at it may
be the more correct, we command the officers of our board of trade in
Seville to call an assembly of our most able pilots that shall at that
time be in the country, and, in the presence of you, Amerigo Despuchi,
our pilot-major, there shall be planned and drawn a chart of all the
lands and islands of the Indies, which have hitherto been discovered
belonging to our kingdom; and upon this consultation, subject to the
approval of you, our pilot-major, a standard chart shall be drawn
which shall be called the Royal Chart, by which all pilots must direct
and govern themselves. This shall remain in the possession of our said
officers, and of you, our said pilot-major; and no pilot shall use any
other chart, without incurring a penalty of fifty doubloons, to be
paid to the board of trade in the city of Seville.... And it is our
will and pleasure that, in virtue of the above, you, the said Amerigo
Despuchi, shall use and exercise the said functions of our
pilot-major, and shall be able to do, and shall do, all things
pertaining to that office contained in this our letter."[14]

The remainder of Amerigo Vespucci's life may almost be summed up in
the statement that he held this responsible post during the four years
succeeding to his appointment, for he received his commission on March
22, 1508, and died on February 22, 1512. It was an onerous position,
"and his appointment to it by Ferdinand was the highest proof of the
estimation in which he was held by that monarch that could have been
bestowed upon him." It was a recognition of his supereminent
qualities, as cosmographer and navigator, at a time when Spanish
enterprise was reaching out to every part of the western world; and as
he discharged its duties with fidelity and skill, confining himself
closely to his desk, no leisure was afforded him for further voyaging,
for writing out the long-deferred accounts of his travels, or for
recreation of any sort. He made one short visit to Florence, where he
was received with honor, as the most distinguished son of a city
world-famous for its great men, and where the portrait was painted
which has been universally accepted as authentic, representing him as
advanced in years.

As already mentioned, authentic information relating to the latter
years of Vespucci is of a fragmentary character, and is contained
mainly in the official papers found in the archives of Simancas and
Seville, by Don Martin Fernandez de Navarrete, to wh