COLUMBUS AT COURT. 



293 





Spain. Great was the agitation and excitement in the little town of Palos, when the well- 

 known vessel of the admiral re-entered their harbour. Most of those who thronged to 

 the shore had relatives or friends on board, and the previous winter had been one of the 

 most severe and stormy within the recollection of the oldest mariners. They awaited the 

 landing of Columbus and his crew, and then accompanied him to the principal church, 

 where solemn thanksgivings were offered, and soon every bell in the village sent forth a 

 joyous peal. His journey to Barcelona was one continued triumph. He was accompanied 

 by several of the native islanders, arrayed in their simple barbaric costume, and decorated 

 with rude collars, bracelets, and ornaments of gold. He exhibited in the principal towns 

 quantities of gold dust, many quadrupeds, and gaily-coloured birds, then unknown in 

 Europe, with numerous spe- 

 cimens of natural produc- 

 tions in the vegetable and 

 mineral kingdoms. It was 

 the middle of April when 

 Columbus reached the Court 

 at Barcelona. The nobility, 

 courtiers, and city authori- 

 ties, came to the gates to 

 meet him, and escorted him 

 to the royal presence. Fer- 

 dinand and Isabella, seated 

 under a superb canopy of 

 state, rose as he approached, 

 and begged him to be seated 

 unprecedented marks of 



honour in that proud court. Columbus had triumphed; he had for the time silenced the 

 sneers and cavils and specious arguments of courtiers and ecclesiastics. Prescott* has well 

 described the interview. In reciting his adventures, " his manner was sedate and dignified, 

 but warmed with the glow of natural enthusiasm. He enumerated the several islands which 

 he had visited, expatiated on the temperate character of the climate, and the capacity of 

 the soil for every variety of agricultural productions. ... He dwelt more at large 

 on the precious metals to be found in these islands. . . . Lastly, he pointed out the 

 wide scope afforded to Christian zeal, in the illumination of a race of men, whose minds, 

 far from being wedded to any system of idolatry, were prepared by their extreme simplicity 

 for the reception of pure and uncorrupted doctrine. This last consideration touched Isabella's 

 heart most sensibly ; and the whole audience, kindled with various emotions by the speaker's 

 eloquence, filled up the perspective with the gorgeous colouring of their own fancies, as 

 ambition, or avarice, or devotional feeling, predominated in their bosoms. When Columbus 

 ceased, the king and queen, together with all present, prostrated themselves on their knees 

 in grateful thanksgivings, while the solemn strains of the Te Deum were poured forth by 

 the choir of the royal chapel, as in commemoration of some glorious victory." All kinds 



* " History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella." 



ANCIENT GOLD-WASHING AT ST. DOMINGO. (After an Old Engraving.) 



