TRUE STORIES OF GREAT AMERICANS

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

BY

MILDRED STAPLEY

 Whatever can be known of earth we know, Sneered Europe's wise men, in their snail shells curled; No! said one man in Genoa, and that No Out of the dark created the New World. 

--JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I COLUMBUS BEFRIENDED BY ROYALTY

CHAPTER II THE YOUTH OF COLUMBUS

CHAPTER III "LANDS IN THE WEST"

CHAPTER IV THE SOJOURN IN MADEIRA

CHAPTER V A SEASON OF WAITING

CHAPTER VI A RAY OF HOPE

CHAPTER VII ISABELLA DECIDES

CHAPTER VIII OFF AT LAST!

CHAPTER IX "LAND! LAND!"

CHAPTER X NATIVES OF THE NEW LAND

CHAPTER XI THE RETURN IN THE _NINA_

CHAPTER XII DAYS OF TRIUMPH

CHAPTER XIII PREPARING FOR A SECOND VOYAGE

CHAPTER XIV FINDING NEW ISLANDS

CHAPTER XV ON A SEA OF TROUBLES

CHAPTER XVI THE THIRD VOYAGE

CHAPTER XVII A RETURN IN DISGRACE

CHAPTER XVIII PUBLIC SYMPATHY

CHAPTER XIX THE LAST VOYAGE

CHAPTER XX THE COURAGE OF DIEGO MENDEZ

CHAPTER XXI "INTO PORT"

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

CHAPTER I

COLUMBUS BEFRIENDED BY ROYALTY

Spain, as every one knows, was the country behind the discovery ofAmerica. Few people know, however, what an important part the beautifulcity of Granada played in that famous event. It was in October, 1492, that Columbus first set foot on the New World and claimed it for Spain. In January of that same year another territory had been added to thatsame crown; for the brave soldier-sovereigns, Ferdinand and Isabella, had conquered the Moorish kingdom of Granada in the south and made itpart of their own country. 

Nearly eight hundred years before, the dark-skinned Moors had come overfrom Africa and invaded the European peninsula which lies closest to theStraits of Gibraltar, and the people of that peninsula had been battlingfiercely ever since to drive them back to where they came from. True, the Moor had brought Arabian art and learning with him, but he hadbrought also the Mohammedan religion, and _that_ was intolerablenot only to the Spaniards but to all Europeans. No Christian countrycould brook the thought of this Asiatic creed flourishing on her soil, so Spain soon set to work to get rid of it. 

This war between the two religions began in the north near the Bay ofBiscay whither the Christians were finally pushed by the invaders. Eachcentury saw the Moors driven a little farther south toward theMediterranean, until Granada, where the lovely Sierra Nevadas rise, wasthe last stronghold left them. Small wonder, then, that when Granada wasfinally taken the Spanish nation was supremely happy. Small wonder thatthey held a magnificent fete in their newly-won city in the "SnowyMountains. " The vanquished Moorish king rode down from his mountaincitadel and handed its keys to Ferdinand and Isabella. Bells pealed, banners waved, and the people cheered wildly as their victorioussovereigns rode by. 

And yet, so we are told by a writer who was present, in the midst of allthis rejoicing one man stood aside, sad and solitary. While all theothers felt that their uttermost desire had been granted in acquiringthe Moorish kingdom, _he_ knew that he could present them with afar greater territory than Granada if only they would give him thechance. What were these olive and orange groves beside the tropicfertility of the shores he longed to reach, and which he would havereached long ere this, he told himself regretfully, if only they hadhelped him! What was the Christianizing of the few Moors who remained inSpain compared with the Christianizing of all the undiscovered heathenacross the Atlantic!

And so on that eventful January 2, 1492, when a whole city was deliriouswith joy, "There was crying in Granada when the sun was going down, Some calling on the Trinity-- some calling on Mahoun. Here passed away the Koran--there in the Cross was borne-- And here was heard the Christian bell-- and there the Moorish horn. "

On that great day of jubilee one man, a stranger, but as devout aChristian as any of the conquerors, stood apart downcast, melancholy, saddened by years of fruitless waiting for a few ships. That man wasChristopher Columbus. 

When you know that Columbus was present by special invitation, that afriend of the queen's had secured him the promise of an interview withfull consideration of his plans just as soon as the city surrendered, you may think he should have looked happy and hopeful with the rest; butthe fact was, that for nearly seven years the monarchs had been holdingout promises, only to put him off, until his faith in princes haddwindled to almost nothing. 

But, as it happened, they really meant it this time. Moreover, it isonly fair to Ferdinand and Isabella to believe that they had alwaysmeant it, but they had been so preoccupied with the enormous task ofwelding poor Spain, long harassed by misrule and war, into a prosperousnation, that they had neither time nor money for outside ventures. Certain it is that when Granada was really conquered and they had theirfirst respite from worry, the man who was known at court as the "madGenoese" was summoned to expound his plan of sailing far out into thewest where he was certain of finding new lands. 

Where this meeting took place is not known positively, but probably itwas in the palace called the Alhambra, a marvelous monument of Arabianart which may be visited to-day. Columbus stood long in the exquisiteaudience chamber, pleading and arguing fervently; then he came outdejected, mounted his mule, and rode wearily away from Spain's new city;for Spain, after listening attentively to his proposals, had mostemphatically refused to aid him. It was surely a sorry reward, you willsay, for his six years' waiting. And yet the man's courage was notcrushed; he started off for France, to try his luck with the Frenchking. 

This is what had happened at the Spanish court. The great navigatortalked clearly and convincingly about the earth being round instead offlat as most people still supposed; and how, since Europe, Asia, andAfrica covered about six sevenths of the globe's surface, and theAtlantic Ocean the remaining seventh (here he quoted the prophetEsdras), [Footnote: "Upon the third day thou didst command that thewaters should be gathered in the seventh part of the earth. Six partshast thou dried up and kept them to the intent that of these some beingplanted of God and tilled might serve thee. . . . Upon the fifth day thousaidst unto the seventh part where the waters were gathered that itshould bring forth living creatures, fowls and fishes, and so it came topass. " Apocrypha, 2 Esdras vi. 42, 47. ] any one by sailing due west mustsurely come to land. So clear was his own vision of this land that healmost saw it as he spoke; and his eloquence made his hearers almost seeit too. One after another they nodded their approval, and approval hadnever before been won when he addressed a Spanish audience. But whenArchbishop Talavera, who was spokesman for King Ferdinand, asked thewould-be discoverer what reward he expected in case his voyage wassuccessful, the answer was so unexpected that nearly every man in theroom was indignant. 

This answer is worth looking into carefully if one is to understand whythe Spanish nobility thought that Columbus drove a hard bargain. Hedemanded of their Highnesses, _First_: That he should be made Admiral over all seas andterritories he might discover, the office to continue for life and todescend to his heirs forever, with all its dignities and salaries. 

_Second_: That he should be made Viceroy and Governor-General ofall new territories, and should name the officers under him. 

_Third_: That he should have one tenth part of all merchandise, pearls, precious stones, gold, silver, or spices acquired by trade, discovery, or any other method. 

_Fourth_: That if any controversy or lawsuit should arise over suchgoods, he or his officer should be the only judge in the matter. 

_Fifth_: That in fitting out all expeditions for trade or discoveryhe should be allowed to furnish one eighth of the cost and receive oneeighth of the profit. 

On these conditions and no others would Christopher Columbus undertakehis perilous journey into unknown seas; and the grandees of Spain walkedindignantly away from him. 

"Lord High Admiral!" murmured one. "An office second only to royalty!This foreigner demands promotion over us who have been fighting anddraining our veins and our purses for Spain this many a year!""Governor-General with power to select his own deputies!" murmuredanother. "Why, he would be monarch absolute! What proof has he evergiven that he knows how to govern!" "One tenth of all goods acquired bytrade _or any other method_, " protested still another. "What othermethod has he in mind?--robbery, piracy, murder, forsooth? And then, when complaints of his 'other method' are made, he alone is to judge thecase! A sorry state of justice, indeed!"

Now, when you see this from the Spaniards' point of view, can you notunderstand their indignation? Yet Columbus, too, had cause forindignation. True, these soldiers of Spain had risked much, but on land, and aided by powerful troops. _He_ was offering to go with a fewmen on a small ship across a vast unexplored sea; and that seemed to hima far greater undertaking than a campaign against the Moors. Hisposition was much like that of the modern inventor who resents havingthe greater part of the profits of his invention given to those whopromote it. Columbus's friends, the few men who had encouraged him andbelieved in him ever since he came to Spain, begged him to accept less, but he was inflexible. He was prepared to make the biggest journey manhad ever dreamed of, and not one iota less would he take for it. But nosuch rewards would Talavera promise, and thus ended the interview forwhich Columbus had waited nearly seven years!

And so he rode away from the lovely Moorish city, weary and dejected, yet hoping for better treatment when he should lay his plans before theFrench king. His ride took him across the fertile Vega (plain) ofGranada and into a narrow mountain pass where the bleak Elvira Rangetowers three thousand feet above the road. But smiling plain andfrowning mountain were alike to the brooding traveler. He noticedneither; nor, when he started across the ancient stone bridge of Pinos, did he notice that horsemen were galloping after him. They were QueenIsabella's messengers sent to bid the bold navigator return. Theyovertook him in the middle of the bridge, and then and there his trip toFrance ended. 

The queen, they told him, would accept his terms unconditionally. AndIsabella kept her word. The next time Christopher Columbus rode forthfrom Granada it was not with bowed head and heavy heart, but with hiswhole soul rejoicing. We may be sure that he turned back for a lastaffectionate look at the lovely mountain city; for it had given him whathistorians now call "the most important paper that ever sovereign putpen to, "--a royal order for the long-desired ships and men with which todiscover "lands in the west. "

CHAPTER II

THE YOUTH OF COLUMBUS

Having seen how that great event in Spanish history, the fall ofGranada, set the date for the discovery of America, let us see how itwas that a humble Italian sailor came to be present among all thosenoble Spanish soldiers and statesmen. Let us see why he had brought toSpain the idea of a round world, when most Spaniards still believed in aflat one; and why his round world was perfectly safe to travel over, even to its farthest point, while their flat one was edged with monstersso terrible that no man had ever sought their evil acquaintance. 

[Illustration: From "The Story of Columbus" by Elizabeth L. Seelys, courtesy of D. Appleton and Company. THE GENOA HOME]

The amount of really reliable information which we possess concerningthe childhood of Christopher Columbus could be written in a few lines. We do not know accurately the date of his birth, though it was probably1451. Sixteen Italian cities have claimed him as a native; and of theseGenoa in northern Italy offers the best proofs. Papers still existshowing that his father owned a little house there. Men who have studiedthe life of Columbus, and who have written much about him, say that hewas born in the province, not the city, of Genoa; but Columbus himselfsays in his diary that he was a native of Genoa city; and present-dayGenoese have even identified the very street where he was born and wherehe played as a child--the Vico Dritto di Ponticello. In the wall of thehouse in which he is believed to have lived is placed an iron tabletcontaining an inscription in Latin. It tells us that "no house is moreto be honored than this, in which Christopher Columbus spent his boyhoodand his early youth. "

More important than the exact spot of his birth would be a knowledge ofthe sort of childhood he passed and of the forces that molded hischaracter. To learn this we must look into the condition ofcivilization, and particularly of Italian civilization, in the middlesixteenth century. 

Columbus was born in a brilliant period known now as the Renaissance--aFrench word meaning re-birth--which marks the beginning of modernhistory. It followed a long, painful period known to us as the DarkAges, or Middle Ages, namely, the period between ancient and moderntimes. In the Middle Ages humanity was very ignorant, hampered by allsorts of evil superstitions; while the daily life of the people wasmiserable and without comforts, lacking many things which we considernecessities. Yet even in those far-away days things were improving, because man has always felt the desire to make his lot better; and theconstant effort of these people of the Middle Ages led to that beautifulawakening which we call the Renaissance. 

One of the first glimmers of this new life may be said to have come fromthe Crusades. The Europeans who had journeyed down into Asia to drivethe Mohammedans, or Saracens, out of the Holy Land, came back impressedwith the fact that these infidel Asiatics had more refinement andcourtesy than Christian Europe knew. The returning Crusaders introducedsome of this refinement into their own countries, and it caused peopleto abandon some of their rude ways. Of course there were many moreinfluences working toward the great awakening, principally the growth ofcommerce. All Europe became alive with the desire for progress; many newthings were invented, many old ones perfected; and before theRenaissance ended it had given us some wonderful discoveries andachievements--paper and printing; the mariner's compass; anunderstanding of the solar system; oil painting, music, and literature;and lastly, the New World. 

Why, then, if it brought all these arts and inventions and discoveries, do we not call it the birth, instead of the _re_-birth? Becausemany of the beautiful elements of the Renaissance, such as art, science, and poetry, enjoyment of life, freedom to investigate and study nature--all these had existed in the days of ancient Greece and Rome; but afterthe fall of Roman civilization it took the barbarian peoples of otherportions of Europe a long, long time to grow civilized, and to establishsome sort of order out of their jumbled affairs; and while they wereslowly learning lessons of government and nationality, the culture ofthe antique world was lost sight of. When it was found again, when youngmen wished to learn Latin and Greek so that they could read the long-neglected books and poetry of the ancients, human life was made muchricher and happier. 

This desire came first to the people of Italy. It was very natural, forancient Rome, where great learning had last flourished, was in Italy;furthermore, the Italian peninsula, jutting out into the much-navigatedMediterranean, was full of seaports, to which came vessels with themerchandise, the language, and the legends of other countries; and whenwe learn of other countries, we broaden our ideas. 

Add to Italy's favorable geographical position the fact that her peoplewere unusually quick of intellect, and were gifted with greatimagination, and you will see how natural it was that the Renaissanceshould have started there. Also, you will see why the great discovererwas a very natural product of Italy and its Renaissance. 

 * * * * *

Genoa, like other large Italian cities, was teeming with this new spiritof investigation and adventure when Cristoforo Colombo (in his nativeland his name was pronounced Cristof'oro Colom'bo) was born there orfirst came there to live. Long before, Genoa had taken an active part inthe Crusades, and every Genoese child knew its story. It had carried onvictorious wars with other Italian seaports. It had an enormouscommerce. It had grown rich, it was so full of marble palaces andchurches, and it had such a glorious history, that its own people lovedto call it _Genova la Superba_ (Superb Genoa). 

Although Cristoforo's family were humble people of little or noeducation, the lad must have had, or made, many opportunities foracquiring knowledge. Probably he _made_ them; for, as a boy inthose days generally followed his father's trade, Cristoforo must havespent a good deal of time in "combing" wool; that is, in making thetangled raw wool ready for weaving. Perhaps he was sent to school, theschool supported by the "Weavers' Guild. " But between working at homeand going to school, he evidently made many little trips down to thebusy wharves. 

Was there ever any spot more fascinating than the wharves in olden days--in that far-off time when there were no books to read, and when a boy'sonly chance of hearing about other countries was to go and talk to thecrew of each vessel that came into port? The men to whom our lad talkedhad sailed the whole length and breadth of the biggest body of exploredwater, the Mediterranean. Some had gone farther east, into the BlackSea; and still others--bravest of all--had passed beyond the Straits ofGibraltar and out on to the great unknown ocean. It was to these last, we may be sure, that the adventurous boy listened most eagerly. 

Those hardy sailors were the best possible professors for a boy whointended to follow the sea. They were, doubtless, practical men whonever talked much about the sea-monsters and other nonsense that manylandsmen believed in; nor did they talk of the world being flat, with ajumping-off place where the sun set. That belief was probably cherishedby men of book-learning only, who lived in convents and who never riskedtheir lives on the waves. Good men these monks were, and we are gratefulto them for keeping alive a little spark of learning during those long, rude Middle Ages; but their ideas about the universe were not to becompared in accuracy with the ideas of the practical mariners to whomyoung Cristoforo talked on the gay, lively wharves of _Genova laSuperba_. 

Many years after Columbus's death, his son Fernando wrote that hisfather had studied geography (which was then called _cosmogony_) atthe University of Pavia. Columbus himself never referred to Pavia nor toany other school; nor was it likely that poor parents could afford tosend the eldest of five children to spend a year at a far-offuniversity. Certain it is that he never went there after his seafaringlife began, for from then on his doings are quite clearly known; so wemust admit that while he may have had some teaching in childhood, whatlittle knowledge he possessed of geography and science were self-taughtin later years. The belief in a sphere-world was already very ancient, but people who accepted it were generally pronounced either mad orwicked. Long before, in the Greek and Roman days, certain teachers hadbelieved it without being called mad or wicked. As far back as thefourth century B. C. A philosopher named Pythagoras had written that theworld was round. Later Plato, and next Aristotle, two very learnedGreeks, did the same; and still later, the Romans taught it. But Greeceand Rome fell; and during the Dark Ages, when the Greek and Roman ideaswere lost sight of, most people took it for granted that the world wasflat. After many centuries the "sphere" idea was resurrected and talkedabout by a few landsmen, and believed in by many practical seamen; andit is quite possible that the young Cristoforo had learned of the theoryof a sphere-world from Genoese navigators even before he went to sea. Wherever the idea originated is insignificant compared with the factthat, of all the men who held the same belief, Columbus alone had thesuperb courage to sail forth and prove it true. 

Columbus, writing bits of autobiography later, says that he took to thesea at fourteen. If true, he did not remain a seafarer constantly, forin 1472-73 he was again helping his father in the weaving or wool-combing business in Genoa. Until he started on his famous voyage, Columbus never kept a journal, and in his journal we find very littleabout those early days in Genoa. While mentioning in this journal a tripmade when he was fourteen, Columbus neglects to state that he did notdefinitely give up his father's trade to become a sailor until 1475. Meanwhile he had worked as clerk in a Genoese bookshop. We know he musthave turned this last opportunity to good account. Printing was still avery young art, but a few books had already found their way to Genoa, and the young clerk must have pored over them eagerly and tried todecipher the Latin in which they were printed. 

At any rate, it is certain that in 1474 or 1475 Cristoforo hired out asan ordinary sailor on a Mediterranean ship going to Chios, an islandeast of Greece. In 1476 we find him among the sailors on some galleysbound for England and attacked by pirates off the Portuguese Cape St. Vincent. 

About Columbus's connection with these pirates much romance has beenwritten, --so much, indeed, that the simple truth appears tame bycomparison. One of these two pirates was named Colombo, a name commonenough in Italy and France. Both pirates were of noble birth, but verydesperate characters, who terrorized the whole Mediterranean, and evenpreyed on ships along the Atlantic coast. Columbus's son, Fernando, inwriting about his father, foolishly pretended that the discoverer andthe noble-born corsairs were of the same family; but the truth is, oneof the corsairs was French and the other Greek; they were not Italiansat all. Fernando further says that his father was sailing under themwhen the battle off Cape St. Vincent was fought; that when the vesselscaught fire, his father clung to a piece of wreckage and was washedashore. Thus does Fernando explain the advent of Columbus into Portugal. But all this took place years before Fernando was born. 

What really appears to have happened is that Columbus was in much morerespectable, though less aristocratic, company. It was not on the sideof the pirates that he was fighting, but on the side of the shipownerunder whom he had hired, and whose merchandise he was bound to protect, for the Genoese galleys were bound for England for trading purposes. Some of the galleys were destroyed by the lawless Colombo, but ourColombo appears to have been on one that escaped and put back intoCadiz, in southern Spain, from which it later proceeded to England, stopping first at Lisbon. This is a less picturesque version, perhaps, than Fernando's, but certainly it shows Columbus in a more favorablelight. Late the next year, 1477, or early in 1478, Cristoforo went backto Lisbon with a view to making it his home. 

Besides this battle with corsairs, Columbus had many and variedexperiences during his sea trips, not gentle experiences either. Even onthe huge, palatial steamships of to-day the details of the commonseaman's life are harsh and rough; and we may be sure that on the tiny, rudely furnished, poorly equipped sailboats of the fifteenth century itwas a thousand times harsher and rougher. Then, too, the work to be donein and around the Mediterranean was no occupation for children; itquickly turned lads into men. Carrying cargo was the least of ashipowner's business; he was more often hiring out vessels and crews towarring kings, to Portuguese who carried on a slave trade, or to fightpirates, the dread of the Mediterranean. Slaves rowed the Mediterraneangalleys, and in the bow stood a man with a long lash to whip the slavesinto subjection. With all these matters did Christopher Columbus becomeacquainted in the course of time, for they were everyday matters in themaritime life of the fifteenth century; but stern though suchexperiences were, they must have developed great personal courage inChristopher, a quality he could have none too much of if he was to leadunwilling, frightened sailors across the wide unknown sea. 

CHAPTER III

"LANDS IN THE WEST"

By moving from Genoa to Lisbon, Columbus found himself in a much betteratmosphere for developing into a discoverer. The genius of a discovererlies in the fact that he yearns for the unknown; and Portugal faced theAtlantic Ocean, that immense unexplored "Sea of Darkness" as it was thencalled. Italy, as we know, was the greater country, but it faced theMediterranean, and every nook and corner of the Mediterranean were knownand explored. 

For any man thirsting to learn more about geography and exploration, there was no more vital spot in Europe than Lisbon in the fifteenthcentury. Why it was so is such an interesting story that it must betold. We have read how zealously the Spaniards had been striving forcenturies to drive out the Moors, whom they considered the arch enemiesof Christian Europe. Portugal, being equally near to Africa, was alsooverrun by Moors, and for ages the Portuguese had been at war with them, finally vanquishing them early in Columbus's century. A wise Portugueseprince then decided on a scheme for breaking their power utterly; andthat was to wrest from them their enormous trade with Arabia and India;for their trade made their wealth and their wealth was their power. 

This trade was known as the Indian trade, and was carried on by overlandcaravans up through Asia and Northern Africa to the Mediterraneancoasts. The goods brought into Europe by this means--gold, pearls, spices, rare woods--naturally set Europe to thinking that the landsproducing them must be the most favored part of the world, and "theIndies" stood for wealth of all kinds. No one knew precisely where "theIndies" lay; no one knew about the Indian Ocean or the shape of SouthernAfrica; "the Indies" was simply an indefinite term for the rich andmysterious regions from which the caravans came. 

The old maps of the fifteenth century show three different countries ofthis name--Far India, beyond the Ganges River; Middle India, between theGanges and the Indus; and Lesser India, including both sides of the RedSea. On the African side of the Red Sea was located the legendarykingdom of a great monarch known as Prester John. _Prester_ is ashortening of Presbyter, for this John was a Christian priest as well asa king. Ever since the twelfth century there had been stories circulatedthrough Europe about the enormously wealthy monarch who ruled over avast number of Christians "in the Indies. " At first Prester John'sdomain was supposed to be in Asia; later the legends shifted it over toAfrica, Abyssinia probably; and it was with this division of "India"that the Portuguese Prince Henry hoped to establish a trade; not, atfirst, by rounding Africa and sailing up its east coast to Abyssinia, but by merely cruising down the coast of Western Africa till Abyssinia'sAtlantic shores were reached; for so vague was the geography of thatfar-away day that Abyssinia was supposed to stretch from Ethiopia to theAtlantic. "If, " reasoned Prince Henry, "my sailors can feel their waydown Africa till they come to Prester John's territory, not only couldour nation secure the rich trade which now goes to the Moors, but wecould form a treaty with the African Christians and ask them to come toEurope and help us should the Moors ever again advance against us. " Thisplan was approved by Pope Nicholas V. , who sanctioned Prince Henry'senterprise in the hope of "bringing the people of India, who are reputedto honor Christ, to the aid of European Christians against Saracens andother enemies. " This projected exploration of the African coast by"Henry the Navigator" was the whole foundation for the _mistakenstatements that Christopher Columbus was trying to find "a sea route toIndia_. " Prince Henry was trying to find a sea route to an AfricanIndia which he supposed lay about where Guinea lies; and as forChristopher, he never undertook to find either this African India, northe true Asiatic India; _he only promised the Spanish sovereigns thathe would find "lands in the west_. "

Having straightened out the long-lived confusion about "the short routeto India, " let us see how Prince Henry went to work. Northern orMediterranean Africa was well known to Europe, but not the Atlanticcoast. There was an ancient belief that ships could not enter tropicseas because the intensely hot sun drew up all the water and left onlythe slimy ooze of the bottom of the ocean. Cape Nun, of Morocco, was themost southerly point of Africa yet reached; and about it there was adiscouraging saying, "Who pass Cape Nun Must turn again or else be gone. "

Prince Henry, who was called the "Protector of Studies in Portugal, " didnot believe that rhyme, and determined to show how foolish and untrue itwas. His first step was to establish an observatory and a school fornavigation at Cape St. Vincent, the most westerly point of Europe andthe most southwesterly point of Portugal. To this observatory the princeinvited the most learned astronomers, geographers, and instrument-makersthen living, that they might all work together with him; and from thelittle fishing village of Sagres, close to his great observatory, hesent out sailors who, according to an old writer, "were well taught inall rules which sailors ought to know, and provided with the bestinstruments for navigation. "

These expeditions began fifty years before Columbus came to Lisbon. Mostof them sailed south; out there had always been legends of lands in thewest, so westward some of them sailed and found the Azores and theMadeira Islands. These last had been known to English navigators morethan a century before, but as England sent no people to occupy and claimthem, Portugal took possession of them. 

How the ownership of all newly-found portions of the globe came to bedetermined is worth looking into. Ever since the time of the Crusades itwas recognized as right that any European Christian ruler might seizethe land and property of any Asiatic infidel. If two or three Christianrulers united to seize Mohammedan territory and were victorious, thePope was to decide which one should own it. But the Crusades wereunsuccessful, and so the question of ownership of land outside of Europenever came up until Prince Henry sent out his discoverers. Then, inorder to make Portugal's claim very sure to whatever she might find, Pope Martin V. Issued an order that all land which might be discoveredbetween Cape Bojador (on the most southerly point of the Morocco coast)and the Indies should belong to Portugal, no matter what navigatordiscovered it. This was in 1479. Naturally, when his turn came tonavigate, Columbus would not be interested in taking the Portuguesepath, since, by papal order, he would have to turn over to Portugalwhatever he might discover. 

But to return to Prince Henry. His successes began in 1422 when aPortuguese captain pushed past the high promontory of Cape Nun and didnot "turn again" till he had gone far enough to see that the SouthernAtlantic was as full of water as the Northern. After that these bravepeople kept sailing farther and farther south, down past Guinea and themouth of the Congo, always asking for the India of Prester John; but thesavage blacks at whose coasts they touched had never heard of it. Finally Bartholomew Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope and proved thatthe African India had no Atlantic coast; and he also proved that thereexisted a southern hemisphere of great possibilities. Then the questionof reaching Asiatic India by sea loomed large in the Portuguese mind. Vasco da Gama, following Dias around the Cape of Good Hope, crossed theIndian Ocean and at last cast anchor in the dazzlingly rich city ofCalcutta, the real India. 

This last did not happen, however, till 1498, six years after Columbusdiscovered America. Long before this time the good Prince Henry haddied; and though he did not live to learn of this sea route to India, hedied knowing that the Madeiras and the Azores existed out in the opensea, while Africa stretched far south of the Equator. His devotion tonavigation had imbued his countrymen with great enthusiasm, and placedlittle Portugal at the head of European nations in maritime matters. Notonly did she discover how to sail to India, but to Siam, Java, China, and Japan as well. 

From Prince Henry's day, Lisbon became the city where all men interestedin the fascinating study of geography wished to dwell, in order thatthey might exchange ideas with navigators and get employment under theCrown. We can readily understand why Lisbon was a magnet to theambitious Christopher Columbus; and we may feel sure that had the brave, intelligent "Protector of Studies in Portugal" been still alive whenColumbus formed his plan for discovery, the intrepid discoverer wouldhave been spared those weary years of waiting. He would have foundAmerica ten years sooner, and it would have been the Portuguese, and notthe Spanish, flag that he would have carried westward to the New World. 

Our young Genoese is supposed to have sailed to Iceland and even fartherinto the Polar regions, probably after continuing that trip to Bristolwhich the pirates interrupted off Cape St. Vincent. Many writersconsider that it was in Iceland where he heard rumors of "land in thewest. " If the Iceland trip really was made, Christopher may indeed haveheard the story; for long before, Icelanders, and Norsemen also, haddiscovered America. 

