Free Republic

The recently discovered shipwreck may have set sail as part of da Gama's final Indian Ocean voyage—a journey which he made a total of four times before his death 500 years ago. Researchers believe it may have been one of around 20 ships part of this excursion: the São Jorge, which was captained by Fernando de Monroy and sank in 1524, making it one of the earliest European shipwrecks in the Indian Ocean. Eight similar Portuguese shipwrecks of similar age have previously been discovered in the area.The discovery of the Portuguese shipwreck was made in Malindi, Kenya, in 2013 by...

Fatima and Antonio Soares, who are in their 70s, decided to leave their home along with dozens of other residents on Saturday, a week since thousands of tremors started to rattle the volcanic, mid-Atlantic island. Seismologists fear the more than 12,700 tremors, which have had a magnitude of up to 3.3, could trigger a volcanic eruption or a powerful quake. Dozens of other Sao Jorge residents also left early on Saturday, with the latest government figures showing about 1,250 people left the island on March 23 and March 24 alone. The region's CIVISA seismo-volcanic surveillance centre raised the volcanic alert...