April 22, 1500Land ho! We have reached a new land! We have not heard of this land on the way to India, and I have certainly not seen the people here. They look almost like the "Indians" that Christopher Columbus described, but I am sure we are not here yet, for these people do not even have the spices I am looking for! I have dispatched one of my ships to go inform the King. I have sent with them a proclamation, proclaiming that this land is now Portuguese territory, and I have named it "Island of True Cross". Reaching this new area makes me think that the storm that we encountered gave us good luck. Oh, it was a horrible storm indeed. Rain poured down, as if the Mighty Lord was sobbing. The winds howled, and blinding lights flashed against the sky, followed by big booms. My men were tough, or at least most of them.
In True Cross, the natives there were unclothed, and dark skinned. Right between black and white. We let them aboard our ship, and they helped us survive
Pedro Alvares Cabral
