Dinis Dias was a 15th-century Portuguese explorer who sailed down the coast of West Africa, passing the Senegal River and reaching the Cape Verde Peninsula for the first time.
In 1445, as Dias was beginning to enter old age and made the decision to take up exploring because "he was unwilling to let himself grow soft in the well being of repose", left Portugal and sailed down the West African coast, setting a new record by reaching a point about 800 kilometres south of Cap Blanc. This, the most westerly part of the African continent, he named Cap-Vert (Dias named it Cabo Verde, "verde" being Portuguese for "green", a reference to the lush vegetation in the area). Note that Dias did not discover the Cape Verde Islands, but rather the actual cape.
The success of this expedition has been attributed to his lack of interest in taking slaves, a pursuit most Portuguese mariners in Africa focused on.[1]
Later that year, Dias sailed with the explorer Lançarote de Freitas in a large scale slaving expedition to Arguim.
dinis, dias, 15th, century, portuguese, explorer, sailed, down, coast, west, africa, passing, senegal, river, reaching, cape, verde, peninsula, first, time, 1445, dias, beginning, enter, made, decision, take, exploring, because, unwilling, himself, grow, soft,. Dinis Dias was a 15th century Portuguese explorer who sailed down the coast of West Africa passing the Senegal River and reaching the Cape Verde Peninsula for the first time In 1445 as Dias was beginning to enter old age and made the decision to take up exploring because he was unwilling to let himself grow soft in the well being of repose left Portugal and sailed down the West African coast setting a new record by reaching a point about 800 kilometres south of Cap Blanc This the most westerly part of the African continent he named Cap Vert Dias named it Cabo Verde verde being Portuguese for green a reference to the lush vegetation in the area Note that Dias did not discover the Cape Verde Islands but rather the actual cape The success of this expedition has been attributed to his lack of interest in taking slaves a pursuit most Portuguese mariners in Africa focused on 1 Later that year Dias sailed with the explorer Lancarote de Freitas in a large scale slaving expedition to Arguim See also editPortugal in the period of discoveries Portuguese empireNotes edit Howgego 2003 References editCastlereagh Duncan Encyclopedia of Discovery and Exploration The Great Age of Exploration Aldus Books London 1971 Howgego Raymond John ed 2003 Dias Dinis Encyclopedia of Exploration to 1800 Hordern House ISBN 1875567364 nbsp This article about a Portuguese explorer is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Dinis Dias amp oldid 1187827497, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