These discoveries, as we now believe, took place in the far-awayeleventh century; but they made no impression on Europeans of that time, because Iceland and Scandinavia were not in touch with other Europeancountries. Civilization then had the Mediterranean for its center, andno one in Southern Europe ever heard of what the Icelanders or theNorsemen were doing. But these northern peoples did not entirely losesight of their discoveries, for they sang about them from century tocentury in quaint and beautiful ballads called sagas. It was not untilafter Columbus revealed the west to European eyes that these sagas werepublished; nevertheless, it is not improbable that, if Columbus landedin Iceland, some inhabitant who knew the story of the far westerncountry told it to him. He never refers to it in his writings, however, and one cannot help thinking that, if it really was true, he would havementioned it, at least to those whom he was trying to persuade to helphim. The only reference he ever made to the northern voyage is whenwriting his journal in 1492, where he states, "I have seen all the Levant (where the sun rises); and the Ponent (wherethe sun sets); I have seen what is called The Northern Way, and England;and I have sailed to Guinea. "

Columbus's elder brother, Bartholomew, who was a map-maker and a seriousstudent of geography, also settled in Lisbon. The two either opened abook-and-map shop, or at least they worked in one at odd times, Christopher acting as a draftsman; for, as he himself quaintly expressedit, "God had endowed me with ingenuity and manual skill in designingspheres, and inscribing upon them in the proper places cities, riversand mountains, isles and ports. " He appears to have tried to earn alittle money by commerce as well as by map-making. We have no exactrecord of this, but it is thought that he borrowed capital for tradingpurposes from rich Genoese merchants settled in Lisbon, and lost it. This we conclude because, in his will, he ordered certain sums to bepaid to these merchants, without mentioning why. That he tried to add tothe small profits of map-making by trading with sea captains is notsurprising. We can only be sorry that he did not make a handsome profitout of his ventures, enough for himself and for those who lent himcapital. 

We have mentioned that all the men who had a scientific interest innavigation tried to get to Lisbon. Among those whom Columbus may havemet there, was the great German cosmographer from Nuremburg, MartinBehaim. Martin helped to improve the old-fashioned astrolabe, aninstrument for taking the altitude of the sun; more important still, toward the end of 1492 he made the first globe, and indicated on it howone might sail west and reach Asiatic India. This is the first record ofthat idea which was later attributed to Columbus, but which Columbushimself, until his return from his first voyage of discovery, never evenmentioned. Whether he and Martin Behaim talked together about the routeto India we shall never know. Probably they did not; for whenChristopher importuned later for ships, it was only for the purpose ofdiscovering "lands in the west" and not for finding a short route toIndia. Columbus, though he knew how to draw maps and design spheres, really possessed but little scientific knowledge. Intuition, plustenacity, always did more for him than science; and so it is likely thathe talked more with sailors than with scientists. While he may haveknown the learned Behaim, certain it is that, from his earliest days inLisbon, he sought the society of men who had been out to the Azores orto Madeira; men who told him the legends, plentiful enough on theseislands, of lands still farther out toward the setting sun, that no onehad yet ventured to visit. 

CHAPTER IV

THE SOJOURN IN MADEIRA

Columbus had not been very long in Lisbon when he met, at church, a girlnamed Felipa Monez Perestrello. Felipa was of noble birth; Christopherwas not; but he was handsome--tall, fair-haired, dignified, --and full ofearnestness in his views of life. Felipa consented to marry him. 

Felipa must have been a most interesting companion for a man who lovedvoyaging, for she had been born in the Madeiras. Her father, now dead, had been appointed governor, by Prince Henry, of a little island calledPorto Santo, and Felipa and her mother (with whom the young couple wentto live) had many a tale to tell about that far outpost of the Atlantic. This is probably what set Christopher yearning for the sea; and so, about 1479, he and his wife and her mother, Senora Perestrello, allsailed off for Porto Santo. The Senora must have liked her new son-in-law's enthusiasm for the sea, for she gave him the charts andinstruments that had belonged to her husband; but as GovernorPerestrello had never been a navigator, these could not have been eithervery numerous or very helpful. 

From Porto Santo, Columbus made a voyage to Guinea and back; and afterthat he and his family went to live on the larger island of Madeira. There, according to many men who knew Columbus well, the following eventhappened. 

One day a storm-tossed little caravel, holding four sick, battered, Portuguese sailors and a Spanish pilot, all of them little more thanliving skeletons, was blown on the Madeira shore near where Christopherdwelt. Their tale was a harrowing one. They had started, they said, months before from the Canaries for the Madeiras, but had been blownfar, far, far, to the west; and then, when the wind quieted down so thatthey could try to get back, their ship became disabled and their foodgave out. Starvation and exposure had nearly finished them; four, infact, died within a day or two; but the Spanish pilot, the one who hadkept his strength long enough to steer toward Madeira, lived longer. Thekind-hearted Christopher, who was devoured with curiosity, had had thepoor fellow carried to his own home. He and Felipa did all they couldfor him, but their nursing could not restore him. The pilot, seeing thathe would never be able to make another voyage, added a last detail tothe story he first told; namely, that his ship had actually visited anew land hundreds of miles out in the Atlantic Ocean! A proof ofChristopher's own suspicions! Can you not see him, the evening after histalk with the pilot, standing at sunset on some high point of Madeira, and looking wistfully out over the western water, saying, "I _must_sail out there and find those lands. I know I can do it!" So he wentback to Lisbon to try. 

Certain it is that Columbus's absorbing interest in the unknown, mysterious west dates from his returning to Lisbon to live. Not only didhe talk earnestly with men who had interests in the Atlantic isles, hestudied all the available geographical works. Before the time came toleave for Spain he had read the wonderful "Relation" (or Narrative) ofMarco Polo; the "Imago Mundi" (Image of the World) by Cardinal d'Ailly;the "Historia Rerum" (History of Things) by Pope Pius II. ; and he hadstudied Ptolemy's "Geography. " From this small library came all thescientific knowledge, true and false, that Christopher ever had. Fromthese he built up whatever theories of the universe he may have laidbefore the sovereigns of Spain. 

Marco Polo, the Venetian, had traveled, as every one knows, across Asiato Cathay (China) in the thirteenth century and had visited the GreatKhan or Emperor. On his return he wrote the "Relation, " a mostexaggerated but fascinating account of the wealth of that remote landand of Cipango (Japan) also, which the Chinese had told him about. The"Imago Mundi" was certainly better reading for him, because lessexaggerated; whatever myths and fables it contained, it was not the sortof book to turn a young man's thoughts toward amassing wealth. Instead, its author had gathered together all that was known or seriously arguedconcerning this world. On this curious old volume Christopher pinned hisentire faith. It became his bedside companion; and his copy of it, fullof notes in his own handwriting and in that of his brother Bartholomewas well, may be seen to-day in the Columbian Library in Sevilla. 

For centuries it has been asserted by men who have written aboutColumbus that the most important event during his Lisbon days was hiscorrespondence with a learned astronomer named Paolo Toscanelli. Columbus, they argue, having formed the plan of sailing west to discovera route to the Indies (which Columbus never thought of doing at thatearly day), wrote to ask Toscanelli's advice, and the wise Florentineapproved most heartily. It appears from the astronomer's letter that henever dreamed, any more than did Columbus, that a whole continent layfar off in the unexplored western ocean. He supposed the world to bemuch smaller than it really is, with the ocean occupying only a seventhof it; and that if one sailed three or four thousand miles west, hewould surely come to the islands of Cipango (pronounced in Italian Tchi-pango), or Japan, lying off the mainland of Cathay or China. Toscanelli, like Columbus, had read all about the Far East in Marco Polo's book, andwas convinced that if the Venetian had reached it by going eastoverland, some one else might reach it by going west oversea. Accordingly he encouraged the aspiring young explorer. He told Columbus, furthermore, that he had talked with an ambassador from the Far East whocame to the court of Pope Eugenius IV. "I was often in the Ambassador'scompany, " he wrote, "and he told me of the immense rivers in hiscountry, and of two hundred cities with marble bridges upon the banks ofa single river. " Of Cipango he wrote, "This island contains such anabundance of precious stones and metals that the temples and royalpalaces are covered with plates of gold!"

The Toscanelli letter is dated 1474, and begins: "To ChristopherColumbus, Paul the Physician, health: I see thy noble and great desireto go there where grow the spices. " But the strange thing is thatColumbus never made use of it in pleading before kings, nor did he evenmention Toscanelli and the route to India. Neither in all his writingscan the name of Toscanelli be found; and it was not till afterColumbus's death (and Toscanelli's), when others began to write history, that the document was made public. Most Columbian scholars thereforedoubt its genuineness, and think it was not written by Toscanelli in1474, but by some one in Lisbon long after Columbus had actually madehis discovery. 

In any case, the pilot's story was a far more likely factor in sendingChristopher west. Nor is it to his discredit that he was willing to riskhis life on a dying sailor's wild, improbable tale, rather than on anastronomer's carefully worked out theory. Whether our navigator hadtheories or not is of little consequence compared to the fact that hehad boldness, tenacity, and the spirit of adventure. 

"The King of Portugal refused with blindness to second me in my projectsof maritime discovery. "

So Christopher declares in his Journal; but in spite of his way ofputting it, King John did not blindly refuse to listen to him. Let ussee what, according to two Portuguese historians, really happened when, on his return from Madeira about 1483, he solicited aid. 

Columbus told the monarch, who himself knew a great deal aboutnavigation, but who was not nearly as intelligent as his uncle, PrinceHenry, how the persistent rumors he had heard at Madeira concerning landin the west made him eager to undertake a western voyage of discovery;and how, if only the king would give him a fleet and some sailors, hewould lead them out until they found "lands. " The king, who was reallynot so blind as Columbus thought, did not refuse, but said he must firstsubmit the idea to his Council for Geographical Affairs. This Councilconsisted of two Jewish doctors and a bishop. The doctors were notedstudents of geography, yet they declared the scheme to be impossible, and Columbus to be a "visionary. "

That such an answer could have been made by men whose nation had been sobold on the sea for fifty years past is at first glance surprising. Butone must remember that the Portuguese had been merely feeling their wayalong Africa. They had perfect confidence in a southern route thathugged the shore. South was safe; but west beyond the Azores, wherethere was no shore to hug, was quite another matter; they felt thattheir own navigators, in finding the Azores, had reached the ultimatelimits in that direction. Their disagreement may not have been caused byfear, but by realizing that the instruments and ships of the day werenot sufficient for such hazardous undertakings. This fact Columbusrealized too, and hence his greater bravery. Besides, argued thePortuguese, would there be any profit at the end of the enterprise? Theyfelt sure that at the end of their own southern expeditions lay thosesame rich (but vague) Indies which Arab merchants reached by goingoverland southeast through Asia or south through Egypt; it was all "theIndies" to them, and their navigators were sure to come in touch withit. But who could possibly predict what would be reached far off in thevast west! Why, they wondered, was this Italian so sure of himself (forthe story of the shipwrecked pilot had not yet come to their ears); andwhy, they further wondered, should he ask such large rewards for findingislands that would probably be nothing more than rocky points in theocean, like the Azores. No, they concluded, the Italian was a"visionary, " and the Council for Geographical Affairs advised the kingaccordingly. 

Seeing that nothing was to be gained by remaining in Portugal, andhaving become involved soon after in some political trouble, Columbusdecided to leave for Spain, and offer to Ferdinand and Isabella thewestern lands which King John of Portugal had refused. 

CHAPTER V

A SEASON OF WAITING

Columbus by this time was about thirty-five. His reddish-brown hair hadturned white. He had no money; on the contrary, he was in debt. His goodwife Felipa had died, and he had to find some place where he could leavehis little son Diego while he went to court to ask for ships. Felipa hada sister married to a Spaniard and living in Huelva. With this ladyColumbus decided to leave the boy. 

They left Lisbon by ship, it is supposed; but instead of taking a shipbound direct for Huelva, Christopher picked out one bound for Palos, aport not far from Huelva; moreover, on landing, instead of conductingthe child at once to his aunt, he trudged a few miles back of Palos withhim to a lonely old convent among the sand dunes, called La Rabida(pronounced Ra'bida). About his haste to reach this spot Christopher hadnot breathed a word in the town where he had just landed; in fact, healways remained silent about it; but it appears that he went there toquestion a Portuguese monk named Marchena whom he had known in Portugal. This monk was an excellent cartographer, or map-maker, and Christopherwished to talk with him about the western lands. 

This good monk may have already heard in Portugal about the pilot. Atany rate he was much interested in his visitor, and ordered that themonks should feed the hungry little Diego while he and Diego's fatherheld council in one of the cool little cells of the convent. 

"Tarry with us a while, Senor, " said the monk, "and I will send for thelearned Doctor Fernandez of Palos, who has read much science, and forthe brave Captain Martin Alonzo Pinzon, who has made many voyages. Letus hear what they have to say about the possibility of finding thisisland which you believe to lie off in the western sea. "

So a messenger was sent back over the dusty road to Palos, and soonDoctor Garcia Fernandez, mounted on his mule, appeared at the gate of LaRabida. The monks showed him in and made him acquainted with theirvisitor. The doctor was at once impressed and saw that this was noordinary traveler. White hair surmounting a highly intelligent face, dreaming eyes, inspired voice--this combination did not come every dayto La Rabida. He knew that the foreigner would prove interesting and heproceeded to explain that his friend Martin Alonzo Pinzon could notcome, as he was at that moment away on a voyage. 

"But you must remain with us till he comes back, " declared the monkMarchena, "for no man in all Spain is more experienced in matters ofnavigation. You must tell him about this island you propose todiscover. " And Fernandez, when he heard Christopher's tale, said thesame thing. Thus it was that little Diego never got to his aunt inHuelva; for by the time Martin Alonzo had returned, the monks had grownso fond of the child, and were so impressed with the great future thatlay before his inspired father, that they offered to keep him andeducate him free of all expense. This offer Columbus was glad to accept. 

The man whose return Columbus awaited in the hospitable monastery of LaRabida belonged to the most influential family of Palos. For generationsthe Pinzons had all been sailor-merchants and had amassed considerablewealth. The head of the family still sailed the seas; and as, in Palosand in near-by Huelva, many Portuguese lived who boasted about thediscoveries their country had made, his interest had been much piqued bytheir talk. He was educated and open-minded. Moreover, he was consideredthe best navigator of all who sailed from that important maritime regionof Huelva. 

When Pinzon got back to Palos, he learned that the monks of La Rabidahad been eagerly awaiting him, in order that he might meet theirinteresting visitor. Off he hastened; and from the moment he andColumbus met, each recognized in the other a master spirit. Whether ornot Columbus and Marchena told Pinzon at that time the story of thepilot is not known; but certainly he heard it later. We only know thatthey talked of lands to be discovered in the west, and that Pinzonoffered to go on the expedition as captain in case Columbus should besuccessful in getting permission and help from the Spanish sovereigns. 

From La Rabida Columbus went to the large and important city of Sevilla, carrying letters of introduction from the monk Marchena. In Sevilla hehad an interview with the powerful Duke of Medina Sidonia who was muchinterested in his project at first, but soon gave it up. Next he met theDuke of Medina Celi, who was even more powerful, and with whom Columbusspent a year while waiting for a favorable opportunity to lay his plansbefore the court. When the proper moment came, the duke acquainted thequeen with Columbus's matter, and she in answer invited the would-beexplorer to come to Cordova. This was in January, 1486. 

It has often been stated that Columbus, while still in Lisbon, hadapplied both to Genoa and to Venice for aid. This is no longer believed, as no proofs can be found. There is, however, some reason for believingthat he sent his brother Bartholomew to England and France to urge thematter. Columbus himself nowhere gives the details of these missions, though he does say, in a letter to the Spanish monarchs, "In order toserve your Highnesses, I listened neither to England nor France, whoseprinces wrote me letters. " Another bit of evidence regarding the Frenchappeal is a letter, written after the discovery, by the Duke of MedinaCeli to Cardinal Mendoza. Cardinal Mendoza was King Ferdinand's primeminister, and the duke, having befriended Columbus soon after hisarrival from Portugal, and again some years afterward, asked a favor ofthe cardinal, saying, "You must remember that I prevented Columbus fromgoing into the service of France and held him here in Spain. "

Perhaps some scholar may some day unearth the correspondence betweenColumbus and the French king; but at present we have only the hintsgiven above, along with the fact that Columbus, when finally dismissedfrom Granada in 1492, started for France. 

In describing Columbus's suit in Spain the names of great churchmen--cardinals, bishops, priests, monks, --will frequently appear, and it willbe well to understand why his fate so often lay in their hands. Duringthe Dark Ages the only people who received any education were theclergy. Their education gave them great power over the ignorant; andeven after the dawn of the Renaissance, when other classes began todemand education, the clergy were still looked up to as possessing thebulk of the world's wisdom. 

Thus every king's counselors were mostly churchmen. If thoseecclesiastics had always tried to deserve their reputation for wisdom, it might have been a good arrangement. Unfortunately, some were narrow-minded and gave their king bad advice; happily, some were wise and goodas well as powerful, and a few of this sort in Spain helped ChristopherColumbus to make his dreams come true. 

Many writers speak bitterly of the way in which King Ferdinand and QueenIsabella temporized with Columbus. It was hard, indeed, for a manburning up with a great and glorious plan to be kept so long fromexecuting it; but a glance into Spanish affairs at the moment when theman brought his idea into Spain will show that its rulers were not soculpable after all. We have already seen how long and how vigorously thesovereigns were pushing the Moorish war; but this was not their onlyanxiety. Spain's finances, owing to the misrule of previous kings, werein a very bad way. To get money, taxes were raised; and high taxes, aswe know, always cause dissatisfaction among the people. Then, too, adeath-dealing pestilence swept over the land and claimed thousands ofvictims. 

This is only a partial account of Spain's woes at the time when the manwith the idea arrived; but it shows clearly how the king and queen mayhave been too busy and too worried to give much time or money to a"dreaming foreigner. " They gave him just enough of each to keep up hishopes and prevent him from going elsewhere. Columbus himself must haverealized that he had not come at a fortunate time, and that there wasnothing to do but to wait patiently. 

Spain in those days had no capital. Both Ferdinand and Isabella led thearmy and established themselves in whatever city was most convenient fortheir military operations. At the time they heard, through the Duke ofMedina Celi, of the Genoese navigator who had a great plan for discoveryto unfold to them, they were in the ancient city of Cordova; but, evenafter requesting that Columbus be sent to Cordova, they could not givemuch heed to him because they had to hasten to the Moorish frontier andopen their campaign against the kingdom of Granada. After a time theyreturned to Cordova, but only to start immediately for the north, whereone of their nobles had raised a rebellion. During these months, allthat Columbus could do to further his cause was to make the acquaintanceof a favorite of the king named Alonzo de Quintanilla. This gentlemanproved friendly, and invited Columbus to accompany him to the city ofSalamanca. The court was to pass the winter there, and Quintanilla hopedto secure an audience for his new friend. 

He was successful. Columbus spoke to King Ferdinand, and spokeeloquently. He himself has described his enthusiasm by saying he felt"kindled with fire from on high. " This fire, unfortunately, did notspread to his listener. The man to whom Columbus spoke was not given towarm impulses. On the contrary, he was cold and shrewd. He never decidedmatters hastily; least of all a matter that involved expenses. We do notknow exactly what answer Ferdinand made to the impassioned pleader, butwe do know that he first sought the opinions of the learned men ofSalamanca. 

Concerning these opinions there are contradictory reports, just as thereare about all of Columbus's actions in Spain. Some say that theecclesiastics (who were also professors at the renowned university inSalamanca) and a few scientific men besides met in the Convent of SanEsteban (St. Stephen) to discuss Columbus's project. To-day the monks inSan Esteban show tourists the very room in which the meeting was held;yet there is not an atom of real proof that any such meeting took placethere. We only know that an informal gathering was called, and thatwhoever the professors and churchmen were who listened to Columbus'sstory, they were mostly narrow-minded; they had no imagination. Insteadof trying to see the bigness and the wonder of his belief, they lookedat Columbus suspiciously and said that they could find no mention of a_round_ world in the Bible, and it was heresy to believe anythingthat could not be found in the Bible. Others, believing in the sphere, still could not find in Christopher's reference to the rumors current inMadeira sufficient reason for giving him ships to test the truth ofthose rumors. 

Certainly the majority looked upon him as either a heretic or a foolishdreamer, or perhaps a bold adventurer trying to get money from theirking; but happily a few believed in him, argued on his side, and becamehis steadfast friends. The most noted of these was the learned monk, Diego de Deza. He was intelligent, broad-minded, and generous; andthough he was not able to prevail upon the other professors nor upon theking, still it must have helped Columbus's cause to have such adistinguished churchman for his friend. 

In the spring of 1487 the monarchs left Salamanca without giving adefinite answer to the anxious man. They were about to begin a campaignagainst the Moors in Malaga, down on the Mediterranean coast, andthither Columbus followed them. Once, when there was a lull in thesiege, he was summoned to the royal tent. Again no definite answer wasgiven, but again he made a powerful friend. This time it was theMarchioness of Moya, the queen's dearest companion; and when, soonafter, this lady was wounded by a Moorish assassin who mistook her forthe queen, we may be sure that Isabella's affection deepened; and that, in gratitude, she listened readily when the kind-hearted marchionesspraised the Genoese navigator. 

From the surrender of Malaga until that of Granada, the last Moorishcity, Ferdinand and Isabella were ever busy, --sometimes in the southwith their armies, sometimes attending to general government affairs invarious cities of the north. All this time they were having hard work toraise war funds. It would not be strange, therefore, if they felt unableto spend money on Columbus's doubtful scheme, or if they told him thatit would be impossible further to consider his project until the Moorishwar should terminate. 

CHAPTER VI

A RAY OF HOPE

Until the Moorish war should end!

Imagine the disappointment of this man who had been trying for years toprove that lands lay far across the Atlantic, yet no one cared enoughabout his grand idea to give him a few ships! Who could tell when theMoorish war would end? And who could tell whether it would end in favorof the Spanish? Why, he must have asked himself, should he, no longeryoung, wait to see?

Accordingly, in the spring of 1488 he wrote, so he says, to the king ofPortugal asking permission to return. King John not only invited him tocome back, but promised that no one should be allowed to bring anylawsuit against him. This refers, perhaps, to the sums Columbus hadborrowed for trading purposes and had lost. About the same time came amessage from the English king, whom Bartholomew Columbus had visited. Neither letter contained any definite promise of assistance; but themere fact that other countries were interested caused Ferdinand andIsabella some anxiety. They must have considered how humiliating itwould be for them to turn away this opportunity that was knocking attheir door, and send it to rival kingdoms. They decided, war or no war, to have all the learned men of Spain come together and listen to theItalian's project. If a majority of these wise men thought the voyagemight prove profitable, then they would immediately give Columbus thenecessary ships and men. Accordingly they issued three important orders:one, bidding Columbus to appear before a learned council in Sevilla;another, commanding every town through which he might pass in reachingSevilla to give him hospitality; a third, commanding Sevilla itself togive him lodging and to treat him as if he were a government official. All this must have looked so promising, so much in earnest, thatColumbus willingly put off his return to Portugal. In spite of thenarrow-mindedness he had encountered in the learned men of Salamanca, hestarted off, full of hope, to talk to the same sort of learned men ofSevilla. But it all came to naught. For some reason now unknown themeeting was postponed; and the summer campaign starting soon after, thegovernment had other matters to consider. 

In August of that year, 1488, Columbus's younger son Fernando, whosemother was a Spanish woman, was born in Cordova, and soon after thefather appears to have returned to Lisbon. 

Here again we do not know what happened; the only proof we have that hemade the journey at all is a memorandum written by him in his copy ofthe "Imago Mundi. " It is dated Lisbon, December, 1488, and states thatBartholomew Dias had just rounded southern Africa--the Cape of GoodHope. Whether Columbus made another fruitless appeal to Portugal weshall never know. We only know that, instead of going from Lisbon toEngland, he went back to procrastinating Spain. That he came back byKing Ferdinand's summons is almost positive, for another royal decreewas issued for every city through which he passed to furnish him withboard and lodging at the king's expense. This was in May, 1489, whichmeans that another summer campaign was in progress when Columbus enteredSpain. The monarchs who took the trouble to bring him back had no timefor his project after he reached Spain. 

For almost two years, that is, till the end of 1491, the waitingnavigator again resided with the Duke of Medina Celi who still had faithin his proposed explorations. 

The duke was by far the most powerful friend Columbus had made in Spain, for he possessed and governed a large principality that was practicallyindependent of the Crown. He lived in royal splendor and held court likea king. When Spain went to war, the duke could fit out a whole army fromhis own dominions and send them forth under his own banner to fight forthe king. Columbus must have felt greatly encouraged over retaining thegood will of such a mighty personage; indeed, the duke himself was quiterich enough to give the necessary ships. 

But, somehow, he failed to do so; probably because he feared that thesovereigns might object to having a private individual steal away theglory they themselves had no time to reap. Our navigator, againdisheartened because the years were slipping away, announced to his hostthat he would start for France. At this the duke wrote to the queenpersonally, telling her what a pity it would be to let France have theprofits of such a discovery. Also, he wrote a very kind letter ofcommendation for Columbus to take to her Majesty, a letter which isstill preserved; but even with this powerful backing Columbus got nohelp, as we shall see. 

The monarchs, having conquered most of the Moorish cities, werepreparing to lay siege to the last stronghold, Granada. Columbus cravedan answer from them before the siege began. They requested BishopTalavera to immediately obtain opinions from the wisest men he couldreach, and report their verdict. The majority of wise men, it is sad torelate, again pronounced Columbus's enterprise vain and impossible; theAtlantic Ocean could not be crossed; but the minority, headed by thewise monk, Diego de Deza of Salamanca, who was now tutor to young PrinceJohn, upheld it vigorously, and told the queen that the plan wasperfectly feasible. The poor sovereigns, who were neither scientists norchurchmen, but merely hard-working soldiers and governors, did not knowwhich view to take. Again they evaded a positive answer, making the wartheir excuse; and again Columbus, indignant at their evasion, determinedto go to France. 

Right here we come to one of the most picturesque incidents in thischeckered life, --an incident that takes us again to that hot, dusty, southwestern corner where we saw him first enter Spain with the childtrudging by his side. 

Columbus appears to have decided that, before starting for France, itwould be well to remove Diego from La Rabida and place him with the babystep-brother Fernando in Cordova, so that Fernando's mother might bringup the two lads together. With this end in view, he again presentedhimself (and again afoot, for he was far too poor to ride a mule) beforethe gate of the low, white monastery near Palos. The first time he hadrung that bell it was with hope in his heart; this time he was dejected. He had no hope, so far as Spain was concerned. The good monk Marchenahad certainly done his best, but it had come to naught. There wasnothing left but to thank them all and get to France as soon aspossible. So mused Christopher sadly as he waited for the gate to open. 

But Christopher did not know that there had recently come to La Rabida anew prior or chief monk. This prior, whose name was Juan Perez(pronounced Hwan Pair'eth), possessed, fortunately, an imagination and acertain amount of influence at court. Having imagination, he loved anoccasional bit of news from the outside world. Therefore, when he hearda stranger talking to the monks in the outer courtyard, he listened. 

"That man is no ordinary beggar asking alms, " said the sympathetic priorto himself. "He seems to be a foreigner, and he is talking about theking and queen, and the conquest of Malaga; and now he is asking for ourlittle pupil Diego--why, it is the child's father!--I must go and speakto him myself!" and out he went and joined the group in the courtyard. 

And so it came about that as soon as Christopher had greeted his boy, now grown into a tall, intelligent lad of ten or eleven, he repaired tothe cell of Juan Perez and told all that had happened to him during hisvarious sojourns at court. At last (for Christopher was very wordy) hecame to his final dismissal. "They say the Atlantic cannot be crossed, "he cried desperately, "but I say it can! Aye, and I shall do it, too!"

Never had such stirring words rung out in that peaceful little cell. Theprior himself caught their electricity and became quite excited. Although the monk Marchena appears to have left the convent beforeChristopher's second coming, the prior had learned all about the Italiannavigator from the other brothers. The story had interested him greatly, for he too had studied geography; and now, as the Italian stood beforehim, declaring that he would find those western lands, the priorrealized that it would be a pity for Spain to allow the man to carry hisidea off to France. 

