Into the Land of the Balanta
Excerpts from Balanta B’urassa, My Sons: Those Who Resist Remain Volume 3
Here is the official account of the Portuguese’s first arrival in the land of Guinea, according to Gomes Eannes de Azurara’s, the official royal chronicler of the King Don Affonso the Fifth of Portugal
“Gomez Pirez, who was there in that caravel of the King as chief captain, being a man of valour and authority, began to speak of his purpose . . . . ‘But as for you others, honorable sirs and friends, you know right well the will of the lord Infant; how much store he setteth on knowing somewhat of the land of the Negroes, and especially of the river of Nile, for which reason I am resolved to make my voyage to that land, toiling as much as I can to get at it . . . .”
And so those six caravels having set out, pursued their way along the coast, and pressed on so far that they passed the land of Sahara belonging to those Moors which are called Azanegues, the which land is very easy to distinguish from the other by reason of the extensive sands that are there, and after it by the verdue which is not to be seen in it on account of the gret dearth of water there, which causeth an exceeding dryness of the soil. . . .
Now these caravels having passed by the land of Sahara, as hath been said, came in sight of the two palm trees that Dinis Diaz had met with before, by which they understood that they were at the beginning of the land of the Negroes. And at this sight they were glad indeed, and would have landed at once, but they found the sea so rough upon that coast that by no manner of means could they accomplish their purpose. And some of those who were present said afterwards that it was clear from the smell that came off the land how good must be the fruits of that country, for it was so delicious that from the point they reached, though they were on the sea, it seemed to them that they stood in some gracious fruit garden ordained for the sole end of their delight. And if our men showed on their side a great desire of gaining the land, no less did the natives of it show their eagerness to receive them into it; but of the reception they offered I do not care to speak, for according to the signs they made to our men from the first, they did not intend to abandon the beach without very great loss to one side or the other. Now the people of this green land are wholly black, and hence this is called the Land of the Negroes, or Land of Guinea. Wherefore also the men and women thereof are called ‘Guineas,’ as if one were to say ‘Black Men.’ . . . And when the men in the caravels saw the first palms and lofty trees as we have related, they understood right well that they were close to the river of Nile, at the point where it floweth not the western sea, the which river is there called the Senegal (Canaga). For the Infant had told them that in little more than 20 leagues after the sighting of those tress they should look out for the same river, for so he had learnt from several of his Asanegue prisoners. . . .
And when they were close to its mouth, they let down their anchors on the seaward side, and the crew of the caravel of Vicene Diaz launched their boat, and into it jumped as many as eight men, and among them was that Esquire of Lagos called Stevam Affonso, of whom we have already spoken . . . .
And as all the eight were going in the boat, one of them, looking out towards the mouth of the river, espied the door of a hut, and said to his companions: ‘I know not how the huts of this land are built, but judging by the fashion of those I have seen before, that should be a hut that I see before me, and I presume it belongs to fishing folk who have come to fish in this stream. And if you think well, it seemeth to me that we ought to go and land beyond that point, in such wise that we may not be discovered from the door of the hut; and let some land, and approach from behind those sandbanks, and if any natives are lying in the hut, it may be that they will take them before they are perceived.’ Now it appeared to the others that this was good advice, and so they began to put it into execution. And as soon as they reached the land, Stevam Affonso leapt out and five others with him, and they proceeded in the manner that the other had suggested. And while they were going thus concealed even until they neared the hut, they saw come out of it a negro boy, stark naked, with a spear in his hand. Him they seized at once, and coming up close to the hut, they lighted upon a girl, his sister, who was about eight years old. This boy the Infant afterwards caused to be taught to read and write, with all other knowledge that a Christian should have; . . . so that some said of this youth that the Infant had bidden train him for a priest with the purpose of sending him back to his native land, there to preach the faith of Jesus Christ. But I believe that afterwards he died without ever reaching man’s estate. So those men entered into the hut, where they found a black shield made of hide, quite round in shape, a little larger than those used in that country, the which had in the middle of it a boss of the same hide as the shield itself, to wit, of an elephant’s ear, as was afterwards learnt from certain Guineas who saw it. . . . and when they had captured those young prisoners and articles of plunder, they took them forthwith to their boat. ‘Well were it, said Stevam Affonso to the others, ‘if we were to go through this country near here, to see if we can find the father and mother of these children, for judging by their age and disposition, it cannot be that the parents would leave them and go far off.’ The others said that he should go, with good luck, wherever he pleased, for there was nothing to prevent them following him. And after they had journeyed a short way Stevam Affonso began to hear the blows of an axe or some other iron instrument, with which some one was carpentering upon a piece of timber, and he stopped a little to assure himself of what he had heard, and put the others into the same attention. And then they all recognized that they were near what they sought. ‘Now,’ said he, ‘do you come behind and allow to go in front, because, if we all move forward in company, however softly we walk, we shall be discovered without fail, so that ere we come at him, whosoever he be, if alone, he must needs fly and put himself in safety; but if I go softly and crouching down, I shall be able to capture him by a sudden surprise without his perceiving me; but do not be so slow of pace that you will come late to my aid, where perhaps I may be in such danger as to need you.’
