São Tomé captain Fernão de Mello signs contract for Benin river slave trade

The new captain of São Tomé, Fernão de Mello, who took up his office in 1500, signed with the king of Portugal a contract by which he received from the Casa da Mina 16,000 manillas "for the barter of slaves and pepper in the rivers of the said island" — the slave rivers. He also received 1,877 manillas from the royal factor at Ughoton, plus fetters and irons for slaves. The contract envisaged a joint enterprise with de Mello contributing ships and crews and the crown supplying merchandise; contemporaries believed de Mello waxed rich on the profits.