Portuguese Reach the Senegal River

1445

Dinis Dias's caravel crossed the Sahara's desert coast and found green country, fresh water, and black African villages unlike the Moors of the north. Portugal's maps now extended past the edge of classical geography. Prince Henry's investment was beginning to return profits in slaves, gold, and information. The Senegal marked the transition from barren coast to populated, commercially active West Africa, transforming exploration into profitable enterprise.