And they agreeing to this, Stevam Affonso began to move forward; and what with the careful guard that he kept in stepping quietly, and the intentness with which the Guinea labored at his work, he never perceived the approach of his enemy till the latter leapt upon him. And I say leapt, since Stevam Affonso was of small frame and slender, while the Guinea was of quite different build; and so he seized him lustily by the hair, so that when the Guinea raised himself erect, Stevam Affonso remained hanging in the air with his feet off the ground. The Guinea was a brave and powerful man, and he thought it a reproach that he should thus be subjected by so small a thing. Also he wondered within himself what this thing could be; but though he struggled very hard, he was never able to free himself, and so strongly had his enemy entwined himself in his hair, that the efforts of those two men could be compared to nothing else than a rash and fearless hound who has fixed on the some mighty bull. . . . But while those two were in their struggle, Affonso’s companions came upon them, and seized the Guinea by his arms and neck in order to bind him. And Stevam Affonso, thinking that he was now taken into custody and in the hands of the other, let go of his hair; whereupon, the Guinea, seeing that his head was free, shook off from his arms, them away on either side, and began to flee. And it was of little avail to the others to pursue him, for his agility gave him a great advantage over his pursuers in running, and in his course he took refuge in a wood full of thick undergrowth and while the others thought they had him, and sought to find him, he was already in his hut, with the intention of saving his children and taking his arms, which he had left with them. But all his former toil was nothing in comparison of the great grief which came upon him at the absence of his children whom he found gone – but as there yet remained for him a ray of hope, and he thought that perchance they were hidden somewhere, he began to look towards every side to see if he could catch any glimpse of them. And at this appeared Vicente Diaz, that trader who was the chief captain of that caravel to which the boat belonged wherein the others had come on land. And it appears that he, thinking that he was only coming out to walk along the shore, as he was wont to do in Lagos town, had not troubled to bring with him any arms you may well imagine, made for him with right good will.
An although Vicente Diaz saw him coming on with such fury, and understood that for his own defense it were well he had somewhat better arms, yet thinking that flight would not profit him, but rather do him harm in many ways, he awaited his enemy without shewing him any sign of fear. And the Guinea rushing boldly upon him, gave him forthwith a wound in the face with his assegai, with the which he cut open the whole of one of his jaws; in return for this the Guinea received another wound, though not so fell a one as that which he had just bestowed. And because their weapons were not sufficient for such a struggle, they threw them aside and wrestled; and so, for a short space they were rolling one over the other, each one striving for victory. And while this was proceeding, Vicente Diaz saw another Guinea one who was passing from youth to manhood; and he came to aid his countryman; and although the first Guinea was so strenuous and brave and inclined to fight with such good will as we have described, he could not have escaped being made prisoner if the second man had not come up; and for fear of him he now had to loose his hold of the first. And at this moment came up the other Portuguese, but the Guinea, being now once again free from his enemy’s hands, began to put himself in safety with his companion, like men accustomed to running, little fearing the enemy who attempted to pursue them. And at last our men turned back to their caravels, with the small booty they had already stored in their boats. . . .
And this may truthfully be affirmed according to the matters which at the beginning of this book I have related concerning the passage of Cape Bojador, and also from the astonishment which the natives of that land showed when they saw the first ships, for they went to them imagining they were fish, or some other natural product of the sea. But now returning to our history, after that deed was thus concluded, it was the wish of all the three captains to endeavor to make an honorable booty, adventuring their bodies in whatsoever peril might be necessary; but it appeareth that the wind veered sharply round to the south, wherefore it was convenient to set sail at once. And as they were cruising up and down in order to see what the weather purposed to do, the wind turned to the north, and with this they made their way towards Cape Verde, where Dinis Diaz had been the other year. And they went on as par as was possible for all the caravels to join them . . . .”
