144 



HISTORY OF THE SEA. 



the year 1435.* His father was a wool- comber, and Chris- 

 topher followed, for a time, the same occupation. He was sent, 

 however, at the age of ten years, to the University of Pavia, 

 where he seems to have studied, though with little advantage, 

 natural philosophy and astronomy, or, as it was then called, 

 astrology. Returning to his father's bench, he worked at wool- 

 combing, with his brother Bartholomew, till he was fourteen 

 years of age. By this time the natural influence of the situa- 

 tion, the atmosphere, and the traditions of Genoa had awakened 

 in him the tastes and the ambition of a sailor. The sea had 

 long been the home and the life of the Genoese : it was the 

 theatre of their glory, and their avenue to wealth. Christopher's 

 great-uncle, Colombo, commanded a fleet intrusted to him by 

 the king, and with which he carried on a predatory warfare 

 against the Venetians and Neapolitans. His nephew joined his 

 ship, and thus became acquainted with the whole extent of the 

 Mediterranean, which was at that period ploughed by the pirates 

 of the Archipelago and the corsairs of the Barbary States. As 

 the vessel went armed to the teeth, the young sailor not only 

 learned the art of navigation, but acquired those habits of disci- 

 pline and subordination, of self-command and presence of mind, 

 which afterwards served him in so good stead. This manner of 

 life lasted for many years, till Columbus, at the age of thirty, 

 was wrecked off* the coast of Portugal, and reached, with some 

 difficulty, the city of Lisbon. Here he found his brother Bar- 

 tholomew settled, and occupying himself in drawing plans, charts, 

 and maps for the use of navigators. Christopher joined him, and 

 gained a sufficient livelihood by copying manuscripts and black- 

 letter books, and aiding his brother in his avocations. He soon 

 married an Italian lady named Felippa di Perestrello, whose 



* A late French biography of Columbus, a work of profound research and 

 erudition, by M. Roselly de Lorgues, proves beyond a cavil the accuracy of this 

 assertion. The work in question was published under the auspices of the Pope. 



