In the fall of 1501, Coelho’s fleet reached the coast of Brazil. Somalia Map Tourist Attractions In contrast to Pedro lvarez Cabral’s landing of 1500, relations with the people of Brazil were tense, and in some cases hostile. The fleet did not find great mineral wealth, but it did collect wood, parrots, monkeys, and a few native Brazilians.
Vespucci wrote two accounts of Coelho’s voyage which he claimed as his own third voyage, although it was not really his, and was his second voyage, in any event known as the Lettera and Mundus Novus. Both of these were published in Florence around 1505. These documents resulted in Amerigo Vespucci’s name being associated with the continent of South Country and ultimately led to his lasting fame. In his writings, Vespucci made claims that were clearly exaggerated.
For example, he assessed his own skills as a navigator quite positively: Though a man without practical experience, through the teaching of the marine chart for navigation, I was more skilled than all the shipmasters of the whole world (from Samuel Eliot Morison’s account). Vespucci, again giving credit to himself, and not the captain of the voyage, goes on to describe an incredible journey. Vespucci’s achievements as a navigator must be taken with a grain of salt, but his descriptions of the Guarani of Brazil rival Columbus’s early accounts in terms of their attention to ethnographic detail.
