Throughout the early 15th century, the nautical school of Henry the Navigator was extending Portuguese knowledge of the African coast. The goal was to find the quickest route from Europe to India. After Henry's death, Bartholomew Dias reached the Cape of Good Hope and discovered that there was a way around the continent from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. Nearly ten years after, their Spanish rivals appointed Christopher Columbus to sail to the East Indies. The Portuguese then appointed Estêvão da Gama to beat the Spaniards. However, he died before he could begin, so his son, Vasco da Gama was given the job. On July 8, 1497, four Portuguese ships with 170 sailors aboard left Lisbon for the voyage around Africa to India. Unlike many African coast explorers before him, da Gama sailed well out into the Atlantic because the winds would carry the ships to the Cape...