Hanno the Navigator

Hanno was a Carthaginian navigator who probably lived around the fifth century BCE. He is remembered for leading an expedition along the western coast of Africa.

The Periplus of Hanno is the surviving account associated with his voyage. The original Punic record is lost, and the text that survives is generally understood as a Greek translation made in antiquity.

The exact route is disputed because the surviving text is short and translated. Interpretations have placed the expedition anywhere from the Atlantic coast of Morocco to areas near Sierra Leone or Gabon.

The Periplus describes meeting hairy people whom interpreters called gorillai. Later writers connected that word with gorillas, but the identity of the people and the exact location remain debated.