"The time shall come when numerous years are past, The ocean shall dissolve the band of things, And an extended region rise at last: And Typhis shall disclose the mighty land, Far, far away, where none have roamed before: Nor shall the world's remotest region be Gibraltar's rock, or Thule's savage shore," Ferdinand Columbus informs us, that his father's conviction of the existence of land in the west was founded on--1, natural reason, or the deductions of science; 2, authority of writers, amounting, however, to vague surmises; 3, testimony of sea-faring persons, or rather popular rumors of land, described in western voyages, embracing such relics as appeared to be wafted from over the Atlantic to Europe. What particular intimations he may have received, either from authors or sailors, do not appear; since, in his voyage to Iceland, no mention is made of his having learned the story of the Scandinavian voyages to the northern portion of America. It is possible, however, that he may have been informed of them; and the reason why no mention was made by him was, as M. Humboldt conjectures, that he had no conception that the land discovered by the Northmen had any connection with the region of which he was in pursuit. The traditions which he may have met with, and the speculations of the times, were realized in his view. So strong was the conviction which had been wrought in his mind, from whatever cause, he was willing to jeopard life and fortune to put it to the test of experiment.