By relying on their scientists, the Spanish monarchs made a mistake. They signed a treaty with Columbus in 1492. Who knew then that there was a huge continent in the Atlantic Ocean, between Europe and Asia. Ferdinand's ignorance played a cruel joke on him. The traveler outwitted him. Later, the king explained this by the fact that although he believed in the spherical shape of the Earth, but about its true size had no idea. In fact, in this matter, he listened to the opinion not only of his scientists, but also took into account the reports of the Florentine scholar Toscanelli. There is no doubt that Columbus was the most skilful and experienced navigator of his time. Even before his famous, historic voyages, he learned to use ocean currents and winds better than all his colleagues. While sailing to England, Ireland and African Guinea, he noted in his diary all the sea currents carrying his waters from east to west of the Atlantic Ocean, as well as the winds blowing in this direction. From the outset, he knew how to reach the western Atlantic Ocean with the Canary Current and return to Europe with currents near both the equator and the 30 and 40 parallels.