- Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo by Andre Engels The descent of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo (also known under his Portuguese name Jo o Rodrigues Cabrilho) is not entirely clear. Most believe that he was born in Portugal, but lived most of his life in the Spanish New World colonies. Others believe that he was born Spanish. He had already joined a few voyages of discovery (he had come to Mexico with Narvaez, ...www.win.tue.nl/cs/fm/engels/discovery/cabrillo.html