was urging all people who cared, to try the route directly west. If
the world was round, as the sun and moon were, and as so many men of
learning believed, India or the Indies must be to the west of Portugal.
The value of direct trade with the Indies would be enormous. Europe had
already acquired a taste for the spices of India and had confidence in
the drugs of India. The silks and other articles of clothing made in
India, and the carpets of India, were well known and prized. Marco Polo
and others had given an impression that there was much gold in India;
and the pearls and precious stones of India excited the imagination of
all who read his travels.

The immense value of such a commerce may be estimated from one fact.
When, a generation after this time, one ship only of all the squadron of
Magellan returned to Cadiz, after the first voyage round the world, she
was loaded with spices from the Moluccas. These spices were sold by
the Spanish government for so large a sum of money that the king was
remunerated for the whole cost of the expedition, and even made a very
large profit from a transaction which had cost a great deal in its
outfit.

Columbus was able, therefore, to offer mercantile adventurers the
promise of great profit in case of success; and at this time kings were
willing to take their share of such profits as might accrue.

The letter of Toscanelli, the Italian geographer, which has been spoken
of, was addressed to Alphonso V, the King of Portugal. To him and
his successor, John the Second, Columbus explained the probability of
success, and each of them, as it would seem, had confidence in it.
But King John made the great mistake of intrusting Columbus's plan to
another person for experiment. He was selfish enough, and mean enough,