CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
More
Pics >>
Until about five hundred years ago,
people did not know that our world was round. They thought that, if they
sailed enough across the sea, they would come to the end of the world and fall off. You can understand, therefore, that men did not sail very far in search of the new lands.
The people of Europe had traded with the Arabs for some years. The Arabs brought beautiful cottons and silks, and rare spices, from the distant land of India, and the Europeans decided that they must try to discover a way to India themselves. They began to realize that the world was not flat, but round; and they wondered whether it would be possible to find the Indies (as India was called) by sailling across the wide sea to the west. If the world was really round, they should be able to sail round it and finish up in the East Indies.
That is why Christopher Columbus, an Italian sailor, decided to try to reach the East Indies by sailling west.
Columbus, however, was only a poor man, and he had not enough money to buy a ship big enough to sail across the great Atlantic Ocean. He loved the sea, and had spent some years in sailling in the quiet Mediterranean, trading with the different countries on the coast. He had also journeyed to England and France in his ship. But this ship was too small to sail across wide oceans, where there would be storms and rough seas, and where he would not see land for many days.
About 1477, Columbus's ship was wrecked off the coast of
Portugal, and he had to swim to land. But he had made up his mind that he must get a ship and crew big enough to take him across the Atlantic. He could find no one in Portugal to give him the money, and at last he went to Spain. The people of Europe had traded with the Arabs for some years. The Arabs brought beautiful cottons and silks, and rare spices, from the distant land of India, and the Europeans decided that they must try to discover a way to India themselves. They began to realize that the world was not flat, but round; and they wondered whether it would be possible to find the Indies (as India was called) by sailling across the wide sea to the west. If the world was really round, they should be able to sail round it and finish up in the East Indies.
That is why Christopher Columbus, an Italian sailor, decided to try to reach the East Indies by sailling west.
Columbus, however, was only a poor man, and he had not enough money to buy a ship big enough to sail across the great Atlantic Ocean. He loved the sea, and had spent some years in sailling in the quiet Mediterranean, trading with the different countries on the coast. He had also journeyed to England and France in his ship. But this ship was too small to sail across wide oceans, where there would be storms and rough seas, and where he would not see land for many days.
For many years he could get nobody to help him. The King and Queen of Spain were interested, but their country was at war and there was no money to spare for dangerous voyages in unknown seas. Columbus, however, war a determined young man. He would not give up hope, and, after long ten years of waiting, he was given money and three small ships by the King of Spain. He had great difficulty in finding crews for his ships. Many sailors were afraid to sail across unknown and stormy seas, and most of the crew was made up of rough, wild men and criminals.
At last he found the crews to sail with him, and three little ships set sail from Spain on August 3rd. 1492. They sailed for a very long time, encountered danger and also discovered many new lands on his journey.
Christopher Columbus's great work was the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. His bravery and determination had shown that it was possible to sail across wide unknown seas and return safely. He showed the way and others followed.
Back to Home Vasco da Gama Ferdinand Magellan Captain James Cook Nansen and Peary