DUPLICITY OF THE KING. 



147 



Upon the accession of John II. to the throne of Portugal, — a 

 sovereign whom we have already shown to be deeply interested 

 in the progress of the art of navigation, — Columbus made known 

 to him his opinions and his plans, assigning the extension of the 

 gospel as the avowed and final object of the expedition. The 

 subject was referred to a maritime junto and to a high council, 

 by both of whom it was rejected as visionary and absurd. The 

 king was induced, however, by one of his councillors, to equip 

 a caravel and send it on a voyage of discovery upon the route 

 traced out by Columbus, and thus obtain for himself the glory of 

 the expedition, if successful. Columbus was invited to hand in 

 to the Government his maps and charts, together with his written 

 views upon the whole subject. This he did, supposing, in his 

 simplicity, that another examination was to be made of the 

 practicability of the venture. The king despatched a caravel, 

 under the command of one of the ablest pilots of his marine, to 

 follow the track indicated. The vessel left, but soon returned, 

 her crew having been appalled at sight of the boundless horizon, 

 and her captain having lost his courage in a storm. Columbus, 

 indignant at this duplicity, secretly left Lisbon and returned 

 home to Genoa. At this period he had the misfortune to lose 

 his wife Felippa, who had shared his confidence in the existence 

 of unknown lands, and whose encouragement had sustained him 

 in his disappointments. This was in the year 1484. He re- 

 newed his proposal to the Senate of Genoa, which was again 

 rejected. He now cast his eyes upon the other European powers, 

 among whom the two sovereigns of Spain, Ferdinand of Ara- 

 gon and Isabella of Castile, seemed to deserve the preference. 



Not far from Palos, upon the Spanish coast, and in sight of 

 the ocean, stood, upon a promontory half hidden by pine-trees, 

 a monastery — known as La Rabida — dedicated to the Virgin, and 

 inhabited by Franciscan friars. The Superior, Juan Perez de 

 Marchena, offered an example of fervent piety and of theological 

 erudition, at the same time that he was a skilful mathematician 



