The Infante received these "gifts" in 1432, and immediately ordered that herds be sent to the island, while he organized a plan. For his discovery, Gonçalo Velho was given the hereditary fief () of the island of Santa Maria. In 1432, the Infante Henry, upon receiving notice of a mystical island to the north of Santa Maria, sent orders to Gonçalo Velho to explore the waters and relate any discovery. On 3 April 1443, King Afonso V of Portugal, on the request of the Henry the Navigator, had bestowed on Gonçalo Velho the title of Commander of the Islands of the Azores. Cabral had organized a settlement of essentially familial relations, who would arrive on the island of Santa Maria in the summer of 1435. It was during Henry's encounter with Velho Cabral that notice of the discovery to the north of Santa Maria was transmitted to the Prince.