This book is a first-hand account of the voyages of Amerigo Vespucci, the Italian explorer whose name came to be associated with the New World. Written as a letter to Lorenzo Pietro di Medici, it describes Vespucci's experiences on his first two voyages to what is now South America, including his encounters with the indigenous people and his observations of the natural world. The letter, which was highly influential in its time, helped to establish a new conception of the globe and its peoples. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.