PACHECO PEREIRA, DUARTE

flourished 16th century Portuguese sea captain and explorer who may have discovered Brazil in 1498, two years before Pedro Alvarez Cabral explored the Brazilian coast. Because of his military exploits in India, the poet Cames called him Aquiles Lusitano (the Portuguese Achilles). Pacheco Pereira, reared at the Portuguese court, was an educated man, serving as a squire to King John II. He became an expert cartographer as well as a pilot and shipmaster. He explored the coast of Africa in 1488, returning with Bartolomeu Dias, who had discovered the Cape of Good Hope. Pacheco Pereira sailed with Dias in 1500 on the voyage during which Dias claimed Brazil for the King of Portugal. In 1504 Pacheco Pereira helped defend the Portuguese trading station at Cochin, India, against attacks by the ruler of Calicut. With about 200 Portuguese, Pacheco Pereira successfully held off armies that numbered well over 20,000 men. Returning to Portugal in 1505, Pacheco Pereira received many honours. He collected his logbooks and charts and wrote a valuable account of Portuguese exploration (published in modern editions in 1892 and 1903). He was appointed governor of So Jorge da Mina but fell into disgrace when enemies reported that he had embezzled official funds. He was exonerated, but he died shortly thereafter in poverty.