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Americus
Vespucius, navigator; born in Florence, March 9, 1451.
When Columbus was in Seville
preparing for his second voyage, Vespucius was there as a commercial
agent of the Medici family of Florence, and he became personally
acquainted with the discoverer. That acquaintance inspired the
Florentine with an ardent desire to make a voyage to the newly found
continent, and he was gratified when, in 1499, he sailed from Spain
with Alonzo de Ojeda as an adventurer and self-constituted
geographer of the expedition. Ojeda followed the track of Columbus
in his third voyage, and discovered mountains in South America when
off the coast of Surinam. He ran up the coast to the mouth of the
Orinoco River (where Columbus had discovered the continent the year
before), passed along the coast of Venezuela, crossed the Caribbean
Sea to Santo Domingo, kidnapped some natives of the Antilles, and
returned to Spain in June, 1500, and sold his victims for slaves to
Spanish grandees. In May, 1501, Vespucius, then in the service of
the King of Portugal, sailed on his second voyage to America,
exploring the coast of Brazil. In 1503 he commanded a caravel in a
squadron destined for America, but parted company with the other
vessels, and off the coast of Brazil discovered the Bay of
All-Saints. He then ran along the coast 260 leagues, and, taking in
a cargo of Brazil wood, returned to Lisbon in 1504. He entered the
Spanish service again in 1505, was made chief pilot of the realm,
and again voyaged to America. In 1504 Vespucius, in a letter to the
Duke of Lorraine, gave an account of his four voyages to the New
World, in which was given the date of May 29, 1497, as the time when
he sailed on his first voyage. That was a year earlier than the
discovery of the continent of South America by Columbus and of North
America by Cabot, and made it appear that Vespucius was the first
discoverer. After the death of Columbus, in 1506, a friend of
Vespucius proposed to the Academy of Cosmography at Strasburg, upon
the authority of the falsely dated letter, to give the name
"America" to the Western Continent in compliment to its "first
discoverer." It was done, and so Columbus and Cabot were both
deprived of the honor of having their names associated with the
title of this continent. Vespucius died in Seville, Feb. 22, 1512.
Below we present an incredible account of exploration and
expedition. It is based on letters written by Americus describing
his voyages to the new world. The accounts include incredible
descriptions of encounters with the natives (some friendly, some
hostile), and may interesting details of the expeditions. These are
incredibly informative, as they are written by the very hand of one
of the most renowned of the early adventurers.
Amerigo Vespucci First Voyage
His First Voyage.-He started from Cadiz on May
10, 1497, and returned to that city on October 15, 1498. His letter
to Pier Soderini, gonfalonier of the republic of Florence, is as
follows:
Magnificent Lord. After humble reverence and due commendations, etc.
It may be that your Magnificence will be surprised by (this
conjunction of) my rashness and your customary wisdom, in that I
should so absurdly bestir myself to write to your Magnificence, the
present soprolix letter; knowing (as I do) that your Magnificence is
continually employed in high councils and affairs concerning the
good government of this sublime Republic. And will hold me not only
presumptuous, but also idly-meddlesome in setting myself to write
things, neither suitable to your station, nor entertaining; and
written in barbarous style, and outside of every canon of polite
literature: but my confidence which I have in your virtues and in
the truth of my writing, which are things (that) are not found
written neither by the ancients nor by modern writers, as your
Magnificence will in the sequel perceive, make me bold. The chief
cause which moved (me) to write to you, was at the request of the
present bearer, who is named Benvenuto Benvenuti our Florentine
(fellow-citizen), very much, as it is proven, your Magnificence's
servant, and my very good friend: who happening to be here in this
city of Lisbon, begged that I should make communication to your
Magnificence of the things seen by me in divers regions of the
world, by virtue of four voyages which I have made in discovery of
new lands; two by order of the king of Castile, King Don Ferrando
VI., across the great gulf of the Ocean-sea, towards the west: and
the other two by command of the puissant King Don Manuel King of
Portugal, towards the south: Telling me that your Magnificence would
take pleasure thereof, and that herein he hoped to do you service:
wherefore I set me to do it: because I am assured that your
Magnificence holds me in the number of your servants, remembering
that in the time of our youth I was your friend, and now (am your)
servant: and (remembering our) going to hear the rudiments of
grammar under the fair example and instruction of the venerable monk
friar of Saint Mark Fra Giorgio Antonio Vespucci: whose counsels and
teaching would to God that I had followed: for as saith Petrarch, I
should be another man than what I am. Howbeit soever, I grieve not:
because I have ever taken delight in worthy matters: and although
these trifles of mine may not be suitable to your virtues, I will
say to you as said Pliny to Maecenas, you were sometime wont to take
pleasure in my pratflings: even though your Magnificence be
continuously busied in public affairs, you will take some hour of
relaxation to consume a little time in frivolous or amusing things:
and as fennel is customarily given atop of delicious viands to fit
them for better digestion, so may you, for a relief from your so
heavy occupations, order this letter of mine to be read: so that
they may withdraw you somewhat from the continual anxiety and
assiduous reflection upon public affairs: and if I shall be prolix,
I crave pardon, my Magnificent Lord. Your Magnificence shall know
that the motive of my coming into this realm of Spain was to traffic
in merchandise: and that I pursued this intent about four years:
during which I saw and knew the inconstant shiftings of Fortune: and
how she kept changing those frail and transitory benefits; and how
at one time she holds man on the summit of the wheel, and at another
time drives him back from her, and despoils him of what may be
called his borrowed riches: so that, knowing the continuous toil
which man undergoes to win them, submitting himself to so many
anxieties and risks, I resolved to abandon trade, and to fix my aim
upon something more praiseworthy and stable: whence it was that I
made preparation for going to see part of the world and its wonders:
and herefor the time and place presented themselves most opportunely
to me: which was that the King Don Ferrando of Castile being about
to despatch four ships to discover new lands towards the west, I was
chosen by his Highness to go in that fleet to aid in making
discovery: and we set out from the port of Cadiz on the 10 day of
May 1497, and took our route through the great gulph of the
Ocean-sea: in which voyage we were eighteen months (engaged): and
discovered much continental land and innumerable islands, and great
part of them inhabited; whereas there is no mention made by the
ancient writers of them: I believe, because they had no knowledge
thereof: for, if I remember well, I have read in some one (of those
writers) that he considered that this Ocean-sea was an unpeopled
sea: and of this opinion was Dante our poet in the xxvi. chapter of
the Inferno, where he feigns the death of Ulysses: in which voyage I
beheld things of great wondrousness as your Magnificence shall
understand. As I said above, we left the port of Cadiz four consort
ships: and began our voyage in direct course to the Fortunate Isles,
which are called today la gran Canaria, which are situated in the
Ocean-sea at the extremity of the inhabited west, (and) set in the
third climate: over which the North Pole has an elevation of 27 and
a half degrees beyond their horizon: and they are 280 leagues
distant from this city of Lisbon, by the wind between mezzo di and
libeccio: where we remained eight days, taking in provision of
water, and wood and other necessary things: and from here, having
said our prayers, we weighed anchor, and gave the sails to the wind,
beginning our course to westward, taking one quarter by southwest:
and so we sailed on till at the end of 37 days we reached a land
