The first known inhabitant of St Helena β long before Napoleon β was a 16th-century Portuguese renegade.In 1506 Fernao Lopes, a member of his countryβs minor nobility, travelled to Goa in search of honour and wealth. There he converted to Islam, married a Muslim, fought his former countrymen, and was eventually captured β his nose and hands publicly cut off for treachery. Eventually sailing for home, he jumped ship at St. Helena, becoming the islandβs first inhabitant, with only a black cockere
