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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/1488-h.zip b/1488-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..04702d1 --- /dev/null +++ b/1488-h.zip diff --git a/1488-h/1488-h.htm b/1488-h/1488-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..93043a5 --- /dev/null +++ b/1488-h/1488-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,3562 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + The True Story Of Christopher Columbus by Elbridge S. Brooks + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The True Story of Christopher Columbus, by +Elbridge S. Brooks + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The True Story of Christopher Columbus + +Author: Elbridge S. Brooks + +Release Date: February 15, 2006 [EBook #1488] +Last Updated: January 25, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRUE STORY OF COLUMBUS *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Keller and David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE TRUE STORY OF <br /> CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS<br /><br /> CALLED THE GREAT + ADMIRAL + </h1> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Elbridge S. Brooks + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [This was orginally done on the 400th Anniversary of 1492 as + was the great Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Interesting + how our heroes have all been de-canonized in the interest of + Political Correctitude—Comments by Michael S. Hart] +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <a href="#link2H_PREF"> PREFACE.</a><br /> <br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0002"> THE TRUE STORY OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS </a><br /> + <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I.</a> BOY WITH AN + IDEA. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II</a> WHAT + PEOPLE THOUGHT OF THE IDEA. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER + III</a> HOW COLUMBUS GAINED A QUEEN FOR HIS FRIEND. <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV</a> HOW THE ADMIRAL + SAILED AWAY. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V</a> HOW + THEY FARED ON THE SEA OF DARKNESS. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0006"> + CHAPTER VI</a> WHAT COLUMBUS DISCOVERED. <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII</a> HOW A BOY BROUGHT THE + ADMIRAL TO GRIEF. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII</a> TRYING + IT AGAIN. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX</a> HOW + THE TROUBLES OF THE ADMIRAL BEGAN. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0010"> + CHAPTER X</a> FROM PARADISE TO PRISON. <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI</a> HOW THE ADMIRAL CAME AND + WENT AGAIN. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII</a> HOW + THE ADMIRAL PLAYED ROBINSON CRUSOE. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0013"> + CHAPTER XIII</a> THE END OF THE STORY. <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER XIV</a> HOW + THE STORY TURNS OUT. + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + PREFACE. + </h2> + <p> + This "True Story of Christopher Columbus" is offered and inscribed to the + boys and girls of America as the opening volume in a series especially + designed for their reading, and to be called "Children's Lives of Great + Men." In this series the place of honor, or rather of position, is given + to Columbus the Admiral, because had it not been for him and for his pluck + and faith and perseverance there might have been no young Americans, such + as we know to-day, to read or care about the world's great men. + </p> + <p> + Columbus led the American advance; he discovered the New World; he left a + record of persistence in spite of discouragement and of triumph over all + obstacles, that has been the inspiration and guide for Americans ever + since his day, and that has led them to work on in faith and hope until + the end they strove for was won. + </p> + <p> + "The True Story of Christopher Columbus" will be followed by the "true + story" of others who have left names for us to honor and revere, who have + made the world better because they lived, and who have helped to make and + to develop American freedom, strength and progress. + </p> + <p> + It will be the endeavor to have all these presented in the simple, + straightforward, earnest way that appeals to children, and shows how the + hero can be the man, and the man the hero. E. S. B. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE TRUE STORY OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. BOY WITH AN IDEA. + </h2> + <p> + Men who do great things are men we all like to read about. This is the + story of Christopher Columbus, the man who discovered America. He lived + four hundred years ago. When he was a little boy he lived in Genoa. It was + a beautiful city in the northwestern part of the country called Italy. The + mountains were behind it; the sea was in front of it, and it was so + beautiful a place that the people who lived there called it "Genoa the + Superb." Christopher Columbus was born in this beautiful city of Genoa in + the year 1446, at number 27 Ponticello Street. He was a bright little + fellow with a fresh-looking face, a clear eye and golden hair. His + father's name was Domenico Columbus; his mother's name was Susanna. His + father was a wool-comber. He cleaned and straightened out the snarled-up + wool that was cut from the sheep so as to make it ready to be woven into + cloth. + </p> + <p> + Christopher helped his father do this when he grew strong enough, but he + went to school, too, and learned to read and write and to draw maps and + charts. These charts were maps of the sea, to show the sailors where they + could steer without running on the rocks and sand, and how to sail safely + from one country to another. + </p> + <p> + This world was not as big then as it is now—or, should say, people + did not know it was as big. Most of the lands that Columbus had studied + about in school, and most of the people he had heard about, were in Europe + and parts of Asia and Africa. The city of Genoa where Columbus lived was a + very busy and a very rich city. It was on the Mediterranean Sea, and many + of the people who lived there were sailors who went in their ships on + voyages to distant lands. They sailed to other places on the Mediterranean + Sea, which is a very large body of water, you know, and to England, to + France, to Norway, and even as far away as the cold northern island of + Iceland. This was thought to be a great journey. + </p> + <p> + The time in which Columbus lived was not as nice a time as is this in + which you live. People were always quarreling and fighting about one thing + or another, and the sailors who belonged to one country would try to catch + and steal the ships or the things that belonged to the sailors or the + storekeepers of another country. This is what we call piracy, and a + pirate, you know, is thought to be a very wicked man. + </p> + <p> + But when Columbus lived, men did not think it was so very wicked to be a + sort of half-way pirate, although they did know that they would be killed + if they were caught. So almost every sailor was about half pirate. Every + boy who lived near the seashore and saw the ships and the sailors, felt as + though he would like to sail away to far-off lands and see all the strange + sights and do all the brave things that the sailors told about. Many of + them even said they would like to be pirates and fight with other sailors, + and show how strong and brave and plucky they could be. + </p> + <p> + Columbus was one of these. He was what is called an adventurous boy. He + did not like to stay quietly at home with his father and comb out the + tangled wool. He thought it would be much nicer to sail away to sea and be + a brave captain or a rich merchant. + </p> + <p> + When he was about fourteen years old he really did go to sea. There was a + captain of a sailing vessel that sometimes came to Genoa who had the same + last name—Columbus. He was no relation, but the little Christopher + somehow got acquainted with him among the wharves of Genoa. Perhaps he had + run on errands for him, or helped him with some of the sea-charts he knew + so well how to draw. At any rate he sailed away with this Captain Columbus + as his cabin boy, and went to the wars with him and had quite an exciting + life for a boy. + </p> + <p> + Sailors are very fond of telling big stories about their own adventures or + about far-off lands and countries. Columbus, listened to many of these + sea-stories, and heard many wonderful things about a very rich land away + to the East that folks called Cathay. + </p> + <p> + If you look in your geographies you will not find any such place on the + map as Cathay, but you will find China, and that was what men in the time + of Columbus called Cathay. They told very big stories about this far-off + Eastern land. They said its kings lived in golden houses, that they were + covered with pearls and diamonds, and that everybody there was so rich + that money was as plentiful as the stones in the street. + </p> + <p> + This, of course, made the sailors and storekeepers, who were part pirate, + very anxious to go to Cathay and get some of the gold and jewels and + spices and splendor for themselves. But Cathay was miles and miles away + from Italy and Spain and France and England. It was away across the + deserts and mountains and seas and rivers, and they had to give it up + because they could not sail there. + </p> + <p> + At last a man whose name was Marco Polo, and who was a very brave and + famous traveler, really did go there, in spite of all the trouble it took. + And when he got back his stories were so very surprising that men were all + the more anxious to find a way to sail in their ships to Cathay and see it + for themselves. + </p> + <p> + But of course they could not sail over the deserts and mountains, and they + were very much troubled because they had to give up the idea, until the + son of the king of Portugal, named Prince Henry, said he believed that + ships could sail around Africa and so get to India or "the Indies" as they + called that land, and finally to Cathay. + </p> + <p> + Just look at your map again and see what a long, long voyage it would be + to sail from Spain and around Africa to India, China and Japan. It is such + a long sail that, as you know, the Suez Canal was dug some twenty years + ago so that ships could sail through the Mediterranean Sea and out into + the Indian Ocean, and not have to go away around Africa. + </p> + <p> + But when Columbus was a boy it was even worse than now, for no one really + knew how long Africa was, or whether ships really could sail around it. + But Prince Henry said he knew they could, and he sent out ships to try. He + died before his Portuguese sailors, Bartholomew Diaz, in 1493, and Vasco + de Gama, in 1497, at last did sail around it and got as far as "the + Indies." + </p> + <p> + So while Prince Henry was trying to see whether ships could sail around + Africa and reach Cathay in that way, the boy Columbus was listening to the + stories the sailors told and was wondering whether some other and easier + way to Cathay might not be found. + </p> + <p> + When he was at school he had studied about a certain man named Pythagoras, + who had lived in Greece thousands of years before he was born, and who had + said that the earth was round "like a ball or an orange." + </p> + <p> + As Columbus grew older and made maps and studied the sea, and read books + and listened to what other people said, he began to believe that this man + named Pythagoras might be right, and that the earth was round, though + everybody declared it was flat. If it is round, he said to himself, "what + is the use of trying to sail around Africa to get to Cathay? Why not just + sail west from Italy or Spain and keep going right around the world until + you strike Cathay? I believe it could be done," said Columbus. + </p> + <p> + By this time Columbus was a man. He was thirty years old and was a great + sailor. He had been captain of a number of vessels; he had sailed north + and south and east; he knew all about a ship and all about the sea. But, + though he was so good a sailor, when he said that he believed the earth + was round, everybody laughed at him and said that he was crazy. "Why, how + can the earth be round?" they cried. "The water would all spill out if it + were, and the men who live on the other side would all be standing on + their heads with their feet waving in the air." And then they laughed all + the harder. + </p> + <p> + But Columbus did not think it was anything to laugh at. He believed it so + strongly, and felt so sure that he was right, that he set to work to find + some king or prince or great lord to let him have ships and sailors and + money enough to try to find a way to Cathay by sailing out into the West + and across the Atlantic Ocean. + </p> + <p> + Now this Atlantic Ocean, the western waves of which break upon our rocks + and beaches, was thought in Columbus's day to be a dreadful place. People + called it the Sea of Darkness, because they did not know what was on the + other side of it, or what dangers lay beyond that distant blue rim where + the sky and water seem to meet, and which we call the horizon. They + thought the ocean stretched to the end of a flat world, straight away to a + sort of "jumping-off place," and that in this horrible jumping-off place + were giants and goblins and dragons and monsters and all sorts of terrible + things that would catch the ships and destroy them and the sailors. + </p> + <p> + So when Columbus said that he wanted to sail away toward this dreadful + jumping-off place, the people said that he was worse than crazy. They said + he was a wicked man and ought to be punished. + </p> + <p> + But they could not frighten Columbus. He kept on trying. He went from + place to place trying to get the ships and sailors he wanted and was bound + to have. As you will see in the next chapter, he tried to get help + wherever he thought it could be had. He asked the people of his own home, + the city of Genoa, where he had lived and played when a boy; he asked the + people of the beautiful city that is built in the sea—Venice; he + tried the king of Portugal, the king of England, the king of France the + king and queen of Spain. But for a long time nobody cared to listen to + such a wild and foolish and dangerous plan—to go to Cathay by the + way of the Sea of Darkness and the Jumping-off place. You would never get + there alive, they said. + </p> + <p> + And so Columbus waited. And his hair grew white while he waited, though he + was not yet an old man. He had thought and worked and hoped so much that + he began to look like an old man when he was forty years old. But still he + would never say that perhaps he was wrong, after all. He said he knew he + was right, and that some day he should find the Indies and sail to Cathay. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. WHAT PEOPLE THOUGHT OF THE IDEA. + </h2> + <p> + I do not wish you to think that Columbus was the first man to say that the + earth was round, or the first to sail to the West over the Atlantic Ocean. + He was not. Other men had said that they believed the earth was round; + other men had sailed out into the Atlantic Ocean. But no sailor who + believed the earth was round had ever yet tried to prove that it was by + crossing the Atlantic. So, you see, Columbus was really the first man to + say, I believe the earth is round and I will show you that it is by + sailing to the lands that are on the other side of the earth. + </p> + <p> + He even figured out how far it was around the world. Your geography, you + know, tells you now that what is called the circumference of the earth—that + is, a straight line drawn right around it—is nearly twenty-five + thousand miles. Columbus had figured it up pretty carefully and he thought + it was about twenty thousand miles. If I could start from Genoa, he said, + and walk straight ahead until I got back to Genoa again, I should walk + about twenty thousand miles. Cathay, he thought, would take up so much + land on the other side of the world that, if he went west instead of east, + he would only need to sail about twenty-five hundred or three thousand + miles. + </p> + <p> + If you have studied your geography carefully you will see what a mistake + he made. + </p> + <p> + It is really about twelve thousand miles from Spain to China (or Cathay as + he called it). But America is just about three thousand miles from Spain, + and if you read all this story you will see how Columbus's mistake really + helped him to discover America. + </p> + <p> + I have told you that Columbus had a longing to do something great from the + time when, as a little boy, he had hung around the wharves in Genoa and + looked at the ships sailing east and west and talked with the sailors and + wished that he could go to sea. Perhaps what he had learned at school—how + some men said that the earth was round—and what he had heard on the + wharves about the wonders of Cathay set him to thinking and to dreaming + that it might be possible for a ship to sail around the world without + falling off. At any rate, he kept on thinking and dreaming and longing + until, at last, he began doing. + </p> + <p> + Some of the sailors sent out by Prince Henry of Portugal, of whom I have + told you, in their trying to sail around Africa discovered two groups of + islands out in the Atlantic that they called the Azores, or Isles of + Hawks, and the Canaries, or Isles of Dogs. When Columbus was in Portugal + in 1470 he became acquainted with a young woman whose name was Philippa + Perestrelo. In 1473 he married her. + </p> + <p> + Now Philippa's father, before his death, had been governor of Porto Santo, + one of the Azores, and Columbus and his wife went off there to live. In + the governor's house Columbus found a lot of charts and maps that told him + about parts of the ocean that he had never before seen, and made him feel + certain that he was right in saying that if he sailed away to the West he + should find Cathay. + </p> + <p> + At that time there was an old man who lived in Florence, a city of Italy. + His name was Toscanelli. He was a great scholar and studied the stars and + made maps, and was a very wise man. Columbus knew what a wise old scholar + Toscanelli was, for Florence is not very far from Genoa. So while he was + living in the Azores he wrote to this old scholar asking him what he + thought about his idea that a man could sail around the world until he + reached the land called the Indies and at last found Cathay. + </p> + <p> + Toscanelli wrote to Columbus saying that he believed his idea was the + right one, and he said it would be a grand thing to do, if Columbus dared + to try it. Perhaps, he said, you can find all those splendid things that I + know are in Cathay—the great cities with marble bridges, the houses + of marble covered with gold, the jewels and the spices and the precious + stones, and all the other wonderful and magnificent things. I do not + wonder you wish to try, he said, for if you find Cathay it will be a + wonderful thing for you and for Portugal. + </p> + <p> + That settled it with Columbus. If this wise old scholar said he was right, + he must be right. So he left his home in the Azores and went to Portugal. + This was in 1475, and from that time on, for seventeen long years he was + trying to get some king or prince to help him sail to the West to find + Cathay. + </p> + <p> + But not one of the people who could have helped him, if they had really + wished to, believed in Columbus. As I told you, they said that he was + crazy. The king of Portugal, whose name was John, did a very unkind thing—I + am sure you would call it a mean trick. Columbus had gone to him with his + story and asked for ships and sailors. The king and his chief men refused + to help him; but King John said to himself, perhaps there is something in + this worth looking after and, if so, perhaps I can have my own people find + Cathay and save the money that Columbus will want to keep for himself as + his share of what he finds. So one day he copied off the sailing + directions that Columbus had left with him, and gave them to one of his + own captains without letting Columbus know anything about it, The + Portuguese captain sailed away to the West in the direction Columbus had + marked down, but a great storm came up and so frightened the sailors that + they turned around in a hurry. Then they hunted up Columbus and began to + abuse him for getting them into such a scrape. You might as well expect to + find land in the sky, they said, as in those terrible waters. + </p> + <p> + And when, in this way, Columbus found out that King John had tried to use + his ideas without letting him know anything about it, he was very angry. + His wife had died in the midst of this mean trick of the Portuguese king, + and so, taking with him his little five-year-old son, Diego, he left + Portugal secretly and went over into Spain. + </p> + <p> + Near the little town of Palos, in western Spain, is a green hill looking + out toward the Atlantic. Upon this hill stands an old building that, four + hundred years ago, was used as a a convent or home for priests. It was + called the Convent of Rabida, and the priest at the head of it was named + the Friar Juan Perez. One autumn day, in the year 1484, Friar Juan Perez + saw a dusty traveler with a little boy talking with the gate-keeper of the + convent. The stranger was so tall and fine-looking, and seemed such an + interesting man, that Friar Juan went out and began to talk with him. This + man was Columbus. + </p> + <p> + As they talked, the priest grew more and more interested in what Columbus + said. He invited him into the convent to stay for a few days, and he asked + some other people—the doctor of Palos and some of the sea captains + and sailors of the town—to come and talk with this stranger who had + such a singular idea about sailing across the Atlantic. + </p> + <p> + It ended in Columbus's staying some months in Palos, waiting for a chance + to go and see the king and queen. At last, in 1485, he set out for the + Spanish court with a letter to a priest who was a friend of Friar Juan's, + and who could help him to see the king and queen. + </p> + <p> + At that time the king and queen of Spain were fighting to drive out of + Spain the people called the Moors. These people came from Africa, but they + had lived in Spain for many years and had once been a very rich and + powerful nation. They were not Spaniards; they were not Christians. So all + Spaniards and all Christians hated them and tried to drive them out of + Europe. + </p> + <p> + The king and queen of Spain who were fighting the Moors were named + Ferdinand and Isabella. They were pretty good people as kings and queens + went in those days, but they did a great many very cruel and very mean + things, just as the kings and queens of those days were apt to do. I am + afraid we should not think they were very nice people nowadays. We + certainly should not wish our American boys and girls to look up to them + as good and true and noble. + </p> + <p> + When Columbus first came to them, they were with the army in the camp near + the city of Cordova. The king and queen had no time to listen to what they + thought were crazy plans, and poor Columbus could get no one to talk with + him who could be of any help. So he was obliged to go back to drawing maps + and selling books to make enough money to support himself and his little + Diego. + </p> + <p> + But at last, through the friend of good Friar Juan Perez of Rabida, who + was a priest at the court, and named Talavera, and to whom he had a letter + of introduction, Columbus found a chance to talk over his plans with a + number of priests and scholars in the city of Salamanca where there was a + famous college and many learned men. + </p> + <p> + Columbus told his story. He said what he wished to do, and asked these + learned men to say a good word for him to, Ferdinand and Isabella so that + he could have the ships and sailors to sail to Cathay. But it was of no + use. + </p> + <p> + What! sail away around the world? those wise men cried in horror. Why, you + are crazy. The world is not round; it is flat. Your ships would tumble off + the edge of the world and all the king's money and all the king's men + would be lost. No, no; go away; you must not trouble the queen or even + mention such a ridiculous thing again. + </p> + <p> + So the most of them said. But one or two thought it might be worth trying. + Cathay was a very rich country, and if this foolish fellow were willing to + run the risk and did succeed, it would be a good thing for Spain, as the + king and queen would need a great deal of money after the war with the + Moors was over. At any rate, it was a chance worth thinking about. + </p> + <p> + And so, although Columbus was dreadfully disappointed, he thought that if + he had only a few friends at Court who were ready to say a good word for + him he must not give up, but must try, try again. And so he staid in + Spain. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. HOW COLUMBUS GAINED A QUEEN FOR HIS FRIEND. + </h2> + <p> + When you wish very much to do a certain thing it is dreadfully hard to be + patient; it is harder still to have to wait. Columbus had to do both. The + wars against the Moors were of much greater interest to the king and queen + of Spain than was the finding of a new and very uncertain way to get to + Cathay. If it had not been for the patience and what we call the + persistence of Columbus, America would never have been discovered—at + least not in his time. + </p> + <p> + He staid in Spain. He grew poorer and, poorer. He was almost friendless. + It seemed as if his great enterprise must be given up. But he never lost + hope. He never stopped trying. Even when he failed he kept on hoping and + kept on trying. He felt certain that sometime he should succeed. + </p> + <p> + As we have seen, he tried to interest the rulers of different countries, + but with no success. He tried to get help from his old home-town of Genoa + and failed; he tried Portugal and failed; he tried the Republic of Venice + and failed; he tried the king and queen of Spain and failed; he tried some + of the richest and most powerful of the nobles of Spain and failed; he + tried the king of England (whom he got his brother, Bartholomew Columbus, + to go and see) and failed. There was still left the king of France. He + would make one last attempt to win the king and queen of Spain to his side + and if he failed with them he would try the last of the rulers of Western + Europe, the king of France. + </p> + <p> + He followed the king and queen of Spain as they went from place to place + fighting the Moors. He hoped that some day, when they wished to think of + something besides fighting, they might think of him and the gold and + jewels and spices of Cathay. + </p> + <p> + The days grew into months, the months to years, and still the war against + the Moors kept on; and still Columbus waited for the chance that did not + come. People grew to know him as "the crazy explorer" as they met him in + the streets or on the church steps of Seville or Cordova, and even ragged + little boys of the town, sharp-eyed and shrill-voiced as all such ragged + little urchins are, would run after this big man with the streaming white + hair and the tattered cloak, calling him names or tapping their brown + little foreheads with their dirty fingers to show that even they knew that + he was "as crazy as a loon." + </p> + <p> + At last he decided to make one more attempt before giving it up in Spain. + His money was gone; his friends were few; but he remembered his + acquaintances at Palos and so he journeyed back to see once more his good + friend Friar Juan Perez at the Convent of Rabida on the hill that looked + out upon the Atlantic he was so anxious to cross. + </p> + <p> + It was in the month of November, 1491, that he went back to the Convent of + Rabida. If he could not get any encouragement there, he was determined to + stay in Spain no longer but to go away and try the king of France. + </p> + <p> + Once more he talked over the finding of Cathay with the priests and the + sailors of Palos. They saw how patient he was; how persistent he was; how + he would never give up his ideas until he had tried them. They were moved + by his determination. They began to believe in him more and more. They + resolved to help him. One of the principal sea captains of Palos was named + Martin Alonso Pinzon. He became so interested that he offered to lend + Columbus money enough to make one last appeal to the king and queen of + Spain, and if Columbus should succeed with them, this Captain Pinzon said + that he would go into partnership with Columbus and help him out when it + came to getting ready to sail to Cathay. + </p> + <p> + This was a move in the right direction. At once a messenger was sent to + the splendid Spanish camp before the city of Granada, the last unconquered + city of the Moors of Spain. The king and queen of Spain had been so long + trying to capture Granada that this camp was really a city, with gates and + walls and houses. It was called Santa Fe. Queen Isabella, who was in Santa + Fe, after some delay, agreed to hear more about the crazy scheme of this + persistent Genoese sailor, and the Friar Juan Perez was sent for. He + talked so well in behalf of his friend Columbus that the queen became + still more interested. She ordered Columbus to come and see her, and sent + him sixty-five dollars to pay for a mule, a new suit of clothes and the + journey to court. + </p> + <p> + About Christmas time, in the year 1491, Columbus, mounted upon his mule, + rode into the Spanish camp before the city of Granada. But even now, when + he had been told to come, he had to wait. Granada was almost captured; the + Moors were almost conquered. At last the end came. On the second of + January, 1492, the Moorish king gave up the keys of his beloved city, and + the great Spanish banner was hoisted on the highest tower of the Alhambra—the + handsomest building in Granada and one of the most beautiful in the world. + The Moors were driven out of Spain and Columbus's chance had come. + </p> + <p> + So he appeared before Queen Isabella and her chief men and told them again + of all his plans and desires. The queen and her advisers sat in a great + room in that splendid Alhambra I have told you of. King Ferdinand was not + there. He did not believe in Columbus and did not wish to let him have + either money, ships or sailors to lose in such a foolish way. But as + Columbus stood before her and talked so earnestly about how he expected to + find the Indies and Cathay and what he hoped to bring away from there, + Queen Isabella listened and thought the plan worth trying. + </p> + <p> + Then a singular thing happened. You would think if you wished for + something very much that you would