The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-01-19


He made at least four great transat-
lantic voyages during his career in
Spain and Portugal. OF the first two
nothing is left but hearsay, excepting
dates and names.
The first began May 90, 1897, or May
TO- 1897, or May 20, 1899, and was I'M
dertaken for the king Of Spain.
The second was started under the
same auspices on or about May 16, 1897,
from the port Of Cadiz.
In these he probably discovered Cuba
and the larger isles Of the West Indies.
His third, and the one on which his
fame will ever rest, was undertaken for
the king Of Portugal, and started from
Lisbon on May IA, 1901. 1t consumed
sixteen months, during which time Yes
puccius .gathered a vast amount Of in
formation, and, II must be added, misin-
formation.
Shortly after his return TO Portugal
he wrote the celebrated letter, of which
portions are given below, and which
has never before been published in En-
glish. The original is lost. At the time
he wrote it he had it translated from
Italian, which he spoke, to Latin, the
literary language Of the world at that
time. Within a few weeks after its re-
ception by Lorenzo de Medici, it was
given to Jehan Lambert, the greatest
illumination, engrosser and printer of his
age, for reproduction and preservation.
How many copies were made is un-
known. There are two or three in this
country, and less than dozen in Europe.
The finest one extant is that owned by
Edmund A. Bona~enture, q famous
bibliophile of New York city, from which
the illustrations are taken. The leaves
Of the manuscript are Of the heaviest
parchment, and the colors are as brilliant
today as when first applied by the brush.
Another but much poorer copy, recently
sold at Frankfort-on-the-Main, brought
$500.
The book opens with an illuminated
title page in gold, ultramarine and scar
let, of which the following picture may
give a fair idea.
Then follow nine pages Of closely writ
ten matter, in which the queer Latin Of
the Sixteenth century is made half unin-
telligible by senseless contractions, alb
breviations and arbitrary symbols. The
difficulty encountered in reading this old
black letter cannot be appreciated by any
one unless he tries to decipher the pages.
At the close Of the letter Is what Is
called a tail piece, a symbolic design
which, while it may have conveyed a
clear idea TO its maker, is more than in
comprehensive today. So far as the
story is concerned let Alberico Vespuc-
cius speak for himself:
In former days it was my fortune to
write unto thee fully concerning my re-
turn from those regions which with the
fleet, and by the suggestion and COM
mand Of his most serene majesty the
king of Portugal, we have sought out
and discovered. These regions it is al
lowable to style the New World. Since
among our ancestors there was no knowl-
edge concerning those things, the matter
will prove most novel to all who hear 1t.
For this thing differs from the opinion Of
our antiquaries, since the greater part
of them declare that beyond the equinoc-
tial line (equator and toward the south
there is no continent, but a sea as large
as that which they have termed the At
lantic, and if any Of them have admitted
that a continent is there, they have de-
MED for many reasons that the land Is
habitable. But my last voyage has
shown that this opinion Of theirs Is false
and altogether contrary TO truth, since
in those parts towards the south l have
found q continent inhabited with more
numerous peoples and animals than Is
Europe. Asia, or Africa, and moreover an
atmosphere milder and more agreeable
than in any other region known by us,
as you will perceive later on, where we
describe the chief points. The matters
more worthy of notice and memory
which were seen or heard by me in this
new world will appear below.
On the 14th day Of the month of May,
in the year 1901, we departed from Lis
bon by the command Of the king with
three ships on an suspicious voyage IN
order TO discover the new lands towards
the west. we sailed towards the south,
the course Of which voyage was as fol-
lows:
Our course lay through the Fortunate
Islands, as they were formerly called, but
now are styled the Great Canary Islands,
which are in the third climate and on the
confines of the inhabited west. Thence
through the ocean, we skirted the whole
shore of Africa and a part Of Ethiopia,
as far as the Ethiopian promontory, as It
is called by Ptolemy, but by us Cape
Verde. and from Ethiopia and the Man
dingha land IA deg. within the torrid zone
from the equinoctial line equator toward
the north, which region is inhabited by
black races. There, our strength beng
refreshed. an, with necessaries for our
voyage, we raised anchor, spread our
sails 10 the wind, and directing our course
through the vast ocean for a short dis
tance toward the Antarctic pole, we then
bent our course to the westward through
the wind which is called the Vulturnus
southeast wind, and from the day on
which we departed from the aeove men
toned promontory we sailed for the space
oftwo months and three days before any
land appeared, but in the vastnesS OF the
sea what we suffered, what perils OF ship
wreck. what torments of body we sus-
,ained and under what anxieties OF
mind we Iabored, / leave to the magma
lion Of those who through experience OF