Gonçalo Coelho

Biography

In 1501 Coelho was sent to follow up on Pedro Álvares Cabral's discovery of Brazil. The expedition made landfall off the Brazilian coast at about 5° S on 17 August. Continuing south, it reached Guanabara Bay at 23° S on New Year's Day 1502, naming it Rio de Janeiro. The fleet sailed two degrees further south to modern Cananéia before departing Brazil on 13 February 1502.

According to Vespucci's account, the expedition reached 52° S in the cold latitudes of present-day Patagonia, encountering inhospitable seas and shores before turning back, though this remains controversial. Only one caravel returned to Lisbon on 7 September 1502. Brazilian historian Varnhagen believed the expedition may have discovered South Georgia Island in April 1502, based on a report by Vespucci. Coelho sailed again from Lisbon on 10 May 1503 with six sail, Vespucci again accompanying him as captain of one ship.

After stopping at Bezeguiche island near the Cape Verde peninsula, the ships reached an island in the midst of the sea, probably Fernando de Noronha, where the flagship wrecked on a reef on 10 August; all men were saved and transferred to Vespucci's ship. They found a harbour, rendezvoused with one other vessel, and sailed to Brazil, arriving in November at a bay they named Todos os Santos, today Baía de Todos os Santos. After waiting in vain for the rest of the fleet, they sailed south to another bay, where they stayed five months building a fort and loading logwood.