Iberian Conquest : 149 



north, or roughly from Natal to Honduras. In 1501, on a voyage from 

 Portugal, he picked up the coast again in 5 degrees south and sailed 

 southward to 25 degrees south, that is, to the Bay of Cananea, Brazil, 

 thence southward. The most reliable account, according to recent 

 studies, says that the voyage covered some 800 leagues of the South 

 American coast and reached latitude 50 degrees south (Straits of 

 Magellan). 



In the nineteenth century critics in England and America de- 

 nounced Vespucci as a liar, a boaster and a mean fellow and broad- 

 cast the opinion that it was a disgrace and misfortune that the 

 American continents should have been named after him. The reason 

 for this is that two poor and conflicting documents attributed to 

 Vespucci were apparently forgeries. The true and consistent accounts 

 of his voyages which are accepted by modern scholars were embodied 

 in three letters that he sent to Lorenzo de Medici. These letters were 

 written in 1501, 1502, and 1503. 



Vespucci was a son of a wealthy and prominent family who re- 

 ceived an excellent technical education. He later became a distin- 

 guished astronomer and he also made immediate important contribu- 

 tions to scientific navigation. 



The geographer, Martin Waldseemiiller, naturally and properly 

 placed confidence in Vespucci's integrity and in 1507 he did well in 

 attaching the name "America" to the new continent since it was 

 Vespucci who first reported the true character of a large part of the 

 New World. 



In 1500 other voyages to the Brazilian coast were made by Vicente 

 Pinzon who had sailed with Columbus and also by the Spaniard, 

 Diego de Lepe. As we have seen, this was also the year of Cabral's 

 landing on the Brazilian coast. 



In 1501 and 1502 Vespucci completed another voyage which carried 

 him at least as far as 32 degrees south latitude. His account of the 

 voyage made it very clear that a New World of great extent had 

 been discovered. 



Juan Ponce de Leon, who was the governor of Puerto Rico, 

 reached the American mainland along the Florida coast in 1512. A 

 year later Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and was the first 

 European to sail on the Pacific Ocean. 



By this time, of course, passages across the Atlantic had become 

 fairly common and there were frequent sailings between Hispaniola 

 and the ports of Spain. The area of communication had been in- 

 creased in 151 1 when Diego Velazquez conquered and colonized the 