"Linger yet a few days with us, senor, " he urged, "that I may learn fromPinzon and Doctor Fernandez what they think of your scheme. If theystill regard it favorably, I myself will go to the queen, in yourbehalf. "

Perhaps just here the senor shook his head sadly and said, "No, no; itis not worth the trouble. The queen is interested only in the Moorishwar. Not even the great Diego de Deza, nor the Marchioness of Moya, northe Duke of Medina Celi, have been able to prevail on her. "

And perhaps just here the good prior smiled knowingly and repliedmodestly, "I once had the honor of being Queen Isabella's confessor, andhad great influence with her. If"--and here he leaned close toChristopher and whispered something--"I think I might persuade her. "

We did not catch that whispered sentence quite clearly, but we believeit to have been, "If I tell her the story of the shipwrecked pilot. " Upto this time Christopher had not referred to it in his pleadings, forfear, perhaps, that it would sound too improbable; but down in thiscorner of Spain, where all men followed the sea, the story had got about(whether through the monk Marchena, or through sailors who had been toMadeira, is uncertain) and nearly everybody believed it. So now JuanPerez appears to have persuaded Christopher to use it as a lastargument. This we may reasonably conclude, since the Rabida monk'sintercession with the queen succeeded where all previous efforts hadfailed. 

Martin Alonzo Pinzon, it turns out, is in Rome; so Christopher has towait until his return. Another delay, but he is well used to that. Meanwhile he turns it to profit by making trips to Palos, Huelva, Moguer, and other ports where he can question sailors newly returnedfrom the west. For half a dozen years he has been out of touch withmariners and their doings, and these trips must have given him deeppleasure. For this is his true place, --among men who have known therough hardships of seafaring life, and not among grandees and courtiers. He breathes in the salt air and chats with every man he meets. A pilotof Palos, Pedro de Velasco by name, tells him that he too once thoughtof going into the west, but after sailing one hundred and fifty leaguessouthwest of Fayal (one of the Azores), and seeing nothing but banks ofseaweed, he turned north and then northwest, only to again turn back;but he is sure, he adds, that _if only he had kept on_ he wouldhave found land. 

Christopher, also, as we know, is quite sure of it, and says so. Anotherday, in a seaport near Cadiz, he meets another pilot who tells him thathe sailed far west from the Irish coast and saw the shores of Tartary!Christopher probably has some doubts of this, so he merely shrugs hisshoulders and walks off. He is impatient for Martin Alonzo Pinzon toreturn. It is disturbing to learn that other men have been gettingnearer and nearer to _his_ land. 

At last Pinzon comes and announces, to add to Christopher's uneasiness, that he has been searching in the Pope's library, in Rome, forinformation regarding that enormously rich Asiatic island calledCipango. As they all sit in the little cell at La Rabida, talking aboutthe proposed western voyage of discovery, Pinzon cannot help throwing ina word occasionally about Cipango. He has been reading Marco Polo, andJapan, or Cipango, is very much on his mind. Perhaps on Christopher's, also, but _he_ is content to stick to his "western lands. " Aboutthis scheme the two men of Palos, Pinzon and Doctor Fernandez, are asenthusiastic as ever; Martin Alonzo Pinzon repeats his offer to sail ascaptain of one of the ships; he even goes further, for he offers toadvance money for the venture in case the Crown is unwilling or unableto provide the entire sum necessary. All this sounds very promising tothe good prior, who vows that he is willing to speak with the queen ifChristopher will give up forever his idea of going to France. It is alast ray of hope to the discouraged man, and he agrees. 

And so that very day a courier started out from the white monasteryamong the dark pine trees to find the queen at Granada, and give herFriar Juan's letter craving an interview on "an important matter. " Inthose days it took two weeks, at least, for a courier to ride from Palosto Granada and back. On the fourteenth day, we may be sure, the priorand his guest kept scanning the eastern horizon anxiously. That veryevening the man returned. He brought a royal letter granting the monk'srequest. 

"Splendid!" cried the old monk. "I shall start this very night! Find mea mule, some one. "

So everybody scurried around the neighborhood to see who would lend theprior a mule; and finally a man of Moguer said he would spare his beastawhile, though he never would have lent him to any other man than thegood prior of La Rabida! Then he ventured to hope that the prior wouldnot ride him too hard; as if any one, even an enthusiast helping todiscover America, could ride a mule "too hard"!

By midnight the mule was brought up, and off started the prior, followedby the good wishes of everybody who was in the secret. Queen Isabellareceived him the moment he arrived at her camp of Santa Fe (Holy Faith)below the walls of Granada. With intense fervor he pleaded Columbus'scause. The Marchioness of Moya--the lady who had been wounded by theMoor at Malaga in mistake for the queen--was present, and she added herpersuasions. The result was that Isabella not only commanded Columbus toappear before her, but she sent him money to buy suitable court raimentand to travel to Granada in comfort. How happy Friar Juan must have beenwhen he sent the following letter back by royal courier to the waitingguest in La Rabida:--

"All has turned out well. Far from despising your project, the queen hasadopted it from this time. My heart swims in a sea of comfort and myspirit leaps with joy in the Lord. Start at once, for the queen waitsfor you, and I more than she. Commend me to the prayers of my goodbrethren and of your little boy Diego. "

What a dear, human, lovable old gentleman was that Rabida prior! May hisspirit still "leap with joy in the Lord!"

Columbus was buoyed up again. To be sure the queen promised nothingdefinite; but she had always told him that she would give him moreattention when the war was over, and the courier declared that thingswere going very badly for the beleaguered Moorish city of Granada. Itwas the enemy's last citadel and, said he, it could not hold out muchlonger. Columbus, perhaps, took the news with moderation, for he wasused to having things go wrong; but if only for the sake of the goodbrethren, he must have tried to look happy as he put on his new garmentsand rode out of La Rabida for Granada. 

CHAPTER VII

ISABELLA DECIDES

We have now come to that famous Granada interview described in the firstchapter, --a moment so important that Columbus, when he decided to keep ajournal, opened it with this paragraph:--

"In the present year, 1492, after Your Highnesses had concluded thatwarfare in the great city of Granada where I saw the royal banners ofYour Highnesses placed by force of arms on the towers of the Alhambra, and where I beheld the Moorish King go forth from the gates of hiscity. . . . "

How Columbus arrived during the surrender we have already seen; howeverybody of importance at the Spanish court--priests, military leaders, and government officials--gathered to hear him speak; and how, for thefirst time, the majority of his listeners were won over to his unpopularideas. We know, too, how their admiration turned to distrust when hedemanded large rewards should his voyage of discovery be successful; andwe know how he was obstinate, and rode away, only to be overtaken by thequeen's messenger at Pinos bridge below the high Elvira Mountains andbrought back. And this is how Queen Isabella happened to recall him. 

Those friends who had been encouraging him for the last few years weredeeply distressed over his departure and over the bad impression he hadleft at court. They felt that their beloved country was losing awonderful opportunity of becoming the foremost power in Europe. England, France, Italy, all were greater than Spain because they had been forgingahead while Spain had been hampered by Moorish wars. Even Portugal, Spain's very small neighbor, had forged ahead by reason of her unequaledmaritime enterprise. One of these countries was sure to grow even moreimportant through giving Columbus a few ships and a few titles. Saidthis little group to each other, "No matter what the man's price, Spainwill have to pay it!"

Luis de Santangel, treasurer of King Ferdinand's realm of Aragon, determined to go and talk it over with the queen who, apparently, hadnot been present at the recent hearing of Columbus. To apply further toFerdinand would have been useless, for he had vowed he would havenothing more to do with the matter. Isabella possessed more imaginationthan her husband, and to this imagination Santangel thought he couldappeal. 

First he pointed out that Columbus's very stubbornness about rewardsmight be taken as proof that he was certain to find whatever he promisedto find; then he reminded her that the navigator was a very devout man, and that in his enterprise there was a strong religious motive; shouldhe discover new lands, not only would their heathen population beconverted to Christianity, but their commerce would make Spain sowealthy that she could undertake a new crusade and conquer the infidelswho held the Holy Sepulchre. This possibility impressed Isabellaprofoundly, for she and her husband were the stanchest defenders ofChristianity in all Europe. Now that Santangel had roused herimagination, he proceeded to make the whole matter clear by a practicalsuggestion as to ways and means. He reminded his royal listener thatColumbus had offered to raise one eighth of the expense of theexpedition (Columbus having repeated the offer made at La Rabida byPinzon); and as for the remainder, he, Santangel, would be responsiblefor it. Either he would lend it himself (he belonged to one of the richJewish families that had become Christian) or he would induce KingFerdinand to allow it to be taken from the Aragon treasury and repaidlater. (Ferdinand, apparently, was not such an unmanageable person, after all. )

Right here is where the story of Isabella pledging her jewels would comein if there were sufficient reasons for believing it, but there islittle proof of it; indeed, rather more against it. Not only didSantangel show the queen how the money could be obtained otherwise, but, as she had already pledged much of her jewelry in Valencia and Barcelonain order to aid the Moorish war, her husband's treasurer would surelyhave deterred her from parting with more. However, she was now soenthusiastic over Columbus's affair that she undoubtedly would have madesome such offer had no other means of raising the money been found. 

The queen knew that her husband disapproved of the would-be discoverer'shigh terms; she knew that all the grandees of the kingdom disapproved;she knew that the expedition might end in failure and bring downridicule on her head; and yet she rose and cried in ringing tones, "Bring the man back! I will undertake this thing for my own crown ofCastile. "

Isabella, we must remember, was queen of Castile and Leon, and Ferdinandwas king of Aragon, each still ruling his own portion, although theirmarriage had united these portions into one kingdom. Hence, thoughFerdinand had lost interest in Columbus's affair, Isabella was quitefree to aid him. It was to commemorate her personal venture that later, after they had allowed Columbus to adopt a coat of arms, some poet wroteon its reverse side the famous couplet which excluded Aragon from ashare in the discovery:--

 A Castilla y a Leon Nuevo mundo dio Colon. 

 To Castile and to Leon Columbus gave a new world. 

The great moment having come when a Spanish sovereign cried out, "Bringthe man back! The thing shall be done!" it was done. Columbus, onhearing these things from the messengers, turned his mule back toGranada. The necessary papers were drawn up to provide ships and men;also, an order creating Christopher Columbus, or Cristobal Colon as hewas called in Spain, Admiral and Viceroy, and granting all the otherdemands he had made in the event of his voyage being successful. Eventhe reluctant Ferdinand now fell in with his wife's schemes and signedthe order along with her. 

The preparing of these papers took some time. Columbus had returned toGranada in late December, 1491, and it was not until April 17 thefollowing year that "the greatest paper monarch ever put pen to" wassigned. The fact that it refers to discoveries _already made_ anddiscoveries to be made in the Ocean Sea is our strongest reason forbelieving that the pilot's story had been laid before the sovereigns. Christopher's long years of uncertainty were ended; the man's greatperseverance had won out at last; and the weary petitioner who, somemonths before, had ridden doubtingly forth from La Rabida now rode back, bursting with joy, to fall on the good prior's neck and weep out hisgratitude. 

CHAPTER VIII

OFF AT LAST!

Oddly enough, the ships Columbus was to take on his voyage were, according to royal command, to be supplied by that very seaport of Palosby which he is supposed to have entered Spain. Palos, Huelva, andMoguer, all thriving maritime cities in Columbus's day, are grouped atthe mouth of the Rio Tinto. _Tinto_ means deep-colored, like wine;and as this river flows through the richest copper region in the wholeworld, it is not surprising that its waters are reddish, nor that thecopper trade enriched the neighboring towns. How the now unimportantPalos at the mouth of the Rio Tinto came to be chosen as the seaportfrom which Columbus should embark is an amusing story. 

Some time before, its inhabitants had, through disobedience or someother offense, incurred the displeasure of their sovereigns. By way ofpunishment, the Crown ordered that Palos should fit out two caravels atits own expense and lend them to the government for a year whenever thegovernment should call for them. The royal intention was, no doubt, touse the boats against Naples and Sicily, which they hoped to conquerafter finishing the Moorish war. But when they decided finally to helpColumbus, they remembered the punishment due Palos, and called upon itto give the two caravels to "Cristobal Colon, our captain, going intocertain parts of the Ocean Sea on matters pertaining to our service. "

Thus while Ferdinand and Isabella meant to punish the little town, theyinstead conferred a great honor upon it. Little did Columbus dream, theday on which he and his boy approached it so empty-handed five yearsbefore, that he was to make it forever famous. Palos to-day is amiserably poor, humble little place; but its people, especially thePinzon family who still live there, are very proud that it was thestarting-point of the momentous voyage of discovery; and hundreds oftourists visit it who never know that the sovereigns had intendedpunishing, instead of glorifying, the port. 

In May, 1492, however, when Columbus returned from Granada, the Palosinhabitants did not see any glory at all! They saw nothing but the heavypenalty. Not only did this royal command mean that every citizen ofPalos must furnish money to buy the ships and pay the crew, it meantthat the ships and crew would never come back again from the "Sea ofDarkness"! An expedition through the well-known Mediterranean to Sicilyor Naples would have seemed like a pleasure trip compared with theterrifying one now contemplated! They were handing over the equipment toa madman! Poor little Palos was filled with misgiving, and we may besure that Columbus, as he passed through the streets, was looked upon asthe common enemy. 

The royal decree ordered Palos to have its contribution ready in tendays; meanwhile, a third caravel was to be bought; but so violently werethe people of Palos opposed to the enterprise that not a single ship-owner would sell his vessel. Another difficulty was to get a crew ofexperienced seamen. With very few exceptions, sailors were afraid to goout on the unexplored Atlantic Ocean beyond the Azores. Spanish sailorshad not had the excellent schooling of those in Portugal, where, forseventy years or more, expeditions had been going out to discover newlands and coming back safely. 

Columbus, therefore, found it difficult to induce the sea-going men ofPalos to share his enthusiasm. This difficulty of getting a crewtogether must have been foreseen at court, for the royal secretaryissued an order intended to help Columbus, but which instead hurt hiscause and proved most unwise. The curious order in question was to theeffect that all criminals who would sign for the expedition would be"privileged from arrest or further imprisonment for any offense or crimecommitted by them up to this date, and during the time they might be onthe voyage, and for two months after their return from the voyage. "

To criminals, apparently, being devoured by monsters rimming the westernAtlantic appeared a better fate than languishing in a cruel Spanishprison, for the first men who enlisted were from this class. A moreunfortunate method of recruiting a crew could hardly be imagined. Suchmen were undesirable, not only because of their lawless character, butalso because they had never before sailed on a ship; and the more thisclass rallied to the front, the more the respectable sailors of Palos, Moguer, Huelva, and other adjacent towns hung back. To go forth into theunknown was bad enough; to go there in the society of malefactors waseven worse. 

Here again Juan Perez, the good priest of La Rabida, and Pinzon, thefriendly navigator of Palos, came forward and helped. Friar Juan wentamong the population exhorting them to have faith in Columbus as_he_ had faith in him; he explained to them all that he understoodof geography, and how, according to his understanding, the Italian wassure to succeed. As we know, a priest was often the only educated man inan entire community, and was looked up to accordingly; and so Friar Juanwas able to persuade several respectable men to enter Columbus'sservice. As for Pinzon, both his moral and his practical support were sogreat that it is doubtful whether the expedition could have beenarranged without him. Long before, at the Rabida conference, he hadoffered to go as captain; now he induced his two brothers to sign also. Palos, seeing three members of its most important family ready to go, took heart. Pinzon next helped to find the three vessels needed, and putthem in order. One of these ships belonged to Juan de la Cosa, a well-known pilot, and Juan himself was prevailed upon to sail with it. (Laterthis Juan became a great explorer and made the first map of the NewWorld. ) Another and less fortunate purchase was of a vessel whose ownersregretted the sale the moment they had parted with her; so down theywent to where the calkers and painters were making her seaworthy for thevoyage, and tried to persuade them to do everything just as badly as itcould be done. One can readily see that these were hard days forChristopher Columbus. The preparations that Queen Isabella expectedwould take only ten days took ten long weeks. 

[Illustration: THE THREE CARAVELS OF COLUMBUS. ]

When finally ready, Columbus's little fleet consisted of three caravels--the _Santa Maria_, the _Pinta_, and the _Nina_(pronounced Neen'ya). A caravel was a small, roundish, stubby sort ofcraft, galley-rigged, with a double tower at the stern and a single onein the bow. It was much used in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuriesfor the herring fisheries which took men far from the coast; and whenthe Portuguese tried to find far-off India, they too used the caravelform of vessel. 

The largest vessel of the "Discovery Fleet" was only sixty-five orseventy feet long by about twenty feet in breadth, and of one hundredtons' burden; Columbus having purposely chosen small ships because theywould be better adapted for going close to shore and up rivers. Only the_Santa Maria_ was decked amidships, the others had their cabins ateither end. The cross was painted on all the sails. Columbus commandedthe _Santa Maria_, with Juan de la Cosa as pilot; Martin AlonzoPinzon took the _Pinta_, and his brother Vincente (pronounced Vin-then'tay) took the _Nina_. 

All told, one hundred men went forth on the famous voyage (although somewriters put it at one hundred and twenty) and a number of these hadnever been to sea before. Among the hundred was a notary to draw up allpapers of ownership (when it came to dividing Columbus's tenth part ofthe gold, precious stones, etc. , that should be found); a historian, tokeep an official record of all that should occur; a metallurgist, toexamine ores; and an orientalist, learned in foreign tongues, who wouldinterpret what the western peoples might say to the newcomers whoclaimed the heathen lands for Spain. Besides these, there were two otherlearned men--a physician and a surgeon. Columbus himself was to act asmap-maker and chart-maker. Strange to say, there is no record of apriest accompanying the expedition. 

The great seriousness of the undertaking was felt more and more in Palosas work on the little caravels progressed. People spoke of it in awedtones and shook their heads dismally. Every day during the last week ortwo all the crew went religiously and faithfully to church. Columbus, being a religious man, no doubt approved of this; yet it surely wouldhave sent him forth in better spirits if his crew had looked upon hisventure more light-heartedly, and less as if they were foredoomed todestruction. 

Now that we know the sort of men and ships that were to take part inthis mighty enterprise, let us see the sort of charts and maps andinstruments our navigator carried along; for until one understands thesesomewhat, one cannot realize the bravery it took to set out across theAtlantic in 1492. First, as to maps. Now that this world of ours hasbeen so thoroughly explored that every bit of land and water is namedand accurately noted, it is difficult for us to understand how theinaccurate, incomplete, fifteenth-century map could have been of any usewhatever to an explorer. But we must always remember that our Genoesehad a rich imagination. Our maps leave nothing to the imagination, either of the man who makes them or of us who look at them. Fifteenth-century maps, on the contrary, were a positive feast for the fifteenth-century imagination! Their wild beasts and queer legends fascinated aswell as terrified. Their three distinct Indies, two in Asia and one inAfrica, offered every sailor who was intrepid enough a chance to reachthat region of wealth. The latest and most accurate map, marking thePortuguese discoveries, would really have been helpful to any one whohad not the "Go West" idea so firmly fixed in his mind; but in that onedirection it marked no routes farther than the Madeiras and the Azores. All beyond these islands was wholly imagination. 

It was the same with the sea-charts; no soundings or currents weremarked. As to instruments, there were the lodestone and the compass, which had been known and used for several centuries; and the astrolabe, a recent improvement on the primitive quadrant for taking the altitudeof the sun. The hourglass was the time measurer. In short, in thatwonderful fifteenth century, when the surface of the world was doubled, there was nothing scientific about navigation. 

Beyond these slight aids, Christopher Columbus had to rely on animperfect knowledge of astronomy and on those practical observations ofwind and weather and water that he had made during his own voyages. Suchslender equipment, plus the tub-like little caravels, would not haveinvited many men to try unknown waters, unless such men hadChristopher's blessed gifts of imagination and persistency. 

At last the solemn hour has come to those quaking Palos souls. It isearly dawn of August 3, and a Friday at that! The _Santa Maria_ andthe _Pinta_ and the _Nina_ are moored out in the copper-colored river, ready to go with the tide. Last night the last sack offlour and the last barrel of wine came aboard; likewise, the laststraggler of the crew, for they must be ready for the early tide. It isstill quite dark, and on the shore all Palos appears to be running aboutwith lanterns. Friar Juan is there to wring the hands of the one-timewanderer who came to his gate, and to assure him that one of the Rabidamonks will conduct Columbus's little son Diego safely to Cordova. Columbus is rowed out to the largest ship. He gives the command andthose ashore hear the pulling up of anchors, the hoisting of sails, andthe cutting of moorings. Then the flags are raised--the Admiral's with agreat cross in the center--and down the murky Tinto go the three littlecaravels with their unwilling, frightened, human freight. Those on shoreturn tearfully into church to pray; and those aboard watch the dimoutline of Palos fade away; by and by they notice that the reddish Tintohas become the blue ocean sparkling in the early sunshine; but nosparkle enters their timid souls. They can only keep looking longinglybackward till the last tawny rocks of Spain and Portugal are leftbehind, and then there is nothing to do but sigh and mutter a dismalprayer. But Christopher's prayer is one of thankfulness. 

CHAPTER IX

"LAND! LAND!"

On the fourth day out from Palos the _Pinta's_ rudder became loose, and unless the damage could be speedily repaired the ship would soon bea prey to current and wind. The _Pinta_ was the vessel whose ownersrepented having sold her. No wonder then that Columbus suspected therascals of having bribed the crew to tamper with the rudder, in the hopeof forcing their ship to put back into Palos. But he would not put back, he declared. Martin Pinzon was commanding the _Pinta_, and Martinknew what to do with perverse rudders and perverse men. He immediatelyset to work to have the damage repaired. The ship's carpenter must havedone his work very badly, however, for the following day the rudder wasagain disabled. Still Columbus would not turn back and risk the chanceof all his crew deserting him. Instead, he continued sailing southwestto the Canaries--the point from which the shipwrecked pilot was supposedto have started on his unexpected trip across the Atlantic. Thesebeautiful islands, from which the imposing peak of Teneriffe rises, hadbeen known to the ancients as "The Fortunate Isles"; Spain now ownedthem and had colonized them, and after the great discovery they became aregular stopping-place for western-bound vessels. 

When Columbus came to repair the rudder, he found the entire ship to bein even worse order than he had supposed. She was full of leaks, and herpoor sails were not of the right shape to respond to heavy oceanbreezes. He would have given her up altogether could he have foundanother boat to take her place; but the sparsely settled Canaries of1492 were not the much-visited winter resort that they are to-day; nobig ships were then in the harbors; and so there was nothing to do butpatch up the _Pinta_ and change the shape of her sails. 

While this was being done, Columbus's waiting crew became acquaintedwith the Spanish colonists, and with very good results; for theseislanders had a curious delusion to the effect that every year, at acertain season, they _saw_ land far off to the west. Men were verycredulous in those days. It is probable that their "land" was nothingmore than clouds which, owing to certain winds of that particularregion, lie low on the horizon for a long time; but the people of theCanaries, and of the Madeiras too, all firmly believed they saw Antillaand the other "western lands" of legend; and Columbus, nodding his headwisely, told how the king of Portugal had shown him some reeds, as largeas those of India, that had been washed up on the western shore of theAzores. "We shall find land seven hundred and fifty leagues from here, "he repeated over and over, for that was the distance the pilot said hehad gone. So sure was Columbus that, on leaving the islands, he handedeach pilot sealed instructions to cease navigating during the nightafter they had gone seven hundred leagues. 

The tales and delusions that flourished in the Canaries put heart intothe crew, so when the little squadron again set forth on September 6 themen were less hostile to the expedition. 

Some excitement was given to this fresh start by a rumor, brought fromone of the islands, that Portuguese ships were seeking the Spanishfleet, in order to punish Columbus for having sailed in the service ofSpain instead of Portugal. As the pursuers never were seen by theSpanish ships, that story, too, may have been some islander's delusion;but it made the crew believe that Columbus's undertaking must lookpromising to the great navigating Portuguese nation, or they would notbe jealous of Spain's enterprise. 

More than a month had now passed since Columbus had left Palos, and onlya hundred miles out from the African coast were accomplished! Was ever aman subjected to more delays than our patient discoverer! And now, whenat last he was ready to start due west, a strong head sea prevailed fortwo days and would not let them push forward. So that it was actuallynot until September 8 that the voyage toward the "western lands" may besaid to have begun. 

We have mentioned that Columbus kept a diary on this voyage. He was, infact, a prodigious writer, having left behind him when he died a vastquantity of memoirs, letters, and even good verse; and besides these, maps and charts in great numbers. No matter how trying the day had been, with fractious crews and boisterous ocean, no matter how little sleepthe anxious commander had had the night before, no matter how much theill-smelling swinging lamp in his cabin rocked about, he never failed towrite in his journal. 

This precious manuscript was long in the possession of Columbus's friendBartolome de las Casas, who borrowed it because he was writing a historyof Columbus and wished to get all the information, possible in thenavigator's own words. 

Las Casas was a monk who spent his life in befriending the Indians. Whenquite old, he ceased journeying to the New World and stayed at homewriting history. He copied a great deal of Columbus's diary word forword, and what he did not actually copy he put into other words. In thisway, although the original log of the _Santa Maria_ no longerexists, its contents have been saved for us, and we know the dailyhappenings on that first trip across the Atlantic. 

Nearly every day some little phenomenon was observed which kept up thespirits of the crew. On September 13 one of them saw a bright-coloredbird, and the sight encouraged everybody; for instead of thinking thatit had flown unusually far out from its African home, they thought itbelonged to the new land they were soon to see. Three days later theysaw large patches of seaweed and judged they would soon see at least atiny island. On the 18th the mended _Pinta_, which had run ahead ofthe other two boats, reported that a large flock of birds had flownpast; next day two pelicans hovered around, and all the sailors declaredthat a pelican never flew more than sixty or seventy miles from home. OnSeptember 21 a whale was seen--"an indication of land, " wrote thecommander, "as whales always keep near the coast. " The next day therewas a strong head wind, and though it kept them back from the promisedland, Columbus was glad it blew. "This head wind was very necessary forme, " he wrote, "because the crew dreaded that they might never meet inthese seas with a fair wind to drive them back to Spain. "

Soon they were passing through the Sargasso Sea (named from thePortuguese word meaning "floating seaweed"). Its thick masses ofdrifting vegetation reassured them, for the silly legend that it couldsurround and embed a ship had not then found believers. Many years afterit was discovered that several undercurrents met there and died down, leaving all their seaweed to linger on the calm, currentless surface. But back in 1492 the thicker the seaweed, the surer were those sailorsthat it indicated land. 

Birds and seaweed, seaweed and birds, for over two weeks. Then onSeptember 25 the monotony was broken. Captain Martin Pinzon called outfrom the _Pinta_ that he saw land. Columbus says that when he heardthis shout, he fell on his knees and thanked God. Scanning the horizon, he too thought he saw land; all of the next day they sailed with everyeye fixed on a far-off line of mountains which never appeared anynearer. At last the supposed mountains literally rose and rolled away!It was nothing but low-lying clouds, such as those the Canary Islandershad mistaken for _terra firma_. 

Christopher's heart must have sunk, for they had come over seven hundredleagues, and for two days he had supposed he was gazing on the island ofhis search. 

In spite of this disappointment they kept on, for a plant floated bythat had roots which had grown in the earth; also a piece of wood thathad been rudely carved by man; and the number of birds kept increasing. One can readily see how even the most skeptical man on the expeditionshould have felt sure by this time that the man whom he used to considera mild maniac was in truth a very wise person. And perhaps the crew didfeel it; but also they felt angry at those signs that mocked them dayafter day by never coming true. They grumbled; and the more the signsincreased the more they grumbled; till finally one morning Columbus cameon deck and found that his own helmsman had turned the _SantaMaria_ eastward, and all the crew were standing by in menacingattitudes. 

The other two ships, as we have seen, were commanded by the Pinzonbrothers; and they, being natives of Palos, had secured all therespectable Palos men who were willing to enlist; but Columbus had onlythe worst element--the jail-birds and loafers from other towns. And herethey stood, saying plainly by their manner, "We are going back! What areyou going to do about it?"

We don't know exactly what he did do about it; Martin Alonzo Pinzon senthim advice to "hang a few of the rebels; and if you can't manage to hangthem, I and my brothers will row to your ship and do it. " ButChristopher appears to have handled the situation without their help, and without hanging any one; for soon the helmsman swung the _SantaMaria_ around again. On October 10 trouble broke out afresh, andColumbus makes this entry in his diary:--

"The crew, not being able to stand the length of the voyage, complainedto me, but I reanimated them. "

By October 10 the voyage had lasted some seventy days! No wonder thecrew needed to be "reanimated. " Yet, there were the birds flying out tothem, bringing their message of hope, if only the poor frightened mencould have had more faith! The Pinzons meanwhile were having lesstrouble; for when their sailors wished to turn back because nothing hadbeen found seven hundred and fifty leagues west of the Canaries, MartinAlonzo told them all the absurd tales he had read about Cipango, andpromised them, if only they went ahead, that its wealth would make theirfortune. This appears to have hushed their murmuring; but Christopherhad no such flowery promises to hold forth. 

