Álvaro Vasques

Squire in the service of Prince Henry the Navigator, he participated in 1445 in the expedition with destination to the west coast of Africa, which was supplied by Treasurer Gonçalo Pacheco. 25 leagues (80 nautical miles) after Tidra Island, the captains in the fleet gathered to decide if some men should land to explore the hinterlands. Álvaro Vasques suggested that three men would disembark in one shore and other three in a different one so they could gather information about the place. Álvaro Vasques himself landed to investigate the land and made ten Moor prisoners. Later, he was granted permission from the captains to explore the coast in order to find the settlements where he could take more slaves. Among the men that accompanied him was Diogo Gil, also Squire in the service of Prince Henry and whom he knew since childhood. While exploring the coast, they found a cape, which they named Santa Ana, and also a narrow inlet of the sea, resembling a river, from where they sighted a village that they decided to assault and where they made 35 slaves.

Bibliography:
ZURARA, Gomes Eanes de, Crónica dos feitos notáveis que se passaram na conquista de Guiné por mandado do infante D. Henrique, 2 vols., Lisboa, Academia Portuguesa de História, 1973-1981.

Translated by: Ana Pereira