When we had first studied the various courses which 

 Columbus might have sailed, we had eliminated all ex- 

 cept those proposed by Morison and Verhoog because of 

 obviously untenable arguments. Theirs Ed had traced on 

 a modem chart of the area, measuring off distances and 

 directions as the two scholars had indicated — the one 

 course emanating from Watling, the other from Caicos. 

 Both of these theories seemed to have many good points, 

 but they also contained many discrepancies. 



After that, Ed and I pored over every English transla- 

 tion of Columbus's Journal that we could get our hands 

 on. We found them all similar, with the exception of a few 

 passages which had been interpreted in slightly different 

 ways. One of these had puzzled us when we first read it, 

 and further study had failed to make it any clearer. This 

 was an entry concerning the admiral's approach to his 

 next anchorage, after leaving San Salvador. 



We found that all researchers in the past had come 

 to the conclusion that Columbus had visited and named 

 four islands on his voyage through the Bahamas — first, 

 San Salvador; second, Santa Maria de la Concepci6n; 

 third, Fernandina; and fourth, Isabella. Yet, as Ed and I 

 interpreted the entries in his Journal for October four- 

 teenth and fifteenth, Columbus indicated that he had 

 reached and passed a second island after leaving San 

 Salvador, and before anchoring for the night off a third 

 island, which he had named Santa Maria de la Concep- 

 cion. 



. . . And as from this island, I saw another, 

 larger, to the west, I clewed sails up to navigate all 

 that day until night, and still was not able to reach 

 the westerly point; this island I named Santa Maria 

 de la Concepcion, and, about sunset, I anchored 

 near the said point . . . 



300 Sea Diver 



