ABSTRACT
The news of Da Gama’s arrival in India was first received in Portugal through Nicolau Coelho, who reached Lisbon on board the Berrio on July 10, 1499. The sole region of the African seaboard which still continued to be drawn rather conventionally was the Red Sea. The Gulf of Suez is shown with its characteristic sharp-pointed form, the general orientation of the Red Sea is improved, and the nomenclature displayed along the African shores denote the cartographer’s acquaintance with the Roteiro. The islands of Zanzibar and Madagascar are misplaced in the middle of the Indian Ocean, far away from their real location. The Cantino planisphere could indeed be considered the first modern depiction of the African outline. Besides the rigorous toponymy, a number of legends written in the adjoining hinterland inform us with considerable detail about the experience of the Portuguese along the west coast of Africa.
