CONCERNING THE GREAT ISLAND OF JAVA

WHEN you sail from Chamba, 1,500 miles in a course between south and south-east, you come to a great island called Java. And the experienced mariners of those islands, who know the matter well, say that it is the greatest island in the world, and has a compass of more than 3,000 miles. It is subject to a great king, and tributary to no one else in the world. The people are idolaters. The island is of surpassing wealth, producing black pepper, nutmegs, spikenard, galingale, cubebs, cloves, and all other kinds of spices.

This island is also frequented by a vast amount of shipping, and by merchants who buy and sell costly goods from which they reap great profit. Indeed, the treasure of this island is so great as to be past telling. And I can assure you the Great Kaan never could get possession of this island on account of its great distance and the great expense of an expedition thither. The merchants of Zayton and Manzi draw annually great returns from this country.

CONCERNING THE ISLAND OF JAVA THE LESS. THE KINGDOMS
OF FERLEC AND BASMA

WHEN you leave the island of Pentam and sail about 100 miles, you reach the island of Java the Less. For all its name 'tis none so small but that it has a compass of two thousand miles or more. Now I will tell you all about this Island.

You see there are upon it eight kingdoms and eight crowned kings. The people are all idolaters, and every kingdom has a language of its own. The island bath great abundance of treasure, with costly spices, lignaloes and spikenard and many others that never come into our parts.

Now I am going to tell you all about these eight kingdoms, or at least the greater part of them. But let me premise one marvelous thing, and that is the fact that this island lies so far to the south that the North Star, little or much, is never to be seen!

Now let us resume our subject, and first I will tell you of the Kingdom of Ferlec.

This kingdom, you must know, is so much frequented by the Saracen merchants that they have converted the natives to the Law of Mahommet I mean the townspeople only, for the hill-people live for all the world like beasts, and eat human flesh, as well as all other kinds of flesh, clean or unclean. And they worship this, that, and the other thing; for in fact the first thing that they see on rising in the morning, that they do worship for the rest of the day.

Having told you of the Kingdom of Ferlec, I will now tell of another which is called Basma.

When you quit the Kingdom of Ferlec, you enter upon that of Basma. This also is an independent kingdom, and the people have a language of their own; but they are just like beasts, without laws or religion. They call themselves subjects of the Great Kaan, but they pay him no tribute; indeed they are so far away that his men could not go thither. Still all these islanders declare themselves to be his subjects, and sometimes they send him curiosities as presents. There are wild elephants in the country, and numerous unicorns, which are very nearly as big. They have hair like that of a buffalo, feet like those of an elephant, and a horn in the middle of the forehead, which is black and very thick. They do no mischief, however, with the horn, but with the tongue alone; for this is covered all over with long and strong prickles [and when savage with any one they crush him under their knees and then rasp him with their tongue]. The head resembles that of a wild boar, and they carry it ever bent towards the ground. They delight much to abide in mire and mud. 'Tis a passing ugly beast to look upon, and is not in the least like that which our stories tell of; in fact, 'tis altogether different from what we fancied. There are also monkeys here in great numbers and of sundry kinds; and goshawks as black as crows. These are very large birds, and capital for fowling.

I may tell you moreover that, when people bring home pygmies which they allege to come from India, 'tis all a lie and a cheat. For those little men, as they call them, are manufactured on this island, and I will tell you how. You see there is on the island a kind of monkey which is very small, and has a face just like a man's. They take these, and pluck out all the hair except the hair of the beard and on the breast, and then they dry them and stuff them and daub them with saffron and other things until they look like men. But you see it is all a cheat ; for nowhere in India nor anywhere else in the world were there ever men seen so small as these pretended pygmies.

LETTERS FROM TOSCANELLI APPROVING
COLUMBUS' PROJECT

PAUL TOSCANELLI was a Florentine physician and celebrated astronomer. According to his son, Ferdinand, Columbus was greatly encouraged in planning his voyages of discovery by these letters from Toscanelli.