Martin Pinzon, having observed a few days before that most of the birdsflew from the southwest rather than the exact west, suggested toColumbus that land probably lay nearer in that direction; and Columbus, to please him, changed his course. It is interesting to speculate onwhat might have happened had Pinzon not interfered, for the fleet, bycontinuing due west, would have shortly entered the Gulf Stream, andthis strong current would surely have borne them northward to a landingon the coast of the future United States. But this was not to be. OnPinzon's advice the rudders were set for the southwest, and nothinghappened for several days except that same passing of birds. On October11 a fresh green branch floated by; and Columbus, after dark had fallen, declared he saw a light moving at a distance. 

Calling two of his sailors, he pointed it out to them. One agreed thatthere was certainly a light bobbing up and down, but the other insistedthat he could see nothing. Columbus did not feel sure enough of his"light" to claim that it meant land, so he called the ships together andreminded the crews that their sovereigns had offered to the one whoshould first see the shore a pension of ten thousand maravedis (abouttwenty-five dollars) a year. In addition, he himself would give afurther reward of a silk doublet. This caused them all to keep a sharpwatch; but land it surely meant, that fitful light which Columbus saw, for that very night--or about two o'clock in the morning of October 12--Rodrigo de Triana, a sailor on the _Pinta_, shouted "_Tierra!Tierra!_" and sure enough, as the dawn grew brighter, there lay alovely little green island stretched before their sea-weary eyes!

Who can imagine the tremendous emotions of that famous October morning!Here were a hundred men who had just demonstrated that the world wasround; for by sailing west they had reached the east--if, as many wereready to believe, they had come to Martin Alonzo's Cipango! The worldreally _was_ a sphere! and at no point in rounding it had they beenin danger of falling off! Here they stood, that marvelous morning ofOctober 12, on Cipango or some other island off Asia, as they supposed, with the soles of their feet against the feet of those back in Palos, and the fact did not even make them feel dizzy. We who have always knownthat the earth is a sphere with a marvelous force in its center drawingtoward it all objects on the surface; we who have always known thatships by the thousands cross the great oceans from one continent toanother; we who have always known that the whole inhabited earth haslong since been explored, --we who were born to such an accumulation ofknowledge can never realize what was the amazement, the joy, of thatlittle handful of men who, after three lonely months on the unknownocean, at last reached unsuspected land. 

And the humble Genoese sailor man, --what were his emotions on the greatmorning that transformed him into Don Cristobal Colon, Admiral andViceroy under their Highnesses, the king and queen of Spain. Let us hopethat he did not think too much about these titles, for we ourselvesdon't think about them at all. We are only trying to grasp the joy itmust have given him to know that he had been true to his grand purpose;that he had waited and suffered for it; and that now, after declaring hecould find lands in the unknown ocean, he had found them. Quite rightwas he to put on his scarlet cloak for going ashore, for he hadconquered the terrors of the deep!

How eagerly they all clambered into the small boats and rowed toward theshore, Columbus and the Pinzon brothers and the notary in the first boatload. The new Admiral carried the royal standard, and when they leapedashore, he planted it in the ground and took possession of the islandfor Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. Then on a little hill they put up awooden cross and all knelt before it and poured out their gratitude toGod. 

CHAPTER X

NATIVES OF THE NEW LAND

Columbus christened his little coral island San Salvador. The nativescalled it Guanahani; but should you look for it on your map you may notfind it under either its native or its Spanish name, for there was noway, at that early date, of making an accurate map of the whole Bahamagroup, and the name San Salvador somehow became shifted in time toanother island. Thus was the original landfall long lost sight of, andno two writers could agree on the subject. Recently, however, the mostcareful students have decided upon the reef now called Watling's Island, to-day an English possession, as Columbus's first landing-place. 

When you see that it is but a tiny dot in the ocean, you may think it aninsignificant spot to have been the scene of the most momentous event ofthe Renaissance; you may feel inclined to scold at that well-meaningMartin Pinzon for asking to have the rudders changed in order to findhis Cipango. But it must be remembered that to have found anything atall was an unparalleled feat; and furthermore, that wee San Salvador wasnot the end of Columbus's expedition; it was merely the beginning, merely the lighting of that great torch of enterprise and investigationwhich was not to be extinguished till the whole American continent andthe whole Pacific Ocean had been explored and mapped out. Columbus thatday started an electric current through the brain of every Europeanmariner. To discover something across the Atlantic was henceforth in thevery air, and the results were tremendous. 

But to return to those happy Spanish sailors who on that October morn of1492 at last planted their feet on _terra firma_. To explore thelittle island did not take long. They found it to be full of green treesand strange luscious fruits. There were no beasts, large or small, onlygay parrots. The natives, guiltless of clothing, were gentle creatureswho supposed their strange visitors had come from Heaven and reverencedthem accordingly. As the two groups stood looking at each other for thefirst time, the natives must have been by far the more astonished. Spanish eyes were used to races other than the white; they all knew thebrownish Moor; and alas, many of them knew the black Ethiopian too; for, once the Portuguese started slave-snatching down the African coast, theSpaniards became their customers, so that by this time, 1492, there werea good many African slaves in Spain. But the Bahama natives knew of norace but their own; so what could these undreamed-of visitors be butdivine? Here is Columbus's own description of what happened when thewhite man and the red man had scraped acquaintance with each other:--

"As I saw that they were very friendly to us, and perceived that theycould be much more easily converted to our holy faith by gentle meansthan by force, I presented them with some red caps and strings of beadsto wear upon the neck, and many other trifles of small value, wherewiththey were much delighted and became greatly attached to us. Afterwardsthey came swimming to the boats, bringing parrots, balls of cottonthread, javelins, and many other things which they exchanged for glassbeads and hawks' bells, which trade was carried on with the utmost goodwill. But they seemed on the whole a very poor people. They all werecompletely naked. All whom I saw were young, not above thirty years ofage, well made and with fine shapes and faces; their hair short andcoarse like that of a horse's tail, combed towards the forehead except asmall portion which they suffer to hang down behind and never cut. Somepaint themselves with black, others with white, others with red, otherswith such colors as they can find. Some paint the face, some the wholebody. Others only the eyes, others only the nose. Weapons they havenone; nor are they acquainted with them. For I showed them swords whichthey grasped by the blades and cut themselves through ignorance. Theyhave no iron, their javelins being without it, and no thing more thansticks with fishbones or other thing at the ends. I saw some men withscars of wounds upon their bodies and inquired by signs the cause ofthese. They answered me by signs that other people came from islands inthe neighborhood and tried to make prisoners of them and they defendedthemselves. . . . . It appears to me that these people are ingenious andwould make very good servants, and I am of the opinion that they wouldreadily become Christians as they appear to have no religion. They veryquickly learn such words as are spoken to them. If it please our Lord, Iintend at my return to carry home six of them to your Highnesses thatthey may learn our language. "

In this brief entry in the Admiral's diary there is a whole volume tothose who can read between the lines, and a painful volume too, as muchhistory is. Glass beads and little tinkling bells, you see, were allready to be distributed from the caravels; a proof that Columbus had notexpected to reach the Asiatic Indies, for those Indians were known to besharp and experienced traders. How did Columbus happen to know that itwould be wise to carry rubbish along with him? Ah, that was somethingfound out when he left Porto Santo to accompany the Portugueseexpedition to Guinea; had he not seen the Portuguese commander exchangeounces of bright beads for pounds of ivory and gold?

And so he, Christopher Columbus, came prepared for similar trade in hiswestern lands; the world, we see, was hunting for bargains, trying toget much for little in the fifteenth century, just as it still is in thetwentieth! Then again, look at the Admiral's innocent remark, "I thinkthey would make excellent servants. " That is still the rule to-day; thetrained man sees in the untrained only a servant. It was perfectlynatural that the Spanish eye should instantly see that little islandconverted into a Spanish plantation with those simple, gentle creatureswho "learn easily" working it. And lastly, let us look into thissentence: "I intend taking some of them home to show your Majesties. " Itnever occurred to the Admiral to add, "if they are willing to come withme. " Indeed, it seldom occurred to any Christian of ChristopherColumbus's day that a non-Christian, and especially a savage one, hadthe same human instincts as a Christian, and that he would havepreferred staying in his own land and with his own family. Out of thathorrible but common mistake grew up the whole miserable business ofkidnapping, buying, and selling human beings. Let us not be too greatlyshocked at our fifteenth-century hero for talking so unfeelingly. Remember, it was only about fifty years ago that we saw the last ofslavery in these United States, and even then it died hard. Christopherwas, on most moral questions, merely a man of his time, a fact to bekept in mind as we read of his later voyages. 

"They answered me by signs, " wrote Columbus. In other words, thelinguist of the expedition, the man learned in Asiatic tongues, had notbeen able to make himself understood on San Salvador; and neither was hewhen they sailed on among the other islands. Clearly, these littlespecks of land in the ocean were not the large and extravagantly richisland of Japan which Martin Alonzo Pinzon had hoped to find. WhenColumbus asked these friendly people for "Cipango, " they looked blankand shook their heads; so did all the other islanders he met during histhree months' cruise among the West Indies. All of the new-found peoplewere of the same race, spoke the same language, and were equallyignorant of Cipango and Cathay and India, --lands of rich cities andtemples and marble bridges, and pearls and gold. Columbus had found only"a poor people, " with no clothes and hardly a sign of a golden ornament. True, when he "inquired by signs" where their few golden trinkets camefrom, they pointed vaguely to the south as if some richer land laythere. And so the Admiral, as we must now call him, never gave up hope. If, as Pinzon still believed, they had discovered Asiatic islands, somewhere on the mainland he must surely come upon those treasures whichthe Moors had been bringing overland by caravan for centuries past. Hecould not go for the treasure this trip; this was nothing more than asimple voyage of discovery; but he would come and find the wealth thatwould enable the Spanish monarchs to undertake a new crusade to the HolyLand. 

October ran into November and November into December, and the Admiralwas still finding islands. He had come, on October 21, to such a far-reaching coast that he agreed with Martin Pinzon that it must be themainland, or Cathay, and started eagerly to follow it west. But thenatives near the shore were timid and fled at the approach of thestrangers. No splendid cities of marble palaces, nor even any meanlittle villages of huts, were in sight; so two of the sailors were sentinland to explore and find the capital of the country. After three daysthe explorers returned and reported that all they had seen were many, many naked savages who dwelt in tiny huts of wood and straw, and who hadthe curious custom of rolling up a large dry leaf called tobago, lighting it at one end, and drawing the smoke up through their nostrils. Obviously, another "poor people" like those of San Salvador; they werenot the rich and civilized Chinese that Marco Polo had written about. Neither capital nor king had they, and their land, they told theexplorers, was surrounded by water. They called it Colba. It was, infact, the modern Cuba which Columbus had discovered. 

Instead of continuing west along Cuba's northern shore till he came tothe end of it, the Admiral preferred to turn east and see what lay inthat direction. It was one of the few times when Columbus's goodjudgment in navigation deserted him; for had he kept west he might havelearned from the natives that what we call Florida lay beyond, andFlorida was the continent; or, even if the natives had nothing tocommunicate, west would have been the logical direction for him to takeafter leaving the extremity of Cuba, had he fully shared Pinzon's beliefthat Asia lay beyond the islands. But no, without waiting to get to theextremity of Cuba, Columbus retraced his course east, as if expecting tofind there the one, definite thing which, according to his friend, LasCasas, he had come to find. 

On November 12 he writes: "A canoe came out to the ship with sixteenyoung men; five of them climbed aboard, whom I ordered to be kept so asto have them with us; I then sent ashore to one of the houses and tookseven women and three children; this I did in order that the five menmight tolerate their captivity better with company. " No doubt he treatedthe natives kindly, but one can readily understand that their familiesand friends back on the island must have felt outraged at this conducton the white man's part. 

The strange thing is that Columbus, so wise in many ways, did notunderstand it too, in spite of the miserably mean ideas which prevailedin his day regarding the heathen. But the very fact that he notes sofrankly how he captured the natives shows that neither he, nor those whowere to read his journal, had any scruples on the subject. All moralconsiderations aside, it was tactless indeed to treat the natives thusin islands where he hoped to have his own men kindly received. 

On Cuba the boats were calked and scraped, and the Admiral superintendedthe operations. He was always a busy, busy man, on land or sea. Being agreat lover of nature, he left this nautical business for a while andtraveled a few days inland; and of every native he met he asked thatsame question that he had been asking among all these lovely islands, "Is there any gold or pearls or spices?" No, that land lies west, farwest; thus Columbus understood the sign answer; but after following anative in that direction for a long time, he had to give it up, for thetime being. When he returned to the beach, Martin Pinzon showed him abig stick of cinnamon wood for which, in his absence, one of the sailorshad traded a handful of beads. 

"The native had quantities of it, " Martin assured his Admiral. 

"Then why didn't the sailor get it all?"

"Because, " and here Martin grew malicious, "you ordered that they couldtrade only a little, so that you could do most of it yourself!"

And now the native had gone, and the rueful Admiral never saw him norhis cinnamon again!

At last, sailing along Cuba, he came to its end; and from there he couldsee another island eighteen leagues off. This was what we call Haiti, orSan Domingo. The ships sailed over to Haiti, and the Admiral was sopleased with its aspect that he christened it Hispaniola, or littleHispania, which is Latin for Spain; but as Spain is called by its ownpeople Espana, Hispaniola soon became Espanola. 

CHAPTER XI

THE RETURN IN THE NINA

Espanola, or Haiti, the name we know it by, evidently corresponded toall of the Admiral's preconceived notions of what he was to find in thewestern waters. He describes it in his diary as the loveliest islandthey had yet seen; its thousands of trees "seemed to reach to Heaven. "Any one who had lived long in Spain, where trees are few and small, musthave taken great delight in the sight of a real forest, and so Columbuswrote much on the beauties of Haiti. Scratch away with your pen, goodAdmiral, and tell us about the trees, and the lovely nights that arelike May in Cordova, and the gold mine which the natives say is on theisland. Enjoy the spot while you may, for bitter days are coming whenits very name will sadden you. Could you but see into the unknown futureas clearly as you saw into the unknown west, you would hurry away fromlovely "little Spain" as fast as your rickety caravel would take you!Troubles in plenty are awaiting you!

But the skillfulest mariner cannot know what to-morrow may bring forth. How was even an "Admiral of the Ocean Seas" to know that when he went tobed on Christmas Eve, his helmsman would soon sneak from his post andhand the rudder to a little cabin-boy. The night was calm and warm, asDecember generally is in those southern waters. The Admiral had been upnight and day when cruising along the Cuban coast, and now thought hemight safely take a few hours' repose. Few hours, indeed, for soon aftermidnight he hears the cabin-boy screaming "danger!" A strong, unsuspected current has carried the tiller out of his weak hands, andthe _Santa Maria_ is scraping on a sandy bottom. Instantly theAdmiral is on deck, and the disobedient helmsman is roused from hissleep. At once Columbus sees that their only possible salvation is tolaunch the ship's boat and lay out an anchor well astern; he orders thehelmsman and another sailor--for they are all rushing on deck now--to doso. But the minute they touch water the frightened, contemptiblecreatures row quickly away and ask the _Nina_ to take them aboard. The _Santa Maria_ grates a little farther down into the sand barand swings sidewise. Columbus orders them to cut the mainmast away, hoping to steady her some, but it proves useless; the ship's seams areopening; the water is rushing in; they must abandon her to her fate. Sothey all follow that cur of a helmsman and crowd on to the _Nina_. Did ever a Christmas morning dawn more dismally?

The island of Haiti had several kings or caciques. The one who livednear the Admiral's landing place had been extremely friendly to hisstrange visitors, and when in the morning he saw their sad plight, hesent all the people of the town out in large canoes to unload the ship. He himself came down to the shore and took every precaution that thegoods should be brought safely to land and cared for. The next day, Wednesday, December 26, the diary recorded:--

"At sunrise the king visited the Admiral on board the _Nina_ andentreated him not to indulge in grief, for he would give him all he had;that he had already assigned the wrecked Spaniards on shore two largehouses, and if necessary would grant others and as many canoes as couldbe used in bringing the goods and crews to land--which in fact he hadbeen doing all the day before without the slightest trifle beingpurloined. "

Nor did his aid end here; when Columbus decided to build a fort andstorehouse out of the _Santa Maria's_ timbers, the natives helpedin that too. 

In the fort it was decided to leave about forty men "with a provision ofbread and wine for more than a year, seed for planting, the long boat ofthe ship, a calker, a carpenter, a gunner, and many other persons whohave earnestly desired to serve your Highnesses and oblige me byremaining here and searching for the gold mine. "

Columbus was, in short, planting the first settlement in the New World. As the disaster had occurred on Christmas morning, he called the town"La Navidad" (the Nativity). To govern it he left a trusty friend, Diegode Arana, whose sister was little Fernando's mother. Columbus drew up afew excellent rules for the conduct of his colonists, and made them awise address besides. Then he loaded a gun and fired it into the hull ofhis stranded ship, just "to strike terror into the natives and make themfriendly to the Spaniards left behind. " This done, he said good-by tothe colony, telling them how he hoped to find, on his return fromCastile, a ton of gold and spices collected by them in their trade withthe natives; and "in such abundance that before three years the king andqueen may undertake the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre. "

On January 4, 1493, just a year after Columbus had been dismissed fromGranada for asking to be made Admiral and Viceroy of the undiscoveredlands in the west, he turned his back on those lands now discovered andstarted home. Not, however, with three ships, for we have learned whathappened to the _Santa Maria_; not even with two ships, for we have_not_ yet learned what happened to the _Pinta_, which MartinPinzon commanded. Martin had deserted a month before the shipwreck. Yes, that good and capable navigator, who had helped so much to get theexpedition started, had struck off with his picked Palos men on adifferent course, without asking leave from his Admiral. Nor was thisall; for according to the Journal, Martin had "by his language andactions occasioned many other troubles. " Columbus professes thatPinzon's conduct mystified him. It was on November 21 that the_Pinta_ started off. Columbus could not believe his eyes, he says. Thinking that the ship must soon come back, all that night he "burned atorch, because the night was clear and there was a nice little breeze bywhich Martin could have come had he wished. " But Martin did not wish. Hestill had hopes, perhaps, of finding Cipango before returning to Spain. 

And so, on January 4, when Columbus gave the pilot orders to set therudder for home, there was left only the smallest caravel of all, the_Nina_. They kept on among the islands, frequently landing, and hadmany more adventures before they struck the open sea. Always they askedfor gold, and sometimes they learned that it could be procured byjourneying "eastward, " but more often, "west. " In one place they had anew experience--a shower of unfriendly arrows. In another island thesoil and trees so nearly corresponded to what Columbus and Pinzon hadread of Cipango that Columbus believed for a moment that he had reachedMartin's cherished goal; to be sure, there were no golden temples to beseen, but Columbus, always hopeful, was willing to believe that theselay farther inland, near the gold mines. Resolved to investigate on hisnext voyage, he made accurate notes so as to find this same beautifulharbor again. But the natives who gathered around explained, by signs, that the island was small, and that there were no palaces or bridges. While lingering here, the most remarkable thing happened; for anotherEuropean caravel led by another explorer entered! Of course it was the_Pinta_ whose captain had been trying to find either Cipango or themainland. There was nothing for Martin to do but to appear friendly andpretend that his ship had drifted away and got lost. Columbus acceptedthe excuse, and both ships started direct for home. The last of theBahamas faded from sight that same day, January 16, and the two tinycaravels were again the only moving objects on the vast, but no longerunknown, Atlantic Ocean. 

For nearly a month, that is, until February 13, the passage was calm andmonotonous; and as the _Pinta_ was in bad shape again every one wasrelieved to find the weather so quiet; but on the 13th the wind rose androse till it lashed the sea into a fury. All day the sailors laboredwith the angry waves that kept dashing over the decks; and all thatnight the two lonely little ships kept signaling to each other untilthey were swept too far apart. When day broke, the _Pinta_ wasnowhere to be seen and was sorrowfully given up for lost. But there wasno time to mourn; this day was even worse than yesterday, and theAdmiral and his sailors, after the custom of their time, made vows thatif only the Virgin would intercede with Heaven and save them, they wouldmake a pilgrimage to her shrine of Guadalupe, far north of Sevilla, orgo as penitents in procession to the first church they came to afterreaching land. 

In spite of these appeals, the danger increased every minute, and we maywell imagine the agony of the little crew. The intrepid Columbus, whohad accomplished a marvelous thing, a feat which would stagger allEurope, seemed destined to go down in mid-ocean with his greatdiscovery! Here was the _Pinta_ sunk and the _Nina_ likely tofollow her any minute! Europe would never know that land lay west of heracross the Atlantic! And all those timid, doubting men in Spain, who hadopposed the expedition from the very first, would shake their heads andsay, "Poor men, the sea monsters on the ocean's rim have gobbled themup!" It must have taken every bit of heart out of the brave Admiral tothink that Spain would never know how gloriously he had succeeded. 

Down into his dark cabin he went, and there, while the little_Nina_ staggered and pitched on the mountainous waves, he steadiedhis swinging lantern with one hand, and with the other hastily wrote ona parchment what he had done. This he tied in waterproofed cloth, placedit in a wooden cask, and threw it overboard. Then, for fear it mightnever be washed ashore, he hurriedly prepared a second cask and lashedit to the deck, hoping that the little caravel, even if he and all hismen perished, might toss about till it reached the Azores, which hejudged must be near. And sure enough, next morning land was in sight, and the sailors shouted for joy though the storm still raged. It was notuntil the 18th that the sea had subsided sufficiently for them toapproach the rocky coast. When finally they were able to cast anchor, they found they were at Santa Maria, one of the Azores group. 

The Azores, you will remember, were inhabited by Portuguese. Columbus, knowing there would surely be a church there dedicated to the Virgin, sent half the crew ashore to make the penitential procession they hadvowed; but this first boat load were promptly made prisoners by thePortuguese. What a sad reward for religious men who were trying to keepa vow! The governor of the island then ordered Columbus to come ashoreand be made prisoner also, which you may be sure he did not do. Therewas much angry arguing back and forth, for Spain and Portugal were oldenemies; but finally the Portuguese governor dropped his high-handedness, sent back the prisoners, and the poor storm-tossed little_Nina_ bravely set out again to cover the many remaining milesbetween her and Spain. 

Even after all their hardships and their sorrow over the loss of theirfriends on the _Pinta_, the unhappy mariners were not to be left inpeace. After a few days another violent storm beat against them andbuffeted them for days, while a terrific wind came and tore their sailsaway. The poor little _Nina_, bare-poled, was now driven helplessbefore the gale. And yet, marvelous to relate, she did not founder, butkept afloat, and on the morning of March 4, sailors and Admiral saw landnot far away. 

"The Madeiras!" cried some, just as they had cried before when off theAzores. 

"Spain!" cried others, more hopefully. 

"The Rock of Cintra, near Lisbon!" cried their Admiral, whose power ofgauging distances, considering his lack of instruments, was little shortof marvelous. And Cintra it was. Again chance brought him to anunfriendly coast, and gave him no choice but to run into the mouth ofthe Portuguese river Tagus for shelter. 

Like wildfire the report ran up and down the coast that a ship had justreturned across the Atlantic from the Indies (for the Spanish sailorscalled the new islands the Indies of Antilla) and of course the ship wasfull of treasure! In command of this ship was Christopher Columbus, thevery man whom King John of Portugal had refused to aid years before!Hundreds of small boats surrounded the little caravel, and the curiousPortuguese clambered aboard and asked, among their many eager questions, to be shown the treasures and "Los Indios. " The commander of aPortuguese man-of-war anchored near assumed a bullying attitude andordered Columbus to come aboard the warship and explain why he had daredto cruise among Portugal's possessions. Columbus, more tactful thanusual, replied that, being now an Admiral of Spain, it was his duty toremain on his vessel. Meanwhile, he dispatched a courier to the monarchsof Spain with the great tidings; while from the king of Portugal hebegged permission to land, and sent word, _not_ that he had, aspeople were saying, discovered an Atlantic route to the Indies, but thathe had sailed to the fabled islands of Antilla in the far Atlantic. 

In answer, the king gave permission to land at Lisbon, and invitedColumbus to court. Columbus may not have wished to go there, but a royalinvitation was a command. On entering the king's presence, the greatexplorer saw many of the noblemen who, years before, had advised theirmonarch not to aid him. Our Admiral is not to be blamed, therefore, ifhe took a deep delight in painting his new world in the rosiest colorspossible. His story made king and courtiers feel uncomfortably foolishfor not having been willing to take the risk Spain had taken. It was abitter pill for poor King John to swallow, and straightway his schemingold brain began to hatch a pretext for getting the new lands forhimself. 

"Pope Martin V. , " he reminded his visitor, "conceded to the Crown ofPortugal all lands that might be discovered between Cape Bojador and theIndies, and your new discovery therefore belongs to me rather than toSpain. "

"Quite right, " murmured his courtiers. Then, when Columbus declared hehad sailed west and not south, that Spain herself had warned him to keepclear of Portugal's possessions, and that the lands he had discoveredwere merely Atlantic islands, they all insisted that "the Indies werethe Indies, and belonged by papal authority to Portugal!"

Oh, those shifting, indiscriminate, fifteenth-century Indies whichEurope invented to explain the unknown world! What misunderstandingsresulted from the vague term! Columbus, again tactful, stopped boastingnow, and merely observed that he had never heard of this papal treaty, and that the monarchs would have to settle it between themselves. Thenhe took his departure, with every show of kindliness from the king, including a royal escort. The minute he was gone those courtly, craftyheads all got together and told the king that most likely the man wasmerely a boaster, but, lest he might have discovered territory forSpain, why not hurriedly send out a Portuguese fleet to seize the newislands ere Spain could make good her claim? Some even whisperedsomething about assassination. 

Let us hope that King John turned a deaf ear to them. At any rate, Columbus was not assassinated, perhaps because he thought it safer totrust to his battered little _Nina_ than to cross Portugal by land. Hurrying aboard, he hoisted anchor and started for Palos. 

It was on a Friday that Columbus had left Palos; it was likewise onFriday that he had left the Canaries after mending the _Pinta's_rudder; on Friday he had taken leave of the little settlement of LaNavidad away back in Haiti, and now it was on Friday, the 15th of March, that he dropped anchor in the friendly port of Palos. 

For the astounded population it was as if the dead had come to life. Every family whose relations had accompanied the expedition had giventhe sailors up for lost; and lo! here was the man who had led them totheir death, bringing a caravel into port. True, forty of the men hadbeen left across the water, and as many more perhaps were under it. Onlyone ship had come back; but it brought with it the amazing proof thatthe Atlantic could be crossed! Shops were closed, everybody went tochurch and rendered praise; bells pealed forth, and the "mad Genoese"was the greatest hero that ever lived; then, as if to give the scene ahappy ending, just before sunset of that same famous day, the_Pinta_, which had _not_ been shipwrecked off the Azores atall, also sailed into the Rio Tinto. Thus did the punishment of Palosend in her witnessing the greatest day of the fifteenth century. 

CHAPTER XII

DAYS OF TRIUMPH

Before following our happy Admiral into the presence of the king andqueen, let us remain in Palos a little moment with that other courageousnavigator, Martin Alonzo Pinzon. Poor Martin was not happy; in fact, hewas very miserable. He had slunk from his storm-battered caravel andinto his house without saying a word to any one. His wife, overjoyed atseeing him, threw her arms around him. 

"Oh, my good Martin!" she exclaimed, "we were mourning you as dead!Cristobal Colon believed that you and your _Pinta_ had gone to thebottom off the Azores!"

"I only wish I had!" groaned Martin, dejectedly. "I only wish I had!"

Perhaps you think he was repenting too deeply of that insubordinationoff the coast of Cuba, 'way back in November. No, it was not that;Martin had another matter to regret now, more's the pity; for he was agood sailor and a brave, energetic man, ready to risk his life and hismoney in the discovery. He knew that, next to Columbus, he had playedthe most important part in the discovery, and he now realized that hewas not to share the honor in what he considered the right proportion. He felt ill-used; moreover his health was shattered. 

