THE ENGLISH VOYAGES 



maps, America was known as a chain of islands, and 



The barrier ^j^^j-e was something: inherently incredible in the idea of 

 continent. • • -vt 



a great continent stretching North and South over the 



tropical and temperate zones. When that idea was 



accepted, there remained a last hope, the discovery of a 



passage through one of the innumerable inlets of the 



North, whereby the nations situated in colder seas than 



those of Spain might redeem their disadvantages, and 



claim a share in the spoils of the world. It is at this 



point that the story of the English Voyages begins. 



The actions that move the world have been prompted 



and inspired by dreams and visions. The search for 



the philosopher's stone laid the foundations of modern 



chemistry ; modern travel and geography owe their chief 



Cathay. advances to the search for the fabled realm of Cathay. 



Traditions and fantasies concerning the Golden Age and 



the Earthly Paradise are interwoven with all the practical 



designs of the early navigators. The poets of the ancient 



world are the true fathers of later science. So early as 



the sixth century the monk Cosmas, in his Universal 



Christian Topography^ states the object of many a later 



The Earthly quest. ' If Paradise,' he says, ' were really on the 



Paradise. surface of this world, is there not many a man among 



those who are so keen to learn and search out everything, 



that would not let himself be deterred from reaching it } 



When we see that there are men who will not be deterred 



from penetrating to the ends of the earth in search of 



silk, and all for the sake of filthy lucre, how can we 



believe that they would be deterred from going to get 



a sight of Paradise?' All through the Middle Ages 



the dream held sway, and Paradise was sought in the 



East. Columbus, seeking it by another route, believed 