which we deemed to be a continent: which is distant westwardly from
the isles of Canary about a thousand leagues beyond the inhabited
region within the torrid zone: for we found the North Pole at an
elevation of 16 degrees above its horizon, and (it was) westward,
according to the shewing of our instruments, 75 degrees from the
isles of Canary: whereat we anchored with our ships a league and a
half from land: and we put out our boats freighted with men and
arms: we made towards the land, and before we reached it, had sight
of a great number of people who were going along the shore: by which
we were much rejoiced: and we observed that they were a naked race:
they shewed themselves to stand in fear of us: I believe (it was)
because they saw us clothed and of other appearance (than their
own): they all withdrew to a hill, and for whatsoever signals we
made to them of peace and of friendliness, they would not come to
parley with us: so that, as the night was now coming on, and as the
ships were anchored in a dangerous place, being on a rough and
shelterless coast, we decided to remove from there the next day, and
to go in search of some harbour or bay, where we might place our
ships in safety: and we sailed with the maestrale wind, thus running
along the coast with the land ever in sight, continually in our
course observing people along the shore: till after having navigated
for two days, we found a place sufficiently secure for the ships,
and anchored half a league from land, on which we saw a very great
number of people: and this same day we put to land with the boats,
and sprang on shore full 40 men in good trim: and still the land's
people appeared shy of converse with us, and we were unable to
encourage them so much as to make them come to speak with us: and
this day we laboured so greatly in giving them of our wares, such as
rattles and mirrors, beads, spalline, and other trifles, that some
of them took confidence and came to discourse with us: and after
having made good friends with them, the night coming on, we took our
leave of them and returned to the ships: and the next day when the
dawn appeared we saw that there were infinite numbers of people upon
the beach, and they had their women and children with them: we went
ashore, and found that they were all laden with their worldly goods
which are suchlike as, in its (proper) place, shall be related: and
before we reached the land, many of them jumped into the sea and
came swimming to receive us at a bowshot's length (from the shore),
for they are very great swimmers, with as much confidence as if they
had for a long time been acquainted with us: and we were pleased
with this their confidence. For so much as we learned of their
manner of life and customs, it was that they go entirely naked, as
well the men as the women. . . . They are of medium stature, very
well proportioned: their flesh is of a colour that verges into red
like a lion's mane: and I believe that if they were clothed, they
would be as white as we: they have not any hair upon the body,
except the hair of the head which is long and black, and especially
in the women, whom it renders handsome; in aspect they are not very
good-looking, because they have broad faces, so that they seem
Tartar-like: they let no hair grow on their eyebrows, nor on their
eyelids, nor elsewhere except the hair of the head: for they hold
hairness to be a filthy thing: they are very light-footed in walking
and in running, as well the men as the women: so that a woman reeks
nothing of running a league or two, as many times we saw them do:
and herein they have a very great advantage over us Christians: they
swim (with an expertness) beyond all belief, and the women better
than the men: for we have many times found and seen them swimming
two leagues out at sea without anything to rest upon. Their arms are
bows and arrows very well made, save that (the arrows) are not
(tipped) with iron or any other kind of hard metal: and instead of
iron they put animals' or fishes' teeth, or a spike of tough wood,
with the point hardened by fire: they are sure marksmen for they hit
whatever they aim at: and in some places the women use these bows:
they have other weapons, such as fire-hardened spears, and also
clubs with knobs, beautifully carved. Warfare is used amongst them,
which they carry on against people not of their own language, very
cruelly, without granting life to any one, except (to reserve him)
for greater suffering. When they go to war, they take their women
with them, not that these may fight, but because they carry behind
them their worldly goods, for a woman carries on her back for thirty
or forty leagues a load which no man could bear: as we have many
times seen them do. They are not accustomed to have any Captain, nor
do they go in any ordered array, for everyone is lord of himself:
and the cause of their wars is not for lust of dominion, nor of
extending their frontiers, nor for inordinate covetousness, but for
some ancient enmity which in bygone times arose amongst them: and
when asked why they made war, they knew not any other reason to give
than that they did so to avenge the death of their ancestors, or of
their parents: these people have neither King, nor Lord, nor do they
yield obedience to any one, for they live in their own liberty: and
how they be stirred up to go to war is (this) that when the enemies
have slain or captured any of them, his oldest kinsman rises up and
goes about the highways haranguing them to go with him and avenge
the death of such his kinsman: and so are they stirred up by
fellow-feeling: they have no judicial system, nor do they punish the
ill-doer: nor does the father, nor the mother chastise the children:
and marvellously (seldom) or never did we see any dispute among
them: in their conversation they appear simple, and they are very
cunning and acute in that which concerns them: they speak little and
in a low tone: they use the same articulations as we, since they
form their utterances either with the palate, or with the teeth, or
on the lips: except that they give different names to things. Many
are the varieties of tongues: for in every 100 leagues we found a
change of language, so that they are not understandable each to the
other. The manner of their living is very barbarous, for they do not
eat at certain hours, and as oftentimes as they will: and it is not
much of a boon to them that the will may come more at midnight than
by day, for they eat at all hours: and they eat upon the ground
without a table-cloth or any other cover, for they have their meats
either in earthen basins which they make themselves, or in the
halves of pumpkins: they sleep in certain very large nettings made
of cotton, suspended in the air: and although this their (fashion
of) sleeping may seem uncomfortable, I say that it is sweet to sleep
in those (nettings): and we slept better in them than in the
counterpanes. They are a people smooth and clean of body, because of
so continually washing themselves as they do. . . . Amongst those
people we did not learn that they had any law, nor can they be
called Moors nor Jews, and (they are) worse than pagans: because we
did not observe that they offered any sacrifice: nor even had they a
house of prayer: their manner of living I judge to be Epicurean:
their dwellings are in common: and their houses (are) made in the
style of huts, but strongly made, and constructed with very large
trees, and covered over with palm-leaves, secure against storms and
winds: and in some places (they are) of so great breadth and length,
that in one single house we found there were 600 souls: and we saw a
village of only thirteen houses, where there were four thousand
souls: every eight or ten days they change their habitations: and
when asked why they did so: (they said it was) because of the soil
which, from its filthiness, was already unhealthy and corrupted, and
that it bred aches in their bodies, which seemed to us a good
reason; their riches consist of birds' plumes of many colours, or of
rosaries which they make from fish-bones, or of white or green
stones which they put in their cheeks and in their lips and ears,
and of many other things which we in no wise value: they use no
trade, they neither buy nor sell. In fine, they live and are
contented with that which nature gives them. The wealth that we
enjoy in this our Europe and elsewhere, such as gold, jewels,
pearls, and other riches, they hold as nothing: and although they
have them in their own lands, they do not labour to obtain them, nor
