Page:Centennial History of Oregon 1811-1912, Volume 1.djvu/34

2 meditated on these imaginings of those ancient philosophers, and he was no doubt perfectly familiar with the tradition handed down to his age of the world that there was once a great island or continent occupying a portion of the area covered by the Atlantic ocean, but which had been by an earthquake submerged in the ocean. Plato, the most illustrious philosopher of all the ages, and Strabo, the first of geographers, both believed in the existence of such an island in the Atlantic ocean west of Europe, that had been submerged in the ocean by some mighty cataclysm of the earth. The lost island of "Atlantis" gave the name to the ocean. And this belief in an island or a continent being submerged in the ocean was not an unreasonable proposition. For there can be no uplift of the land in one place without a corresponding depression of land in some other place. And we now know from the testimony of the rocks that the area of our state of Oregon was once a part of the floor of the Pacific ocean. But what land was submerged in the ocean as our land of Oregon came up out of the ocean there is no record or tradition to tell. Columbus was familiar with all these theories and beliefs about the formation of the earth; and from them all was evolved his great proposition to sail west from Spain—and make some great discovery.

But what probably influenced his thoughts more than anything else was a little book or parchment written by the Venetian traveler, Marco Polo, in the year 1295 after his return from a long journey through the empire of Kublai Khan, what we now know as China. Polo 's published account of his travels was the great sensation and wonder of that age, was discussed by learned men all over Europe and formed the basis of many new conjectures about the size and shape of the earth. Columbus read Polo's narrative, and was familiar with all the various theories of the earth and with all the new ideas inspired by Polo's extensive travels. The great subject had taken possession of all his thoughts. And of all the learned men of that age he alone seems to have been capable of the great idea which he finally carried out. But with him it was no sudden impulse, no scintillation of genius struck out of a reckless brain. He brooded over and revolved the great concept in his mind for years. And when finally he put forth the proposition that by sailing directly westward from Europe he could reach the east coast of Asia in the latitude of Cipango (Japan) as it was then known, he was so confident and assured of the correctness of his great idea that he never hesitated or halted until he had raised his anchors and set the sails that carried him to the New World.

The only man of any note of the age of Columbus who seems to have supported him in his views was the learned Italian, Toscanelli. And on hearing of the proposition of Columbus Toscanelli wrote him a letter heartily endorsing the views of Columbus; and to demonstrate to Columbus that he could reach the east coast of Asia by sailing west from Europe, Toscanelli amended Ptolemy's map of the world to make it correspond with the description of Asia by Marco Polo, and sent the copy to Columbus. On this map the eastern coast of Asia was outlined in front of the western coasts of Africa and Europe, with a little ocean flowing between them in which he placed the imaginary island of Cipango (Japan) and Antilla.

In taking up this proposition, Columbus was met with a storm of opposition and persecution which would have crushed any other man. The church denounced the scheme as heresy, and for nearly twenty years the great man