Consider, if Prince Henry’s purpose was the saving of souls, why would his men capture and enslave the first boy and girl they met instead of coming in peace and establishing a friendly relationship? How does literally kidnapping two children become pleasing to God, and why would such victims want to praise and worship such a God and terrible people?
“We have already told of how Rodrigueannes and Dinis Diaz sailed in company, but this is the fitting place where it behoveth us to declare certainly all that happened to them. And it was so, that they, sailing in company after the manner we have already told, which we believe was after the scuttling of the pinnace, came to Cape Verde; and thence they went to the islands, and took in water, and knew for sure by the tracks all over them that other ships had already passed by that way. From there they began to make proof of the Guineas, in search of whom they had come there, but they found them so well prepared, that though they essayed to get on shore many a time, they always encountered such a bold defense that they dared not come to close quarters. ‘It may be,’ said Dinis Diaz, ‘that these men will not be so brave in the nighttime as by day; therefore, I wish to try what their courage is, and I can readily know it this next night.’ And this is in fact was put in practice, for as soon as the sun had quite hidden its light, he went on shore, taking with him two men, and came upon two inhabited places which seemed to him so large that he thought it best to leave them, for his expedition was not in order to adventure anything, but only that he might advise his other comrades of what they should do. Then he returned to the ship and there described to Rodrigueannes and the others all that he had found. ‘We,’ said he, ‘should be acting with small judgment, were we wishful to adventure a conflict like this, for I discovered a village divided into two large parts full of habitations you know that the people of this land are not so easily captured as we desire, for they are very strong men, very wary and very well prepared in their combats and the worst is that they have their arrows poisoned with a very dangerous herb. Wherefore it seemeth to me that we ought to turn back, for all our toil will be the cause of our death, if we should make an attempt upon these people. To this the others replied that it was well said, for they all knew that he spake the truth. They then mended their sails and commenced to leave. . . .
It sill remaineth for me to relate the hap of the caravel of Jon Goncalves Zarco, who, to my thinking, bore himself in this affair more without hope of gain than any of the others sent there; for all those others, as you have already heard, had a mind to profit themselves, as well as to do service to the Infant. But this John Goncalvez was noble in all his actions, and so he wished the world to know that for his Lord’s service alone he disposed himself to have that voyage made. And therefore he armed a very fine caravel, and the captaincy of this he bestowed on his nephew, named Alvaro Fernandez, whom the Infant had brought up in his household, and he ordered him to have regard to no other profit, save only to see and know any new thing he could. And he was not to hinder himself by making raids in the land of the Moors, but to take his way straight to the land of the Negroes and thenceforward to lengthen his voyage as much as he could, and endeavor to bring some new thing to the Infant his lord, such as he thought would give him pleasure. . . . So they directed their voyage . . . and they went sailing over that great ocean sea until they reached the River of Nile, and they knew it by the signs I have before mentioned . . . . From thence they went forward until they passed Cape Verde, beyond which they decried an island (Goree). . . . Thence they went forward to the spot where the palm tree is . . . . And when they were near to the Cape as it might be a third of a league, they cast anchor and rested as they had arranged; but they had not been there long when from the land there set out two boats, manned by ten Guineas, who straightaway began to make their way direct to the ship, like men who came in peace. And when they were near, they made a signal asking security, which was granted them, and immediately without any other precaution, five of them went on board the caravel, where Alvaro Fernandez had them entertained as hospitably as he was able, giving orders to provide them with food and drink and all other good copy that could be made them. And after this they departed, giving signs of great contentment, but it seemeth that they had come with something different conceived in their minds. And as soon as they reached the land, they told the rest of their fellows all they had found, and from this it seemed to them that they could easily capture them. And with this design there put off six boats with thirty-five or forty of their company prepared like men who meant to fight; but when they were near, the felt a fear of coming up to the caravel, and so they stayed a little distance off without daring to make an attack. And when Alvaro Fernandez, perceived that they dared not come to him, he commanded his boat to be lowered and in it he ordered eight men to plane themselves, from among the readiest that he found for the duty; and he arranged that the boat should be on the further side of the caravel so that it might not be seen by the enemy, in the hope that they would approach nearer to the ship. And the Guineas stayed some way off until one of their boats took courage to move more forward and issued forth from the others towards the caravel, and in it were five brave and stout Guineas, distinguished in this respect among the others of the company. And as soon as Alvaro Fernandez perceived that this boat was already in position for him to be able to reach it before it could receive help from the others, he ordered his own to issue forth quickly and go against it. And by the great advantage of our men in their manner of rowing they were soon upon the enemy, who seeing themselves thus overtaken, and having no hope of defense, leapt into the water while the other boats fled towards the land. But our men had very great toil in the capture of those who were swimming, for they dived like cormorants, so that they could not get a hold of them; yet they soon captured one, though not without some difficulty; but the capture of the second caused them to lose all the others. For he was so valiant that two men, very mighty as they were, could not drag him into the boat until they took a boathook and caught him above one eye, and the pain of this made him abate his courage and allow himself to be put inside the boat. And with these two captives they returned to the ship. And since Alvaro Fernandez saw that it was of no profit for him to remain in that spot, and that it might rather injure him, because they already had knowledge of him, he said that he wished to go on further to see if he could find some new thing to bring to the Infant his lord. And departing hence, they arrived at a Cape where there were many bare palm trees without palms, and they named this Cape of the Masts (Cabo de Matos).
