Sancho de Tovar, commanding a ship of the 2nd India Armada, had finally located Sofala the previous year, but he only saw it from afar and did not go ashore. It seems that every ship in this armada was issued explicit royal instructions to try to trade for gold in Sofala. Outward Journey February 10, 1502 Two squadrons of the 4th Armada - 10 ships under admiral Vasco da Gama and 5 ships under vice-admiral Vicente Sodré- set out from Lisbon. Late February, 1502 - Fleet anchors in Senegal (either at Porto de Ale (Sali Portudal) or Bezeguiche (Bay of Dakar)) to take water. It is reported in one chronicle that Fernan d'Atouguia, captain of the Leitoa Nova falls ill and dies here. Gama transfers the experienced captain Pedro Afonso de Aguiar from the small nau Santa Elena to the large nau Leitoa Nova, and elevates one of his own companions, Pêro de Mendonça, to captain Aguiar's old ship. Early March, 1502 - The 4th Armada sails southwest from Africa and may make a brief watering stop at Cape St. Augustine (Brazil), before heading across the south Atlantic towards the Cape of Good Hope. April 1, 1502 The third squadron of the 4th Armada - five ships under Estêvão da Gama - finally sets out from Lisbon. Charting its own course, the third squadron will only catch up with the main body of the 4th Armada in India. April–May, 1502 Violent storms at the Cape separates the fifteen ships of Vasco da Gama's fleet. Each captain is forced to figure out his own passage around the Cape, and make his own way towards the pre-arranged rendez-vous point on the other side. May, 1502 After making watering stops in Madeira and Cape Verde, Estevão da Gama's third squadron reportedly spots an island in the south Atlantic. Uncertain which one - could be a Cape Verde island or the Penedo de São Pedro (islets off the Brazilian coast) or even as far as the islands of Trindade and Martim Vaz (further south), but does not stop to investigate. (By coincidence, that very same month, the returning Third Armada of João da Nova discovers the island of Saint Helena; despite the timing, the returning fleet will not encounter any of the ships of the outward armada. But they will pick up letters Nova left behind in Malindi, probably describing his outgoing journey and