Of These Four Voyages, Two Were Made
Through A Vast Extent Of Ocean Towards The West, At The Command Of The
Illustrious Don Ferdinand King Of Spain:
The other two were to the south,
in the service of Don Manuel king of Portugal.
I have used my utmost
diligence in the composition of this work, in hopes that your majesty
would graciously receive me among the number of your dependants,
considering that we were formerly companions during youth, while studying
grammar under the tuition of my venerable uncle, Fra George Antony
Vespucius. I wish that I were able to imitate that worthy person, as I
should then be quite different from what I am: Yet I am not ashamed of
myself, having always placed my chief delight in the practice of virtue,
and the acquisition of literature. Should these voyages displease you, I
may say, as Pliny said to his patron, "formerly my pleasantries used to
delight you." Although your majesty is always occupied in affairs of state,
you may certainly have as much leisure as will permit you to peruse these
pages; which, however trivial in comparison, may yet please by their
novelty. After the cares of government, your majesty will, I hope, receive
amusement from my labours, as a pleasant desert promotes digestion after a
plentiful repast. But, if I have been too tedious in my narrative, I ask
pardon and take my leave.
Be it known to your majesty that I first went to these new countries in
search of trade, in which I was occupied for four years, during which I
experienced various reverses of fortune; at one time raised to the summit
of human wishes, and afterwards reduced to the lowest ebb of misery, in so
much that I had resolved to abandon commerce, and to confine my exertions
to more laudable and safer exertions. I disposed myself, therefore, to the
purpose of exploring various parts of the world, that I might see the
wonderful things which it contains. An opportunity soon fortunately
offered for satisfying this desire, as King Ferdinand of Spain fitted out
four ships for the discovery of new countries towards the west, and was
pleased to employ me upon this service. We set sail on the 20th of May
1497 from the port of Cadiz, taking our course through the great gulf of
the ocean, in which voyage we were occupied for eighteen months,
discovering many continents, and almost innumerable islands, most of
which were inhabited, all of which were utterly unknown to our
predecessors and the ancients. If I am not mistaken, I have somewhere read
that the ocean is entirely void of countries and inhabitants, as appears
to have been the opinion of our poet Dante, in his Inferno. But of the
wonderful things which I have seen there, your majesty will find an
account in the following narrative.
SECTION I.
The first Voyage of Americus Vespucius.
As already mentioned, we set sail with four ships in company from Cadiz on
the 20th May 1497[1], shaping our course with the wind at S.S.W.[2] for
the islands formerly called the Fortunate, and now named the Grand
Canaries; which are situated in the western extremity of the then known
habitable world, and in the third climate, the elevation of the pole being
twenty-seven degrees and two thirds. These islands are 280 leagues distant
from Lisbon, where this work was written. After spending about a week
there, taking in wood, water, and other necessaries, commending ourselves
to GOD, we set sail with a fair wind towards the west, one quarter
south-west[3], and made such progress that in about twenty-seven we
arrived at a country which we believed to be a continent, about a thousand
leagues distant from the Great Canaries, in 16 deg. north latitude, and 75 deg.
west longitude from the Canary islands[4]. Our fleet cast anchor at this
place, a league and a half from shore, to which we went in some boats well
armed and full of men. On nearing the beach, we could plainly see great
numbers of naked people going about, at which circumstance we were much
rejoiced. The natives, however, were astonished on seeing us, on account
of the unusual appearance of our dress and manners, so that as we advanced
they all fled to a hill in the neighbourhood, whence at that time we could
not allure them by any signs of peace and friendship. On the approach of
night, considering that the place in which our ships were anchored was
altogether unsafe in the event of any storm arising, we determined to quit
this part of the coast in the morning, for the purpose of seeking out some
harbour where our ships might ride in safety. We accordingly made sail
along the coast, and in sight of the shore, on which we could always see
the natives, and after two days sail we found a convenient anchorage for
the ships at the distance of half a league from the shore. At this place
we saw a great multitude of people, and being anxious to examine them, and
to establish a friendly intercourse, we landed that same day with about
forty of our men in good array. But the natives shewed themselves
extremely averse to any communication with us, and could not be allured to
a conference by any means. At length a small number of them were induced
to come near by presents of bells, small mirrors, glass beads, and similar
toys, and a friendly intercourse was thus established. As night came on,
we left them and returned to the ships. At dawn of the following day, we
saw immense numbers of the natives on shore, men, women, and children:,
and could observe that they had all their household stuff along with them,
of which an account will be given hereafter. On our approach towards the
shore, many of the natives threw themselves into the sea, being most
expert swimmers, and came to meet us with much appearance of kindness, and
joined us in perfect confidence of security, as if we had been old
acquaintances, which gave us much pleasure.
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