140 



COLUMBUS, CHRISTOPHER. 



ing at this period Columbus wrote in the fol- 

 lowing words to the King and Queen : 



I could have supported this evil fortune with less 

 grief had my person alone been in jeopardy, since I 

 am debtor for my life to the Supreme Creator, and 

 have at other times been within a step of death. But 

 it was a cause of infinite sorrow and trouble to think 

 that, after having been illuminated from on high with 

 faith and certainty to undertake this enterprise, after 

 having victoriously achieved it, and when on the 

 point of convincing my opponents, and securing to 

 your highnesses great glory and vast increase of 

 dominion, it should please the Divine Majesty to 

 defeat all by my death. It would have been more 

 supportable also had I not been accompanied by 

 others who had been drawn on by my persuasions, 

 and who in their distress cursed not only the hour 

 of their coming, but the fear inspired by my words, 

 which prevented their turning back as they had at 

 various times determined. Above all, my grief was 

 doubled when I thought of my two sons, whom I had 

 left at school in Cordova, destitute, in a strange land, 

 without any testimony of the services rendered by 

 their father, which, if known, might have inclined 

 your highnesses to befriend them. And, although, 

 on the one hand, I was comforted by a faith that the 

 Deity would not permit a work of such great exalta- 

 tion to his Church, wrought through, so many 

 troubles and contradictions, to remain imperfect; yet, 

 on the other hand, I reflected on my sins, for which 

 he might intend as a punishment that 1 should be 

 deprived of the glory which would redound to me in 

 this world. 



During this anxious time Columbus wrote on 

 parchment two short accounts of his voyage and 

 discoveries, and of his having taken possession 

 in the name of the King and Queen of Spain, 

 and offering 1,000 ducats to the person who 

 would convey the paper to them. One of these 

 he put into a waxed cloth, in the middle of a 

 cake of wax, which he put into a barrel and 

 threw into the sea. The other one he rolled up 

 in a similar fashion, placing the barrel on the 

 poop of the vessel. On the 14th the storm 

 abated somewhat, and on the loth a sailor on 

 the maintop shouted " Land ! " amid the mad 

 demonstrations of the crew. It proved, as Co- 

 lumbus had believed, to be one of the Azores. 

 They were making for it, when the wind 

 changed, and for two days they were tossed 

 about by tempestuous waves. It was not until 

 the 18th that they were able to anchor. The 

 day that land was seen Columbus made this 

 entry in a letter, afterward sent to Luis de Sant- 

 angel. 



On board the caravel, off the Azores, Feb. 15, 1493. 

 This is ever certain, that God grants to those that 

 walk in his ways the performance of things that seem 

 impossible, and this enterprise might in a signal man- 

 ner have been considered so, for although many have 

 talked of these countries, yet it has been nothing 

 more than conjecture. Our Saviour having vouch- 

 safed this victory to our most illustrious King and 

 Queen, and their kingdoms, famous for so eminent a 

 deed, all Christendom should rejoice and give solemn 

 thanks to the Holy Trinity for the addition of as 

 many people to our holy faith, and also_for the tem- 

 poral pront accruing not only to Spain but to all 

 Christians. 



The inhabitants of St. Mary's, the island to 

 which they were come, were amazed that they 

 had outlived a storm which had raged for fifteen 

 days, and still more so at the news they brought. 

 The men from the " Nina " were kept on shore, 

 while the governor sent out provisions for the 



starving voyagers. The next morning Colum- 

 bus sent half the company ashore, to perform 

 their vow at a chapel not far inland. He and 

 the other half were to await their return. But 

 the barefooted and half-clad procession were no 

 sooner occupied with their devotions than they 

 were surrounded and made prisoners. As time 

 passed and they did not return, Columbus began 

 to fear mischief from the Portuguese authorities. 

 He changed his position to one that commanded 

 the chapel, and saw a body of armed men, who 

 immediately entered a boat and went to the 

 caravel. Columbus armed his men, but kept 

 them out of sight. They were principally lands- 

 men and Indians, as the seamen had gone first 

 to perform the vow. After an angry colloquy 

 between the governor and Columbus, during 

 which the latter showed his letters patent and 

 threatened vengeance by his Government, and 

 the Portuguese said haughtily that he was acting 

 under orders from the King, they parted. Tem- 

 pests again drove the ships to sea, and for two 

 days they were in more deadly peril than before. 

 When the storm abated the governor retreated 

 from his position and released the prisoners, the 

 truth being that his orders were to detain Co- 

 lumbus, whom he now found to be in high office 

 and on his guard. 



Still in an angry sea, but with a favoring wind, 

 on the 24th they set sail for Spain. Storm fol- 

 lowed storm, until, at midnight on March 2, the 

 caravel was struck by a squall which tore her 

 sail to ribbons and threatened to ingulf her. In 

 the blackness a vow was again made and a lot 

 cast. One of the company was to perform a pil- 

 grimage to Santa Maria de la Ceuta, at Huelva. 

 The lot fell upon Columbus. The whole crew 

 vowed to fast on bread and water the follow- 

 ing Saturday should they come to land. But 

 the storm continued with unabated fury, and 

 when, on the night of March 3, a seaman cried 

 " Land ! " it terrified them still more. All night 

 they expected to be dashed helpless on the rocks. 

 Morning found them off the rock of Cintra, and 

 of the two perils the ocean seemed so much more 

 formidable than the Portuguese that Columbus 

 gave the order to run into the mouth of the 

 Tagus for shelter. There they told him that 

 they had watched the caravel with intense anxi- 

 ety ; that the oldest mariner had no memory of 

 such a stormy winter ; that few vessels had left 

 the port, and that wreckage had been strewed 

 along the coast. There seemed small hope for 

 Pinzon and the disabled " Pinta." As soon as 

 the caravel was safe, Columbus wrote to the 

 King and Queen, and added this postscript to 

 his letter to Santangel : 



Being at sea near Castilo, the wind rose with such 

 fury from the south and southeast that I was obliged 

 to bear away and run into the port of Lisbon, where 

 I escaped by the greatest miracle in the world. From 

 this place I shall write to their highnesses. Through- 

 out the Indies I always found the weather like May. 

 I made the passage thither in seventy-one days, and 

 back in forty-eight, during thirteen of which number 

 1 was driven about by storms. The seamen here in- 

 form me that there was never known a winter in 

 which so many ships were lost. 



He also wrote to ask permission to take his 

 vessel to Lisbon, the mouth of the Tagus being 

 sparsely settled by adventurers, and rumors that 



