NO. I COLUMBUS S LANDFALL WOLPER 21 



3. Facts contributing to the clarification of the light mystery 



The significance of the light as an indication of where Columbus 

 landed in the New World is established — a question asked and 

 answered only by theory for 467 years until now. Columbus could 

 have been right when he thought he saw a light, and this island could 

 have been the Guanahani he found in 1492, for the following reasons : 



( 1 ) Columbus approached his San Salvador in October, near the 

 end of the rainy season, when the foliage is green, the lakes are filled, 

 and fires are necessary in the evening, after the rains, to ward off sand 

 flies. By conducting our expedition at the same time, we found 

 similar conditions. 



(2) Colnmbus approached the island 6 nights after full moon. 

 Having planned our approach for the same time, we found that the 

 island was dark at 10 p.m., providing a background for the light. 

 By 2 a.m. the moon was shining on the rocky face of High Cay, 

 permitting it to be seen, as it was by Columbus. 



(3) Archeological surveys and excavations have revealed the 

 existence of Indian sites at the places where Indians and their villages 

 are mentioned by Columbus in his Journal. 



(4) The altitude of High Cay, opposite the creek and separated 

 from the island, was unknown prior to the time we measured it 

 while studying the topography of the island. It is higher than in- 

 dicated on any map ; its face of straight white rock toward the 

 east was found to be 114 feet above sea level. It is more than a 

 half mile in length. It is this height of 114 feet that made our fire 

 visible from 12^ feet above sea level, 2$\ nautical miles out to sea. 



(5) The planned fire 29 on top of High Cay was larger than 

 anticipated, owing to a waxy coating on the Sabal palmetto leaves, 30 



29 Fires are common on the island. Although planes spray against the sand- 

 flies over the areas where there are U.S. bases, at certain times of the evening and 

 dawn, particularly after rain, these insects are unbearable. The natives use 

 fire in torches at night to hunt for land crabs and sometimes in boats at night 

 to attract fish ; they use fires for cooking, for light, and for smudges in front 

 of their huts to ward off the sandflies. Until recently stones were rubbed 

 together to make the fire, and then "caught in trash or old wood stuffed in a 

 tender horn of a cow. This fire can be kept or carried" (as told by the writer's 

 Indian friend Paul Ward). Andrew Arnott, Indian descendant, said, "I make 

 fire; you see fire." Those responsible for the fire that night were: Andrew 

 Arnott; Vulcan Rolle; Samuel Ferguson ; Maxwell, Clarence, and George Fergu- 

 son ; and Herman Benson. 



30 Confirmed by Dr. Harold E. Moore, Jr., Bailey Hortorium, New York 

 State College of Agriculture, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. 