give up a good deal for the sake of + getting it. Columbus had worked and waited for seventeen years. He had + never got what he wanted. He was always being disappointed. And yet, as he + talked to the queen and told her what he wished to do, he said he must + have so much as a reward for doing it that the queen and her chief men + were simply amazed at his—well, what the boys to-day call "cheek"—that + they would have nothing to do with him. This man really is crazy, they + said. This poor Genoese sailor comes here without a thing except his very + odd ideas, and almost "wants the earth" as a reward. This is not exactly + what they said, but it is what they meant. + </p> + <p> + His few friends begged him to be more modest. Do not ask so much, they + said, or you will get nothing. But Columbus was determined. I have worked + and waited all these years, he replied. I know just what I can do and just + how much I can do for the king and queen of Spain. They must pay me what I + ask and promise what I say, or I will go somewhere else. Go, then! said + the queen and her advisers. And Columbus turned his back on what seemed + almost his last hope, mounted his mule and rode away. + </p> + <p> + Then something else happened. As Columbus rode off to find the French + king, sick and tired of all his long and useless labor at the Spanish + court, his few firm friends there saw that, unless they did something + right away, all the glory and all the gain of this enterprise Columbus had + taught them to believe in would be lost to Spain. So two of them, whose + names were Santangel and Quintanilla, rushed into the queen's room and + begged her, if she wished to become the greatest queen in Christendom, to + call back this wandering sailor, agree to his terms and profit by his + labors. + </p> + <p> + What if he does ask a great deal? they said. He has spent his life + thinking his plan out; no wonder he feels that he ought to have a good + share of what he finds. What he asks is really small compared with what + Spain will gain. The war with the Moors has cost you ever so much; your + money-chests are empty; Columbus will fill them up. The people of Cathay + are heathen; Columbus will help you make them Christian men. The Indies + and Cathay are full of gold and jewels; Columbus will bring you home + shiploads of treasures. Spain has conquered the Moors; Columbus will help + you conquer Cathay. + </p> + <p> + In fact, they talked to Queen Isabella so strongly and so earnestly, that + she, too, became excited over this chance for glory and riches that she + had almost lost, Quick! send for Columbus. Call him back! she said. I + agree to his terms. If King Ferdinand cannot or will not take the risk, I, + the queen, will do it all. Quick! do not let the man get into France. + After him. Bring him back! + </p> + <p> + And without delay a royal messenger, mounted on a swift horse, was sent at + full gallop to bring Columbus back. + </p> + <p> + All this time poor Columbus felt bad enough. Everything had gone wrong. + Now he must go away into a new land and do it all over again. Kings and + queens, he felt, were not to be depended upon, and he remembered a place + in the Bible where it said: "Put not your trust in princes." Sad, solitary + and heavy-hearted, he jogged slowly along toward the mountains, wondering + what the king of France would say to him, and whether it was really worth + trying. + </p> + <p> + Just as he was riding across the little bridge called the Bridge of Pinos, + some six miles from Granada, he heard the quick hoof-beats of a horse + behind him. It was a great spot for robbers, and Columbus felt of the + little money he had in his traveling pouch, and wondered whether he must + lose it all. The hoof-beats came nearer. Then a voice hailed him. Turn + back, turn back! the messenger cried out. The queen bids you return to + Granada. She grants you all you ask. + </p> + <p> + Columbus hesitated. Ought he to trust this promise, he wondered. Put not + your trust in princes, the verse in the Bible had said. If I go back I may + only be put off and worried as I have been before. And yet, perhaps she + means what she says. At any rate, I will go back and try once more. + </p> + <p> + So, on the little Bridge of Pinos, he turned his mule around and rode back + to Granada. And, sure enough, when he saw Queen Isabella she agreed to all + that he asked. If he found Cathay, Columbus was to be made admiral for + life of all the new seas and oceans into which he might sail; he was to be + chief ruler of all the lands he might find; he was to keep one tenth part + of all the gold and jewels and treasures he should bring away, and was to + have his "say" in all questions about the new lands. For his part (and + this was because of the offer of his friend at Palos, Captain Pinzon) he + agreed to pay one eighth of all the expenses of this expedition and of all + new enterprises, and was to have one eighth of all the profits from them. + </p> + <p> + So Columbus had his wish at last. The queen's men figured up how much + money they could let him have; they called him "Don Christopher Columbus," + "Your Excellency" and "Admiral," and at once he set about getting ready + for his voyage. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. HOW THE ADMIRAL SAILED AWAY. + </h2> + <p> + The agreement made between Columbus and the king and queen of Spain was + signed on the seventeenth of April, 1492. But it was four months before he + was quite ready to sail away. + </p> + <p> + He selected the town of Palos as the place to sail from, because there, as + you know, Captain Pinzon lived; there, too, he had other acquaintances, so + that he supposed it would be easy to get the sailors he needed for his + ships. But in this he was greatly mistaken. + </p> + <p> + As soon as the papers had been signed that held the queen to her promise, + Columbus set off for Palos. He stopped at the Convent of Rabida to tell + the Friar Juan Perez how thankful he was to him for the help the good + priest had given him, and how everything now looked promising and + successful. + </p> + <p> + The town of Palos, as you can see from your map of Spain, is situated at + the mouth of the river Tinto on a little bay in the southwestern part of + Spain, not far from the borders of Portugal. To-day the sea has gone away + from it so much that it is nearly high and dry; but four hundred years ago + it was quite a seaport, when Spain did not have a great many sea towns on + the Atlantic coast. + </p> + <p> + At the time of Columbus's voyage the king and queen of Spain were angry + with the port of Palos for something its people had done that was wrong—just + what this was we do not know. But to punish the town, and because Columbus + wished to sail from there, the king and queen ordered that Palos should + pay them a fine for their wrong-doing. And this fine was to lend the king + and queen of Spain, for one year, without pay, two sailing vessels of the + kind called caravel's, armed and equipped "for the service of the crown"—that + is, for the use of the king and queen of Spain, in the western voyage that + Columbus was to make. + </p> + <p> + When Columbus called together the leading people of Palos to meet him in + the church of St. George and hear the royal commands, they came; but at + first they did not understand just what they must do. But when they knew + that they must send two of their ships and some of their sailing men on + this dreadful voyage far out upon the terrible Sea of Darkness, they were + terribly distressed. Nobody was willing to go. They would obey the + commands of the king and queen and furnish the two ships, but as for + sailing off with this crazy sea captain—that they would not do. + </p> + <p> + Then the king's officers went to work. They seized some sailors (impressed + is the word for this), and made them go; they took some from the jails, + and gave them their freedom as a reward for going; they begged and + threatened and paid in advance, and still it was hard to get enough men + for the two ships. Then Captain Pinzon, who had promised Columbus that he + would join him, tried his hand. He added a third ship to the Admiral's + "fleet." He made big promises to the sailors, and worked for weeks, until + at last he was able to do what even the royal commands could not do, and a + crew of ninety men was got together to man the three vessels. The names of + these three vessels were the Capitana (changed before it sailed to the + Santa Maria), the Pinta and the Nina or Baby. Captain de la Cosa commanded + the Santa Maria, Captain Martin Alonso Pinzon the Pinta and his brother, + Captain Vincent Pinzon, the Nina. The Santa Maria was the largest of the + three vessels; it was therefore selected as the leader of the fleet—the + flag-ship, as it is called—and upon it sailed the commander of the + expedition, the Admiral Don Christopher Columbus. + </p> + <p> + When we think of a voyage across the Atlantic nowadays, we think of + vessels as large as the big three-masted ships or the great ocean steamers—vessels + over six hundred feet long and fifty feet wide. But these "ships" of + Columbus were not really ships. They were hardly larger than the "fishing + smacks" that sail up and down our coast to-day. Some of them were not so + large. The Santa Maria was, as I have told you, the largest of the three, + and she was only sixty-three feet long, twenty feet wide and ten and a + half feet deep. Just measure this out on the ground and see how small, + after all, the Admiral's "flag-ship" really was. The Pinta was even + smaller than this, while the little Nina was hardly anything more than a + good-sized sail boat. Do you wonder that the poor people of Palos and the + towns round about were frightened when they thought of their fathers and + brothers and sons putting out to sea, on the great ocean they had learned + to dread so much, in such shaky little boats as these? + </p> + <p> + But finally the vessels were ready. The crews were selected. The time had + come to go. Most of the sailors were Spanish men from the towns near to + the sea, but somehow a few who were not Spaniards joined the crew. + </p> + <p> + One of the first men to land in America from one of the ships of Columbus + was an Irishman named William, from the County Galway. And another was an + Englishman named either Arthur Laws or Arthur Larkins. The Spanish names + for both these men look very queer, and only a wise scholar who digs among + names and words could have found out what they really were. But such a one + did find it out, and it increases our interest in the discovery of America + to know that some of our own northern blood—the Irishman and the + Englishman—were in the crews of Columbus. + </p> + <p> + The Admiral Columbus was so sure he was going to find a rich and civilized + country, such as India and Cathay were said to be, that he took along on + his ships the men he would need in such places as he expected to visit and + among such splendid people as he was sure he should meet. He took along a + lawyer to make out all the forms and proclamations and papers that would + have to be sent by the Admiral to the kings and princes he expected to + visit; he had a secretary and historian to write out the story of what he + should find and what he should do. There was a learned Jew, named Louis, + who could speak almost a dozen languages, and who could, of course, tell + him what the people of Cathay and Cipango and the Indies were talking + about. There was a jeweler and silversmith who knew all about the gold and + silver and precious stones that Columbus was going to load the ships with; + there was a doctor and a surgeon; there were cooks and pilots, and even a + little fellow, who sailed in the Santa Maria as the Admiral's cabin boy, + and whose name was Pedro de Acevedo. + </p> + <p> + Some scholars have said that it cost about two hundred and thirty thousand + dollars to fit out this expedition. I do not think it cost nearly so much. + We do know that Queen Isabella gave sixty-seven thousand dollars to help + pay for it. Some people, however, reckoning the old Spanish money in a + different way, say that what Queen Isabella gave toward the expedition was + not over three or four thousand dollars of our money. Perhaps as much more + was borrowed from King Ferdinand, although he was to have no share in the + enterprise in which Queen Isabella and Columbus were partners. + </p> + <p> + It was just an hour before sunrise on Friday, the third of August, 1492, + that the three little ships hoisted their anchors and sailed away from the + port of Palos. I suppose it was a very sorry and a very exciting morning + in Palos. The people probably crowded down on the docks, some of them sad + and sorrowful, some of them restless and curious. Their fathers and + brothers and sons and acquaintances were going—no one knew where, + dragged off to sea by a crazy old Italian sailor who thought there was + land to be found somewhere beyond the Jumping-off place. They all knew he + was wrong. They were certain that nothing but dreadful goblins and + horrible monsters lived off there to the West, just waiting to devour or + destroy the poor sailors when these three little ships should tumble over + the edge. + </p> + <p> + But how different Columbus must have felt as he stepped, into the rowboat + that took him off to his "flag-ship," the Santa Maria. His dreams had come + true. He had ships and sailors under his command, and was about to sail + away to discover great and wonderful things. He who had been so poor that + he could hardly buy his own dinner, was now called Don and Admiral. He had + a queen for his friend and helper. He was given a power that only the + richest and noblest could hope for. But more than all, he was to have the + chance he had wished and worked for so long. He was to find the Indies; he + was to see Cathay; he was to have his share in all the wealth he should + discover and bring away. The son of the poor wool-weaver of Genoa was to + be the friend of kings and princes; the cabin boy of a pirate was now + Admiral of the Seas and Governor of the Colonies of Spain! Do you wonder + that he felt proud? + </p> + <p> + So, as I have told you, just before sunrise on a Friday morning in August, + he boarded the Santa Maria and gave orders to his captains "to get under + way." The sailors with a "yo heave ho!" (or whatever the Spanish for that + is) tugged at the anchors, the sails filled with the morning breeze, and + while the people of Palos watched them from the shore, while the good + friar, Juan Perez, raised his hands to Heaven calling down a blessing on + the enterprise, while the children waved a last good-by from the + water-stairs, the three vessels steered out from Palos Harbor, and before + that day's sun had set, Columbus and his fleet were full fifty miles on + their way across the Sea of Darkness. The westward voyage to those + wonderful lands, the Indies and Cathay, had at last begun. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. HOW THEY FARED ON THE SEA OF DARKNESS. + </h2> + <p> + Did you ever set out, in the dark, to walk with your little brother or + sister along a road you did not know much about or had never gone over + before? It was not an easy thing to do, was it? And how did your little + brother or sister feel when it was known that you were not just certain + whether you were right or not? Do you remember what the Bible says about + the blind leading the blind? + </p> + <p> + It was much the same with Columbus when he set out from Palos to sail over + an unknown sea to find the uncertain land of Cathay. He had his own idea + of the way there, but no one in all his company had ever sailed it, and he + himself was not sure about it. He was very much in the dark. And the + sailors in the three ships were worse than little children. They did not + even have the confidence in their leader that your little brother or + sister would probably have in you as you traveled that new road on a dark + night. It was almost another case of the blind leading the blind, was it + not? + </p> + <p> + Columbus first steered his ships to the south so as to reach the Canary + Islands and commence his real westward voyage from there. The Canary + Islands, as you will see by looking in your geography, are made up of + seven islands and lie off the northern corner of Africa, some sixty miles + or so west of Morocco. They were named Canaria by the Romans from the + Latin canis, a dog, "because of the multitude of dogs of great size" that + were found there. The canary birds that sing so sweetly in your home come + from these islands. They had been known to the Spaniards and other + European sailors of Columbus's day about a hundred years. + </p> + <p> + At the Canaries the troubles of Columbus commenced. And he did have a lot + of trouble before his voyage was over. While near the island called the + Grand Canary the rudder of the Pinta, in which Captain Alonso Pinzon + sailed, somehow got loose, then broke and finally came off. It was said + that two of the Pinta's crew, who were really the owners of the vessel, + broke the rudder on purpose, because they had become frightened at the + thoughts of the perilous voyage, and hoped by damaging their vessel to be + left behind. + </p> + <p> + But Columbus had no thought of doing any such thing. He sailed to the + island of Gomera, where he knew some people, and had the Pinta mended. And + while lying here with his fleet the great mountain on the island of + Teneriffe, twelve thousand feet high, suddenly began to spit out flame and + smoke. It was, as of course you know, a volcano; but the poor frightened + sailors did not know what set this mountain on fire, and they were scared + almost out of their wits' and begged the Admiral to go back home. But + Columbus would not. And as they sailed away from Gomera some sailors told + them that the king of Portugal was angry with Columbus because he had got + his ships from the king and queen of Spain, and that he had sent out some + of his war-ships to worry or capture Columbus. + </p> + <p> + But these, too, Columbus escaped, although not before his crews had grown + terribly nervous for fear of capture. At last they got away from the + Canaries, and on Sunday, the ninth of September, 1492, with a fresh breeze + filling their sails, the three caravels sailed away into the West. And as + the shores of Ferro, the very last of the Canary Islands, faded out of + sight, the sailors burst into sighs and murmurings and tears, saying that + now indeed they were sailing off—off—off—upon the awful + Sea of Darkness and would never see land any more. + </p> + <p> + When Columbus thought that he was sailing too slowly—he had now been + away from Palos a month and was only about a hundred miles out at sea—and + when he saw what babies his sailors were, he did something that was not + just right (for it is never right to do anything that is not true) but + which he felt he really must do. He made two records (or reckonings as + they are called) of his sailing. One of these records was a true one; this + he kept for himself. The other was a false one; this he kept to show his + sailors. So while they thought they were sailing slowly and that the ocean + was not so very wide, Columbus knew from his own true record that they + were getting miles and miles away from home. + </p> + <p> + Soon another thing happened to worry the sailors. The pilots were steering + by the compass. You know what that is—a sort of big magnet-needle + perfectly balanced and pointing always to the north. At the time of + Columbus the compass was a new thing and was only understood by a few. On + the thirteenth of September they had really got into the middle of the + ocean, and the line of the north changed. Of course this made the needle + in the compass change its position also. Now the sailors had been taught + to believe so fully in the compass that they thought it could never change + its position. And here it was playing a cruel trick upon them. We are + trapped! they cried. The goblins in this dreadful sea are making our + compass point wrong so as to drag us to destruction. Go back; take us + back! they demanded. + </p> + <p> + But Columbus, though he knew that his explanation was wrong, said the + compass was all right. The North Star, toward which the needle always + pointed, had, so he said, changed its position. This quieted the sailors + for a while. + </p> + <p> + When they had been about forty days out from Palos, the ship ran into what + is marked upon your maps as the Sargasso Sea. This is a vast meadow of + floating seaweed and seagrass in the middle of the Atlantic; it is kept + drifting about in the same place by the two great sea currents that flow + past it but not through it. + </p> + <p> + The sailors did not know this, of course, and when the ships began to sail + slower and slower because the seaweed was so thick and heavy and because + there was no current to carry them along, they were sure that they were + somewhere near to the jumping-off place, and that the horrible monsters + they had heard of were making ready to stop their ships, and when they had + got them all snarled up in this weed to drag them all down to the bottom + of the sea. + </p> + <p> + For nearly a week the ships sailed over these vast sea-meadows, and when + they were out of them they struck what we call the trade-winds—a + never-failing breeze that blew them ever westward. Then the sailors cried + out that they were in an enchanted land where there was but one wind and + never a breeze to blow the poor sailors home again. Were they not + fearfully "scarey?" But no doubt we should have been so, too, if we had + been with them and knew no more than they did. + </p> + <p> + And when they had been over fifty days from home on the twenty-fifth of + September, some one suddenly cried Land! Land! And all hands crowded to + the side. Sure enough, they all saw it, straight ahead of them—fair + green islands and lofty hills and a city with castles and temples and + palaces that glittered beautifully in the sun. + </p> + <p> + Then they all cried for joy and sang hymns of praise and shouted to each + other that their troubles were over. Cathay, it is Cathay! they cried; and + they steered straight for the shining city. But, worst of all their + troubles, even as they sailed toward the land they thought to be Cathay, + behold! it all disappeared—island and castle and palace and temple + and city, and nothing but the tossing sea lay all about them. + </p> + <p> + For this that they had seen was what is called a mirage—a trick of + the clouds and the sun and the sea that makes people imagine they see what + they would like to, but really do not. But after this Columbus had a + harder time than ever with his men, for they were sure he was leading them + all astray. + </p> + <p> + And so with frights and imaginings and mysteries like these, with strange + birds flying about the ships and floating things in the water that told of + land somewhere about them, with hopes again and again disappointed, and + with the sailors growing more and more restless and discontented, and + muttering threats against this Italian adventurer who, was leading the + ships and sailors of the Spanish king to sure destruction, Columbus still + sailed on, as full of patience and of faith, as certain of success as he + had ever been. + </p> + <p> + On the seventh of October, 1492, the true record that Columbus was keeping + showed that he had sailed twenty-seven hundred miles from the Canaries; + the false record that the sailors saw said they had sailed twenty-two + hundred miles. Had Columbus kept straight on, he would have landed very + soon upon the coast of Florida or South Carolina, and would really have + discovered the mainland of America. But Captain Alonso Pinzon saw what + looked like a flock of parrots flying south. This made him think the land + lay that way; so he begged the Admiral to change his course to the + southward as he was sure there was no land to the west. Against his will, + Columbus at last consented, and turning to the southwest headed for Cuba. + </p> + <p> + But he thought he was steering for Cathay. The islands of Japan, were, he + thought, only a few leagues away to the west. They were really, as you + know, away across the United States and then across the Pacific Ocean, + thousands of miles farther west than Columbus could sail. But according to + his reckoning he hoped within a day or two to see the cities and palaces + of this wonderful land. + </p> + <p> + When they sailed from the Canaries a reward had been offered to whomsoever + should first see land. This reward was to be a silken jacket and nearly + five hundred dollars in money; so all the sailors were on the watch. + </p> + <p> + At about ten o'clock on the evening of the eleventh of October, Columbus, + standing on the high raised stern of the Santa Maria, saw a moving light, + as if some one on the shore were running with a flaming torch. At two + o'clock the next morning—Friday, the twelfth of October, 1492 the + sharp eyes of a watchful sailor on the Pinta (his name was Rodrigo de + Triana) caught sight of a long low coastline not far away. He raised the + joyful shout Land, ho! The ships ran in as near to the shore as they + dared, and just ten weeks after the anchors had been hauled up in Palos + Harbor they were dropped overboard, and the hips of Columbus were anchored + in the waters of a new world. + </p> + <p> + Where was it? What was it? Was it Cathay? Columbus was sure that it was. + He was certain that the morning sun would shine for him upon the marble + towers and golden roofs of the wonderful city of the kings of Cathay. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI. WHAT COLUMBUS DISCOVERED. + </h2> + <p> + A little over three hundred years ago there was a Pope of Rome whose name + was Gregory XIII. He was greatly interested in learning and science, and + when the scholars and wise men of his day showed him that a mistake in + reckoning time had long before been made he set about to make it right. At + that time the Pope of Rome had great influence with the kings and queens + of Europe, and whatever he wished them to do they generally did. + </p> + <p> + So they all agreed to his plan of renumbering the days of the year, and a + new reckoning of time was made upon the rule that most of you know by + heart in the old rhyme: + </p> + <p> + Thirty days hath September, April, June and November; All the rest have + thirty-one, Excepting February which alone Hath twenty-eight—and + this, in fine, One year in four hath twenty-nine. + </p> + <p> + And the order of the days of the months and the year is what is called, + after Pope Gregory, the Gregorian Calendar. + </p> + <p> + This change in reckoning time made, of course, all past dates wrong. The + old dates, which were called Old Style, had to be made to correspond with + the new dates which were called New Style. + </p> + <p> + Now, according to the Old Style, Columbus discovered the islands he + thought to be the Indies (and which have ever since been called the West + Indies) on the twelfth of October, 1492. But, according to the New Style, + adopted nearly one hundred years after his discovery, the right date would + be the twenty-first of October. And this is why, in the Columbian memorial + year of 1892, the world celebrated the four hundredth anniversary of the + discovery of America on the twenty-first of October; which, as you see, is + the same as the twelfth under the Old Style of reckoning time. + </p> + <p> + But did Columbus discover America? What was this land that greeted his + eyes as the daylight came on that Friday morning, and he saw the low green + shores that lay ahead of his caravels. + </p> + <p> + As far as Columbus was concerned he was sure that he had found some one of + the outermost islands of Cipango or Japan. So he dropped his anchors, + ordered out his rowboat, and prepared to take possession of the land in + the name of the queen of Spain, who had helped him in his enterprise. + </p> + <p> + Just why or by what right a man from one country could sail up to the land + belonging to another country and, planting in the ground the flag of his + king, could say, "This land belongs to my king!" is a hard question to + answer. But there is an old saying that tells us, Might makes right; and + the servants of the kings and queens—the adventurers and explorers + of old—used to go sailing about the world with this idea in their + heads, and as soon as they came to a land they, had never seen before, up + would go their flag, and they would say, This land is mine and my king's! + They would not of course do this in any of the well-known or "Christian + lands" of Europe; but they believed that all "pagan lands" belonged by + right to the first European king whose sailors should discover and claim + them. + </p> + <p> + So Columbus lowered a boat from the Santa Maria, and with two of his chief + men and some sailors for rowers he pulled off toward the island. + </p> + <p> + But before he did so, he had to listen to the cheers and congratulations + of the very sailors who, only a few days before, were ready to kill him. + But, you see, this man whom they thought crazy had really brought them to + the beautiful land, just as he had promised. It does make such a + difference, you know, in what people say whether a thing turns out right + or not. + </p> + <p> + Columbus, as I say, got into his rowboat with his chief inspector and his + lawyer. He wore a crimson cloak over his armor, and in his hand he held + the royal banner of Spain. Following him came Captain Alonso Pinzon in a + rowboat from the Pinta, and in a rowboat from the Nina Captain Vincent + Pinzon. Each of these captains carried the "banner of the green cross" on + which were to be seen the initials of the king and queen of Spain. + </p> + <p> + As they rowed toward the land they saw some people on the shore. They were + not dressed in the splendid clothes the Spaniards expected to find the + people of Cathay wearing. In fact, they did not have on much of anything + but grease and paint. And the land showed no signs of the marble temples + and gold-roofed palaces the sailors expected to find. It was a little, + low, flat green island, partly covered with trees and with what looked + like a lake in the center. + </p> + <p> + This land was, in fact, one of the three thousand keys or coral islands + that stretch from the capes of Florida to the island of Hayti, and are + known as the Bahama Islands. The one upon which Columbus landed was called + by the natives Guanahani, and was either the little island now marked on + the map as Cat Island or else the one called Watling's Island. Just which + of these it was has been discussed over and over again, but careful + scholars have now but little doubt that it was the one known to-day as + Watling's Island. To see no sign of glittering palaces and gayly dressed + people was quite a disappointment to Columbus. But then, he said, this, is + probably the island farthest out to sea, and the people who live here are + not the real Cathay folks. We shall see them very soon. + </p> + <p> + So with the royal banner and the green-cross standards floating above him, + with his captains and chief officers and some of the sailors gathered + about him, while all the others watched him from the decks of his fleet, + Columbus stepped upon the shore. Then he took off his hat, and holding the + royal banner in one hand and his sword in the other he said aloud: I take + possession of this island, which I name San Salvador,(*) and of all the + islands and lands about it in the name of my patron and sovereign lady, + Isabella, and her kingdom of Castile. This, or something like it, he said, + for the exact words are not known to us. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (*) The island of San Salvador means the island of the Holy + Saviour. Columbus and the Spanish explorers who followed him + gave Bible or religious names to very much of the land they + discovered. +</pre> + <p> + And when he had done this the captains and sailors fell at his feet in + wonder and admiration, begging him to forgive them for all the hard things + they had said about him. For you have found Cathay, they cried. You are + our leader. You will make us rich and powerful. Hurrah for the great + Admiral! + </p> + <p> + And when the naked and astonished people of the island saw all this—the + canoes with wings, as they called the ships, the richly-dressed men with + white and bearded faces, the flags and swords, and the people kneeling + about this grand-looking old man in the crimson cloak—they said to + one another: These men are gods; they have come from Heaven to see us. And + then, they, too, fell on the ground and worshiped these men from Heaven, + as they supposed Columbus and his sailors to be. + </p> + <p> + And when they found that the men from Heaven did not offer to hurt them, + they came nearer; and the man in the crimson cloak gave them beads and + pieces of bright cloth and other beautiful things they had never seen + before. And this made them feel all the more certain that these men who + had come to see them in the canoes with wings must really be from Heaven. + So they brought them fruits and flowers and feathers and birds as + presents; and both parties, the men with clothes and the men without + clothes, got on very well together. + </p> + <p> + But Columbus, as we know, had come across the water for one especial + reason. He was to find Cathay, and he was to find it so that he could + carry back to Spain the gold and jewels and spices of Cathay. The first + thing, therefore, that he tried to find out from the people of the island—whom + he called "Indians," because he thought he had come to a part of the coast + of India was where Cathay might be. + </p> + <p> + Of course they did not understand him. Even Louis, the interpreter, who + knew a dozen languages and who tried them all, could not make out what + these "Indians" said. But from their signs and actions and from the sound + of the words they spoke, Columbus understood that Cathay was off somewhere + to the southwest, and that the gold he was bound to find came from there. + The "Indians" had little bits of gold hanging in their ears and noses. So + Columbus supposed that among the finer people he hoped soon to meet in the + southwest, he should find great quantities of the yellow metal. He was + delighted. Success, he felt, was not far off. Japan was near, China was + near, India was near. Of this he was certain; and even until he died + Columbus did not have any idea that he had found a new world—such as + America really was. He was sure that he had simply landed upon the eastern + coasts of Asia and that he had found what he set out to discover—the + nearest route to the Indies. + </p> + <p> + The next day Columbus pulled up his anchors, and having seized and carried + off to his ships some of the poor natives who had welcomed him so gladly, + he commenced a cruise among the islands of the group he had discovered. + </p> + <p> + Day after day he sailed among these beautiful tropic islands, and of them + and of the people who lived upon them he wrote to the king and queen of + Spain: "This country excels all others as far as the day surpasses the + night in splendor. The natives love their neighbors as themselves; their + conversation is the sweetest imaginable; their faces smiling; and so + gentle and so affectionate are they, that I swear to Your Highness there + is not a better people in the world." + </p> + <p> + Does it not seem a pity that so great a man should have acted so meanly + toward these innocent people who loved and trusted him so? For it was + Columbus who first stole them away from their island homes and who first + thought of making them slaves to the white men. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII. HOW A BOY BROUGHT THE ADMIRAL TO GRIEF. + </h2> + <p> + Columbus kept sailing on from one island to another. Each new island he + found would, he hoped, bring him nearer to Cathay and to the marble + temples and golden palaces and splendid cities he was looking for. But the + temples and palaces and cities did not appear. When the Admiral came to + the coast of Cuba he said: This, I know, is the mainland of Asia. So he + sent off Louis, the interpreter, with a letter to the "great Emperor of + Cathay." Louis was gone several days; but he found no emperor, no palace, + no city, no gold, no jewels, no spices, no Cathay—only frail houses + of bark and reeds, fields of corn and grain, with simple people who could + tell him nothing about Cathay or Cipango or the Indies. + </p> + <p> + So day after day Columbus kept on his search, sailing from island to + island, getting a little gold here and there, or some pearls and silver + and a lot of beautiful bird skins, feathers and trinkets. + </p> + <p> + Then Captain Alonso Pinzon, who was sailing in the Pinta, believed he + could do better than follow the Admiral's lead. I know, he said, if I + could go off on my own hook I could find plenty of gold and pearls, and + perhaps I could find Cathay. So one day he sailed away and Columbus did + not know what had become of him. + </p> + <p> + At last Columbus, sailing on and troubled at the way Captain Alonso Pinzon + had acted, came one day to the island of Hayti. If Cuba was Cathay (or + China), Hayti, he felt sure, must be Cipango (or Japan). So he decided to + sail into one of its harbors to spend Christmas Day. But just before + Christmas morning dawned, the helmsman of the Santa Maria, thinking that + everything was safe, gave the tiller into the hands of a boy—perhaps + it was little Pedro the cabin boy—and went to sleep. The rest of the + crew also were asleep. And the boy who, I suppose, felt quite big to think + that he was really steering the Admiral's flagship, was a little too + smart; for, before he knew it, he had driven the Santa Maria plump upon a + hidden reef. And there she was wrecked. They worked hard to get her off + but it was no use. She keeled over on her side, her seams opened, the + water leaked in, the waves broke over her, the masts fell out and the + Santa Maria had made her last voyage. + </p> + <p> + Then Columbus was in distress. The Pinta had deserted him, the Santa Maria + was a wreck, the Nina was not nearly large enough to carry all his men + back to Spain. And to Spain he must return at once. What should he do? + </p> + <p> + Columbus was quick at getting out of a fix. So in this case he speedily + decided what to do. He set his men at work tearing the wreck of the Santa + Maria to pieces. Out of her timbers and woodwork, helped out with trees + from the woods and a few stones from the shore, he made quite a fort. It + had a ditch and a watch-tower and a drawbridge. It proudly floated the + flag of Spain. It was the first European fort in the new world. On its + ramparts Columbus mounted the cannons he had saved from the wreck and + named the fort La Navidad—that is, Fort Nativity, because it was + made out of the ship that was wrecked on Christmas Day-the day of Christ's + nativity, his birthday. + </p> + <p> + He selected forty of his men to stay in the fort until he should return + from Spain. The most of them were quite willing to do this as they thought + the place was a beautiful one and they would be kept very busy filling the + fort with gold. Columbus told them they must have at least a ton of gold + before he came back. He left them provisions and powder for a year, he + told them to be careful and watchful, to be kind to the Indians and to + make the year such a good one that the king and queen of Spain would be + glad to reward them. And then he said good-by and sailed away for Spain. + </p> + <p> + It was on the fourth of January, 1493, that Columbus turned the little + Nina homeward. He had not sailed very far when what should he come across + but the lost Pinta. Captain Alonso Pinzon seemed very much ashamed when he + saw the Admiral, and tried to explain his absence. Columbus knew well + enough that Captain Pinzon had gone off gold hunting and had not found any + gold. But he did not scold him, and both the vessels sailed toward Spain. + </p> + <p> + The homeward voyage was a stormy and seasick one. Once it was so rough + that Columbus thought surely the Nina would be wrecked. So he copied off + the story of what he had seen and done, addressed it to the king and queen + of Spain, put it into a barrel and threw the barrel overboard. + </p> + <p> + But the Nina was not shipwrecked, and on the eighteenth of February + Columbus reached the Azores. The Portuguese governor was so surprised when + he heard this crazy Italian really had returned, and was so angry to think + it was Spain and not Portugal that was to profit by his voyage that he + tried to make Columbus a prisoner. But the Admiral gave this inhospitable + welcomer the slip and was soon off the coast of Portugal. + </p> + <p> + Here he was obliged to land and meet the king of Portugal—that same + King John who had once acted so meanly toward him. King John would have + done so again had he dared. But things were quite different now. Columbus + was a great man. He had made a successful voyage, and the king and queen + of Spain would have made it go hard with the king of Portugal if he dared + trouble their admiral. So King John had to give a royal reception to + Columbus, and permit him to send a messenger to the king and queen of + Spain with the news of his return from Cathay. + </p> + <p> + Then Columbus went on board the Nina again and sailed for Palos. But his + old friend Captain Alonso Pinzon had again acted badly. For he had left + the Admiral in one of the storms at sea and had hurried homeward. Then he + sailed into one of the northern ports of Spain, and hoping to get all the + credit for his voyage, sent a messenger post-haste to the king and queen + with the word that he had returned from Cathay and had much to tell them. + And then he, too, sailed for Palos. + </p> + <p> + On the fifteenth of March, 1493, just seven months after he had sailed + away to the West, Columbus in the Nina sailed into Palos Harbor. The + people knew the little vessel at once. And then what a time they made! + Columbus has come back, they cried. He has found Cathay. Hurrah! hurrah! + And the bells rang and the cannons boomed and the streets were full of + people. The sailors were welcomed with shouts of joy, and the big stories + they told were listened to with open mouths and many exclamations of + surprise. So Columbus came back to Palos. And everybody pointed him out + and cheered him and he was no longer spoken of as "that crazy Italian who + dragged away the men of Palos to the Jumping-off place." + </p> + <p> + And in the midst of all this rejoicing what should sail into the harbor of + Palos but the Pinta, just a few hours late! And when Captain Alonso Pinzon + heard the sounds of rejoicing, and knew that his plans to take away from + Columbus all the glory of what had been done had all gone wrong, he did + not even go to see his old friend and ask his pardon. He went away to his + own house without seeing any one. And there he found a stern letter from + the king and queen of Spain scolding him for trying to get the best of + Columbus, and refusing to hear or see him. The way things had turned out + made Captain Alonso Pinzon feel so badly that he fell sick; and in a few + days he died. + </p> + <p> + But Columbus, after he had seen his good friend Juan Perez, the friar at + Rabida, and told him all his adventures, went on to Barcelona where King + Ferdinand and Queen Isabella were waiting for him. They had already sent + him letters telling him how pleased they were that he had found Cathay, + and ordering him to get ready for a second expedition at once. Columbus + gave his directions for this, and then, in a grand procession that called + everybody to the street or window or housetop, he set off for Barcelona. + He reached the court on a fine April day and was at once received with + much pleasure by the king and queen of Spain. + </p> + <p> + Columbus told them where he had been and what he had seen; he showed them + the gold and the pearls and the birds and curiosities he had brought to + Spain as specimens, of what was to be found in Cathay; he showed them the + ten painted and "fixed-up" Indians he had stolen and brought back with + him. + </p> + <p> + And the king and queen of Spain said he had done well. They had him sit + beside them while he told his story, and treated this poor Italian + wool-weaver as they would one of their great princes or mighty lords. They + told him he could put the royal arms alongside his own on his shield or + crest, and they bade him get together at once ships and sailors for a + second expedition to Cathay—ships and sailors enough, they said, to + get away up to the great cities of Cathay, where the marble temples and + the golden palaces must be. It was their wish, they said, to gain the + friendship of the great Emperor of Cathay, to trade with him and get a + good share of his gold and jewels and spices. For, you see, no one as yet + imagined that Columbus had discovered America. They did not even know that + there was such a continent. They thought he had sailed to Asia and found + the rich countries that Marco Polo had told such big stories about. + </p> + <p> + Columbus, you may be sure, was "all the rage" now. Wherever he went the + people followed him, cheering and shouting, and begging him to take them + with him on his next voyage to Cathay. + </p> + <p> + He was as anxious as any one to get back to those beautiful islands and + hunt for gold and jewels. He set to work at once, and on the twenty-fifth + of September, 1493, with a fleet of seventeen ships and a company of + fifteen hundred men, Columbus the Admiral set sail from Cadiz on his + second voyage to Cathay and Cipango and the Indies. And this time he was + certain he should find all these wonderful places, and bring back from the + splendid cities unbounded wealth for the king and queen of Spain. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII. TRYING IT AGAIN. + </h2> + <p> + Do you not think Columbus must have felt very fine as he sailed out of + Cadiz Harbor on his second voyage to the West? It was just about a year + before, you know, that his feeble fleet of three little ships sailed from + Palos port. His hundred sailors hated to go; his friends were few; + everybody else said he was crazy; his success was very doubtful. Now, as + he stood on the high quarter-deck of his big flag-ship, the Maria Galante, + he was a great man. By appointment of his king and queen he was "Admiral + of the Ocean Seas" and "Viceroy of the Indies." He had servants, to do as + he directed; he had supreme command over the seventeen ships of his fleet, + large and small; fifteen hundred men joyfully crowded his decks, while + thousands left at home wished that they might go with him, too. He had + soldiers and sailors, horsemen and footmen; his ships were filled with all + the things necessary for trading with the Indians and the great merchants + of Cathay, and for building the homes of those who wished to live in the + lands beyond the sea. + </p> + <p> + Everything looked so well and everybody was so full of hope and + expectation that the Admiral felt that now his fondest dreams were coming + to pass and that he was a great man indeed. + </p> + <p> + This was to be a hunt for gold. And so sure of success was Columbus that + he promised the king and queen of Spain, out of the money he should make + on this voyage, to, himself pay for the fitting out of a great army of + fifty thousand foot soldiers and four thousand horsemen to drive away the + pagan Turks who had captured and held possession of the city of Jerusalem + and the sepulcher of Christ. For this had been the chief desire, for years + and years, of the Christian people of Europe. To accomplish it many brave + knights and warriors had fought and failed. But now Columbus was certain + he could do it. + </p> + <p> + So, out into the western ocean sailed the great expedition of the Admiral. + He sailed first to the Canary Isles, where he took aboard wood and water + and many cattle, sheep and swine. Then, on the seventeenth of October, he + steered straight out into the broad Atlantic, and on Sunday, the third of + November, he saw the hill-tops of one of the West India Islands that he + named Dominica. You can find it on your map of the West Indies. + </p> + <p> + For days he sailed on, passing island after island, landing on some and + giving them names. Some of them were inhabited, some of them were not; + some were very large, some were very small. But none of them helped him in + any way to find Cathay, so at last he steered toward Hayti (or Hispaniola, + as he called it) and the little ship-built fortress of La Navidad, where + his forty comrades had been left. + </p> + <p> + On the twenty-seventh of November, the fleet of the Admiral cast anchor + off the solitary fort. It was night. No light was to be seen on the shore; + through the darkness nothing could be made out that looked like the walls + of the fort. Columbus fired a cannon; then he fired another. The echoes + were the only answer. They must be sound sleepers in our fortress there, + said the Admiral. At last, over the water he heard the sound of oars—or + was it the dip of a paddle? A voice called for the Admiral; but it was not + a Spanish voice. The interpreter—who was the only one left of those + ten stolen Indians carried by Columbus to Spain—came to the + Admiral's side; by the light of the ship's lantern they could make out the + figure of an Indian in his canoe. He brought presents from his chief. But + where are my men at the fort? asked the Admiral. And then the whole sad + story was told. + </p> + <p> + The fort of La Navidad was destroyed; the Spaniards were all dead; the + first attempt of Spain to start a colony in the new world was a terrible + failure. And for it the Spaniards themselves were to blame. + </p> + <p> + After Columbus had left them, the forty men in the fort did not do as he + told them or as they had solemnly promised. They were lazy; they were + rough; they treated the Indians badly; they quarreled among themselves; + some of them ran off to live in the woods. Then sickness came; there were + two "sides," each one jealous of the other; the Indians became enemies. A + fiery war-chief from the hills, whose name was Caonabo, led the Indians + against the white men. The fort and village were surprised, surrounded and + destroyed. And the little band of "conquerors"—as the Spaniards + loved to call themselves—was itself conquered and killed. + </p> + <p> + It was a terrible disappointment to Columbus. The men in whom he had + trusted had proved false. The gold he had told them to get together they + had not even found. His plans had all gone wrong. + </p> + <p> + But Columbus was not the man to stay defeated. His fort was destroyed, his + men were killed, his settlement was a failure. It can't be helped now, he + said. I will try again. + </p> + <p> + This time he would not only build a fort, he would build a city. He had + men and material enough to do this and to do it well. So he set to work. + </p> + <p> + But the place where he had built from the wreck of the unlucky Santa Maria + his unlucky fort of La Navidad did not suit him. It was low, damp and + unhealthy. He must find a better place. After looking about for some time + he finally selected a place on the northern side of the island. You can + find it if you look at the map of Hayti in the West Indies; it is near to + Cape Isabella. + </p> + <p> + He found here a good harbor for ships, a good place on the rocks for a + fort, and good land for gardens. Here Columbus laid out his new town, and + called it after his friend the queen of Spain, the city of Isabella. + </p> + <p> + He marked out a central spot for his park or square; around this ran a + street, and along this street he built large stone buildings for a + storehouse, a church and a house for himself, as governor of the colony. + On the side streets were built the houses for the people who were to live + in the new town, while on a rocky point with its queer little round tower + looking out to sea stood the stone fort to protect the little city. It was + the first settlement made by white men in all the great new world of + America. + </p> + <p> + You must know that there are some very wise and very bright people who do + not agree to this. They say that nearly five hundred years before Columbus + landed, a Norwegian prince or viking, whose name was Leif Ericsson, had + built on the banks of the beautiful Charles River, some twelve miles from + Boston, a city which he called Norumbega. + </p> + <p> + But this has not really been proved. It is almost all the fancy of a wise + man who has studied it out for himself, and says he believes there was + such a city. But he does not really know it as we know of the city of + Isabella, and so we must still say that Christopher Columbus really + discovered America and built the first fort and the first city on its + shores—although he thought he was doing all this in Asia, on the + shores of China or Japan. + </p> + <p> + When Columbus had his people nearly settled in their new city of Isabella, + he remembered that the main thing he was sent to do was to get together as + much gold as possible. His men were already grumbling. They had come over + the sea, they said, not to dig cellars and build huts, but to find gold—gold + that should make them rich and great and happy. + </p> + <p> + So Columbus set to work gold-hunting. At first things seemed to promise + success. The Indians told big stories of gold to be found in the mountains + of Hayti; the men sent to the mountains discovered signs of gold, and at + once Columbus sent home joyful tidings to the king and queen of Spain. + </p> + <p> + Then he and his men hunted everywhere for the glittering yellow metal. + They fished for it in the streams; they dug for it in the earth; they + drove the Indians to hunt for it also until the poor redmen learned to + hate the very sound of the word gold, and believed that this was all the + white men lived for, cared for or worked for; holding up a piece of this + hated gold the Indians would say, one to another: "Behold the Christian's + god!" And so it came about that the poor worried natives, who were not + used to such hard work, took the easiest way out of it all, and told the + Spaniards the biggest kind of lies as to where gold might be found—always + away off somewhere else—if only the white men would go there to look + for it. + </p> + <p> + On the thirteenth of January, 1494, Columbus sent back to Spain twelve of + his seventeen ships. He did not send back in them to the king, and queen, + the gold he had promised. He sent back the letters that promised gold; he + sent back as prisoners for punishment some of the most discontented and + quarrelsome of his colonists; and, worst of all, he sent to the king and + queen a note asking, them to permit him to send to Spain all the Indians + he could catch, to be sold as slaves. He said that by doing this they + could make "good Christians" of the Indians, while the money that came + from selling the natives would buy cattle for the colony and leave some + money for the royal money-chests. + </p> + <p> + It is not pleasant to think this of so great a man as Columbus. But it is + true, and he is really the man who, started the slave-trade in America. Of + course things were very different in his time from what they are to-day, + and people did not think so badly of this horrible business. But some good + men did, and spoke out boldly against it. What they said was not of much + use, however, and slavery was started in the new world. And from that act + of Columbus came much sorrow and trouble for the land he found. Even the + great war between the northern and southern sections of our own United + States, upon one side or the other of which your fathers, or your + grandfathers perhaps, fought with gun and sword, was brought about by this + act of the great Admiral Columbus hundreds of years before. + </p> + <p> + So the twelve ships sailed back to Spain, and Columbus, with his five + remaining ships, his soldiers and his colonists, remained in the new city + of Isabella to keep up the hunt for gold or to become farmers in the new + world. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX. HOW THE TROUBLES OF THE ADMIRAL BEGAN. + </h2> + <p> + Both the farmers and the gold hunters had a hard time of it in the land + they had come to so hopefully. The farmers did not like to farm when they + thought they could do so much better at gold hunting; the gold hunters + found that it was the hardest kind of work to get from the water or pick + from the rocks the yellow metal they were so anxious to obtain. + </p> + <p> + Columbus himself was not satisfied with the small amount of gold he got + from the streams and mines of Hayti; he was tired of the wrangling and + grumbling of his men. So, one day, he hoisted sail on his five ships and + started away on a hunt for richer gold mines, or, perhaps, for those + wonderful cities of Cathay he was still determined to find. + </p> + <p> + He sailed to the south and discovered the island of Jamaica. Then he + coasted along the shores of Cuba. The great island stretched away so many + miles that Columbus was certain it was the mainland of Asia. There was + some excuse for this mistake. The great number of small islands he had + sailed by all seemed to lie just as the books about Cathay that he had + read said they did; the trees and fruits that he found in these islands + seemed to be just the same that travelers said grew in Cathay. + </p> + <p> + To be sure the marble temples, the golden-roofed palaces, the gorgeous + cities had not yet appeared; but Columbus was so certain that he had found + Asia that he made all his men sign a paper in which they declared that the + land they had found (which was, as you know, the island of Cuba) was + really and truly the coast of Asia. + </p> + <p> + This did not make it so, of course; but it made the people of Spain, and + the king and queen, think it was so. And this was most important. So, to + keep the sailors from going back on their word and the statement they had + signed, Columbus ordered that if any officer should afterward say he had + been mistaken, he should be fined one hundred dollars; and if any sailor + should say so, he should receive one hundred lashes with a whip and have + his tongue pulled out. That was a curious way to discover Cathay, was it + not? + </p> + <p> + Then Columbus, fearing another shipwreck or another mutiny, sailed back + again to the city of Isabella. His men were discontented, his ships were + battered and leaky, his hunt for gold and palaces had again proved a + failure. He sailed around Jamaica; he got as far as the eastern end of + Hayti, and then, just as he was about to run into the harbor of Isabella, + all his strength gave out. The strain and the disappointment were too much + for him; he fell very, very sick, and on the twenty-ninth of September, + 1494, after just about five months of sailing and wandering and hunting, + the Nina ran into Isabella Harbor with Columbus so sick from fever that he + could not raise his hand or his head to give an order to his men. + </p> + <p> + For five long months Columbus lay in his stone house on the plaza or + square of Isabella a very sick man. His brother Bartholomew had come + across from Spain with three supply ships, bringing provisions for the + colony. So Bartholomew took charge of affairs for a while. + </p> + <p> + And while Columbus lay so sick, some of the leading men in the colony + seized the ships in which Bartholomew Columbus had come to his brother's + aid, and sailing back to Spain they told the king and queen all sorts of + bad stories about Columbus. They were Spaniards. Columbus was an Italian. + They were jealous of him because he was higher placed and had more to say + than they had. They were angry to think that when he had promised to bring + them to the gorgeous cities and the glittering gold mines of Cathay he had + only landed them on islands which were the homes of naked savages, and + made them work dreadfully hard for what little gold they could find. He + had promised them power; they went home poorer than when they came away. + So they were "mad" at Columbus—just as boys and girls are sometimes + "mad" at one another; and they told the worst stories they could think of + about him, and called him all sorts of hard names, and said the king and + queen of Spain ought to look out for "their great Admiral," or he would + get the best of them and keep for himself the most of whatever he could + find in the new lands. + </p> + <p> + At last Columbus began to grow better. And when he knew what his enemies + had done he was very much troubled for fear they should get the king and + queen to refuse him any further aid. So, just as soon as he was able, on + the tenth of March, 1496, he sailed home to Spain. + </p> + <p> + How different was this from his splendid setting out from Cadiz two years + before. Then everything looked bright and promising; now everything seemed + dark and disappointing. The second voyage to the Indies had been a + failure. + </p> + <p> + So, tired of his hard work in trying to keep his dissatisfied men in + order, in trying to check the Indians who were no longer his friends, in + trying to find the gold and pearls that were to be got at only by hard + work, in trying to make out just where he was and just where Cathay might + be, Columbus started for home. Sick, troubled, disappointed, threatened by + enemies in the Indies and by more bitter enemies at home, sad, sorry and + full of fear, but yet as determined and as brave as ever, on the tenth of + March, 1496, he went on board his caravels with two hundred and fifty + homesick and feversick men, and on the eleventh of June his two vessels + sailed into the harbor of Cadiz. + </p> + <p> + The voyage had been a tedious one. Short of food, storm-tossed and full of + aches and pains the starving company "crawled ashore," glad to be in their + home land