Hundreds of years ago during the seventeenth century, long before the completion of the Suez Canal, the quickest possible route for trade ships to take between Europe and the far east was around the African continent.

几百年前的 17 世纪，早在苏伊士运河建成之前，商船在欧洲和远东之间最快的路线是绕过非洲大陆。