Diogo Cam

Diogo Cam or Diogo Cão (fl. 15th century), Portuguese navigator and explorer. During voyages made between 1482 and 1484 and again in 1485 and 1486, he sailed as far as the mouth of the Congo River and was the first European to explore the western coast of Africa as far south as Cape Cross, near what is now Walvis Bay, in present-day Namibia. He marked the territories he discovered by erecting four pillars inscribed with the Portuguese royal arms, three of which have been recovered and now reside in museums. In recognition of his services, John II of Portugal made Cam a noble in 1484, promoted him to the rank of cavalier, and granted him an annuity. Cam's voyages came towards the end of the long series of Portuguese expeditions of the 15th century in which they sought a trade route with the east around Africa, culminating in the first rounding of the Cape of Good Hope by Bartolomeu Dias in 1488, and the first voyage to India via the Cape by Vasco da Gama in 1497-1498.