Dear Diary,
I’ve spent close to a year sailing down the coast of this land and studying these new and strange tribes and civilizations. I am convinced that they are not Asian at all. I decided to call this place the New World (Mundus Novus) because it seems to be a new way to discover wealth. I just hope that Portugal makes its claim here before Spain and England take it all. I wonder how much money I can make by discovering that this is not India. I’m not sure I want to stay with Medici anymore, although it does earn me a little spending money, but I’d like to train pilots (term used to refer to captains of naval vessels). Maybe I could get a job that has to do with books because I love to read. Well, soon we’ll be leaving Rio de la Plata.
I hope there will be something for me in the New World.
Amerigo Vespucci