And going forward on their course, Alvaro Fernandez made seven men embark in the boat and ordered them to row along the coast, and as they went, they caught sight of four Guineas seated by the water’s edge; and as the men in the boat saw that they were not perceived by them, six of them leapt out and pursued their way, concealing themselves as much as they could until they were near to the Guineas, when they began to run to capture them. And it seemeth to me that these Guineas were archers who were going to kill their wild game in the hills with poison, even as the bowmen do in this our Spain. And as soon as they caught sight of our men, they got up very hastily and began to flee, without having time to put arrows in their bows; but thought our men ran a long way they could never take them, although at times they came close. . . . And so they got clear of our men, who yet seized their bows and quivers and arrows, together with a quantity of wild boar’s flesh that they had roasted. . . . and then they returned to their ships, where they took their resolve to come to the Kingdom, making their way straight to the Island of Madeira, and thence to the City of Lisbon. And there they found the Infant and received many bounties at his hand. . . . And this was the caravel which in this year (1445) went further than all the others that voyaged to that land. . . .
That we may assist in the knowledge of these matters, let us relate in this place the hap of Jon Fernandez in this land during those seven months in which he stayed there . . . . Now he, remaining there in the power of the relations of that Moor whom Antam Goncalvez brought to this land . . . and the men with whom he thus remained were shepherds. . . . Now the characters in which they write and the language which they speak are not like those of the other Moors but are clean different; yet they are all of the sect of Mohammed and are called Arabs and Azanegues and Berbers. And they all go in the manner I have already said, to wit, in tents with their herds, wherever it pleaseth them, without any rule or governance or law, for each goeth as he willeth and doeth what pleaseth him in so far as he hath power. They make war with the Negroes more by thieving than by force, for they have not so great strength as these last. And to their land come some Moors and they sell them of those Negroes whom they have kidnapped, or else they take them to Momdebarque, which is beyond the kingdom of Tunis, to sell to the Christian merchants who go there, and they give them these slaves in exchange for bread and some other things, just as they do now at the Rio do Ouro . . . . And it is said that in the land of the Negroes there is another kingdom called Melli (Mali), but this is not certain; for they bring the Negroes from that kingdom, and sell them like the others, whereas ‘tis manifest that if they were Moors they would not sell them so. . . . And he reporteth that the things in that land, by which those who live by merchandise may gain profit, are those Negroes, whereof they have many whom they kidnap; and gold, which they get from the land of the latter, and hides, and wool, and butter, together with cheeses, of which there are many there; and also dates in great abundance, which are brought from another part, and amber, and the perfume of the civet, and resin, and oil, and skins of sea-wolves, which are in great numbers in the Rio do Ouro as you have heard. And they could also obtain somewhat of the merchandise of Guinea, of which there are many kinds and very good, as will be recounted further on. And it was found that up to this era of 1446 years from the birth of Jesus Christ, fifty and one caravels had voyaged to those parts; but of the sum of the Moors that they captured we will speak at the end of this first book. And these caravels passed beyond the Cape four hundred and fifty leagues. And it was found that all that coast goeth to the south, with many promontories, according to what this our Prince had added to the navigating chart. And it should be understood that what had been known for certain of the coast of the great sea was six hundred leagues, and to them are now added these four hundred and fifty.
