"I therefore send to His Majesty a chart drawn by my own hand, upon
which is laid out the western coast from Ireland on the north to the
end of Guinea, and the islands which lie on that route, in front of
which directly to the west, is shown the beginning
of the Indies... And do not marvel at my calling 'west' the regions
where the spices grow, although they are commonly called 'east'; because
whoever sails westward will always find those lands in the west, while
one who goes overland to the east will al
ways find the same lands in the east."
-- Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli,
-- Letter to Fernao Martins, canon of Lisbon, June 25, 1474
