portugal and the quest for the indies

"but althiugh arab seaman had sailed their dhows up and down the east coast of africa since before the time christ, they never ventured beyond the limits of the monsoons in the neighborhood of madagascar..." p 46

but the greeks had been further

so bizzare to imagine they had no idea what was around the bend. i guess that's like us and space today

no we read about Henrique, who's crews first started out down the African west coast. The tie between the timorese and me? his bravery/innovations/ambitions on the sea, which led to his country's discovery and colonization of Timor, inspired/made possible Columbus' trek to America, where I and my anscestors are ans have been for many years. ???