COLUMBUS, CHRISTOPHER 



151 



The marvels that Columbus saw on this voy- 



: In- variation of the needle, I he stars of the 

 southern hemisphere, the mystery of the trade 

 winds and of the equatorial culms, iho phenomena 

 accompanying the mingling of the great river 

 Orinoco, which he never reali/.ed to he a river, 

 with the ocean on which he was skirting the 

 shores of an unsuspected continent produced 

 so great an effect upon his imagination that his 

 descriptive letter to the King and Queen is a 

 Mend ing of current events with excited specu- 

 lation, and is of great interest, not only as an 

 account of the voyage, but as revealing his char- 

 acter and the limits of his knowledge. The fol- 

 lowing arc extracts from the letter: 



I set out from Sun Lucar, in the name of the most 

 holy Trinity, on Wednesday, May :;n. much fatigued 

 \vitli my vo\ uire, for I had hoped, when I left the 

 Indies, t<> tind repose in Spain ; whereas, on the con- 

 trary. I experienced nothing hut opposition and vexa- 

 tion. I sai led to the island of Madeira by a circuitous 

 route, in order to avoid any encounter with an armed 

 fleet from France, wliieh was on the lookout for me 

 otl Cape St. Vincent. Thence I went to the Canaries, 

 from which islands I sailed with but one ship and 

 two caravels, having dispatched the other ships to 

 Kspanola by the direct road to the Indies; while I 

 myself moved southward, with the view of reaching 

 tln j equinoctial line, and of then proceeding westward. 

 But having reached the Cape Verd islands ^an incor- 

 rect name, for they are so barren that nothing green 

 was to be seen there, and the people so sickly tliat I 

 did not venture to remain among them), I sailed 

 away 480 miles, which is equivalent to 1'20 leagues, 

 toward the southwest, where, when it grew dark, I 

 found the north star to be in the fifth degree. The 

 wind then failed me, and I entered a climate where 

 the intensity of ihe heat was such that 1 thought both 

 ships and men would have been burned up, and every - 

 tiling suddenly got into such a state of confusion that 

 no man dared go below deck to attend to the securing 

 of the water cask and the provisions. " This heat 

 lasted eight days; on the first day the weather was 

 fine, but on the seven other days it rained and was 

 cloudy, yet we found no alleviation of our distress; 

 so that I certainly believe that if the sun had shone 

 as on the first day, we should not have been able to 

 escape iii any way. 



I recollect that, in sailing toward the Indies, as 

 soon as I passed 100 leagues to the westward of the 

 A /.ores 1 found the temperature change : and this is 

 so all along from north to south. At the end of these 

 fitrht days it pleased our Lord to give me a favorable 

 east wind, and I steered to the west, but did not ven- 

 ture to move lower down toward the south, because I 

 discovered a very great change in the sky and the 

 stars, although I found no alteration in the tempera- 

 ture. I resolved, therefore, to keep on the direct 

 westward course, in a lino from Sierra Leone. At the 

 end of seventeen days, during which our Lord gave 

 me a propitious wind, we saw land at noon of Tuesday, 

 .Inly :'.!. This I had expected on the Monday before, 

 and held that route up to this point; but as the sun's 

 strength increased, and our supply of water was fail- 

 ing, I resolved to make for the Caribbee islands, and 

 set sail in that direction ; when, by the mercy of God, 

 winch he has always extended to me, one of the 

 Bailors went up to the maintop, and saw to the west- 

 ward a range of three mountains. Upon this we re- 

 peated the "Salve Regina,"and other prayers, and all 

 of us gave.many thanks to our Lord. At the hour of 

 complines we reached a cape, which I called Cape 

 Galea,* having already given to the island the name 

 of Trinidad. We saw houses and people on the spot, 

 and the country around was very beautiful, and as 



* The southeastern point of Trinidad. Here Columbus 

 first saw the mainland of America. 



