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It is narrated, that, in the year 1419, Prince Henry of Portugal organized an expedition to attempt the doubling of Cape Bojador; but the commanders, having lost their reckoning, were driven ashore on an island,—which they named Porto Santo, in commemoration of their escape from the perils of the sea.

VIIth’s Chapel, 440.Henry of Portugal, Cardinal, his Resignation of the Hat, 87.St.

The vine was introduced from Cyprus, almost at the same time with the sugar-cane, under the auspices of Prince Henry of Portugal, in 1425, but its culture did not attain much76 importance till the beginning of the sixteenth century.

At length the consecutive efforts of the navigators employed by Prince Henry of Portugal—Gil Eannes, Diniz Diaz, Nuno Tristam, Alvaro Fernandez, Cadamosto, Usodimare and Diego Gomez—made known the coast as far as the Gambia, and by the end 697 of the 15th century the whole region was familiar to Europeans.

It appears that Prince Henry of Portugal had made many ineffectual attempts to convert these Moors, and their obstinate refusal made acceptable an exchange for negroes, "for whatever number he should get he would gain souls, because they might be converted to the Faith, which could not be done with the Moors," said the Prince.