true

NAUTICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE.

89

while they were certain that they had sailed into unknown seas, and were cast upon new lands and among strange peoples beyond the accredited limits of the inhabited world, also believed, no doubt, that they had only reached the farther shores or the out-lying islands of the continent whence they came. The notions as to the shape and the extent of the earth were, at that period, so vague, even among the learned, and the art of navigation was so little developed, that there was not much speculation as to the possibility of penetrating beyond the known limits of the continents and out of the accustomed tracks of ships. All that mariners dared to do was to creep along the coast from headland to headland, with a fair wind, to go to places frequently visited.

instruments

edge.

The boldest who first ventured out of sight of land, had only the sun by day and the stars by night to steer by; when these were obscured for more than a day or two they lost all reckoning Imperfection and were at the mercy of the winds and currents. They of nautical were without the mariner's compass of later times, for the and knowlmagnetic needle was not in general use till early in the fourteenth century, either because a knowledge of its properties was confined to a few, or because there was a timid hesitation to spread the knowledge of an instrument which, it was supposed, would certainly be looked upon among the ignorant as belonging to the Black Art, and one with which no sensible seaman, who thought of his salvation, would trust himself at sea. It was impossible to ascertain the position of a ship out of sight of land, for it was the middle of the fifteenth century before there was any nautical instrument by which the altitude of the sun and stars could be taken with any approach to accuracy. Even sailing on a wind is supposed to have been unknown till the Northmen found it possible, with the wind on the quarter, to still keep the ship on her course if they ventured to haul their tacks aboard. Before that time the sailor was no wiser than the nautilus, which can only sail with a breeze from astern. What little knowledge there was of distant parts of the earth was gained by a few travellers over land in search of information; by priests devoted to the propagation of the Christian faith among the heathen; by travelling merchants of different countries, who, meeting each other at certain great marts for the exchange of merchandise, exchanged information also as to the regions whence they came, or others which they had visited in the pursuit of their calling.

Of the three continents, Europe, Asia, Africa, into which the world was then supposed to be divided, the boundaries were unknown, and the extreme parts, if not uninhabited, at the north, because of the intensity of the cold; in the torrid zone, because of the intensity of

the heat, were believed to be either absolutely impenetrable by those born in more temperate climates, or to be entered only at the risk of life. It was death from cold to go too far northward; to venture too far southward might be worse than death, for if heat did not at once consume the flesh and bones of the unhappy traveller, it would singe his hair to a crispy wool, and tan his skin to the blackness of a coal.

But when, at length, vessels were driven by the fury of tempests, or drifted by irresistible currents westward upon unknown coasts, though the bewildered crews may have believed that they had only reached the farther confines of the continent of Europe, extending northward to the pole, thence southward and westward to some unapproachable boundary, such voyages were, nevertheless, the natural consequence of that boldness which, little by little, ventured farther out to sea, and led at length to such grand results. They were the pioneers of subsequent discovery, and the traditions, speculations, and prophecy scattered through ancient literature, of islands and continents in and beyond the Sea of Darkness, arose in part at least from vague reports of ships having sometimes sailed into those mysterious waters and touched upon distant shores.

Effect of revival of scientific learning.

Then in the fifteenth century came the revival of learning in Europe. Enthusiasm was kindled in the study of science; especially was this true in regard to cosmography. All that the scholars of the earlier ages had taught was diligently learned; and the new theories which the student formed in his closet, the adventurous voyager sought to test by actual experiment. To the political jealousy of states was added a nobler rivalry in efforts to enlarge the boundaries of geographical knowledge and to augment the commerce of the world. Sailing upon the sea grew into an art; it became possible to ascertain with some precision the position of a ship out of sight of land; to tell almost with absolute certainty the direction in which she should be steered, though blackest clouds and darkest night obscured the sky. It is not easy now to conceive how immense an impulse this was to the activity and intelligence of that age; but it opened the whole world to those who could avail themselves of these means of knowledge, and was the dawn of a new era in civilization. New wants were created; luxury increased, as the products of different and distant countries became known; a demand arose which gave a new importance and power to commerce and to expeditions to find out new and shorter routes to those distant lands.1

And there was no discovery which offered so magnificent a return,

1 See Robertson's History of America, book ii.

EFFECT OF REVIVAL OF LEARNING.

