and occasionally exploring inland. In Decem-
ber 1488 a small fleet led by Portuguese captain
Bartholomeu Dias returned to Lisbon with
news that it had rounded what would become
known as the Cape of Good Hope, the southern
tip of Africa. Dias’s voyage, which ended Por-
tuguese royal interest in Columbus’s proposal
to sail west to Asia, confirmed that African
coastal waters could be used as a route to the
Indian Ocean and beyond. Domestic political
turmoil prevented Spain from pursuing seago-
ing exploration as avidly as the kingdom of Por-
tugal. In 1492, however, the situation changed
drastically.SPAIN IN 1492
In 1492 Spain was not a nation in the modern
sense, but its kingdoms and provinces were
more closely allied than they had been inThe World in 1492 B 13
Instructor of many Portuguese explorers, Prince Henry the Navigator sent 20 ships to explore the Atlantic
coast of Morocco before one finally succeeded.(National Archives of Canada)