Ah, in what brief words do I find enregistered the record of the death of such a noble knight as was this Nuno Tristam . . . . Now this noble knight was perfectly informed of the great desire and purpose of our virtuous Prince, being one who from such an early youth had been brought up in his household, and seeing how the Prince was toiling to send his ships to the land of the Negroes and much further yet . . . . Wherefore he straightaway made him ready a caravel, and having it armed, he began his voyage and stayed not in any part but pursued his course toward the land of the Negroes. And passing by Cape Verde, he went sixty leagues further on and came unto a river, in the which it seemed to him that there ought to be some inhabited places. Wherefore he caused to be launched two small boats he was carrying, and in them there entered twenty-two men, to wit, ten in one and twelve in the other. And as they began to take their way up the river, the tide was rising with the which they entered, and they made for some habitations that they espied on the right hand. And it came to pass that before they went on shore, there appeared from the other side twelve boats in the which there would be as many as seventy or eighty Guineas, all Negroes, with bows in their hands. And because the water was rising, one of the boats of the Guineas crossed to the other side and put on shore those it was carrying, and thence they began to shoot arrows at our men in the boats. And the others who remained in the boats bestirred themselves as much as they could to get at our men, and as soon as they perceived themselves to be within reach, they discharged that accursed ammunition of theirs all full of poison upon the bodies of our countrymen. And so they held on in pursuit of them until they had reached the caravel which was lying outside the river in the open sea; and they were all hit by those poisoned arrows, in such wise that before they came on board four of them died in the boats. And so, wounded as they were, they made fast their small boats to the ship, and commenced to make ready for their voyage, seeing their case, how perilous it was; but they were not able to lift their anchors for the multitude of arrows with which they were attacked, and they were constrained to cut the cables so that not one remained. And so they began to make sail, leaving the boats behind for they could not hoist them up. And it came to pass that of the twenty-two men that left the ship only two escaped, to wit, one Andre Diaz and another Alvaro da Costa, both esquires of the Infant and natives of the City of Evora; and the remaining nineteen died, for that poison was so artfully composed that a slight wound, if it only let blood, brought men to their last end. And there died that noble Knight Nuno Tristam. . . . And there died also another Knight called John Correa and one Duarte Dollanda and Estevam Dalmeida and Diego Machado. . . .
Now Alvaro Fernandez undertook . . . to carry through the mandate which his uncle had laid upon him. And when the ship had been provisioned, they made their voyage straight to Cape Verde, whereat in the past year they had captured the two Guineas of whom we have spoken. . . and thence they passed on to the Cape of Masts, and made a stay there to put some men on shore. And for the sole purpose of seeing the land, seven of them joined together, and these, when they had been landed upon the beach, discovered the footprints of men leading along a certain path. And they followed them up and reached a well where they found goats, which it seemeth the Guineas had left there, and this would be, I think, because they perceived that they were being followed. The Christians went so far and no further, for they dared not pursue their course, and returning to their caravel, they voyaged on, and putting out their boat, found on land some elephants dung of the bigness of a man . . . . And so journeying along the sea coast, in a few days they went on shore again, and came upon a village, and its inhabitants issued forth like men who showed they had a will to defend their houses, and among them came one armed with a good buckler and an assegai in his hand. And Alvaro Fernandez seeing him, and judging him to be the leader of the band, went stoutly at him, and gave him such a great wound with his lance that he fell down dead, and then he took from him his shield and assegai; and these he brought home to the Infant along with some other things, as will be related further on.
