74 CONCEPTIONS OF COLUMBUS 



him of the sea on the other side of Veragua at nine 

 days' journey, 28 which fitted in with his theory that 

 he was then on the eastern side of the Lochac, or 

 Loach, peninsula. 



Notice again the situation: Columbus was on the 

 Caribbean coast of Central America (the land was 

 called Veragua) ; he had come from Espanola (or 

 Cipangu) ; past Cuba (or Mangi) ; down the coast of 

 Central America (or Ciamba). By continuing south 

 he would pass between Asia and the continental land 

 discovered on his third voyage, in 1498. Ciamba 

 was on a peninsula surrounded on three sides by the 

 sea. On the other side the land was called Ciguare: 

 Ciguare had "the same bearings with respect to 

 Veragua, as Tortosa has to Fontarabia, or Pisa to 

 Venice,"-^ i.e. they were on opposite sides of a pe- 

 ninsula. Columbus also understood the Indians to 

 tell him that, on the other side, the people wore 

 clothes; they had ships which carried guns; they 

 had fairs and markets; they knew the pepper plant; 

 and had horses which they used in battle. At ten 

 days' distance from Ciguare, they also said, was the 

 country of the Ganges River. The land of Ciguare, 

 theAureaChersonesus, and the Ganges country were 

 therefore, in the mind of Columbus, all neighbor- 

 ing. Columbus contended that the mines of the 

 Aurea Chersonesus, where, according to Josephus, 



28 Letter of July 7, 1503, in Raccolta. Part 1, Vol. 2, p. 183; also, with 

 English translation, in Major, op. cit., p. 181. 



29 Major, op. cit., p. 182 (Raccolta, Part I, Vol. 2, p. 183). 



