Master João Faras left the ships on 27 April, and with the assistance of the pilots Afonso Lopes and Pedro Escobar, set up a large wooden astrolabe on the beach (more reliable than the tin ones used aboard ship) with the objective of taking the altitude of the sun at mid-day and determine their position. The latitude measure calculated by Faras on 27 April was 17° S (Cabralia Bay is actually at 16° 21' S, thus his error was less than 40').Couto, 1999:p.51-52
