Map of the island of Santo Antão in Cape Verde

Title Leupe: Kaart van het Eyland St. Antonio.

In April 1762 the Directors gave instructions to find out whether the islands of St. Vincent and St. Antonio were suitable for taking on supplies and at the same time to check whether they ‘lay on the right latitude’, that is, had been drawn on the maps with the correct coordinates. The investigation was done by Nicolaas Pietersz, skipper of the Amstelveen on the way to Batavia. On 5 September 1762 he reported that the location of the islands was shown more or less accurately on the maps. A passing Portuguese ship had pointed the way and informed the skipper that the roadstead of St. Vincent was the usual anchorage for them.

The report was less positive regarding the possibilities for finding supplies on the islands. St. Antonio (Santo Antão), which was explored by skipper (actually probably navigator) J.W. Cloppenburg, turned out to be desolate and infertile, and although good drinking water was found near the village, the quantity was too small to be of any use for the ships. The greatest part of the island appears uncultivated on this map, which confirms the scarcity of food.

North is below

Scale-bar of 8 German miles fifteen in a degree = [approximately 1 : 179,600].