Around 1420, a ship or junk from India crossed the Sea of India towards the Island of Men and the Island of Women, off Cape Diab. It sailed for 40 days in a south-westerly direction without finding anything other than wind and water. According to local accounts, the vessel traveled some 2,000 miles before favorable conditions ended, at which point it turned round and sailed back to Cape Diab in 70 days.
Another account describes a person who sailed in an Indian ship caught in a tempest for 40 days beyond the Cape of Soffala and the Green Islands towards west-southwest. According to the astrologers who acted as their guides, they had advanced almost 2,000 miles. These reports suggest the ship traveled a total of approximately 4,000 miles.
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. It was historically used as a landmark for navigators rounding the continent. While the Greek navigator Eudoxus of Cyzicus found a wrecked ship from Gades in 116 BCE, indicating the Cape Route was being used, the region eventually became a vital resupply point for the Dutch East India Company in 1652.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Mutabor
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