do they value them. They are liberal in giving, for it is rarely
they deny you anything: and on the other hand, liberal in asking,
when they shew themselves your friends. . . . When they die, they
use divers manners of obsequies, and some they bury with water and
victuals at their heads: thinking that they shall have (whereof) to
eat: they have not nor do they use ceremonies of torches nor of
lamentation. In some other places, they use the most barbarous and
inhuman burial which is that when a suffering or infirm (person) is
as it were at the last pass of death, his kinsmen carry him into a
large forest, and attach one of those nets of theirs, in which they
sleep, to two trees, and then put him in it, and dance around him
for a whole day: and when the night comes on they place at his
bolster, water with other victuals, so that he may be able to
subsist for four or six days: and then they leave him alone and
return to the village: and if the sick man helps himself, and eats,
and drinks, and survives, he returns to the village, and (friends)
receive him with ceremony: but few are they who escape: without
receiving any further visit they die, and that is their sepulture:
and they have many other customs which for prolixity are not
related. They use in their sicknesses various forms of medicines, so
different from ours that we marvelled how any one escaped: for many
times I saw that with a man sick of fever, when it heightened upon
him, they bathed him from head to foot with a large quantity of cold
water: then they lit a great fire around him, making him turn and
turn again every two hours, until they tired him and left him to
sleep, and many were (thus) cured: with this they make use of
dieting, for they remain three days without eating, and also of
blood-letting, but not from the arm, only from the thighs and the
loins and the calf of the leg: also they provoke vomiting with their
herbs which are put into the mouth: and they use many other remedies
which it would be long to relate: they are much vitiated in the
phlegm and in the blood because of their food which consists chiefly
of roots of herbs, and fruits and fish: they have no seed of wheat
nor other grain: and for their ordinary use and feeding, they have a
root of a tree, from which they make flour, tolerably good, and they
call it Iuca, and another which they call Cazabi, and another Ignami:
they eat little flesh except human flesh: for your Magnificence must
know that herein they are so inhuman that they outdo every custom
(even) of beasts; for they eat all their enemies whom they kill or
capture, as well females as males with so much savagery, that
(merely) to relate it appears a horrible thing: how much more so to
see it, as, infinite times and in many places, it was my hap to see
it: and they wondered to hear us say that we did not eat our
enemies: and this your Magnificence may take for certain, that their
other barbarous customs are such that expression is too weak for the
reality: and as in these four voyages I have seen so many things
diverse from our customs, I prepared to write a common-place-book
which I name LE QUATTRO GIORNATE: in which I have set down the
greater part of the things which I saw, sufficiently in detail, so
far as my feeble wit has allowed me: which I have not yet published,
because I have so ill a taste for my own things that I do not relish
those which I have written, notwithstanding that many encourage me
to publish it: therein everything will be seen in detail: so that I
shall not enlarge further in this chapter: as in the course of the
letter we shall come to many other things which are particular: let
this suffice for the general. At this beginning, we saw nothing in
the land of much profit, except some show of gold: I believe the
cause of it was that we did not know the language: but in so far as
concerns the situation and condition of the land, it could not be
better: we decided to leave that place, and to go further on,
continuously coasting the shore: upon which we made frequent
descents, and held converse with a great number of people: and at
the end of some days we went into a harbour where we underwent very
great danger: and it pleased the Holy Ghost to save us: and it was
in this wise. We landed in a harbour, where we found a village built
like Venice upon the water: there were about 44 large dwellings in
the form of huts erected upon very thick piles, and they had their
doors or entrances in the style of drawbridges: and from each house
one could pass through all, by means of the drawbridges which
stretched from house to house: and when the people thereof had seen
us, they appeared to be afraid of us, and immediately drew up all
the bridges: and while we were looking at this strange action, we
saw coming across the sea about 22 canoes, which are a kind of boat
of theirs, constructed from a single tree: which came towards our
boats, as they had been surprised by our appearance and clothes, and
kept wide of us: and thus remaining, we made signals to them that
they should approach us, encouraging them with every token of
friendliness; and seeing that they did not come we went to them, and
they did not stay for us, but made to the land, and, by signs, told
us to wait, and they should soon return: and they went to a hill in
the background, and did not delay long: when they returned they led
with them 16 of their girls, and entered with these into their
canoes, and came to the boats: and in each boat they put 4 of the
girls. That we marvelled at this behaviour your Magnificence can
imagine how much, and they placed themselves with their canoes among
our boats, coming to speak with us: insomuch that we deemed it a
mark of friendliness: and while thus engaged, we beheld a great
number of people advance swimming towards us across the sea, who
came from the houses: and as they were drawing near to us without
any apprehension; just then there appeared at the doors of the
houses certain old women uttering very loud cries and tearing their
hair to exhibit grief: whereby they made us suspicious, and we each
betook ourselves to arms: and instantly the girls whom we had in the
boats, threw themselves into the sea, and the men of the canoes drew
away from us, and began with their bows to shoot arrows at us: and
those who were swimming each carried a lance held, as covertly as
they could, beneath the water: so that, recognizing the treachery,
we engaged with them, not merely to defend ourselves, but to attack
them vigorously, and we overturned with our boats many of their
almadie or canoes, for so they call them, we made a slaughter (of
them), and they all flung themselves into the water to swim, leaving
their canoes abandoned, with considerable loss on their side, they
went swimming away to the shore: there died of them about 15 or 20,
and many were left wounded: and of ours 5 were wounded, and all, by
the grace of God, escaped (death): we captured two of the girls and
two men: and we proceeded to their houses, and entered therein, and
in them all we found nothing else than two old women and a sick man:
we took away from them many things, but of small value: and we would
not burn their houses, because it seemed to us (as though that would
be) a burden upon our conscience: and we returned to our boats with
five prisoners: and betook ourselves to the ships, and put a pair of
irons on the feet of each of the captives, except the little girls:
and when the night came on, the two girls and one of the men fled
away in the most subtle manner possible: and the next day we decided
to quit that harbour and go further onwards: we proceeded
continuously skirting the coast, (until) we had sight of another
tribe distant perhaps some 80 leagues from the former tribe: and we
found them very different in speech and customs: we resolved to cast
anchor, and went ashore with the boats, and we saw on the beach a
great number of people amounting probably to 4,000 souls: and when
we had reached the shore, they did not stay for us, but betook
themselves to flight through the forests, abandoning their things:
we jumped on land, and took a pathway that led to the forest: and at
the distance of a bow-shot we found their tents, where they had made
very large fires, and two (of them) were cooking their victuals, and
roasting several animals and fish of many kinds: where we saw that
they were roasting a certain animal which seemed to be a serpent,
save that it had no wings, and was in its appearance so loathsome
