mposed
half the globe, no man alive knew. Westward from Europe stretched the
"Sea of Darkness," and beyond a little way none knew what it was or
contained. The variation of the compass was not yet understood.
Everything was largely guess-work, and groping in the dark. The unsafe
little "ships" of the day dared not venture out of sight of land, for
there was nothing reliable to guide them back; and you will laugh at one
reason why they were afraid to sail out into the broad western
sea,--they feared that they might unknowingly get over the edge, and
that ship and crew might fall off into space! Though they knew the world
was roundish, the attraction of gravitation was not yet dreamed of; and
it was supposed that if one got too far over the upper side of the ball
one would drop off!

Still, it was a matter of general belief that there was land in that
unknown sea. That idea had been growing for more than a thousand
years,--for by the second century it began to be felt that there were
islands beyond Europe. By Columbus's time the map-makers generally put
on their rude charts a great many guess-work islands in the Sea of
Darkness. Beyond this swarm of islands was supposed to lie the east
coast of Asia,--and at no enormous distance, for the real size of the
world was underestimated by one third. Geography was in its mere
infancy; but it was engaging the attention and study of very many
scholars who were learned for their day. Each of them put his studious
guessing into maps, which varied astonishingly from one another.

But one thing was accepted: _there was land somewhere to the
west_,--some said a few islands, some said thousands of islands, but all
said land of some sort. So Columbus did not invent the idea; it had been
agreed upon long before he was born. The question was not if there was a
New World, but if it was possible or practicable to reach it without
sailing over the jumping-off place or encountering other as sad dangers.
The world said No; Columbus said Yes,--and that was his claim to
greatness. He was not an inventor, but an accomplisher; and even what he
accomplished physically was less remarkable than his faith. He did not
have to teach Europe that there was a new country, but to believe that
he could get to that country; and his faith in himself and his stubborn
courage in making others believe in him was the greatness of his
character. It took less of a man to make the final proof than to
convince the pub