"He proceeded along the
coast of Mayo, inquiring as he went for traditions of the Western
continent. On his return to Kerry he decided to set out on the important
expedition. St. Brendan's Hill still bears his name; and from the bay at
the foot of this lofty eminence be sailed for the 'Far West.' Directing
his course toward the southwest, with a few faithful companions, in a
well-provisioned bark, he came, after some rough and dangerous
navigation, to calm seas, where, without aid of oar or sail, he was
borne along for many weeks." He had probably entered upon the same great
current which Columbus travelled nearly one thousand years later, and
which extends from the shores of Africa and Europe to America. He
finally reached land; he proceeded inland until he came to a large river
flowing from east to west, supposed by some to be the Ohio. "After an
absence of seven years he returned to Ireland, and lived not only to
tell of the marvels he had seen, but to found a college of three
thousand monks at Clonfert." There are eleven Latin MSS. in the
Bibliotheque Imperiale at Paris of this legend, the dates of which vary
from the eleventh to the fourteenth century, but all of them anterior to
the time of Columbus.
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