that we marvelled much at its savageness: Thus went we on through
their houses, or rather tents, and found many of those serpents
alive, and they were tied by the feet and had a cord around their
snouts, so that they could not open their mouths, as is done (in
Europe) with mastiff-dogs so that they may not bite: they were of
such savage aspect that none of us dared to take one away, thinking
that they were poisonous: they are of the bigness of a kid, and in
length an ell and a half: their feet are long and thick, and armed
with big claws: they have a hard skin, and are of various colours:
they have the muzzle and face of a serpent: and from their snouts
there rises a crest like a saw which extends along the middle of the
back as far as the tip of the tail: in fine we deemed them to be
serpents and venomous, and (nevertheless, those people) ate them: we
found that they made bread out of little fishes which they took from
the sea, first boiling them (then) pounding them, and making thereof
a paste, or bread, and they baked them on the embers: thus did they
eat them: we tried it and found that it was good: they had so many
other kinds of eatables, and especially of fruits and roots, that it
would be a large matter to describe them in detail: and seeing that
the people did not return, we decided not to touch nor take away
anything of their, so as better to reassure them: and we left in the
tents for them many of our things, placed where they should see
them, and returned by night to our ships: and the next day, when it
was light we saw on the beach an infinite number of people: and we
landed: and although they appeared timorous towards us, they took
courage nevertheless to hold converse with us, giving us whatever we
asked of them: and shewing themselves very friendly towards us, they
told us that those were their dwellings, and that they had come
hither for the purpose of fishing: and they begged that we would
visit their dwellings and villages, because they desired to receive
us as friends: and they engaged in such friendship because of the
two captured men whom we had with us, as these were their enemies:
insomuch that, in view of such importunity on their part, holding a
council, we determined that 28 of us Christians in good array should
go with them, and in the firm resolve to die if it should be
necessary: and after we had been here some three days, we went with
them inland: and at three leagues from the coast we came to a
village of many people and few houses, for there were no more than
nine (of these): where we were received with such and so many
barbarous ceremonies that the pen suffices not to write them down:
for there were dances, and songs, and lamentations mingled with
rejoicing, and great quantities of food: and here we remained the
night: . . . and after having been here that night and half the next
day, so great was the number of people who came wondering to behold
us that they were beyond counting: and the most aged begged us to go
with them to other villages which were further inland, making
display of doing us the greatest honour: wherefore we decided to go
: and it would be impossible to tell you how much honour they did
us: and we went to several villages, so that we were nine days
journeying, so that our Christians who had remained with the ships
were already apprehensive concerning us: and when we were about 18
leagues in the interior of the land, we resolved to return to the
ships: and on our way back, such was the number of people, as well
men as women, that came with us as far as the sea, that it was a
wondrous thing: and if any of us became weary of the march, they
carried us in their nets very refreshingly: and in crossing the
rivers, which are many and very large, they passed us over by
skilful means so securely that we ran no danger whatever, and many
of them came laden with the things which they had given us, which
consisted in their sleeping-nets, and very rich feathers, many bows
and arrows, innumerable popinjays of divers colours: and others
brought with them loads of their household goods, and of animals:
but a greater marvel which I tell you, that, when we had to cross a
river, he deemed himself lucky who was able to carry us on his back:
and when we reached the sea, our boats having arrived, we entered
into them: and so great was the struggle which they made to get into
our boats, and to come to see our ships, that we marvelled
(thereat): and in our boats we took as many of them as we could, and
made our way to the ships, and so many (others) came swimming that
we found ourselves embarrassed in seeing so many people in the
ships, for there were over a thousand persons all naked and unarmed:
they were amazed by our (nautical) gear and contrivances, and the
size of the ships: and with them there occurred to us a very
laughable affair, which was that we decided to fire off some of our
great guns, and when the explosion took place, most of them through
fear cast themselves (into the sea) to swim, not otherwise than
frogs on the margins of a pond, when they see something that
frightens them, will jump into the water, just so did those people:
and those who remained in the ships were so terrified that we
regretted our action: however we reassured them by telling them that
with those arms we slew our enemies: and when they had amused
themselves in the ships the whole day, we told them to go away
because we desired to depart that night, and so separating from us
with much friendship and love, they went away to land. Amongst that
people and in their land, I knew and beheld so many of their customs
and ways of living, that I do not care to enlarge upon them: for
Your Magnificence must know that in each of my voyages I have noted
the most wonderful things, and I have indited it all in a volume
after the manner of a geography: and I entitle it "Le quattro
Giornate": in which work the things are comprised in detail, and as
yet there is no copy of it given out, as it is necessary for me to
revise it. This land is very populous, and full of inhabitants, and
of numberless rivers, (and) animals: few (of which) resemble ours,
excepting lions, panthers, stags, pigs, goats, and deer; and even
these have some dissimilarities of form: they have no horses nor
mules, nor, saving your reverence, asses nor dogs, nor any kind of
sheep or oxen: but so numerous are the other animals which they
have, and all are savage, and of none do they make use for their
service, that they could not be counted. What shall we say of others
(such as) birds? which are so numerous, and of so many kinds, and of
such various-coloured plumages, that it is a marvel to behold them.
The soil is very pleasant and fruitful, full of immense woods and
forests: and it is always green, for the foliage never drops off.
The fruits are so many that they are numberless and entirely
different from ours. This land is within the torrid zone, close to
or just under the parallel described by the Tropic of Cancer: where
the pole of the horizon has an elevation of 23 degrees, at the
extremity of the second climate. Many tribes came to see us, and
wondered at our faces and our whiteness: and they asked us whence we
came: and we gave them to understand that we had come from heaven,
and that we were going to see the world, and they believed it. In
this land we placed baptismal fonts, and an infinite (number of)
people were baptised, and they called us in their language Carabi,
which means men of great wisdom. We took our departure from that
port: and the province is called Lariab: and we navigated along the
coast, always in sight of land, until we had run 870 leagues of it,
still going in the direction of the maestrale (north-west) making in
our course many halts, and holding intercourse with many peoples:
and in several places we obtained gold by barter but not much in
quantity, for we had done enough in discovering the land and
learning that they had gold. We had now been thirteen months on the
voyage: and the vessels and the tackling were already much damaged,
and the men worn out by fatigue: we decided by general council to
haul our ships on land and examine them for the purpose of stanching
leaks, as they made much water, and of caulking and tarring them
afresh, and (then) returning towards Spain: and when we came to this
determination, we were close to a harbour the best in the world:
into which we entered with our vessels: where we found an immense
number of people: who received us with much friendliness: and on the
shore we made a bastion with our boats and with barrels and casks,
