'Nuno Tristão' was a
15th century Portuguese explorer and
slave trader who was the first
European to land in what is today
Guinea-Bissau.
In
1441, Tristão and
Antão Gonçalves were sent by
Henry the Navigator to explore the
West African coast. With one of Henry's
Moorish servants to act as an
interpreter, Tristão, the expedition's leader, sailed to
Cabo Blanco, the furthest any European had been at that time beyond the
Río de Oro. During the next two years, he explored the coast down to
Arguim, where he took 28 slaves. In
1445 he sailed further south to
Guinea, "where there were many
palms and other trees, and all the fields looked to be fertile". In
1446 Tristão landed near what is today the city of
Bissau.
He was killed during a slave raid approximately 320
kilometres south of
Cape Verde at an unknown date, probably in 1446.
See also
★
Portugal in the period of discoveries
★
Portuguese empire
Reference
★ Castlereagh, Duncan. ''Encyclopedia of Discovery and Exploration - The Great Age of Exploration''. Aldus Books London, 1971.