245 
Chap. XV.—B. P.J COLUMBUS DISCOVERS MOSQUITO. 
or their descendants, and in this view of the case I 
entirely concur. 
After leaving Cape Honduras, Columbus sailed 
along the coast to the eastward for forty days, beating 
against an adverse wind and current. During this time 
he only succeeded in advancing at the rate of rather 
less than five miles per day, and little did he imagine 
when he decided to go to the East instead of to the 
West, against the urgent advice of the natives, how 
near he was to the famous cities of Yucatan, and the 
untold riches of the Empire of Mexico, and how 
rapidly the fair wind and current would have carried 
him there. But he was not the man to lose sight of 
the one great object to which he had devoted his 
life, the finding a strait which should lead direct to 
the East Indies. He preferred to persevere, even at 
the slow rate of five miles a day, against foul wind and 
bad weather, in pursuit of this grand idea, rather than 
turn the bows of his vessels in any other direction, 
however tempting the prospect of wealth and con¬ 
quest might be. It is useless to speculate upon the 
consequences of this decision, both as regards his 
own future and that of the peoples he would have 
discovered, but probably the wealth which Avould 
then have been his would have saved him from the 
indignities and cruelty to which he was subjected in 
his declining years, by the perfidy and avarice of his 
adopted countrymen. 
He was unfortunate in arriving during the height 
O O O 
of the rainy season, but his indomitable spirit over¬ 
came all difficulties, great though they were. He says 