once more, and most of them full of complaints and grumblings at + their commander, the Admiral. + </p> + <p> + And Columbus felt as downcast as any. He came ashore dressed, not in the + gleaming armor and crimson robes of a conqueror, as on his first return, + but in the garb of what was known as a penitent—the long, coarse + gown, the knotted girdle and peaked hood of a priest. For, you see, he did + not know just what terrible stories had been told by his enemies; he did + not know how the king and queen would receive him. He had promised them so + much; he had brought them so little. He had sailed away so hopefully; he + had come back humbled and hated. The greatest man in the world, he had + been in 1492; and in 1496 he was unsuccessful, almost friendless and very + unpopular. So you see, boys and girls, that success is a most uncertain + thing, and the man who is a hero to-day may be a beggar to-morrow. + </p> + <p> + But, as is often the case, Columbus was too full of fear. He was not + really in such disgrace as he thought he was. Though his enemies had said + all sorts of hard things against him, the king—and especially the + queen—could not forget that he was, after all, the man who, had + found the new land for Spain; they knew that even though he had not + brought home the great riches that were to have been gathered in the + Indies, he had still found for Spain a land that would surely, in time, + give to it riches, possessions and power. + </p> + <p> + So they sent knightly messengers to Columbus telling him to come and see + them at once, and greeting him with many pleasant and friendly words. + Columbus was, as you must have seen, quick to feel glad again the moment + things seemed to turn in his favor; so he laid aside his penitent's gown, + and hurried off to court. And almost the first thing he did was to ask the + king and queen to fit out another fleet for him. Six ships, he said he + should want this time; and with these he was certain he could sail into + the yet undiscovered waters that lay beyond Hayti and upon which he knew + he should find Cathay. + </p> + <p> + I am afraid the king and queen of Spain were beginning to feel a little + doubtful as to this still undiscovered Cathay. At any rate, they had other + matters to think of and they did not seem so very anxious to spend more + money on ships and sailors. But they talked very nicely to Columbus; they + gave him a new title (this time it was duke or marquis); they made him a + present of a great tract of land in Hayti, but it was months and months + before they would help him with the ships and money he kept asking for. + </p> + <p> + At last, however, the queen, Isabella, who had always had more interest in + Columbus and his plans than had the king, her husband, said a good word + for him. The six ships were given him, men and supplies were put on board + and on the twentieth of May, 1498, the Admiral set out on his third voyage + to what every one now called the Indies. + </p> + <p> + There was not nearly so much excitement among the people about this + voyage. Cathay and its riches had almost become an old story; at any rate + it was a story that was not altogether believed in. Great crowds did not + now follow the Admiral from place to place begging him to take them with + him to the Indies. The hundreds of sick, disappointed and angry men who + had come home poor when they expected to be rich, and sick when they + expected to be strong, had gone through the land, and folks began to think + that Cathay was after all only a dream, and that the stories of great gold + and of untold riches which they had heard were but "sailors' yarns" which + no one could believe. + </p> + <p> + So it was hard to get together a crew large enough to man the six vessels + that made up the fleet. At last, however, all was ready, and with a + company of two hundred men, besides his sailors, Columbus hoisted anchor + in the little port of San Lucar just north of Cadiz, near the mouth of the + Guadalquivir river, and sailed away into the West. + </p> + <p> + This time he was determined to find the continent of Asia. Even though, as + you remember, he made his men sign a paper saying that the coast of Cuba + was Asia, he really seems to have doubted this himself. He felt that he + had only found islands. If so, he said, Cathay must be the other side of + those islands; and Cathay is what I must find. + </p> + <p> + So, with this plan in mind, he sent three of his ships to the little + settlement of Isabella, and with the other three he sailed more to the + southwest. On the first of August the ships came in sight of the three + mountain peaks of the large island he called Trindad, or Trinity. + </p> + <p> + Look on your map of South America and you will see that Trinidad lies + almost in the mouth of the Orinoco, a mighty river in the northern part of + South America. + </p> + <p> + Columbus coasted about this island, and as he did so, looking across to + the west, he saw what he supposed to be still another island. It was not. + It was the coast of South America. For the first time, but without knowing + it, Columbus saw the great continent he had so long been hunting for, + though he had been seeking it under another name. + </p> + <p> + So you see, the story of Columbus shows how his life was full of mistakes. + In his first voyage he found an island and thought it was the mainland of + the Eastern Hemisphere; in his third voyage he discovered the mainland of + the New World and thought it only an island off the coast of the Old + World. His life was full of mistakes, but those mistakes have turned out + to be, for us, glorious successes. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X. FROM PARADISE TO PRISON. + </h2> + <p> + If you know a boy or a girl whose mind is set on any one thing, you will + find that they are always talking about that thing. Is not this so? They + have what people call a "hobby" (which is a kind of a horse, you know), + and they are apt, as we say, to "ride their hobby to death." + </p> + <p> + If this is true of certain boys and girls, it is even more true of men and + women. They get to be what we call people of one idea, and whatever they + see or whatever they do always turns on that one idea. + </p> + <p> + It was so with Columbus. All his life his one idea had been the finding of + Asia—the Indies, or Cathay, as he called it—by sailing to the + west. He did sail to the west. He did find land. And, because of this, as + we have seen, all his voyaging and all his exploring were done in the firm + belief that he was discovering new parts of the eastern coast of Asia. The + idea that he had found a new world never entered his head. + </p> + <p> + So, when he looked toward the west, as he sailed around the island of + Trinidad and saw the distant shore, he said it was a new part of Asia. He + was as certain of this as he had before been certain that Cuba was a part + of the Asiatic mainland. + </p> + <p> + But when he sailed into the mouth of the great Orinoco River he was + puzzled. For the water was no longer salt; it grew fresher and fresher as + he sailed on. And it rushed out so furiously through the two straits at + the northern and southern ends of Trinidad (which because of the terrible + rush of their currents he called the Lion's Mouth and the Dragon's Mouth) + that he was at first unable to explain it all. + </p> + <p> + Then he had a curious idea. Columbus was a great reader of the Bible; some + of the Bible scholars of his day said that the Garden of Eden was in a far + Eastern land where a mighty river came down through it from the hills of + Paradise; as Columbus saw the beautiful land he had reached, and saw the + great river sending down its waters to the sea, he fitted all that he saw + to the Bible stories he knew so well, and felt sure that he had really + discovered the entrance to the Garden of Eden. + </p> + <p> + He would gladly have sailed across the broad bay and up the great river to + explore this heavenly land; but he was ill with gout, he was nearly blind + from his sore eyes, his ships were shaky and leaky, and he felt that he + ought to hurry away to the city of Isabella where his brothers, + Bartholomew and Diego, were in charge of affairs and were, he knew, + anxiously waiting for him to come back. + </p> + <p> + So at last he turned away from the lovely land that he thought must be + Paradise and steered toward Hayti. On the nineteenth of August he arrived + off the coast of Hayti. He sent a messenger with news of his arrival, and + soon greeted his brother Bartholomew, who, when he heard of the Admiral's + arrival, sailed at once to meet him. + </p> + <p> + Bartholomew Columbus had a sad story to tell his brother Christopher. + Things had been going badly in Hayti, and the poor Admiral grew sicker and + sicker as he listened to what Bartholomew had to tell. + </p> + <p> + You have heard it said that there are black sheep in every flock. There + were black sheep in this colony of Columbus. There were lazy men and + discontented men and jealous men, and they made great trouble, both in the + city of Isabella and in the new town which Bartholomew bad built in + another part of the island and called Santo Domingo. + </p> + <p> + Such men are sure to make mischief, and these men in Hayti had made a lot + of it. Columbus had staid so long in Spain that these men began to say + that they knew he was certainly in trouble or disgrace there, that the + king and queen were angry with him, and that his offices of viceroy and + admiral were to be taken away from him. If this were so, they were going + to look out for themselves, they said. They would no longer obey the + commands of the Admiral's brothers, Bartholomew and Diego, whom he had + left in charge. + </p> + <p> + So they rose in rebellion, and made things so uncomfortable for the two + brothers that the colony was soon full of strife and quarreling. + </p> + <p> + The leader of this revolt was one of the chief men in the colony. His name + was Roldan. When Columbus and Bartholomew sailed into the harbor of Santo + Domingo, on the thirtieth of August, they found that Roldan and his + followers had set up a camp for themselves in another part of the island, + and given out that they were determined never to have anything more to do + with the three Columbus brothers. + </p> + <p> + This rebellion weakened the colony dreadfully. Things looked desperate; so + desperate indeed that Columbus, after thinking it all over, thought that + the only way to do was to seem to give in to Roldan and patch up some sort + of an agreement by which they could all live together in peace. But all + the same, he said, I will complain to the king and have this rebel Roldan + punished. + </p> + <p> + So the Admiral wrote Roldan a letter in which he offered to forgive and + forget all that he had done if he would come back and help make the colony + strong and united again. Roldan agreed to do this, if he could have the + same position he held before, and if Columbus would see that his followers + had all the land they wanted. Columbus agreed to this and also gave the + rebels permission to use the poor natives as slaves on their lands. So the + trouble seemed to be over for a while, and Columbus sent two of his ships + to Spain with letters to the king and queen. But in these letters he + accused Roldan of rebellion and tried to explain why it was that things + were going so badly in Hayti. + </p> + <p> + But when these ships arrived in Spain the tidings they brought and the + other letters sent by them only made matters worse. People in Spain had + heard so many queer things from across the sea that they were beginning to + lose faith in Columbus. The men who had lost health and money in the + unlucky second voyage of the Admiral were now lazy loafers about the + docks, or they hung about the court and told how Columbus had made beggars + of them, while they hooted after and insulted the two sons of Columbus who + were pages in the queen's train. They called the boys the sons of "the + Admiral of Mosquitoland." + </p> + <p> + Then came the ships with news of Roldan's rebellion, but with little or no + gold. And people said this was a fine viceroy who couldn't keep order + among his own men because, no doubt, he was too busy hiding away for his + own use the gold and pearls they knew he must have found in the river of + Paradise he said he had discovered. + </p> + <p> + Then came five shiploads of Indian slaves, sent to Spain by Columbus, and + along with them came the story that Columbus had forgiven Roldan for his + rebellion and given him lands and office in Hayti. + </p> + <p> + King Ferdinand had never really liked Columbus and had always been sorry + that he had given him so much power and so large a share in the profits. + The queen, too, began to think that while Columbus was a good sailor, he + was a very poor governor. But when she heard of the shiploads of slaves he + had sent, and found out that among the poor creatures were the daughters + of some of the chiefs, or caciques, of the Indians, she was very angry, + and asked how "her viceroy" dared to use "her vassals" so without letting + her know about it. Things were indeed beginning to look bad for Columbus. + The king and queen had promised that only members of the Admiral's family + should be sent to govern the island; they had promised that no one but + himself should have the right to trade in the new lands. But now they + began to go back on their promises. If Columbus cannot find us gold and + spices, they said, other men can. So they gave permission to other + captains to explore and trade in the western lands. And as the complaints + against the Admiral kept coming they began to talk of sending over some + one else to govern the islands. + </p> + <p> + More letters came from Columbus asking the king and queen to let him keep + up his slave-trade, and to send out some one to act as a judge of his + quarrel with Roldan. Then the king and queen decided that something must + be done at once. The queen ordered the return of the slaves Columbus had + sent over, and the king told one of his officers named Bobadilla to go + over to Hayti and set things straight. And he sent a letter by him + commanding Columbus to talk with him, to give up all the forts and arms in + the colony and to obey Bobadilla in all things. + </p> + <p> + Bobadilla sailed at once. But before he got across the sea matters, as we + know, had been straightened out by the Admiral; and when Bobadilla reached + Hayti he found everything quiet there. Columbus had made friends with + Roldan (or made believe that he had), and had got things into good running + order again. + </p> + <p> + This was not what Bobadilla had reckoned upon. He had expected to find + things in such a bad way that he would have to take matters into his own + hand at once, and become a greater man than the Admiral. If everything was + all right he would have his journey for nothing and everybody would laugh + at him. So he determined to go ahead, even though there was no necessity + for his taking charge of affairs. He had been sent to do certain things, + and he did them at once. Without asking Columbus for his advice or his + assistance, he took possession of the forts and told every one that he was + governor now. He said that he had come to set things straight, and he + listened to the complaints of all the black sheep of the colony—and + how they did crowd around him and say the worst things they could think of + against the Admiral they had once been so anxious to follow. + </p> + <p> + Bobadilla listened to all their stories. He proceeded to use the power the + king and queen had given him to punish and disgrace Columbus—which + was not what they meant him to do. He moved into the palace of the + Admiral; he ordered the Admiral and his brothers to come to him, and when + they came expecting to talk things over, Bobadilla ordered that they be + seized as prisoners and traitors, that they be chained hand and foot and + put in prison. + </p> + <p> + Columbus's saddest day had come. The man who had found a new world for his + king and queen, who had worked so hard in their service and who had meant + to do right, although he had made many mistakes, was thrust into prison as + if he were a thief or a murderer. The Admiral of the Ocean Seas, the + Viceroy of the Indies, the grand man whom all Spain had honored and all + the world had envied, was held as a prisoner in the land he had found, and + all his powers were taken by a stranger. He was sick, he was disappointed, + he was defeated in all his plans. And now he was in chains. His third + voyage had ended the worst of all. He had sailed away to find Cathay; he + had, so he believed, found the Garden of Eden and the river of Paradise. + And here, as an end to it all, he was arrested by order of the king and + queen he had tried to serve, his power and position were taken from him by + an insolent and unpitying messenger from Spain; he was thrown into prison + and after a few days he was hurried with his brothers on board a ship and + sent to Spain for trial and punishment. How would it all turn out? Was it + not a sad and sorry ending to his bright dreams of success? + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI. HOW THE ADMIRAL CAME AND WENT AGAIN. + </h2> + <p> + I suppose you think Bobadilla was a very cruel man. He was. But in his + time people were apt to be cruel to one another whenever they had the + power in their own hands. The days in which Columbus lived were not like + these in which we are living. You can never be too thankful for that, boys + and girls. Bobadilla had been told to go over the water and set the + Columbus matters straight. He had been brought up to believe that to set + matters straight you must be harsh and cruel; and so he did as he was used + to seeing other people in power do. Even Queen Isabella did not hesitate + to do some dreadful things to certain people she did not like when she got + them in her power. Cruelty was common in those days. It was what we call + the "spirit of the age." So you must not blame Bobadilla too much, + although we will all agree that it was very hard on Columbus. + </p> + <p> + So Columbus, as I have told you, sailed back to Spain. But when the + officer who had charge of him and whose name was Villijo, had got out to + sea and out of Bobadilla's sight, he wanted to take the chains off. For he + loved Columbus and it made him feel very sad to see the old Admiral + treated like a convict or a murderer. Let me have these cruel chains + struck off, Your Excellency, he said. No, no, Villijo, Columbus replied. + Let these fetters remain upon me. My king and queen ordered me to submit + and Bobadilla has put me in chains. I will wear these irons until my king + and queen shall order them removed, and I shall keep them always as relics + and memorials of my services. + </p> + <p> + It always makes us sad to see any one in great trouble. To hear of a great + man who has fallen low or of a rich man who has become poor, always makes + us say: Is not that too bad? Columbus had many enemies in Spain. The + nobles of the court, the men who had lost money in voyages to the Indies, + the people whose fathers and sons and brothers had sailed away never to + return, could not say anything bad enough about "this upstart Italian," as + they called Columbus. + </p> + <p> + But to the most of the people Columbus was still the great Admiral. He was + the man who had stuck to his one idea until he had made a friend of the + queen; who had sailed away into the West and proved the Sea of Darkness + and the Jumping-off place to be only fairy tales after all; who had found + Cathay and the Indies for Spain. He was still a great man to the + multitude. + </p> + <p> + So when on a certain October day, in the year 1500, it was spread abroad + that a ship had just come into the harbor of Cadiz, bringing home the + great Admiral, Christopher Columbus, a prisoner and in chains, folks began + to talk at once. Why, who has done this? they cried. Is this the way to + treat the man who found Cathay for Spain, the man whom the king and the + queen delighted to honor, the man who made a procession for us with all + sorts of birds and animals and pagan Indians? It cannot be. Why, we all + remember how he sailed into Palos Harbor eight years ago and was received + like a prince with banners and proclamations and salutes. And now to bring + him home in chains! It is a shame; it is cruel; it is wicked. And when + people began to talk in this way, the very ones who had said the worst + things against him began to change their tone. + </p> + <p> + As soon as the ship got into Cadiz, Columbus sent off a letter to a friend + of his at the court in the beautiful city of Granada. This letter was, of + course, shown to the queen. And it told all about what Columbus had + suffered, and was, so full of sorrow and humbleness and yet of pride in + what he had been able to do, even though he had been disgraced, that Queen + Isabella (who was really a friend to Columbus in spite of her + dissatisfaction with the things he sometimes did) became very angry at the + way he had been treated. + </p> + <p> + She took the letter to King Ferdinand, and at once both the king and the + queen hastened to send a messenger to Columbus telling him how angry and + sorry they were that Bobadilla should have dared to treat their good + friend the Admiral so. They ordered his immediate release from + imprisonment; they sent him a present of five thousand dollars and asked + him to come to court at once. + </p> + <p> + On the seventeenth of December, 1500, Columbus came to the court at + Granada in the beautiful palace of the Alhambra. He rode on a mule. At + that time, in Spain, people were not allowed to ride on mules, because if + they did the Spanish horses would not be bought and sold, as mules were so + much cheaper and were easier to ride. But Columbus was sick and it hurt + him to ride horseback, while he could be fairly comfortable on an + easy-going mule. So the king and queen gave him special permission to come + on mule-back. + </p> + <p> + When Columbus appeared before the queen, looking so sick and troubled, + Isabella was greatly affected. She thought of all he had done and all he + had gone through and all he had suffered, and as he came to the steps of + the throne the queen burst into tears. That made Columbus cry too, for he + thought a great deal of the queen, and he fell at her feet and told her + how much he honored her, and how much he was ready to do for her, if he + could but have the chance. + </p> + <p> + Then the king and queen told him how sorry they were that any one should + have so misunderstood their desires and have treated their brave and loyal + Admiral so shamefully. They promised to make everything all right for him + again, and to show him that they were his good friends now as they always + had been since the day he first sailed away to find the Indies for them + and for Spain. + </p> + <p> + Of course this made Columbus feel much better. He had left Hayti in fear + and trembling. He had come home expecting something dreadful was going to + happen; he would not have been surprised at a long imprisonment; he would + not even have been surprised if he had been put to death—for the + kings and queens and high lords of his day were very apt to order people + put to death if they did not like what had been done. The harsh way in + which Bobadilla had treated him made him think the king and queen had + really ordered it. Perhaps they had; and perhaps the way in which the + people cried out in indignation when they saw the great Admiral brought + ashore in chains had its influence on Queen Isabella. King Ferdinand + really cared nothing about it. He would gladly have seen Columbus put in + prison for life; but the queen had very much to say about things in her + kingdom, and so King Ferdinand made believe he was sorry and talked quite + as pleasantly to Columbus as did the queen. + </p> + <p> + Now Columbus, as you must have found out by this time, was as quick to + feel glad as he was to feel sad. And when he found that the king and queen + were his friends once more, he became full of hope again and began to say + where he would go and what he would do when he went back again as Viceroy + of the Indies and Admiral of the Ocean Seas. He begged the queen to let + him go back again at once, with ships and sailors and the power to do as + he pleased in the islands he had found and in the lands he hoped to find. + </p> + <p> + They promised him everything, for promising is easy. But Columbus had once + more to learn the truth of the old Bible warning that he had called to + mind years before on the Bridge of Pinos: Put not your trust in princes. + </p> + <p> + The king and queen talked very nicely and promised much, but to one thing + King Ferdinand had made up his mind—Columbus should never go back + again to the Indies as viceroy or governor. And King Ferdinand was as + stubborn as Columbus was persistent. + </p> + <p> + Not very much gold had yet been brought back from the Indies, but the king + and queen knew from the reports of those who had been over the seas and + kept their eyes open that, in time, a great deal of gold and treasure + would come from there. So they felt that if they kept their promises to + Columbus he would take away too large a slice of their profits, and if + they let him have everything to say there it would not be possible to let + other people, who were ready to share the profits with them, go off + discovering on their own hook. + </p> + <p> + So they talked and delayed and sent out other expeditions and kept + Columbus in Spain, unsatisfied. Another governor was sent over to take the + place of Bobadilla, for they soon learned that that ungentlemanly knight + was not even so good or so strict a governor as Columbus had been. + </p> + <p> + Almost two years passed in this way and still Columbus staid in Spain. At + last the king and queen said he might go if he would not go near Hayti and + would be sure to find other and better gold lands. + </p> + <p> + Columbus did not relish being told where to go and where not to go like + this; but he promised. And on the ninth of May, 1502, with four small + caravels and one hundred and fifty men, Christopher Columbus sailed from + Cadiz on his fourth and last voyage to the western world. + </p> + <p> + He was now fifty-six years old. That is not an age at which we would call + any one an old man. But Columbus had grown old long before his time. Care, + excitement, exposure, peril, trouble and worry had made him white-haired + and wrinkled. He was sick, he was nearly blind, he was weak, he was feeble—but + his determination was just as firm, his hope just as high, his desire just + as strong as ever. He was bound, this time, to find Cathay. + </p> + <p> + And he had one other wish. He had enemies in Hayti; they had laughed and + hooted at him when he had been dragged off to prison and sent in chains on + board the ship. He did wish to get even with them. He could not forgive + them. He wanted to sail into the harbor of Isabella and Santo Domingo with + his four ships and to say: See, all of you! Here I am again, as proud and + powerful as ever. The king and queen have sent me over here once more with + ships and sailors at my command. I am still the Admiral of the Ocean Seas + and all you tried to do against me has amounted to nothing. + </p> + <p> + This is not the right sort of a spirit to have, either for men or boys; it + is not wise or well to have it gratified. Forgiveness is better than + vengeance; kindliness is better than pride. + </p> + <p> + At any rate, it was not to be gratified with Columbus. When his ships + arrived off the coast of Hayti, although his orders from the king and + queen were not to stop at the island going over, the temptation to show + himself was too strong. He could not resist it. So he sent word to the new + governor, whose name was Ovando, that he had arrived with his fleet for + the discovery of new lands in the Indies, and that he wished to come into + Santo Domingo Harbor as one of his ships needed repairs; he would take the + opportunity, he said, of mending his vessel and visiting the governor at + the same time. + </p> + <p> + Now it so happened that Governor Ovando was just about sending to Spain a + large fleet. And in these ships were to go some of the men who had treated + Columbus so badly. Bobadilla, the ex-governor, was one of them; so was the + rebel Roldan who had done so much mischief; and there were others among + the passengers and prisoners whom Columbus disliked or who hated Columbus. + There was also to go in the fleet a wonderful cargo of gold—the + largest amount yet sent across to Spain. There were twenty-six ships in + all, in the great gold fleet, and the little city of Santo Domingo was + filled with excitement and confusion. + </p> + <p> + We cannot altogether make out whether Governor Ovando was a friend to + Columbus or not. At any rate, he felt that it would be unwise and unsafe + for Columbus to come into the harbor or show himself in the town when so + many of his bitter enemies were there. So he sent back word to Columbus + that he was sorry, but that really he could not let him come in. + </p> + <p> + How bad that must have made the old Admiral feel! To be refused admission + to the place he had found and built up for Spain! It was unkind, he said; + he must and would go in. + </p> + <p> + Just then Columbus, who was a skillful sailor and knew all the signs of + the sky, and all about the weather, happened to notice the singular + appearance of the sky, and saw that there was every sign that a big storm + was coming on. So he sent word to Governor Ovando again, telling him of + this, and asking permission to run into the harbor of Santo Domingo with + his ships to escape the coming storm. But the governor could not see that + any storm was coming on. He said: Oh! that is only another way for the + Admiral to try to get around me and get me to let him in. I can't do it. + So, he sent back word a second time that he really could not, let Columbus + come in. I know you are a very clever sailor, he said, but, really, I + think you must be mistaken about this storm. At any rate, you will have + time to go somewhere else before it comes on, and I shall be much obliged + if you will. + </p> + <p> + Now, among the twenty-six vessels of the gold fleet was one in which was + stored some of the gold that belonged to Columbus as his share, according + to his arrangement with the king and queen. If a storm came on, this + vessel would be in danger, to say nothing of all the rest of the fleet. So + Columbus sent in to Governor Ovando a third time. He told him he was + certain a great storm was coming. And he begged the governor, even if he + was not allowed to come up to Santo Domingo, by all means to keep the + fleet in the harbor until the storm was over. If you don't, there will + surely be trouble, he said. And then he sailed with his ships along shore + looking for a safe harbor. + </p> + <p> + But the people in Santo Domingo put no faith in the Admiral's + "probabilities." There will be no storm, the captains and the officers + said. If there should be our ships are strong enough to stand it. The + Admiral Columbus is getting to be timid as he grows older. And in spite of + the old sailor's warning, the big gold fleet sailed out of the harbor of + Santo Domingo and headed for Spain. + </p> + <p> + But almost before they had reached the eastern end of the island of Hayti, + the storm that Columbus had prophesied burst upon them. + </p> + <p> + It was a terrible tempest. Twenty of the ships went to the bottom. The + great gold fleet was destroyed. The enemies of Columbus—Bobadilla, + Roldan and the rest were drowned. Only a few of the ships managed to get + back into Santo Domingo Harbor, broken and shattered. And the only ship of + all the great fleet that got safely through the storm and reached Spain + all right was the one that carried on board the gold that belonged to + Columbus. Was not that singular? + </p> + <p> + Then all the friends of Columbus cried: How wonderful! Truly the Lord is + on the side of the great Admiral! + </p> + <p> + But his enemies said: This Genoese is a wizard. He was mad because the + governor would not let him come into the harbor, and he raised this storm + in revenge. It is a dangerous thing to interfere with the Admiral's + wishes. + </p> + <p> + For you see in those days people believed in witches and spells and all + kinds of fairy-book things like those, when they could not explain why + things happened. And when they could not give a good reason for some great + disaster or for some stroke of bad luck, they just said: It is witchcraft; + and left it so. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII. HOW THE ADMIRAL PLAYED ROBINSON CRUSOE. + </h2> + <p> + While the terrible storm that wrecked the great gold fleet of the governor + was raging so furiously, Columbus with his four ships was lying as near + shore as he dared in a little bay farther down the coast of Hayti. Here he + escaped the full fury of the gale, but still his ships suffered greatly, + and came very near being shipwrecked. They became separated in the storm, + but the caravels met at last after the storm was over and steered away for + the island of Jamaica. + </p> + <p> + For several days they sailed about among the West India Islands; then they + took a westerly course, and on the thirtieth of July, Columbus saw before + him the misty outlines of certain high mountains which he supposed to be + somewhere in Asia, but which we now know were the Coast Range Mountains of + Honduras. And Honduras, you remember, is a part of Central America. + </p> + <p> + Just turn to the map of Central America in your geography and find + Honduras. The mountains, you see, are marked there; and on the northern + coast, at the head of a fine bay, you will notice the seaport town of + Truxillo. And that is about the spot where, for the first time, Columbus + saw the mainland of North America. + </p> + <p> + As he sailed toward the coast a great canoe came close to the ship. It was + almost as large as one of his own caravels, for it was over forty feet + long and fully eight feet wide. It was paddled by twenty-five Indians, + while in the middle, under an awning of palm-thatch sat the chief Indian, + or cacique, as he was called. A curious kind of sail had been rigged to + catch the breeze, and the canoe was loaded with fruits and Indian + merchandise. + </p> + <p> + This canoe surprised Columbus very much. He had seen nothing just like it + among the other Indians he had visited. The cacique and his people, too, + were dressed in clothes and had sharp swords and spears. He thought of the + great galleys of Venice and Genoa; he remembered the stories that had come + to him of the people of Cathay; he believed that, at last, he had come to + the right place. The shores ahead of him were, he was sure, the coasts of + the Cathay he was hunting for, and these people in "the galley of the + cacique" were much nearer the kind of people he was expecting to meet than + were the poor naked Indians of Hayti and Cuba. + </p> + <p> + In a certain way he was right. These people in the big canoe were, + probably, some of the trading Indians of Yucatan, and beyond them, in what + we know to-day as Mexico, was a race of Indians, known as Aztecs, who were + what is called half-civilized; for they had cities and temples and stone + houses and almost as much gold and treasure as Columbus hoped to find in + his fairyland of Cathay. But Columbus was not to find Mexico. Another + daring and cruel Spanish captain, named Cortez, discovered the land, + conquered it for Spain, stripped it of its gold and treasure, and killed + or enslaved its brave and intelligent people. + </p> + <p> + After meeting this canoe, Columbus steered for the distant shore. He + coasted up and down looking for a good harbor, and on the seventeenth of + August, 1502, he landed as has been told you, near what is now the town of + Truxillo, in Honduras. There, setting up the banner of Castile, he took + possession of the country in the name of the king and queen of Spain. + </p> + <p> + For the first time in his life Columbus stood on the real soil of the New + World. All the islands he had before discovered and colonized were but + outlying pieces of America. Now he was really upon the American Continent. + </p> + <p> + But he did not know it. To him it was but a part of Asia. And as the main + purpose of this fourth voyage was to find a way to sail straight to India—which + he supposed lay somewhere to the south—he set off on his search. The + Indians told him of "a narrow place" that he could find by sailing farther + south, and of a "great water." beyond it. This "narrow place" was the + Isthmus of Panama, and the "great water" beyond it was, of course, the + Pacific Ocean. But Columbus thought that by a "narrow place" they meant a + strait instead of an isthmus. If he could but find that strait, he could + sail through it into the great Bay of Bengal which, as you know and as he + had heard, washes the eastern shore of India. + </p> + <p> + So he sailed along the coasts of Honduras and Nicaragua trying to find the + strait he was hunting for. Just look at your map and see how near he was + to the way across to the Pacific that men are now digging out, and which, + as the Nicaragua Canal, will connect the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. + And think how near he was to finding that Pacific Ocean over which, if he + could but have got across the Isthmus of Panama, he could have sailed to + the Cathay and the Indies he spent his life in trying to find. But if he + had been fortunate enough to get into the waters of the Pacific, I do not + believe it would have been so lucky for him, after all. His little ships, + poorly built and poorly provisioned, could never have sailed that great + ocean in safety, and the end might have proved even more disastrous than + did the Atlantic voyages of the Admiral. + </p> + <p> + He soon understood that he had found a richer land than the islands he had + thus far discovered. Gold and pearls were much more plentiful along the + Honduras coast than they were in Cuba and Hayti, and Columbus decided + that, after he had found India, he would come back by this route and + collect a cargo of the glittering treasures. + </p> + <p> + The land was called by the Indians something that sounded very much like + Veragua. This was the name Columbus gave to it; and it was this name, + Veragua, that was afterward given to the family of Columbus as its title; + so that, to-day, the living descendant of Christopher Columbus in Spain is + called the Duke of Veragua. + </p> + <p> + But as Columbus sailed south, along what is called "the Mosquito Coast," + the weather grew stormy and the gales were severe. His ships were crazy + and worm-eaten; the food was running low; the sailors began to grumble and + complain and to say that if they kept on in this way they would surely + starve before they could reach India. + </p> + <p> + Columbus, too, began to grow uneasy. His youngest son, Ferdinand, a brave, + bright little fellow of thirteen, had come with him on this voyage, and + Columbus really began to be afraid that something might happen to the boy, + especially if the crazy ships should be wrecked, or if want of food should + make them all go hungry. So at last he decided to give up hunting for the + strait that should lead him into the Bay of Bengal; he felt obliged, also, + to give up his plan of going back to the Honduras coast for gold and + pearls. He turned his ships about and headed for Hayti where he hoped he + could get Governor Ovando to give him better ships so that he could try it + all over again. + </p> + <p> + Here, you see, was still another disappointing defeat for Columbus. For + after he had been on the American coast for almost a year; after he had + come so near to what he felt to be the long-looked-for path to the Indies; + after most wonderful adventures on sea and land, he turned his back on it + all, without really having accomplished what he set out to do and, as I + have told you, steered for Hayti. + </p> + <p> + But it was not at all easy to get to Hayti in those leaky ships of his. In + fact it was not possible to get there with them at all; for on the + twenty-third of June, 1503, when he had reached the island of Jamaica he + felt that his ships would not hold out any longer. They were full of + worm-holes; they were leaking badly; they were strained and battered from + the storms. He determined, therefore, to find a good harbor somewhere on + the island of Jamaica and go in there for repairs. But he could not find a + good one; his ships grew worse and worse; every day's delay was dangerous; + and for fear the ships would sink and carry the crews to the bottom of the + sea, Columbus decided to run them ashore anyhow. This he did; and on the + twelfth of August, 1503, he deliberately headed for the shore and ran his + ships aground in a little bay on the island of Jamaica still known as Sir + Christopher's Cove. And there the fleet was wrecked. + </p> + <p> + The castaways lashed the four wrecks together; they built deck-houses and + protections so as to make themselves as comfortable as possible, and for a + whole year Columbus and his men lived there at Sir Christopher's Cove on + the beautiful island of Jamaica. + </p> + <p> + It proved anything but beautiful for them, however. It makes a good deal + of difference, you know, in enjoying things whether you are well and + happy. If you are hungry and can't get anything to eat, the sky does not + look so blue or the trees so green as if you were sitting beneath them + with a jolly picnic party and with plenty of lunch in the baskets. + </p> + <p> + It was no picnic for Columbus and his companions. That year on the island + of Jamaica was one of horror, of peril, of sickness, of starvation. Twice, + a brave comrade named Diego Mendez started in an open boat for Hayti to + bring relief. The first time he was nearly shipwrecked, but the second + time he got away all right. And then for months nothing was heard of him, + and it was supposed that he had been drowned. But the truth was that + Governor Ovando, had an idea that the king and queen of Spain were tired + of Columbus and would not feel very bad if they never saw him again. He + promised to send help, but did not do so for fear he should get into + trouble. And the relief that the poor shipwrecked people on Jamaica longed + for did not come. + </p> + <p> + Then some of the men who were with Columbus mutinied and ran away. In + fact, more things happened during this remarkable fourth voyage of + Columbus than I can begin to tell you about. The story is more wonderful + than is that of Robinson Crusoe, and when you are older you must certainly + read it all and see just what marvelous adventures Columbus and his men + met with and how bravely the little Ferdinand Columbus went through them + all. For when Ferdinand grew up he wrote a life of his father, the + Admiral, and told the story of how they all played Robinson Crusoe at Sir + Christopher's Cove. + </p> + <p> + At last the long-delayed help was sent by Governor Ovando, and one day the + brave Diego Mendez came sailing into Sir Christopher's Cove. And Columbus + forgave the rebels who had run away; and on the twenty-eighth of June, + 1504, they all sailed away from the place, that, for a year past, had been + almost worse than a prison to them all. + </p> + <p> + On the fifteenth of August, the rescued crews sailed into the harbor of + Santo Domingo. The governor, Ovando, who had reluctantly agreed to send + for Columbus, was now in a hurry to get him away. Whether the governor was + afraid of him, or ashamed because of the way he had treated him, or + whether he felt that Columbus was no longer held so high in Spain, and + that, therefore, it was not wise to make much of him, I cannot say. At any + rate he hurried him off to Spain, and on the twelfth of September, 1504, + Columbus turned his back forever on the new world he had discovered, and + with two ships sailed for Spain. + </p> + <p> + He had not been at sea but a day or two before he found that the ship in + which he and the boy Ferdinand were sailing was not good for much. A + sudden storm carried away its mast and the vessel was sent back to Santo + Domingo. Columbus and Ferdinand, with a few of the men, went on board the + other ship which was commanded by Bartholomew Columbus, the brother of the + Admiral, who had been with him all through the dreadful expedition. At + last they saw the home shores again, and on the seventh of November, 1504, + Columbus sailed into the harbor of San Lucar, not far from Cadiz. + </p> + <p> + He had been away from Spain for fully two years and a half. He had not + accomplished a single thing he set out to do. He had met with + disappointment and disaster over and over again, and had left the four + ships that had been given him a total wreck upon the shores of Jamaica. He + came back poor, unsuccessful, unnoticed, and so ill that he could scarcely + get ashore. + </p> + <p> + And so the fourth voyage of the great Admiral ended. It was his last. His + long sickness had almost made him crazy. He said and did many odd things, + such as make us think, nowadays, that people have, as we call it, "lost + their minds." But he was certain of one thing—the king and queen of + Spain had not kept the promises they had made him, and he was determined, + if he lived, to have justice done him, and to make them do as they said + they would. + </p> + <p> + They had told him that only himself or one of his family should be Admiral + of the Ocean Seas and Viceroy of the New Lands; they had sent across the + water others, who were not of his family, to govern what he had been + promised for his own. They had told him that he should have a certain + share of the profits that came from trading and gold hunting in the + Indies; they had not kept this promise either, and he was poor when he was + certain he ought to be rich. + </p> + <p> + So, when he was on land once more, he tried hard to get to court and see + the king and queen. But he was too sick. + </p> + <p> + He had got as far as beautiful Seville, the fair Spanish city by the + Guadalquivir, and there he had to give up and go to, bed. And then came a + new disappointment. He was to lose his best friend at the court. For when + he had been scarcely two weeks in Spain, Queen Isabella died. + </p> + <p> + She was not what would be considered in these days either a particularly + good woman, or an especially good queen. She did many cruel things; and + while she talked much about doing good, she was generally looking out for + herself most of all. But that was not so much her fault as the fault of + the times in which she lived. Her life was not a happy one; but she had + always felt kindly toward Columbus, and when he was where he could see her + and talk to her, he had always been able to get her to side with him and + grant his wishes. + </p> + <p> + Columbus was now a very sick man. He had to keep his bed most of the time, + and this news of the queen's death made him still worse, for he felt that + now no one who had the "say" would speak a good word for the man who had + done so much for Spain, and given to the king and queen the chance to make + their nation great and rich and powerful. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII. THE END OF THE STORY. + </h2> + <p> + Any one who is sick, as some of you may know, is apt to be anxious and + fretful and full of fears as to how he is going to get along, or who will + look out for his family. Very often there is no need for this feeling; + very often it is a part of the complaint from which the sick person is + suffering. + </p> + <p> + In the case of Columbus, however, there was good cause for this depressed + and anxious feeling. King Ferdinand, after Queen Isabella's death, did + nothing to help Columbus. He would not agree to give the Admiral what he + called his rights, and though Columbus kept writing letters from his sick + room asking for justice, the king would do nothing for him. And when the + king's smile is turned to a frown, the fashion of the court is to frown, + too. + </p> + <p> + So Columbus had no friends at the king's court. Diego, his eldest son, was + still one of the royal pages, but he could do nothing. Without friends, + without influence, without opportunity, Columbus began to feel that he + should never get his rights unless he could see the king himself. And sick + though he was he determined to try it. + </p> + <p> + It must have been sad enough to see this sick old man drag himself feebly + to the court to ask for justice from the king whom he had enriched. You + would think that when King Ferdinand really saw Columbus at the foot of + the throne, and when he remembered all that this man had done for him and + for Spain, and how brave and persistent and full of determination to do + great things the Admiral once had been, he would at least have given the + old man what was justly due him. + </p> + <p> + But he would not. He smiled on the old sailor, and said many pleasant + things and talked as if he were a friend, but he would not agree to + anything Columbus asked him; and the poor Admiral crawled back to his sick + bed again, and gave up the struggle. I have done all that I can do, he + said to the few friends who remained faithful to him; I must leave it all + to God. He has always helped me when things were at the worst. + </p> + <p> + And God helped him by taking him away from all the fret, and worry, and + pain, and struggle that made up so much of the Admiral's troubled life. On + the twentieth of May, 1506, the end came. In the house now known as Number + 7 Columbus Avenue, in the city of Valladolid; in Northern Spain, with a + few faithful friends at his side, he signed his will, lay back in bed and + saying trustfully these words: Into thy hands, O Lord, I commit my spirit! + the Admiral of the Ocean Seas, the Viceroy of the Indies, the Discoverer + of a New World, ended his fight for life. Christopher Columbus was dead. + </p> + <p> + He was but sixty years old. With Tennyson, and Whittier, and Gladstone, + and De Lesseps living to be over eighty, and with your own good + grandfather and grandmother, though even older than Columbus, by no means + ready to be called old people, sixty years seems an early age to be so + completely broken and bent and gray as was he. But trouble, and care, and + exposure, and all the worries and perils of his life of adventure, had, as + you must know, so worn upon Columbus that when he died he seemed to be an + old, old man. He was white-haired, you remember, even before he discovered + America, and each year he seemed to grow older and grayer and more feeble. + </p> + <p> + And after he had died in that lonely house in Valladolid, the world seems + for a time to have almost forgotten him. A few friends followed him to the + grave; the king, for whom he had done so much, did not trouble himself to + take any notice of the death of his Admiral, whom once he had been forced + to honor, receive and reward. The city of Valladolid, in which Columbus + died, was one of those fussy little towns in which everybody knew what was + happening next door, and talked and argued about whatever happened upon + its streets and in its homes; and yet even Valladolid hardly seemed to + know of the presence within its gates of the sick "Viceroy of the Indies." + Not until four weeks after his death did the Valladolid people seem to + realize what had happened; and then all they did was to write down this + brief record: "The said Admiral is dead." + </p> + <p> + To-day, the bones of Columbus inclosed in a leaden casket lie in the + Cathedral of Santo Domingo. People have disputed about the place where the + Discoverer of America was born; they are disputing about the place where + he is buried. But as it seems now certain that he was born in Genoa, so it + seems also certain that his bones are really in the tomb in the old + Cathedral at Santo Domingo, that old Haytian city which he founded, and + where he had so hard a time. + </p> + <p> + At least a dozen places in the Old World and the New have built monuments + and statues in his honor; in the United States, alone, over sixty towns + and villages bear his name, or the kindred one of Columbia. The whole + world honors him as the Discoverer of America; and yet the very name that + the Western Hemisphere bears comes not from the man who discovered it, but + from his friend and comrade Americus Vespucius. + </p> + <p> + Like Columbus, this Americus Vespucius was an Italian; like him, he was a + daring sailor and a fearless adventurer, sailing into strange seas to see + what he could find. He saw more of the American coast than did Columbus, + and not being so full of the gold-hunting and slave-getting fever as was + the Admiral, he brought back from his four voyages so much information + about the new-found lands across the sea, that scholars, who cared more + for news than gold, became interested in what he reported. And some of the + map-makers in France, when they had to name the new lands in the West that + they drew on their maps—the lands that were not the Indies, nor + China, nor Japan—called them after the man who had told them so much + about them—Americus Vespucius. And so it is that to-day you live in + America and not in Columbia, as so many people have thought this western + world of ours should be named. + </p> + <p> + And even the titles, and riches, and honors that the king and queen of + Spain promised to Columbus came very near being lost by his family, as + they had been by himself. It was only by the hardest work, and by keeping + right at it all the time, that the Admiral's eldest son, Diego Columbus, + almost squeezed out of King Ferdinand of Spain the things that had been + promised to his father. + </p> + <p> + But Diego was as plucky, and as brave, and as persistent as his father had + been; then, too, he had lived at court so long—he was one of the + queen's pages, you remember that he knew just what to do and how to act so + as to get what he wanted. And at last he got it. + </p> + <p> + He was made Viceroy over the Indies; he went across the seas to Hayti, and + in his palace in the city of Santo Domingo he ruled the lands his father + had found, and which for centuries were known as the Spanish Main; he was + called Don Diego; he married a high-born lady of Spain, the niece of King + Ferdinand; he received the large share of "the riches of the Indies" that + his father had worked for, but never received. And the family of + Christopher Columbus, the Genoese adventurer—under the title of the + Dukes of Veragua—have, ever since Don Diego's day, been of what is + called "the best blood of Spain." + </p> + <p> + If you have read this story of Christopher Columbus aright, you must have + come to the conclusion that the life of this Italian sea captain who + discovered a new world was not a happy one. From first to last it was full + of disappointment. Only once, in all his life, did he know what happiness + and success meant, and that was on his return from his first voyage, when + he landed amid cheers of welcome at Palos, and marched into Barcelona in + procession like a conqueror to be received as an equal by his king and + queen. + </p> + <p> + Except for that little taste of glory, how full of trouble was his life! + He set out to find Cathay and bring back its riches and its treasures. He + did not get within five thousand miles of Cathay. He returned from his + second voyage a penitent, bringing only tidings of disaster. He returned + from his third voyage in disgrace, a prisoner and in chains, smarting + under false charges of theft, cruelty and treason. He returned from his + fourth voyage sick unto death, unnoticed, unhonored, unwelcomed. + </p> + <p> + From first to last he was misunderstood. His ideas were made fun of, his + efforts were treated with contempt, and even what he did was not believed, + or was spoken of as of not much account. A career that began in scorn + ended in neglect. He died unregarded, and for years no one gave him credit + for what he had done, nor honor for what he had brought about. + </p> + <p> + Such a life would, I am sure, seem to all boys and girls, but a dreary + prospect if they felt it was to be theirs or that of any one they loved. + And yet what man to-day is more highly honored than Christopher Columbus? + People forget all the trials and hardships and sorrows of his life, and + think of him only as one of the great successes of the world—the man + who discovered America. + </p> + <p> + And out of his life of disaster and disappointment two things stand forth + that all of us can honor and all of us should wish to copy. These are his + sublime persistence and his unfaltering faith. Even as a boy, Columbus had + an idea of what he wished to try and what he was bound to do. He kept + right at that idea, no matter what might happen to annoy him or set him + back. + </p> + <p> + It was the faith and the persistence of Columbus that discovered America + and opened the way for the millions who now call it their home. It is + because of these qualities that we honor him to-day; it is because this + faith and persistence ended as they did in the discovery of a new world, + that to-day his fame is immortal. + </p> + <p> + Other men were as brave, as skillful and as wise as he. Following in his + track they came sailing to the new lands; they explored its coasts, + conquered its red inhabitants, and peopled its shores with the life that + has made America today the home of millions of white men and millions of + free men. But Columbus showed the way. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIV. HOW THE STORY TURNS OUT. + </h2> + <p> + Whenever you start to read a story that you hope will be interesting, you + always wonder, do you not, how it is going to turn out? Your favorite + fairy tale or wonder story that began with "once upon a time," ends, does + it not, "so the prince married the beautiful princess, and they lived + happy ever after?" + </p> + <p> + Now, how does this story that we have been reading together turn out? You + don't think it ended happily, do you? It was, in some respects, more + marvelous than any fairy tale or wonder story; but, dear me! you say, why + couldn't Columbus have lived happily, after he had gone through so much, + and done so much, and discovered America, and given us who came after him + so splendid a land to live in? + </p> + <p> + Now, just here comes the real point of the story. Wise men tell us that + millions upon millions of busy little insects die to make the beautiful + coral islands of the Southern seas. Millions and millions of men and women + have lived and labored, died and been forgotten by the world they helped + to make the bright, and beautiful, and prosperous place to live in that it + is to-day. + </p> + <p> + Columbus was one of these millions; but he was a leader among them and has + not been forgotten. As the world has got farther away from the time in + which he lived, the man Columbus, who did so much and yet died almost + unnoticed, has grown more and more famous; his name is immortal, and + to-day he is the hero Columbus—one of the world's greatest men. + </p> + <p> + We, in America, are fond of celebrating anniversaries. I suppose the years + that you boys and girls have thus far lived have been the most remarkable + in the history of the world for celebrating anniversaries. For fully + twenty years the United States has been keeping its birthday. The + celebration commenced long before you were born, with the one hundredth + anniversary of the Battle of Lexington (in 1875). It has not ended yet. + But in 1892, We celebrated the greatest of all our birthdays—the + discovery of the continent that made it possible for us to be here at all. + </p> + <p> + Now this has not always been so with us. I suppose that in 1592 and in + 1692 no notice whatever was taken of the twelfth day of October, on which—one + hundred and two hundred years before—Columbus had landed on that + flat little "key" known as Watling's Island down among the West Indies, + and had begun a new chapter in the world's wonderful story. In 1592, there + was hardly anybody here to celebrate the anniversary—in fact, there + was hardly anybody here at all, except a few Spanish settlers in the West + Indies, in Mexico, and in Florida. In 1692, there were a few scattered + settlements of Frenchmen in Canada, of Englishmen in New England, Dutchmen + in New York, Swedes in Delaware, and Englishmen in Maryland, Virginia and + the Carolinas. But none of these people loved the Spaniards. They hated + them, indeed; for there had been fierce fighting going on for nearly a + hundred years between Spain and England, and you couldn't find an + Englishman, a Dutchman or a Swede who was willing to say a good word for + Spain, or thank God for the man who sailed away in Spanish ships to + discover America two hundred years before. + </p> + <p> + In 1792, people did think a little more about this, and there were a few + who did remember that, three hundred years before, Columbus had found the + great continent upon which, in that year 1792, a new republic, called the + United States of America, had only just been started after a long and + bloody war of rebellion and revolution. + </p> + <p> + We do not find, however, that in that year of 1792 there were many, if + any, public celebrations of the Discovery of America, in America itself. A + certain American clergyman, however, whose name was the Rev. Elhanan + Winchester, celebrated the three hundredth anniversary of the Discovery of + America by Columbus. And he celebrated it not in America, but in England, + where he was then living. On the twelfth of October, 1792, Winchester + delivered an address on "Columbus and his Discoveries," before a great + assembly of interested listeners. In that address he said some very + enthusiastic and some very remarkable things about the America that was to + be: + </p> + <p> + "I see the United States rise in all their ripened glory before me," he + said. "I look through and beyond every yet peopled region of the New + World, and behold period still brightening upon period. Where one + contiguous depth of gloomy wilderness now shuts out even the beams of day, + I see new States and empires, new seats of wisdom and knowledge, new + religious domes spreading around. In places now untrod by any but savage + beasts, or men as savage as they, I hear the voices of happy labor, and + see beautiful cities rising to view. I behold the whole continent highly + cultivated and fertilized, full of cities, towns and villages, beautiful + and lovely beyond expression. I hear the praises of my great Creator sung + upon the banks of those rivers now unknown to song. Behold the delightful + prospect! See the silver and gold of America employed in the service of + the Lord of the whole earth! See slavery, with all its train of attendant + evils, forever abolished! See a communication opened through the whole + continent, from North to South and from East to West, through a most + fruitful country. Behold the glory of God extending, and the gospel + spreading through the whole land!" + </p> + <p> + Of course, it was easy for a man to see and to hope and to say all this; + but it is a little curious, is it not, that he should have seen things + just as they have turned out? + </p> + <p> + In Mr. Winchester's day, the United States of America had not quite four + millions of inhabitants. In his day Virginia was the largest State—in + the matter of population—Pennsylvania was the second and New York + the third. Philadelphia was the greatest city, then followed New York, + Boston, Baltimore and Charleston. Chicago was not even thought of. + </p> + <p> + To-day, four hundred years after Columbus first saw American shores, one + hundred and sixteen years after the United States were started in life by + the Declaration of American Independence, these same struggling States of + one hundred years ago are joined together to make the greatest and most + prosperous nation in the world. With a population of more than sixty-two + millions of people; with the thirteen original States grown into + forty-four, with the population of its three largest cities—New + York; Philadelphia and Chicago—more than equal to the population of + the whole country one hundred years ago; with schools and colleges and + happy homes brightening the whole broad land that now stretches from ocean + to ocean, the United States leads all other countries in the vast + continent Columbus discovered. Still westward, as Columbus led, the nation + advances; and, in a great city that Columbus could never have imagined, + and that the prophet of one hundred years ago scarcely dreamed of, the + mighty Republic in 1892 invited all the rest of the world to join with it + in celebrating the four hundredth anniversary of the Discovery of America + by Columbus the Admiral. And to do this celebrating fittingly and grandly, + it built up the splendid White City by the great Fresh Water Sea. + </p> + <p> + Columbus was a dreamer; he saw such wonderful visions of what was to be, + that people, as we know, tapped their foreheads and called him "the crazy + Genoese." But not even the wildest fancies nor the most wonderful dreams + of Columbus came anywhere near to what he would really have seen if—he + could have visited the Exposition at Chicago, in the great White City by + the lake—a "show city" specially built for the World's Fair of 1893, + given in his honor and as a monument to his memory. + </p> + <p> + Why, he would say, the Cathay that I spent my life trying to find was but + a hovel alongside this! What would he have seen? A city stretching a mile + and a half in length, and more than half a mile in breadth; a space + covering over five hundred acres of ground, and containing seventeen + magnificent buildings, into any one of which could have been put the + palaces of all the kings and queens of Europe known to Columbus's day. And + in these buildings he would have seen gathered together, all the marvelous + and all the useful things, all the beautiful and all the delightful things + that the world can make to-day, arranged and displayed for all the world + to see. He would have stood amazed in that wonderful city of glass and + iron, that surpassingly beautiful city, all of purest white, that had been + built some eight miles from the center of big and busy Chicago, looking + out upon the blue waters of mighty Lake Michigan. It was a city that I + wish all the boys and girls of America—especially all who read this + story of the man in whose honor it was built, might have visited. For as + they saw all its wonderful sights, studied its marvelous exhibits, and + enjoyed its beautiful belongings, they would have been ready to say how + proud, and glad, and happy they were to think that they were American + girls and boys, living in this wonderful nineteenth century that has been + more crowded with marvels, and mysteries, and triumphs than any one of the + Arabian Nights ever contained. + </p> + <p> + But, whether you saw the Columbian Exhibition or not, you can say that. + And then stop and think what a parrot did. That is one of the most + singular things in all this wonder story you are reading. Do you not + remember how, when Columbus was slowly feeling his way westward, Captain + Alonso Pinzon saw some parrots flying southward, and believing from this + that the land they sought was off in that direction, he induced Columbus + to change his course from the west to the south? If Columbus had not + changed his course and followed the parrots, the Santa Maria, with the + Pinta and the Nina, would have sailed on until they had entered the harbor + of Savannah or Charleston, or perhaps the broad waters of Chesapeake Bay. + Then the United States of to-day would have been discovered and settled by + Spaniards, and the whole history of the land would have been quite + different from what it has been. Spanish blood has peopled, but not + uplifted, the countries of South America and the Spanish Main. English + blood, which, following after—because Columbus had first shown the + way—peopled, saved and upbuilt the whole magnificent northern land + that Spain missed and lost. They have found in it more gold than ever + Columbus dreamed of in his never-found Cathay; they have filled it with a + nobler, braver, mightier, and more numerous people than ever Columbus + imagined the whole mysterious land of the Indies contained; they have made + it the home of freedom, of peace, of education, of intelligence and of + progress, and have protected and bettered it until the whole world + respects it for its strength, honors it for its patriotism, admires it for + its energy, and marvels at it for its prosperity. + </p> + <p> + And this is what a flying parrot did: It turned the tide of lawless + adventure, of gold-hunting, of slave-driving, and of selfish strife for + gain to the south; it left the north yet unvisited until it was ready for + the strong, and sturdy, and determined men and women who, hunting for + liberty, came across the seas and founded the colonies that became in time + the free and independent republic of the United States of America. + </p> + <p> + And thus has the story of Columbus really turned out. Happier than any + fairy tale, more marvelous than any wonder book, the story of the United + States of America is one that begins, "Once upon a time," and has come to + the point where it depends upon the boys and girls who read it, to say + whether or not they shall "live happily ever after." + </p> + <p> + The four hundred years of the New World's life closed its chapter of + happiness in the electric lights and brilliant sunshine of the marvelous + White City by Lake Michigan. It is a continued story of daring, devotion + and progress, that the boys and girls of America should never tire of + reading. And this story was made possible and turned out so well, because + of the briefer, but no less interesting story of the daring, the devotion + and the faith of the determined Genoese sailor of four hundred years ago, + whom men knew as Don Christopher Columbus, the Admiral of the Ocean Seas. + </p> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The True Story of Christopher Columbus, by +Elbridge S. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The True Story of Christopher Columbus + +Author: Elbridge S. Brooks + +Release Date: February 15, 2006 [EBook #1488] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRUE STORY OF COLUMBUS *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Keller and David Widger + + + + + +THE TRUE STORY OF + +CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS + +CALLED THE GREAT ADMIRAL + + +By Elbridge S. {Streeter} Brooks + + + + + [This was orginally done on the 400th Anniversary of 1492 as + was the great Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Interesting + how our heroes have all been de-canonized in the interest of + Political Correctitude--Comments by Michael S. Hart] + + + + +PREFACE. + + +This "True Story of Christopher Columbus" is offered and inscribed +to the boys and girls of America as the opening volume in a series +especially designed for their reading, and to be called "Children's +Lives of Great Men." In this series the place of honor, or rather of +position, is given to Columbus the Admiral, because had it not been for +him and for his pluck and faith and perseverance there might have been +no young Americans, such as we know to-day, to read or care about the +world's great men. + +Columbus led the American advance; he discovered the New World; he left +a record of persistence in spite of discouragement and of triumph over +all obstacles, that has been the inspiration and guide for Americans +ever since his day, and that has led them to work on in faith and hope +until the end they strove for was won. + +"The True Story of Christopher Columbus" will be followed by the "true +story" of others who have left names for us to honor and revere, who +have made the world better because they lived, and who have helped to +make and to develop American freedom, strength and progress. + +It will be the endeavor to have all these presented in the simple, +straightforward, earnest way that appeals to children, and shows how the +hero can be the man, and the man the hero. E. S. B. + + + + +THE TRUE STORY OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS + + + +CHAPTER I. BOY WITH AN IDEA. + +Men who do great things are men we all like to read about. This is the +story of Christopher Columbus, the man who discovered America. He lived +four hundred years ago. When he was a little boy he lived in Genoa. +It was a beautiful city in the northwestern part of the country called +Italy. The mountains were behind it; the sea was in front of it, and +it was so beautiful a place that the people who lived there called it +"Genoa the Superb." Christopher Columbus was born in this beautiful +city of Genoa in the year 1446, at number 27 Ponticello Street. He was +a bright little fellow with a fresh-looking face, a clear eye and golden +hair. His father's name was Domenico Columbus; his mother's name was +Susanna. His father was a wool-comber. He cleaned and straightened out +the snarled-up wool that was cut from the sheep so as to make it ready +to be woven into cloth. + +Christopher helped his father do this when he grew strong enough, but he +went to school, too, and learned to read and write and to draw maps and +charts. These charts were maps of the sea, to show the sailors where +they could steer without running on the rocks and sand, and how to sail +safely from one country to another. + +This world was not as big then as it is now--or, should say, people +did not know it was as big. Most of the lands that Columbus had studied +about in school, and most of the people he had heard about, were in +Europe and parts of Asia and Africa. The city of Genoa where Columbus +lived was a very busy and a very rich city. It was on the Mediterranean +Sea, and many of the people who lived there were sailors who went in +their ships on voyages to distant lands. They sailed to other places on +the Mediterranean Sea, which is a very large body of water, you know, +and to England, to France, to Norway, and even as far away as the cold +northern island of Iceland. This was thought to be a great journey. + +The time in which Columbus lived was not as nice a time as is this in +which you live. People were always quarreling and fighting about one +thing or another, and the sailors who belonged to one country would try +to catch and steal the ships or the things that belonged to the sailors +or the storekeepers of another country. This is what we call piracy, and +a pirate, you know, is thought to be a very wicked man. + +But when Columbus lived, men did not think it was so very wicked to be +a sort of half-way pirate, although they did know that they would +be killed if they were caught. So almost every sailor was about half +pirate. Every boy who lived near the seashore and saw the ships and the +sailors, felt as though he would like to sail away to far-off lands and +see all the strange sights and do all the brave things that the sailors +told about. Many of them even said they would like to be pirates and +fight with other sailors, and show how strong and brave and plucky they +could be. + +Columbus was one of these. He was what is called an adventurous boy. He +did not like to stay quietly at home with his father and comb out the +tangled wool. He thought it would be much nicer to sail away to sea and +be a brave captain or a rich merchant. + +When he was about fourteen years old he really did go to sea. There was +a captain of a sailing vessel that sometimes came to Genoa who had the +same last name--Columbus. He was no relation, but the little Christopher +somehow got acquainted with him among the wharves of Genoa. Perhaps he +had run on errands for him, or helped him with some of the sea-charts he +knew so well how to draw. At any rate he sailed away with this Captain +Columbus as his cabin boy, and went to the wars with him and had quite +an exciting life for a boy. + +Sailors are very fond of telling big stories about their own adventures +or about far-off lands and countries. Columbus, listened to many of +these sea-stories, and heard many wonderful things about a very rich +land away to the East that folks called Cathay. + +If you look in your geographies you will not find any such place on the +map as Cathay, but you will find China, and that was what men in the +time of Columbus called Cathay. They told very big stories about this +far-off Eastern land. They said its kings lived in golden houses, that +they were covered with pearls and diamonds, and that everybody there was +so rich that money was as plentiful as the stones in the street. + +This, of course, made the sailors and storekeepers, who were part +pirate, very anxious to go to Cathay and get some of the gold and jewels +and spices and splendor for themselves. But Cathay was miles and miles +away from Italy and Spain and France and England. It was away across the +deserts and mountains and seas and rivers, and they had to give it up +because they could not sail there. + +At last a man whose name was Marco Polo, and who was a very brave and +famous traveler, really did go there, in spite of all the trouble it +took. And when he got back his stories were so very surprising that men +were all the more anxious to find a way to sail in their ships to Cathay +and see it for themselves. + +But of course they could not sail over the deserts and mountains, and +they were very much troubled because they had to give up the idea, until +the son of the king of Portugal, named Prince Henry, said he believed +that ships could sail around Africa and so get to India or "the Indies" +as they called that land, and finally to Cathay. + +Just look at your map again and see what a long, long voyage it would +be to sail from Spain and around Africa to India, China and Japan. It is +such a long sail that, as you know, the Suez Canal was dug some twenty +years ago so that ships could sail through the Mediterranean Sea and out +into the Indian Ocean, and not have to go away around Africa. + +But when Columbus was a boy it was even worse than now, for no one +really knew how long Africa was, or whether ships really could sail +around it. But Prince Henry said he knew they could, and he sent out +ships to try. He died before his Portuguese sailors, Bartholomew Diaz, +in 1493, and Vasco de Gama, in 1497, at last did sail around it and got +as far as "the Indies." + +So while Prince Henry was trying to see whether ships could sail around +Africa and reach Cathay in that way, the boy Columbus was listening to +the stories the sailors told and was wondering whether some other and +easier way to Cathay might not be found. + +When he was at school he had studied about a certain man named +Pythagoras, who had lived in Greece thousands of years before he was +born, and who had said that the earth was round "like a ball or an +orange." + +As Columbus grew older and made maps and studied the sea, and read books +and listened to what other people said, he began to believe that this +man named Pythagoras might be right, and that the earth was round, +though everybody declared it was flat. If it is round, he said to +himself, "what is the use of trying to sail around Africa to get to +Cathay? Why not just sail west from Italy or Spain and keep going right +around the world until you strike Cathay? I believe it could be done," +said Columbus. + +By this time Columbus was a man. He was thirty years old and was a great +sailor. He had been captain of a number of vessels; he had sailed north +and south and east; he knew all about a ship and all about the sea. But, +though he was so good a sailor, when he said that he believed the earth +was round, everybody laughed at him and said that he was crazy. "Why, +how can the earth be round?" they cried. "The water would all spill out +if it were, and the men who live on the other side would all be standing +on their heads with their feet waving in the air." And then they laughed +all the harder. + +But Columbus did not think it was anything to laugh at. He believed it +so strongly, and felt so sure that he was right, that he set to work to +find some king or prince or great lord to let him have ships and sailors +and money enough to try to find a way to Cathay by sailing out into the +West and across the Atlantic Ocean. + +Now this Atlantic Ocean, the western waves of which break upon our +rocks and beaches, was thought in Columbus's day to be a dreadful place. +People called it the Sea of Darkness, because they did not know what was +on the other side of it, or what dangers lay beyond that distant blue +rim where the sky and water seem to meet, and which we call the horizon. +They thought the ocean stretched to the end of a flat world, straight +away to a sort of "jumping-off place," and that in this horrible +jumping-off place were giants and goblins and dragons and monsters and +all sorts of terrible things that would catch the ships and destroy them +and the sailors. + +So when Columbus said that he wanted to sail away toward this dreadful +jumping-off place, the people said that he was worse than crazy. They +said he was a wicked man and ought to be punished. + +But they could not frighten Columbus. He kept on trying. He went from +place to place trying to get the ships and sailors he wanted and was +bound to have. As you will see in the next chapter, he tried to get +help wherever he thought it could be had. He asked the people of his own +home, the city of Genoa, where he had lived and played when a boy; he +asked the people of the beautiful city that is built in the sea--Venice; +he tried the king of Portugal, the king of England, the king of France +the king and queen of Spain. But for a long time nobody cared to listen +to such a wild and foolish and dangerous plan--to go to Cathay by the +way of the Sea of Darkness and the Jumping-off place. You would never +get there alive, they said. + +And so Columbus waited. And his hair grew white while he waited, though +he was not yet an old man. He had thought and worked and hoped so much +that he began to look like an old man when he was forty years old. But +still he would never say that perhaps he was wrong, after all. He said +he knew he was right, and that some day he should find the Indies and +sail to Cathay. + + + +CHAPTER II. WHAT PEOPLE THOUGHT OF THE IDEA. + +I do not wish you to think that Columbus was the first man to say that +the earth was round, or the first to sail to the West over the Atlantic +Ocean. He was not. Other men had said that they believed the earth was +round; other men had sailed out into the Atlantic Ocean. But no sailor +who believed the earth was round had ever yet tried to prove that it was +by crossing the Atlantic. So, you see, Columbus was really the first man +to say, I believe the earth is round and I will show you that it is by +sailing to the lands that are on the other side of the earth. + +He even figured out how far it was around the world. Your geography, +you know, tells you now that what is called the circumference of +the earth--that is, a straight line drawn right around it--is nearly +twenty-five thousand miles. Columbus had figured it up pretty carefully +and he thought it was about twenty thousand miles. If I could start from +Genoa, he said, and walk straight ahead until I got back to Genoa again, +I should walk about twenty thousand miles. Cathay, he thought, would +take up so much land on the other side of the world that, if he went +west instead of east, he would only need to sail about twenty-five +hundred or three thousand miles. + +If you have studied your geography carefully you will see what a mistake +he made. + +It is really about twelve thousand miles from Spain to China (or Cathay +as he called it). But America is just about three thousand miles from +Spain, and if you read all this story you will see how Columbus's +mistake really helped him to discover America. + +I have told you that Columbus had a longing to do something great from +the time when, as a little boy, he had hung around the wharves in +Genoa and looked at the ships sailing east and west and talked with the +sailors and wished that he could go to sea. Perhaps what he had learned +at school--how some men said that the earth was round--and what he had +heard on the wharves about the wonders of Cathay set him to thinking +and to dreaming that it might be possible for a ship to sail around the +world without falling off. At any rate, he kept on thinking and dreaming +and longing until, at last, he began doing. + +Some of the sailors sent out by Prince Henry of Portugal, of whom I have +told you, in their trying to sail around Africa discovered two groups +of islands out in the Atlantic that they called the Azores, or Isles of +Hawks, and the Canaries, or Isles of Dogs. When Columbus was in Portugal +in 1470 he became acquainted with a young woman whose name was Philippa +Perestrelo. In 1473 he married her. + +Now Philippa's father, before his death, had been governor of Porto +Santo, one of the Azores, and Columbus and his wife went off there to +live. In the governor's house Columbus found a lot of charts and maps +that told him about parts of the ocean that he had never before seen, +and made him feel certain that he was right in saying that if he sailed +away to the West he should find Cathay. + +At that time there was an old man who lived in Florence, a city of +Italy. His name was Toscanelli. He was a great scholar and studied the +stars and made maps, and was a very wise man. Columbus knew what a wise +old scholar Toscanelli was, for Florence is not very far from Genoa. So +while he was living in the Azores he wrote to this old scholar asking +him what he thought about his idea that a man could sail around the +world until he reached the land called the Indies and at last found +Cathay. + +Toscanelli wrote to Columbus saying that he believed his idea was the +right one, and he said it would be a grand thing to do, if Columbus +dared to try it. Perhaps, he said, you can find all those splendid +things that I know are in Cathay--the great cities with marble bridges, +the houses of marble covered with gold, the jewels and the spices and +the precious stones, and all the other wonderful and magnificent things. +I do not wonder you wish to try, he said, for if you find Cathay it will +be a wonderful thing for you and for Portugal. + +That settled it with Columbus. If this wise old scholar said he was +right, he must be right. So he left his home in the Azores and went to +Portugal. This was in 1475, and from that time on, for seventeen long +years he was trying to get some king or prince to help him sail to the +West to find Cathay. + +But not one of the people who could have helped him, if they had really +wished to, believed in Columbus. As I told you, they said that he was +crazy. The king of Portugal, whose name was John, did a very unkind +thing--I am sure you would call it a mean trick. Columbus had gone to +him with his story and asked for ships and sailors. The king and his +chief men refused to help him; but King John said to himself, perhaps +there is something in this worth looking after and, if so, perhaps I +can have my own people find Cathay and save the money that Columbus will +want to keep for himself as his share of what he finds. So one day he +copied off the sailing directions that Columbus had left with him, +and gave them to one of his own captains without letting Columbus know +anything about it, The Portuguese captain sailed away to the West in +the direction Columbus had marked down, but a great storm came up and +so frightened the sailors that they turned around in a hurry. Then they +hunted up Columbus and began to abuse him for getting them into such a +scrape. You might as well expect to find land in the sky, they said, as +in those terrible waters. + +And when, in this way, Columbus found out that King John had tried to +use his ideas without letting him know anything about it, he was +very angry. His wife had died in the midst of this mean trick of the +Portuguese king, and so, taking with him his little five-year-old son, +Diego, he left Portugal secretly and went over into Spain. + +Near the little town of Palos, in western Spain, is a green hill looking +out toward the Atlantic. Upon this hill stands an old building that, +four hundred years ago, was used as a a convent or home for priests. It +was called the Convent of Rabida, and the priest at the head of it was +named the Friar Juan Perez. One autumn day, in the year 1484, Friar +Juan Perez saw a dusty traveler with a little boy talking with the +gate-keeper of the convent. The stranger was so tall and fine-looking, +and seemed such an interesting man, that Friar Juan went out and began +to talk with him. This man was Columbus. + +As they talked, the priest grew more and more interested in what +Columbus said. He invited him into the convent to stay for a few days, +and he asked some other people--the doctor of Palos and some of the sea +captains and sailors of the town--to come and talk with this stranger +who had such a singular idea about sailing across the Atlantic. + +It ended in Columbus's staying some months in Palos, waiting for a +chance to go and see the king and queen. At last, in 1485, he set out +for the Spanish court with a letter to a priest who was a friend of +Friar Juan's, and who could help him to see the king and queen. + +At that time the king and queen of Spain were fighting to drive out of +Spain the people called the Moors. These people came from Africa, but +they had lived in Spain for many years and had once been a very rich and +powerful nation. They were not Spaniards; they were not Christians. So +all Spaniards and all Christians hated them and tried to drive them out +of Europe. + +The king and queen of Spain who were fighting the Moors were named +Ferdinand and Isabella. They were pretty good people as kings and queens +went in those days, but they did a great many very cruel and very mean +things, just as the kings and queens of those days were apt to do. I +am afraid we should not think they were very nice people nowadays. We +certainly should not wish our American boys and girls to look up to them +as good and true and noble. + +When Columbus first came to them, they were with the army in the camp +near the city of Cordova. The king and queen had no time to listen to +what they thought were crazy plans, and poor Columbus could get no one +to talk with him who could be of any help. So he was obliged to go +back to drawing maps and selling books to make enough money to support +himself and his little Diego. + +But at last, through the friend of good Friar Juan Perez of Rabida, +who was a priest at the court, and named Talavera, and to whom he had a +letter of introduction, Columbus found a chance to talk over his plans +with a number of priests and scholars in the city of Salamanca where +there was a famous college and many learned men. + +Columbus told his story. He said what he wished to do, and asked these +learned men to say a good word for him to, Ferdinand and Isabella so +that he could have the ships and sailors to sail to Cathay. But it was +of no use. + +What! sail away around the world? those wise men cried in horror. Why, +you are crazy. The world is not round; it is flat. Your ships would +tumble off the edge of the world and all the king's money and all the +king's men would be lost. No, no; go away; you must not trouble the +queen or even mention such a ridiculous thing again. + +So the most of them said. But one or two thought it might be worth +trying. Cathay was a very rich country, and if this foolish fellow were +willing to run the risk and did succeed, it would be a good thing for +Spain, as the king and queen would need a great deal of money after the +war with the Moors was over. At any rate, it was a chance worth thinking +about. + +And so, although Columbus was dreadfully disappointed, he thought that +if he had only a few friends at Court who were ready to say a good word +for him he must not give up, but must try, try again. And so he staid in +Spain. + + + +CHAPTER III. HOW COLUMBUS GAINED A QUEEN FOR HIS FRIEND. + +When you wish very much to do a certain thing it is dreadfully hard to +be patient; it is harder still to have to wait. Columbus had to do both. +The wars against the Moors were of much greater interest to the king and +queen of Spain than was the finding of a new and very uncertain way to +get to Cathay. If it had not been for the patience and what we call the +persistence of Columbus, America would never have been discovered--at +least not in his time. + +He staid in Spain. He grew poorer and, poorer. He was almost friendless. +It seemed as if his great enterprise must be given up. But he never lost +hope. He never stopped trying. Even when he failed he kept on hoping and +kept on trying. He felt certain that sometime he should succeed. + +As we have seen, he tried to interest the rulers