Vita dell' Ammiraglio_, cap. iv. The original authority
is Columbus's marginal note in his copy of the _Imago Mundi_ of
Alliacus, now preserved in the Colombina at Seville: "Nota quod
sepius navigando ex Ulixbona ad austrum in Guineam, notavi cum
diligentia viam, etc." Compare the allusions to Guinea in his
letters, Navarrete, _Coleccion_, tom. i. pp. 55, 71, 101.]

[Sidenote: Philippa Moniz de Perestrelo.]

[Sidenote: Personal appearance of Columbus.]

He had not been long in Portugal before he found a wife. We have already
met the able Italian navigator, Bartholomew Perestrelo, who was sent by
Prince Henry to the island of Porto Santo with Zarco and Vaz, about
1425. In recognition of eminent services Prince Henry afterwards, in
1446, appointed him governor of Porto Santo. Perestrelo died in 1457,
leaving a widow (his second wife, Isabella Moniz) and a charming
daughter Philippa,[426] whom Columbus is said to have first met at a
religious service in the chapel of the convent of All Saints at Lisbon.
From the accounts of his personal appearance, given by Las Casas and
others who knew him, we can well understand how Columbus should have won
the heart of this lady, so far above him at that time in social
position. He was a man of noble and commanding presence, tall and
powerfully built, with fair ruddy complexion and keen blue-gray eyes
that easily kindled; while his waving white hair must have been quite
picturesque. His manner was at once courteous and cordial and his
conversation charming, so that strangers were quickly won, and in
friends who knew him well he inspired strong affection and respect.[427]
There was an indefinable air of authority about him, as befitted a man
of great heart and lofty thoughts.[428] Out of those kindling eyes
looked a grand and poetic soul, touched with that divine spark of
religious enthusiasm which makes true genius.

[Footnote 426: There are some vexed questions concerning this
lady and the connections between the Moniz and Perestrelo
families, for which see Harrisse, tom. i. pp. 267-292.]

[Footnote 427: Las Casas, _Historia_, tom. i. p. 43. He
describes Bartholomew as not unlike his brother, but not so
tall, less affable in manner, and more stern in disposition,
_id._ tom. ii. p. 80.]

[Footnote 428: "Christoval Colon ... persona de gran corazon y
altos p