sentences:  From contemporary records, we know the earliest Portuguese were made in Antwerp for the monarch and possibly other places, and are about long, about gauge, weighing in 1529, though by 1548 the dimensions and weight were reduced to about -.In many places brass, which is cheaper and easier to cast, was preferred to copper, so the Portuguese introduced smaller, yellow manillas made of copper and lead with traces of zinc and other metals.In "Benin, Royal Art of Africa", by Armand Duchateau, is a massive manilla of across and gauge, crudely cast with scoop-faceted sides, and well worn.