Henry the Navigator undoubtedly made a significant contribution in opening up the West coast of Africa. But his expedition fell a long way short of discovering the southernmost cape of Africa. In 1482 Diogo Cao was dispatched by King John II of Portugal to discover a sea route around Africa to India.
The navigators were given stone pillars known as padroes to stake the claims of the Portuguese wherever they explored. These pillars had inscriptions in languages that Henry the Navigator’s ships had once used.
These were to be set up on all the prominent capes and headlands along the coast. When Cao reached the mouth of the Congo in 1483, he set up a padroe there, and another at Cape Cross. He sailed further along 2414 kilometres of the African coast, but still the land seemed to continue further to the south.
Cao became convinced that the African continent lay all the way to the South Pole, and that there was no sea passage around Africa!
