Four hundred years ago most of the people who lived in Europe thought
that the earth was flat. They knew only the land that was near them.
They knew the continent of Europe, a small part of Asia, and a strip
along the northern shore of Africa.
[Illustration: The World as Known Four Hundred Years ago.]
They thought this known land was surrounded by a vast body of water
that was like a broad river. Sailors were afraid to venture far upon
this water, for they feared they would fall over the edge of the earth.
Other seafaring men believed that if they should sail too far out upon
this water their vessels would be lost in a fog, or that they would
suddenly begin to slide downhill, and would never be able to return.
Wind gods and storm gods, too, were supposed to dwell upon this
mysterious sea. Men believed that these wind and storm gods would be
very angry with any one who dared to enter their domain, and that in
their wrath they would hurl the ships over the edge of the earth, or
keep them wandering round and round in a circle, in the mist and fog.
It is no wonder that the name "Sea of Darkness" was given to this great
body of water, which we now know to be the Atlantic Ocean; nor is it
surprising that the sailors feared to venture far out upon it.
These sailors had no dread at all of a sea called the Mediterranean,
upon which they made voyages without fear of danger. This sea was named
the Mediterranean because it was supposed to be in the middle of the
land that was then known. On this body of water the sailors were very
bold, fighting, robbing, and plundering strangers and foes, without
any thought of fear.
They sailed through this sea eastward to Constantinople, their ships
being loaded with metals, woods, and pitch. These they traded for silks,
cashmeres, dyewoods, spices, perfumes, precious stones, ivory, and
pearls. All of these things were brought by caravan from the far
Eastern countries, as India, China, and Japan, to the cities on the
east coast of the Mediterranean.
This caravan journey was a very long and tiresome one. Worse than this,
the Turks, through whose country the caravans passed, began to see
how valuable this trade was, and they sent bands of robbers to prevent
the caravans from reaching the coast.
[Illustration: A Caravan.]
As time went on, these land journeys grew more difficult and more
dangerous, until the traders saw that the day would soon come when
they would be entirely cut off from traffic with India and the rich
Eastern countries. The Turks would secure all their profitable
business. So the men of that time tried to think of some other way
of reaching the East.
Among those who wished to find a short route to India was Prince Henry
of Portugal, a bold navigator as well as a studious and thoughtful
man. He was desirous of securing the rich Indian trade for his own
country. So he established a school for navigators at Lisbon, and
gathered around him many men who wanted to study about the sea.
Here they made maps and charts, and talked with one another about the
strange lands which they thought might be found far out in that
mysterious body of water which they so dreaded and feared. It is
probable that they had heard some accounts of the voyages of other
navigators on this wonderful sea, and the beliefs about land beyond.
There was Eric the Red, a bold navigator of Iceland, who had sailed
west to Greenland, and planted there a colony that grew and thrived.
There was also Eric's son Leif, a venturesome young viking who had
made a voyage south from Greenland, and reached a strange country with
wooded shores and fragrant vines. This country he called Vinland
because of the abundance of wild grapes. When he returned to Greenland,
he took a load of timber back with him.
[Illustration: Eric the Red in Vinland.]
Some of the people of Greenland had tried to make a settlement along
this shore which Leif discovered, but it is thought that the Indians
drove them away. It may now be said of this settlement that no trace
of it has ever been found, although the report that the Norsemen paid
many visits to the shore of North America is undoubtedly true.
Another bold sea rover of Portugal sailed four hundred miles from land,
where he picked up a strangely carved paddle and several pieces of
wood of a sort not to be found in Europe.
St. Brandon, an Irish priest, was driven in a storm far, far to the
west, and landed upon the shore of a strange country, inhabited by
a race of people different from any he had ever seen.
All this time the bold Portuguese sailors were venturing farther and
farther down the coast of Africa. They hoped to be able to sail around
that continent and up the other side to India. But they dared not go
beyond the equator, because they did not know the stars in the southern
hemisphere and therefore had no guide. They also believed that beyond
the equator there was a frightful region of intense heat, where the
sun scorched the earth and where the waters boiled.
Many marvelous stories were told about the islands which the sailors
said they saw in the distance. Scarcely a vessel returned from a voyage
without some new story of signs of land seen by the crew.
The people who lived on the Canary Islands said that an island with
high mountains on it could be seen to the west on clear days, but no
one ever found it.
Some thought these islands existed only in the imagination of the
sailors. Others thought they were floating islands, as they were seen
in many different places. Every one was anxious to find them, for they
were said to be rich in gold and spices.
You can easily understand how excited many people were in regard to
new lands, and how they wished to find out whether the earth was round
or not. There was but one way to find out, and that was to try to sail
around it.
For a long time no one was brave enough to venture to do so. To start
out and sail away from land on this unknown water was to the people
of that day as dangerous and foolhardy a journey as to try to cross
the ocean in a balloon is to us at the present time.