Even before Dias had found the Cape of Good Hope an Italian explorer, named Cristoforo Colombo, appeared at the court of John the Second. When subsequently he made Spain his home, he was called Colon.[6] He is best known by his Latin name, Columbus. This extraordinary man was born at Genoa in the year 1456.[7] Genoese contemporaries assure us his father, Domenico, was a wool-comber. Domenico had four children: three sons, Cristoforo, Bartolomeo, and Giacomo (Diego),[8] and one daughter, of whom it is only known that she married an Italian innkeeper. From his earliest youth Christopher loved the sea. As a lad he showed promise of being a skilful sailor and brave man. He was active and courageous, had no delight in indolence or effeminate luxuries, and despised all delicacies which tickle the palate and weaken the health. His highest ambition was to secure all the knowledge he could so as to be of some service to his fellow men. In a short time he learned the Latin language, in which all the scientific books of the time were written, and, although a boy in those days could learn but very little of the sciences, compared with what can be done to-day, yet he acquired sufficient knowledge of them to become an authority. His father, who was comfortably well off, sent him to the University of Pavia where he studied geography, geometry, astronomy, and drawing. At fourteen he had made such advances that he was qualified to become a ship captain and go to sea. He exerted his utmost effort to investigate the ocean and its routes. The saying, “as the twig is bent, the tree’s inclined,” well applies to him. He determined to become a great seafarer and from his earliest youth adhered to the determination until it was fully realized. Our young hero had his first experience in the Mediterranean Sea, for the voyages of his people at that time did not extend farther. It was much too confined a sphere, however, for a spirit which burned with the desire to accomplish unprecedented achievements. After a voyage to the northern ocean, during which he reached Iceland and gathered valuable experience, he entered the service of a kinsman, a sea-captain, who had fitted out a few vessels at his own expense, with which he cruised at one time against the Venetians, at another against the Turks, seeking to capture their galleys. Upon one of their cruises, the young Columbus would have lost his life had not Providence preserved it for high purposes. In a stubborn fight with the Venetians, in which our young hero performed prodigies of valor, his ship as well as those with which it was engaged took fire. Columbus found himself in a desperate situation but even with death staring him in the face he had no fear. He boldly plunged into the sea, clutched a floating oar, and with its help swam safely to the shore, two miles distant. He landed upon the Portuguese coast and, as soon as he had rested, made his way to Lisbon.