Who's Who: Exploring the Cape of Good Hope Quiz

Answer: Bartolomeu Dias

Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal began the Age of Exploration by sending sailors to explore the west coast of Africa. His work was continued by King John II, who chose Bartolomeu Dias to continue the search for a trade route to India. After passing Angola, which had already been reached by Portuguese sailors in the early 1480s, Dias and his men were caught in a violent storm. Unable to find land for thirty days, Dias' ship, "São Cristóvão, finally sailed into what is now called Mossel Bay; about a month later his men erected a cross to mark the spot where they both claimed the land and turned back, as was the practice of Portuguese explorers at the time.

Although he wanted to continue on to India, his men refused. It was on the return trip to Portugal that Dias found the area that he named the Cape of Storms, later renamed the Cape of Good Hope.

In 1500 the ship that he was in was lost in bad weather near the Cape of Storms.

Answer: Vasco da Gama

In 1497 Vasco da Gama completed the voyage of discovery that Dias began, rounding the Cape of Storms and sailing on to India. Trade with India was the motivation for beginning the Age of Exploration in the first place, and the Portuguese were not disappointed. To date, his was the longest sea voyage ever recorded (considering the distances of the trips there and back), but it gave Portugal a brief monopoly on the pepper and cinnamon trade, and, eventually, other items as well. Even though a ship and about half of his men had been lost during the two-year trip, the profit that was made as the result - some sources say as much as 60 times the cost of the voyage - was enormous! Is it a surprise that King John II decided to rename the Cape of Storms? It became known as the Cape of Good Hope!

Answer: Ferdinand Magellan

Of course, Ferdinand Magellan is given the credit for being the first explorer to circumnavigate because he was the captain in charge of the voyage. His ships, however, initially sailed west from Spain, going through the Strait of Magellan and around Cape Horn, rather than south, and he was killed in the Philippine Islands in 1521.

Historians do have differing opinions regarding which of his men led the group after that. While some say it may have been Magellan's Malay slave, Enrique, he did not complete the voyage; he disappeared soon after Magellan's death, presumably to return home or escape slavery. Juan Sebastian Elcano took control over what became one surviving ship and 18 crew members by the end of the voyage, successfully completing the circumnavigation,(rounding the Cape of Good Hope on the way home) and bringing Spain an estimated 26 tons of spices.

Answer: Pedro Cabral

Although Pedro Cabral may be more famous for being one of the first Europeans to sail to Brazil, he was also the first to lead an exploration expedition that reached four continents. Making sure that the land he claimed was in the Portuguese section specified by the Treaty of Tordesillas, Cabral initially believed that the land which became known as Brazil was a large island; after claiming the land for Portugal and exploring the coast, however, he determined otherwise, and sent word to the King before continuing on to India. Even though Cabral's stay in India was difficult - several of his men were massacred by Hindu Indians and Muslim Arabs in Calicut, he was able to establish a trading relationship with the city of Kochi, and establish Portuguese authority in the area.

It is estimated that upon the return home, Cabral's voyage yielded an 800% profit to the King of Portugal.

Answer: Afonso Albuquerque

Afonso Albuquerque was a Portuguese nobleman and explorer who is considered by many historians to have been the greatest naval commander of his time. On his first expedition to India, Albuquerque solidified Portuguese control of the area of Calicut and Kochi, and was given permission to build Fort Kochi to protect Portuguese trade there.

His second voyage was not as successful; while he did capture the harbor of Socotra, which the Portuguese wanted to use to control trade in the Red Sea, it did not prove to be an advantageous location. Even so, his future voyages led to the establishment of the overseas Portuguese Empire, which had been the main objective of Prince Henry the Navigator, who began the Age of Exploration.

The voyages of Afonso Albuquerque led to the discovery of the Spice Islands, establishing trade with China, Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as strengthening Portuguese ties with India.

In addition, he is believed to have been the first European to reach Hong Kong and Thailand.

