COLUMBUS, CHRISTOPHER 



137 



Mir clou, I- lav like islands, and there was a gen- 

 eral clamor thai the course be changed to that 

 direction. But westward, the admiral hud told 

 tin PI. i lie land .should lie, and westward he must 

 sail, or be at the mercy of every conjecture of 

 the pilots. The following day there were show- 

 i TS, and two pelicans came on board. It was 

 thought that these birds would keep close to 

 land, but the line at 200 fathoms showed no bot- 

 tom. As the days passed and all signs failed, 

 the uneasy men began to grow louder in their 

 murmurs. The favorable wind, they said, al- 

 ways blew from the east, and they could not re- 

 turn. On the 20th the wind veered to the 

 southwest, and it blew from that quarter gently 

 for many days; then they said that the calm 

 sea in which they moved would never be dis- 

 t iii-bed, and they should perish amid stagnant 

 and shoreless water. This fear took such hold 

 upon them that Columbus was about to despair, 

 when on the 25th came a heavy, windless swell- 

 ing of the sea, and he confides to his journal the 

 fact that the strange sight dispelled the fear of 

 calm. Meantime discontent had grown almost to 

 mutiny, and Columbus was aware that a project 

 had been broached to fling him into the sea and 

 persuade the other commanders to return. One 

 calm night, when they were driven once more by a 

 gentle wind from the east and were sailing close 

 together, Martin Alonzo Pinzon cried from 

 his lookout, " Land ! land ! " and the glad 

 news was confirmed by many eyes when they 



fazed into the southwest. Columbus threw 

 imself upon his knees, and Pinzon repeated 

 the " Gloria in Excelsis," in which he was joined 

 by all the crews. So sure were the lookouts, 

 that Columbus ordered the vessels' heads turned 

 in that direction ; but the vision faded with the 

 light. Columbus sailed once more to the west, 

 and deeper gloom fell on the disappointed 

 mariners. 



By Oct. 1 the murmurs had again grown to 

 menaces, but the next day there were, so many 

 signs of land that they changed their feeling to 

 eagerness. A pension of thirty crowns was to 

 be given by the Crown to the man who first 

 sighted land. The false alarms became so fre- 

 quent, and were so serious in their effects, that 

 Columbus ordered that should any one make 

 such declaration and land not be discovered 

 within three days he should forfeit all claim to 

 reward in future. On Oct. 6 Pinzon was so 

 eager for the admiral to alter his course again 

 that, fearing he might leave the company, Co- 

 lumbus issued an order directing the vessels to 

 keep near him at sunrise and sunset. The next 

 day, so certain was a sailor on board the " Nifia " 

 that he saw land that the flag was hoisted and 

 tin 1 fjun fired, and the crews were again filled 

 with joyous excitement, only to be once more 

 disappointed. The next day Columbus thought 

 he saw sufficient indication that land lay in that, 

 direction, from the sunset flights of birds, that 

 he determined to steer southwest for at least 

 two days. At the end of that time his hope in- 

 creased. Birds, fish, herbage, began to fly or 

 float about them. But the impatient crew had 

 lost faith completely, and they became clamor- 

 ous. When gentle words failed, Columbus sternly 

 told them that to the Indies he was bound at the 

 Queen's command, and to the Indies they must 



go. Ilia situation was now desperate, his crew 

 being in open mutiny; but the signs of land 

 were increasing also. A freshly broken branch 

 with thorn berries floated by, a carved staff, a 

 small board, and a reed ; and all thoughts were 

 turned to dreams of land once more. After the 

 evening singing of the " Salve Regina," Colum- 

 bus addressed the company. He reminded them 

 that when they left the Canaries he had prom- 

 ised that after sailing westward seven hundred 

 leagues they should lie to before midnight each 

 night. He added that he felt so certain of 

 coming to land that night that a strict lookout 

 must be kept, and he promised to add to the 

 offer of the sovereigns a doublet of velvet to the 

 man who first beheld land. As Columbus stood 

 in the gathering twilight he saw a light at a dis- 

 tance. Fearful of trusting his hope, he called 

 one of his company, who distinctly saw it. Then 

 he summoned another, and from that time many 

 on board saw the fitful gleam, but thought little 

 of it. To Columbus it was proof not only of 

 land, but of inhabitants. At two o'clock in the 

 morning a gun from the " Pinta " gave tidings 

 of the discovery of land by Rodrigo de Triana. 

 It was then dimly seen by all, lying about two 

 leagues distant. Sail was taken in to await the 

 morning. 



On Friday, Oct. 12, Columbus landed and 

 took possession of the new-found country in the 

 name of Ferdinand and Isabella, and named it 

 San Salvador. This ceremony concluded, he 

 .called upon all present to take the oath of alle- 

 giance to him as admiral and viceroy of their 

 majesties. Not a man but rendered hearty obe- 

 dience, and the most mutinous were among the 

 first to crave pardon. Columbus had clothed 

 himself in scarlet and bore a sword in sign of 

 his office. He supposed himself to have landed 

 on the extremity of India, and he gave to the 

 natives the name of Indians. San Salvador, it 

 is now believed, was the present Watling Isl- 

 and. Thence their course would be drawn to 

 Rum Cay (his Santa Maria de la Concepcion), 

 to Clarence Harbor, on Long Island (his Fernan- 

 dina). to Cape Verd (his Isabella, also on Long 

 Island), to Fortune Island (his Islas de Arena), 

 to Cuba (his Juan), and to Santo Domingo (his 

 Hispaniola). This, in outline, is the route last 

 traced out; in the course of its windings he 

 touched at many points, and wrote in detail of 

 them all. (See article on his first landfall, in 

 "Annual Cyclopaedia" for 1891, page 181.) 



Of Isabella he wrote : ' It seems as if one 

 would desire never to depart from hence. I 

 know not where first to go, nor are my eyes ever 

 weary of gazing on the beautiful verdure." Of 

 Cuba he said : " It is the most beautiful island 

 that eyes ever beheld, full of excellent ports and 

 profound rivers." Had Columbus come in search 

 of tropical luxuriance and beauty, of a gentle 

 and kindly though savage race, and a place in 

 which industry might found a colony and build 

 its home, there could have been no happier spot. 

 But he had promised himself and the waiting 

 sovereigns to find gold, pearls, spices, an ancient 

 civilization, and a land where Spain could make 

 an easy conquest, gaining thereby wealth and 

 honor. He was always looking for signs of 

 Eastern splendor, for news of the great Kublai 

 Khan. At one time he sent Hebrew and Chal- 



