Quitting the dangerous, and judging by our ideas of piratical warfare, the less honourable service of his rela tive, Columbus, as soon as his health was established, repaired to Lisbon. The encouragement given by Don henry of Portugal, to every person at all skilled in the art of navigation, and animated with the love of disco very, was at this time exceedingly great. To Colum bus, therefore, still young, ardent, enterprising and ac tive, the service of the Portuguese appeared every way desirable. lie readily yielded to the solicitations of his friends, and consented to fix his residence in Lisbon ; and having about the same time married a Portuguese lady, by name Donna Felipa Moniz Pcrestrello, he seems to have considered himself as a regular and recognised :ubject of Portugal. Nor did the circumstance of his marriage either detach him altogether from sea affairs, or suppress within him the desire of honourable reputa tion. The lady in question was the daughter of Peter Moniz Perestrello, himself a sailor, and one who had been employed in the earlier navigations of Don Henry, ..nd had discovered, under the license and patronage of that prince, the islands of Puerto Sancto and Madeira. In the eye of Columbus, therefore, a connection with such a family appeared not only highly reputable in itself, but likely to be of essential service to him in his future pursuits. By means of his wife, he got posses sion of the journals, sea-charts, and other papers which had belonged to her father Perestrello ; and he easily learned from them what object the Portuguese rulers had in view in prosecuting their navigations towards the south. This object was nothing else than to discover a passage to the East Indies, in order to secure to their country the profitable commerce with the spice islands, which had hitherto been engrossed by the Venetians And it was proposed to reach those distant parts by sailing- round the continent of Africa, or at least by dou bling its most southern cape.
Alter Columbus had made himself acquainted with these and other particulars, the thought of finding a shorter and safer passage to the East Indies, gradually to have arisen in his mind. In the discovery of the New World, little is to be ascribed to accident. or to any thing bearing the name and character of ac cident. It was the result of diligent enquiry and patient comparison ; it was a conclusion attained by successive steps and profound and elaborate reflection ; the legiti mate issue of those rational faculties N1 Bich the Almighty has implanted in man ; the exclusive property, as well as the boast of our intellectual nature. The rotundity of the planet on which we live was known. Upon the authority of the ancients, an authority highly respected and valued in the 13th century, it was believed that the ocean encompassed the whole earth, and in particular that it extended in a direction from east to west, between the coast of Spain lying nearest the Atlantic, and the shores of India. Marco Polo, a noble Venetian. and other travellers of modern times, had asserted, that the countries which they had visited beyond those of Persia and India, and to which they gave the names of Cathay and Zipango, stretched out in a wonderful manner towards the cast. The inference therefore was, and Columbus readily drew it. that in proportion as those countries extended towards the east, they must approach what we should now call the western longitude, or pass into it altogether ; and, therefore, that to sail directly west, was the shortest as well as the most obvious and certain course, in order to reach them. This result was strengthened, in a great degree, by the errors into which the ancient geographers had fallen, with regard to the countries situated beyond the eastern limit of the Per sian empire. They had placed these countries much farther from the first meridian which passed through the Fortunate Islands, than their real position. According to Marinus Tyrius, one of the most distinguished of the ancient geographers, the country of the Sinx, or Chinese, was situated at no less a distance from the meridian alluded to, than 15 hours, or 225 degrees : And beyond the Chinese lay the kingdoms of Cathay and Zipango, extending still farther in an easterly direction. The con
clusion, therefore, from the whole, seemed to be irresisti ble and sure, that the countries in question might be visited by sailing in a westerly course : and, moreover, that these countries would actually be found to lie within a distance, by no means considerable. from the Canary Islands, or even from the coast of Africa.
In the conclusion now mentioned, Columbus v% as still more firmly established, by the communications which he had with his cotcmporary Paul, a physician of Flo rence, a man well known for his acquaintance with geo metry and cosmography, and for his inquiries into the results, whether certain or only probable, which had followed from the Portuguese navigations. This learn ed person stated several facts in confirmation of the scheme suggested by Columbus, pointed out the course of sailing on a chart which he sent to the navigator, urged him strongly to secure the proper means in or der to the execution of his purpose, and concluded by saying, ?? that the voyage laid down was not only pos sible, but true, certain, honourable, advantageous, and most glorious among Christians." The next step of Columbus was, to engage some of the European powers in the accomplishment of his objec• But the difficulties which lie experienced while solicit ing at the courts of kings, the patronage which he at length obtained, the progress of the voyage, and the ac tual discovery of the American continent, have already been treated of in another part of this work. See Am F. nicA. It remains, therefore, only to add a few parti culars relative to the subsequent history of the Geno ese navigator.
During his return from the countries which he had visited, a severe tempest overtook the fleet, so that the life of the admiral was exposed to extreme danger. The wind, which had for many days been moderate, as well as favourable, now suddenly rose in great vio lence, and blew with the fury of a hurricane, while every thing which naval skill or long experience could snggest, was anxiously tried, in order to save the ships. The mind of Columbus, too, was harassed with the fear, lest all knowledge and memory of his discoveries should be for ever lost, and the human race be deprived of the advantages which he had no doubt would result from an intercourse with the inhabitants of the western world. Nor was he without a reasonable concern for his own reputation, dreading it as the worst evil that could befal him, to be handed clown to posterity in the character of a bold but visionary projector, whose time had been spent, and whose life had been thrown away, in the pursuit of unattainable objects. The fury of the storm increased, and no hope of safety seemed to remain. In these circumstances, Columbus bethought himself of an expedient, most proper in itself, and every way advisable, as•it must appear when once point ed out, but which perhaps would not readily have oc curred to any one possessed of less composure and pre sence of mind. He instantly retired to his cabin, and wrote upon parchment a short account of his voyage and of his success. This writing he folded up and sealed, addressing it to their Majesties the King and Queen of Spain ; and having ordered a large cask to be brought to him, lie wrapt the parchment in oiled cloth, surrounded it on all sides with wax, and inclosed it in the cask : and carefully stopping up this last, he threw the whole into the sea. Nor was he satisfied with one packet of the kind which we have just described ; he immediately prepared another similar to the first, and attached it to the poop of the vessel, that, as he ex presses it himself, " when the ship stink, the cask might float upon the water, and take its chance of being found." Life of Columbas, Churchill's Voyages, vol. ii. Happily, however, the storm at length abated ; and not many days after Columbus entered the port of Palos, from which he had sailed about seven months before, amidst the acclamations and the wonder of the multitude, who had perceived the vessel at a distance, and who waited his approach.