Act II. _Vasco_ has fallen asleep in his cell. Beside him watches

_Selika_. In her native land she is a queen. Now she is a captive and a slave, her rank, of course, unknown to her captor, since she and _Nelusko_ carefully have kept it from the knowledge of all. _Selika_ is deeply in love with _Vasco_ and is broken-hearted over his passion for _Inez_, of which she has become aware. But the love of this supposedly savage slave is greater than her jealousy. She protects the slumbering _Vasco_ from the thrust of _Nelusko's_ dagger. For her companion in captivity is deeply in love with her and desperately jealous of the Portuguese navigator for whom she has conceived so ardent a desire. Not only does she save _Vasco's_ life, but on a map hanging on the prison wall she points out to him a route known only to herself and _Nelusko_, by which he can reach the land of which he has been in search.

_Inez_, _Don Pedro_, and their suite enter the prison. _Vasco_ is free. _Inez_ has purchased his freedom through her own sacrifice in marrying _Don Pedro_. _Vasco_, through the information received from _Selika_, now hopes to undertake another voyage of discovery and thus seek to make up in glory what he has lost in love. But he learns that _Don Pedro_ has been appointed commander of an expedition and has chosen _Nelusko_ as pilot. _Vasco_ sees his hopes shattered.