This description of Cacheu, probably written sometime around 1615, provides a vivid picture of an Afro-Portuguese trading town, a number of which existed along the coast of upper Guinea. Such towns were gateways to the interior and for the Africans a port through which to access the Atlantic world. Cacheu was situated on the left bank of the São Domingos River (later called the Cacheu River) in the Papel state of Cacanda. The name first occurs early in the sixteenth century, but the Portuguese town appears only to have come into existence after about 1560. The settlement was raided by John Hawkins in 1567 and, as French interlopers became increasingly active along the coast, the Portuguese sought permission to fortify their town. Once inside their fortifications, the Portuguese began to assert their independence from the Papel and it was this that led to the attack on the settlement in 1590, which is described in such triumphal terms by Álvares.

Early in the seventeenth century, it was made the ‘capital’ of the Guinea settlements. The Portuguese population was largely made up of people of mixed race and settlers who came over from Cape Verde, along with their clients and slaves. […]