ABSTRACT
The earliest historical references to trading in the Bight of Biafra (the Eastern Nigerian and Cameroons Coast) is in the Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis of Pacheco Pereira which was written about 1508. Referring to the trade of the Rio Real (the common entrance to the New Calabar and Bonny rivers) he says, 'They come from a hundred leagues or more up this river bringing yams in large quantities; they also bring many slaves, cows, goats and sheep. Sheep they call "bozy". They sell all this to the natives of the village for salt, and our ships buy these things for copper bracelets, which are here greatly prized - more than those of brass; for eight or ten bracelets you can obtain one slave' (20: p.132). Unfortunately Pereira does not give the names either of the salt-making village at the mouth of the Rio Real or of the people who came down the river to trade there. Like the other Portuguese sources Pereira stops short at the Rio Real and does not refer to the Cross River estuary or to the Rio del Rey.
