Note 161 — Chapter IV · 1492-1493.

The argument of Las Casas concerning the heat at forty-two degrees north latitude is invalidated by Columbus’s reasons for not sailing farther to the north. In his letter to Rafael Sanchez he says: “Finding myself proceeding toward the north, which I was desirous to avoid on account of the cold, and, moreover, meeting with a contrary wind, I determined to return to the south.” It would seem that Columbus was unable to satisfy his own doubts respecting the latitude of the places in the North to which he had sailed. If he had not mentioned that he was in doubt respecting the working condition of his quadrant, the question of his sailing as far north as the forty-second parallel would be an important matter for geographical discussion. Navarrete says: “The quadrants of that time measured the double altitude, and consequently the forty-two degrees which Columbus says he was distant from the equator are to be reduced to twenty-one north latitude, which is the parallel to which he had sailed.”—Vide Coleccion de los viages y descubrimientos. Navarrete, tom. i. pp. 44, 47, 62. Personal narrative of the first voyage of Columbus to America. [Kettell.] p. 95.