Natal, officially The Commonwealth of Natal (Portuguese: Nação de Natal, Dutch: Volksrepubliek van Natal) Also formerly referred to as "British Brazil" and "Insular Brazil." Not to be confused with the South African province KwaZulu-Natal, is a large bell shaped island located off the south coast of Brazil. Originally discovered by Portuguese sailor Joao Maria Cavalho de Algarve on Christmas day 1513 (thus the name Ilha do Natal) The Dutch conquered the island along with much of Northern Brazil in 1630. The island remained Dutch after the 1661 Treaty of the Hague which ended the Dutch-Portuguese War. The island was purchased by the Dutch East India company in 1658 as a weigh station for ships traveling to Cape Town on the route to the East Indies. Natal was annexed by the British Empire al