Explores of Portugal

   Pedro is believed to be born in Belmonte, Portugal in 1468. He was the third son of Fernao Cabral; the governor of Beira and Belmonte, and Isabel de Gouveia de Queiros. In 1499 he was sent to travel to India to bring Christianity to it by King Manel 1. He was captain of 13 ships and 1,500 men. He was to follow Vasco de Gama's route, but along the way he ran into a storm that took him off course, which lead to the discovery of Brazil on April 22 1500, which also brought a lot of wealth to Portugal(at that time it was called The Cape of Good Hope). One of the ships, commanded by Diego Dias, discovered an island that he named after St. Lawrence, now known as Madagascar.
   Pedro continued his journey to India. But instead of bringing Christianity, he traded for pepper and other spices.But bad luck struck again from the 2 day bombardment of the city he was in trading. He returned to Portugal with only 4 of his 13 ships on June 23, 1501. In 1502, he turns down the King's offer to command another expedition. He died in1520 and was buried in a monastery in Santarem, Portugal. He has been honored on a number of ways, one example is a set of stamps issued January 1, 1900 to mark the 400th anniversary of the discovery.