s orders;
and so great was his abhorrence to profane swearing that I never heard him
use any other oath than by St Ferdinand; and even in the greatest passion,
his only imprecation was "God take you." When about to write, his usual
way of trying his pen was in these words, _Jesu cum Maria sit nobis in
via_; and in so fair a character as might have sufficed to gain his bread
by writing.

Passing over many particulars of his character, manners, and disposition,
which will appear in the course of this history, I shall now only mention
that, in his tender years he applied himself to such studies at Pavia as
fitted him to understand cosmography, his favourite science; for which
purpose he chiefly devoted himself to the study of geometry and astronomy,
without which, it is impossible to make any proficiency in cosmography.
And, because Ptolemy, in the preface to his cosmography, asserts that no
person can be a good cosmographer without a thorough knowledge of drawing;
he therefore learnt to draw, so as to be able to delineate not only the
exact outlines of countries, but to express their cosmographical features,
whether having plain surfaces or interspersed with hills and vallies.

Having laid a foundation in the before-mentioned sciences, he went to sea,
and made several voyages both to the east and west[1]: But of these, and
many other circumstances respecting his early years I have no perfect
knowledge. I was so young at his death, that owing to filial respect, I
had not the boldness to ask an account from him of the incidents of his
youth, and besides I was not then interested in such inquiries. But some
account of these things may be gleaned from his letters to their Catholic
majesties, to whom he would not dare to write any thing but the truth. In
one of these letters, written in the year 1501, he says,

"Most Serene Princes! I went to sea when very young, and have continued to
the present day; and this art of navigation inclines those who follow it
to be desirous of discovering the secrets of this world. It is now forty
years[2] that I have been sailing to all those parts of the world which
are frequented at present; and I have conversed with many wise and learned
men, both clergy and laity, Latins, Greeks, Indians and Moors, and of many
other sects and nations. God has been favourable to my inclination, and
has given me the spirit of understanding, so that I have become very
skilful in navigation, with a competent kn