[136] “_Tengo propósito de hacer carta nueva de navegar, en la cual situaré toda la mar y tierras del mar Océano en sus propios lugares debajo su viento; y mas componer un libro, y poner todo por el semejante por pintura, por latitud del equinocial y longitud del Occidente, y sobre todo cumple mucho que yo olvide el sueño y tiente mucho el navegar porque asi cumple, las cuales serán gran trabajo._”—Coleccion de los viages y descubrimientos. Navarrete. tom. i. pp. 1-3. [137] Columbus, speaking of the progress of the ship, on the twenty-fourth of October, remarks: “I carried all the sail of the ship, the mainsail, and two bonnets, the foresail, and the spritsail, and the mizzen and the main-top-sail. _Llevaba todas mis velas de la nao, maestra, y dos bonetas, y trinquete, y cebadera, y mezana, y vela de gavia._” A bonnet was a sail placed beneath the mainsail in fine weather to increase the speed of a ship. [138] On the pavement of the cathedral of Seville is inscribed: “_Con tres galeras y 90 personas_,” with three galleys and ninety persons. [139] Historie del S. D. Fernando Colombo. cap. xvi, xvii. [140] The island of Ferro is the most westerly of the Canary group. The Canaries lie off the west coast of Africa, between 27° and 30° north latitude and 13° and 19° west longitude. The principal islands are: Teneriffe, Grand Canary, Palma, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gomera, and Ferro. Through the last island the ancient geographers drew the first meridian of longitude. [141] According to Columbus’s statement, 56⅔ miles were equal to a degree, and four miles to a marine league. It has been assumed that the Italian mile used in measurements by Columbus equalled 4,842 English feet, and the Italian marine league 19,368 English feet.—_Vide_ An attempt to solve the problem of the first landing-place of Columbus in the New World. By Captain G. V. Fox, Assistant Secretary of the United States Navy. United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. Appendix No. 18. Report for 1880. Washington, 1882. pp. 58, 59.