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Gonçalvez Zarco, and Tristão Vaz, two gentlemen of rank, annoyed at the difficulties which the Portuguese mariners raised against any further progress southward, and anxious to forward the views of their enlightened prince, volunteered to double Cape Boyador, and to prosecute their voyage to the south. A gale of wind drove them far away from the coast, and by this accident they became acquainted with the position of the island of Madeira, of which they took possession in the name of their sovereign. According to a well-known tradition this island had, however, been previously discovered by an Englishman named Machin, moreover had probably been seen by Hanno or by some of the earlier Phœnician voyagers. Mr. Major has quite recently shown that there is good reason to believe in the truth of the story of Machin. The merit, however, of this important discovery is for all practical purposes due to the Portuguese, who, thus encouraged, renewed their exertions and obtained a grant from Martin V. of the dominion over all territories which might thenceforward be discovered from Cape Boyador to the Indies; but it was only in 1441 that Cape Blanco was reached. The discovery of gold dust and the capture of some slaves still further stimulated a spirit for adventure which had been originally roused by loftier motives. Various Portuguese merchants of Lagos combined and equipped six caravels, with which they sailed to the coast of Guinea. By them the Cape Verde Islands were discovered in 1446; and another somewhat similar expedition discovered the Azores in 1449. In 1471 the Equator
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