mony to the important fact that, while the great Columbus was not
permitted to present himself at court, his friend Vespucci not only
had access to the throne but strong influence there.

XV

PILOT-MAJOR OF SPAIN

1508-1512

If Vespucci had been as heedful of posthumous fame as Columbus, who
lost no opportunity for trumpeting his deeds to the world, we should
be better prepared to present a continuous narrative of his life than
it is possible to gather from the fragmentary material he has left
behind him. "The transactions of Vespucci at court," says Mr. Fiske,
the eminent historian, "and the nature of the maritime enterprises
that were set on foot or carried to completion during the next few
years, are to be gathered chiefly from old account-books, contracts,
and other business documents, unearthed by the indefatigable
Navarrete, and printed in his great collection.... Unfortunately,
account-books and legal documents, having been written for other
purposes than the gratification of the historian, are--like the
'geological record'--imperfect. Too many links are missing, to enable
us to determine with certainty just how the work was shared among
these mariners (Vespucci, La Cosa, Pinzon, and Solis), or just how
many voyages were undertaken. But it is clear that the first
enterprise contemplated (by King Ferdinand) was a voyage by Pinzon, in
company with either Solis or Vespucci, or both, for the purpose of
finding an end to the continent or a passage into the Indian Ocean.
What Vespucci had failed to do in his last voyage for Portugal, he now
proposed to do in a voyage for Spain."

While the large fleet for this purpose was being prepared, it is
believed, Vespucci and La Cosa made two voyages, one in 1505 and
another in 1507, to Darien and the Pearl Coast, which resulted more
profitably to them than any others they had undertaken. As these
voyages were simply for commercial purposes, and as Vespucci seems to
have held in contempt the mere acquisition of riches, especially when
the promotion of discovery was not the aim of his expeditions, he
makes no mention of them whatever. In truth, but for the finding of
two letters, sent to the Venetian senate by its diplomatic agents in
Spain, dated 1505 and 1507, these fifth and sixth voyages of Vespucci
would have been overlooked entirely. The omission illustrates his
carelessness in respect to the chronicling of his deeds, his
heedlessness as to fame and glory. As