Peutinger[286] was shown this letter during a temporary visit to Rome, and made the abstract thus published. He states explicitly that the letter was addressed to the author’s _brother_. Covering the same ground as the preceding letters, and written about the same time, it is only natural that there should occur many similar passages; and this would in all probability be even more apparent if we were in a position to collate the letter seen by Peutinger at Rome with that preserved in the “Riccardiana”. But the letter, notwithstanding, is quite distinct from the letters addressed to a gentleman in Florence. The arrangement of the subjects dealt with is different, and whilst we meet with paragraphs not to be found in either of the other letters, there are numerous omissions. Among these latter we may direct attention to the speculation about the Chinese being Germans, which would most certainly not have been passed over by a German. The Peutinger letter was written after the captain had come back “_a salvamento_” to Lisbon with the “one vessel” of 90 tons, not previously accounted for. This definite statement is rather puzzling, for if Vasco da Gama really came home in his flagship, we are either compelled to reject the statements of such well-accredited historians as De Barros, Goes, and Castanheda, who affirm that the captain-major ordered João de Sá to take his flagship, the _S. Gabriel_, to Lisbon, whilst he himself chartered a swift caravel which conveyed himself and his dying brother to the Azores; or we must assume that João de Sá, having refitted the _S. Gabriel_ at São Thiago, joined his chief at Terçeira, and returned with him to Lisbon.[287] We are inclined to believe that we have before us an inaccurate statement made by the writer of the letter, or else an erroneous rendering of his meaning by Peutinger. The letter was certainly written after the arrival of João de Sá in the _S. Gabriel_, but Vasco da Gama himself, coming direct from Terçeira, may have reached Lisbon a day or two later: these two distinct events becoming thus blended, as it were, in the mind of a man not thoroughly informed of the matter. We have contented ourselves with printing a few extracts from Peutinger’s letter. GIROLAMO SERNIGI’S FIRST LETTER TO A GENTLEMAN AT FLORENCE.[288] [_The Start._] The most illustrious Lord Manuel of Portugal sent 3 new vessels to discover new countries, namely 2 vessels[289] (balonieri) of 90 tons each, and one of 50 tons, in addition to which there was a ship (navetta), of one hundred and ten tons, laden with provisions. Between them they took away cxviij men,[290] and they left this city of Lisbon on July 9 1497.[291] Vasco da Gama went as captain of this fleet. [_The Voyage._]