sail for home to tell the wonderful news.

When he reached Bristol he found everybody still interested in India.
It was a water route to India that was wanted, and not a new country.
People cared more about reaching golden Cathay than about finding new,
barren lands.

So, although King Henry was proud to know that the new land belonged
to England, it was eleven years before he made any further attempt
to send ships there to take possession.

AMERIGO VESPUCCI.

Amerigo Vespucci was a native of Florence, Italy, and a friend of
Columbus. He was an educated man and very fond of study.

[Illustration: Amerigo Vespucci.]

At the time in which he lived it was difficult to find the latitude
and longitude of places, and few people were able to calculate either
correctly. Vespucci was skillful in the work of computing longitude,
and he was also well versed in the history of all the voyages that
had been made. He was familiar with the facts of astronomy and
geography then known, and was well able to conduct the sailing of a
ship into strange waters.

It is believed that Vespucci made six voyages. He did not command his
own vessels, as Columbus did, but he went with the expedition as
assistant or adviser to the captain, keeping records of the voyage
and making maps and charts.

In his first voyage, made in 1497, Vespucci reached the coast of
Honduras, and sailed into the Gulf of Mexico. Here he found, probably
on the coast of Yucatan, a queer little sea village which reminded
him of the great city of Venice near his home.

[Illustration: A Queer Little Sea Village.]

The houses in this village were made of wood, and were built on piles
running out into the water. These houses were connected with the shore
by bridges, which were constructed in such a manner that they could
be drawn up, thus cutting off all connection with the land. In one
house Vespucci found six hundred people. A very large family, was it
not?

Continuing the voyage around the Gulf of Mexico, Vespucci saw many
strange and wonderful things. The natives roasted and ate frightful
animals, which from the description given us we now know to have been
alligators. They also made cakes, or patties, out of fish, and baked
them on red-hot coals. The Spaniards were invited to taste these
dainties, and those of the sailors who did so found the strange food
very palatable.

After sailing round the coast of Florida, the ships headed northeast,
landing ev