of different countries, +but with no success. He tried to get help from his old home-town of +Genoa and failed; he tried Portugal and failed; he tried the Republic of +Venice and failed; he tried the king and queen of Spain and failed; he +tried some of the richest and most powerful of the nobles of Spain +and failed; he tried the king of England (whom he got his brother, +Bartholomew Columbus, to go and see) and failed. There was still left +the king of France. He would make one last attempt to win the king and +queen of Spain to his side and if he failed with them he would try the +last of the rulers of Western Europe, the king of France. + +He followed the king and queen of Spain as they went from place to place +fighting the Moors. He hoped that some day, when they wished to think +of something besides fighting, they might think of him and the gold and +jewels and spices of Cathay. + +The days grew into months, the months to years, and still the war +against the Moors kept on; and still Columbus waited for the chance that +did not come. People grew to know him as "the crazy explorer" as they +met him in the streets or on the church steps of Seville or Cordova, and +even ragged little boys of the town, sharp-eyed and shrill-voiced as all +such ragged little urchins are, would run after this big man with +the streaming white hair and the tattered cloak, calling him names or +tapping their brown little foreheads with their dirty fingers to show +that even they knew that he was "as crazy as a loon." + +At last he decided to make one more attempt before giving it up in +Spain. His money was gone; his friends were few; but he remembered his +acquaintances at Palos and so he journeyed back to see once more his +good friend Friar Juan Perez at the Convent of Rabida on the hill that +looked out upon the Atlantic he was so anxious to cross. + +It was in the month of November, 1491, that he went back to the +Convent of Rabida. If he could not get any encouragement there, he was +determined to stay in Spain no longer but to go away and try the king of +France. + +Once more he talked over the finding of Cathay with the priests and the +sailors of Palos. They saw how patient he was; how persistent he was; +how he would never give up his ideas until he had tried them. They were +moved by his determination. They began to believe in him more and more. +They resolved to help him. One of the principal sea captains of Palos +was named Martin Alonso Pinzon. He became so interested that he offered +to lend Columbus money enough to make one last appeal to the king and +queen of Spain, and if Columbus should succeed with them, this Captain +Pinzon said that he would go into partnership with Columbus and help him +out when it came to getting ready to sail to Cathay. + +This was a move in the right direction. At once a messenger was sent +to the splendid Spanish camp before the city of Granada, the last +unconquered city of the Moors of Spain. The king and queen of Spain had +been so long trying to capture Granada that this camp was really a city, +with gates and walls and houses. It was called Santa Fe. Queen Isabella, +who was in Santa Fe, after some delay, agreed to hear more about the +crazy scheme of this persistent Genoese sailor, and the Friar Juan Perez +was sent for. He talked so well in behalf of his friend Columbus that +the queen became still more interested. She ordered Columbus to come and +see her, and sent him sixty-five dollars to pay for a mule, a new suit +of clothes and the journey to court. + +About Christmas time, in the year 1491, Columbus, mounted upon his mule, +rode into the Spanish camp before the city of Granada. But even now, +when he had been told to come, he had to wait. Granada was almost +captured; the Moors were almost conquered. At last the end came. On +the second of January, 1492, the Moorish king gave up the keys of his +beloved city, and the great Spanish banner was hoisted on the highest +tower of the Alhambra--the handsomest building in Granada and one of +the most beautiful in the world. The Moors were driven out of Spain and +Columbus's chance had come. + +So he appeared before Queen Isabella and her chief men and told them +again of all his plans and desires. The queen and her advisers sat in a +great room in that splendid Alhambra I have told you of. King Ferdinand +was not there. He did not believe in Columbus and did not wish to let +him have either money, ships or sailors to lose in such a foolish way. +But as Columbus stood before her and talked so earnestly about how he +expected to find the Indies and Cathay and what he hoped to bring away +from there, Queen Isabella listened and thought the plan worth trying. + +Then a singular thing happened. You would think if you wished for +something very much that you would give up a good deal for the sake of +getting it. Columbus had worked and waited for seventeen years. He had +never got what he wanted. He was always being disappointed. And yet, +as he talked to the queen and told her what he wished to do, he said he +must have so much as a reward for doing it that the queen and her +chief men were simply amazed at his--well, what the boys to-day call +"cheek"--that they would have nothing to do with him. This man really +is crazy, they said. This poor Genoese sailor comes here without a thing +except his very odd ideas, and almost "wants the earth" as a reward. +This is not exactly what they said, but it is what they meant. + +His few friends begged him to be more modest. Do not ask so much, they +said, or you will get nothing. But Columbus was determined. I have +worked and waited all these years, he replied. I know just what I can +do and just how much I can do for the king and queen of Spain. They must +pay me what I ask and promise what I say, or I will go somewhere else. +Go, then! said the queen and her advisers. And Columbus turned his back +on what seemed almost his last hope, mounted his mule and rode away. + +Then something else happened. As Columbus rode off to find the French +king, sick and tired of all his long and useless labor at the Spanish +court, his few firm friends there saw that, unless they did something +right away, all the glory and all the gain of this enterprise Columbus +had taught them to believe in would be lost to Spain. So two of them, +whose names were Santangel and Quintanilla, rushed into the queen's +room and begged her, if she wished to become the greatest queen in +Christendom, to call back this wandering sailor, agree to his terms and +profit by his labors. + +What if he does ask a great deal? they said. He has spent his life +thinking his plan out; no wonder he feels that he ought to have a good +share of what he finds. What he asks is really small compared with what +Spain will gain. The war with the Moors has cost you ever so much; your +money-chests are empty; Columbus will fill them up. The people of Cathay +are heathen; Columbus will help you make them Christian men. The Indies +and Cathay are full of gold and jewels; Columbus will bring you home +shiploads of treasures. Spain has conquered the Moors; Columbus will +help you conquer Cathay. + +In fact, they talked to Queen Isabella so strongly and so earnestly, +that she, too, became excited over this chance for glory and riches that +she had almost lost, Quick! send for Columbus. Call him back! she said. +I agree to his terms. If King Ferdinand cannot or will not take the +risk, I, the queen, will do it all. Quick! do not let the man get into +France. After him. Bring him back! + +And without delay a royal messenger, mounted on a swift horse, was sent +at full gallop to bring Columbus back. + +All this time poor Columbus felt bad enough. Everything had gone wrong. +Now he must go away into a new land and do it all over again. Kings and +queens, he felt, were not to be depended upon, and he remembered a +place in the Bible where it said: "Put not your trust in princes." Sad, +solitary and heavy-hearted, he jogged slowly along toward the mountains, +wondering what the king of France would say to him, and whether it was +really worth trying. + +Just as he was riding across the little bridge called the Bridge of +Pinos, some six miles from Granada, he heard the quick hoof-beats of a +horse behind him. It was a great spot for robbers, and Columbus felt of +the little money he had in his traveling pouch, and wondered whether he +must lose it all. The hoof-beats came nearer. Then a voice hailed him. +Turn back, turn back! the messenger cried out. The queen bids you return +to Granada. She grants you all you ask. + +Columbus hesitated. Ought he to trust this promise, he wondered. Put not +your trust in princes, the verse in the Bible had said. If I go back I +may only be put off and worried as I have been before. And yet, perhaps +she means what she says. At any rate, I will go back and try once more. + +So, on the little Bridge of Pinos, he turned his mule around and rode +back to Granada. And, sure enough, when he saw Queen Isabella she +agreed to all that he asked. If he found Cathay, Columbus was to be +made admiral for life of all the new seas and oceans into which he might +sail; he was to be chief ruler of all the lands he might find; he was to +keep one tenth part of all the gold and jewels and treasures he should +bring away, and was to have his "say" in all questions about the new +lands. For his part (and this was because of the offer of his friend at +Palos, Captain Pinzon) he agreed to pay one eighth of all the expenses +of this expedition and of all new enterprises, and was to have one +eighth of all the profits from them. + +So Columbus had his wish at last. The queen's men figured up how +much money they could let him have; they called him "Don Christopher +Columbus," "Your Excellency" and "Admiral," and at once he set about +getting ready for his voyage. + + + +CHAPTER IV. HOW THE ADMIRAL SAILED AWAY. + +The agreement made between Columbus and the king and queen of Spain was +signed on the seventeenth of April, 1492. But it was four months before +he was quite ready to sail away. + +He selected the town of Palos as the place to sail from, because +there, as you know, Captain Pinzon lived; there, too, he had other +acquaintances, so that he supposed it would be easy to get the sailors +he needed for his ships. But in this he was greatly mistaken. + +As soon as the papers had been signed that held the queen to her +promise, Columbus set off for Palos. He stopped at the Convent of Rabida +to tell the Friar Juan Perez how thankful he was to him for the help the +good priest had given him, and how everything now looked promising and +successful. + +The town of Palos, as you can see from your map of Spain, is situated at +the mouth of the river Tinto on a little bay in the southwestern part +of Spain, not far from the borders of Portugal. To-day the sea has gone +away from it so much that it is nearly high and dry; but four hundred +years ago it was quite a seaport, when Spain did not have a great many +sea towns on the Atlantic coast. + +At the time of Columbus's voyage the king and queen of Spain were +angry with the port of Palos for something its people had done that was +wrong--just what this was we do not know. But to punish the town, and +because Columbus wished to sail from there, the king and queen ordered +that Palos should pay them a fine for their wrong-doing. And this fine +was to lend the king and queen of Spain, for one year, without pay, two +sailing vessels of the kind called caravel's, armed and equipped "for +the service of the crown"--that is, for the use of the king and queen of +Spain, in the western voyage that Columbus was to make. + +When Columbus called together the leading people of Palos to meet him in +the church of St. George and hear the royal commands, they came; but at +first they did not understand just what they must do. But when they knew +that they must send two of their ships and some of their sailing men +on this dreadful voyage far out upon the terrible Sea of Darkness, they +were terribly distressed. Nobody was willing to go. They would obey the +commands of the king and queen and furnish the two ships, but as for +sailing off with this crazy sea captain--that they would not do. + +Then the king's officers went to work. They seized some sailors +(impressed is the word for this), and made them go; they took some +from the jails, and gave them their freedom as a reward for going; they +begged and threatened and paid in advance, and still it was hard to +get enough men for the two ships. Then Captain Pinzon, who had promised +Columbus that he would join him, tried his hand. He added a third ship +to the Admiral's "fleet." He made big promises to the sailors, and +worked for weeks, until at last he was able to do what even the royal +commands could not do, and a crew of ninety men was got together to man +the three vessels. The names of these three vessels were the Capitana +(changed before it sailed to the Santa Maria), the Pinta and the Nina +or Baby. Captain de la Cosa commanded the Santa Maria, Captain Martin +Alonso Pinzon the Pinta and his brother, Captain Vincent Pinzon, the +Nina. The Santa Maria was the largest of the three vessels; it was +therefore selected as the leader of the fleet--the flag-ship, as it is +called--and upon it sailed the commander of the expedition, the Admiral +Don Christopher Columbus. + +When we think of a voyage across the Atlantic nowadays, we think of +vessels as large as the big three-masted ships or the great ocean +steamers--vessels over six hundred feet long and fifty feet wide. But +these "ships" of Columbus were not really ships. They were hardly larger +than the "fishing smacks" that sail up and down our coast to-day. Some +of them were not so large. The Santa Maria was, as I have told you, the +largest of the three, and she was only sixty-three feet long, twenty +feet wide and ten and a half feet deep. Just measure this out on the +ground and see how small, after all, the Admiral's "flag-ship" really +was. The Pinta was even smaller than this, while the little Nina was +hardly anything more than a good-sized sail boat. Do you wonder that the +poor people of Palos and the towns round about were frightened when they +thought of their fathers and brothers and sons putting out to sea, on +the great ocean they had learned to dread so much, in such shaky little +boats as these? + +But finally the vessels were ready. The crews were selected. The time +had come to go. Most of the sailors were Spanish men from the towns near +to the sea, but somehow a few who were not Spaniards joined the crew. + +One of the first men to land in America from one of the ships of +Columbus was an Irishman named William, from the County Galway. And +another was an Englishman named either Arthur Laws or Arthur Larkins. +The Spanish names for both these men look very queer, and only a wise +scholar who digs among names and words could have found out what they +really were. But such a one did find it out, and it increases our +interest in the discovery of America to know that some of our own +northern blood--the Irishman and the Englishman--were in the crews of +Columbus. + +The Admiral Columbus was so sure he was going to find a rich and +civilized country, such as India and Cathay were said to be, that he +took along on his ships the men he would need in such places as he +expected to visit and among such splendid people as he was sure he +should meet. He took along a lawyer to make out all the forms and +proclamations and papers that would have to be sent by the Admiral +to the kings and princes he expected to visit; he had a secretary and +historian to write out the story of what he should find and what he +should do. There was a learned Jew, named Louis, who could speak almost +a dozen languages, and who could, of course, tell him what the people +of Cathay and Cipango and the Indies were talking about. There was +a jeweler and silversmith who knew all about the gold and silver and +precious stones that Columbus was going to load the ships with; there +was a doctor and a surgeon; there were cooks and pilots, and even a +little fellow, who sailed in the Santa Maria as the Admiral's cabin boy, +and whose name was Pedro de Acevedo. + +Some scholars have said that it cost about two hundred and thirty +thousand dollars to fit out this expedition. I do not think it cost +nearly so much. We do know that Queen Isabella gave sixty-seven thousand +dollars to help pay for it. Some people, however, reckoning the old +Spanish money in a different way, say that what Queen Isabella gave +toward the expedition was not over three or four thousand dollars of our +money. Perhaps as much more was borrowed from King Ferdinand, although +he was to have no share in the enterprise in which Queen Isabella and +Columbus were partners. + +It was just an hour before sunrise on Friday, the third of August, 1492, +that the three little ships hoisted their anchors and sailed away from +the port of Palos. I suppose it was a very sorry and a very exciting +morning in Palos. The people probably crowded down on the docks, some of +them sad and sorrowful, some of them restless and curious. Their fathers +and brothers and sons and acquaintances were going--no one knew where, +dragged off to sea by a crazy old Italian sailor who thought there was +land to be found somewhere beyond the Jumping-off place. They all knew +he was wrong. They were certain that nothing but dreadful goblins and +horrible monsters lived off there to the West, just waiting to devour +or destroy the poor sailors when these three little ships should tumble +over the edge. + +But how different Columbus must have felt as he stepped, into the +rowboat that took him off to his "flag-ship," the Santa Maria. His +dreams had come true. He had ships and sailors under his command, and +was about to sail away to discover great and wonderful things. He who +had been so poor that he could hardly buy his own dinner, was now called +Don and Admiral. He had a queen for his friend and helper. He was given +a power that only the richest and noblest could hope for. But more than +all, he was to have the chance he had wished and worked for so long. He +was to find the Indies; he was to see Cathay; he was to have his share +in all the wealth he should discover and bring away. The son of the +poor wool-weaver of Genoa was to be the friend of kings and princes; the +cabin boy of a pirate was now Admiral of the Seas and Governor of the +Colonies of Spain! Do you wonder that he felt proud? + +So, as I have told you, just before sunrise on a Friday morning in +August, he boarded the Santa Maria and gave orders to his captains +"to get under way." The sailors with a "yo heave ho!" (or whatever the +Spanish for that is) tugged at the anchors, the sails filled with the +morning breeze, and while the people of Palos watched them from the +shore, while the good friar, Juan Perez, raised his hands to Heaven +calling down a blessing on the enterprise, while the children waved a +last good-by from the water-stairs, the three vessels steered out from +Palos Harbor, and before that day's sun had set, Columbus and his fleet +were full fifty miles on their way across the Sea of Darkness. The +westward voyage to those wonderful lands, the Indies and Cathay, had at +last begun. + + + +CHAPTER V. HOW THEY FARED ON THE SEA OF DARKNESS. + +Did you ever set out, in the dark, to walk with your little brother or +sister along a road you did not know much about or had never gone over +before? It was not an easy thing to do, was it? And how did your little +brother or sister feel when it was known that you were not just certain +whether you were right or not? Do you remember what the Bible says about +the blind leading the blind? + +It was much the same with Columbus when he set out from Palos to sail +over an unknown sea to find the uncertain land of Cathay. He had his own +idea of the way there, but no one in all his company had ever sailed it, +and he himself was not sure about it. He was very much in the dark. And +the sailors in the three ships were worse than little children. They did +not even have the confidence in their leader that your little brother +or sister would probably have in you as you traveled that new road on a +dark night. It was almost another case of the blind leading the blind, +was it not? + +Columbus first steered his ships to the south so as to reach the Canary +Islands and commence his real westward voyage from there. The Canary +Islands, as you will see by looking in your geography, are made up of +seven islands and lie off the northern corner of Africa, some sixty +miles or so west of Morocco. They were named Canaria by the Romans from +the Latin canis, a dog, "because of the multitude of dogs of great size" +that were found there. The canary birds that sing so sweetly in your +home come from these islands. They had been known to the Spaniards and +other European sailors of Columbus's day about a hundred years. + +At the Canaries the troubles of Columbus commenced. And he did have a +lot of trouble before his voyage was over. While near the island called +the Grand Canary the rudder of the Pinta, in which Captain Alonso Pinzon +sailed, somehow got loose, then broke and finally came off. It was said +that two of the Pinta's crew, who were really the owners of the vessel, +broke the rudder on purpose, because they had become frightened at the +thoughts of the perilous voyage, and hoped by damaging their vessel to +be left behind. + +But Columbus had no thought of doing any such thing. He sailed to the +island of Gomera, where he knew some people, and had the Pinta mended. +And while lying here with his fleet the great mountain on the island of +Teneriffe, twelve thousand feet high, suddenly began to spit out flame +and smoke. It was, as of course you know, a volcano; but the poor +frightened sailors did not know what set this mountain on fire, and they +were scared almost out of their wits' and begged the Admiral to go back +home. But Columbus would not. And as they sailed away from Gomera some +sailors told them that the king of Portugal was angry with Columbus +because he had got his ships from the king and queen of Spain, and that +he had sent out some of his war-ships to worry or capture Columbus. + +But these, too, Columbus escaped, although not before his crews had +grown terribly nervous for fear of capture. At last they got away from +the Canaries, and on Sunday, the ninth of September, 1492, with a fresh +breeze filling their sails, the three caravels sailed away into the +West. And as the shores of Ferro, the very last of the Canary Islands, +faded out of sight, the sailors burst into sighs and murmurings and +tears, saying that now indeed they were sailing off--off--off--upon the +awful Sea of Darkness and would never see land any more. + +When Columbus thought that he was sailing too slowly--he had now been +away from Palos a month and was only about a hundred miles out at +sea--and when he saw what babies his sailors were, he did something that +was not just right (for it is never right to do anything that is not +true) but which he felt he really must do. He made two records (or +reckonings as they are called) of his sailing. One of these records was +a true one; this he kept for himself. The other was a false one; this he +kept to show his sailors. So while they thought they were sailing slowly +and that the ocean was not so very wide, Columbus knew from his own true +record that they were getting miles and miles away from home. + +Soon another thing happened to worry the sailors. The pilots were +steering by the compass. You know what that is--a sort of big +magnet-needle perfectly balanced and pointing always to the north. At +the time of Columbus the compass was a new thing and was only understood +by a few. On the thirteenth of September they had really got into the +middle of the ocean, and the line of the north changed. Of course this +made the needle in the compass change its position also. Now the sailors +had been taught to believe so fully in the compass that they thought it +could never change its position. And here it was playing a cruel trick +upon them. We are trapped! they cried. The goblins in this dreadful sea +are making our compass point wrong so as to drag us to destruction. Go +back; take us back! they demanded. + +But Columbus, though he knew that his explanation was wrong, said the +compass was all right. The North Star, toward which the needle always +pointed, had, so he said, changed its position. This quieted the sailors +for a while. + +When they had been about forty days out from Palos, the ship ran into +what is marked upon your maps as the Sargasso Sea. This is a vast meadow +of floating seaweed and seagrass in the middle of the Atlantic; it is +kept drifting about in the same place by the two great sea currents that +flow past it but not through it. + +The sailors did not know this, of course, and when the ships began to +sail slower and slower because the seaweed was so thick and heavy and +because there was no current to carry them along, they were sure that +they were somewhere near to the jumping-off place, and that the horrible +monsters they had heard of were making ready to stop their ships, and +when they had got them all snarled up in this weed to drag them all down +to the bottom of the sea. + +For nearly a week the ships sailed over these vast sea-meadows, and +when they were out of them they struck what we call the trade-winds--a +never-failing breeze that blew them ever westward. Then the sailors +cried out that they were in an enchanted land where there was but one +wind and never a breeze to blow the poor sailors home again. Were they +not fearfully "scarey?" But no doubt we should have been so, too, if we +had been with them and knew no more than they did. + +And when they had been over fifty days from home on the twenty-fifth of +September, some one suddenly cried Land! Land! And all hands crowded +to the side. Sure enough, they all saw it, straight ahead of them--fair +green islands and lofty hills and a city with castles and temples and +palaces that glittered beautifully in the sun. + +Then they all cried for joy and sang hymns of praise and shouted to each +other that their troubles were over. Cathay, it is Cathay! they cried; +and they steered straight for the shining city. But, worst of all their +troubles, even as they sailed toward the land they thought to be Cathay, +behold! it all disappeared--island and castle and palace and temple and +city, and nothing but the tossing sea lay all about them. + +For this that they had seen was what is called a mirage--a trick of the +clouds and the sun and the sea that makes people imagine they see what +they would like to, but really do not. But after this Columbus had a +harder time than ever with his men, for they were sure he was leading +them all astray. + +And so with frights and imaginings and mysteries like these, with +strange birds flying about the ships and floating things in the water +that told of land somewhere about them, with hopes again and again +disappointed, and with the sailors growing more and more restless and +discontented, and muttering threats against this Italian adventurer +who, was leading the ships and sailors of the Spanish king to sure +destruction, Columbus still sailed on, as full of patience and of faith, +as certain of success as he had ever been. + +On the seventh of October, 1492, the true record that Columbus was +keeping showed that he had sailed twenty-seven hundred miles from the +Canaries; the false record that the sailors saw said they had sailed +twenty-two hundred miles. Had Columbus kept straight on, he would have +landed very soon upon the coast of Florida or South Carolina, and would +really have discovered the mainland of America. But Captain Alonso +Pinzon saw what looked like a flock of parrots flying south. This made +him think the land lay that way; so he begged the Admiral to change his +course to the southward as he was sure there was no land to the west. +Against his will, Columbus at last consented, and turning to the +southwest headed for Cuba. + +But he thought he was steering for Cathay. The islands of Japan, were, +he thought, only a few leagues away to the west. They were really, as +you know, away across the United States and then across the Pacific +Ocean, thousands of miles farther west than Columbus could sail. But +according to his reckoning he hoped within a day or two to see the +cities and palaces of this wonderful land. + +When they sailed from the Canaries a reward had been offered to +whomsoever should first see land. This reward was to be a silken jacket +and nearly five hundred dollars in money; so all the sailors were on the +watch. + +At about ten o'clock on the evening of the eleventh of October, +Columbus, standing on the high raised stern of the Santa Maria, saw a +moving light, as if some one on the shore were running with a flaming +torch. At two o'clock the next morning--Friday, the twelfth of October, +1492 the sharp eyes of a watchful sailor on the Pinta (his name was +Rodrigo de Triana) caught sight of a long low coastline not far away. He +raised the joyful shout Land, ho! The ships ran in as near to the shore +as they dared, and just ten weeks after the anchors had been hauled up +in Palos Harbor they were dropped overboard, and the hips of Columbus +were anchored in the waters of a new world. + +Where was it? What was it? Was it Cathay? Columbus was sure that it was. +He was certain that the morning sun would shine for him upon the marble +towers and golden roofs of the wonderful city of the kings of Cathay. + + + +CHAPTER VI. WHAT COLUMBUS DISCOVERED. + +A little over three hundred years ago there was a Pope of Rome whose +name was Gregory XIII. He was greatly interested in learning and +science, and when the scholars and wise men of his day showed him that a +mistake in reckoning time had long before been made he set about to make +it right. At that time the Pope of Rome had great influence with the +kings and queens of Europe, and whatever he wished them to do they +generally did. + +So they all agreed to his plan of renumbering the days of the year, and +a new reckoning of time was made upon the rule that most of you know by +heart in the old rhyme: + +Thirty days hath September, April, June and November; All the rest have +thirty-one, Excepting February which alone Hath twenty-eight--and this, +in fine, One year in four hath twenty-nine. + + +And the order of the days of the months and the year is what is called, +after Pope Gregory, the Gregorian Calendar. + +This change in reckoning time made, of course, all past dates wrong. +The old dates, which were called Old Style, had to be made to correspond +with the new dates which were called New Style. + +Now, according to the Old Style, Columbus discovered the islands he +thought to be the Indies (and which have ever since been called the +West Indies) on the twelfth of October, 1492. But, according to the New +Style, adopted nearly one hundred years after his discovery, the right +date would be the twenty-first of October. And this is why, in the +Columbian memorial year of 1892, the world celebrated the