Columbus Clap is probably Crap

[alice wellintown]

That a boat of seamen could spread the clap from the "new" world to
Europe is quite possible. Readers of Melville know what its spread did
to the population in "Typee" (and from Cook's book), but Chaucer, who
died (some say he had the clap) before Columbus was born, decribes the
Clap in his works. The clap, it seems, has been around since the Roman
Period, it is described in medieval medical books.