2 9 o GEOGRAPHICAL SCIENCE. 



Christopher Columbus, born in 1446, and accustomed to the sea from his 

 childhood.. He says in one of his letters, " God imparted to me great know- 

 ledge of maritime matters, and some knowledge of the stars, of geometry, 

 and of arithmetic. Moreover, He granted me the power to delineate globes, 

 and to indicate the proper position of towns, rivers, and mountains." He 

 was, therefore, a geographer, and still more a chart-maker. 



A Florentine astronomer, Toscanelli, showed him a map upon which he 

 had indicated the route to follow in the Atlantic in order to reach the Indian 

 isles, for it was not supposed that there was any land between Europe and 

 Asia. Columbus, as ho himself states, only intended at first to " seek for the 

 East by way of the West." The advice of Toscanelli induced him to follow 

 this new route, but it was in vain that he applied to the Republic of Genoa 

 and the King of Portugal for funds to equip his vessels. After eight years 

 of fruitless efforts he obtained from Ferdinand, the Catholic King of Arragon, 

 and Queen Isabella of Castile, three small vessels, with which he started from 

 the port of Palos, in Andalusia, on the 3rd of August, 1492. In March, 1493, 

 he returned to Spain, after having discovered the islands of San Salvador, 

 Cuba, and San Domingo (Fig. 205). Appointed Viceroy of the new lands which 

 he had acquired for Spain, he returned there in the following year, but it was 

 not until his third voyage in 1498 that he discovered the continent and 

 explored the coast of South America (Fig. 206). 



The discoveries of Christopher Columbus, whose name did not apparently 

 obtain the notoriety which it deserved in after ages, produced a great effect 

 throughout Europe. The first indications, vague and incomplete as they 

 were, were received with enthusiasm, and the detailed information by which 

 they were followed left no doubt as to the existence of these vast unknown 

 lands. They led to the fitting out of a great number of maritime expeditions, 

 in which science had no part, and the object of which was to take people to 

 what was called the gold country. A great impulse, however, was given to 

 geography, and throughout Italy and Spain the principal families devoted 

 large sums to the formation in their palaces of collections of books, maps, 

 and instruments bearing upon nautical astronomy, hydrography, and all 

 the branches of ancient and modern geography. These families, animated by 

 generous motives, spent vast sums in promoting voyages of exploration and 

 discovery to the new parts of the world. 



An adroit Florentine adventurer, named Amerigo Vespucci, was enabled, 



