Packet Trade

Much information on The Cape Verde Packet Trade can be found under Special Programs at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth's website.

References to the Mathilde or the packet trade in general are found in the links throughout this post. The term "packet" refers to "a regularly scheduled ship which carries cargo, mail, and passengers." The Portuguese men (and sometimes women) of the "packet trade" traveled back and forth on ships from different Cape Verde islands to New England, especially Cape Cod and New Bedford.

1943 (August 23). A group of men from Brava, some born in America, risked a clandestine Atlantic crossing aboard the packet Mathilde and set sail for New England in the middle of World War II. They planned to secure emergency relief supplies and immediately return to Brava. The Mathilde was lost at sea with all hands somewhere near Bermuda. Chronological references: Cabo Verde/Cape Verdean Americans

Brava, CVI

A famous ship in the Cape Verde packet trade was the schooner Ernestina. Read more about her here.