HKB
the idea of writing a book was abandoned. He would not have dared to publish the story of his first voyage in a country where the truth was well known.
The statement made by Vespucci respecting his alleged first voyage is as follows: He says that an expedition of discovery was sent by the King, consisting of four ships, and that the King chose him to go with it. He does not mention the name of the commander of the expedition, nor of any of the captains or pilots; but he asserts that he was away eighteen months, and that he discovered a great extent of mainland and an infinite number of islands. The ships, he alleges, sailed from Cadiz on the 10th of May 1497, and proceeded to Grand Canary, which he says is in 37° 30' N. lat., and 280 leagues from Lisbon. Thence they sailed for thirty-seven days on a W.S.W. course, making 1,000 leagues, when they reached the coast of the mainland in latitude 16° N., and longitude from Canary 70° W.
He describes the manners and customs of the people in considerable detail, and enumerates the animals, giving a particular account of the iguana, but without giving the animal a name. He also tells us that the native names for their different kinds of food are Yuca, Casabi, and Ignami; and that the word for a man of great wisdom is Carabi. He describes a village with forty-four large huts built over the water on poles, like a little Venice.
After sailing for eighty leagues along the coast he came to another province, of which he gives the name. It is Parias in the Latin version, but in the Italian version L has been substituted for P, and a b for s, so that the word becomes Lariab. Then comes the audacious assertion to which all this was leading. He says that he sailed along the coast, always on a N.W. course, for 870 leagues. At the end of this marvellous voyage he came to "the finest harbour in the world", where he found a friendly people, and remained to refit for thirty-seven days. Here the natives complained that they were subject to attacks from savage people who came from islands at a distance of about 100 leagues to the east. The Spaniards agreed to chastise the islanders, and after sailing N.E. and E. for 100 leagues they came to islands where the natives were
called Iti. They had an encounter with them, in which one Spaniard was killed and twenty-two were wounded. But they took 222 prisoners, and sold them as slaves when they returned to Cadiz on October 15th, 1498.
Vespucci's account of the second voyage is that the expedition, consisting of three ships, sailed from Cadiz on May 16th, 1499, and stopped some days at the island of Fuoco. They then crossed the ocean after a voyage of forty-four days, going over 500 leagues on a S.W. course. The landfall was in 5° S., and the country was inundated by the mouths of a great river. They then steered north, and came to an excellent port formed by a large island. He describes the chase of a canoe, manned by cannibal people called Cambali; and the intercourse with inhabitants who told them about the pearl fishery.