When the two vessels became separated in the storm off the Azores, heconcluded just what the Admiral concluded--that the other ship had gonedown. He considered it a miracle that even one of those mere scraps ofwood, lashed about in a furious sea, should have stayed afloat; but bothof them, --no! two miracles could never happen in one night!

And so when he scanned the horizon next morning and saw no _Nina_, and when he kept peering all that day through the storm and the little_Nina_ never came in sight, a mean idea made its way into CaptainPinzon's brain; and it grew and grew until it became a definite, well-arranged plan. 

"The Admiral has gone down with all aboard, " he reasoned to himself. "Now, if my ship ever reaches Spain, why shouldn't I say that whenColumbus failed to find land seven hundred leagues west of the Canaries, where he expected to find it, I persuaded him to accompany me stillfarther, and led him to Cipango. "

Martin kept nursing this plan of robbing the dead Admiral of glory, until one morning he found himself off the Spanish coast just north ofthe Portuguese border. Into the little port of Bayona he put, and wrotea letter, and hired a courier to deliver it; that done, he sailed southalong Portugal for Palos, probably passing the mouth of the Tagus only afew hours after Columbus, bound for the same port, had turned out intothe Atlantic. Martin Pinzon may thank his luck that the Nina startedhome before him. Imagine his utter shame and confusion had _he_been the first to enter Palos with his perverted news!

As it was, things were bad enough. He heard the Palos bells ringing, andsaw the people thronging along the shore to look at the wonderful littleboat that had traveled in such far waters; his heart sank. The Admiralwas home, and he, Martin Pinzon, _he_ had sent from Bayona to theirMajesties a letter in which were certain false statements. No wonder hesneaked off of his ship in the dusk and wrapped his cape high around hisface and hurried to his house. No wonder he felt no happiness in seeinghis good wife again, and could only groan and groan. 

Martin went to bed--his spirits were very low, and the stormy passagehad racked his old body as well; so he lay down; and the next day hecould not get up, nor the next; and when, in due time, a royal lettercame, thanking him for the aid he had given Columbus, but reproachinghim for statements he had made which did not agree with those of theAdmiral concerning the voyage, then Martin never wanted to get up again;he had himself carried to La Rabida, where he died in a few days, thegood friars comforting him. So no more of Martin Alonzo Pinzon, whoseend was inglorious, but whose courage and enterprise were laterremembered gratefully by Spain; for Charles V. , Queen Isabella'sgrandson, made public acknowledgment of Pinzon's great services indiscovering the New World. 

And now to pleasanter things. What has the Admiral been doing since thePalos bells pealed out their joyous welcome to him? First, of course, hegreeted the good Friar Juan Perez. And next he dispatched another letterto court announcing his discovery. In fact, he sent several letters;for, as we know, he was an energetic letter-writer; one to theirMajesties, one to Luis de Santangel, King Ferdinand's treasurer, who hadurged the queen to help him, and one to another friend at court. Here isthe beginning of the Santangel letter:--

Senor:

As I know you will have pleasure in the great success which Our Lordhath given me in my voyage, I write you this by which you shall knowthat in thirty-three days I passed over to the Indies where I found verymany islands peopled with inhabitants beyond number. 

"I passed over to the Indies. " says the letter. The writer, we see, hasdecided to give his islands the vague general name that Europe appliedto all unknown, distant lands--the Indies. Christopher was always readyto take a chance. If, as he had probably begun to hope, the western pathmight ultimately lead to India, why not at once adopt that importantname?

His letters sent off to court by fast courier, the Admiral himself saidgood-by to Friar Juan and leisurely followed them. Ferdinand andIsabella, at this time, happened to be in the remotest possible pointfrom Palos, in Barcelona, the great seaport of northeastern Spain. Itwas a long, long land journey for a seaman to make, but ChristopherColumbus did not mind, for every step of it was glory and triumph. Hewho had once wandered over this same land from city to city, obscure, suspected of being either a visionary or an adventurer, had returned asa great personage, an Admiral of Spain, a Viceroy, a Governor; and, bestof all, a practical discoverer instead of a mere dreamer. Every town hepassed through acclaimed him a most wonderful man. 

Besides, he had brought them proofs of his discovery--those six strangepeople called "Indians"; these, along with an iguana and some redflamingoes, parrots, and unfamiliar plants, were exhibited in everytown, and every town gaped in wonder, and crowded close to get a view ofthe Admiral and his _Indios_, and to whisper in awed tones, "andthere is much gold, too, but he is not showing that!"

All this was very gratifying to the Admiral; but even more so was hisreception when he arrived finally at Barcelona. Here he was met at thecity gates by a brilliant company of _caballeros_, or Spanishnobility, who escorted him and his extraordinary procession through thestreets of the quaint old town. We may be sure that the authorities madethe most of what the discoverer had brought back; the Indians wereordered to decorate themselves with every kind of color and every kindof feather. The tropical plants were borne aloft, and it was rumoredthat merely to touch them would heal any sort of malady. 

Most imposing of all, there was shown a table on which was every goldenbracelet and ornament that had been collected. To be sure, these werenot numerous, but everybody hinted to everybody else that they were buta few articles out of Columbus's well-filled treasure-ship. Thediscoverer himself, richly clad, mounted on a fine horse, and surroundedby gorgeously accoutered _caballeros_, brought up the rear of thisunique procession. What shouting as he passed! and later what reverentthanksgiving! Barcelona was no insignificant little port like Palos, tobe stupefied at the wonder of it; Barcelona was one of the richest andmost prosperous seaports of Europe, and could look upon the discoveryintelligently; and precisely because she herself had learned the lessonthat trade meant wealth, she rejoiced that this wonderful new avenue ofcommerce had been opened for Spain. 

The display over, the king and queen invited Columbus to tell his story. Now had arrived the most critical moment since his return; but ourAdmiral, it is to be regretted, did not realize it, else he would havebeen more guarded in what he said. He should have told a straightforwardtale of what he had done, without one word of exaggeration; butChristopher had a fervid Italian imagination and could never resistexaggerating. So, instead of dwelling on the one stupendous, thrillingfact that he had sailed three thousand miles into the fearsome west anddiscovered new lands; instead of making them feel that he was greatbecause of what he _had_ done, and letting it go at that, thefoolish man filled his narrative with absurd promises of miracles hewould perform in the future. But none of it did seem absurd to him! Hehad persuaded himself, by this time, that west of his poor, uncivilizedislands lay richer countries; and so he did not hesitate to assure thesovereigns that he had discovered a land of enormous wealth, and that ifthey would equip another expedition, he stood ready to promise them anyquantity of gold, drugs, and cotton, as well as legions of people to beconverted to Christianity. 

Indeed, he went much further, and made a solemn vow that he, from hisown personal profits in the discovery, would furnish, within sevenyears, an army of four thousand horse and fifty thousand foot for thepurpose of reclaiming the Holy Sepulchre! Imagine a man pledging this, just because he had gathered a few gold bracelets! And yet, as he stoodthere in all the glamour of the court, with a whole nation regarding himas a wonder, he was so carried away by the situation that he probablyactually saw himself leading a triumphant crusade! As for the king andqueen, so deeply affected were they that they fell on their knees thenand there and poured forth their thanks to God. 

The good Bartolome de las Casas (the priest who devoted his life to theIndians) was present and has described this memorable interview. Columbus, he says, was very dignified and very impressive with his snow-white hair and rich garments. A modest smile flitted across his face "asif he enjoyed the state and glory in which he came. " When he approachedthe monarchs, they arose to greet him as though he were the greatesthidalgo in the land; and when he dropped on his knee to kiss theirhands, they bade him rise and seat himself in their presence. Surelythis was a great day for the humble Genoese sailor. He was _Don_Cristobal henceforth, with the right to select a noble coat of arms. Forhis sake his brothers Bartholomew and Diego (James) were to receiveappointments, and his son Diego was to be brought to court and educated. Then, after securing the welfare of these members of his family, Columbus wrote to his old father, the wool-comber in Genoa, and sent himsome money. 

All this shows his good heart toward his own people; for toward one nothis own was he guilty of an ignoble act. It was to that sailor Rodrigo, of the _Pinta_, who had been the first to sight land early on themorning of October 12. When Columbus was asked to whom the queen'spromised reward of ten thousand maravedis should go, he replied, "Tomyself. " Surely it could not have been because he wanted the money forits own sake; it did not equal twenty-five dollars, and he had alreadyreceived a goodly sum on arriving in Barcelona; it must have been thathe could not bear to share the glory with another, and so told himselfthat the light he saw bobbing up and down early that night was carriedby a human being, and the human being must have been in a canoe, nearthe island. On the strength of this argument he claimed the moneyRodrigo had expected to receive. 

CHAPTER XIII

PREPARING FOR A SECOND VOYAGE

Once the story of the first voyage had been digested, all thoughts wereturned toward preparations for the next. Indeed, while Columbus wasstill in Sevilla on his way to Barcelona he had received a letter fromthe monarchs asking him what they could do to help him accomplish asecond voyage, and he had sent them a list of his needs in the way ofmen, ships, and supplies. This the royal officers now brought out andthe sovereigns went over it carefully with their new Admiral. 

Now began the test of Don Cristobal Colon, _not_ as an intrepidmariner, but as a business man cooperating with other business men inthe colonizing, Christianizing, and commercializing of the newterritories. In this matter he was to be associated with the powerfulJuan de Fonseca. This Bishop Fonseca was very keen and efficient, butworldly, and vindictive toward those who opposed him in any way. To keephis good will needed much tact. He was not long in deciding that thegreat navigator had neither tact nor business ability; so he snubbed himaccordingly, and made his path a hard one. 

Knowing, as we do, that to-day Spain possesses not an inch of territoryin the New World she discovered and opened up, that other nations havereaped where she sowed, we are prone to conclude that it was all badmanagement on her part. But this is not entirely true. So far ascolonizing could be managed from the home country, Spain faced her newresponsibility with great energy. Immediately a sort of board of trade, or bureau of discovery, was organized, with the capable Bishop Fonsecaat its head. This was called the Casa de Contratacion and itsheadquarters were at Sevilla; for Sevilla, though fifty miles up theGuadalquivir River, is practically a seaport. Cadiz was appointed theofficial harbor for vessels plying between Spain and the Indies. Thismeant the decline of proud Barcelona, but naturally a port nearer theAtlantic had to be chosen. Customhouses were established in Cadiz, andspecial licenses were issued to intending traders. Botanists were calledupon to decide which Spanish fruits and vegetables might best betransplanted to the new islands; arrangements were made for shippinghorses (which were lacking there), also sheep and cows. 

Plans were soon drawn up for towns and cities--not mere log-cabinvillages such as the later English and Dutch colonists were contentwith--and a handsome cathedral was to be begun in Haiti, and filledwith paintings and carvings and other works of art. In fact, no materialdetail was overlooked to make the new settlements worthy of their mothercountry. Where the effort failed was in selecting the men to be sentout, not in the things sent. If only the proper individuals had beensent to Columbus's islands, all these other details might have takencare of themselves in the course of time. 

The second expedition was to be on a very large scale. It had to beassembled quickly lest other nations, learning of the discovery, or theone nation that had already learned of it, might get there first;wherefore Fonseca and Columbus were authorized to buy, at their ownprice, any boat lying in any port of Andalusia that was suitable for thelong journey; if its owner protested against the price named, they hadauthority to seize it. The same system applied to provisions and otherequipment for the voyage--these must be given at the government's price, else the government, represented by Columbus and Fonseca, would seizethem. Lastly, these two could compel any mariner to embark on the fleet, and could fix his wages, whether he wished to go or not. 

The money for this second expedition came from a source which Spain hasno reason to be proud of today, but which she had small reason to beashamed of in the sixteenth century. It was the confiscated wealth ofthe Jews who, as enemies of Christianity, had been banished from thekingdom the year before. Columbus's "one eighth of the expense, " whichby the contract of Santa Fe he was bound to supply, he had no means offurnishing, since he had not yet reached lands rich enough to yield it. 

It was at the end of May that Columbus left Barcelona, hoping soon toembark again for his "Indies. " There was indeed every reason for haste, since King John of Portugal had lost no time in presenting his claims toRome. 

We have already mentioned the important part which prelates played inthe affairs of their countries. Similarly, the Pope played an importantpart in international affairs; and that is why a Pope had made thePortuguese treaty of 1470, and why King John now sought its enforcementby the present Pope. But Ferdinand and Isabella also were hurryingmessengers to Rome. The pontiff at this time happened to be not anItalian but a Spaniard, Alexander Borgia, born a subject of Ferdinand'sown kingdom of Aragon. Ferdinand knew well how to judge this shrewdAragonese character, and what arguments were most likely to appeal toit. He told the Spanish ambassadors to say that Spain would immediatelyset to work to convert the vast new lands to Christianity; that theSpanish explorers would take great care not to intrude into Portugal'sAfrican Indies, which shows how confused geography still was ineverybody's mind; and that, whatever the Pope's decision, Spain woulddefend her discoveries from any other claimant. This being made clear, the ambassadors were to present Ferdinand and Isabella's supplicationthat a papal bull, or decree, might be issued, granting them all landsdiscovered in the past and future by their Admiral Don Cristobal Colon. Ferdinand of Spain being now a much more powerful king than John ofPortugal, the Pope granted all that Spain asked, but was careful not toadmit that Columbus had discovered the real India; for the bull refersonly to "insulae et terra firma remota et incognita" or "islands and aremote and unknown mainland. "

Meanwhile, all sorts of intrigues were going on between the twomonarchs. John had spies at Ferdinand's court to discover thenegotiations with Rome, and others to find out how Columbus'spreparations were getting along; Ferdinand also sent spies to Portugal. These reported a Portuguese plan for seizing the western lands beforeColumbus could return to them. This came to nothing, however, throughJohn's fear of the Pope; and well for Spain that John did fear the powerof Rome, for it took Columbus so long to gather his second fleet thatthere would have been ample time for the Portuguese mariners to crossthe Atlantic ahead of him. 

The very measures that had been devised to help the second departureretarded it. Shipowners and provision dealers, in spite of royal orders, fought for fair prices and would not sell; and as for assembling crewsfor the ships, the difficulty was _not_, as in the firstexpedition, in getting men to go, but in keeping them back. If onlyColumbus had not talked gold, gold, gold! If only he could haverefrained from exaggerating, and had simply stated that he had foundsome wild islands whose people had not a glimmering of civilization andwho possessed but few golden trinkets! Had he not deceived the peopleand himself, only those would have joined the expedition who had thetrue, fine, adventurous spirit; or those who, seeking a new home, wishedto settle down in new territory and develop it; but instead, men thoughtonly of the vast wealth to be easily picked up--they would not even haveto dig for it! Thus the expedition attracted mainly men of doubtfulcharacter who wanted to become rich quickly. Others offered themselveswho wanted nothing more than excitement and novelty; others had darkschemes of breaking away from all restraint, once they reached the newland, and carrying on any sort of robbery or traffic that might offerprofit; while still others were priests who thought only of convertingthe heathen. If ever men engaged upon an undertaking that requiredendurance, hard work, sound common sense, and a practical knowledge ofhow to tackle any task that might present itself, this was the occasion. Yet the men who came forward lacked exactly these indispensablequalities. 

No doubt Columbus and Fonseca picked the best of them; but themisfortune was that Columbus, who should have known what the businessahead of them required, did not know how to judge men; and the shrewdarchbishop, who _did_ know how to judge men, had no idea what theoccasion was going to demand of them; and thus they chose men for thesecond trip to the new lands who were utterly unsuitable. 

Nearly all the two thousand who applied for permission to sail werepersonally interviewed by the Admiral, which must have taken much time;besides, he was busy buying wheat and flour, hard biscuit, salt pork andfish, cheese, peas, beans, lentils, wine, oil, and vinegar, as well ashoney, almonds, and raisins for Don Cristobal's own table. It was justabout the same food that a sailing vessel would carry to-day, with theexception of tea and coffee; for Portugal had not then discovered thelands from which these two beverages were to be introduced into Europe. 

All these preparations were watched by two eager-faced boys who no doubtoften said to each other, "I hope father will think us old enough to gowith him on his next voyage!" For the Admiral had brought little Diegoand Fernando along to Sevilla and Cadiz, so that he might see them everyday before the long separation. 

Finally, on September 25, 1493, all was ready and the anchors werehoisted. How different it was from that first fearful sailing out ofPalos in 1492. This time the fleet was magnificent; seventeen vessels, all newly calked and painted; about fifteen hundred men, all happy andhopeful; and on shore, instead of a populace wringing its hands indismay, a populace cheering and making music and flying banners, andactually envying the lucky ones who were starting off to the wonderfulnew lands where they could pick up gold!

CHAPTER XIV

FINDING NEW ISLANDS

With the departure of this second expedition for the "western lands"Columbus's brief season of glory ended. Neither home-comings nordepartures would ever be the same for him again; for behind him he lefta few jealous enemies, potent to do him harm, and with him he took menof such unstable character that more enmity was sure to spring up. Theselast he held with a firm hand as long as the voyage lasted; Christophercould always control men at sea, but on land it was another matter. Eventhough _he_ might have clear notions of the difficulty of plantinga colony in new territory, how would these adventurers, and these high-born young gentlemen who had never worked, and these hundred wretchedstowaways who, after Columbus had refused to take them, had hidden inthe vessels until well out to sea--how would all these behave when itwas time to fell trees, build houses, dig ditches, and cut roads? Andthen again, good Admiral, why did you make the great mistake of bringingno women colonists with you? How could men found homes and work whenthere were no wives and little ones to be housed and fed?

Of the better sort who accompanied this second expedition there were afew, but only a few, solid, reliable individuals whose society must havebeen a comfort to the Admiral; among them, the faithful Juan de la Cosa, the Palos pilot; James Columbus, or as the Spaniards called him, DiegoColon, faithful to his celebrated brother, but unfortunately somewhatstupid; Antonio de las Casas, father of the young priest who laterbecame the champion of the Indians and who wrote Columbus's biography;Juan Ponce de Leon, an intrepid aristocrat who was destined to discoverFlorida; and Doctor Chanca, a physician and botanist who was to write anaccount of the vegetables and fruits of the western lands. Thesevegetables included the "good tasting roots either boiled or baked"which we know as potatoes. Most daring of all the company was a youngnobleman named Alonzo de Ojeda. Alonzo was a real adventurer, willing toface any danger or hazard. 

Columbus, on leaving Spain, again headed for the Canaries, this time forthe purpose of taking on sheep, goats, swine, and other domestic animalsto stock the new lands; then off again for the real business of crossingthe Atlantic. Gold being the thought uppermost in every mind--even inthe mind of the Admiral--the rudders were set southwest for theCaribbean Islands. 

These, the natives of Haiti had told him, were full of gold; at least, that is how Columbus interpreted the signs the Haitians made when heasked for gold; and so, instead of hurrying to cheer up those forty menhe left at La Navidad, he steered to a point considerably south of Haitiand reached the Caribbeans precisely; which, it will be seen, was a fargreater test of nautical skill than merely to sail anywhere into thewest, as he had done on the first voyage. 

The sea nearly all the way across was deliciously smooth and the tradewind soft and steady; only once was there bad weather; very bad while itlasted and very terrifying to those who had never before been at sea;but it happened that, during the storm, the electric phenomenon known asthe Light of St. Elmo was seen over the rigging of the _Mari-ga-lan'te_, the Admiral's ship, and all that horde of superstitious menwere reassured and considered it a sign that the expedition was divineprotection. 

Yet a little later, when the water supply ran low, and when there wereso many leaks in the vessels that the pumps were working constantly, they began to grumble. But Columbus, who was a magician at reckoning seadistance, laughed at their alarm and said to them, "Drink all the wateryou like; we shall reach land in forty-eight hours. " Next day no landappeared, but still he spoke confidently and ordered them to take insail and slow down. That was at sunset, on Saturday, November 2; Sundaymorning, November 3, the sun rose on a beautiful verdant island only afew leagues ahead of them. The magician had fairly scented land fromafar!

This little island, Dominica he called it, had no harbor; but what didthat matter since another island lay alongside it, to the north. Herethey landed and took possession in the name of Spain--not only of theone island but of five or six more which were visible from a littlehill. On this spot, which they christened Marigalante, there were noinhabitants; so, after waiting only long enough to feast on new, luscious fruits, they sailed to the next island, which they calledGuadaloupe. 

And here the Spaniards began to learn what real savagery meant. Onlywomen and children appeared to inhabit the island, and these fled inlandat the strangers' approach. This afforded an excellent opportunity forthe visitors to look into the native huts and see how these wild peoplelived. Hammocks of netting, earthenware dishes, and woven cotton clothwere found; but along with these rudiments of civilization somethingelse was found that made the Europeans look at each other in horror--human bones left from a recent feast!

The next day they landed at a different island, for these Caribbeans alllie close together. Here the deplorable business of kidnapping beganagain, and quite legitimately, the Spaniards thought, for were not themiserable creatures cannibals? A young boy and three women werecaptured, and from these Columbus learned that the people of the twoislands he first visited, along with a third he had not yet come to, hadformed a league among themselves to make war on the remainder of theislands. That was why all the men happened to be absent at the time ofthe Spanish landing. They had gone off in their canoes to capture womenas wives, and men and children to be killed and eaten!

The fact that the warriors of this island were absent emboldened a partyof nine Spaniards to penetrate inland in search of gold; secretly, too, without the Admiral's knowledge or consent. Night came and the nine menhad not returned. The crew were naturally anxious to leave the islandbefore its man-eating population returned, but the majority were willingto await their lost companions. Next day Alonzo de Ojeda, who said hewas not afraid of cannibals, led a search party clear across the island, but without success; not until the third anxious day had passed did thegold seekers get back to the ship. They had paid dearly for theiradventure, having been utterly lost in a tangled forest, without food, torn and scratched by brambles, and fearing all the time that the fleetwould give them up for dead and sail without them. 

A week having now been passed among the cannibals, Columbus decided togive up gold-hunting and go and greet the colony at La Navidad. Hiscaptives told him that the mainland lay south, and had he not grownanxious about the men he had left the year before, he might have sailedsouth and found South America; but instead he headed north, stoppingsometimes at intermediate islands. Once again they tried capturing somenatives whom they saw on the shore, but these Carib women were wonderfularchers, and a number of them who managed to upset their canoe and swimfor liberty shot arrows as they swam. Two of the Spaniards were thuswounded. 

Not until the 22d of November did the fleet come in sight of Haiti--about a month later than if they had come direct from the Canaries. Manyislands, including Porto Rico, had been discovered and named before theyfinally touched Espanola and began sailing along its northern coast towhere the _Santa Maria_ had been wrecked. Although no gold had beenfound, all the men on the boats were confident that quantities of itwould have been collected during the year by the men at La Navidad; andso great content reigned on all the ships. 

While the fleet was still some distance away, one of the captured HaitiIndians who had made the voyage to Spain and back was sent ashore totell Chief Guacanagari and the colony of the Admiral's return. ThisIndian messenger, having been converted to Christianity and havinglearned to speak Spanish, was expected to be of great use in the presentexpedition. Before sending him ashore they dressed him handsomely andcovered him with showy trinkets that would impress his countrymen. Butthe real impression was to come from his telling his tribe what apowerful people the Spaniards were and how advisable it would be toreceive them kindly. This attended to, the converted Indian was torejoin the ship at La Navidad, where Columbus would richly reward himfor his services. Our simple Columbus, who loved Spain's civilizationand power, entertained great hopes of the Indian's mission, and neversuspected that this savage preferred his native island; and that, oncehe set foot on it, he would never again risk himself in the presence ofwhite men!

The Admiral next stopped at the mouth of a stream where, on his previousvoyage, he had heard of gold. The party who went ashore to search for itsoon came back aghast. They had found, instead, two bodies lashed to astake in the form of a cross. The men were hardly recognizable, but thescraps of clothing looked Spanish. The ominous news ran from ship toship and gloom began to settle over the entire expedition. 

Columbus, much disturbed, hastened on to La Navidad. On approaching thespot his crew fired a cannon and shouted, but no response came. Theylanded; but it was to find the fortress a blackened ruin and the wholesettlement destroyed. Even the stout-hearted Admiral was now utterlydejected. 

After a spell of grieving came a ray of hope. Perhaps Diego de Arana andhis other friends were not all dead; perhaps the treacherous natives hadmerely driven them off. He had told Diego to keep the gold they gatheredhidden in a well, so that, in case of attack, it would be safe; and offColumbus started to hunt for the well. No amount of searching revealedit; instead, another painful sight, a few dead Spaniards; that was all. 

Inland, far away from his original abode, the king was found who had sokindly helped Columbus when the _Santa Maria_ was wrecked--KingGuacanagari. From him came the only account ever obtained of the fate ofthe colony; a true account apparently, for later investigationsconfirmed it. The Spaniards, with the exception of their leader, Arana, had behaved very badly toward each other and toward the natives. Theywanted wives, and had stolen all the young women from Guacanagari'svillage and then had fought with each other for the prettiest. Havingobtained wives, some deserted the little European colony and went tolive as savages among the Indians. Others had gone to find the goldmines, which quest took them to the eastern part of the island where thefierce chief Caonabo ruled. So enraged was this chief at their invasionthat he not only killed _them_, but descended upon theircompatriots at La Navidad, and attacked them one night when all wasstill and peaceful. Guacanagari heard the savage war whoops, and out offriendship for the Admiral he tried to drive off the assailants, but hehimself was wounded and his house was burned. The Spanish fort wasfired; the inmates rushed out, only to be butchered or driven into thesea and drowned. Not one man escaped. 

Thus ended Columbus's second trip westward across the Atlantic. What alanding! Blackened ruins, dead bodies, the enmity of the natives, and--no gold; all this where he had hoped to be greeted by happy, prosperousmen. Here were the first fruits of his great discovery; here the firstsample of Spanish ability at colonizing; here the first specimen of whatthe white man could do in a new and peaceful land; and our greatAdmiral, thinking of the mixed band he had brought out from Spain tocolonize, dropped his head and covered his face with his hands. 

All were anxious to leave the scene of this tragedy; but before theyleft, the native king, Guacanagari, who appeared as friendly as ever, expressed a desire to visit Columbus's ship. While on it he managed totalk with the Caribbean Indians who were aboard. That night thecaptives, including a woman whom the Spaniards had named Catalina, madetheir escape and were picked up in waiting canoes. Next day whenColumbus sent to Guacanagari to demand their return, the king and hiswhole village had disappeared. It would appear that this simple savagehad grown into a far shrewder person than his European host since thatChristmas night when the _Santa Maria_ ran aground. 

La Navidad having disappeared, the next concern was to found anothersettlement. A point some distance east was chosen, where a beautifulgreen vega, or plain, stretched far back from the shore. The city was tobe called Isabella, in honor of the queen who had made possible thediscovery of the new lands. Streets were laid out, a fine church and astorehouse were planned to be built of stone, and many private houses, to be built of wood or adobe or any convenient material, were to beconstructed. All this was very fine in plan; but when the men werecalled upon to do the hard manual labor that is required for building atown and planting gardens and fields in an utter wilderness, many ofthem murmured. They had not come to do hard work, they had come to pickup nuggets of gold. Besides, many were ill after the long diet of saltedfood and musty bread; even Columbus himself fell ill upon landing, andcould not rise from his bed for weeks; and although all this time hecontinued to direct the work of town building, it progressed but slowly. 

So there lay the great Christopher Columbus, bedridden and empty-handed, at the moment when he hoped to be sending back to Spain the gold andother precious substances collected by the men of his first settlement. What should he write to the sovereigns waiting for news? He could notbear to write the sad truth and tell them how all his hopes, and theirs, had come to naught. If only he could have known, or surmised, that hisislands fringed a magnificent new continent that had never even beendreamed of by civilized man, his worry might have ceased; for surely aman who had found a new world for Spain need not have found goldbesides; but he knew nothing of the continent as yet; and rememberingthe extravagant promises made in Barcelona, he decided to postponewriting the letter home to Spain until he should make another attempt tofind gold. 

Accordingly, he sent two expeditions to different parts of the island tofind the mines which, according to his understanding of the natives'sign language, must exist. Alonzo de Ojeda and the other captain he sentout returned each with a little gold; and this slight find wassufficient to set Columbus's fervid imagination at work again. He sent arosy account of the island to the monarchs, and repeated his formerpromise to soon send home shiploads of gold and other treasures. And nowonder that he and so many others wished for gold; for it is written inhis journal, "Gold is the most precious of all substances; goldconstitutes treasure; he who possesses it has all the needs of thisworld as well as the price for rescuing souls from Purgatory andintroducing them into Paradise. " If gold could do all that, who wouldnot try to possess it?

