Giovanni Francesco Gemelli Careri

(1651 - 1725)

Embarking on the galleon San Jose in Manila Bay on June 29, 1696, Giovanni Francesco Gemelli Careri kept a detailed journal of his journey to Mexico. On November 21 he lost “a pair of gold buttons with emeralds” after having “laid a wager that we should see land” by that day. The ship made landfall in January 1697. The crossing was part of his tour of the world by sea and land, begun in 1693 and completed in 1698, his account of which Gemelli Careri published in six volumes in 1699 and 1700 titled A Voyage Around the World.