hilder] ORIGIN OF THE NAME "INDIAN" $47
At that time it was generally assumed that the earth was flat , and the question arose, Why could not ships be sailed around the southern extremity of Africa to the Orient ? This idea was en- tertained by Prince Henry of Portugal, and Portuguese mariners found the passage by the Cape of Good Hope.
Columbus, on the contrary, was deeply imbued with (what was then a heresy) the idea that the earth was round, but he also had a conviction that it was not more than 15,000 miles in circum ference ; he therefore reasoned that as Cathay was estimated to be by the land route 12,000 miles from Spain, the distance to the coast of Asia by the western route could not be more than 3,000 miles.
We are all familiar with the difficulty experienced by Columbus in finding the means to put his theory to practical test, and how doggedly he persevered in spite of all discouragements and de- feats. But he had the courage of his convictions, and it required no ordinary daring to sail into the unknown in despite of the superstitions of his day. There were in existence legends that in that dark and stormy ocean were vast whirlpools, abysmal oceanic cataracts, sea-monsters, and malignant genii. Columbus would not have been surprised had he met with any of these hor- rors, but his indomitable courage and obstinacy and pride in his own opinion carried him forward to success. The time had come when another continent was to be added to the world, and, as has always occurred in all great historic emergencies, the man arose to meet this one.
The Discoverer sailed from Palos, August 3, 1492, carrying with him a chart or map constructed on the theory of his friend Toscanelli (the Italian astronomer and cartographer, who also be- lieved in the spherical form of the earth), and what he doubtless considered quite as important, a letter from King Ferdinand to the Grand Khan.
When at last he sighted land on the western horizon, Colum- bus naturally supposed it to be the coast of India ; indeed, from
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