[5]
After reading it, we cannot quite say with Humboldt that Columbus was
the very first to give fluent expression to Nature's beauty on the
shores of the New World; none the less, and apart from his importance
in other respects, he remains the chief representative of his time in
the matter. Humboldt noted this in his critical examination of the
history of geography in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, in
which he pointed out his deep feeling for Nature, and also, what only
those who know the difficulties of language at the time can
appreciate, the beauty and simplicity of his expression of it.[6]
Columbus is a striking example of the fact that a man's openness to
Nature increases with his general inner growth. No one doubts that
uneducated sailors, like other unlettered people, are vividly
impressed by fine scenery, especially when it is new to them, if they
possess a spark of mental refinement. They have the feeling, but are
unable to express it in words. But, as Humboldt says, feeling
improves speech; with increased culture, the power of expression
increases.
We owe a debt of gratitude to Fernandez de Navarrete[7] for the Diary
in which we can trace Columbus' love for Nature increasing to 'a deep
and poetic feeling for the majesty of creation.'
He wrote, October 8th, 1492, in his diary:
'Thanks be to God,' says the Admiral, 'the air is very soft like
the April at Seville, and it is a pleasure to be there, so balmy
are the breezes.
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