Historical Context

In 1503, upon hearing of these voyages and, later, studying charts of the 1492 voyages of Admiral Christopher Columbus and of his fellow Portuguese navigators Pedro Alverez Cabral and his fellow Captain Amigo Vespucci, who, in 1500, discovered Brazil, he was prepared to make his fortune supplying the new Rio de Janeiro colony with trade goods, building materials, seeds, and muskets.

He was not interested in making further discoveries or of finding gold; he would continue to make his fortune in trade.