 In 1497, Vasco da Gama took Abraham Zacuto's tables and the astrolabe with him on the maiden trip to India.It would continue to be used by Portuguese ships thereafter to reach far destinations such as Brazil and India.Zacuto might have an uncredited appearance in Luís de Camões's 1572 epic poem, "The Lusiad", as the unnamed "old man of Restelo beach", a Cassandra-like character that surges forward just before Vasco da Gama's departure to chide the vanity of fame and warn of the travails that await him (Canto IV, v.94-111).