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2 unusual facts about Manuel de Mesquita Perestrelo


Manuel de Mesquita Perestrelo

He was one of only 64 survivors who reached Inhambane on foot - the ship had carried a total of 473 crew members and passengers - only 23 were finally picked up.

Places he marked on his chart were Cape da Boa Esperança, Cape False, Cape Agulhas, Cape Infanta, St Sebastian Bay, Cape St Blaize (Cabo de São Bras = Mossel Bay), Ponta Delgada (Point Slender = Robberg), Formosa Bay, Formosa Peak, St Francis Bay, Cabo de Arrecife (Cape Recife), St Lucia (landed there on 13 December 1575, day of the Feast of Santa Lucia),


Formosa Peak

The peak was first mapped in 1576 during a voyage by the Portuguese navigator and cartographer, Manuel de Mesquita Perestrelo, when his ship put in at Plettenberg Bay, which he named 'Bahia Formosa' or 'beautiful bay'.


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