frica History Online. The early settlement in Cape Verde by Arab and African fishermen has only been related through oral history, and remains a part of the mythological stories of origin of the archipelago. It is generally agreed that the Islands where [sic] uninhabited when the Portuguese first landed in 1456.↑ Halter, Marilyn (2013). "Cape Verdeans and Cape Verdean Americans, 1870–1940". In Barkan, Elliott Robert (ed.). Immigrants in American History: Arrival, Adaptation, and Integration, Volume 1. ABC-CLIO Publisher. p. 269. ISBN 978-1-59884-219-7. Although Cape Verdean folklore includes stories of landings by Arab and African fishermen prior to the sighting of the archipelago by Portuguese navigators in the mid-fifteenth century, most historians concur that it was uninhabited when the Portuguese began to settle there.↑ Carta regia (royal letter) of 19 September 1462↑ Cape Verde background note . United States Department of State (July 2008).↑ Cape Verde background note . U