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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 168.169.180.16 (talk) at 15:49, 16 October 2008 (Could we please refrain). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

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Could we please refrain

From using the Map(or maps) theory. Yes, Columbus most likely observed other maps while in Europe, but stating it in this article is absurd. This will just lead to debates that Columbus discovered the new world by theft. --68.209.227.3 04:12, 5 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]


Columbus's log -bitches

Early in the voyage, Columbus predicted that land should be found within 700 leagues (approx. 2500 miles), and ordered the commanders of the other vessels to refrain from sailing at night once that distance had passed to avoid wrecking.[6] He also hedged his bets by keeping two logs of the distance traveled - a secret log with the true distance, and an altered copy that he shared with the crew, showing much less.[5][6] -

Obviously, if Columbus really believed there was a risk of wrecking, because they might be approaching land, after the fleet had sailed 700 leagues, it would make no sense to misinform the crew, during the voyage, that the accrued distance sailed was less, because that would have put the fleet at risk. Columbus's log does indeed state that he noted smaller distances to the crew 'so that they would not be afraid'. Different historians have tried explain this curiosity but, so far, none have succeeded in providing a fully credible explanation. J. Fowler —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.145.241.250 (talk) 20:43, 18 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

A pretty bad article if you go by the references. Washington Irving is the author of the nonsense about the log -- historians consider his work on Columbus to be as fictional as his other stories. Irving also invented the myth that Europeans thought the earth was flat. I've edited it.--Dougweller (talk) 22:49, 18 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I've added a couple of templates but they may well be the wrong ones. The main references for this are 19th century writers, and I very much doubt its reliability -- I know that there are a lot of issues with what we know or think we know about the voyage, the business about the 2 logs being only one example.--Dougweller (talk) 08:14, 19 February 2008 (UTC) See http://www.millersville.edu/~columbus/data/art/KEEGAN02.ART for a comment on Irving's reliability.--Dougweller (talk) 08:15, 19 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, I agree with the observations noted above. Considering the volumes that have been written about Columbus and his times, it's odd that so much of the mythology continues to thrive. Also, in that regard - with reference to the 'First voyage' section in the main article -. the paragraph which begins ' On September 8th.1492' seems to be a rather apocryphal interpretation of what was actually stated in Columbus's log, regarding compass errors and the crew concerns. In reality, the significance of the compass references in the Columbus log for September 13th. and 17th. aren't well understood. (It would take a brave historian to make the claim that fifteenth century compasses didn't normally have errors.The fact that Columbus's pilots appeared to be regularly checking the compasses only tends to confirm that they were aware that such errors occurred. Rather than 'panic', it's possible that they may have been demanding clear orders from their commander about the allowances to be made for compass errors in the courses which they steered.) Suggest that particular paragraph be prefixed as legendary - or provided with specific citations and references. J. Fowler —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.145.242.140 (talk) 14:50, 19 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]