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Elements of Useful Knowledge. Volume I. (1809)
Elements of Useful Knowledge Volume I - 1809 Author:Noah Webster Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: Discovery Of America By Europeans. 261. Of Co/Kw-fHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, bus A the fir't European who difcovered the Weftern World, was a native of Genoa, an... more »d was bred to navigation. By his knowledge of the form of the earth, and of geography and aftronomy, he was led to believe that there muft be a continent on the weft of the Atlantic to balance the vaft tratl of land on the eaft ; and he imagined that by failing weftward, he might find a fhorter courfe to-China and the Eaft-Indies, than by travelling eaftward. He therefore applied to the government of Genoa for affiftance to enable himtoundertakea voyage of difcovery. He did not fucceed. He then iip- plied to Portugal, but with no better fuceefs. He was thought, as men of fuperior genius are often thought, P. vifionary projector. 262. Columbus's application to Spain. Columbus then made application to Ferdinand, king of Spain, for fiiips and men to proceed on a voyage weftward ; but for fome years, he did not obtain his requeft. Finally, by the influence of the queen, Ifabella, he obtained three fhips and ninety men. He alfo obtained a Commimon dated April 30, 1492, conflituting him Admiral, Vice- Roy and Governor of all thelflands and countries whici1 he fhould difcover and fubdue, with full powers civi and criminal. With this authority, he failed from Palos in Spain in Auguft 1492. 263. Firjl Voyage. Not many days after Columbus left Spain, he was perplexed with the variations of tl magnetic needle, which had not before been difcovered, and which ferved to difhearten his mariners. To add to his perplexity, his feamen grew uneafy at ventur-j ing fo far into an unexplored ocean, and threatened to throw him overboard, if he would not return. To quiet their minds, he promifed that if land fhouid Thia is the nane ag us...« less