Now the Guineas, perceiving that man to be dead, paused from their fighting, and it appeared to our men to be neither the time nor the place to withdraw them from that fear. But rather they returned to their ship and on the next day landed a little way distant from there, where they espied some of the wives of those Guineas walking. And it seemeth that they were going nigh to a creek collecting shell-fish, and they captured one of them, who would be as much as thirty years of age, with a son of hers who would be of about two, and also a young girl of fourteen years, who had well-formed limbs and also a favorable presence for a Guinea; but the strength of the woman was much to be marveled at, for not one of the three men who came upon her but would have had a great labour in attempting to get her to the boat. And so, one of our men, seeing the delay they were making, during which it might be that some of the dwellers of the land would come upon them, conceived it well to take her son from her and to carry him to the boat; and love of the child compelled the mother to follow after it, without great pressure on the part of the two who were bringing her. From this place they went on further for a certain distance until they lighted upon a river (Rio de Lagos) into the which they entered with the boat, and in some houses that they found they captured a woman, and after they had brought her to the caravel, they returned once more to the river, intending to journey higher up in order to try and make some good booty. And as they were pursuing their voyage thus, there came upon them four or five boats of Guineas prepared like men who would defend their land, and our men in the boat were not desirous to try a combat with them, seeing the great advantage their enemies had, and especially because they feared the great peril that lay in the poison with which they shot. And so they began to retreat to their ship as well as they could, but seeing how one of those boats was much in front of the others, they turned round upon it, but it retired towards its companions, and as our men were trying to reach it before it escaped their boat came so near that one of those Guineas made a shot at it and happened to hit Alvaro Fernandez with an arrow in the leg. But since he had already been warned of its poison, he drew out that arrow very quickly and had the wound washed with urine and olive oil, and then anointed it very well with theriack, and it pleased God that it availed him, although his health was in very troublous case, for during certain days he was in the very act of passing away from life. The others on the caravel, although they saw their captain thus wounded, desisted not from voyaging forward along that coast until they arrived at a narrow strip of sand stretching in front of a great bay, and here they put out their boat and went inside to see what kind of land they would find; and when they were in sight of the beach they saw coming toward them full 120 Guineas, some with shields and assegais, others with bows. And as soon as they came near the water these began to play and dance like men far removed from any sorrow; but our men in the boat, wishful to escape from the invitation to that festival, returned to their ship. And this took place 110 leagues beyond Cape Verde, and all that coast tendeth commonly to the south . And this caravel went further this year than all the others . . .
In the following year, which was 1447 from the birth of Christ, the Infant considering that the Moors would not enter into trafficking at the Rio do Ouro, and that even though they had been minded to do it aforetime, yet now their good will would be altogether lacking on account of the Moors who had been captured by Gomez Pirez, wished to make trial if perchance the matter might better be accomplished by trafficking at that place which is called Meca. And that he might also obtain a better knowledge of that land, he straightaway ordered them to make ready a caravel of an esquire of his called Diego Gil, the which was a man who had right well served him in the wars of the Moors both by land and by sea. And after he had taken order for these things, he had tidings that a merchant of Castile, named Marcos Cisfontes, was possessed of twenty-six Moors, from that place, who were already ransomed in exchange for certain Guineas. And in order that his ship might have some cargo on its outward voyage, he let the said merchant know that, if it pleased him, his Moors should be transported to that place in the caravel which he had made ready, if only he would give him a certain part of his profits in the said ransom. . . . Wherefore John Fernandez, that esquire who had remained for those seven months among the Moors of the Sahara, as you have already heard, spake to Diego Gil and Rodrigueannes, another esquire whom the Infant was sending there to carry out the trafficking, and also to a Castilian merchant who was there to ransom the Moors. And he said: ‘If you are willing, I will go on land to arrange this ransom.’ And taking his sureties, he went amongst them, and bargained in such wise that he had fifty-one Guineas brought to the caravel, in exchange for whom eighteen Moors were given. And then it came to pass that the wind arose with such force from the side of the South that he was obliged to raise sail and return to the Kingdom. . . .
At the commencement of this book, I assigned five reasons by which our high-souled Prince was moved to send his ships so often in the toil of this Conquest. . . . It remaineth for me to tell of the fifth reason, and to fix the certain number of the souls of infidels who have come from those lands to this, through the virtue and talents of our glorious Prince. And I counted these souls and found they were nine hundred twenty and seven, of whom, as I have said before, the greater part were turned into the true path of salvation. . . . For after this year (1448) the affairs of these parts were hence forth treated more by trafficking and bargaining of merchants than by bravery and toil in arms.”
Now, concerning the scope of the invasion Azurara described, Wikipedia states:
“Of all the captains of Henry of the 1440s, Fernandes seems to have taken the coastal discoveries further. Almost certainly, on his first expedition (1445), Fernandes had surpassed all others and is the first European to land on Bezeguiche (island of Goree in the Bay of Dakar ), sailing to the Cape Palos (out Naze ), today in the central part of the coast of Senegal.
