166 



HISTORY OF THE SEA. 



had discovered; he then uttered the since famous prayer, the 

 opening lines of which were, by order of the Spanish sovereigns, 

 repeated by subsequent discoverers upon all similar occasions. 

 He drew his sword, and, naming the land San Salvador, in memory 

 of the Saviour, took possession of it for the Crown of Castile. 

 The crews recognised Columbus as Admiral of the Ocean and 

 Viceroy of the Indies. The most mutinous and outrageous 

 thronged closely about him, and crouched at the feet of one 

 who, in their eyes, had already wealth and honors in his gift. 



The island at which Columbus had landed was called by the 

 natives Guanahani, and is now one of the archipelago of the 

 Bahamas. The inhabitants had retreated to the woods at the 

 arrival of the strangers ; but, being gradually reassured, suffered 

 their confidence to be won, and received from them fragments 

 of glass and earthen-ware as presents possessing a supernatural 

 virtue. Columbus took seven of them on board, being anxious 

 to convey them to Spain and offer them to the king, promising 

 however to return them. Then he weighed anchor and explored 

 the wonderful region in which these lovely islands lie. New 

 lands were constantly, as it were, rising from the waves ; the eye 

 could hardly number them, but the seven natives called over a 

 hundred of them by name. He landed successively at Concep- 

 tion, la Fernandine, and Isabella ; at all of which he was en- 

 chanted by the magnificence of the vegetation, the superb 

 plumage of the birds, and the delicious fragrance with which the 

 forests and the air were filled. He sought everywhere for 

 traces of gold in the soil, for he hoped thus to interest Spain in 

 a continuance of his explorations. Such was his desire to ob- 

 tain a sight of the precious metal, that he passed rapidly from 

 island to island, indifferent to every other subject. At last, the 

 natives spoke of a large and marvellous land, called Cuba, where 

 there were spices, gold, ships, and merchants. Supposing this 

 to be the wonderful Cipango, described by Marco Polo, he set 

 sail at once. It was now the 24th of October. 