But so far as his letter to the monarchs went, Columbus knew, even whilewriting it, that real gold and the promise of gold were two verydifferent things. His promises could never fill up the empty hold of theship that was going back to Spain; and so, failing the rich cargo whichthe men of La Navidad were to have gathered, Columbus bethought himselfof some other way in which his discoveries might bring money to theSpanish Crown. The plan he hit upon was the plan of a sick, disappointed, desperate man, as will be seen from a portion of hisletter. The letter, intended for the sovereigns, was addressed, as wasthe custom, to their secretary. 

"Considering what need we have for cattle and beasts of burden . . . TheirHighnesses might authorize a suitable number of caravels to come hereevery year to bring over said cattle and provisions. These cattle mightbe paid for with _slaves_ taken from among the Caribbeans, who area wild people fit for any work, well built and very intelligent; andwho, when they have got rid of the cruel habits to which they have beenaccustomed, will be better than any other kind of slaves. "

Horrible, all this, we say, but it was the fifteenth century. Slaveryhad existed for ages, and many still believed in it, for men like thegood Las Casas were few. Moreover, Columbus was tormented by a feelingof not having "made good. " He had promised his sovereigns all sorts ofwealth, and instead he had been able to collect only an insignificantamount of gold trinkets on Haiti. Desperate for some other source ofwealth, in an evil moment he advised slave-catching. 

Besides considering himself to have fallen short in the royal eyes, hewas hounded by the complaints and taunts of the men who had accompaniedhim. They hated work, so he tried to appease them by giving themauthority to enslave the natives; and, as our good Las Casas wiselyremarks, "Since men never fall into a single error . . . Without a greaterone by and by following, " so it fell out that the Spaniards were cruelmasters and the natives revolted; to subdue them harsher and harshermeasures were used; not till most of them had been killed did theremaining ones yield submissively. 

CHAPTER XV

ON A SEA OF TROUBLES

In the new colony of Isabella things went badly from the very start. Itsgovernor comforted himself by thinking that he could still put himselfright with everybody by pushing farther west and discovering whether theAsiatic mainland--which Martin Alonzo Pinzon had always insisted layback of the islands--was really there. Accordingly, Columbus took a crewof men and departed April 24, 1494, leaving his brother Diego in commandof the colony. Never had Columbus done a more unwise thing than to leaveIsabella at that moment. Not one single lesson of self-help andcooperation had his men yet learned; and of course they reproached himwith their troubles. The root of it all was disappointment. They hadcome for wealth and ease, and had found poverty and hardship. They eventhreatened to seize the ships in the harbor and sail off, leaving thetwo brothers alone on the island; yet, knowing all this, Columbusdecided to go off and continue his discoveries!

Again he just escaped finding the mainland. On sailing west fromIsabella and reaching Cuba at the nearest point to Haiti, he decided tocoast along its southern shore. He had gone along its northern shore onhis first voyage, and had turned back instead of continuing toward thecontinent. This time he took the southern coast, pushing west for abouta month and a half, and again turning back when he was not more than twohundred miles from Central America. The natives whom he questioned toldhim, as on his first visit to Cuba, that their land was surrounded bywater; but Alonzo de Ojeda, who was with Columbus, said, "These are astupid race who think that all the world is an island, and do not knowwhat a continent is!" Columbus too did not wish to believe the savages;he preferred to believe that Cuba was the continent. Yet as a navigatorColumbus was honest, and no doubt would have gone farther and proved thenatives right had he not been pestered by a grumbling crew. His men weredissatisfied at the long tropic voyage which never appeared to bringthem one inch nearer wealth, and they clamored to return to Isabella. Somutinous did they become that he decided to turn back, but it was with aheavy heart. Again he must write to the sovereigns and report that hehad not yet found a land of wealth. The very thought of this next lettermade him miserable. 

In fact, our enterprising Admiral was in a very bad way by this time. Werecall how he was ill when the new settlement of Isabella was started, and how he nevertheless personally superintended the work. Always atremendous worker on sea or land, always at his post, meeting his heavyresponsibilities as best he knew how, it was nothing but work and worryfor the harassed Christopher Columbus; and now when he, a sick man, hadundertaken this voyage to the mainland, the natives had declared thatCuba was only a big island!

Columbus lay down in his bunk, broken-hearted. A fever seized him and heraved for several days; and in his ravings he hit upon a plan which wasso childish that one would laugh were it not also so pitiful. He decidedto write that he had discovered the mainland of Asia, but not yetCathay, as Cathay lay far inland. To prove that Cuba was really Asia, hecalled together his crew of eighty men and made them swear before anotary that not only had they cruised along the mainland, but they hadlearned that it was possible to return from Cuba to Spain by land. Thisstatement being duly sworn to and sealed, the crew were informed that ifany one of them should ever deny this, his tongue would be torn out toprevent his repeating the lie. 

This time they did not keep so close to the shore. By going farther outthey discovered the Isle of Pines, also the pretty little group known as"The Queen's Gardens, " and Jamaica, later to be the scene of much woe. Always islands, islands, islands! Among some of them navigation was verydangerous, and the Admiral, still ill, never left the deck for severaldays and nights. At last he broke down and could not move from his bed. The minute this happened the crew, who had not the slightest interest indiscovering beautiful islands, hurried direct to their countrymen inIsabella. 

Poor Admiral! Poor men! If only they could have forgotten all about theriches of Cathay, and could have realized the wonder and the honor ofbeing the first white men to gaze on all these lovely spots, these bitsof earth straight from the hand of God, how their hearts might havewelled with joy and thanksgiving! But no, it was a dissatisfied, heavy-hearted body of men who came back empty-handed to Isabella on September29, and reported that in all their five months' absence they had seennothing but savage islands. 

Now let us see what mischief had been brewing in the colony during theirabsence. Columbus, before leaving, had commanded the military governorto place himself at the head of four hundred men and scour the islandfor provisions. Instead of following these orders, the militarygovernor, without Diego Columbus's leave, went aboard the first shipsailing for Spain. In other words, he deserted. The remainder, onlearning this, made a raid on the nearest natives and stole their foodand their wives; and the natives naturally took revenge. 

It was while the outraged Indians were gathering in large numbers todestroy Isabella that Columbus returned. A sad state of affairs to greeta sick man, and especially when the trouble was all of Spanish making. But there was no time to spend in asking whose fault it was. Their liveswere at stake. Isabella might soon share the horrible fate of LaNavidad. Columbus hurriedly mustered his men--less than two hundred--anddivided them into two companies. One of these he himself commanded, andthe other was under his older brother, Bartholomew, who had arrived fromSpain during the expedition to Cuba. The Spaniards were clad in armor. The natives were naked and had no guns, and though they were far morenumerous than the Europeans, they were soon overcome. 

One of the powerful chiefs, however, still remained unsubdued at thehead of his forces in the interior of the island. This was the chiefCaonabo, already mentioned as the one who had avenged his wrongs on theoffenders at La Navidad. Soon he too was captured by Alonzo de Ojedathrough the clever ruse of sending him a present. Then came a littlemore fighting, and the men who had come to convert the savages toChristianity obtained absolute control of the island of Haiti. Theenslaved natives, we are told, wove their sorrows into mournful balladswhich they droned out desolately as they tilled the fields of theirharsh masters. 

But even with the natives subjugated there was still much discontentamong Columbus's men. There being no gold to pick up and sell, bytilling the land only could they live; and even to farm profitably takesyears of experience. For everything that went wrong, they blamed the manwho had brought them to the New World, and similarly his brothers whohad come to help him govern. 

Whenever a ship returned to Spain the miserable colonists sent backletters full of bitter upbraidings against the man who had led them intopoverty and hardship. Also one of the priests had gone home, andstraight to court, to make a thousand complaints. The military governorwho had deserted the colony did the same thing, adding, "There is nogold in the Indies of Antilla, and all the Admiral said about hisdiscoveries was mere sham and banter. "

We have already mentioned that, from the moment Columbus started on thissecond voyage, enemies at home began to do him harm. When, therefore, all these tales reached Spain, they fell on ready ears. Even QueenIsabella, who had always championed Columbus, had grown to see that hisdiscretion and general common sense fell very far short of his courageand his navigating ability. The royal pair, therefore, decided that thewhole matter must be investigated. 

A man who had accompanied Columbus on his first voyage was appointed bythe monarchs to go as Royal Commissioner to Haiti and question Columbusabout the condition of the colony. This man was selected because of hissupposed kindly feelings to the Admiral, the latter having recommendedhim to the queen for excellent conduct on that trying first voyage. Thequeen, we see, thus endeavored to make the inquiry as easy and friendlyas possible for the great navigator. But the Royal Commissioner, DonJuan Agnado, acted like many another man suddenly vested with authority;he carried it with a higher hand than kings themselves! Arriving atIsabella at the moment when the Admiral was trying to capture the chiefCaonabo in the interior of the island, Agnado snubbed BartholomewColumbus, threw several officials into prison, put himself at the headof the garrison, and announced that he was going inland after theAdmiral!

On his making this show of insolent power, every one believed that hewas to be the new governor, and that he had been authorized even to putColumbus to death. At once they gave way to all the meanness of theirnatures and, in order to gain favor with the new viceroy, they beganbitterly denouncing the old. 

Columbus, who had received word of Agnado's advent into Isabella, hurried to meet him there. Seeing himself in a sorry plight, he toldAgnado that he would immediately go back to Spain and answer hissovereigns' inquiries in person. This was in October, 1495. But allsorts of ill luck prevented his going. A frightful hurricane tore overthe island and sank the four vessels which Agnado had brought; then awanderer came in with tales of a real gold mine in the south of theisland and the report had to be investigated. Next, the several fortswhich had been built had to be strengthened and stocked with provisions;so that it was not till March, 1496, that the Admiral was ready to sail. Only two caravels now remained in Isabella harbor. One of these was thefaithful little _Nina_; and on her the weary Admiral returned toSpain. 

CHAPTER XVI

THE THIRD VOYAGE

Columbus's second voyage home from his western lands was even morestormy and threatening than his first had been, but the little_Nina_ remained stanch as ever. Besides frightful weather to tryhis soul, Columbus was taking home two hundred broken-down, disheartenedcolonists who could no longer endure the hardships of the New World. Even the prospect of going home did not improve their tempers. When thefood ran low, colonists and crew threatened to kill and eat the captivenatives in the hold. Columbus managed to pacify them all, however, butit must have used up every bit of energy in his worn body. 

When, after this tempestuous voyage, the _Nina_ and the otherlittle caravel put into Cadiz harbor on June 11, 1496, there was morehumiliation. Crowds collected to greet the gold gatherers; but theunhappy men who crawled off the vessels were paupers--wrecks--mereliving skeletons. The very sight of them brought down curses onChristopher Columbus. The man who had dreamed of coming back with a shipfull of gold, and being acclaimed by the cheers of the populace, cameback instead with the royal displeasure hanging over his head and cursesringing in his ears!

The court was settled, at that time, in the north near Valladolid, andthither Columbus went to plead his case. All along the way he displayedhis Indians and tropical plants and little golden ornaments, but theinhabitants were less curious than before. In the picture of thisgreatest and most illustrious discoverer trying to gain favor withcritical crowds by showing them a few naked savages and a few bits ofgold, there is something pitiful. For Columbus knew, and the crowdsknew, that he was in disfavor, and he was dejected by the fear of anunfriendly reception. 

What a relief it must have been to him when, instead, he found himselfgraciously received. Not a word did the sovereigns utter of theirdissatisfaction, either over the affairs of the colony or the smallamount of gold. He told them all about his trip along Cuba and the newislands found; and of course he could not refrain from telling them thatjust before he left Hispaniola _real_ gold mines had beendiscovered from which they might "confidently expect large returns. "They thanked him for his new discoveries and showed him many marks offavor. Instead of paying attention to the many complaints which had beenmade against Bartolome Colon, they told the Admiral that his brothermight remain vice-governor for life. A little later they told him theywould take his young son Fernando into the royal household and educatehim, and after a time they began to make plans for a third voyage. Howmuch better it all turned out than he had been led to expect fromAgnado's conduct!

For his next voyage Columbus asked for eight ships and the sovereignscomplied. More than three hundred men were to be sent out, paid by theCrown; and as many more, if they would volunteer to go without pay, werepromised a third of the gold they got out of the mines, besides a sharein other products. 

All these fair promises, where he had been expecting disgrace, must havelifted a load from Columbus's mind; but he was soon to find, as in yearsgone by, that a long time may elapse between promise and fulfillment. Months and months rolled slowly away and Columbus was still kept waitingin Spain. 

It is possible that Ferdinand and Isabella wanted to see what the colonycould do without him; or perhaps there really was no other reason thanthat given, that Spain herself needed every available ship at that time. First, she was sending a great expedition against Naples; being at warwith France also, she needed a fleet to guard her own seacoast. Further, as a brilliant marriage had been arranged between two of the royalchildren of Spain and two of the royal children of Burgundy, there wasextra need of ships to carry these princes, in suitable state, acrossthe Bay of Biscay. Indeed, these various Spanish plans called not onlyfor ships, but money; and yet the government managed finally to setaside six million maravedis for Columbus's use. Before he could begin tospend it, however, Ferdinand took it back again, and under circumstancesthat were very mortifying to the waiting Columbus. 

Just after the royal treasurer was ordered to put this sum at theAdmiral's disposal, word came to court that Pedro Nino had arrived fromEspanola with ships laden with gold!

"There now, " cried Christopher in glee, "did I not tell you gold wassure to come?"

"Well then, " craftily reasoned King Ferdinand, "hasten you to Cadiz withan order to Pedro Nino to pay the government's share over to you foryour ships, and I will keep these six million maravedis in my owntreasury for war expenses. "

But it all turned out to be a sorry joke on the part of Captain PedroNino. His ships were full of slaves which, he laughingly declared, heexpected to turn into gold in the slave market. 

Thus was Columbus, weary with long waiting, left without anyappropriation at all; and Bishop Fonseca laughing at him whenever heobserved his eagerness to be off!

In this quarter the impatient Admiral found much hindrance and nosympathy. Not only did Fonseca himself exhibit indifference toColumbus's work, but his secretary did the same. Furthermore, contraryto the terms of Columbus's contract, by which he was to have a monopolyof Indian discovery, Fonseca (on royal order, of course) began givinglicenses to other navigators, and the intrepid Columbus saw his covetedprize slipping through his hands. 

In all matters relating to government and administration, Bishop Fonsecawas a far wiser man than the great navigator. Fonseca possessed the besteducation a man could receive in that day. His training in the greatchurch organization had given him skill in reading character. He soonsaw that Columbus had but little ability outside of navigation; and wewish that, instead of despising him, he had been big enough and kindlyenough to say: "Good friend, give up all connection with that strugglingcolony of Hispaniola. Let me send out a more competent man than yourselfto handle it, and do you devote your energies entirely to discovery. That alone shall be your work. Carry it as far as you can, for you arenot young and the day will come when you can sail no more. "

If a sympathetic, convincing, friendly voice had whispered this goodadvice to the harassed governor of Espanola, what a load of trouble itmight have lifted from his heart. But Bishop Fonseca, unfortunately, wasnot the man to help another in his hour of trouble. He merely treatedColumbus coldly and put every sort of obstacle in his way. 

Ships and men were at last ready to sail from Cadiz on May 30, 1498. Ithappened that ten days before Vasco da Gama, following the Portuguesetrack around Africa, had left the coast and gone across the IndianOcean, reaching the rich mainland of the real India--the brilliant, civilized city of Calcutta. Let us be thankful for poor Columbus's sakethat there were no cables in those days to apprise him of the fact, elsehe might have felt even more keenly what a poor showing his owndiscovery had made. 

His fleet this time consisted of six vessels. They stopped as usual atthe Canaries, then went farther south to the Cape Verde Islands. Thus awhole month passed before they were ready to cross the Atlantic. 

On leaving the Cape Verdes, the Admiral decided to send his best captainwith three of the ships due west to Haiti, --this because the Isabellacolony was in sore need of provisions. Meanwhile he himself would leadthe other three farther south and discover new lands; for he hadreceived a letter in Spain from a gem expert saying, "Go to hot landsfor precious stones. "

Knowing nothing of currents and calms around the equator in July, heconducted his three ships into such a strong northern ocean current thathe had to change his course before ever they reached the equator. Nextthey lay becalmed for eight days in the most cruel heat imaginable. Theprovisions were spoiling; the men's tempers were spoiling, too; and so, on the last day of July, judging that they must be south of theCaribbean Islands, Columbus gave up all thought of new investigationsand started northwest for Hispaniola. By the new course land was soonsighted, a much larger island than any of the Caribbeans. Out of it rosethree imposing mountain peaks; and accordingly it was christened _LaTrinidad_ (the Trinity) after the custom of religious naming thatprevailed. 

Columbus's ships, having shrunken and cracked in the heat of the voyage, were much in need of repair. After cruising around the south and westshore, Looking in vain for a harbor where he could patch up his shipsand take on water, he at last found a suitable spot near Point Alcatraz. Here the necessary repairs were made, and, as the Spaniards worked ontheir boats, they could look across to a low strip of land in the west--the coast, did they but suspect it, of an unheard-of continent nearly aslarge as all Europe!

Thinking it another island, they sailed over to it when the boats weremended. The Admiral was suffering torture with eyestrain (small wonder, one would say who has seen those hundreds of cramped pages he wrote), sohe called a reliable man and ordered him to conduct a party ashore andtake possession in the name of their sovereigns. He himself, he said, would lie down awhile in his dark cabin, for the glare of the tropic sunmade his eyes ache cruelly. That is how it happened that, on August 10, 1498, the Admiral lost the chance of putting foot on the vast mainlandof South America. 

Back came the party from shore after a few hours to report that thenatives appeared very intelligent, that their land was called Paria, that they wore a little gold which came (as usual) from "the west, " andthat they wore strings of pearls that were gathered a little farthersouth on the Paria coast. At last, pearls! How it must have encouragedour ever hopeful Admiral!

So now, though they did not suspect it, the great continent of SouthAmerica was discovered. They sailed south along its shore for a time, hoping to find the pearls, but the farther they went the rougher thegreat waves became, --mountainous, indeed, --forming actual lofty ridgeson the surface of the sea. Of this phenomenon Columbus wrote home to themonarchs, "I shuddered lest the waters should have upset the vessel whenthey came under its bows. " The rush, as we now know, was made partly bythe delta of the Orinoco River and partly by the African currentsqueezing itself into the narrow space between the continent and thesouthern end of Trinidad, after which it curls itself into the Gulf ofMexico and comes out again as the Gulf Stream. 

Columbus, after buffeting these dangerous waters as long as he could, turned north again along Trinidad and emerged out of the Gulf of Paria, leaving the pearls behind him. Instead of landing and looking to see ifthe natives spoke the truth, he started a hopeful letter to thesovereigns, telling them what rich pearl fisheries he had discovered. This time, however, Christopher's imagination really ran close to thefacts, for at their next landing, on the island of Margarita, north ofVenezuela, they actually bartered three pounds of large pearls from thenatives! Then they headed northwest for Haiti, reaching it the last ofAugust, 1498. 

Nearly two and one half years had passed since he and Agnado had leftthe island in the hands of their successor, Bartholomew Columbus. Duringthat time no change for the better had come to it. The mistakes on thepart of officers, and the rebellions on the part of the people, now madea longer list than ever. Not a man among them, from Bartholomew down tothe meanest commoner, appeared to know how to build up a well-ordered, self-respecting community. The spirit of cooperation was entirelylacking. No one thought of the common good, only of his own interests;and those in power had not been trained to handle large groups of menwho needed wise directing. In those days, and especially in Spain, thegeneral education was not the sort to develop each individual man towardself-reliance, but to make him part of a big organization where he neednot think for himself, but need merely obey orders. If, then, thoseappointed to issue the orders were not men of wisdom and sense, thingswere bound to go wrong. Bartholomew Columbus, whom the sovereigns hadappointed lord lieutenant for life, had not been a very wise governor, as will soon be apparent. 

It was only a little while before the Admiral sailed home with Agnadothat gold mines had been discovered on the south coast of Espanola. Bartholomew was therefore instructed to take a certain number of men tothe south coast and establish a seaport at the nearest suitable point tothe mines. That was how the present town of Santo Domingo (now shortenedinto San Domingo) came into existence, a town that in time grew to be soimportant that it gave its name to the whole island. 

In order to start building San Domingo, Bartholomew, or, as he should bestyled, Don Bartolome, took nearly all the working population out ofIsabella. The only ones left were those engaged in building two caravelswhich the Admiral had started constructing. The men under Don Bartolomeappear to have entered into building the new port with fairly good will;for there really was a little gold in the vicinity, and they had beenpromised payment for their services. If Don Bartolome had stuck to hispost, everything might have gone well; but scarcely were the first fewhouses completed when he decided, most unwisely, to make an expeditionfar into the west of the island, where there was supposed to be a richIndian kingdom called Xaragua. Of course when Bartolome reached Xaragua, he found the tribe to be, as usual, a "poor people. " He could collect nogolden tribute from them, and had to take their offer of produceinstead, which, he told them, they must have ready within a certaintime. Then he rode off to see how the men left behind at Isabella weregetting on. 

There, since the day when he had taken away the best (that is, the mostindustrious) men to work in San Domingo, those remaining had knownnothing but misfortune. Many had died; and of those left, many were illand all were discontented. Unluckily, Don Bartolome was not the man tooffer much sympathy or even to stay and put things in order. Instead, heleft this first American town to its fate and started on to the second. All the way across the island to San Domingo he kept demanding tributefrom the natives he passed. The poor creatures, though they well knewthe malignant power of the Spaniards, determined to make one moreattempt at resistance. The result was that most of them were killed ortaken captive. By this time the tribute of Xaragua was to be ready, andDon Bartolome went after it and did not continue on to the new seaportof San Domingo. 

While he was gone, his younger brother Diego was left in command of theeastern part of the island. Diego was far less of a disciplinarian thaneither Cristobal or Bartolome, and the Spaniards themselves nowrevolted. In this they were led by a man named Francisco Roldan whom theAdmiral had appointed chief-justice. Roldan gathered about him nearlyall the well men on the island, taking them from their work in the minesand on the new town. Once banded together, these rebels rode and trampedall over the center of the island, stealing food wherever they couldfind it. It happened that while they were in the west, near the coast ofthose same regions of Xaragua where Bartholomew was, along came thethree caravels laden with food which Columbus had sent direct from theCape Verde Islands. 

Columbus had instructed the commander of this little fleet to coastalong the southern shore till he found the new seaport which Bartholomewwas building; but somehow the commander missed it, and sailed muchfarther west and into the very territory where the Roldan rebels were. Knowing nothing of their disloyalty, he sent a large number of menashore to inquire for San Domingo. These, as ill luck would have it, fell in with Roldan and his men. We may readily imagine theconversations that ensued. 

"Don't go to the town, " the malefactors warned the newcomers. "It isnothing but work, work, work, and no pay. We are supposed to be paid outof the gold found, but the amount is so small that not a grain of itever reaches us! Better stay here and go from one Indian village toanother, taking food and golden ornaments from the natives. " And theshore party, instead of searching for San Domingo, stayed with Roldan. 

The three caravels then continued their search, but never reached SanDomingo till a few days after Columbus himself had come up from SouthAmerica. 

CHAPTER XVII

A RETURN IN DISGRACE

What a discouraging state of affairs to greet the returning "Governor-General and Viceroy of all the Lands Discovered in the Western Seas!"What comfort were all these titles that Columbus stood out for soobstinately, when half his colonists had joined a rebel leader and theother half were sick and hungry!

By this time Roldan's army was so large that Christopher and his brotherhad to admit to each other that there was no chance of subduing theinsurrection by force. In truth, there was no "force"; for those whowere not ill, even the newcomers, were all grumbling against thegovernment. So there was nothing to do but make a treaty with the rebelleader, as if he had been the lawful ruler of a state; and in thistreaty he had everything his own way. Columbus had humbly to agree togive two vessels to carry the discontented ones back to Spain; to fillthese vessels with ample provisions, and to agree to write a letter tothe monarchs stating that Roldan and his men were in no way to blame forthe trouble. Here was humiliation indeed! Fancy a high official of theCrown being forced to such an undignified treaty with one who hadrebelled against his authority!

But even this did not end the trouble. Columbus could not get thevessels ready in time, and so the malefactors became more vexatious thanever. Later another treaty was made, still more humiliating to theAdmiral, for he had to promise, first, that those of Roldan's men whowere most anxious to return should be sent to Spain immediately; second, that those who chose to remain should receive gifts of land and houses;third, that he, Columbus, would issue a public proclamation stating thatall that had happened had been caused by the false reports of bad men;and fourth, that Roldan the leader should remain chief-justice for therest of his life! Roldan now condescended to return to San Domingo andsit in the judge's seat. 

No sooner was this turbulent leader appeased than another rebel arose. This time, sad to say, it was the brave Alonzo de Ojeda. Because he hadsucceeded in taking the chief Caonabo prisoner, Columbus had rewardedand honored him by making him captain of a voyage of discovery among theislands. All this time, no doubt, Ojeda was loyal to his Admiral; but hehad recently made a trip home to Spain, where, from his friend BishopFonseca, he had learned many things, false as well as true, thatpoisoned his mind against his great leader. So he in turn gathered thediscontented into a threatening band. 

"I have word from Spain, " he told them, "that our good queen lies dying. She is the only friend Cristobal Colon has; and you may be sure that theminute she is dead I can easily arrange to have her favorite removed ifyou will all rally around me. " Many, of course, lent ear to histreacherous talk, and these had many a skirmish with the few who werefaithful to Columbus. 

Ojeda, besides sneering at and opposing the Admiral's authority, wroteletters back to Fonseca telling him all sorts of unfavorable thingsconcerning Columbus and his brothers. All the rebels, in truth, weresending back complaints, for the old and the new world sent littlepacket ships monthly. What they did not write was told in Spain by thoseof Roldan's men whom Columbus had sent home. Some indeed went straightto the king himself with their stories, with the result that the queenhad to agree with her husband, who had never been much interested inColumbus and his savages, that the whole matter must be thoroughlyinvestigated. 

Yet, even after consenting to court-martial Columbus, as it were, thequeen delayed the proceeding as long as possible, as if trying to giveher viceroy time to straighten out his situation. But sad tales ofmisrule still kept coming from Espanola, and finally, after more than ayear of waiting, the monarchs sent out Don Francisco de Bobadilla (Boba-deel'ya) with a letter that began:--

 * * * * *

Don Cristobal Colon, our Admiral of the Ocean:

We have ordered the Comendador Francisco de Bobadilla, the bearer ofthis, that he speak to you on our part certain things which he will tellyou. We pray you give him faith and credence, and act accordingly. 

 * * * * *

Christopher, however, was not permitted to give the royal commissionerfaith and credence, for the simple reason that Bobadilla did not showhim the letter. We have already read of the high-handed manner in whichJuan de Agnado acted some years before when sent out to investigate;but, by comparison with Bobadilla, Agnado had been gentleness itself. Bobadilla was a stern and rigorous churchman, comendador, or commander, of one of the famous religious-military orders in Spain. He couldtolerate nothing short of the strictest and most unquestioning obedienceto authority. He also had a great respect for high birth, and he, likeBishop Fonseca, could never forget that Christopher Columbus was ofhumble origin. Both Fonseca and Bobadilla would have been astounded hadthey dreamed that their principal claim to remembrance by coming ageswould be from their reluctant association with a certain illustrious man"of humble origin. "

It was on August 23, 1499, that Bobadilla's ship entered the mouth ofthe little river on which San Domingo was situated; and on seeing oneither side of the settlement a gallows, and on either gallows the bodyof a high-born Spaniard lately executed for rebellion, the sight did notincline him to feel kindly toward the low-born governor who had executedthem. Columbus and his brother Bartholomew were in the interior at thetime, and Bobadilla had no intention of awaiting their return, so eagerwas he to show his power. 

Next morning, when all the colony had gathered in church for mass, heread them the royal letter authorizing him to inquire into theadministration of the Viceroy. The letter stated that their Majestiesempowered Bobadilla to seize evil-doers and their property, and that theAdmiral and all others in authority must aid him in doing so. 

