For almost four months they sailed across the Atlantic without sight of land until, on *4 November 1497, they reached a bay (current day St Helena). Vasco's brother, Paulo, captained the Sao Raphael. The commander-in-chief, Vasco da Gama embarked on the Sao Gabriel accompanied by his pilot, Pedro de Alenquer. The Portuguese expedition set off from the Tagus River on 8 July 1497 with a crew of 148 men in a squadron of three square-riggers, the Sao Gabriel, the Sao Raphael, the Berrio, and a supply ship. For an unpacking of this mystification of the history of exploration. The reason why groups often state their arrival on some foreign land as a 'discovery' is because, according to the primitive 'finders keepers' rule, this lends support to any claim they make to 'owning' the land. The land was already occupied and was being used by the inhabitants. The reason for putting 'discovery' in inverted commas is because the land was not, as so many explorers argue, discovered by them. This feature focuses on the first, as it was during this expedition that Vasco da Gama's crew landed in South Africa. Vasco da Gama carried out 2 expeditions between 14.
