y is reached. When I
speak of a passage over this unknown island, I do so in view of its
great extent, as I estimate it to be of such size that it might more
properly be designated _Terra Firma_,[9] being, according to my
calculations, as large as, if not larger than, the whole of Europe.
And herein do I estimate most highly the worth of the discoveries
which your excellency has made, and their importance to this realm, as
it will now be comparatively easy to pass the lands you have fallen
in with by sailing either in a more northerly or a more southerly
direction, in either case striking the country I have in my mind."

"Nay, nay, good Signor Vespucci. I have the confidence in my heart
that you are mistaken. I feel, indeed, persuaded, by the many and
wonderful manifestations of divine Providence in my especial favor,
that I am the chosen instrument of God in bringing to pass a great
event: no less than the conversion of millions who are now existing in
the darkness of paganism. I would, indeed, provide for the good of the
poor natives we have already met, as well by building cities on their
islands and cultivating their lands, as by the erection of churches
and the establishment of Christian worship. But I would by no means
forget the greater end in view--namely, that of bringing to bear upon
the infidels the wealth and power of the vast kingdom of Cathay, that
thus being encompassed, by the armies from Europe on the one side, and
by the innumerable hosts of Asia on the other, they may be utterly
destroyed, and the tomb of our Lord be again placed in the possession
of the true believers.... In these things I marvel much at your
incredulity, Signor Vespucci, seeing that you have often had
opportunities of conversing with the learned physicist Paolo, your own
countryman--peace to his ashes!--who in his lifetime so nearly
coincided with me in opinion."

"I have, indeed, as your excellency observes, oftentimes disputed and
argued with the venerable Toscanelli, and to him is due much of the
little knowledge I have been able to acquire in cosmography and
astronomy. But from him I also learned that the descriptions which are
given by Marco Polo were considered by many wise men as not altogether
beyond the reach of doubt. If, then, he is in error in some
particulars, how shall we draw the line, and say wherein he speaks the
truth of his own knowledge? And how could he know the distance which
exists between Cathay and the wes