18G V. M. Concas — The Caravels of Columbus. 



On that twelfth of October Columbus planted on this continent 

 a flag in the first island discovered, quite like the one which I 

 offer for your inspection. It was the distinguishing signal of 

 his authority, the admiral's flag. The Pinzpn brothers carried 

 these others. These are the flags of the discovery, granted by 

 the king to the enterprise — the true flags of America, planted 

 on the shores by the captains of the Pinta and Nina. The 

 usual pictures are not in accord with the historical truth, ■ 

 since the flags were similar to the flags you can see here, and 

 there was no priest, with the party on either of the caravels, 

 although you always see one represented in the pictures of the 

 landing of Columbus. 



A great day was the twelfth of October ; a day that placed the 

 name of Columbus and the flag of Castile in the book of immor- 

 tality; a great day that opened this immense continent to 

 Europe, already threatened by reform under the weight of relig- 

 ious intolerance ; a great day, that one, when the gun of the 

 Pinta proclaiming Land ! the cry answered from the tops of 

 the Andes and the Rocky mountains, " For the White Man ! " 



The Spanish government, wishing to renew that memory, 

 offered again to the wind the old flag of Castile and another 

 Santa Maria, the fac-simile of the caravel of Columbus. A 

 kind Providence has permitted me to complete such a historical 

 voyage and to cross the Atlantic in thirty-six days, the same 

 time that the great admiral emplo5^ed in crossing it ; and after 

 reaching the island where was the first European settlement, 

 and after, at Havana, saluting the tomb where are the remains 

 of that great hero of science and perseverance, I have brought 

 the memory of his immortal sj)irit and the order of all Spain 

 to wish from the high deck of the Santa Maria peace and pros- 

 perity to all the countries of the New World. 



