There was not a sign of another island in any direc- 

 tion, even from the height at which we were flying, but 

 soon after we had circled the lower end of Watling and 

 headed on a southwest course toward Long island, we 

 were able to make out Rum cay, the island which Morison 

 believed was Columbus's Santa Maria de la Concepcion. 

 It appeared very small in comparison with the other is- 

 lands we had flown over. It was covered with low trees, 

 interspersed with a few small ponds and the ruins of 

 several old plantation houses. 



We continued on the course which Morison had se- 

 lected for Columbus, picking up the eastern coast of 

 Long island about a quarter of the way from its northern 

 tip. We skimmed this shore almost to its southern point 

 before heading southeast for Crooked island, Columbus's 

 Isabella, according to Morison. Just off its northwest point 

 lay a small, rocky cay, surmounted by a lighthouse which 

 I identified as Bird Cay light. It was in the shelter of this 

 reef harbor that Morison beheved Columbus's three ships 

 had spent several days before setting out on the last leg 

 of their journey to Cuba. 



All this time I had been staring with intense concen- 

 tration at whatever was revealed below, checking the 

 topography with the chart in my lap and scribbling hur- 

 ried notes on my observations. Somehow I had also man- 

 aged to keep Leonard busy answering a barrage of ques- 

 tions. 



He was surprised when I called his attention to a 

 large lagoon near the north shore of Crooked island which 

 did not appear on the chart. This was a good example of 

 the many omissions and inaccuracies on even the best 

 charts of the Bahamas, making it impossible to compare 

 them successfully with the descriptions in Columbus's 

 Journal. 



Once we had turned east to fly along the north shores 



On the Track of Columbus 307 



