Pedro de Sintra

…began with a Portuguese sailor, Pedro de Sintra, who reached the Liberian coast in 1461. Subsequent Portuguese explorers named Grand Cape Mount, Cape Mesurado (Montserrado), and Cape Palmas, all prominent coastal features. The area became known as the Grain Coast because grains of Melegueta pepper, then as valuable as gold,…

…or 1462 the Portuguese navigator Pedro de Sintra reached the cape, a 1,000-foot- (305-metre-) high granite promontory, which he named Cabo do Monte. In the early 19th century a colony of North American freed slaves settled the site, which was part of the Vai territory.

…to the 15th-century Portuguese explorer Pedro de Sintra, the first European to sight and map Freetown harbour. The original Portuguese name, Serra Lyoa (“Lion Mountains”), referred to the range of hills that surrounds the harbour. The capital, Freetown, commands one of the world’s largest natural harbours.