Voyage of the São Joāo introduces "cloth" as new standard trade unit in Benin

When the royal ship São João reached Ughoton in August 1526, the pilot was met by three officials sent by the Oba, each of whom had to be paid five "cloths" for unspecified services — the first reference to the pano (cloth) as a standard unit in Benin trade. The cloth was a piece of linen two-thirds of a yard in length, almost certainly equivalent to the earlier "customary yard." A second ship brought 512,520 cowry shells weighing 15 quintals 96 pounds in 1526, documenting the massive introduction of Maldive cowries. By 1526 the king of Congo complained in a letter to John III of Portugal of people from Cacheu and Benin causing trouble in his land.