writers have sought to "establish an alibi" by showing that
Vespucci was in Spain throughout the period which, he says, was passed
by him at sea, on this "first" voyage; but they have not been
successful in doing so. Some, again, have declared that the narrative
of the "four" voyages, beginning in May, 1497, was made up of that on
which Vespucci certainly sailed with Ojeda, in May, 1499. "The points
of resemblance"--as the reader may see for himself--"are so many and
so striking as to seem not only conclusive, but to preclude any other
theory," says Alexander Humboldt, who, in his _Examen Critique_, made
an exhaustive research into the Vespucci letters. Humboldt completely
vindicated the character of Vespucci, leaving no shade of doubt upon
his integrity, but he did not unravel the mystery.

How happens it that Vespucci could make a voyage of which no record
exists or was ever known to exist? Why did he not mention the names of
the fleet's commander? Why do his descriptions of scenery and people
so closely resemble those of scenery and people seen on the second
voyage? He alludes several times to his forthcoming book, _The Four
Voyages_ (_Quattro Giornate_); but no trace has ever been found of
that book, while the fragmentary letters to his "patrons," Soderini
and Francesco de Medici, have survived to the present day.

Men of the keenest acumen and perfectly equipped for historical
research, such as Humboldt, Irving, and Navarrete, have devoted
themselves to the solution of this problem, but without complete
success. The first and the last named have cleared his name from the
aspersions of centuries; the second and third, in their endeavors to
magnify Columbus by belittling Vespucci, have not convinced posterity
that the Florentine was a liar and a villain. He was neither one nor
the other; and that he was far more humane than his friend Columbus
has been amply shown in his treatment of the Indians. He and his
companions made a few slaves; they attacked the cannibals in behalf of
rival natives; but they did not, in their lust for gold, put Indians
to the torture, enslave whole tribes and communities, and commit
massacres.

Vespucci's character is comparatively free from the stain of
blood-guiltiness; from his dealings with men at all times, we infer
him upright and honorable; yet he rests under a cloud of suspicion,
because that so-called first voyage, which he says he took in
1497-1498, cannot be explained. Suspici