From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Antão Gonçalves was a 15th century Portuguese explorer
and slave trader who was the
first European to
buy Africans as slaves from
black slave traders.
In 1441, Gonçalves was sent by Henry the Navigator to explore the
West African coast
in an expedition under the command of Nuno Tristão. As Gonçalves was
considerably younger than Tristão, his duty was less exploration
than it was hunting the Mediterranean monk seals that inhabit West
Africa. After he had filled his small vessel with seal skins,
Gonçalves, on his own initiative, decided to buy some Africans to
return to Portugal. With nine of his crewmen, Gonçalves bought an
Azenegue Berber
and a black tribesman who had worked as a slave for the
Berbers.
By this time, Tristão had arrived at the same place, and the two
crews joined together for another purchasing trip, on which they
bought 10 slaves, one of them an Azenegue chief. After this,
Tristão continued exploration southwards while Gonçalves returned
to Portugal.
He embarked on another expedition in 1442, taking the Azenegue
chief he had bought the year before. Gonçalves hoped to barter the
chief for a number of the Azenegues' black slaves. He received 10
slaves, some gold dust and,
curiously, a large number of ostrich eggs. However, this expedition
contributed nothing to the cause of exploration; Gonçalves had not
even sailed past the Río de Oro.
Not to be mistaken with another Antão Gonçalves, who coasted the
Island of Madagascar
at the beginnings of the 16th century.
See also
References
- Castlereagh, Duncan. Encyclopedia of Discovery and
Exploration - The Great Age of Exploration. Aldus Books
London, 1971.