7/20 For an account of the pre-Columbian discoveries see Fiske's _Discovery of America_, Vol. 148-255.] [Illustration: Santa Maria] His course led first to the Canary Islands, where he turned and went directly westward. The earth was not then generally believed to be round. Men supposed it to be flat, and the only parts of it known to Europeans were Iceland, the British Isles, the continent of Europe, a small part of Asia, and a strip along the coast of the northern part of Africa. |