The first of Toscanelli's letters was a reply to Fernando Martinez, a Portuguese, who had written on behalf of the King of Portugal. As soon as Columbus learned of their correspondence, he wrote direct to Toscanelli, and received the following communications from the noted astronomer.

I HAVE become acquainted with the great and noble wish entertained by you, to visit the country of spices, on which account I send in answer to your letter, the copy of one directed by me, a few days since, to one of my friends, in the service of the King of Portugal before the wars of Castile; he having written to me, by order of His Highness, upon the same subject. I also send you a nautical chart, similar to one which I likewise presented to him ; these may perhaps satisfy your inquiries. The copy of my letter is as follows :

To Fernando Martinez, prebendary of Lisbon, greeting I feel a great pleasure in hearing of the intimacy between you and the Most Serene and Magnificent King. Although I have spoken many times concerning the short passage by sea from hence to the Indies, where the spices are produced, which course, in my opinion is shorter than that to Guinea, yet you inform me that His Highness wishes for some declaration or demonstration on my part, whereby he may more fully understand the matter. This I could do to his satisfaction, with the help of a terrestrial globe, instructing him how the parts of the earth are disposed. But for greater facility and precision, I have determined to mark down the route in question upon a marine chart, which I herewith send to his majesty, drawn and painted by my hand. In this is represented the whole extremity of the W., from Ireland, S. to Guinea, with all the islands in the whole extent. Opposite, in the W. is the commencement of the Indies, with the isles and accessible parts, and the space between the North pole and the Equinoctial line. In this manner will be perceived the number of leagues necessary to proceed in order to reach those fertile countries which abound in spices and precious stones. Let it not create wonder that a westerly region is assigned for the country of spices, which have always been understood to grow in the E.; for those who sail W. will find those lands in the W., and those who travel E., will find the same places in the E. The straight lines, which run lengthwise upon the chart, show the distance from W. to E. The oblique ones, the distance from N. to S. I have also marked down many places among the Indies, which may be reached by the occurrence of some casual event, such as contrary winds, or unlooked for accident of that sort. And in order that you may be made fully acquainted with whatever relates to this subject, I will give you the result of my investigations. The islands I have spoken of, are inhabited by merchants who carry on their trade among many nations; their ports contain a greater number of foreign vessels than those of any other part of the world. The single port of Zaiton, which is one of the finest and most famous throughout the E., sends forth annually, more than a hundred ships laden with pepper, not to mention others, which return with cargoes of all sorts of spices. The whole territory is very extensive and populous, containing many provinces and kingdoms, under the dominion of a prince called Great Can, which signifies King of Kings. The common residence of this sovereign is in Cathay. His predecessors were desirous of an intercourse with the Christians, and two hundred years since, dispatched ambassadors to the Pope, requesting instructors to teach them our holy faith. These, however, were unable, from the obstacles they encountered upon their journey, to reach Rome, and were forced to return back. In the time of Pope Eugenius IV. there came an ambassador, who gave him assurances of the affection which was entertained for the Catholics by the princes and people of his country. I was a great deal in his company, and he gave me descriptions of the magnificence of his king, and of the immense rivers in that territory, which contained, as he stated, two hundred cities with marble bridges, upon the banks of a single stream. This is a noble country, and ought to be explored by us, on account of its great riches, and the quantity of gold, silver, and precious stones, which might be obtained there. For their governors, they choose the wisest men, without regard to rank or riches. You will perceive by the map, that the distance from Lisbon, to the famous city of Quisay, is three thousand nine hundred miles, going exactly W. This city is thirty-five leagues in circuit, and its name signifies City of Heaven. Its situation is in the province of Mango near Cathay, and it contains ten large marble bridges built upon immense columns, of singular magnificence. From the island of Antilla to that of Cipango is a distance of two hundred and twenty-five leagues. This island possesses such an abundance of precious stones and metals that the temples and royal palaces are covered with plates of gold. I might add many things here, but as I have formerly given you a relation of them, I trust to your wisdom and good judgment, without making any further addition to this statement. I hope my letter will satisfy His Highness, and I beg you will assure him, that I shall be always ready to execute his commands.

Florence, June 25th, 1474.