This is a bronze bust of the Portuguese discoverer of the Cape route to India (1497-8). On the pedestal is carved a scene from Camões' epic Os Lusíadas depicting the Adamastor, a poetic monster opposing the entry of the Portuguese ships into the Indian Ocean, but with Venus is leading them on.

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The discovery brought about the rise of Portugal and the other Atlantic countries of Europe, hastening the decline of the Italian republics, for the Portuguese soon found the way to Malacca and the Spice Islands, then the centre of the most coveted trade in the world.

Reference: Map of Macau, Hong Kong Printing Press, 1949.