Note 404-1 — THE FOURTH VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS
Reading edition
De Lollis points out that these striking words are a paraphrase of the famous lines in Seneca’s Medea, Chorus, Act II.:—
Venient annis saecula seris Quibus Oceanus vincula rerum Laxet, et ingens pateat tellus, Tethysque novos detegat orbes Nec sit terris ultima Thule.
Columbus copied these verses into his Libro de las Profecias and translated them. Navarrete, Viages, II. 272.