Columbus had left his brother Diego in charge of the colony; and Diego, though weak as a ruler, was strong in words when Bobadilla ordered himto hand over the remainder of the rebels for trial, together withevidence against them. Diego replied that the prisoners were held byorder of the viceroy, and that the viceroy's authority was higher thanthe comendador's. Such an answer was not likely to mollify the royalcommissioner. 

The next morning after mass he opened a second letter and read it to thecolonists, a letter which the monarchs told him to open only in caseColumbus refused to submit to him. This document proclaimed the bearer, Don Francisco Bobadilla, governor of all the islands. He immediatelytook the oath of office, and then opened and read to the astonishedpopulace a third royal letter in which Christopher Columbus wascommanded to hand over all papers and property belonging to the Crown. 

The discontented colonists saw that the day of reckoning had come fortheir unpopular governor. They exulted in it; and Bobadilla, whorealized the satisfactory impression he was making, then and thereopened a fourth letter which commanded that he, Bobadilla, shouldstraightway pay all arrears of wages to the men who had worked on SanDomingo. As nearly all the men had gone unpaid for a long time past(owing to utter lack of funds), when they heard this last proclamation, they hailed Bobadilla as a benefactor, and his narrow, mean soul swelledwith pride. 

To be sure, the monarchs really had issued all these letters; butBobadilla was to read and act upon the second and third letters only incase Columbus refused to obey the first; and here, without givingColumbus any opportunity to speak for himself, Bobadilla had gone to theextreme limit of his powers. It makes one recall Shakespeare's linesabout

 "Man, proud man, Drest in a little brief authority. . . . Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven, As make the angels weep. "

By the end of the second day the new governor had seized the Admiral'shouse. Next he sent a search party to find the two brothers and bid themreturn. This Christopher and Bartholomew did at once; and Bobadilla, whose noble birth had not given him a noble soul, treated the grumblersand talebearers of San Domingo to the shameful sight of the Discovererof the New World marching in chains to prison!

While Columbus had not been a successful ruler, it must be borne in mindthat the men he was expected to rule were a most ungovernable lot. Buteven so, it is difficult to believe that among them all there was notone big enough to forget that the man who had been an unsatisfactorycolonial governor had been the bravest explorer ever known. But no, theywere pitiless. His own cook was ordered to fasten the chains on him. Theonlookers exulted in his disgrace; and their outcries were so loud andso bitter that Columbus and his brothers expected every moment to be putto death. 

Bobadilla lost no time in deciding what to do with his prisoners. Theymust be put out of the way, but not by death. Instead, he ordered anobleman named Villejo to take them at once to Spain. When Villejo, withsome soldiers, entered the cell in order to remove the prisoners to theship, Columbus thought he was to be escorted to the scaffold. "I see Iam to die, " he said calmly. Villejo, who seems to have been the only manin San Domingo with an ounce of humanity in him, answered kindly, "I amto escort you to a ship, Your Excellency, and then home to Spain. "

As they marched to the shore, a rabble followed, shouting every insultimaginable. And thus did Christopher Columbus sail away, for the thirdtime, from the island which he had found so quiet and peaceful that heonce wrote, "The nights are lovely, like May nights in Cordova. " Herewas a change indeed!

When the caravel was under way, Villejo offered to remove the Admiral'sshackles. 

"No, " answered Columbus, with dignity, "their Majesties gave Bobadillaauthority to put me in irons; they alone must issue the authority totake the irons off. "

And so in irons the greatest discoverer the world has ever known madehis sixth crossing of the Atlantic. And in irons he landed in Cadiz inNovember, 1500. 

CHAPTER XVIII

PUBLIC SYMPATHY

We have just seen Columbus land in chains at Cadiz. We next see himfree, traveling in great splendor to that scene of his first successfulinterview with Isabella--Granada. What had happened meanwhile to lifthim out of misery and disgrace? Simply what always happens when a reallygreat man is too harshly punished, a reaction in the public mind. 

In all Spain Columbus had hardly a friend; yet when the people of Cadizsaw him leave Villejo's ship in chains, they were moved with deepestsympathy. They began telling each other that, no matter what his faultsmight be, he had been the first man deliberately to put out across thedreaded Atlantic and reveal to the world that land, and not monsters, lay on the other side. Had any one else ever begged, during seven years, for the privilege thus to risk his life for the benefit of Spain inparticular, and all mankind in general? Even the Portuguese, greatest ofexploring nations, had only hugged the African coast cautiously; butthis man had sailed straight away from land into the setting sun. Evenlandsmen appreciated the fine courage that required. 

And the first man bold enough to wish to go out and unravel the mysteryof the west now walked in chains from a Spanish ship to a Spanishprison! It was monstrous ingratitude, all declared; and they did nothesitate to show their sympathy. The story of his disgrace traveledrapidly, and everywhere it brought out the better nature of the Spanishpeople, who accordingly denounced this harsh treatment by theirsovereigns. 

And what had Columbus himself done to help matters along? The wisestthing that he could have done; he had refrained from writing toFerdinand and Isabella. His silence spoke in his favor; for they did notlearn what had happened till a lady-in-waiting at court, a friend ofColumbus and of the queen, received a letter which Columbus had writtenduring the voyage, and which the good Villejo sent off by a trustymessenger the minute the ship reached Spain. This lady carried theshocking news to the queen, perhaps even read the whole letter to her;if so, Isabella must have winced at this passage: "I have been woundedextremely by the fact that a man should have been sent out to makeinquiry into my conduct who knew that if he sent home a very aggravatedaccount against me, he could remain himself at the head of thegovernment. "

Hardly had the queen heard this letter when there came a report fromVillejo containing the same story of Bobadilla's brutal haste in dealingwith the Admiral. And directly after this came an inquiry from thealcalde (mayor) of Cadiz asking what he should do with his distinguishedprisoner. 

Isabella saw it was all too true; Bobadilla had gone to the uttermostlimit of authority without even waiting to try less offensive measures. She saw that she had selected a very unworthy person for the delicatetask of removing a great man from office. Even Ferdinand, who, as wehave seen, had no great opinion of Columbus, was grieved over theunhappy affair. Immediately they dispatched a courier to the alcaldewith instructions to set the Admiral free, and to treat him with everyconsideration. Then they invited Columbus to come to them at court, andordered a credit of two thousand ducats for him, a large sum in thosedays, for it was equal to about ten thousand dollars in our money. Thisthey did without even waiting to hear Bobadilla's side of the story. 

Columbus reached Granada in December, 1500; nine years precisely afterthe memorable journey that Friar Juan Perez had caused him to make tothe same place. As on his return from the second voyage, when he wasexpecting royal reproaches, he received instead only the kindesttreatment. Both Ferdinand and Isabella made him feel, instantly, that, whatever had gone wrong, they knew his worth and considered him adistinguished man. 

So overcome was he by this magnanimity that it was some minutes beforethe white-haired, worn-out man could control his feelings sufficientlyto tell his story. Finally, however, he managed to speak. He admittedall that had gone amiss in Espanola and said his only excuse was hisinexperience in governing. (Ah, good Admiral, if only you had rememberedyour inexperience on that January day in that same city of Granada, whenyou insisted on being made Viceroy of all the lands you might discover!)

The queen, while she pitied Columbus profoundly in his distress, was toowise a woman to let her pity run away with her prudence; so she answeredcautiously:--

"Common report accuses you of acting with a degree of severity quiteunsuitable for an infant colony, and likely to incite rebellion in it. But the thing I find hardest to pardon is your reducing to slavery manyIndians who had done nothing to deserve such a fate. This was contraryto my express orders. As ill fortune willed it, just at the time thatnews came to me of this breach of my instructions, everybody wascomplaining of you; no one spoke a word in your favor. I felt obliged tosend a commissioner to the Indies to investigate and give me a truereport, and, if necessary, to put limits to the authority you wereaccused of overstepping. If he found you guilty of the charges againstyou, he was to relieve you of the government and send you to Spain togive an account of your stewardship. This was the extent of hiscommission. I find that I have made a bad choice in my agent, and Ishall take care to make an example of Bobadilla so as to warn others notto exceed their power. But I cannot promise at once to reinstate you asgovernor. As to your rank of Admiral, I never intended to deprive you ofit. But you must abide your time and trust in me. "

Isabella's reply is a model of fairness and prudence so far as Columbusis concerned, but it is hardly fair to Bobadilla. The comendador hadbeen brutal, it is true; but it was not true that he had gone beyond theextent of his commission. His brutality consisted in pouncing upon theoffender without any preliminaries whatever. Yet it turned out that, inacting thus, he did the best possible thing for Columbus's subsequenttreatment. There is no doubt that had he proceeded slowly, with a fairand formal inquiry into all the complaints against the Admiral, it wouldhave been clearly shown that, from the very beginning, everything hadgone wrong in the colony. The Indians, once friendly, were now bitteragainst the Spaniards. The colonists were a bad lot, but Columbushimself had examined and accepted most of them before the ships leftSpain. 

If mistakes were committed while he was absent exploring Cuba, they weremade by his brothers and by those whom he himself had selected to rulein his absence. All of this evidence would have been against Columbus, who in consequence would have been deposed as governor and sent home toanswer Bobadilla's charges before a royal court of inquiry. Arriving asa man disgraced after a fair trial, nobody's sympathies would have beenstirred. It was precisely because Bobadilla had acted like a bruteinstead of like a wise judge that everybody denounced him and pitied hisvictim. 

Considering all this, and considering that Columbus himself had admittedhis "inexperience in government" to the queen, it is astonishing tolearn that he was deeply hurt because she did not reinstate himinstantly as ruler of the island! Experience had taught the greatdiscoverer but little. At a moment when he should have fallen on hisknees in thankfulness because he would never again have to beresponsible for that colony of vicious men, he instead felt hurt! Hewanted to return and start the whole sorry business over again. Moreover, he protested, as indeed he had been doing for years, becauseother navigators were imploring the monarchs to break their contractgiving _him_ a monopoly of western exploration, and to allow themto undertake voyages, asking no government assistance whatsoever. Nowwas the time for him to say, "It is to Spain's interest that she send asmany explorers as possible over to these new lands, in order that we mayquickly determine how many islands there really are, and whether what Ilast visited was the mainland; only, pray let me hasten back free fromevery responsibility except that of a navigator; so that I, who sojustly deserve the first chance of exploring the new lands, may getthere ahead of these others who are clamoring to go. "

Had Columbus been businesslike enough to make this proposition to themonarchs, he need not have died in ignorance of the prodigious fact thathe had discovered a great continent undreamed-of by Europeans. But, instead of renouncing his monopoly, he complained that licenses had beengranted to others to sail west in violation of the agreement that healone, and his descendants after him, should sail among the new lands. This attitude annoyed King Ferdinand exceedingly. 

For Columbus to hope to keep this monopoly in his own family wasmadness; as by this time other countries, having heard of his opening upthe way, had sent out explorers to plant their standards. John andSebastian Cabot had gone out from Bristol, England, to Newfoundland, andhad discovered, in June, 1497, the North American continent beforeColumbus had touched South America. Early in 1499 one of the pilots whohad accompanied Columbus on his Cuban trip secured a license, and notonly explored the Central American coast for several hundred miles, buttraded his European trifles and gewgaws with the natives for gold andsilver, returning to Spain with real profits. 

That same year, 1499, Vicente Pinzon of Palos, who with his brotherMartin had made the first voyage, also secured a license and sailedsouthwest over the equator, discovering the Amazon River and takingpossession of Brazil for Spain. Our adventurous acquaintance Ojeda alsohad been busy. When the Paria pearls arrived in Sevilla, he asked hisfriend Fonseca to show him both the pearls and Columbus's map ofTrinidad and the neighboring coast. Although Ojeda had recently been inopen rebellion against the Admiral in Haiti, as we have seen, Fonsecadid not hesitate to let him see where the pearl land lay; and so Ojeda, with an Italian named Vespucci, whom we shall meet later, sailed toParia and gathered its wealth. 

Also, in this year so great for navigation, a Portuguese fleet ofthirteen ships set out from Lisbon to round the Cape of Good Hope. Intrying to escape the long calms which had beset Bartolome Dias in theGulf of Guinea, Pedro Cabral, commander of the fleet, struck out quitefar from the Morocco coast and got into the Equatorial Current. Theexistence of this powerful westward current had never been suspected byeither Spanish or Portuguese mariners. Wind and current combining, Cabral and his captains found themselves, in about a month's time, onthe coast of Brazil near the present Rio de Janeiro. Thus a currentnever before known carried them to land never before known. And thus forthe second time, if the shipwrecked pilot told the truth, America wasdiscovered by accident. 

All this had given Europe some idea of the vastness of the world to thewest. If Columbus was to bring his own discoveries to a glorious finish, it was high time that, instead of quibbling over maintaining a contract, he should have given up the empty honors that were to have been his, andhave asked only for permission to hurry back and discover more land. 

Ferdinand, who now saw that the islands would need not one but a dozengovernors if ever they were to be colonized and developed, would nothear of reinstating Columbus as governor. The most the monarchs wouldgive him in the way of satisfaction was that Bobadilla should be removedand another man, who had had nothing to do thus far with the quarrels ofthe New World, should be appointed for two years. This new governor, whose name was Nicolas de Ovando, was specially instructed to protectColumbus's profits in the colony, if profits there should ever be. Orders were given that the property of Columbus and his brothers, whichBobadilla had confiscated, was to be restored; and whenever gold wasfound and smelted, Columbus's share was to be put aside for him. Thisproved that the sovereigns intended to be just to Columbus, but thelatter was nevertheless much depressed over his lost dignities. 

The Comendador Ovando, of the famous religious order called the Knightsof Alcantara, was appointed to succeed Bobadilla, and began hispreparations with certain definite and practical ideas on the subject ofcolonizing. He was the first to see that respectable married men withtheir wives and children were needed to give the settlement character;so he offered, or asked the sovereigns to offer, proper inducement tomarried men. He also secured as many trained workers as possible--artisans and craftsmen. His other measures appear less wise; that is, hefelt he must go in state and dignity, else the people would not regardhis authority; so he took many body servants and house servants, andrich priestly robes, for he relied a great deal on the appearance ofpower. No less than thirty-five vessels would suffice to carry histwenty-five hundred passengers (among them Bartolome de las Casas) toSan Domingo; and when he started in all his state, the heart of Columbuswas sad and sore. 

"Ah, " thought he, "if only _I_ had had decent men, instead of jail-birds and loafers!" and he pondered sadly on his many misfortunes. 

And still the monarchs kept him waiting and would not furnish him with afleet. While he was waiting came the bitter and disquieting news thatPortuguese explorers were returning in a stream from the Indian Oceanwith exceedingly rich cargoes, all justly traded for in the markets ofCalcutta. Why, he groaned, had _his_ India been so barren ofriches?

He began to ponder over all the theories he had read concerning thegeography of the world, and to wonder what his discoveries might reallybe. If it dawned upon him that he had struck islands fringing onabsolutely new, unsuspected land, he appears to have dismissed theextraordinary idea, and to have come back to Martin Alonzo Pinzon'stheory that he, by sailing west over the globe, had come to Asiaticregions. It must be so, he argued. Marco Polo had made known the factthat an ocean bounded Asia on the east, and that ocean must be theAtlantic, which continued across to Europe. The Indian Ocean which thePortuguese had crossed must be the southern part of the Atlantic, whereit curved around Asia's southern shores. Ah, if only he could reach it!If only he had sailed straight for the rich mainland, instead of wastinghis time on those pretty islands, inhabited only by a "poor people"!

He began to recall how the land north of the Gulf of Paria stretched farwest; how the southern shore of Cuba stretched far west; how thecurrents of the Caribbean Sea indicated, by the fact that they hadwashed Cuba, Haiti, and Porto Rico into their long narrow east-and-westshape that somewhere in the west they passed through a strait whichseparated some large island from southeastern Asia; and that strait mustlead into the Indian Ocean--the very ocean the Portuguese were nowsailing so profitably! He wisely resolved to linger no longer in Spain, importuning for his lost governorship, but to undertake a fourth voyageand find this passage. 

Good reasoning, all this about "the strait, " if only facts had beengeographically correct; and a brave determination, too, for an old manafflicted with rheumatism and fever and bad sight to resolve to put outonce more on that boisterous ocean. We salute you, Don Cristobal! Youare a true navigator, never afraid of hardships and labor and perplexingproblems. Even had you not discovered America for us, we still wouldsalute you, because you were a tremendous worker!

Full of his new plan, Columbus left beautiful Granada where he had spenttwo empty years and went to Sevilla. King Ferdinand readily granted himfour ships, for the Admiral Cristobal Colon, off on a voyage ofdiscovery, was not nearly so troublesome as the deposed governor andviceroy, lingering around the court to obtain his lost title andrevenues. 

The fitting out of the ships restored his spirits considerably. WheneverChristopher had to do with boats and sea preparations he was in hiselement. He now grew optimistic, and, with his usual fatal habit ofpromising great results, he told his Sevilla acquaintances that heexpected to circumnavigate the world. Fatal habit, yes; but it meantthat he still kept that rich imagination, without which he never wouldhave made his first voyage. 

Meanwhile, he realized that he was getting old, and that he might nevercome back from this trip. His thoughts often turned to his native Genoa, where he had played so happily as a child in the Vico Dritto diPonticello; so, one day he sat down and generously wrote to theauthorities of Genoa that, should his claims against the Spanish Crownever be settled, a part of his money was to be used in paying theGenoese tax on wheat and wine, so that the poor might buy these twostaples at a lower price. 

Finally all was ready; four small, weather-beaten ships; a crew of onehundred and fifty men and boys; a few months' provisions. His brotherBartholomew, not very willingly, and his son Fernando, almost tooeagerly, accompanied him. This, his fourth and last voyage, started fromCadiz on May 9, 1502. 

CHAPTER XIX

THE LAST VOYAGE

Fernando Columbus, though only a lad of fourteen, noted every newexperience with intelligent delight. He had his father's passion forwriting things down. As it was the result of personal observation, Fernando's account of the fourth voyage may be accepted as more reliablethan many other items he has left us concerning the Admiral's history. 

Among other things, Fernando says that the little fleet intendedstarting its search at the outlet of the Gulf of Paria, and thenfollowing the land west until they came to the straits leading into theIndian Ocean; but while approaching the Caribbean Islands, his fatherdiscovered that one of the vessels was in need of repairs; for whichreason he headed for San Domingo, where he hoped to purchase a bettercaravel. 

As Columbus had been told _not_ to stop there till his return trip, he sent one of the faster ships ahead with a letter to Governor Ovando, explaining that he wanted to buy another ship, and also that he wasseeking protection from a hurricane that he saw approaching. Knowing thepeculiarities of weather in those regions, he was so sure of the stormthat he advised Ovando to hold back any vessels that might be about todepart for Spain. 

Our weather-wise old Admiral was not mistaken in his prophecy. A furiousWest Indian hurricane broke on the last day of June; but his poor littleships, instead of lying safe in the shelter of San Domingo harbor, wereexposed to all the ravages of the storm. Why? Because Ovando had refusedto let him enter the port! A cruel insult; but the Admiral was too busyjust then to brood over it. He must hastily draw in under the lee of theland and wait for the hurricane to pass. 

It was not the sort that passed, for it stayed and stayed till it wasworn out by its own fury. "Eighty-eight days, " Columbus wrote to hissovereign, "did this fearful tempest continue, during which I was at seaand saw neither sun nor stars. My ships lay exposed with sails torn; andanchors, cables, rigging, boats, and a quantity of provisions lost. . . . Other tempests have I experienced, but none of so long duration or sofrightful as this. "

And all this perilous time, when men and vessels narrowly escaped goingto the bottom, the discoverer of the New World was denied the privilegeof the only seaport in it! It makes one's blood boil, even to-day, tothink that at San Domingo the Comendador Ovando and the whole group ofungrateful landsmen went safely to bed every night in the very housesthat they had hated Columbus for making them build, while he was lashingabout on the furious waves, thinking his other three ships lost, andexpecting every minute a similar fate for his own!

The eighty-eight days, fortunately, were not continuously stormy; therewere occasional lulls. It was the end of June when Columbus had askedfor shelter; not till the middle of July did the first clear weathercome. Then the scattered, battered boats reunited as by a miracle, andfound themselves near the "Queen's Garden" islands south of Cuba. Let usleave them there patching their boats and enjoying a bit of sunshinewhile we see what has been happening at ungrateful San Domingo. 

Ovando had been on the island a month and a half when Columbus camealong asking permission to land. Whether this was refused through thenew governor's ugly nature alone, or whether he believed Columbus'sprophecy of bad weather merely an excuse to land, is not known. Certainit is that, although the Spanish monarchs thought San Domingo could getalong better without the Admiral, they never intended him to be turnedoff when a violent hurricane was pending. Ovando evidently did notbelieve in the hurricane; besides, he did not want Columbus to find outthat the new governors were managing no better than he had managed. Inthis respect there was nothing to be proud of, else Ovando would surelyhave believed in the hurricane. Bobadilla had been a miserable failure;and he himself had not been there long enough to make any improvements, except the detestable one of sending for African negroes to replaceIndian slaves!

One thing, however, had turned out a little better than any oneexpected, and that was the gold mine near which the town of San Domingohad been built. When Columbus's warning about the storm came, eighteencaravels lay in the harbor ready to start for Spain with eighteenhundredweight of gold. One nugget alone, Las Casas tells us, weighedthirty-five pounds. Out of all this treasure, Columbus's share was fortypounds, and that was set aside and loaded on the poorest, leakiestcaravel of the lot, called _The Needle_, to be sent to Spain and toremain there until he should appear to claim it. 

Ovando, like Columbus, wanted the colony to appear profitable in theeyes of the monarchs, and was eager to start off this first goldencargo, also all the spoils he had filched from the natives since hisarrival. Then, too, the Comendador Bobadilla was already aboard, andOvando was eager to be rid of him and also of Francisco Roldan, whonever had been, and never could be, of use in any colony; so Ovando, when he read Columbus's warning, threw back his head and exclaimed, "Nonsense! Let them start just the same!"

And start they did; and scarcely were the vessels out of sight when thehurricane broke. Of the eighteen ships only one ever got to Spain. Threereturned much damaged to San Domingo. The others went down. The onevessel that reached Spain was the leaky little tub called _TheNeedle_, laden with the Admiral's gold! Thus the same storm that sentmany of his San Domingo enemies to a watery grave saved for him thefirst profits he received from the island. It would be some satisfactionto learn that Ovando was rebuked for his cruelty and stupidity; butthere is no record of such a reprimand. Perhaps no one even knew thatOvando had been warned. As for the wholesale shipwreck, people merelylooked at such things piously in those days, and said, "It is the willof Heaven!"

When the first lull came in that devastating storm, Columbus foundhimself south of Cuba among the little "Garden" group. It was the thirdtime he had had a chance to sail along the Cuban coast and discoverwhether it really was an island, as the natives said, or whether it wasthe mainland, as he had forced his sailors to swear while on the Cubanvoyage when his brain was full of fever. Again he let the problem gounsolved; the object of this fourth voyage was to find the straitsleading into the Indian Ocean. Having failed to begin his search fromTrinidad by following South America westward, as originally planned, heexpected he would come to the straits by following Cuba's southern shorein the same direction, if Cuba, as he hoped, was a great strip of landprojecting eastward from the continent. And yet, instead of sailingalong Cuba, or returning to the Gulf of Paria and hugging the landwestward, he suddenly decided to put out southwest into the open sea. This seems to us a foolish course, for no matter at what point he struckland, how would he know whether to explore to the left or right for hisstraits? Why this least desirable of three courses was taken neither theAdmiral nor his son explained in their diaries. Of course he foundland, --the Honduras coast; but of course he had no means of knowing whatrelation it had either to Cuba or to the land around the Gulf of Paria. Thus the poor Admiral lost his last chance of arriving at any justconclusions of the magnitude of his discovery. 

Before reaching this Honduras coast they stopped at the Isle of Pines, where they saw natives in comfortable-looking house boats; that is, hugecanoes sixty feet long, cut from a single mahogany tree, and with aroofed caboose amidships. These natives wore plenty of gold ornamentsand woven clothing; they had copper hatchets and sharp blades of flint;and they used a sort of money for buying and selling. In other words, itwas the nearest approach to civilization that Columbus had ever seen inhis new lands. He tried by signs to ask about all these things, and thenatives pointed west as the place from which their house boat had come. But so keen was Columbus for "the straits" to the Indian Ocean that evengold could not divert him this time; he refused to proceed due west, andthus failed to discover Mexico, the richest region the Spaniards wereever to find on the North American continent. 

From the Isle of Pines, the Admiral put out again into the open sea, southwest, and the moment he had cleared land terrific storms wereencountered. Worse still, when he neared the coast which he namedHonduras, the currents were so violent that his boats could hardly makeheadway against them. All July and August thunder and lightning wereincessant. Timbers creaked and strained till each minute it appeared asif they must have reached the breaking point. Meanwhile the Admiral wasenduring the tortures of rheumatism and could not leave his bed; and so, up on deck where the gales and the waves swept free, he ordered them torig a little cabin of sailcloth; there he lay and directed every move ofhis crew. One minute he saw his terrified seamen clinging to masts orslipping over wet decks; another, hauling in the mere shreds of sailsthat were left. One minute he heard them vowing pilgrimages and penancesif only they might be saved; another, denouncing the madman who broughtthem to these terrible waters. 

But the sick man did not heed all this; his business was to bring themout alive if possible; so he kept a clear head and issued his orders. Whenever he became discouraged, he looked across the wave-washed decksto the comforting sight of a slender lad of fourteen, brought updelicately at court, but now turning to with a will and helping thesailors with every rough, heavy task. How proud the Admiral must havefelt when he wrote in his journal, "It was as if Fernando had been atsea eighty years!"

At last they rounded a point where better weather greeted them, and inthankfulness Columbus called it Cape Gracias a Dios (Thanks to God). Butstraightway came another blow. On the very first day when they couldcatch their breath and cease struggling against wind and current andrain, their spirits were again dashed. A rowboat went near the mouth ofa river to take on fresh water, and the river came out with a gush, upset the boat, and drowned the men in it. So our sick Admiral, who wasdrawing a map of the coast, and had just finished writing "Thanks toGod, " marks down the rushing river and names it "Rio de Desastre" (Riverof Disaster). 

Just below Gracias Cape the current divided into two, one part flowingwest, the other south; this latter was followed. Sailing down theMosquito Coast they came, toward the end of September, to a pleasantspot which Columbus called "The Garden, " or El Jardin (pronounced Khar-deen'), and where the natives appeared to be more intelligent than anyhe had yet seen. Continuing south, he came to Caribaro Bay, where thepeople wore many flat ornaments of beaten gold. As if they could detect, from afar, the gold lust in the European eye, the poor creaturesbrandished their weapons to keep the strange-looking visitors fromlanding; but it was of no avail. Land they did, and traded seventeengold disks for just three tinkly bells! The voyagers asked, of course, where the gold came from, and were told from Veragua, a little farthersouth. For once the sign language was correctly understood. Veraguaactually existed. The Spaniards found it just west of the Isthmus ofDarien. 

Here plenty more gold was seen. "In two days, " wrote Columbus, "I sawmore indications of near-by gold mines than I had seen in four years inHispaniola. " Not only did he see the precious metal, but he heard that"ten days inland" lived tribes who possessed quantities of gold andsilver. And then the natives spoke of something far more wonderful, hadColumbus but known it, than gold; for they said, also, that ten days'tramp westward lay a vast sea. This, Columbus concluded, must be theimmense river Ganges; and his tired brain began figuring how, by alittle "tramping west, " and a little river boating, and then some moretramping, a Spaniard could get from Darien back to Spain, provided theMoslems did not murder him on the way!

But he was not seeking for gold on this trip. He did not march ten daysinland. He turned a deaf ear to it and to all his importuning crew andwent searching for his "strait"; by which steadfastness of purpose hejust missed discovering the Pacific Ocean. It has been said that Fatewas always a little niggardly with Columbus, and never was it truer thanat this moment when she at last deafened his ear to the tale of gold andsent him south. 

