In any case, previous seafaring experience was an attribute prized by the captains of European vessels; the sailing skills the Africans possessed made them the target of Europeans on routes where Africa was a stopover or the final destination. A witness account given by a Portuguese artillery captain based in Luanda exemplifies this: he 'took on a black man familiar with the coast' to guide him on a reconnaissance expedition in Quitungo, Ambriz, the mouth of the Congo River, Cabinda, Molembo and the Kingdom of Loango, ${ }^{4}$ which were all places inaccessible without assistance from those familiar with the coastline.  
[^0]
[^0]:    2 For example, Manuel Coelho Rodrigues and Simião Antônio das Mercês, black men born on the island of Príncipe.
3 For example, Manuel de Amaral, a white man born in Cabo Verde.
4 Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino, Conselho Ultramarino, Angola, Box 62 (1779), doc. 72 (June 1779); Box 62, doc. 73 and book 6 of Angola, fls. 26 and ss.  
Table 1. Origins of African sailors in Luso-Brazilian merchant ships (1767-1850)*  
| Locality or "nation" | Number |
| :-- | :-- |
| West Africa | 447, including: |
| Bissau | 20 |
| Cape Verde | 55 |
| Cacheu | 25 |
| Calabar | 11 |
| Costa da Mina (or Mina) | 265 |
| Fasso | 1 |
| Hausa | 11 |
| Mazagan (now El Jadida) /Morocco | 3 |
| Gabon | 1 |
| Dahomey (Jeje) | 10 |
| Guinea | 8 |
| Gorée Island | 1 |
| São Tomé Island | 18 |
| Príncipe Island | 7 |
| Yoruba | 10 |
| Sierra Leone | 1 |
| Central Africa | 385, including: |
| Congo | 9 |
| Angola | 261 |
| Benguela | 73 |
| Cabinda | 25 |
| Cameroon | 6 |
| Baixa de Cassanje | 3 |
| Ngangela | 1 |
| Kingdom of Loango | 1 |
| Kakongo | 2 |
| Monjolo | 1 |
| Rebolo | 3 |
| Indian East Africa | 86, including: |
| East coast | 1 |
| Inhambane | 2 |
| Mozambique | 75 |
| Quelimane | 7 |
| Sena (captain) | 1 |
| Unspecified locations | 4 |
| Unspecified or illegible origins | 6 |  
Table 1 by Jaime Rodrigues.