302 ISLES OF SUMMBET 
to be a ‘‘fool’s errand.” Reaching the Canaries in safety, he 
left Gomora on the Gth of September. At 10 o’clock Pp. M., Oc- 
tober 11th, A. D. 1492, Columbus saw or supposed he saw a mov- 
ing light gleaming fitfully in the darkness. For three weeks, 
Herons, Pelicans and several other specics of birds, had appeared 
in sight almost daily, as if to cheer and welcome him on his 
lonely way. Some even alighted on his vessels, and were hailed 
as the bearers of good tidings. Other mute, but most reliable 
witnesses, in constantly increasing numbers, had been encountered 
by his caravals, floating in the calm, warm waters, and had con- 
veyed to him the joyful intelligence that the great object of his 
search was near at hand. Four hours later, a gun fired from the 
Pinta, the vessel that led the little fleet, conveyed the thrilling 
intelligence that terra firma itself was actually in sight. In 
that supreme moment of his triumph a wild intoxication would 
have possessed a less lofty and heroic mind. The inspired proph- 
et of the fifteenth century, casting his eyes upwards, humbly 
returned his thanks to that Divine Being that had enlightened, 
sustained, guided and protected him in the great work to which 
he had devoted himself for so many years, and for the brilliant 
success with which at last his labors were crowned. 
The author of the ‘‘ Land Fall of Columbus” has, with great 
boldness and apparent success, attacked the opinion heretofore 
so generally conceded to be true, that Columbus first landed upon 
the present island of St. Salvador, (sometimes called Cat Island.) 
The old belicf received the endorsement of Washington Irving, 
(who did not deem it best “‘to disturb the ancient landmarks,”) 
and also of Baron Humboldt, but the author of the ‘‘ Land Fall” 
has reproduced the original text of the journal which Columbus 
kept of his first voyage of discovery, as embodied in the letters 
which he wrote at the time, closely and critically examined its 
statements, and, with the assistance of modern official charts, 
