KOSTER, Henry, English explorer, born in Liverpool in 1793; died in Pernambuco, 20 May, 1820. His father was a merchant in Liverpool, and sent his son, who had been ordered to travel for his health, to his agent in Pernambuco. Young Henry landed in that city on 7 December, 1809, and, acquiring strength in a few months, began to explore the country, studying its natural productions. In the summer of 1811 he paid a short visit to England, returning on 27 December to Pernambuco, where he had resolved to make his home. He afterward bought the island of Itamaraca, which he colonized. Koster was the first to give to Europeans exact notions about the remote provinces of Brazil, where he travelled. He published" Travels in Brazil" (London, 1816), and " Explorations in Northern Brazil, 1809-'15, through the Provinces of Pernambuco, Ceara Parahiba, etc." (1816).