had in 1494 completely covered this unknown section and
reached India (or China), and so had demonstrated the correctness of
Marinus's views. In reality his strong preconceptions as to where he was
distorted his calculations of the longitude. Ptolemy corrected Marinus's
estimate of 225 degrees from Cape St. Vincent to Sera in China, and, as
noted in Columbus's letter, placed Catigara in China (on the east side of
the Gulf of Tonquin) at twelve lines or 180 degrees west of his meridian
(2-1/2 degrees west of Cape St. Vincent). If Ptolemy was right, Columbus
had not reached India (or more exactly China) or come, on his own
calculation, within 45 degrees or 2700 geographical miles of it measured
on the equator. The outline reproduction of the map of Bartholomew
Columbus made after his return from this voyage given in Channing's
_Student's History of the United States_, p. 27 (photographic
reproduction in Bourne, _Spain in America_, p. 96) illustrates the
Admiral's ideas and conclusions. This region (_i.e._, Costa Rica and
Panama) is a southern extension of Cochin-China and Cambodia and is
connected with _Mondo Novo_, _i.e._, South America.

[397-1] The translation here adopts the emended text of Lollis,
substituting "ali[e]nde" for "al Indo" in the sentence "Marino en
Ethiopia escribe al Indo la linea equinocial." _Raccolta Colombiana_,
parte I., tomo II., p. 184. The translation of the unamended text as
printed by Major was "the same author describes the Indus in Ethiopia as
being more than four and twenty degrees from the equinoctial line."
Apparently the 24 should be 44. With these changes the statements in the
text agree with Columbus's marginalia to the _Imago Mundi_, where he
notes that the Cape of Good Hope is Agesinba and that Bartholomew Diaz
found it to be 45 degrees south of the equator. "This," he goes on,
"agrees with the dictum of Marinus, whom Ptolemy corrects, in regard to
the expedition to the Garamantes, who said it traversed 27,500 stadia
beyond the equinoctial." _Raccolta Colombiana_, parte II., tomo II., p.
377. On Marinus's exaggerated estimate of the distance covered by the
Romans in tropical Africa, see Bunbury, _History of Ancient Geography_,
II. 524.

[397-2] This is unintelligible. The Spanish is, "Tolomeo diz que la
tierra mas austral es el plazo primero." The meaning of _plazo_ is not
"boundary" but "term" (allotted time). The reading should be: "la tierra
mas austral es el praso promontorio,