Dias was a Portuguese explorer who rounded the Cape of Good
Hope in 1488. The statue, that is about one-and-a-half times life-size is carved
in Portland stone. It shows Dias in the dress of the day that includes a skirt
and cape. He has some form of decoration on his head that can be seen across is
forehead. Around his waist is a belt and on his left hip is a sword that extends
to the ground. To his right, there is a carved tower with a cross on its
top. Dias's right hand is resting on the horizontal arm of the cross. His left
arm is bent at the elbow with the hand resting on his chest with the fingers
extended. Around the hand is a strap that has attached to it what appears to be
a primitive compass.
Around the back of the niche, from the bottom to about
Dias's knee height is some carving that is possibly depicting waves. To the
right is the carving of the port quarter of a sailing ship and beneath that is a
circular object with bands across it. Beneath Dias's feet is carved the name
'DIAS' and beneath the tower is carved the year of his rounding the
Cape of Good Hope, '1488'.
The NNDB website [visit link] tells us about
Dias:
"AKA Bartolomeu Dias de Novaes
Born: c. 1450
Died: 29-May-1500
Location of death:
Cape of Good Hope
Cause of death: Accident - Drowning
Remains: Missing
(lost at sea)
Gender: Male
Religion: Roman Catholic
Race or
Ethnicity: White
Occupation: Explorer
Nationality: Portugal
Executive summary: Found the
Cape of Good Hope
Portuguese explorer, discoverer of the Cape of Good
Hope, was probably a kinsman of João Diaz, one of the first Portuguese to round
Cape Bojador (1434), and of Diniz Diaz, the discoverer of Cape Verde (1445). In
1478 a Bartholomeu Diaz, probably identical with the discoverer, was exempted
from certain customary payments on ivory brought from the Guinea coast. In 1481
he commanded one of the vessels sent by King João II. under Diogo d'Azambuja to
the Gold Coast. In 1486 he seems to have been a cavalier of the king's
household, and superintendent of the royal warehouses; on the 10th of October in
this year he received an annuity of 6000 reis from João for "services to come";
and some time after this (probably about July or August 1487, rather than July
1486, the traditional date) he left Lisbon with three ships to carry on the work
of African exploration so greatly advanced by Diogo Cão (1482-86). Passing Cão's
farthest point near Cape Cross, he erected a pillar on what is now known as Diaz
Point, south of Angra Pequena or Lüderitz Bay; of this fragments still exist.
From this point (according to De Barros) Diaz ran thirteen days southwards
before strong winds, which freshened to dangerous stormy weather, in a
comparatively high southern latitude, considerably south of the Cape. When the
storm subsided the Portuguese stood east; and failing, after several days
search, to find land, turned north, and so struck the south coast of Cape Colony
at Mossel Bay (Diaz' Bahia dos Vaqueiros), halfway between the Cape of Good Hope
and Port Elizabeth (February 3, 1488). From there they coasted eastward, passing
Algoa Bay (Diaz' Bahia da Roca), erecting pillars or perhaps wooden crosses, it
is said, on one of the islands in this bay and at or near Cape Padrone farther
east; of these no traces remain. The officers and men now began to insist on
return, and Diaz could only persuade them to go as far as the estuary of the
Great Fish River (Diaz' Rio do Iffante, so named from his colleague, Captain
João Iffante). Here, however, halfway between Port Elizabeth and East London
(and indeed from Cape Padrone), the north-easterly trend of the coast became
unmistakable; the way around Africa had been laid open. On his return Diaz
perhaps named Cape Agulhas after St Brandan; while on the southernmost
projection of the modern Cape peninsula, whole remarkable highlands (Table
Mountain, etc.) doubtless impressed him as the practical termination of the
continent, he bestowed, says De Barros, the name of Cape of Storms (Cabo
Tormentoso) in memory of the storms he had experienced in these far southern
waters; this name was changed by King João to that of Good Hope (Cabo da Boa
Esperança). Some excellent authorities, however, make Diaz himself give the Cape
its present name. Hard by this "so many ages unknown promontory" the explorer
probably erected his last pillar. After touching at the Ilha do Principe
(Prince's Island, southwest of the Cameroons) as well as at the Gold Coast, he
appeared at Lisbon in December 1488. He had discovered 1260 miles of hitherto
unknown coast; and his voyage, taken with the letters soon afterwards received
from Pero de Covilhão (who by way of Cairo and Aden had reached Malabar on one
side and the "Zanzibar coast" on the other as far south as Sofala, in 1487-88)
was rightly considered to have solved the question of an ocean route around
Africa to the Indies and other lands of South and East Asia.
No record has yet been found of any adequate reward for
Diaz; on the contrary, when the great Indian expedition was being prepared (for
Vasco da Gama's future leadership) Bartolomeu only superintended the building
and outfit of the ships; when the fleet sailed in 1497, he only accompanied da
Gama to the Cape Verde Islands, and after this was ordered to El Mina on the
Gold Coast. On Cabral's voyage of 1500 he was indeed permitted to take part in
the discovery of Brazil (April 22), and thence should have helped to guide the
fleet to India; but he perished in a great storm off his own Cabo Tormentoso.
Like Moses, as Galvano says, he was allowed to see the Promised Land, but not to
enter in."