first to identify the New World of North and South America as a separate landmass from Asia. (Christopher Columbus mistakenly believed he had reached Asia.) In one letter, dated March (or April) 1503, Vespucci described the diversity of life on the new continent:

We knew that land to be a continent, and not an island, from its long beaches extending without trending round, the infinite number of inhabitants, the numerous tribes and peoples, the numerous kinds of wild animals unknown in our country, and many others never seen before by us, touching which it would take long to make reference.

In his writings, Vespucci also described the culture of the indigenous people, focusing on their diet, religion, and—what made these letters very popular—their sexual, marriage, and childbirth practices. The letterswere published in many languages and were distributed across Europe (they sold much better than Columbus's own diaries). Vespucci's descriptions of the natives were vivid and frank:

They are people gentle and tractable, and all of both sexes go naked, not covering any part of their bodies, just as they came from their mothers’ wombs, and so they go until their deaths...They are of a free and good-looking expression of countenance, which they themselves destroy by boring the nostrils and lips, the nose and ears...They stop up these perforations with blue stones, bits of marble, of crystal, or very fine alabaster, also with very white bones and other things.

Vespucci also described the richness of the land, and hinted that the region could be easily exploited for its valuable raw