On the 4th of July 1497 da Gama left Lisbon with four ships: the "São Gabriel", the "São Rafael", the "Berrio", and a storage ship of unknown name. He intended to sail to India. No European explorer before him had sailed further than the place that is now called South Africa. Vasco da Gama sailed around the bottom of the African continent. Da Gama's crew gave the South African coast they were passing the name "Natal", which means "Christmas" in Portuguese. They did this because they sailed by it at Christmas. The coast is still called Natal. 