Columbus in Europe: Portugal and Africa
Principles and arguments of various kinds, and derived from different sources, induced him to adopt this opinion, seemingly as chimerical as it was new and extraordinary. The spherical figure of the earth was known, and its magnitude ascertained with some degree of accuracy. From this it was evident that the continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa, as far as they were known at that time, formed but a small portion of the terraqueous globe. It was suitable to our ideas concerning the wisdom and beneficence of the Author of Nature, to believe that the vast space still unexplored was not covered entirely by a vast un-profitable ocean, but occupied by countries fit for the habitation of man. It appeared, likewise, extremely probable that the continent on this side of the globe was balanced by a proportional quantity of land in the other hemisphere. These conclusions concerning the existence of another continent, drawn from the figure and structure of the globe, were confirmed by the observations and conjectures of modern navigators. A Portuguese pilot, having stretched farther to the west than was usual at that time, took up a piece of timber artificially carved, floating upon the sea; and as it was driven towards him by a westerly wind, he concluded that it came from some unknown land situated in that quarter. Columbus's brother-in-law had found, to the west of the Madeira Isles, a piece of timber fashioned in the same manner and brought by the same wind, and had seen, likewise, canes of an enormous size floating upon the waves, which resembled those described by Ptolemy as productions peculiar to the East Indies. After a course of westerly winds, trees, torn up by the roots, were often driven upon the coasts of the Azores, and at one time the dead bodies of two men, with singular features, resembling neither the inhabitants of Europe nor of Africa, were cast ashore there.
Columbus was of the opinion, from the statements of several ancient writers, that India was a country of immense size, extending far to the east, and that it might be most easily reached by sailing westward around the spherical globe. He had no conception of its actual distance, and no dream of an intervening continent.
To a mind less capable of forming and of executing great designs than that of Columbus, all those reasonings and observations and authorities would have served only as the foundation of some plausible and fruitless theory, which might have furnished matter for ingenious discourse or fanciful conjecture. But with his sanguine and enterprising temper, speculation led directly to action. Fully satisfied himself with respect to the truth of his system, he was impatient to bring it to the test of experiment, and to set out upon a voyage of discovery. The first step towards this was to secure the patronage of some of the considerable powers in Europe capable of undertaking such an enterprise. As long absence had not extinguished the affection which he bore to his native country, he wished that it should reap the fruits of his labors and invention. With this view, he laid his scheme before the senate of Genoa, and making his country the first tender of his service, offered to sail under the banners of the republic in quest of the new regions which he expected to discover. But Columbus had resided for so many years in foreign parts that his countrymen were unacquainted with his abilities and character; and, though a maritime people, were so little accustomed to distant voyages that they could form no just idea of the principles on which he founded his hopes of success. They inconsiderately rejected his proposal, as the dream of a chimerical projector, and lost forever the opportunity of restoring their commonwealth to its ancient splendor.
His next application was to John II. of Portugal, to whom his abilities were known, and who listened graciously to his project. But the parties to whom the monarch referred the scheme induced him dishonorably to despatch a vessel, with strict secrecy, in the direction indicated by Columbus. The pilot chosen, however, returned after a short voyage, and declared the project dangerous and impracticable. When Columbus learned of this treacherous proceeding, he indignantly left Portugal and proceeded to Spain, then under the joint rule of Ferdinand and Isabella. Here he spent years in seeking to enlist the monarchs in his favor, until finally, despairing of success, he sent his brother to England and prepared to visit that country in person.