fresh imd L'reen on the gardens of Valencia in the 

 month of March. After sailing Jive leagues I found 

 very good bottom, and anchored. The next day I set 

 sail in the same direction, in search of a harbor where 

 I might repair the vessel* and take in water, an well 

 UK improve the stock of provisions which I had 

 brought out with me. When we had taken in a piin: 

 of water, we proceeded onward till we reached the 

 cape, and there, finding good anchorage and protec- 

 tion from the east wind, 1 ordered the anchors to In- 

 dropped, the water cask to be repaired, a supply of 

 water and wood to be taken in, ana the people to rest 

 themselves from the fatigues which they had endured 

 for so long a time. I gave to this point the name of 

 Sandy Point. On the following day a large <-an<n- 

 came from the eastward, contai iii ng ii-i men, all in the 

 prime of life, and well provided with arms, such as 

 hows, arrows, and wooden shields ; they were not dark 

 black, but whiter than any other Indians that I had 

 seen, of very graceful gesture, and handsome forms, 

 wearing their hair long and straight,-and cut in the, 

 Spanish style. 1 found that the island of Trinidad 

 formed with the land of Gracia a straitof two leagues' 

 width from east to west ; and as we had to pass through 

 it to go to the north, we found some strong currents 

 which crossed the strait, and which made a great 

 roaring, so that I concluded there must be a reef of 

 sand or rocks, which would preclude our entrance ; 

 and behind this current was another and another, all 

 making a roaring noise like the sound of breakers 

 against the rocks. I anchored there, under the point 

 of Arenal, outside of the strait, and found the water 

 rushed from east to west with as much impetuosity as 

 that of the Guadalquivir at its conflux with the sea; 

 and this continued constantly day and night, so that 

 it appeared to be impossible to move backward for the 

 current or forward for the shoals. In the dead of 

 night, while I was on deck, I heard an awful roaring 

 that came from the south toward the ship. I stopped 

 to observe what it might be, and I saw the sea rolling 

 from west to east like a mountain, as high as the ship, 

 and approaching by little and little ; on the top of 

 this rolling sea came a mighty Wave roaring with a 

 frightful noise, and with all this terrific uproar were 

 other conflicting currents. I have a vivid recollec- 

 tion of the dread 1 then felt lest the ship might 

 founder under the force of that tremendous sea; but 

 it passed by, and reached the mouth of the before- 

 mentioned, passage, where the uproar lasted for a con- 

 siderable time. It pleased the Lord, however, to give 

 us a favorable wind, and I passed through the middle 

 of the strait, after which 1 recovered my tranquillity. 

 The men happened at this time to draw up some 

 water from tne sea, which, strange to say, proved to 

 be fresh. We were visited by a great number of the 

 inhabitants, who informed us that the country was 

 called I 'aria, and that farther westward it was more 

 fully peopled. I took four of these natives and pro- 

 ceeded on my westward voyage, and when I had gone 

 eight leagues farther I found on the other side of a 

 point, which I called the Needle, one of the most 

 lovely countries in the world, and very thickly 

 peopled. Some of the natives soon came out to the 

 ship in canoes to beg me, in the name of their king, 

 to go on shore ; and when they saw that I paid no at- 

 tention to them, they came to the ship in their canoes 

 in countless numbers, many of them wearing pieces 

 of gold on their breasts and some with bracelets of 



S earls on their arms ; on seeing which 1 was much 

 elighted, and made many inquiries, with the view 

 of learning where they found them. They informed 

 me that they were to be procured in their own neigh- 

 borhood, and also at a spot to the northward of that 

 place. I would have remained here, but the pro- 

 visions of corn and wine and meats which I nad 

 brought out with so much care for the people whom 

 I had left behind were nearly wasted, so that all my 

 anxiety was to get them into a place of safety, and not 

 t-> stop for anything. I wished, however, to get some 

 of the pearls that I had seen, and with that view sent 

 the boats on shore. My own health had been affected 



