The Art of Navigation

...of thirst, nor other innumerable pains have had such force over you as to keep you from having circumnavigated and sailed the greatest part of the world, both through seas that had never been sailed and through unknown lands of which nothing had previously been heard. This was accomplished only by the power of faith and virtue; which is certainly so great a thing that the ancients A reference to the classical Greek and Roman geographers, like Ptolemy, who believed certain parts of the ocean were unnavigable or that the world was smaller than it is. neither saw nor ever thought of it, but instead esteemed it an impossible thing. It is a case well worthy of being noted, that I have often seen a pilot come from the East Indies Referring to the maritime routes to India, Southeast Asia, and China. and spend a year on the way, and that from our Indies, or the New World The Americas., one comes in four or five months, passing through so many perils and labors that one often sees oneself at the point of death; and yet, when one arrives in his native country, he makes no more account of it than if he had passed through a dream. These pilots return as willingly to the said voyage as if they were only going for pleasure. Certainly, I do not believe that the greed for goods nor any other worldly interest causes them to do such things; but I estimate that this comes from the will of God, who wishes (even though it is a natural thing to fear death) to make them forget and pass over all the fears and labors they have experienced in navigation, without having a memory of them; for if one remembered the past evils and misfortunes The original term "fortunes" often referred to "fortunes of the sea," meaning storms or accidents., no one would wish to sail anymore.

Therefore, let the prudent pilot who so many times puts his life in peril—and not only his own, for in the reliance upon his knowledge the lives and goods of many are put at risk—let the said pilot or any other person who wishes to well understand and know the true navigation of the sea, take up this book and art, and study carefully therein. For he will find there very clearly and sufficiently all the things that are necessary for good navigation, by which, through the grace of God, he will arrive at the place he desires.