 On 21 July 1521 he sailed from the mouth of Rio Tejo (Tagus) to Brazil, founded an outpost in Itamaracá, Pernambuco, one of the most popular anchorages on the Brazilian coast, where there was plenty of Brazil wood ("Caesalpinia echinata") and had frequent contacts between Natives and Europeans, before going south to Río de la Plata and entering the Parana River for about 23 leagues (around 140 km) to near the present city of Rosario for the first time.Finally, in 1526, he was appointed, by King João III, as Governor of all Parts of Brazil, replacing Pero Capico in Pernambuco, and returned again in command of a ship and five caravels, having countless battles with French pirates.In 1527 he imprisoned three French galleons in Recôncavo, Bahia.