In 1532 he established the first permanent Portuguese colony in Brazil at São Vicente (near present-day Santos), where he introduced sugar cane. In his efforts to expel French intruders and to find precious metals he explored the coast south from Rio de Janeiro to the Rio de la Plata. In 1534 he was granted the hereditary captaincy of São Vicente but he never returned to Brazil, and later served as governor of India and as a member of the Council of State in Lisbon.