91

none which was sought for with so much intrepidity and eagerness, as a shorter way to that marvellous India, with its fabulous riches and strange peoples, which such travellers as Marco Polo and Sir John Mandeville had visited and written of, but which, as yet, could only be reached by adventurous merchants through long and perilous journeys overland. The pursuit of this chimera, rendered possible by the fresh acquisitions of knowledge, and the wants of the age, was the crowning event which revealed a New World, whose existence had been held to be one of the curious fables of ancient philosophers.

THE KINGDOM OF CATHAY.-EFFORTS IN EUROPE TO FIND A SEA-WAY TO INDIA.PRINCE HENRY THE NAVIGATOR.-BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. HIS DESIGN OF A WESTERN VOYAGE TO INDIA.FAITH IN HIS DIVINE MISSION. THE THEORIES OF CONTEMPORARY GEOGRAPHERS. HIS LIFE IN SPAIN. THE COUNCIL AT SALAMANCA.- HIS FIRST VOYAGE. HIS BELIEF THAT HE HAS DISCOVERED INDIA. THE DELUSION OF HIS LIFE. HIS BRIEF HONOR AND FINAL DISGRACE.

IN the far East had reigned for centuries a line of mighty monarchs of the race of Kublai Khan. Among many provinces owing them

THE CITY OF QUINSAI.

93

In this province

allegiance was that of Mangi, bordering on the sea. alone, Marco Polo said, there were twelve thousand cities, all within a

few days' travel of each other. Quinsai, whose circuit was a The province

in India.

hundred miles, was only one of a hundred and forty cities of Mangi standing in such contiguity that they seemed but one. A permanent garrison of thirty thousand soldiers guarded Quinsai alone; a police force of some hundreds of thousands of men was always on duty to preserve its domestic peace and order. Spanning its many streets were twelve thousand noble bridges, some of them so lofty that ships could sail beneath without interruption to the passage of the multitudes that were continually crossing them, to and fro. Its principal street, forty paces in width, bridged in many places by these works of beautiful architecture, extended from one side of the city to the other in a straight line. At intervals of every four miles on this magnificent avenue of thirty-three miles were market-places, each two miles in compass; behind them ran a canal, on the banks of which were great stone warehouses always filled with precious merchandise. In these spacious marts from forty to fifty thousand people met three days in the week to trade, thronging through the streets that radiated in every direction. These thoroughfares were all of great width and length, and paved with stone, as indeed were all the highways, in city and country, of the province of Mangi.

City of

The sewerage of Quinsai was more perfect than that of any modern city, for the waters of a river, that bounded it on one side, were led through the streets and washed completely away Quinsai. all filth and waste matter to a lake on the other side, whence they were carried out to sea. Besides this system of thorough drainage, for the preservation of the public health, there were free baths of hot and cold water, with attendants, male and female, for daily bathing was the habit of this luxurious people from earliest childhood; and for the sick and feeble the hospitals were "exceeding many," where all were taken care of who were not able to work. A trained fire-department was in constant readiness to protect the city from conflagrations, and at a fixed hour of the night the putting out of domestic lights and fires was enforced by severe penalties, as a safeguard against accident. All the inhabitants were required to be within their houses at a certain time, and from every guard-house and on every bridge each hour of the day and night was struck on great resounding basons or gongs.

The marble palace of the king, with its arcades and corridors, its terraces and courts, its lakes and groves and gardens, filled a circuit of ten miles; its wide expanse of roof, profusely wrought in gold, rested upon hundreds of pillars of pure gold cunningly adorned in arabesque