ld not convince any one else, that a
westerly route to India was quite feasible. First he laid his plans
before the authorities at Genoa, who had for generations traded with
Asia by the overland journey, and ought therefore to have been glad to
learn of this new alternative route, since the Turks were now playing
havoc with the other; but no, they told Columbus that his idea was
chimerical! Next he applied to the court of France. "Ridiculous!" was
the reply, accompanied with a polite sneer. Next Columbus sent his
scheme to Henry VII of England, a prince full of projects, but miserly.
"Too expensive!" was the Tudor's reply, though presently, after the
Spanish success, he became eager to despatch expeditions from Bristol
under the Cabots. Then Columbus, by the advice of his brother, who had
settled in Lisbon as a map-maker, approached King John, seeking
patronage and assistance, pleading the foremost position of Portugal
among the maritime states. The Portuguese neglected the golden
opportunity, ocean navigation not being in their way as yet; their
skippers preferred "to hug the African shore."

At last Columbus gained the ear of Isabella, Queen of Castile; she
believed in him and tried to get the assistance of her husband,
Ferdinand, King of Aragon, in providing an outfit for the great
expedition. Owing to Ferdinand's war in expelling the Moors from
Granada, Columbus had still to wait several years.

In a previous year, 1477, Columbus had sailed to the North Atlantic,
perhaps in one of those Basque whalers already referred to, going "a
hundred leagues beyond Thule." If that means Iceland, as is generally
supposed, it seems most probable that, when conversing with the sailors
there he must have heard how Leif, with his Norsemen, had discovered the
American coasts of Newfoundland and Vinland some five centuries earlier,
and how they had settled a colony on the new continent. Other writers
have pointed out that Columbus could very well have heard of Vinland and
the Northmen before leaving Genoa, since one of the Popes had sanctioned
the appointment of a bishop over the new diocese. If so, the visit of
Columbus to Iceland probably gave him confirmation as to the Norse
discovery of the American continent.

When at last King Ferdinand had taken Granada from the Moors, Columbus
was put in command of three ships, with 120 men. He set sail from the
port of Palos, in Andalusia, on a Friday, August 3, 1492, first steering
to the