Chapter 5

THE SEARCH FOR THE INDIES.

_WESTWARD OR SPANISH ROUTE._

Sources of information concerning the life of Columbus; Las Casas and Ferdinand Columbus 335

The Biblioteca Colombina at Seville 336, 337

Bernaldez and Peter Martyr 338

Letters of Columbus 338

Defects in Ferdinand's information 339, 340

Researches of Henry Harrisse 341

Date of the birth of Columbus; archives of Savona 342

Statement of Bernaldez 343

Columbus's letter of September, 1501 344

The balance of probability is in favour of 1436 345

The family of Domenico Colombo, and its changes of residence 346, 347

Columbus tells us that he was born in the city of Genoa 348

His early years 349-351

Christopher and his brother Bartholomew at Lisbon 351, 352

Philippa Moniz de Perestrelo 352

Personal appearance of Columbus 353

His marriage, and life upon the island of Porto Santo 353, 354

The king of Portugal asks advice of the great astronomer Toscanelli 355

Toscanelli's first letter to Columbus 356-361

His second letter to Columbus 361, 362

Who first suggested the feasibleness of a westward route to the Indies? Was it Columbus? 363

Perhaps it was Toscanelli 363, 364

Note on the date of Toscanelli's first letter to Columbus 365-367

The idea, being naturally suggested by the globular form of the earth, was as old as Aristotle 368, 369

Opinions of ancient writers 370

Opinions of Christian writers 371

The "Imago Mundi" of Petrus Alliacus 372, 373

Ancient estimates of the size of the globe and the length of the Oecumene 374

Toscanelli's calculation of the size of the earth, and of the position of Japan (Cipango) 375, 376

Columbus's opinions of the size of the globe, the length of the Oecumene, and the width of the Atlantic ocean from Portugal to Japan 377-380

There was a fortunate mixture of truth and error in these opinions of Columbus 381

The whole point and purport of Columbus's scheme lay in its promise of a route to the Indies shorter than that which the Portuguese were seeking by way of Guinea 381

Columbus's speculations on climate; his voyages to Guinea and into the Arctic ocean 382

He may have reached Jan Mayen island, and stopped at Iceland 383, 384

The Scandinavian hypothesis that Columbus "must have" heard and understood the story of the Vinland voyages 384, 385

It has not a particle of evidence in its favour 385

It is not probable that Columbus knew of Adam of Bremen's allusion to Vinland, or that he would have understood it if he had read it 386

It is doubtful if he would have stumbled upon the story in Iceland 387

If he had heard it, he would probably have classed it with such tales as that of St. Brandan's isle 388

He could not possibly have obtained from such a source his opinion of the width of the ocean 388, 389

If he had known and understood the Vinland story, he had the strongest motives for proclaiming it and no motive whatever for concealing it 390-392

No trace of a thought of Vinland appears in any of his voyages 393

Why did not Norway or Iceland utter a protest in 1493? 393

The idea of Vinland was not associated with the idea of America until the seventeenth century 394

Recapitulation of the genesis of Columbus's scheme 395

Martin Behaim's improved astrolabe 395, 396

Negotiations of Columbus with John II. of Portugal 396, 397

The king is persuaded into a shabby trick 398

Columbus leaves Portugal and enters into the service of Ferdinand and Isabella, 1486 398-400

The junto at Salamanca, 1486 401

Birth of Ferdinand Columbus, August 15, 1488 401

Bartholomew Columbus returns from the Cape of Good Hope, December, 1487 402, 403

Christopher visits Bartholomew at Lisbon, cir. September, 1488, and sends him to England 404

Bartholomew, after mishaps, reaches England cir. February, 1490, and goes thence to France before 1492 405-407

The duke of Medina-Celi proposes to furnish the ships for Columbus, but the queen withholds her consent 408, 409

Columbus makes up his mind to get his family together and go to France, October, 1491 409, 410

A change of fortune; he stops at La Rabida, and meets the prior Juan Perez, who writes to the queen 411

Columbus is summoned back to court 411

The junto before Granada, December, 1491 412, 413

Surrender of Granada, January 2, 1492 414

Columbus negotiates with the queen, who considers his terms exorbitant 414-416

Interposition of Luis de Santangel 416

Agreement between Columbus and the sovereigns 417

Cost of the voyage 418

Dismay at Palos 419

The three famous caravels 420

Delay at the Canary islands 421

Martin Behaim and his globe 422, 423

Columbus starts for Japan, September 6, 1492 424

Terrors of the voyage:--1. Deflection of the needle 425

2. The Sargasso sea 426, 427

3. The trade wind 428

Impatience of the crews 428

Change of course from W. to W. S. W 429, 430

Discovery of land, October 12, 1492 431

Guanahani: which of the Bahama islands was it? 432

Groping for Cipango and the route to Quinsay 433, 434

Columbus reaches Cuba, and sends envoys to find a certain Asiatic prince 434, 435

He turns eastward and Pinzon deserts him 435

Columbus arrives at Hayti and thinks it must be Japan 436

His flag-ship is wrecked, and he decides to go back to Spain 437

Building of the blockhouse, La Navidad 438

Terrible storm in mid-ocean on the return voyage 439

Cold reception at the Azores 440

Columbus is driven ashore in Portugal, where the king is advised to have him assassinated 440

But to offend Spain so grossly would be imprudent 441

Arrival of Columbus and Pinzon at Palos; death of Pinzon 442

Columbus is received by the sovereigns at Barcelona 443, 444

General excitement at the news that a way to the Indies had been found 445

This voyage was an event without any parallel in history 446