180 



HISTORY OF THE SEA. 



One of the water-spouts passed between the ships without in- 

 juring them, and spun away, muttering and terrible, to spend 

 its fury elsewhere. 



THE WATERSPOUT. 



On reaching Veragua, Columbus sent his brother up a river, 

 which he called Bethlehem, or by contraction Belem, to seek for 

 gold. His researches seeming to indicate the presence of the 

 precious metal, Columbus determined to establish a colony upon 

 the river, an attempt which was defeated by the hostility of the 

 natives. Their fierce resistance and the crazy state of his 

 vessels forced Columbus, in April, 1503, to make the best of 

 his way to Hispaniola with two crowded vessels, which, being 

 totally unseaworthy, he was obliged to run ashore at Jamaica. 

 There Columbus awed the natives and subdued them to obedience 

 and submission, by predicting an eclipse of the moon. 



Thus left without a single vessel, he had no resource but to 

 send to Hispaniola for assistance. After a period of fifteen 

 months, lost in quelling mutinies and in opposing the cruelties 



