Although exploration narratives frequently featured tales of danger and heroism, this strategy was but one element in attaining the larger goals and desires of the explorers themselves. In other words, they were not simply trying to entertain. For instance, after Christopher Columbus's landfall on and exploration of islands in the Caribbean in 1492, he wrote a letter to his patrons describing the "mines of gold" on the island of Espanola and the land's proximity to the home of the (mythical) Asian ruler known as the "Grand Khan." He may well have believed both of these incorrect assertions. Regardless, though, each served an important purpose for the explorer. First, his promise to his patrons of gold, spices, cotton, wood, and slaves, in quantities "as much as they shall order," would, if true, have made Columbus himself a very rich man. He had negotiated...