tance. Pinta, the third ship of the Httle fleet, had deserted 

 her sister ships more than two weeks before; and, under 

 the command of Martin Alonso Pinzon, had set out to seek 

 Baneque, an unknown island to the northeast, where the 

 Indians had assured them they would find gold. There had 

 been no further word of the Pinta. 



Columbus's Journal of that voyage had been our con- 

 stant companion since we had first conceived the idea of 

 our own twentieth-century voyage of discovery; and I now 

 leafed through it, seeking the parts which described his 

 passage along these shores. My eye caught the name Isla 

 de la Tortuga. I read, "That island seemed to be very high 

 land, not filled with mountains, level like lovely fields. . . ." 

 I swept the ragged cliffs of Tortuga with my glasses. Where 

 were these Elysian fields today? 



Columbus wrote that he had anchored in a protected 

 harbor on the north shore of Hispaniola, opposite the 

 western point of Tortuga. "He was anxious to examine the 

 strait between these two islands in order to view the 

 island of Espaiiola, which is the loveliest thing in the 

 world," I read. But the two ships had contrary winds, and 

 a whole week elapsed before they were able to continue 

 on their way. In the meantime "he set up a great cross at 

 the entrance of the harbor on the western side, on a very 

 conspicuous height, as a sign, he says, that your highnesses 

 hold this land as your own, and especially as an emblem of 

 Jesus Christ, Our Lord, and to the honor of Christendom." 



From Moustique bay, Columbus had gone only a few 

 miles and anchored once more, this time near the mouth of 

 a river. This appeared to be Trois Rivieres, just west of Port 

 Paix. There he had explored a beautiful valley which 

 he called Val Paraiso, lying at the base of his Cabo del 

 Elefante. It was easy to identify these places — Port Paix 

 with the Elephant, which was Haut Titon, towering four 

 thousand feet above it. 



162 Sea Diver 