and our artillery, which commanded every point: and our ships having
been unloaded and lightened, we drew them upon land, and repaired
them in everything that was needful: and the land's people gave us
very great assistance: and continually furnished us with their
victuals: so that in this port we tasted little of our own, which
suited our game well: for the stock of provisions which we had for
our return-passage was little and of sorry kind: where (i.e., there)
we remained 37 days: and went many times to their villages where
they paid us the greatest honour: and (now) desiring to depart upon
our voyage, they made complaint to us how at certain times of the
year there came from over the sea to this their land, a race of
people very cruel, and enemies of theirs: and (who) by means of
treachery or of violence slew many of them, and ate them: and some
they made captives, and carried them away to their houses, or
country: and how they could scarcely contrive to defend themselves
from them, making signs to us that (those) were an island-people and
lived out in the sea about a hundred leagues away: and so piteously
did they tell us this that we believed them: and we promised to
avenge them of so much wrong: and they, remained overjoyed herewith:
and many of them offered to come along with us, but we did not wish
to take them for many reasons, save that we took seven of them, on
condition that they should come (i. e., return home) afterwards in
(their own) canoes because we did not desire to be obliged to take
them back to their country: and they were contented: and so we
departed from those people, leaving them very friendly towards us:
and having repaired our ships, and sailing for seven days out to sea
between north-east and east: and at the end of the seven days we
came upon the islands, which were many, some (of them) inhabited,
and others deserted: and we anchored at one of them: where we saw a
numerous people who called it Iti: and having manned our boats with
strong crews, and (taken ammunition for) three cannon-shots in each,
we made for land: where we found (assembled) about 400 men, and many
women, and all naked like the former (peoples). They were of good
bodily presence, and seemed right warlike men: for they were armed
with their weapons, which are bows, arrows, and lances: and most of
them had square wooden targets and bore them in such wise that they
did not impede the drawing of the bow: and when we had come with our
boats to about a bowshot of the land, they all sprang into the water
to shoot their arrows at us and to prevent us from leaping upon
shore: and they had all their bodies painted of various colours, and
(were) plumed with feathers: and the interpreters who were with us
told us that when (those) displayed themselves so painted and
plumed, it was to betoken that they wanted to fight: and so much did
they persist in preventing us from landing, that we were compelled
to play with our artillery: and when they heard the explosion, and
saw one of them fall dead, they all drew back to the land:
wherefore, forming our council, we resolved that 42 of our men
should spring on shore, and, if they waited for us, fight them: thus
having leaped to land, with our weapons, they advanced towards us,
and we fought for about an hour, for we had but little advantage of
them, except that our arbalasters and gunners killed some of them,
and they wounded certain of our men: and this was because they did
not stand to receive us within reach of lance thrust for sword-blow:
and so much vigour did we put forth at last, that we came to
sword-play, and when they tasted our weapons, they betook themselves
to flight through the mountains and the forests, and left us
conquerors of the field with many of them dead and a good number
wounded: and for that day we took no other pains to pursue them,
because we were very weary, and we returned to our ships, with so
much gladness on the part of the seven men who had come with us that
they could not contain themselves (for joy) : and when the next day
arrived, we beheld coming across the land a great number of people,
with signals of battle, continually sounding horns, and various
other instruments which they use in their wars: and all (of them)
painted and feathered, so that it was a very strange sight to behold
them: wherefore all the ships held council, and it was resolved that
since this people desired hostility with us, we should proceed to
encounter them and try by every means to make them friends: in case
they would not have our friendship, that we should treat them as
foes, and so many of them as we might be able to capture should all
be our slaves: and having armed ourselves as best we could, we
advanced towards the shore, and they sought not to hinder us from
landing, I believe from fear of the cannons: and we jumped on land,
57 men in four squadrons, each one (consisting of) a captain and his
company: and we came to blows with them: and after a long battle (in
which) many of them (were) slain, we put them to flight, and pursued
them to a village, having made about 250 of them captives, and we
burnt the village, and returned to our ships with victory and 250
prisoners, leaving many of them dead and wounded, and of ours there
were no more than one killed, and 22 wounded, who all escaped (i,
e., recovered), God be thanked. We arranged our departure, and seven
men, of whom five were wounded, took an island-canoe, and with seven
prisoners that we gave them, four women and three men, returned to
their (own) country full of gladness, wondering at our strength: and
we thereon made sail for Spain with 222 captive slaves: and reached
the port of Calis (Cadiz) on the 15th day of October, 1498, where we
were well received and sold our slaves. Such is what befell me, most
noteworthy, in this my first voyage.
Americas Vespucius's Third Voyage to the New
World
His Third Voyage.-The following is his account of
his third voyage, as detailed in letters to (1) Pier Soderini, and
(2) Lorenzo Pietro Francesco de' Medici.
Being afterwards in Seville, resting from so many
labors that I had endured during these two voyages, and intending to
return to the land of pearls, Fortune showed that she was not
content with these my labors. I know not how there came into the
thoughts of the Most Serene King Don Manuel of Portugal the wish to
have my services. But being at Seville, without any thought of going
to Portugal, a messenger came to me with a letter from the Royal
Crown, in which I was asked to come to Lisbon, to confer with his
Highness, who promised to show me favor. I was not inclined to go,
and I dispatched the messenger with a reply that I was not well, but
that, when I had recovered, if his highness still wished for my
services, I would come as soon as he might send for me. Seeing that
he could not have me, he arranged to send Giuliano di Bartholomeo di
Giocondo for me, he being in Lisbon, with instructions that, come
what might, he should bring me. The said Giuliano came to Seville,
and prayed so hard that I was forced to go. My departure was taken
ill by many who knew me, for I left Castile where honor was done me,
and where the King held me in good esteem. It was worse that I went
without bidding farewell to my host. When I was presented to that
King, he showed his satisfaction that I had come, and asked me to go
in company with three of his ships that were ready to depart for the
discovery of new lands. As the request of a king is a command, I had
to consent to whatever he asked; and we sailed from this port of
Lisbon with three ships on the 10th of March, 1501, shaping our
course direct for the island of Grand Canary. We passed without
sighting it, and continued along the west coast of Africa. On this
coast we made our fishery of a sort of fish called parchi. We
remained three days, and then came to a port on the coast of
Ethiopia called Besechiece, which is within the Torrid Zone, the
North Pole rising above it 14° 30', situated in the first climate.
Here we remained two days, taking in wood and water; for my
intention was to shape a course towards the south in the Atlantic
Gulf. We departed from this port of Ethiopia, and steered to the
south-west, taking a quarter point to the south until, after
sixty-seven days, we came in sight of land, which was 700 leagues
from the said port to the southwest. In those sixty-seven days we
had the worst time that man ever endured who navigated the seas,
owing to the rains, perturbations, and storms that we encountered.
