ii)6 



NATURE [June 23, 1892 



Andrea to the church of S. Stefano. It was battered down 

 during the bombardment of Genoa in the time of Louis XIV., 

 was rebuilt with two additional stories, and is now the property 

 of the city of Genoa. 



Here Columbus was born, the date of his birth being fixed by 

 three statements of his own, and by a justifiable inference from 

 the notarial records. He said that he went to sea at the age of 

 fourteen, and that when he came to Spain in 1485 he had led a 

 sailor's life for twenty-three years. He was, therefore, born in 

 1447. The authorities who assign 1436 as the year of his 

 birth rely exclusively on the guess of a Spanish priest, Dr. Ber- 

 naldez, Cura of Palacios, who made the great discoverer's 

 acqua'Dtance towards the end of his carter. 



The notarial records, combined with incidental statements of 

 Columbus himself, also tell us that he was brought up, with his 

 brothers and sister, in the VicoDritto at Genoa ; that he worked 

 at his father's trade and became a " lanerio," or wool-weaver ; 

 that he moved with his father and mother to Savona in 1472 ; 

 and that the last document connecting Cristofero Colombo with 

 Italy is dated on August 7, 1473. But in spite of his regular 

 business as a weaver, he hrst went to sea in 146 1, at the age of 

 fourteen, and he continued to make frequent voyages in the 

 Mediterranean and the Archipelago — certainly as far as Chios. 



When Columbus submitted his proposition for an Atlantic 

 voyage to the Spanish sovereigns, they referred it to a committee, 

 presided over by Father Talavera, which sat at Cordova, and con- 

 demned it as impracticable. It is generally supposed that the 

 proposals of the Genoese were subf?equently submitted to an as- 

 sembly of learned persons at the University of Salamanca, and 

 again condemned. The truth was quite different. Columbus 

 was gifted with a charming manner, simple eloquence, and 

 great powers of clear exposition. It was an intellectual treat to 

 hear him recount his experiences, and the arguments for his 

 scheme. Among those who first took an interest in his conver- 

 sation, and then became a sincere and zealous friend, was the 

 Prior of the great Dominican Convent of San Estevan, and Pro- 

 fessor of Theology at Salamanca, who shrewdly foresaw that 

 I he most effectual way of befriending Columbus would be by 

 affording ample opportunities of discussing the questions he 

 raised. For this object there could be no better place than the 

 University of Salamanca, where numerous learned persons were 

 assembled, and where the Court was to pass the winter. The 

 good Prior lodged his guest in a country farm belonging to the 

 Dominicans, called Valcuebo, a few miles outside Salamanca. 

 Hither the Dominican monks came to converse on the great de- 

 ductions he had drawn from the study of scientific books, and from 

 his vast experience, discussing the reconciliation of his views with 

 orthodox theology. Later, in the winter, Columbus came into 

 the city and held conferences with men of learning, at which 

 numerous courtiers were present. These assembages for discus- 

 sion — sometimes in the quiet shades of Valcuebo, sometimes in 

 the great hall of the convent — excited much interest among the 

 students and at Court. The result was, that the illustrious 

 Genoese secured many powerful friends at Court, who turned 

 (he scale in his favour when the crucial time arrived. Such is 

 the slight basis on which the story of the official decision of the 

 Salamanca University against Columbus rests. 



Captain Duro, of the Spanish Navy, has investigated all ques- 

 tions relating to the ships of the Columbian period and their equip- 

 ment with great care ; and the learning he has brought to bear 

 on the subject has produced very interesting results. The two 

 small caravels provided for the voyage of Columbus by the town 

 of Palos were only partially decked. The /•?'«/« was strongly 

 built, and was originally lateen-rigged on all three ma-ts, and 

 she was the fastest sailer in the expedition ; but she was only 

 50 tons burden, with a complement of eighteen men. The Nina, 

 so-called after the Niiio family of Palos, who owned her, was 

 still smaller, being only 40 tons. The third vessel was much 

 larger, and did not belong to Palos. She was called a "nao," 

 or ship, and was of about 100 tons burden, completely decked, 

 with a high poop and forecastle. Her length has been variously 

 estimated. Two of her masts had square sails, the mizen being 

 lateen-rigged. The crew of the ship Santa Maria numbered 

 fifty-two men all told, including the admiral. 



