Note 12 — INTRODUCTION.
Richard Henry Major translation
Las Casas, in his History of the Indies, tells us distinctly that Columbus derived much information from Perestrello’s maps and papers, and adds that “in order to acquaint himself practically with the method pursued by the Portuguese in navigating to the coast of Guinea, he sailed several times with them as if he had been one of them.” Las Casas says that he learned this from the admiral’s son Diego, adding that “some time before his famous voyage Columbus resided in Madeira, where news of fresh discoveries was constantly arriving, and this,” he says, “appeared to have been the occasion of Christopher Columbus coming to Spain, and the beginning of the discovery of this great world” (America).