them had said: "In the last days an age will come when ocean shall
loose the chains of things; a wonderful country will be discovered,
and Tiphis shall make known new worlds, nor shall Thule be the end of
the earth."

12. Ah, to be the discoverer of Atlantis or Paradise! "But, if the
world is round," said Columbus, "it is not hell that lies beyond that
stormy sea. Over there _must_ lie the eastern strand of Asia, the Cathay
of Marco Polo, the land of the Kubla Khan, and Cipango, the great
island beyond it." "Nonsense!" said the neighbors; "the world isn't
round--can't you _see_ it is flat? And Cosmas Indicopleustes, who lived
hundreds of years before you were born, says it is flat; and he got it
from the Bible. You're no good Christian to be taking up with such
heathenish notions!" Thought Columbus, "I will write to Paolo
Toscanelli, at Florence, and see what be will say."

13. So Columbus wrote, and Toscanelli, the wise scientist, answered
that the idea of sailing west was good and feasible; and with the
letter came a map, on which Asia and the great island Cipango were
laid down opposite Europe, with the Atlantic between, exactly as
Columbus imagined it. Toscanelli said it was easy enough: "You may be
certain of meeting with extensive kingdoms, populous cities, and rich
provinces, abounding in all sorts of precious stones; and your visit
will cause great rejoicing to the king and princes of those distant
lands, besides opening a way for communication between them and the
Christians, and the instruction of them in the Catholic religion and
the arts we possess." It was 1474 when this encouragement came, and
from this time all the sailor's thoughts and plans turned toward the
west.