Cape Chaunar, Cap Uarsig, Cape Nun, ''Cap Noun'', ''Cabo de Não'' or ''Nant'' is a

cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment of any length that hangs loosely and connects either at the neck or shoulders. They usually cover the back, shoulders, and arms. They come in a variety of styles and have been used th ...

on the Atlantic coast of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, in southern

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, between

Tarfaya Tarfaya ( - ''Ṭarfāya''; ) is a coastal Moroccan town, located at the level of Cape Juby, in western Morocco, on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. It is located about 890 km southwest of the capital Rabat, and around 100 km from La ...

and Sidi Ifni. By the 15th century it was considered insurmountable by Arabs and Europeans, thus resulting in the name meaning cape "no" in Portuguese. Cape Chaunar is the true northern coastal limit of the

Sahara desert The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

, although nearby

Cape Bojador Cape Bojador (, Arabic transliteration, trans. ''Rā's Būjādūr''; , ''Bujdur''; Spanish language, Spanish and ; ) is a headland on the west coast of Western Sahara, at 26° 07' 37"N, 14° 29' 57"W (various sources give various locations: this ...

is frequently mistakenly called this.

History

The thirteenth-century Genovese navigators Vandino and Ugolino Vivaldi may have sailed as far as Cape Non before being lost at sea. It was named ''Cabo do Não'' ("Cape No") by Portuguese mariners during the fifteenth century, being considered the impassable limit for

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an sailors, the ''non plus ultra'' beyond which no navigation could occur. This was due to the cape running far out into the sea, causing it to break and appear dangerous. "Quem o passa tornará ou não" (whoever passes it will make it or not), wrote Venetian explorer

Alvise Cadamosto Alvise Cadamosto (surname cf. ''Ca' da Mosto, da Cadamosto, da Ca' da Mosto''; also known in Portuguese as ''Luís Cadamosto''; mononymously ''Cadamosto'') (; ) (c. 1432 – 16 July 1483) was a Venetian explorer and slave trader, who was hired by ...

in his book ''Navigazione''. Starting in 1417, exploratory vessels were sent by Prince

Henry the Navigator Princy Henry of Portugal, Duke of Viseu ( Portuguese: ''Infante Dom Henrique''; 4 March 1394 – 13 November 1460), better known as Prince Henry the Navigator (), was a Portuguese prince and a central figure in the early days of the Portuguese ...

, managing to cross Cape Non and reaching

, then considered the southern limit of the world, stretching into the "dark sea"William D'Hertburn, ''Progress and Prosperity: The Old World and Its Remaking Into the New'', 1911
/ref> (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''Mare Tenebrarum'', ''Mare Tenebrosum'' or ''Bahr al-Zulumat'' in Arabic), the medieval name for the southern Atlantic Ocean, inaccessible to the sailors of the time.

References

Sources

*Robert Kerr, General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels *

Chambers Book of Days ''Chambers Book of Days'' (''The Book of Days: A Miscellany of Popular Antiquities in Connection with the Calendar, Including Anecdote, Biography, & History, Curiosities of Literature and Oddities of Human Life and Character'') was written by th ...

br>November 20th
Chaunar {{GuelmimOuedNoun-geo-stub