Roteiro (navigation)

A Roteiro was a Portuguese navigational route description compiled to aid sailors and pilots and used from the 16th to the 19th centuries, an early version of a Baedeker Guide. The Portuguese word 'roteiro' translates as 'route',[1] the French a routier, from which the English word "rutter" is derived.

Well-known roteiros are:

• Aleixo da Mota's roteiro of the 1600s, describing the route from India along the African coast.
• The 1666 Roteiro da India Oriental by Antonio de Maris Carneiro, which describes the coastline from Sofala to Mombasa, noting harbours and sandbars, Cape Finisterre and the Strait of Gibraltar.
• The 1823 Roteiro da costa do Maranhaõ ePará by António Gregório de Freitas, covering the coastline of Maranhão and Pará, two northeastern states of Brazil.