MMW 13 Chapter Reading: Portuguese in Africa -- Zarara
6 May 2018
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Slave Raiding on the Sahara Coast, 1445
A Portuguese slave raiding group had their nets and fish taken by some of the natives.
The raiders went to a nearby island to try and find their stuff, but the natives ambushed them. A
few couldn’t make it back to the ship and were killed. The author writes that the people acted
out of revenge for their friends and relatives who had been captured by the Portuguese. He also
says that there was a rumor that the natives cannibalized the men they killed, and even though
some of the people he captured later denied it, he said he still believed that they did it because
it was written in Marco Polo’s book to be a revenge practice in the East.
The Portuguese Run Into Opposition, 1446
A Portuguese raiding ship was commissioned by Joao Goncalves of Madeira to bring
him an especially valuable prize from Africa. They set sail, find some goats that the natives have
left behind, kill an armed villager who was standing up against them, and then capture a mother
and her children as they were fishing. After this, they went inland a bit, but encountered armed
natives and turned back because they had poison arrows. The captain was shot with one of
these arrows, so they turned back to Portugal and obtained another slave woman through
trading. They liked this because it was easy and not dangerous. They got a reward for sailing
further down the coast than anyone before them.
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Document Summary
A portuguese slave raiding group had their nets and fish taken by some of the natives. The raiders went to a nearby island to try and find their stuff, but the natives ambushed them. A few couldn"t make it back to the ship and were killed. The author writes that the people acted out of revenge for their friends and relatives who had been captured by the portuguese. A portuguese raiding ship was commissioned by joao goncalves of madeira to bring him an especially valuable prize from africa. They set sail, find some goats that the natives have left behind, kill an armed villager who was standing up against them, and then capture a mother and her children as they were fishing. After this, they went inland a bit, but encountered armed natives and turned back because they had poison arrows.
