In 1488 the intrepid Portuguese navigator and explorer, Bartholomew Dias, set sail from Lisbon on a marine adventure to seek the sea route to the east. His ill-fated journey ended off the south-eastern coast of South Africa in the vicinity of the mouth of the Keiskamma River, situated near the present day city of East London.
Dias was faced with a threatening mutiny if he did not do a u-turn and sail for home. His small fleet was running low on food and fresh water and the notion that the world was square with a dreaded drop-off into oblivion was also uppermost in the minds of the sailors. Many believed the tumble into obscurity was imminent. Dias succumbed