Answer: Jan van Riebeeck

The Dutch East India Company, founded in 1602, had built trading posts in India and Indonesia. However, by 1651 it was decided that a settlement needed to be established at what became Cape Town because of the high rate of sailor casualties that took place on the long voyage. Jan van Riebeeck, previously assistant surgeon in the colony of Batavia (now Jakarta) and leader of a trading post in Tonkin (in present-day Vietnam), was the Commander of the Cape from 1652 to 1662; he is credited with building a fort, planting crops, and obtaining livestock from the native peoples of the region. Today Afrikaners, descendants of the first Dutch settlers in Cape Town, consider Jan van Riebeeck to be the founder of their nation.

Answer: James Cook

James Cook was commissioned to make three voyages of discovery in the Pacific Ocean; on each trip he rounded the Cape of Good Hope to reach his intended destinations, keeping detailed records of where he ships had landed and what had been seen. On the first voyage, Cook rounded the Cape of Good Hope on the return trip home; it appears, however, that very little time was spent there as the group stopped in St.

Helena. According to Richard Pickersgill, who was the third lieutenant on the "Resolution" during Cook's second voyage (1772-75), the ship reached Cape Town on October 29, 1772, and the Dutch governor "had orders to supply us with every thing we possibly might want and if there was any thing we could not get without his assistance; that he would always and at all times whilst we stay'd here be ready to serve us as we were bound on an universal cause and Indeed every body here strove as much as possible to contribute to our happyness". On his third voyage (1776-79), Cook and his men waited for a month at the Cape of Good Hope in order to rendezvous with the commander of the "Discovery", Lieutenant Charles Clerke, enjoying the spring weather. Cook's claim to fame, of course, was his contact with Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii during these voyages.

Answer: Francis Drake

After proving his success as a privateer, Francis Drake was outfitted by Queen Elizabeth I to lead a voyage. The main objective? Hassle the Spanish as much as possible and take their treasure! Beginning in Plymouth, Drake first sailed south west and made landfall in both South and North America, raiding Spanish towns along the way and capturing a treasure ship.

After sailing across the Pacific Ocean to Indonesia, Drake made several stops his way to the Cape of Good Hope, so moved by the sight that he said, "This Cape is a most stately thing and the fairest Cape we saw in the whole circumference of the earth".

He not only brought gold back to England, but spices as well. The Queen's share of the wealth brought back from the voyage exceeded her crown income in 1580!

Answer: Arthur Phillip

Leaving England in 1787 with eleven ships and 772 convicts, Arthur Phillip was already an experienced sea captain. His mission that year was to establish a penal colony in Australia. After stopping in the Canary Islands, Phillip then made an unintended stop in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (prevailing winds made it a good idea), for supplies, staying there for approximately a month.

This was an area with which he was familiar, having fought there in 1774 during war with Spain. From Rio de Janeiro, his fleet sailed to Cape Town, where provisions and water were acquired, along with grapes vines, planted at the current location of the Sydney Opera House, which are said to have produced the first Australian wine.

It is also written that he acquired merino sheep and ordinary sheep from Cape Town in 1797 and that they became the ancestors of what became the booming sheep industry in Australia.

Answer: Diogo Dias

Interestingly, it was Diogo Dias' more famous brother, Bartolomeu, who began the exploration of the Cape of Good Hope in his 1488 voyage. Diogo had served as a clerk on the voyage of Vasco da Gama, the first Portuguese sailor to reach India, before embarking on an exploration expedition with his brother and Pedro Cabral in 1500. Diogo, who was one of Cabral's captains, is believed to have been one of the first to set foot on the land that is known as Brazil today.

His ship was separated from the others at the Cape of Good Hope after their journey was continued, and he landed in Madagascar, naming it the Isle of St. Lawrence. Even though he had a long and difficult journey home to Portugal, Diogo finally rejoined Cabral's expedition in Senegal and returned home in 1501.