tholomew
Perestrello. It was naturally, therefore, to the Portuguese Government
that Columbus first applied for the assistance in men and ships which
were to bear him to the land which he so fiercely promised.

As has been said, there is no doubt that Columbus was a visionary who
possessed a large amount of practical knowledge and experience, from
which the indulgence in these visions sprang. That his theories were the
result of something more than the merest speculation is certain.
Maritime legend and lore were rife in Genoa and the Mediterranean, and
certainly abounded in Portugal under the benevolent and strenuous
encouragement of Prince Henry the Navigator. That some vague echoes of
the feats performed by the Norsemen and others who had long before won
their way to the Western Continent had penetrated to these parts of
Europe there is no doubt. Columbus, moreover, had stayed for many months
at one of those half-way houses between Europe and the western mainland,
Porto Santo, and the neighbouring Island of Madeira.

His father-in-law was at the time Governor of the lesser island, that of
Porto Santo. In such a spot as this the requirements of Columbus were
naturally few, and he had gained a livelihood with ease by the making of
maps. His father was a carder of wool at Genoa, and young Christopher,
rebelling at the monotony of this trade, commenced his maritime life
before he was fifteen years old.

It was doubtless while at Porto Santo that Columbus had thought out his
theories, aided by not a little evidence of the material order, such as
floating logs and other objects, which had sailed, wind and current
borne, from the unknown lands across the Atlantic. Columbus, of course,
was not actually the first to feel convinced of the possibility of
gaining India by sailing to the West; the theory had been held by
Aristotle, Seneca, Strabo, and others. The sole mistake Columbus made in
his calculations was concerning the size of the world. He had
overestimated the extent of the Continent of Asia, and underestimated
the extent of the Atlantic Ocean; he seems to have been convinced that a
very few days' sailing to the west of Madeira would bring him to the
shores of India. It was this error in calculation that undoubtedly was
responsible for many long and agonizing hours spent on the actual
voyage.

[Illustration: JORGE CABRAL.

_From a coloured drawing in a Spanish MS. in the Sloane Collection in
the British Museum._]