In the 1970s Mendonça's name became well known in Australian history discussions when it was connected to the Theory of the Portuguese discovery of Australia by Kenneth McIntyre [REF].
McIntyre's identification of Mendonça as the likely commander of a Portuguese fleet that charted Australia's east coast c1521-4 has also been accepted by other writers of the Theory of the Portuguese discovery of Australia, including Lawrence Fitzgerald (1984)[REF] and Peter Trickett [REF].