Fernandes de Encisco

One early reference to Kilimanjaro has come to light, that of a Spanish geographer Fernandes de Encisco, who in 1519 published his Suma De Geographia Que Trata De Todas Las Partidas Y Provincias Del Mundo.

He states, and here I quote from Johnston (1886: p. 7 n.2) "West of this port (Mombasa) is the Ethiopian Mount Olympus, which is very high, and further off are the mountains of the moon in which are the sources of the Nile. In all this country are much gold and "aineles fieros" (probably "animaels fiieros" wild animals) and here devour the people locasts (lagostas)"

Johnston acknowledges his endebtedness for this reference to E.G. Ravenstein, a mid-19th Century geographer, but Meyer (1891 p. 5-6) who also uses the same quotation from Encisco, does not indicate his source. His quotation is not however taken directly from Johnston, as the translation is slightly different.