During the Middle Ages and earlier, there was a long tradition of travel narratives in which every explorer "saw" these men with tails, or saw remnants of the kingdom of prestor John, or caught something about the fountain of youth. This came from a tradition of Greek and Roman sources, such as Pliny. Writers such as Ptolemy used valid sources for their histories, from many official and validated captains and travelers, but he never saw the creatures himself.
But these myths were an integral part of every travel narrative, and to make you story credible (e.g. your actual discoveries), you had to include something of this history. For example, Marco Polo (of whom Columbus read a lot), included some of these strange creatures.
By the time of Columbus, most people had started to disbelieve such myths, but the tradition was still there--I believe more so in Spain (which had strong ties to the Middle Ages) than England. For example, Patagonia (in South America) was named on account of the land of everlasting youth, and the discovery of Florida was precipitated by the search for El Dorado.
But to answer your question, these days we don't believe much without scientific proof. At the time, their scientific proof was the valid and accepted travel narratives and natural histories of the travelers and scientists of the time. People did not travel much and had no way of refuting them.
hard to believe but....yeah
Hard to believe, spectacular, incredulous.
apparently it is the famous daddy long legs but there teeth are not strong enough for them to bite through the human skin i know it is quite hard to believe
Kilroy ate the feast! There R tons and Tons of Clues to go through and there are some really hard ones. But Kilroy ate the feast! There are many clues in this story also watch out for the pictures. Every picture has a clue. and some of these clues are very hard! You really Have to think and look hard it was Kilroy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! big shock?
There are many definitions, as you would know, but the only scientific one is... the infected area around an elephants anus. Yes, that's right, hard to believe but true.
Writers who don't know the full truth.
Fiction.
Butcrack
Butcrack
It is hard to believe one specific story about Sacagawea's final years because there is not a lot of evidence to study.
I believe that hard work and dedication are key to achieving success.
If you mean the Columbus's family, they were very loving. The father was a hard worker and the mom was a housewife. The kids seemed very happy.
No, it's a true story, although hard to believe.
It's hard to tell where the story's at now but I believe that it's very likely in the future.
Christopher Columbus had a hard time getting finances because Spain didnt have money and they wanted more land.
Because it appears Smith may have been trying to glamorize his actions.
Because it appears Smith may have been trying to glamorize his actions.