African coast started in 1412 and ended with the crossing of the Cape of Good Hope in 1488. After his return from Ceuta, Henry the navigator founded a school of navigation in Sagres.The vessel employed in the beginning of the Discoveries was the caravel, varying from 50 to 160 tons. The first results came soon and Gonçalves Zarco discovers the Porto Santo Island in 1419 and the Madeira Island in 1420, Diogo de Silves discovered the azorean island of Santa Maria in 1427. In 1424, Gil Eanes crosses the Cape Bojador. Diogo Cão and Bartolomeu Dias arrived to the mouth of the Zaire River in 1482. In the same year, the São Jorge da Mina castle is built in the coast of Western Africa, by Diogo de Azambuja, becoming one of the most important Portuguese naval bases. This structure exists to this day and is a robust example of slave trade in this era. History of Elmina Castle and the Dutch and Portuguese navies would be enlightening. In 1488, Bartolomeu Dias became the first European to sail around the southernmost tip of Africa, the Cape of Good Hope. João Vaz Corte-Real arrived at Newfoundland in 1473. Part of the coast of Newfoundland was charted by the Corte-Real brothers, sons of João Vaz Corte-Real, in a failed attempt to find the Northwest Passage in 1501. In 1499, João Fernandes Lavrador and Pêro de Barcelos arrive in Labrador (named after the previous one) and map its coast. The greatest achievement of these exploration voyages was attained by Vasco da Gama, who in 1498 became the European discoverer of the sea route to India. In 1500, when leading a second Portuguese Armada of 13 ships to India, Pedro Álvares Cabral discovered and explored Brazil, claiming it for Portugal. In the same year, Diogo Dias, as one of the Captains of the fleet to India of Pedro Álvares Cabral, is separated from the main fleet by a storm while crossing the Cape of Good Hope, and becomes the first European to reach Madagascar. Besides the already existing role of Admiral of Portugal, the Crown creates the role of Admiral of India, whose first holder becomes Vasco da Gama in 1500. With the first established sea route to the Indian Ocean, the Portuguese started to use the carrack ship (nau in Portuguese). Nevertheless, the Portuguese penetration in the Indian Ocean was not peaceful due to