This Man Affirmed To Columbus, At The Monastery Of St
Maria De Rabida, That They Took A Departure From Fyal, And Sailed 150
Leagues To The South-West, And At Their Return Discovered The Island Of
Flores, Following Many Birds Flying In That Direction, Which They Knew
Were Not Water-Fowl.
He next said, that they sailed so far to the
north-west, that Cape Clare of Ireland bore east
Of them; where they found
the west wind blowing hard, yet with a smooth sea, which they believed was
occasioned by the nearness of some land sheltering the sea from the
violence of the wind; but that they dared not to proceed on their voyage,
it being then the month of August, and they feared the approach of winter.
This is said to have happened forty years before Columbus discovered the
West Indies.
A sailor belonging to Port St Mary affirmed, that in a voyage to Ireland
he saw a country to the westward, which he imagined to have been Tartary;
but which has since turned out to be Bacallaos, being a part of Canada,
but could not attain the coast by reason of stormy weather[2]. Peter de
Velasco of Galicia declared, that, in a voyage to Ireland, he stood so far
to the northward that he saw land west from that island. Vincent Diaz, a
Portuguese pilot of Tavira, said that one morning, on his return from
Guinea, he thought he saw an island under the parallel of Madeira. Diaz
discovered the secret to a merchant, who procured the leave of the king of
Portugal to fit out a ship for the discovery, and sent advice to his
brother Francis de Cazana to fit out one at Seville, and put it under the
command of Diaz. But Francis Cazana refusing, Diaz returned to Tercera,
where he procured a ship, with the assistance of Luke de Cazana, and went
out two or three times above an hundred leagues to the west, but found
nothing. To these may be added, the attempts made by Caspar and Michael de
Cortereal, sons to him who discovered the island of Tenera; but they were
lost in searching for this land. Yet all these particulars contributed to
encourage Columbus to undertake the enterprise; for, when Providence has
decreed the accomplishment of any thing, it disposes the means, and
provides the proper instruments.
[1] This is the person usually called Behain. - E.
[2] Rather Newfoundland. - E.
SECTION III.
Columbus proposes his Design to the King and Queen of Spain; which, after
many Repulses, is adopted by the Queen[1].
The reason why Columbus gave the name of Indies to those new found
countries, was on purpose to excite the princes he had to deal with to
fall into his proposals, as he proposed to find gold, silver, and pearls,
and those drugs and spices which are not produced in our countries, and
therefore he concluded, that his discoveries might vie with the East
Indies, give reputation to his design, and add weight to his proposals.
Besides, it was his design to discover the east by way of the west; and as
the East Indies lay in the remotest part of the east, going eastwards,
which he meant to discover in a western course, it might well be called
India.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 207 of 415
Words from 109718 to 110271
of 219607
