30 ST NICOTINE 



every precious thing of earth, where wealth, and power, 

 and majesty, were to be won by courage and enterprise ; 

 and all should be hers were he but equipped with royal 

 authority and means of transport. The sincere, im- 

 passioned eloquence with which he pleaded the 

 reasonableness of his cause and its triumphant success 

 enlisted the sympathy of the noble-hearted Queen. She 

 entered with spirit into the grand scheme that was to 

 bring renown and riches to her impoverished country. 

 ' I will assume the undertaking for my own kingdom of 

 Castile,' she exclaimed, ' I will pawn my jewels if the 

 money you raise is not sufficient.' 



On Friday, August 3, 1492, Columbus set sail from 

 the bar of Saltos, near the little maritime town of Palos 

 (Andalusia), as admiral of the three small ships his 

 indomitable energy had brought together. His own vessel, 

 the Santa Maria, had been built expressly for the voyage, 

 and was manned by a crew of fifty ruthless, unskilful ad- 

 venturers. The two others were caravels named the Pinta 

 and the Niiia ; they were owned by the Pinzon family, 

 and were commanded, respectively, by Martin Alonzo 

 and his brother Vicente Yahez. In all one hundred and 

 twenty men embarked under the inspiriting influence of 

 Columbus on their perilous adventure into unknown seas. 

 Three months have well-nigh passed and yet no sign is 

 visible of the promised land. After enduring hardships 

 the severest, worn out by storm and tempest in regions 

 leading they knew not whither, their murmurs deepen into 

 open mutiny; the crew gathers round the great captain 

 with threats to throw him overboard unless he will turn 

 the rudder and sail home. The vision of Columbus rises 

 before us : tall, fair, blue-eyed, beaming with the confidence 

 of a life's devotion to a great purpose, he confronts his 