The extent of his second trip of 1446 is more uncertain. Zurara reports that Fernandes sailed up to 110 leagues beyond Cabo Verde. If Zurara the statement was accurate, it would mean that Fernandes had reached the vicinity of Cape Verga ( 10 ° 12'16 "N 14 ° 27'13" Or , in the current Guinea ), an incredible leap beyond the last point. The reporter Joao de Barros goes even further, identifying the Fernandes River as the ‘Tabite River’ that Fernandes traced. The exact identification of the ‘Tabite River’ is uncertain, because that name is not found in the ancient letters. Barros simply states that the Tabite River is 32 miles beyond the ‘Rio de Nuno Tristão.’ Assuming that the latter would be the Nunez River (in modern Guinea), that would identify the ‘Tabite River’ with the Forecariah River ( 9 ° 16'57 "N 13 ° 20'10" Or , in present-day Guinea), which would imply that Fernandes must have traveled a tremendous 135 leagues beyond Cape Verde, well beyond the 110 leagues suggested by Zurara. At the other extreme, the Viscount of Santarém identifies the ‘Tabite River’ with the Rio do Lago ( Diombos River , in the delta Sine-Saloum of present - day Senegal), only 24 leagues from Cape Verde. However, the Diombos is the main candidate for Nuno Tristão's own death. If that was also sailed by Fernandes, that dismisses the claim Fernandes having passed the last point of Nuno Tristão for many leagues. The ‘Tabite River’ has also tentatively been identified with the Gambia River, although this does not find many followers for the same reasons of being too close to the last point of Tristão.
Modern historians believe that both Zurara and Barros exaggerated a lot in what implies that Álvaro Fernandes arrived in present-day Guinea. In particular, it is very unlikely that had sailed beyond the huge river Geba and the many islands Bissagos and other notable headlands and accidents without exploring them or make any mention of them. Moreover, says Zurara along the route Fernandes took from Cape Verde, the ‘generally tended south coast’, eliminating the wildest estimates (coastal runs southeast constant way after out Roxo ).
Reviewing the evidence, Teixeira da Mota suggests that the ‘Tabite River’ that Fernandes traced was probably the Casamance River ( 12 ° 33'7 "N 16 ° 45'50" W , Senegal) and that the low cape and the sandy bay that marked its end point was the section around Cape Varela ( 12 ° 17'01 "N 16 ° 35'25" W , just below Cape Roxo, at the northern end of what is now Guinea-Bissau ). This means that Fernandes actually sailed 50 leagues (not 110) beyond Cape Verde. That still makes it the furthest point reached by the Portuguese discoveries in the 1440s.
The only real difficulty with Casamance hypothesis is the use of poisoned arrows, which were common among people Serer, Nominka and Mandinga of Saloum-Gambia area but not between tribes Diolas (Felupes) Casamance. But historians doubt that Fernandes had been really hurt with a poisoned arrow, instead of a common arrow, and that he only suffered a common infection as a sequel. The very fact that he survived suggests that he was not poisoned, as well as the fact that there is no record of other sailors reporting similar injuries. (This contrasts sharply with the destination Nuno Tristão and his crew on the Diombos River, where a score of men fell dead quickly from the poison of the Nominka. Given the fate of Tristão, Zurara may have simply assumed that all the tribes of southern Cape Verde used poison.
The other note is the reason that Fernandes's caravel was ambushed in the river by the Casamance Diolas, who were not familiar with the Portuguese. Teixeira da Mota points out that the kidnapping of the woman in the bank may have alerted the people of the rivers to the hostile intentions of the Portuguese. This contrasts with the Diola and behavior on the beaches of Cape Varela, the receipt and festive greetings to Portuguese ship reveals that had little or no previous notion of the Portuguese slavers.
Unfortunately, Zurara does not report the topographical names granted by Álvaro Fernandes on his second trip, and the imprecise magnitudes reported ("some days", "a certain distance") are not very easy to elucidate, leaving the conclusion open to discussion. The only thing that seems certain is that Fernandes sailed past his previous mark in 1446, and that it would stand as the best registered trademark achieved by the Portuguese discoveries in the next decade. The Fernandes brand was only surpassed ten years later, in 1456, by Alvise Cadamosto , a Venetian explorer in the service of Enrique. Cadamosto claimed to be the discoverer of the river Casamance, and named it by the local king (mansa) of the Kasa (an almost extinct village related to the Bainuk .)