It was our finding of the old lombard dating 

 from the time of Columbus which first sparked our interest 

 in the wanderings of the Great Explorer. For the question 

 was immediately raised as to whether the ancient gun 

 could have come from one of Columbus's ships. 



Consequently we sought out Columbus's account of 

 his voyage to the west in 1492, in which he described the 

 first land he saw in the New World, the Bahamian island 

 known to the Indians as Guanahani, which he called San 

 Salvador. We found from other sources that while there 

 existed a great deal of controversy as to the identity of 

 this island, it was the general consensus that his first land- 

 fall was upon Watling island, about halfway down the 

 chain of Bahamian islands which front on the Atlantic. 



There was no reason to think that any of the ships un- 

 der Columbus's command during the four voyages he made 

 to the New World ever sailed anywhere near the area 

 where we found the lombard. Instead, we learned, subse- 

 quent voyages led him more and more to the south. After 



1^ Sea Diver 