The season was very contrary to us, by reason of the course of our
navigation being continually in contact with the equinoctial line,
where, in the month of June, it is winter. We found that the day and
the night were equal, and that the shadow was always towards the
south. It pleased God to show us a new land on the 17th of August,
and we anchored at a distance of half a league, and got our boats
out. We then went to see the land, whether it was inhabited, and
what it was like. We found that it was inhabited by people who were
worse than animals. But your Magnificence must understand that we
did not see them at first, though we were convinced that the country
was inhabited, by many signs observed by us. We took possession for
that Most Serene King, and found the land to be very pleasant and
fertile, and of good appearance. It was 5° to the south of the
equinoctial line. We went back to the ships; and, as we were in
great want of wood and water, we determined, next day, to return to
the shore, with the object of obtaining what we wanted. Being on
shore, we saw some people at the top of a hill, who were looking at
us, but without showing any intention of coming down. They were
naked, and of the same color and form as the others we had seen. We
tried to induce them to come and speak with us, but did not succeed,
as they would not trust us. Seeing their obstinacy, and it being
late, we returned on board, leaving many bells and mirrors on shore,
and other things in their sight. As soon as we were at some distance
on the sea, they came down from the hill, and showed themselves to
be much astonished at the things. On that day we were only able to
obtain water. Next morning we saw from the ship that the people on
shore had made a great smoke; and, thinking it was the signal to us,
we went on shore, where we found that many people had come, but they
still kept at a distance from us. They made signs to us that we
should come inland with them. Two of our Christians were, therefore,
sent to ask their captain for leave to go with them a short distance
inland, to see what kind of people they were, and if they had any
riches, spices, or drugs. The captain was contented, so they got
together many things for barter, and parted from us, with
instructions that they should not be more than five days absent as
we would wait that time for them. So they set out on their road
inland, and we returned to the ships to wait for them. Nearly every
day people came to the beach, but they would not speak with us. On
the seventh day we went on shore, and found that they had arranged
with their women; for, as we jumped on shore, the men of the land
sent many of their women to speak with us. Seeing that they were not
reassured, we arranged to send to them one of our people, who was a
very agile and valiant youth. To give them more confidence, the rest
of us went back into the boats. He went among the women, and they
all began to touch and feel him, wondering at him exceedingly.
Things being so, we saw a woman come from the hill, carrying a great
stick in her hand. When she came to where our Christian stood, she
raised it, and gave him such a blow that he was felled to the
ground. The other women immediately took him by the feet, and
dragged him towards the hill. The men rushed down to the beach, and
shot at us with their bows and arrows. Our people, in great fear,
hauled the boats towards their anchors, which were on shore; but,
owing to the quantites of arrows that came into the boats, no one
thought of taking up their arms. At last four rounds from the
bombard were fired at them; and they no sooner heard the report than
they all ran away towards the hill, where the women were still
tearing the Christian to pieces. At a great fire they had made they
roasted him before our eyes, showing us many pieces, and then eating
them. The men made signs how they had killed the other two
Christians and eaten them. What shocked us much was seeing with our
eyes the cruelty with which they treated the dead, which was an
intolerable insult to all of us.
Having arranged that more than forty of us should
land and avenge such cruel murder and so bestial and inhuman an act,
the principal captain would not give his consent. We departed from
them unwillingly, and with much shame caused by the decision of our
captain.
We left this place, and commenced our navigation
by shaping a course between east and south. Thus we sailed along the
land, making many landings, seeing natives, but having no
intercourse with them. We sailed on until we found that the coast
made a turn to the west when we had doubled a cape, to which we gave
the name of the Cape of St. Augustine. We then began to shape a
course to the southwest. The cape is distant from the place where
the Christians were murdered 150 leagues towards the east, and this
cape is 8° from the equinoctial line to the south. In navigating, we
saw one day a great multitude of people on the beach, gazing at the
wonderful sight of our ships. As we sailed, we turned the ship
towards them, anchored in a good place, and went on shore with the
boats. We found the people to be better conditioned than those we
had met with before; and, responding to our overtures, they soon
made friends, and treated with us. We were five days in this place,
and found canna fistola very thick and green, and dry on the tops of
the trees. We determined to take a pair of men from this place, that
they might teach us their language, and three of them came
voluntarily to go to Portugal.
Lest your Magnificence should be tired of so much
writing, you must know that, on leaving this port, we sailed along
on a westerly course, always in sight of land, continually making
many landings, and speaking with an infinite number of people. We
were so far south that we were outside the Tropic of Capricorn,
where the South Pole rises above the horizon 32°. We had lost sight
altogether of Ursa Minor and Ursa Major, which were far below and
scarcely seen on the horizon. We guided ourselves by the stars of
the South Pole, which are numerous and much larger and brighter than
those of our Pole. I traced the figure of the greater part of those
of the first magnitude, with a declaration of their orbits round the
South Pole, and of their diameters and semi-diameters, as may be
seen in my Four VOYAGES. We sailed along that coast for 750 leagues,
150 from the cape called St. Augustine to the west, and 600 to the
south.
Desiring to recount the things I saw on that
coast, and what happened to us, as many more leaves would not
suffice me. On the coast we saw an infinite number of trees, brazil
wood and cassia, and those trees which yield myrrh, as well as other
marvels of nature which I am unable to recount. Having now been ten
months on the voyage, and having seen that there was no mining
wealth whatever in that land, we decided upon taking leave of it,
and upon sailing across the sea for some other part. Having held a
consultation, it was decided that the course should be taken which
seemed good to me; and the command of the fleet was intrusted to me.
I gave orders that the fleet should be supplied with wood and water
for six months, such being the decision of the officers of the
ships. Having made our departure from this land, we began our
navigation with a southerly course on the 15th of February, when
already the sun moved towards the equinoctial, and turned towards
our Hemisphere of the North. We sailed so far on this course that we
found ourselves where the South Pole had a height above our horizon
of 52°, and we could no longer see the stars of Ursa Minor or of
Ursa Major. We were then 500 leagues to the south of the port whence
we had departed, and this was on the 3rd of April. On this day such
a tempest arose on the sea that all our sails were blown away, and
we ran under bare poles, with a heavy southerly gale and a
tremendous sea, the air being very tempestuous. The gale was such
that all the people in the fleet were much alarmed. The nights were
very long, for the night we had on the 7th of April lasted fifteen
hours, the sun being at the end of Aries, and in that region it was
winter, as your Magnificence will be well aware. Sailing in this
storm, on the 7th of April we came in sight of new land, along which
we ran for nearly 20 leagues, and found it all a rocky coast,
without any port or inhabitants. I believe this was because the cold
was so great that no one in the fleet could endure it. Finding
ourselves in such peril, and in such a storm that we could scarcely
see one ship from another, owing to the greatness of the waves and
the blinding mist, it was agreed with the principal captain that a
signal should be made to the ships that they should make for land,
and then shape a course for Portugal. This was very good counsel,
for it is certain that, if we had delayed another night, all would
have been lost; for, as we wore round on the next day, we were met
by such a storm that we expected to be swamped. We had to undertake
pilgrimages and perform other ceremonies, as is the custom of
sailors at such times. We ran for five days, always coming towards
the equinoctial line, where the air and sea became more temperate.
It pleased God to deliver us from such peril. Our course was now
between the north and north-east, for our intention was to reach the
coast of Ethiopia, our distance from it being 300 leagues, in the
Gulf of the Atlantic Sea. By the grace of God, on the 10th day of
May, we came in sight of land, where we were able to refresh
ourselves, the land being called La Serra Liona. We were there
fifteen days, and thence shaped a course to the islands of the
Azores, which are distant nearly 750 leagues from that Serra. We
reached the islands in the end of July, where we remained fifteen
days, taking some recreation. Thence we departed for Lisbon, distant
300 leagues to the west, and arrived at that port of Lisbon on the
7th of September, 1502, may Cod be thanked for our salvation, with
only two ships. We burnt the other at Serra Liona, because she was
no longer seaworthy. We were employed on this voyage nearly fifteen
months; and for eleven days we navigated without seeing the North
Star, nor the Great or Little Bears, which they call el corno, and
we were guided by the stars of the other Pole. This is what I saw on
this voyage.