All November and December he continued coasting along South America. Buthis greedy crew could never forget the sight of those Veragua nativesactually smelting gold. The men became sulky and clamored to go back;and furthermore, the ships were too worm-eaten and too covered withbarnacles to proceed. On December 5, in order to take the gold-seekersback to Darien, he reluctantly gave over his search for the passage tothe Indian Ocean. But the minute he turned north new gales began toblow. These continued so furiously that in a whole month they progressedbarely a hundred miles. All this time they were nearly starved; aboutthe only provisions left were their rotten biscuits and these were, asFernando tells us, so disgusting to look upon that "many waited tillnight to eat their sop. "

At last the famished party got back to Veragua. Eighty men landed withthe idea of forming a settlement under Bartolome Colon. They had thegood sense to act in the friendliest manner to the native chief; but hewas not the simple-minded creature that Guacanagari was, over in Haiti. He saw at once that they wanted gold, so he nodded obligingly, andindicated by signs that he would lead them to the gold mines. And hedid; but they proved to be the small, worked-out mines of a neighboringchief who drove the intruders off. Back they went to the first chief'sland and began to build a stockade. The first chief still appearedfriendly enough, but a very clever young Spaniard named Diego Mendezhappened to prowl through the undergrowth to the Indian village and sawthe warriors sharpening their knives and making ready to attack theuninvited settlers. Off rushed Diego to tell Don Bartolome; and he, believing that "the best defense is a sharp attack, " rushed to thevillage, captured the chief and many warriors, and sent them captiveaboard the waiting caravels. The chief, however, succeeded in jumpingover the side, diving to the bottom, and swimming ashore. 

It was then quite dark and none saw him come to the surface, but thenext day he had another force ready to defy them. Of his fellow-prisoners who had been thrust into the hold, some managed to throw opena hatchway, overpower the guard, and likewise plunge into the sea. Thesailors hurriedly pushed back the hatchway so that no more might climbout on deck; but next morning it was discovered that all those who hadnot escaped were dead. They had committed suicide rather than be carriedoff by the ruthless strangers. 

All this time there was such a rough sea that no small boats could getashore from the caravels to obtain news of the eighty colonists underBartolome. At last a sailor offered to swim to land; when he came back, it was with the news that this settlement had gone the way of Isabellaand San Domingo, for half its men had mutinied. The gold did not seemworth fighting for where natives were so hostile that a man could noteven pick fruit from a tree and eat it! Columbus saw that there wasnothing to do but get the men back on the boats and abandon all thoughtof colonizing what he had already named Costa Rica (Rich Coast). 

But to carry out this decision for a while appeared impossible; thewaves were too high for any boat to venture out; but at last the cleverDiego Mendez, by lashing two canoes together into a sort of raft, gotnear enough to shore to rescue Don Bartolome and his men and stores. When Diego had succeeded in this perilous task, his Admiral was sograteful that, in the presence of all the men, he kissed him on bothcheeks, a mark of great respect in those days. Ah, if only Christopherhad found such a stanch, capable friend earlier in his career!

Ever since they reached the mainland Columbus had been sufferingtorments with rheumatism. Now to add to his agonies a fever attackedhim. Along with these ills, and the murmurings of his hungry men, one ofthe ships was wrecked; and after they had rescued its men andprovisions, and were about to find room for them on another ship, thisother ship was discovered to be too worm-eaten and disabled to continuethe voyage. Columbus, in all his pain, directed the removal of men andgoods to the best two caravels. This done, he started for San Domingo, turning his back on his last chance to find the passage to India--thebroad Pacific Ocean--if only he had crossed the isthmus between!

CHAPTER XX

THE COURAGE OF DIEGO MENDEZ

At last they were clear of the most disastrous landing that Columbus hadever made. What you have read is but the bare sketch of a chapter in hislife that was crowded thick with misfortunes and even horrors. And yet, strange to say, on this detestable coast is the only settlement in theNew World that perpetuates the great discoverer's name, the town ofColon, at the Atlantic terminus of the Panama Canal. 

The Admiral's health was now ruined, for fevers, sleeplessness, gout, and eyestrain kept him in constant pain, and at times made even thatstrong mind of his a little queer and wobbly. But on one point at leastit remained alert and lucid, --he still could think out his courseclearly. With a view to avoiding the treacherous winds and coastwisecurrents that had previously wrought such havoc with his ships, he sethis rudders due east on leaving Veragua; his idea being to sail firsteast and then north to San Domingo. 

Straightway the crews became alarmed, thinking he meant to return directto Spain, in spite of the fact that the ships were too rotten for thelong trip. But no; the Admiral hoped, besides escaping currents, tomystify them as to the geographical position of the gold coast. Remembering how Alonzo de Ojeda had gone back and reaped riches from thepearl coast, and how Pedro Nino, that captain who brought slaves toCadiz and sent word that he had brought a cargo of gold, and also beento Paria, Christopher decided to zigzag about in such a manner that noone could ever find his way back to the gold country ten days inlandfrom Darien. Suffering and misfortune were surely telling on theAdmiral's mind, else he would never have written this childish note:"None of them [the crew] could explain whither I went nor whence I came;they did not know the way to return thither. "

But all the time his men grumbled, and could not understand why theywere starting for Spain on crazy, crumbling ships, when San Domingo layso much nearer. Every day they murmured louder, till at last the Admiralfoolishly humored them by heading due north; the result was that heturned too soon and found himself in a new current he had never metbefore. This current carried them past Hispaniola westward again tothose same "Gardens of the Queen. " The series of storms that hereovertook the two battered little ships were almost as bad as those thatmet them on their last approach to Hispaniola. Anchors were lost and themen kept the ships from sinking only by the constant use of "three pumpsand all their pots and kettles. " By the 23d of June they had driftedover to Jamaica. The crews were worn out by their hard work to keepafloat. It seemed as if human endurance could stand no more. Many werebadly bruised from being dashed down on the decks like bits of woodbefore the gales; they had had no dry clothing on for days; their heartswere faint, their stomachs fainter, for they had had nothing to eat anddrink for some time but black wormy bread and vinegar. How, we askourselves as we sit in our comfortable, solid houses, did they endureit? And yet there was even worse to come!

The Admiral saw that even "three pumps and all their pots and kettles"could not keep the water bailed out of the leaky boats. The only thinghe could do was to run his ships aground. The first harbor he tried wasso barren on every side that starvation stared them in the face; so theypushed on a little farther, the exhausted men again bailing steadily, till they entered a greener spot, now called Don Christopher's Cove. Nota minute too soon did they reach it. Once the ships were grounded on thesandy beach, the tide soon filled the hulls with water. The weary menhad to turn to and build cabins on the forecastles; and here at lastthey managed to keep dry, and to lie down and rest. 

Their first thought was how to get food. The resourceful Diego Mendezoffered to tramp over the island and trade whatever personal articlesthe sailors had left for foodstuffs. In this he was successful; hesecured more than food; he exchanged the clothing on his own back for alarge canoe and six rowers, and returned by sea. The next aid Mendezrendered the shipwrecked men showed even finer heroism than his lashingthe canoes together to rescue Bartholomew. He offered to go in an openrowboat all the way from Jamaica to Haiti and ask Ovando to send arescue vessel!

Look at a map of the West Indies and see what this offer meant! Twohundred miles to the western point of Haiti, two hundred more to thegovernor at San Domingo, and this, too, across a sea frequented byperilous hurricanes. It was a magnificent piece of volunteer work! Notone chance in a hundred did Diego Mendez have of reaching hisdestination, and he knew it; yet he offered to take the risk. One of hisshipmates caught some of his valorous spirit and offered to accompanyhim; and the six native rowers, of course, had no choice but to go. 

Mendez was as practical and ingenious as he was brave. He fastenedweatherboards along the rim of the canoe to prevent shipping water; hefitted it with a mast and sail, and coated it with tar; and while he wasdoing it the Admiral wrote a brief, businesslike letter to Ovando, telling of the sad plight they were in; he also wrote a long, ramblingletter, full of evidence of feeble-mindedness, to the monarchs. Theseletters Mendez was to take with him. 

But Mendez, to every one's dismay, came back again in a few days, --cameback alone and with boat and oars smashed. While waiting at the easternpoint of Jamaica for a favorable wind to take them over to Haiti, theywere surrounded by hostile natives and captured. The six rowers escaped, and the companion of Mendez was probably killed instantly; but while thesavages were debating how to kill and cook Mendez, he managed to dashaway, jump in his huge canoe, and push off!

The shipwrecked party felt crushed indeed. Their last hope of rescue wasgone; but no--Diego Mendez offered to start all over again, if only DonBartolome would march with an armed force along the shore till therecame a favorable moment in the weather for Diego to push across toHaiti. 

This precaution saved the intrepid Diego a second surprise fromcannibals; but the passage, after leaving Jamaica, was torture. Sointense was the heat, that he and his Indian rowers were forced to taketurns jumping overboard and swimming alongside the canoe in order tocool off. The Indians, like children, wanted to drink all the water atonce. In spite of warning, they emptied the kegs the second night, andthen lay down on the bottom of the canoe, panting for more. Diego andhis Spanish companion did the rowing till the Indians were rested a bit. Then Diego brought out two more kegs of water which he had artfullyhidden under his seat, gave them all a drink, and set them to workagain. Late that second night the moon came up, not out of the sea, butbehind the jagged rock that lies ten miles off the western end of Haiti. Blessed sight! What new courage it put into the tired rowers; how eagerthey were to make the rock by sunrise so as to lie in its shade all thatAugust day of 1503, instead of blistering under the torrid sun in anopen boat. Surely, if ever men deserved to lie all day in the shade, itwas these brave fellows who were trying to save Christopher Columbus. 

From this point Mendez went on with his six rowers till he found thegovernor; but before going into that matter, let me tell you how proud, and justly proud, Diego Mendez was all his life of this canoe trip. Helived to be an old man (in the city of Valladolid), and when he felthimself nearing the end, he asked his relatives to mark his grave by atombstone, "in the center of which let a canoe be carved (which is apiece of wood hollowed out in which the Indians navigate), because insuch a boat I navigated some three hundred leagues; and let some lettersbe carved above it saying _canoa_. "

Quite right of you, Diego Mendez, to wish posterity to know of yourplucky voyage. We hope your relatives gave you the coveted tombstone;and we hope, also, that they carved, on its reverse side, that of allthe men who ever served Don Cristobal Colon, you were the most loyal andthe most valiant. 

The Admiral, in writing an account of what happened on the Jamaica beachwhile Mendez was seeking aid, says:--

"At the request of the king's treasurer, I took two brothers with me tothe Indies--one as captain, the other as auditor. Both were without anycapacity for their work, yet became more and more vain. I forgave themmany incivilities. They rebelled openly on Jamaica, at which I was asmuch astonished as if the sun should go black. "

Yet why, we ask, should Columbus have been so astonished? Had he everknown much else from those under him but incivility and rebellion?

Ever since Mendez left in August the men had been looking in vain forhis return. Autumn and winter and spring wore away, and as the nativeshad grown tired of feeding them, the shipwrecked crew were now mereskeletons. Of course they blamed the pain-racked Admiral because Mendezhad not returned with succor; and of course they were constantlyquarreling among themselves. One day the captain who had commanded thevessel that went to pieces near Darien came into the cabin where thesick Admiral lay, and grumbled and quarreled and said he was going toseize canoes from the Indians and make his way to Haiti. It wasFrancisco Porras, one of the two brothers foisted on Columbus by theirrelative, the king's treasurer, who wanted to get rid of them. 

Porras and forty-one of the discontented voyagers actually started forHaiti, but a short time on the rough sea sent them back ashore. Theynext formed themselves into a raiding party and outraged the natives inevery possible way, falsely saying that they did so by order of theAdmiral. This so angered the Indians that they marched down to DonChristopher's Cove, surrounded the beached ships, and threatened to killevery Spaniard there. 

It so happened that there was to be an eclipse of the moon that night, and Columbus suddenly recalled it and turned the fact to good use. Hetold the angry natives that the power that had made the moon and thestars was very displeased with them and would prove it that very nightby darkening the moon. The childish creatures decided to wait beforeattacking and see if the Admiral spoke the truth. When the eclipsereally started, they became terrified and sent their chiefs to askColumbus's pardon; Columbus promptly declared that the light of the moonwould return if the Indians would faithfully promise to treat theSpaniards kindly and supply them with food. The credulous creatureshastened to procure it; and as they brought it to the shore, the moonkindly emerged from the black shadow that had covered it. Result, theIndians believed Columbus to be a superior being and from that time onthey fed him and his men well. This eclipse was on February 29, 1504. 

But even with plenty of food the months of waiting were long and dreary. Had the brave Diego Mendez gone to the bottom? He must have perished, thought the Admiral, for surely if he had reached San Domingo alive eventhe harsh Comendador Ovando could not have refused to send aid tostranded countrymen on a savage island! But why not, good Admiral? Hadnot this same Ovando refused to let you enter the harbor of San Domingolast year when the frightful hurricane was gathering?

Yet that was what happened. Ovando, whose heart, if he ever had one, hadshriveled to the size of a mustard grain, practically refused to sendhelp. On hearing Mendez' tale he said he was sorry for the Admiral andhis men, but he did not say he would send them a ship. Mendez kept athim, telling him very emphatically that the one hundred and thirtystranded Spaniards would certainly die unless soon rescued; still Ovandosaid he was sorry, but did not offer to send relief. Instead, scoundrelthat he was, he _did_ send a small caravel, very small indeed, sothat it could not accommodate the forlorn men, and could not carry themany provisions. The captain, one of Roldan's rebels, was carefullyinstructed merely to see if Columbus and his shipmates were still alive, and then to come back and report. The Roldan rebel took his caravel toDon Christopher's Cove, rowed out in a small trailer until withinshouting distance of the two rotting hulks on the beach, and yelled outthat Governor Ovando was very sorry to learn from Mendez that theAdmiral and his party were in trouble, and regretted that he had no shiplarge enough to send to their rescue. And then the villain sailed backto his villainous master. 

Imagine this studied, impudent message to a group of men whose eyes hadbeen straining for months to see a relief ship head their way! Imaginesending such a message to the most illustrious discoverer the world hasever known! A more dastardly bit of cruelty hardly exists in history!

This expedition was kept secret from Diego Mendez, however; and Diego, still storming about because nothing was being done, went among thepopulace of San Domingo and declared that it was a base, shamefulbusiness to leave a sick old man to perish on a savage island, especially when that old man had discovered all these lands for Spain. The people, though many of them had been the sick old man's enemies inbygone days, and though they never suspected the greatness of Columbus, agreed. They even began to clamor that Columbus should be rescued; butit was not until they had clamored long and urgently that their knightlygovernor sent a ship. 

On June 25, 1504, exactly one year after Columbus had beached his tworemaining caravels, the relief ship came in sight. "Never in my life, "wrote Christopher, "did I experience so joyful a day!" and we may wellbelieve it. 

On the 15th of August the party reached San Domingo after their longsuffering and hardships. Ovando, seeing how popular sympathy had turnedtowards the sick Admiral, decided to secure a little popular favorhimself out of the incident by inviting the discoverer to stay in hisown house, that is, the governor's house, which really had belonged toColumbus. There Columbus learned that the agent appointed to set asidehis share of the island profits had not done so; also, as Ovando wantedto punish Captain Porras, who had rebelled on Jamaica, while Columbuspreferred to deal with the matter himself, host and guest disagreed. 

Too proud to remain an unwelcome guest in Ovando's house, Columbuscollected what he could of the money due him, and prepared to go home toSpain. Two vessels were purchased, one for Bartholomew and one forFernando and himself. Again Columbus proceeded with the familiarbusiness of calking ships, buying provisions, and engaging a crew. Inless than a month he was off again from San Domingo on the last voyagehe was ever to make. On September 12, 1504, the ships weighed anchor andpointed away from the "western lands" which Christopher Columbus hadmade known to Europe. The white-haired old man, we may be sure, stoodlong on deck gazing backward as the scene of his triumph and hishumiliation faded from sight. Never again could he undertake a voyage ofdiscovery, for he was now a confirmed invalid. Cipango, Cathay, and "thestrait" to the Indian Ocean were not for him; so it was with many aheartburn that his poor old eyes strained toward the fading islands. 

His ill luck held out to the end. The first day a sudden storm brokewith a crash and carried away his masts. With the utmost difficulty heand Fernando got into a small boat and clambered on board Bartholomew'svessel, the disabled boat being sent back to San Domingo. Still the seawould show him no mercy. Hardly had he crawled into a berth than anothertempest came, and another and another, one unending, pitiless fury allacross the ocean, till our great man must have thought that old Atlantichated him for having solved her mysteries. The ship appeared to leap andstagger every minute of the time, and the Admiral was too ill to takecommand. Bartholomew was doing his best and little Fernando was helping;running down to his father for orders, scurrying up to his uncle withdirections. What a struggle for life it was! And it was repeated everysingle day till November 7, when the crippled little caravel put intothe harbor of San Lucar near Cadiz. Christopher Columbus's last voyagewas over. No bells pealed out to greet him; no flags were flung to thebreeze; but at least he had the glory of knowing in his heart that hehad conquered that grim, unknown, menacing Atlantic Ocean which man hadfeared since the beginning of time. 

CHAPTER XXI

"INTO PORT"

The merciless storm that had beaten Columbus across the ocean swept overSpain after he landed. He had gone as far north as Sevilla, intending toproceed from there to court, which was being held at Medina del Campo, in Old Castile; but illness overcame him, and for three months he laybedridden in the Sevillan monastery called Las Cuevas. 

Besides his rheumatism, and all the other ills that might arise from twoand a half years of exposure and bad food, an event happened, a few daysafter his return to Spain, that crushed him utterly. This was the deathof his best friend, the only one to whom he could look for securing hisrights in "the Indies, " where Ovando and other enemies had conspired torob him of his share of profits in the colonies. The great QueenIsabella had passed away on November 26, 1504, in the lonely castle atMedina del Campo. In these two lives, though they had walked suchdifferent paths, there was much resemblance. The queen, like Columbus, had known a life of unceasing hard work and anxiety; like Columbus shehad striven for a great purpose and had triumphed; her purpose being thedriving out of the Moor, and the establishment of Spain as a worldpower; like Columbus, she had made mistakes, and like Columbus, she hadknown much sorrow. There was a strong bond of sympathy between thesetwo, and the news of the queen's death was a great blow to the bedriddenold man in Sevilla. 

Isabella had asked to be buried in Granada, the city she had labored sohard to win for Christianity, and from the day the little funeral partyset out from Medina to the day they arrived at Granada, three weekslater, a frightful tempest raged that swept away bridges, floodedrivers, and made roads impassable. All the time poor Columbus, as he layill in the monastery, listened to the storm and thought of that mournfulparty tramping with their solemn burden down to the city where he andIsabella had both gained a victory. Maybe he envied the worker who hadpassed away first, for he sadly wrote to his son Diego, "Our tired ladynow lies beyond the desires of this rough and wearisome world. "

But Columbus himself was not yet out of this "wearisome world, " and wastroubling his weary brain far too much about its petty details. From hisfourth voyage he had returned much poorer than he ever expected to be atthe end of his sea-going life. The little money he had been able tocollect from his plantation in Espanola had been used to equip the shipsthat brought him home, and to pay his sailors; for this was a point onwhich he was always most scrupulous. When his ready money was thus usedup, the good monks of Las Cuevas had to provide for his necessitiesuntil finally the banks advanced money on the strength of his claimsagainst the Crown. After the death of Isabella these claims had smallchance of being considered to his full satisfaction, for Ferdinandargued that the contract of Granada was, owing to the vast extent of thenew lands, impossible for either the Crown on the one hand or Columbuson the other to fulfill. That rascally Porras, who had caused so muchtrouble during the Jamaica days, was at court, filling everybody's earswith slanderous stories about the Admiral during the days when theAdmiral himself was wearying Ferdinand with a constant stream ofletters. Every day that he was able to sit up he wrote long appeals for"his rights" and his property. Not only did he present his claims forrecognition and reward, but he told how badly things had been going inSan Domingo under Ovando; how the comendador was hated by all for histyranny and for the favoritism he showed; and how things would soon cometo a sorry pass in the colony unless a better governor were quicklyappointed; and then, poor man, deluded with the idea that he could setthings right, he asked to be reinstated as governor! Good Christopher!can you not realize that your work is done now, for better or worse? Canyou not let others solve the great problems across the ocean? Can younot see that you have been greatest of them all, and that nothing moreis required of you? And as for all the dignities and titles andproperties that should be yours, according to the Granada contract, weknow you want them only to pass them on to your boy, Diego; but nevermind him; you are leaving him a name that will grow greater and greaterthrough the coming ages; a name that is a magnificent inheritance forany child. 

About this time the sick man received a visit which brightened him agreat deal, a visit from the man who, never intending any harm, wasdestined to soon assume the greatest honor which the world could havegiven Columbus--the honor of naming the newly discovered lands Columbia, instead of America. 

Americo Vespucci was an Italian from Florence who, in 1492 or 1493, cameto Sevilla to carry on a commercial business. Here he learned ofColumbus's first voyage and became eager to make a trip himself to thenew lands. It was a Florentine friend of Americo's who fitted outColumbus's second expedition; but this Florentine died before thevessels were ready, and Americo continued the work. More than this;seeing, when the king canceled Columbus's monopoly, a chance for himselfto win glory, he hastened off with one of the new expeditions. Heclaimed that they reached a continental coast on June 16, 1497, whichwas earlier than Columbus had reached Para, and eight days before Cabottouched at the northern edge of the new continent. We have onlyAmerico's own account of the voyage, and his statements are soinaccurate that many students refuse to believe him the real discovererof South America. 

Of Americo's second voyage, however, we have reliable information, forit was made in the company of Alonzo de Ojeda, that one-time friend ofColumbus who later rebelled against him at Espanola. Vespucci sent aletter to a friend in Florence describing his voyages and saying thatthe continent he had reached "ought to be considered a new world becauseit had never before been seen by European eyes. " His second letter, written from Portugal in September, 1504, to another friend, was used byMartin Waldseemuller, a German professor who was then collecting all theinformation he could gather to make up a book on geography. 

Martin Waldseemuller divided the globe into four large parts orcontinents--Europe, Asia, Africa, and the newly discovered fourth part, which he suggested "ought to be called America, because Americusdiscovered it. " This professor, like most learned men of his time, wrotein Latin; and in Latin the Italian name Americo is Americus; thefeminine form of Americus is America, which was used because it wascustomary to christen countries with feminine names. As nobody else hadyet suggested a name for the vast new lands in the west, the German'schristening of 1507 was adopted for the country which should have beencalled Columbia, in justice to the man who first had the splendidcourage to sail to it across the untraveled waters and reveal itsexistence to Europe. Had Columbus lived to know that this was going tohappen, it would have been one more grievance and one more act ofingratitude added to his already long list; but at the time that AmericoVespucci visited his countryman who lay ill in Sevilla, neither one ofthem was thinking about a name for the far-away lands. They merelytalked over their voyages as any two sailors might. As Vespucci was nowlooked up to as a practical, new-world traveler and trader, and theAdmiral was lonely and forgotten, it shows a kind feeling on thevisitor's part to have looked him up. When Americo left to go to court, Columbus gave him this letter to carry to Diego, who was still in theroyal service:--

 * * * * *

My dear son:

Within two days I have talked with Vespucci. He has always manifested afriendly disposition towards me. Fortune has not always favored him andin this he is not different from many others. He left me full of kindestpurposes towards me and will do anything he can (at court). I did notknow what to tell him to do to help me, because I knew not why he hadbeen called there. 

 * * * * *

In February, 1505, a royal order was issued to the effect that DonCristobal Colon be furnished with a mule to ride to court, then beingheld in Segovia. To ride a mule in those days necessitated a royalpermit, for every Spaniard preferred mules to horses. The governmenthoped that horses would be in more general use if the use of mules wasrestricted. 

The Admiral's long rest with the monks of Las Cuevas had apparentlyimproved his health, for, as this royal permit proves, he applied for amule and went to Segovia; from there, that same year, he followed theking to Salamanca and later to Valladolid. Segovia, Salamanca, Valladolid! All bleak, harsh places in winter, and fiery hot ones insummer. Our poor Admiral left pleasant Sevilla and exposed his worn oldbody to icy blasts and burning suns all for naught; for, as Las Casaswrites:--

"The more he petitioned, the more the king was bland in avoiding anyconclusion; he hoped, by wearing out the patience of the Admiral, toinduce him to accept some estates in Castile instead of his powers inthe Indies; but Columbus rejected these offers with indignation. "

The Admiral could not be made to see that the Granada contract wasimpossible; that Ferdinand had signed it only because he never expectedthe voyage to be successful; and that now, when men were beginning tobelieve Americo's assertion that a whole continent lay off in the west, it was preposterous that one family should hope to be its governor andviceroy and to control its trade. No, Columbus could only go onreiterating that it was so written down in Granada, away back in April, 1492. 

So King Ferdinand merely shrugged his shoulders and referred the matterto a learned council who talked about it a long, long time, hoping thesick old man might meanwhile die; and at last the sick, tired, troublesome old man obliged them, and left all the business of "shares"and "profits" for his son Diego to settle several years after bybringing suit against the Crown. Toward the end of 1505 and thebeginning of 1506 the Admiral became very ill. He was in Valladolid, andhe realized that he could travel no more; so he secured for himself, orperhaps Diego secured for him, as comfortable a lodging as possible in astreet now called the Calle Colon, and determined not to move about anymore. We, accustomed to heat and a dozen other comforts in ourdwellings, would not consider the house in the Calle Colon, with itscold stone floors and walls, a suitable place for a rheumatic, broken-down old man; but it was the typical solid, substantial residence of itsday; and the only pity is that the city of Valladolid permitted it to betorn down a few years ago to make room for a row of flats. 

Even in icy Valladolid, winter with its discomfort comes to an end atlast. One May day, when spring sunshine was warming up the stone chamberwhere the old Admiral lay, he called for a pen and put the last touchesto his will. All the titles he still hoped to get back were for Diego;and should Diego die without a son, Fernando was to be Admiral; and ifFernando should have no son, the loyal brother Bartholomew, who hadshared those horrible days of disappointment and disaster off in theIndies, was to be Admiral. (Brother Diego had no need of an inheritance, for he had become a monk. ) Part of the moneys due Columbus, if evercollected, were to be spent on that long-dreamed-of Crusade to recoverthe Holy Sepulchre. His remains were to be taken out to San Domingo. These were a few of the instructions he left. 

The next day, May 20, 1506, came another whisper of springtide, and thefaithful Diego Mendez, who "navigated three hundred leagues in a canoe, "came to see him; his sons, Diego and Fernando, too, and his brotherBartholomew; and as the dim old eyes saw these affectionate facesbending over him, he counseled Diego always to love his younger brotherFernando, as he had always loved Bartholomew; and Diego pressed his handand promised. Then the old man rested quietly for a time. He was clad inthe frock of a Franciscan monk, the same sort of frock that good FriarJuan Perez wore when he welcomed him to La Rabida. 

They opened the window to let in the May warmth, and Christopher sniffedfeebly. Did he recall the beautiful climate of Haiti which he said was"like May in Cordova"? Let us hope, at least, that it was peacefulrecollections like this that flitted through his vanishing senses, andnot recollections of the horrible hurricanes and insurrections andshipwrecks and prisons that made up part of his eventful life. He madeno sound, not even a whisper, so we will never know what thoughts theMay warmth brought to him. We only know that after a while he crossedhis hands peacefully on his breast and murmured, "Into thy hands, OLord, I commit my spirit. " A moment later and the great Admiral passedforth on his last voyage into the unknown. 

The event on May 20, 1506, passed unheeded. A life had ended whoseresults were more stupendous than those of any other human life everlived. Yet Valladolid took no notice of Columbus's death; neither didSpain. The nation was too busy watching the men who had practical plansfor colonizing the new lands, and turning them into profit, to concernitself with the death of the one brave soul who had found the path. Indeed, Cristobal Colon was really forgotten before his death; yet hewas living on, as every great spirit lives on, in the ambitions of themen who were endeavoring to push his work still further. When, a fewyears after his death, Balboa first saw the Pacific stretching far, faroff to Asia, and when in another few years the whole globe had beencircumnavigated, from Spain back again to Spain, only then did thevastness of Columbus's discovery begin to be appreciated. Europe at lastrealized that, during all her centuries of civilization, when she hadthought herself mistress of the world, she had in fact known but half ofit. As this truth took shape in men's minds, the humble, forgottenGenoese began to come into his own. They saw that he had done more thanrisk his life on the western ocean; he had sent a thrill through everybrave, adventurous heart, and this at a moment of the world'sdevelopment when such seed was sure to take root. Christopher Columbus, one of the greatest products of the Renaissance, had carried thatRenaissance to a glorious climax.