Jaume Ferrer

Very little is known about Jaume Ferrer except that he was a Majorcan captain who set out in a galley in 1346 and sailed down the West African coast in an attempt to reach the legendary "River of Gold".

[1] Some recent research tentatively identifies Jaume Ferrer as "Giacomino Ferrar di Casa Maveri", a second generation Genoese immigrant in Majorca.

In the bottom-left corner of the map there is a brightly-painted Aragonese-flagged vessel and a note indicating merely that "Jacme Ferrer" set out in an uxer on 10 August 1346 to search for the "Riu de l'Or" (River of Gold).

[8] Vedamel might also be the origin of Budomel, used by early Portuguese explorers in the 15th century to refer to a Wolof statelet on the Grande Côte, south to the Senegal River.

Despite the sparse information, Jaume Ferrer is memorialized in his native city of Palma, in Majorca, by a street name, a statue in the Plaça de les Drassanes and a relief in the town hall.

Detail of the Catalan Atlas of 1375 depicting the ship of Jaume Ferrer
Statue of Jaume Ferrer in Palma