Explorers & agents · voyage of 1461
Pedro de Sintra
Portuguese navigator who charted and named the Liberian coast.
Biography
Sailing for Prince Henry's successors, de Sintra coasted the shore in 1461 and left the names still in use: Cape Mount, Cape Mesurado, Cape Palmas.
His voyage opened the malagueta pepper trade that gave the region its European name — the Grain Coast — and began three and a half centuries of Atlantic commerce.
Historical significance
The first documented European contact with the Liberian coast, and the origin of its European toponymy.
Timeline
- 1461Coasts and names the shore
- c. 1505Voyage recorded by Pacheco Pereira
Related entries
References
- Pacheco Pereira, Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis (c. 1505).
Suggested reading
- Rodney (1970). A History of the Upper Guinea Coast, 1545–1800.