Dias (or Diaz), Bartholomeu(1450?–1500), a Portuguese explorer. He discovered the Cape of Good Hope, near the southern tip of the African continent. Dias, who had been sent by King John II of Portugal to circumnavigate Africa, reached the cape in 1488 after a storm had carried his ships off course. Rounding the cape, he discovered open sea—the long-sought sea route around Africa to India. Although Dias was forced to turn back when near the Indian Ocean, another Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama, followed the route to India in 1497. Dias accompanied da Gama on this expedition as far as the Cape Verde Islands. Later, Dias sailed with Pedro Alvares Cabral on the expedition that discovered Brazil in 1500. Dias's ship was lost in a storm on the return journey.