2.
March (or April), 1503.
Alberico Vesputio to Lorenzo Pietro de' Medici,
salutation. In past days I wrote very fully to you of my return from
the new countries, which have been found and explored with the
ships, at the cost, and by the command, of this Most Serene King of
Portugal; and it is lawful to call it a new world, because none of
these countries were known to our ancestors, and to all who hear
about them they will be entirely new. For the opinion of the
ancients was that the greater part of the world beyond the
equinoctial line to the south was not land, but only sea., which
they have called the Atlantic; and, if they have affirmed that any
continent is there, they have given many reasons for denying that it
is inhabited. But this their opinion is false, and entirely opposed
to the truth. My last voyage has proved it, for I have found a
continent in that southern part, more populous and more full of
animals than our Europe or Asia or Africa, and even more temperate
and pleasant than any other region known to us, as will be explained
further on. I shall write succinctly of the principal things only,
and the things most worthy of notice and of being remembered, which
I either saw or heard of in this new world, as presently will become
manifest.
We set out, on a prosperous voyage, on the 14th
of May, 1501, sailing from Lisbon, by order of the aforesaid King,
with three ships, to discover new countries towards the west; and we
sailed towards the south continuously for twenty months. Of this
navigation the order is as follows: Our course was for the Fortunate
Islands, so called formerly, but now we called them the Grand Canary
Islands, which are in the third climate, and on the confines of the
inhabited west. Thence we sailed rapidly over the ocean along the
coast of Africa and part of Ethiopia to the Ethiopic Promontory, so
called by Ptolemy, which is now called Cape Verde, and by the
Ethiopians Biseghier, and that country Mandraga, 13° within the
Torrid Zone, on the north side of the equinoctial line. The country
is inhabited by a black race. Having taken on board what we
required, we weighed our anchors and made sail, taking our way
across the vast ocean towards the Antarctic Pole, with some westing.
From the day when we left the before-mentioned promontory, we sailed
for the space of two months and three days. Hitherto no land had
appeared to us in that vast sea. In truth, how much we had suffered,
what dangers of shipwreck, I leave to the judgment of those to whom
the experience of such things is very well known. What a thing it is
to seek unknown lands, and how difficult, being ignorant, to narrate
briefly what happened! It should be known that, of the sixty-seven
days of our voyage, we were navigating continuously forty-four. We
had copious thunderstorms and perturbations, and it was so dark that
we never could see either the sun in the day or the moon at night.
This caused us great fear, so that we lost all hope of life. In
these most terrible dangers of the sea it pleased the Most High to
show us the continent and the new countries, being another unknown
world. These things being in sight, we were as much rejoiced as any
one may imagine who, after calamity and ill-fortune, has obtained
safety.
It was on the 7th of August, 1501, that we
reached those countries, thanking our Lord God with solemn prayers,
and celebrating a choral Mass. We knew that land to be a continent,
and not an island, from its long beaches extending without trending
round, the infinite number of inhabitants, the numerous tribes and
peoples, the numerous kinds of wild animals unknown in our country,
and many others never seen before by us, touching which it would
take long to make reference. The clemency of God was shown forth to
us by being brought to these regions; for the ships were in a
leaking state, and in a few days our lives might have been lost in
the sea. To Him be the honor and glory, and the grace of the action.
We took counsel, and resolved to navigate along
the coast of this continent towards the east, and never to lose
sight of the land. We sailed along until we came to a point where
the coast turned to the south. The distance from the landfall to
this point was nearly 300 leagues. In this stretch of coast we often
landed, and had friendly relations with the natives, as I shall
presently relate. I had forgotten to tell you that from Cape Verde
to the first land of this continent the distance is nearly 700
leagues; although I estimate that we went over more than 1,800,
partly owing to ignorance of the route, and partly owing to the
tempests and foul winds which drove us off our course, and sent its
in various directions. If my companions had not trusted in me, to
whom cosmography was known, no one, not the leader of our
navigation, would have known where we were after running 500
leagues. We were wandering and full of errors, and only the
instruments for taking the altitudes of heavenly bodies showed its
our position. These were the quadrant and astrolabe, as known to
all. These have been much used by me with much honor; for I showed
them that a knowledge of the marine chart, and the rules taught by
it, are more worth than all the pilots in the world. For these
pilots have no knowledge beyond those places to which they have
often sailed. Where the said point of land showed us the trend of
the coast to the south, we agreed to continue our voyage, and to
ascertain what there might be in those regions. We sailed along the
coast for nearly 500 leagues, often going on shore and having
intercourse with the natives, who received us in a brotherly manner.
We sometimes stayed with them for fifteen or twenty days
continuously, as friends and guests, as I shall relate presently.
Part of this continent is in the Torrid Zone, beyond the equinoctial
line towards the South Pole. But it begins at 8° beyond the
equinoctial. We sailed along the coast so far that we crossed the
Tropic of Capricorn, and found ourselves where the Antarctic Pole
was 50° above our horizon. We went towards the Antarctic Circle
until we were 17° 30' from it, all of which I have seen, and I have
known the nature of those people, their customs, the resources and
fertility of the land, the salubrity of the air, the positions of
the celestial bodies in the heavens, and, above all, the fixed
stars, over an eighth of the sphere, never seen by our ancestors, as
I shall explain below.
As regards the people: we have found such a
multitude in those countries that no one could enumerate them, as we
read in the Apocalypse. They are people gentle and tractable, and
all of both sexes go naked, not covering any part of their bodies, .
. . and so they go until their deaths. They have large, square-built
bodies, and well proportioned. Their color reddish, which, I think,
is caused by their going naked and exposed to the sun. Their hair is
plentiful and black. They are agile in walking, and of quick sight.
They are of a free and good-looking expression of countenance, which
they themselves destroy by boring the nostrils and lips, the nose
and ears; nor must you believe that the borings are small, nor that
they only have one, for I have seen those who had no less than seven
borings in the face, each one the size of a plum. They stop up these
perforations with blue stones, bits of marble, of crystal, or very
fine alabaster, also with very white bones and other things
artificially prepared according to their customs, which, if you
could see, it would appear a strange and monstrous thing. One had in
the nostrils and lips alone seven stones, of which some were half a
palm in length. It will astonish you to hear that I considered that
the weight of seven such stones was as much as sixteen ounces. In
each ear they had three perforations bored, whence they had other
stones and rings suspended. This custom is only for the men, as the
women do not perforate their faces, but only their ears. . . .They
have no cloth, either of wool, flax, or cotton, because they have no
need of it; nor have they any private property, everything being in
common. They live amongst themselves without a king or ruler, each
man being his own master, and having as many wives as they please. .
