Although the map on the sheet looks modern, it was, in fact, composed in 1776 by Simão Antonio da Roza Pinheiro of Rio de Janeiro. It exists as a manuscript in the Museu da Marinha in Rio De Janeiro under the title Carta nautica do Atlantico. Pinheiro was a pilot in the royal service. He made a number of maps which have survived. The original contains much more detail than the souvenir sheet. The only settlement on the sheet is Castelo Damina in Africa, a trading post established on the Guinea coast in 1482 by the Portuguese.

     The souvenir sheet was issued to celebrate the centenary of the founding of Brazil's Naval Institute of Hydrography and Navigation, which was established by imperial decree, February 2, 1876.