Friday, August 3, 1492, when the three little vessels sailed 

 oyer the bar of Saltes, was a memorable day in the world's 

 history. It had been prepared for by many years of study and 

 labour, by long years of disappointment and anxiety, rewarded 

 at length by success. The proof was to be made at last. To 

 the incidents of that facuous voyage nothing can be added. But 



NO. 1 182, VOL. 46] 



we may at least settle the long-disputed question of the landfall 

 of Columbus. It is certainly an important one, but it is by 

 no means a case for the learning and erudition of Navarretes, 

 Humboldts, and Varnhagens. It is a sailor's question. If the 

 materials from the journal were placed in the hands of any mid- 

 shipman in Her Majesty's Navy, he would put his finger on the 

 true landfall within half an hour. When siilors such as Admiral 

 Becher, of the Hydrographic Office, and Lieutenant Murdoch, 

 of the United States Navy, took the matter in hand, they did 

 so. Our lamented associate, Mr. R. II. Major, read a paper on 

 this interesting subject on May 8, 1871, in which he proved 

 conclusively by two lines of argument that Watling Island was 

 the Guanahani or San Salvador of Columbus. 



The spot where Columbus first landed in the New World is 

 the eastern end of the south side of Watling Island. This has 

 been established by the arguments of Major, and by the calcula- 

 tions of Murdoch, beyond all controversy. The evidence is 

 overwhelming. Watling Island answers to every requirement 

 and every test, whether based on the admiral's description of 

 the island itself, on the courses and distances thence to Cuba, 

 or on the evidence of early maps. We have thus reached a final 

 and satisfactory conclusion, and we can look back on that 

 momentous event in the world's history with the certainty that 

 we know the exact spot on which it occurred — ^on which Colum- 

 bus touched the land when he sprang from his boat with the 

 standard waving over his head. 



The discoveries of Columbus, during his first voyage, as re- 

 corded in his journal, included part of the north coast of Cuba, 

 and the whole of the north coast of Espaiiola. The journal 

 shows the care with which the navigation was conducted, how 

 observations for latitude were taken, how the coasts were laid 

 down — every promontory and bay receiving a name — and with 

 \\hat diligence each new feature of the land and its inhabitants 

 was examined and recorded. The genius of Columbus would 

 not have been of the same service to mankind if it had not been 

 combined with great capacity for taking trouble, and with habits 

 of order and accuracy. 



Columbus regularly observed for latitude with Martin Be- 

 haim's astrolabe or the earlier quadrant, when the weather 

 rendered it possible, and he occasionally attempted to find the 

 longitude by observing eclipses of the moon with the aid of 

 tables calculated by old Regiomontanus, whose declination 

 tables also enabled the admiral to work out his meridian alti- 

 tudes. But the explorer's main reliance was on the skill and 

 care with which he calculated his dead reckoning, watching 

 every sign offered by sea and sky by day and night, allowing 

 for currents, for leeway, for every cause that could affect the 

 movement of his ship, noting with infinite pains the hearings 

 and the variation of his compass, and constantly recording all 

 phenomena on his card and in his journal. Columbus was the 

 true father of what we call proper pilotage. 



On his return his spirit of investigation led him to try the 

 possibility of making a passage in the teeth of the trade wind. 

 It was a long voyage, and his people were reduced to the last 

 extremity, even threatening to eat the Indians who were on 

 board. One night, to the surprise of all the company, the 

 admiral gave the order to shorten sail. Next morning, at 

 dawn. Cape St. Vincent was in sight. This is a most remark- 

 able proof of the care with which his reckoning must have been 

 kept, and of his consummate skill as a navigator. 



In criticizing the Cantino map showing Cortoreal's coast- 

 lines, Mr. Markham showed that absurd mistakes had been 

 made, not by the voyager or his pilots, but by the cartographer, 

 and subsequent commentators. Vespucci's description of his 

 "first voyage" in 1797, was subjected to very thorough 

 criticism, and shown, in spite of the arguments of authors who 

 have tried to support the veracity of that ingenious romancer, to 

 have been a pure fabrication. Little or no credit could be given 

 to Vespucci in any case, as he was forty-eight years old on first 

 going to sea, and in those days apprenticeship from boyhood 

 was indispensable for a knowledge of seamanship. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Oxford. — The Science Examiners have issued the following 

 Class Lists : — 



Chemistry.— First Class : C. L. Fort (^New^ R. E. Hughes 