. . They have no temples and no laws, nor are they idolaters. What
more can I say? They live according to nature, and are more inclined
to be Epicurean than Stoic. They have no commerce among each other,
and they wage war without art or order. The old men make the youths
do what they please, and incite them to fights, in which they
mutually kill with great cruelty. They slaughter those who are
captured, and the victors eat the vanquished; for human flesh is an
ordinary article of food among them. You may be the more certain of
this, because I have seen a man eat his children and wife; and I
knew a man who was popularly credited to have eaten 300 human
bodies. I was once in a certain city for twenty-seven days, where
human flesh was hung up near the houses, in the same way as we
expose butcher's meat. I say further that they were surprised that
we did not eat our enemies, and use their flesh as food; for they
say it is excellent. Their arms are bows and arrows; and, when they
go to war, they cover no part of their bodies, being in this like
beasts. We did all we could to persuade them to desist from their
evil habits, and they promised us to leave off. . . .They live for
150 years, and are rarely sick. If they are attacked by a disease,
they cure themselves with the roots of some herbs. These are the
most noteworthy things I know about them.
The air in this country is temperate and good, as
we were able to learn from their accounts that there are never any
pestilences or epidemics caused by bad air. Unless they meet with
violent deaths, their lives are long. I believe this is because a
southerly wind is always blowing, a south wind to them being what a
north wind is to us. They are expert fishermen, and the sea is full
of all kinds of fish. They are not hunters. I think because here
there are many kinds of wild animals, principally lions and bears,
innumerable serpents, and other horrible creatures and deformed
beasts, also because there are vast forests and trees of immense
size. They have not the courage to face such dangers naked and
without any defense.
The land is very fertile, abounding in many hills
and valleys and in large rivers, and is irrigated by very refreshing
springs. It is covered with extensive and dense forests, which are
almost impenetrable, and full of every kind of wild beast. Great
trees grow without cultivation, of which many yield fruits pleasant
to the taste and nourishing to the human body; and a great many have
an opposite effect. The fruits are unlike those in our country; and
there are innumerable different kinds of fruits and herbs, of which
they make bread and excellent food. They also have many seeds unlike
ours. No kind of metal has been found except gold, in which the
country abounds, though we have brought none back in this our first
navigation. The natives, however, assured its that there was an
immense quantity of gold underground, and nothing was to be had from
them for a price. Pearls abound, as I wrote to you.
If I was to attempt to write of all the species
of animals, it would be a long and tedious task. I believe certainly
that our Pliny did not touch upon a thousandth part of the animals
and birds that exist in this region; nor could an artist such as
Policletus succeed in painting them. All the trees are odoriferous,
and some of them emit gums, oils, or other liquors. If they were our
property, I do not doubt but that they would be useful to man. If
the terrestrial paradise is in some part of this land, it cannot be
very far from the coast we visited. It is, as I have told you, in a
climate where the air is temperate at noon, being neither cold in
winter nor hot in summer.
The sky and air are serene during a great part of
the year. Thick vapors, with fine rain falling, last for three or
four hours, and then disappear like smoke. The sky is adorned with
most beautiful signs and figures, in which I have noted as many as
twenty stars as bright as we sometimes see Venus and Jupiter. I have
considered the orbits and motions of these stars; and I have
measured the circumference and diameters of the stars by a
geometrical method, ascertaining which were the largest. I saw in
the heaven three Canopi, two certainly bright and the other obscure.
The Antarctic Pole is not figured with a Great Bear and a Little
Bear, like our Arctic Pole, nor is any bright star seen near it, and
of those which go round in the shortest circuit there are three
which have the figure of the orthogonous triangle, of which the
smallest has a diameter of 9 half-degrees. To the east of these is
seen a Canopus of great size, and white, which, when in mid-heaven,
has this figure:-

After these come two others, of which the
half-circumference, the diameter, has 12 half-degrees; and with them
is seen another Canopus. To these succeed six other most beautiful
and very bright stars, beyond all the others of the eighth sphere,
which, in the superficies of the heaven, have half the
circumference, the diameter 32°, and with them is one black Canopus
of immense size, seen in the Milky Way, and they have this shape
when they are on the meridian : -

I have known many other very beautiful stars,
which I have diligently noted down, and have described very well in
a certain little book describing this my navigation, which at
present is in the possession of that Most Serene King; and I hope he
will restore it to me. In that hemisphere I have seen things not
compatible with the opinions of philosophers. Twice I have seen a
white rainbow towards the middle of the night, which was not only
observed by me, but also by all the sailors. Likewise we often saw
the new moon on the day on which it is in conjunction with the sun.
Every night, in that part of the heavens of which we speak, there
were innumerable vapors and burning meteors. I have told you, a
little way back, that, in the hemisphere of which we are speaking,
it is not a complete hemisphere in respect to ours, because it does
not take that form so that it may be properly called so.
Therefore, as I have said, from Lisbon, whence we
started, the distance from the equinoctial line is 39°; and we
navigated beyond the equinoctial line to 50°, which together make
90°, which is one quarter of a great circle, according to the true
measurement handed down to us by the ancients, so that it is
manifest that we must have navigated over a fourth part of the
earth. By this reasoning, we who inhabit Lisbon, at a distance of
39° from the equinoctial line in north latitude, are to those who
live under 50° beyond the same line, in meridional length, angularly
5° on a transverse line. I will explain this more clearly: a
perpendicular line, while we stand upright, if suspended from a
point of the heavens exactly vertical, hangs over our heads; but it
hangs over them side-ways. Thus, while we are on a right line, they
are on a transverse line. An orthogonal triangle is thus formed, of
which we have the right line; but the base and hypothenuse to them
seems the vertical line, as in this figure it will appear. This will
suffice as regards cosmography.

These are the most notable things that I have
seen in this my last navigation, or as I call it, the third voyage.
For the other two voyages were made by order of the Most Serene King
of Spain to the west, in which I noted many wonderful works of God,
our Creator; and, if I should have time, I intend to collect all
these singular and wonderful things into a geographical or
cosmographical book, that my record may live with future
generations; and the immense work of the omnipotent God will be
known, in parts still unknown, but known to us. I also pray that the
most merciful God will prolong my life that, with His good grace, I
may be able to make the best disposition of this my wish. I keep the
other two journeys in my sanctuary; and, the Most Serene King
restoring to me the third journey, I intend to return to peace and
my country. There, in consultation with learned persons, and
comforted and aided by friends, I shall be able to complete my work.
I ask your pardon for not having sooner been able
to send you this my last navigation, as I had promised in my former
letters. I believe that you will understand the cause, which was
that I could not get the books from this Most Serene King. I think
of undertaking a fourth voyage in the same direction, and promise is
already made of two ships with their armaments, in which I may seek
new regions of the East on a coast called Africus. In which journey
I hope much to do God honor, to be of service to this kingdom, to
secure repute for my old age; and I expect no other result with the
permission of this Most Serene King. May God permit what is for the
best, and you shall be in-formed of what happens.
This letter was translated from the Italian into
the Latin language by Jocundus, interpreter, as every one
understands Latin who desires to learn about these voyages, and to
search into the things of heaven, and to know all that is proper to
be known; for, from the time the world began, so much has not been
discovered touching the greatness of the earth and what is contained
in it.
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