the geographer Ptolemy.
The fleet of just three ships with which Bartolomeu Dias set out to reach the southern limit of Africa to access India sailed from Lisbon in the summer of 1487. Despite being a very small force, his commander had taken the necessary precautions so that the expedition would be successful. One of the three ships was destined exclusively to the transport of provisions to have guaranteed its supply, and had recruited as interpreters several natives of the African coast. The expeditionaries sailed south, as their predecessors had done, and, after leaving the ship with supplies on the coast of Guinea, continued their navigation determined to find the passage that would allow them to access India.
One of the most curious facts of this exploration is that Bartolomeu Dias and his men did not notice the moment they crossed the Cape of Good Hope and entered the Indian Ocean. A strong storm surprised the two ships, and they crossed the mythical place while they struggled against the force of the winds and the sea. Once the storm was over, Dias looked for the coast sailing eastward, as he had always done, but this time he did not find land and changed course to the north. On February 3, 1488 he arrived at a bay, which he named Bay Dos Vaqueiros.
Harassed by the natives, Dias gave the order to raise anchors and navigate east along the coast, but after a few days his crew refused to go forward and there was no way to get him to continue. Bartolomeu Dias decided then to undertake the trip of return, but before it forced to the crew to sign a document in which the commander of the expedition was exculpated of the responsibility of not having followed until India. Dias was well aware that the king's anger at not taking advantage of such an opportunity to open the spice route could jeopardize his career. On the return trip, Dias sighted the Cape of Good Hope, which convinced him that he had managed to overcome the southern tip of Africa. With this satisfaction he returned to Portugal, arriving in Lisbon in December 1488.
