Feast of the Cross
Before departing, Cabral instructed Pêro Vaz de Caminha to write a letter to King Manuel I of Portugal, officially reporting the discovery of this new land – or island, as they initially believed. Caminha's letter ("Carta de Pêro Vaz de Caminha") gives a detailed report of the expedition up to that point, and of the new land and people they had discovered. Caminha's letter is dated 1 May and signed from the location of "deste Porto Seguro da vossa ilha da Vera Cruz" ("this Safe Harbor of your island of the True Cross"), the name Cabral bestowed in honor of Feast of the Cross (3 May in the liturgical calendar).