It was probably not long after this that he married Donna Felipa Munnis
Perestrelo, who was residing at the convent of All Saints, in Lisbon,
where he was a regular attendant at the services of the church. She was a
daughter of that captain of Prince Henry's who has been already mentioned
as the first governor of Porto Santo. On that island, after a short
residence in the Portuguese capital, Columbus took up his abode, busying
himself with the papers of his deceased father-in-law, and earning a
livelihood by making maps and charts for sale. It is a curious fact that
the great chief of American discoverers should thus have inhabited a spot
which was the first advanced outpost in African discovery. He was here on
the high road to Guinea, and being in constant communication with the
explorers of the new regions, it was likely that he would become imbued
with some of their enthusiasm for adventure.


THE BISHOP OF CEUTA; RETURN OF THE CARAVEL.

Shrouded in obscurity as this period of his life remains, we are only able
to find vague traditions of the unsuccessful effort which Columbus
made to induce the Senate of Genoa to take up his project. From the
Portuguese crown he could scarcely look for help, embroiled as it was in
costly wars, and having already a field for discovery along the African
coast, which it would scarcely be wise to forsake for an undertaking
similar in kind, but more hazardous and less definite. However, King John
the Second, to whom Columbus applied, seems to have listened with
attention to the exposition of his scheme, and indeed, according to the
account of Fernando, to have given a sort of qualified promise of his
support, but to have disagreed with Columbus as to terms. The king
referred the matter to a Committee of Council for Geographical Affairs,