68 BALCH— EVOLUTION AND MYSTERY • 



which we have absolute definite historic record, is, of course, the 

 first voyage of Columbus. This voyage it was which made known 

 generally to Medieval Europe the existence of lands of great extent 

 far away to the west in the Atlantic. And although the Irish 

 reached Iceland and the Norsemen Greenland and some points of 

 the American coast, and although some Portuguese or Spaniards 

 probably also did the latter before Columbus, yet, to the world of 

 Europe, Columbus was the man who kindled the torch which dis- 

 pelled the darkness enwrapping the West, and in this matter at least, 

 the popular verdict of history is correct in calling Columbus the 

 discoverer of America. But, although we have records of his four 

 great voyages, although we know much about Columbus, yet of 

 many things connected with Columbus we are still ignorant. 



Among the things we do not know with any certainty is why 

 Columbus came to start on his journey. There has been much talk 

 that he corresponded with an Italian philosopher named Toscanelli, 

 who is said to have proved to him that by sailing westward he would 

 find the coast of Asia. Some have claimed that a study of Marco 

 Polo was the influencing motive of Columbus. There is a story 

 that he met on some isle near the African coast a pilot who died in 

 his arms and who assured him that he had sailed far across the 

 Atlantic to distant shores. There is another tale which shows Co- 

 lumbus arriving at Iceland and thus hearing of the lands, already 

 nearly forgotten in Europe, which had been the goal of the North- 

 men several centuries before. None of this, however, is in any 

 respect authenticated : none of it indeed rises much beyond the 

 status of a legend. What we do know, however, is that Columbus 

 had the spark of exploration fever burning brightly in his heart 

 and that it spurred him on for years until he finally won the greatest 

 prize in the history of discovery. 



Again, who actually sighted first an American land on Columbus' 

 first voyage? Was it Columbus or one of his companions? And 

 on what day did this happen ? It is usually assumed that Columbus 

 himself made the landfall on the 12th of October, 1492. But there 

 is no certainty of this. The records of the voyage show that Co- 

 lumbus himself claimed sighting land before dawn on October 12, 



