New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-03-04
HENRY THE NAVIGATOR.

| FIFTH CENTENARY or THE SAILOR PRINCE
WHO NEVER SAILED.
Ar,er more than year Of Columbian celebration
I; Is fitting that at Least day should be gwen
70 tn, memory Of he man who inspired Columbus
To-day the ith OF March. Is the 5o);h anniversary
OF the birth Of that Prince Henry of Portugal VINO
was surnamed The Navigator. although he never
sailed on a SINCE voyage. and scarcely even set
foot aboard ship. To-day, therefore. all Portugal
ia ablaze with bunting ard vocal with music ana
altogether given up to honoring his name and fame
In every pubic and private manner. stately and
Joyous And this may well b.. For more truly.
even than Columbus found a world for Leon
and CASTLE Prince Henry found new world for
I.usitania n world which has largely slipped from
her grasp. but Of which she yet holds hundred
fold more than all that remains to Spain Of what
Columbus found and Cortcz and PizarrO conquered
In thcs, festivities America and al the English
speaking world may fifty Join with ready SYM
patty FOR Prince Henry was grandson OF Oh
John OF Gaunt tlme-honored Lancaster" and X
was tho Impetus given t. exploration by his ven
lures that caught the young Columbus in It's
current and swept him on - accomplish his epoch
making voyage.
II was "A duh age In which this son OF Joao the
Great was born with little moral force or in
teilectual stimulus. Under Joao's rule. Portugal
was beginning - recover from the effects OF Moor
ish domination. but there no hint Of the great
awakening that. few generations later, would
come - many lands. Like his elder brothers.
Dulrtc and Pedro. Henry trained - be 4 so.-
der. perhaps to spend his life in fighting the wars
OF Portugal perhaps TO 90 a m'rcenary - lead
the hosts Of Pope. English King, o. German
Emperor. or the Moor-nch,ng King Of CASTLE all
OF whom made Offer for his services He led. in
deed. the Christian armies X the capture Of Ceuta.
displaying gaantry great that his father was
minded to give him precedence above his elder
brothers. and would have done but FOR the
modest Henrys strong refusal
In that capture OF Ceuta however Prince IIenry's
liework decided. There fell into his hands
various Moorish prisoners. men Of noble rank and
liberal culture He made friends Of them. conversei
with them listened 10 what they could tell him of
tho vision OF the world and all the wonder that
would he" They told him Of the great continent
upon whose margin they dwclt Back Of Morocco
were the mighty ranges Of the Atlas. beyond which
their caravans made long pgrmages Reyond lay
n vast desert in which lay the wondrous city OF
Tmbuctoo. whose palaces were walled with ivory
and rooted with gold. II stood on the shores OF the
great river the Nile" they called it. Really II
the Niger but they called It the Nile. and thence
arose much OF the mystery that long enshroudcd
tho upper courses OF the latter stream They
told him of Sc;o. and Sokoo. and Bornu. Of Sofala
and Iamu. OF Mombasa and Zanzibar, OF many
cities and strange lands and peoples In distant
regions Of the same vast continent. They told him.
too OF voyages by sea India. from the Zanzibar
ana tuoieS mat came thence, Ihey tod MN these
things. fact and fancy mingled. as Philammon told
instead OF turning back home IN sheer bewilerment
and despair. IA did the Goths Prince Henry vowed
a mighty VOW that he would send forth men TO see
these things and win these wondrous regions for the
Ills mind revolving thoughts Of all these marves
he retired to Sagres. IN Agagve OF which he
Governor FOR lie. to mature his plans. He sent for
all the most accomplished and adventurous seamen
pose None iurst venture out Of sight OF land un
fore became necessary for Prince Henry to found n
arts Of navigation arts Of which Venice and Genoa
Hh ana nS hnS b at s
treasury of the order Of Christ. of which he was
Grand Master, to draw from, the Navigator began
ihs lrst fruits were Madeira end Porto santo
GnicGlcs arSse Powerful comblnat ior opposed
him. lie was accused Of squanderng the wealth Of
crown all his father died. But he held to his pur-
pose as subbornly as did his disciple Columbus in
Cape Bojador-what a trlhins adventure that seems
now w:rand nine years later the intrepid Antonio
mouth and returned with bag full OF goi-dust
no Europe nd he bnns on s 5 saET ras
which even to this day Is tolerated under the Por-
tuguese flag These ten slaves prince Henry sen;
Countries from Cape Doiador to the ndies-to wit
the Whole OF africa! That title in these days is not
Espeditlo1 after expedition went down the coast.
OF men Of the Conquisador type. who cared little for
me rights OF the natives. even for their rignt To
I'VE BY l4i6 no less than hfty-one shlps had
visited the Senegal coast, ana the King Of Portugal
was FORMALLY proclaimed its sovereign Nuno iris
tam took possession of the Senegal River and
louil eti settlement at St Louis Dimes Fernandes
doubled Cape Verde. Tristan enrered the Rio
,irande Pedro da Clntra went far inland nj Sierra
Leone, lured by vain desire to reach Tlmbuctoo
Joao de Santarem and Pedro Escobar sailed east
ware beyond Cape Palmas. and came home laden
Win gold from AShdntee and Dahomcy. And then
fIlnce Henry died. Under his direction more than
l,oW miles OF the African coast had been explored
ana p most of 1t claimed as the possession OF the
portuguese Crown. 49,
b4t that was only the beginning. He had given
10 portuguese enterprise Impetus which long
survived his death His captains kept right on
lauo DiaZ seized upon Angola and cut or the noses
ot o,W rebelous natives. Diego Cam discovered
'he congo Then Bartoomeo Diaz rounded the Cane
OF GOOD Hope and discovered the water route IN
india: followed by Vasco da CANA who seized tho
Eastern coast all the way up TO Zanzibar and made
me Arab pilots Of those waters SHOW him the wav
teross the Indian Ocean Indeed these lieutenants
OF me navigator well-nigh sailed round The whole
Dark Continent. that by right of Discovery thnv
aue good so far as possible the title the pope had
sldhtcd them OF all those lands Yet to-day of ali
nhat Splendid Empire, fragment only remains be-
neatn the l.usitanan flag There are the Madeiras
noa. APE verde Islands and few others along the
Gra CAS-; DIT or territory at the mouth OF the Rio
n niSaand ana Mozambique from Zululand to Cape
VIII" put nor the "ninterland' OF these last
winch Indeed would mean domain extending clear