The Story of Bartholomew Diaz - Cape Town - South Africa   The Portugeuese King Jaoa II sent Bartholomew Diaz in 1487 in the direction of South Africa.  Diaz was intructed to discover the southern most point of Africa.   Bartholomew Diaz became the discoverer of The Cape of Good Hope and Mossel Bay.   He gave the southern point the name "Cape of Storms", which king Johann II later renamed to "Cabo de boa Esperanca" (Cape of Good Hope).   The expedition laid the foundation for new colonies and the expansion of the Portugeuse Empire.   Arabian traders controlled the sea and trade routes at the time, and were imposing a large tax fee on the wares. Through the development of new sea routes the traders wanted to avoid the high taxes imposed by the Arabs, as well as wanting to establish new trading centres in Africa.   Bartholomew Diaz made use of the Caravelle ship, which was designed by Prince Henry.   In January 1488 he sailed past the mouth of the Orange River and because of a storm was pushed in a southerly direction.  He was convinced he was pushed in a western direction, and therefore continued East with his ship.  He missed Table Bay (Cape Town), and ended up at the Cape of Good Hope and thereby reached the southernmost point of South Africa (Cape Agulhas).   After ten days he saw no land and sailed north, discovering Mossel Bay.   If you visit Mossel Bay, we recommend you to visit the Diaz Museum, where they have reconstructed the Caravelle of Bartholomew Diaz.  It was build in 1988 in Portugal and sailed to Mossel Bay, where it was handed over to the museum by Portugeuse Immigrants.