I went to sea when very young, and have continued to
the present day; and this art of navigation inclines those who follow it
to be desirous of discovering the secrets of this world.
It is now forty
years[2] that I have been sailing to all those parts of the world which
are frequented at present; and I have conversed with many wise and learned
men, both clergy and laity, Latins, Greeks, Indians and Moors, and of many
other sects and nations. God has been favourable to my inclination, and
has given me the spirit of understanding, so that I have become very
skilful in navigation, with a competent knowledge in arithmetic, geometry,
and astronomy, and both genius and skill to draw maps and charts of this
world, with its cities, rivers, islands, and ports, all in their proper
places and proportions. During my whole life, I have endeavoured to see
and understand all books of cosmography, history, and philosophy; by which
my understanding hath been enlightened so as to enable me to sail from
Europe to the Indies, and God hath inclined me to put this design into
execution. Filled with this desire I came to your highnesses; and after
all who had heard an account of my proposed undertaking had rejected it
with scorn and contempt as visionary and impracticable; in your highnesses
alone I found judgment to believe in the practicability of my proposal,
and constancy and spirit to put it into execution."
In another letter, written in January 1495 from Hispaniola, to their
Catholic majesties, in illustration of the errors and mistakes common in
voyages and the piloting of ships, he thus writes, "I was formerly sent to
Tunis by King Renee, whom God hath since taken to himself, to take the
galeasse called Fernandina; and, when near the island of St Peter off
Sardinia, I was informed that the Fernandina was accompanied by two ships
and a carack.
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