305 



passages of the polestar over the meridan, it appears, that 

 the indications it gave of the declinations were still less ex- 

 act j for it is very probable, that Columbus took the altitude 

 of the polestar when it was below the declination and the 

 pole, and therefore found too small an altitude, and a polar 

 distance of 5° instead of 2° 30', which he had deduced from 

 his observations in the Azores. In order to explain so 

 great a difference, he imagined, that the Earth had the form 

 not of a pincushion but of a pear; and that mariners ascended 

 prodigiously toward the sky, in going from the Azores to 

 Paria, where the circle described by the polestar must ap- 

 pear very large, because it was seen from a nearer place. 

 " Though I am not,'* says he, <e quite master of my explana- 

 tion, the star appears in it's full orbit at the equator, while 

 the nearer we approach the pole, the more this orbit dimi- 

 nishes, because of the obliquy of the sky." All this is not 

 calculated to give us a favourable idea of the astronomical 

 knowledge of Columbus. Is it possible that so great a man 

 had not more rational notions of the distance and apparent 

 motions of the stars ? The Admiral relates, that while he 

 was at Paria, he had an inflammation in the eyes. Perhaps 

 he observed worse than usual, or entered in his journal 

 the observations of his pilots. Perhaps too the son has 

 given a confused account of the ideas of his father. Gomara 

 blames the Admiral for having imagined that Paria is nearer 

 the sky than Spain. " The Earth," says he, " is round, and 

 not of the figure of a pear. This false opinion of Columbus 

 has maintained it's ground to our own days, and makes some 

 unlearned pilots believe, that from India and Paria to Spain 

 they descend to come to Europe, cuesta abaxo." Peter Mar- 

 tyr d'Anghiera judges also the Admiral with great severity, 

 <e quae de poli varietate refert Colonus, contra omnium astro- 

 nomorum sententiam prolata videatur." 



VOL. III. 



