Attempted Italian colonization of America
He brought back with him to Tuscany five Arawak natives, most of whom died of smallpox. Only one lived on at the Medici court for several years, and learned to speak Italian. These natives often talked about the richness and fertility of their native land, speaking of a country rich in silver and gold. Thornton himself corroborated these reports, and asserted that the country was rich in rosewood, wild sugar canes, white pepper, balsam, cotton and many other kinds of merchandise which would form an abundant commerce for the Tuscans.