Discoverers and Explorers | Page 5

travel, too, was just as dangerous, but in a different way.
You will remember why sailors dared not venture far out upon the ocean and search for a water route to the Eastern countries and islands. The time was soon coming, however, when they would dare to do so, and two wonderful inventions helped navigators very much.
One came from the finding of the loadstone, or natural magnet. This is a stone which has the power of attracting iron. A steel needle rubbed on it becomes magnetized, as we say, and, when suspended by the center and allowed to move freely, always swings around until it points north and south. Hung on a pivot and inclosed in a box, this instrument is called the mariners' compass. It was of great importance to sailors, because it always told them which way was north. On cloudy days, and during dark, stormy nights, when the sun and stars could not be seen, the sailors could now keep on their way, far from land, and still know in which direction they were going.
[Illustration: Mariners' Compass.]
The other invention was that of the astrolabe. This was an instrument by means of which sailors measured the height of the sun above the horizon at noon, and could thus tell the distance of the ship from the equator. It is in use on all the ships at the present time, but it has been greatly improved, and is now called the quadrant.
The compass and the astrolabe, together with improved maps and charts, made it possible for navigators to tell where their ship was when out of sight of land or in the midst of storm and darkness. This made them more courageous, and they ventured a little farther from the coast, but still no one dared to sail far out upon the Sea of Darkness.

COLUMBUS.
One day a man appeared in Portugal, who said he was certain that the earth was round, and that he could reach India by sailing westward. Every one laughed at him and asked him how he would like to try. He answered that he would sail round the earth, if any one would provide him with ships.
[Illustration: Christopher Columbus.]
People jeered and scoffed.
"If the earth is a sphere," they said, "in order to sail round it you must sail uphill! Who ever heard of a ship sailing uphill?"
But this man, whose name was Christopher Columbus, remained firm in his belief.
When a boy, Columbus had listened eagerly to the stories the sailors told about strange lands and wonderful islands beyond the water. He was in the habit of sitting on the wharves and watching the ships. Often he would say, "I wish, oh, how I wish I could be a sailor!"
At last his father, who was a wool comber, said to him, "My son, if you really wish to become a sailor, I will send you to a school where you will be taught navigation."
Columbus was delighted at this, and told his father that he would study diligently. He was sent to the University of Pavia, where he learned all the geography that was then known, as well as how to draw maps and charts. He became a skillful penman, and also studied astronomy, geometry, and Latin.
But he did not spend a long time at his studies, for at the age of fourteen he went to sea. What he had learned, however, gave him an excellent groundwork, and from this time forward he made use of every opportunity to inform himself and to become a scholarly man.
His first voyage was made with a distant relative, who was an adventurous and daring man, and who was ever ready to fight with any one with whom he could pick a quarrel. In course of time Columbus commanded a ship of his own, and became known as a bold and daring navigator. He made a voyage along the coast of Africa as far south as Guinea, and afterwards sailed northward to Iceland.
At an early day he became familiar with the wildest kind of adventure, for at this time sea life on the Mediterranean was little more than a series of fights with pirates. Some say that during one of these conflicts Columbus's ship caught fire. In order to save his life, he jumped into the water and swam six miles to shore, reaching the coast of Portugal. Others say that he was attracted to that country by the great school of navigation which Prince Henry had established. However that may be, he appeared at Lisbon at the age of thirty-five, filled with the idea of sailing westward to reach those rich Eastern countries in which every one was so much interested.
He was laughed at for expressing such an idea. It is not pleasant to be laughed at, but Columbus was courageous