les archipels de l'Atlantique non compris;" or (4) The isle of Yof, in the bay of Yof, on the north side of the peninsula. The Madeleine islands were once covered with vegetation, though now desert. Here the French naturalist Adanson made his famous observations on the Baobab trees, in the eighteenth century. These trees, though they have disappeared on the islands, are still numerous on the mainland near the Cape. Azurara has a good deal more to say about these islets and their baobabs in chs. lxiii, lxxii, lxxv, pp. 193, 218, 226, etc., of this version. The rounding of C. Verde opened a fresh chapter in the Portuguese circumnavigation of Africa--to S.E. and E.; see Introduction to vol. ii, pp. xii, xxx.] [Endnote 96: (pp. 101-2). _John Fernandez ... such a request._--On this passage, and especially on Azurara's statement (middle of p. 101) that Fernandez "had already been a captive among the other Moors and in this part of the Mediterranean Sea, where he acquired a knowledge of their language," Santarem remarks: [This detail gives us another proof that Prince Henry's explorations were made systematically, and according to plans carefully worked out. In his previous captivity in Marocco, Fernandez had learnt Arabic, and probably Berber as well; he must also have gained some information about the interior of Africa. To gain more detailed knowledge, and so be able to inform the Infant better, he had now undertaken his residence among the Azanegues of the Rio do Ouro.] See Introduction to vol. ii, pp. viii, x, xvi, on the dual nature of Henry's African schemes, land conquest and exploration going along with the maritime ventures. This was, of course, partly due to an inadequate conception of the size of the continent, which rendered even the conquest of Marocco of little use towards the circumnavigation of Africa. "How bitter ... to hear such a request" is, of course, one of Azurara's rare touches of irony.] [Endnote 97: (p. 103). _Affonso Cerveira._--[The author of the earlier account of the Portuguese conquest of Guinea, _Historia da Conquista dos Portuguezes pela costa d'Africa_, on which Azurara's present Chronicle is based. Cf. Barbosa, _Bibliotheca Lusitana_.]--S. See Introduction to vol. ii, p. cx, and note 202A.