272 MEMOIR on THE 
All thefe quotations, which cannot be thought tedious,. 
fince they ferve to prove a fa&t almoft unknown, feem to: 
demonitrate, that the firft difcovery of America is due to: 
the Portugueie, and not to the Spaniards; and that the 
chief merit belongs to a Germanaftronomer. The expe- 
dition of Ferdinand Magellan, which did not take place: 
before the year 1519, arofe from the following fortunate 
circumftance. This perfon, being in the apartment of the 
king of Portugal, faw there a chart of the coaft of Ameri-- 
ca, drawn by Behem, and at once conceived the bold pro-- 
ject of following the fteps of this great navigator. Jerome 
Benzon, who publifhed a defcription of America in 1550, 
fpeaks of this chart, a copy of which, fent by Behem him-- 
felf, is preferved in the archives of Nurenberg. ‘The cele- 
brated aftronomer Riccioli, though an Italian, yet does not 
feem willing to give his countryman the honor of this im- 
portant difcovery. In his geography reformed, book IIL. 
page go, he fays: ‘¢ Chriftopher Columbus never thought 
“ of an expedition to the Weft Indies, until fome time 
* before, while in the ifland of Madeira, where amufing 
«“ himfelf in forming and delineating geographical charts, 
“‘ he obtained information from Martin Boehm, or as the 
“ Spaniards fay, from Alphonfus Sanchez de Huelva, a 
“ pilot, who by meer chance had fallen in with the ifland 
« afterwards called Dominica.” And in another place, 
“ let Boehm and Columbus have each. their praife, they 
“* were: 
Toutes ces citations qui ne fauroiént étre trop longues, parcequ’elles fervent a prouver un 
fait prefqu’ inconnu, paroiffent demontrer que la premiere decouverte de l’Amerique eft due 
aux Portugais, et non aux Efpagnols; et que c’eft un aftronome Allemand qui ctoit a leur 
téte. L’expedition de Ferdinand Magellan, qui n’a eu lieu qu’en 1519, eft due a un heu- 
reux hazard. Ce navigateur fe trouvant dans l’appartement du roi de Portugal, y vit une carte 
des cotes de ’Amerique tracée par Behem, et congut dés lors le projet hardi de fuivre la 
route de ce grand navigateur. Jerome Benzon, qui a donnée en Is50, une defcription de 
TP Amerique, fait mention de cette carte, dont on a confervé une copie dans les archives de 
Nurenberg, oti Behem !’avoit envoyée lui-méme ; le celebre altronome Riccioli, qui étoit lui- 
méme Italien, ne paroit pascependant vouloir attribuer a fon compatriote cette importante de- 
couverte ; il dit dans fa geographie reformeée, livre 3. p.90. ‘* Chriftophorus Columbus, cum 
¢¢ priusin Madera infula, ubi conficiendis et delineandis chartis geographicis vacabat, indicio ha= 
S¢ bito a Martino Bohemo, aut ut Hifpani diditant ab Alplionfo Sanchez de Huelva, nauclero 
¢ qui forte inciderat in infulam, poftea Dominicam dictam, cogitavit de navigatione in Indiam 
** occidentalem.”? Et dans un autre endroit, “* Sit {ua laus Bohemo, fit fua laus Columbo, 
« ambo 