four hundredth +anniversary of the discovery of America on the twenty-first of October; +which, as you see, is the same as the twelfth under the Old Style of +reckoning time. + +But did Columbus discover America? What was this land that greeted his +eyes as the daylight came on that Friday morning, and he saw the low +green shores that lay ahead of his caravels. + +As far as Columbus was concerned he was sure that he had found some one +of the outermost islands of Cipango or Japan. So he dropped his anchors, +ordered out his rowboat, and prepared to take possession of the land in +the name of the queen of Spain, who had helped him in his enterprise. + +Just why or by what right a man from one country could sail up to the +land belonging to another country and, planting in the ground the +flag of his king, could say, "This land belongs to my king!" is a hard +question to answer. But there is an old saying that tells us, Might +makes right; and the servants of the kings and queens--the adventurers +and explorers of old--used to go sailing about the world with this idea +in their heads, and as soon as they came to a land they, had never seen +before, up would go their flag, and they would say, This land is mine +and my king's! They would not of course do this in any of the well-known +or "Christian lands" of Europe; but they believed that all "pagan +lands" belonged by right to the first European king whose sailors should +discover and claim them. + +So Columbus lowered a boat from the Santa Maria, and with two of his +chief men and some sailors for rowers he pulled off toward the island. + +But before he did so, he had to listen to the cheers and congratulations +of the very sailors who, only a few days before, were ready to kill him. +But, you see, this man whom they thought crazy had really brought them +to the beautiful land, just as he had promised. It does make such a +difference, you know, in what people say whether a thing turns out right +or not. + +Columbus, as I say, got into his rowboat with his chief inspector and +his lawyer. He wore a crimson cloak over his armor, and in his hand he +held the royal banner of Spain. Following him came Captain Alonso Pinzon +in a rowboat from the Pinta, and in a rowboat from the Nina Captain +Vincent Pinzon. Each of these captains carried the "banner of the green +cross" on which were to be seen the initials of the king and queen of +Spain. + +As they rowed toward the land they saw some people on the shore. They +were not dressed in the splendid clothes the Spaniards expected to find +the people of Cathay wearing. In fact, they did not have on much of +anything but grease and paint. And the land showed no signs of the +marble temples and gold-roofed palaces the sailors expected to find. It +was a little, low, flat green island, partly covered with trees and with +what looked like a lake in the center. + +This land was, in fact, one of the three thousand keys or coral islands +that stretch from the capes of Florida to the island of Hayti, and are +known as the Bahama Islands. The one upon which Columbus landed was +called by the natives Guanahani, and was either the little island now +marked on the map as Cat Island or else the one called Watling's Island. +Just which of these it was has been discussed over and over again, but +careful scholars have now but little doubt that it was the one known +to-day as Watling's Island. To see no sign of glittering palaces and +gayly dressed people was quite a disappointment to Columbus. But then, +he said, this, is probably the island farthest out to sea, and the +people who live here are not the real Cathay folks. We shall see them +very soon. + +So with the royal banner and the green-cross standards floating above +him, with his captains and chief officers and some of the sailors +gathered about him, while all the others watched him from the decks of +his fleet, Columbus stepped upon the shore. Then he took off his hat, +and holding the royal banner in one hand and his sword in the other +he said aloud: I take possession of this island, which I name San +Salvador,(*) and of all the islands and lands about it in the name of my +patron and sovereign lady, Isabella, and her kingdom of Castile. This, +or something like it, he said, for the exact words are not known to us. + + (*) The island of San Salvador means the island of the Holy + Saviour. Columbus and the Spanish explorers who followed him + gave Bible or religious names to very much of the land they + discovered. + +And when he had done this the captains and sailors fell at his feet +in wonder and admiration, begging him to forgive them for all the hard +things they had said about him. For you have found Cathay, they cried. +You are our leader. You will make us rich and powerful. Hurrah for the +great Admiral! + +And when the naked and astonished people of the island saw all this--the +canoes with wings, as they called the ships, the richly-dressed men with +white and bearded faces, the flags and swords, and the people kneeling +about this grand-looking old man in the crimson cloak--they said to one +another: These men are gods; they have come from Heaven to see us. And +then, they, too, fell on the ground and worshiped these men from Heaven, +as they supposed Columbus and his sailors to be. + +And when they found that the men from Heaven did not offer to hurt them, +they came nearer; and the man in the crimson cloak gave them beads and +pieces of bright cloth and other beautiful things they had never seen +before. And this made them feel all the more certain that these men +who had come to see them in the canoes with wings must really be from +Heaven. So they brought them fruits and flowers and feathers and birds +as presents; and both parties, the men with clothes and the men without +clothes, got on very well together. + +But Columbus, as we know, had come across the water for one especial +reason. He was to find Cathay, and he was to find it so that he could +carry back to Spain the gold and jewels and spices of Cathay. The first +thing, therefore, that he tried to find out from the people of the +island--whom he called "Indians," because he thought he had come to a +part of the coast of India was where Cathay might be. + +Of course they did not understand him. Even Louis, the interpreter, who +knew a dozen languages and who tried them all, could not make out what +these "Indians" said. But from their signs and actions and from the +sound of the words they spoke, Columbus understood that Cathay was off +somewhere to the southwest, and that the gold he was bound to find came +from there. The "Indians" had little bits of gold hanging in their ears +and noses. So Columbus supposed that among the finer people he hoped +soon to meet in the southwest, he should find great quantities of the +yellow metal. He was delighted. Success, he felt, was not far off. Japan +was near, China was near, India was near. Of this he was certain; and +even until he died Columbus did not have any idea that he had found a +new world--such as America really was. He was sure that he had simply +landed upon the eastern coasts of Asia and that he had found what he set +out to discover--the nearest route to the Indies. + +The next day Columbus pulled up his anchors, and having seized and +carried off to his ships some of the poor natives who had welcomed him +so gladly, he commenced a cruise among the islands of the group he had +discovered. + +Day after day he sailed among these beautiful tropic islands, and of +them and of the people who lived upon them he wrote to the king and +queen of Spain: "This country excels all others as far as the day +surpasses the night in splendor. The natives love their neighbors as +themselves; their conversation is the sweetest imaginable; their faces +smiling; and so gentle and so affectionate are they, that I swear to +Your Highness there is not a better people in the world." + +Does it not seem a pity that so great a man should have acted so meanly +toward these innocent people who loved and trusted him so? For it was +Columbus who first stole them away from their island homes and who first +thought of making them slaves to the white men. + + + +CHAPTER VII. HOW A BOY BROUGHT THE ADMIRAL TO GRIEF. + +Columbus kept sailing on from one island to another. Each new island +he found would, he hoped, bring him nearer to Cathay and to the marble +temples and golden palaces and splendid cities he was looking for. But +the temples and palaces and cities did not appear. When the Admiral came +to the coast of Cuba he said: This, I know, is the mainland of Asia. So +he sent off Louis, the interpreter, with a letter to the "great Emperor +of Cathay." Louis was gone several days; but he found no emperor, no +palace, no city, no gold, no jewels, no spices, no Cathay--only frail +houses of bark and reeds, fields of corn and grain, with simple people +who could tell him nothing about Cathay or Cipango or the Indies. + +So day after day Columbus kept on his search, sailing from island to +island, getting a little gold here and there, or some pearls and silver +and a lot of beautiful bird skins, feathers and trinkets. + +Then Captain Alonso Pinzon, who was sailing in the Pinta, believed he +could do better than follow the Admiral's lead. I know, he said, if I +could go off on my own hook I could find plenty of gold and pearls, and +perhaps I could find Cathay. So one day he sailed away and Columbus did +not know what had become of him. + +At last Columbus, sailing on and troubled at the way Captain Alonso +Pinzon had acted, came one day to the island of Hayti. If Cuba was +Cathay (or China), Hayti, he felt sure, must be Cipango (or Japan). So +he decided to sail into one of its harbors to spend Christmas Day. But +just before Christmas morning dawned, the helmsman of the Santa Maria, +thinking that everything was safe, gave the tiller into the hands of a +boy--perhaps it was little Pedro the cabin boy--and went to sleep. The +rest of the crew also were asleep. And the boy who, I suppose, felt +quite big to think that he was really steering the Admiral's flagship, +was a little too smart; for, before he knew it, he had driven the Santa +Maria plump upon a hidden reef. And there she was wrecked. They worked +hard to get her off but it was no use. She keeled over on her side, her +seams opened, the water leaked in, the waves broke over her, the masts +fell out and the Santa Maria had made her last voyage. + +Then Columbus was in distress. The Pinta had deserted him, the Santa +Maria was a wreck, the Nina was not nearly large enough to carry all his +men back to Spain. And to Spain he must return at once. What should he +do? + +Columbus was quick at getting out of a fix. So in this case he speedily +decided what to do. He set his men at work tearing the wreck of the +Santa Maria to pieces. Out of her timbers and woodwork, helped out with +trees from the woods and a few stones from the shore, he made quite +a fort. It had a ditch and a watch-tower and a drawbridge. It proudly +floated the flag of Spain. It was the first European fort in the new +world. On its ramparts Columbus mounted the cannons he had saved from +the wreck and named the fort La Navidad--that is, Fort Nativity, because +it was made out of the ship that was wrecked on Christmas Day-the day of +Christ's nativity, his birthday. + +He selected forty of his men to stay in the fort until he should return +from Spain. The most of them were quite willing to do this as they +thought the place was a beautiful one and they would be kept very busy +filling the fort with gold. Columbus told them they must have at least a +ton of gold before he came back. He left them provisions and powder +for a year, he told them to be careful and watchful, to be kind to the +Indians and to make the year such a good one that the king and queen of +Spain would be glad to reward them. And then he said good-by and sailed +away for Spain. + +It was on the fourth of January, 1493, that Columbus turned the little +Nina homeward. He had not sailed very far when what should he come +across but the lost Pinta. Captain Alonso Pinzon seemed very much +ashamed when he saw the Admiral, and tried to explain his absence. +Columbus knew well enough that Captain Pinzon had gone off gold hunting +and had not found any gold. But he did not scold him, and both the +vessels sailed toward Spain. + +The homeward voyage was a stormy and seasick one. Once it was so rough +that Columbus thought surely the Nina would be wrecked. So he copied +off the story of what he had seen and done, addressed it to the king and +queen of Spain, put it into a barrel and threw the barrel overboard. + +But the Nina was not shipwrecked, and on the eighteenth of February +Columbus reached the Azores. The Portuguese governor was so surprised +when he heard this crazy Italian really had returned, and was so angry +to think it was Spain and not Portugal that was to profit by his voyage +that he tried to make Columbus a prisoner. But the Admiral gave this +inhospitable welcomer the slip and was soon off the coast of Portugal. + +Here he was obliged to land and meet the king of Portugal--that same +King John who had once acted so meanly toward him. King John would +have done so again had he dared. But things were quite different now. +Columbus was a great man. He had made a successful voyage, and the king +and queen of Spain would have made it go hard with the king of Portugal +if he dared trouble their admiral. So King John had to give a royal +reception to Columbus, and permit him to send a messenger to the king +and queen of Spain with the news of his return from Cathay. + +Then Columbus went on board the Nina again and sailed for Palos. But his +old friend Captain Alonso Pinzon had again acted badly. For he had left +the Admiral in one of the storms at sea and had hurried homeward. Then +he sailed into one of the northern ports of Spain, and hoping to get all +the credit for his voyage, sent a messenger post-haste to the king and +queen with the word that he had returned from Cathay and had much to +tell them. And then he, too, sailed for Palos. + +On the fifteenth of March, 1493, just seven months after he had sailed +away to the West, Columbus in the Nina sailed into Palos Harbor. The +people knew the little vessel at once. And then what a time they made! +Columbus has come back, they cried. He has found Cathay. Hurrah! hurrah! +And the bells rang and the cannons boomed and the streets were full +of people. The sailors were welcomed with shouts of joy, and the +big stories they told were listened to with open mouths and many +exclamations of surprise. So Columbus came back to Palos. And everybody +pointed him out and cheered him and he was no longer spoken of as "that +crazy Italian who dragged away the men of Palos to the Jumping-off +place." + +And in the midst of all this rejoicing what should sail into the harbor +of Palos but the Pinta, just a few hours late! And when Captain Alonso +Pinzon heard the sounds of rejoicing, and knew that his plans to take +away from Columbus all the glory of what had been done had all gone +wrong, he did not even go to see his old friend and ask his pardon. He +went away to his own house without seeing any one. And there he found a +stern letter from the king and queen of Spain scolding him for trying +to get the best of Columbus, and refusing to hear or see him. The way +things had turned out made Captain Alonso Pinzon feel so badly that he +fell sick; and in a few days he died. + +But Columbus, after he had seen his good friend Juan Perez, the friar at +Rabida, and told him all his adventures, went on to Barcelona where King +Ferdinand and Queen Isabella were waiting for him. They had already sent +him letters telling him how pleased they were that he had found Cathay, +and ordering him to get ready for a second expedition at once. Columbus +gave his directions for this, and then, in a grand procession that +called everybody to the street or window or housetop, he set off for +Barcelona. He reached the court on a fine April day and was at once +received with much pleasure by the king and queen of Spain. + +Columbus told them where he had been and what he had seen; he showed +them the gold and the pearls and the birds and curiosities he had +brought to Spain as specimens, of what was to be found in Cathay; he +showed them the ten painted and "fixed-up" Indians he had stolen and +brought back with him. + +And the king and queen of Spain said he had done well. They had him +sit beside them while he told his story, and treated this poor Italian +wool-weaver as they would one of their great princes or mighty lords. +They told him he could put the royal arms alongside his own on his +shield or crest, and they bade him get together at once ships and +sailors for a second expedition to Cathay--ships and sailors enough, +they said, to get away up to the great cities of Cathay, where the +marble temples and the golden palaces must be. It was their wish, they +said, to gain the friendship of the great Emperor of Cathay, to trade +with him and get a good share of his gold and jewels and spices. For, +you see, no one as yet imagined that Columbus had discovered America. +They did not even know that there was such a continent. They thought he +had sailed to Asia and found the rich countries that Marco Polo had told +such big stories about. + +Columbus, you may be sure, was "all the rage" now. Wherever he went the +people followed him, cheering and shouting, and begging him to take them +with him on his next voyage to Cathay. + +He was as anxious as any one to get back to those beautiful islands +and hunt for gold and jewels. He set to work at once, and on the +twenty-fifth of September, 1493, with a fleet of seventeen ships and a +company of fifteen hundred men, Columbus the Admiral set sail from Cadiz +on his second voyage to Cathay and Cipango and the Indies. And this time +he was certain he should find all these wonderful places, and bring +back from the splendid cities unbounded wealth for the king and queen of +Spain. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. TRYING IT AGAIN. + +Do you not think Columbus must have felt very fine as he sailed out of +Cadiz Harbor on his second voyage to the West? It was just about a year +before, you know, that his feeble fleet of three little ships sailed +from Palos port. His hundred sailors hated to go; his friends were few; +everybody else said he was crazy; his success was very doubtful. Now, +as he stood on the high quarter-deck of his big flag-ship, the Maria +Galante, he was a great man. By appointment of his king and queen he +was "Admiral of the Ocean Seas" and "Viceroy of the Indies." He +had servants, to do as he directed; he had supreme command over the +seventeen ships of his fleet, large and small; fifteen hundred men +joyfully crowded his decks, while thousands left at home wished that +they might go with him, too. He had soldiers and sailors, horsemen and +footmen; his ships were filled with all the things necessary for trading +with the Indians and the great merchants of Cathay, and for building the +homes of those who wished to live in the lands beyond the sea. + +Everything looked so well and everybody was so full of hope and +expectation that the Admiral felt that now his fondest dreams were +coming to pass and that he was a great man indeed. + +This was to be a hunt for gold. And so sure of success was Columbus that +he promised the king and queen of Spain, out of the money he should make +on this voyage, to, himself pay for the fitting out of a great army of +fifty thousand foot soldiers and four thousand horsemen to drive away +the pagan Turks who had captured and held possession of the city of +Jerusalem and the sepulcher of Christ. For this had been the chief +desire, for years and years, of the Christian people of Europe. To +accomplish it many brave knights and warriors had fought and failed. But +now Columbus was certain he could do it. + +So, out into the western ocean sailed the great expedition of the +Admiral. He sailed first to the Canary Isles, where he took aboard wood +and water and many cattle, sheep and swine. Then, on the seventeenth of +October, he steered straight out into the broad Atlantic, and on Sunday, +the third of November, he saw the hill-tops of one of the West India +Islands that he named Dominica. You can find it on your map of the West +Indies. + +For days he sailed on, passing island after island, landing on some and +giving them names. Some of them were inhabited, some of them were not; +some were very large, some were very small. But none of them helped +him in any way to find Cathay, so at last he steered toward Hayti (or +Hispaniola, as he called it) and the little ship-built fortress of La +Navidad, where his forty comrades had been left. + +On the twenty-seventh of November, the fleet of the Admiral cast anchor +off the solitary fort. It was night. No light was to be seen on the +shore; through the darkness nothing could be made out that looked like +the walls of the fort. Columbus fired a cannon; then he fired another. +The echoes were the only answer. They must be sound sleepers in our +fortress there, said the Admiral. At last, over the water he heard the +sound of oars--or was it the dip of a paddle? A voice called for the +Admiral; but it was not a Spanish voice. The interpreter--who was +the only one left of those ten stolen Indians carried by Columbus to +Spain--came to the Admiral's side; by the light of the ship's lantern +they could make out the figure of an Indian in his canoe. He brought +presents from his chief. But where are my men at the fort? asked the +Admiral. And then the whole sad story was told. + +The fort of La Navidad was destroyed; the Spaniards were all dead; the +first attempt of Spain to start a colony in the new world was a terrible +failure. And for it the Spaniards themselves were to blame. + +After Columbus had left them, the forty men in the fort did not do as +he told them or as they had solemnly promised. They were lazy; they were +rough; they treated the Indians badly; they quarreled among themselves; +some of them ran off to live in the woods. Then sickness came; there +were two "sides," each one jealous of the other; the Indians became +enemies. A fiery war-chief from the hills, whose name was Caonabo, led +the Indians against the white men. The fort and village were surprised, +surrounded and destroyed. And the little band of "conquerors"--as the +Spaniards loved to call themselves--was itself conquered and killed. + +It was a terrible disappointment to Columbus. The men in whom he had +trusted had proved false. The gold he had told them to get together they +had not even found. His plans had all gone wrong. + +But Columbus was not the man to stay defeated. His fort was destroyed, +his men were killed, his settlement was a failure. It can't be helped +now, he said. I will try again. + +This time he would not only build a fort, he would build a city. He had +men and material enough to do this and to do it well. So he set to work. + +But the place where he had built from the wreck of the unlucky Santa +Maria his unlucky fort of La Navidad did not suit him. It was low, damp +and unhealthy. He must find a better place. After looking about for some +time he finally selected a place on the northern side of the island. You +can find it if you look at the map of Hayti in the West Indies; it is +near to Cape Isabella. + +He found here a good harbor for ships, a good place on the rocks for a +fort, and good land for gardens. Here Columbus laid out his new town, +and called it after his friend the queen of Spain, the city of Isabella. + +He marked out a central spot for his park or square; around this ran +a street, and along this street he built large stone buildings for a +storehouse, a church and a house for himself, as governor of the colony. +On the side streets were built the houses for the people who were to +live in the new town, while on a rocky point with its queer little round +tower looking out to sea stood the stone fort to protect the little +city. It was the first settlement made by white men in all the great new +world of America. + +You must know that there are some very wise and very bright people who +do not agree to this. They say that nearly five hundred years before +Columbus landed, a Norwegian prince or viking, whose name was Leif +Ericsson, had built on the banks of the beautiful Charles River, some +twelve miles from Boston, a city which he called Norumbega. + +But this has not really been proved. It is almost all the fancy of a +wise man who has studied it out for himself, and says he believes there +was such a city. But he does not really know it as we know of the city +of Isabella, and so we must still say that Christopher Columbus really +discovered America and built the first fort and the first city on its +shores--although he thought he was doing all this in Asia, on the shores +of China or Japan. + +When Columbus had his people nearly settled in their new city of +Isabella, he remembered that the main thing he was sent to do was to get +together as much gold as possible. His men were already grumbling. They +had come over the sea, they said, not to dig cellars and build huts, but +to find gold--gold that should make them rich and great and happy. + +So Columbus set to work gold-hunting. At first things seemed to promise +success. The Indians told big stories of gold to be found in the +mountains of Hayti; the men sent to the mountains discovered signs of +gold, and at once Columbus sent home joyful tidings to the king and +queen of Spain. + +Then he and his men hunted everywhere for the glittering yellow metal. +They fished for it in the streams; they dug for it in the earth; they +drove the Indians to hunt for it also until the poor redmen learned to +hate the very sound of the word gold, and believed that this was all the +white men lived for, cared for or worked for; holding up a piece of +this hated gold the Indians would say, one to another: "Behold the +Christian's god!" And so it came about that the poor worried natives, +who were not used to such hard work, took the easiest way out of it all, +and told the Spaniards the biggest kind of lies as to where gold might +be found--always away off somewhere else--if only the white men would go +there to look for it. + +On the thirteenth of January, 1494, Columbus sent back to Spain twelve +of his seventeen ships. He did not send back in them to the king, and +queen, the gold he had promised. He sent back the letters that promised +gold; he sent back as prisoners for punishment some of the most +discontented and quarrelsome of his colonists; and, worst of all, he +sent to the king and queen a note asking, them to permit him to send to +Spain all the Indians he could catch, to be sold as slaves. He said that +by doing this they could make "good Christians" of the Indians, while +the money that came from selling the natives would buy cattle for the +colony and leave some money for the royal money-chests. + +It is not pleasant to think this of so great a man as Columbus. But +it is true, and he is really the man who, started the slave-trade in +America. Of course things were very different in his time from what they +are to-day, and people did not think so badly of this horrible business. +But some good men did, and spoke out boldly against it. What they said +was not of much use, however, and slavery was started in the new world. +And from that act of Columbus came much sorrow and trouble for the land +he found. Even the great war between the northern and southern sections +of our own United States, upon one side or the other of which your +fathers, or your grandfathers perhaps, fought with gun and sword, was +brought about by this act of the great Admiral Columbus hundreds of +years before. + +So the twelve ships sailed back to Spain, and Columbus, with his five +remaining ships, his soldiers and his colonists, remained in the new +city of Isabella to keep up the hunt for gold or to become farmers in +the new world. + + + +CHAPTER IX. HOW THE TROUBLES OF THE ADMIRAL BEGAN. + +Both the farmers and the gold hunters had a hard time of it in the land +they had come to so hopefully. The farmers did not like to farm when +they thought they could do so much better at gold hunting; the gold +hunters found that it was the hardest kind of work to get from the water +or pick from the rocks the yellow metal they were so anxious to obtain. + +Columbus himself was not satisfied with the small amount of gold he got +from the streams and mines of Hayti; he was tired of the wrangling and +grumbling of his men. So, one day, he hoisted sail on his five ships +and started away on a hunt for richer gold mines, or, perhaps, for those +wonderful cities of Cathay he was still determined to find. + +He sailed to the south and discovered the island of Jamaica. Then he +coasted along the shores of Cuba. The great island stretched away so +many miles that Columbus was certain it was the mainland of Asia. There +was some excuse for this mistake. The great number of small islands he +had sailed by all seemed to lie just as the books about Cathay that +he had read said they did; the trees and fruits that he found in these +islands seemed to be just the same that travelers said grew in Cathay. + +To be sure the marble temples, the golden-roofed palaces, the gorgeous +cities had not yet appeared; but Columbus was so certain that he had +found Asia that he made all his men sign a paper in which they declared +that the land they had found (which was, as you know, the island of +Cuba) was really and truly the coast of Asia. + +This did not make it so, of course; but it made the people of Spain, and +the king and queen, think it was so. And this was most important. So, +to keep the sailors from going back on their word and the statement they +had signed, Columbus ordered that if any officer should afterward say +he had been mistaken, he should be fined one hundred dollars; and if any +sailor should say so, he should receive one hundred lashes with a whip +and have his tongue pulled out. That was a curious way to discover +Cathay, was it not? + +Then Columbus, fearing another shipwreck or another mutiny, sailed back +again to the city of Isabella. His men were discontented, his ships were +battered and leaky, his hunt for gold and palaces had again proved a +failure. He sailed around Jamaica; he got as far as the eastern end +of Hayti, and then, just as he was about to run into the harbor of +Isabella, all his strength gave out. The strain and the disappointment +were too much for him; he fell very, very sick, and on the twenty-ninth +of September, 1494, after just about five months of sailing and +wandering and hunting, the Nina ran into Isabella Harbor with Columbus +so sick from fever that he could not raise his hand or his head to give +an order to his men. + +For five long months Columbus lay in his stone house on the plaza or +square of Isabella a very sick man. His brother Bartholomew had come +across from Spain with three supply ships, bringing provisions for the +colony. So Bartholomew took charge of affairs for a while. + +And while Columbus lay so sick, some of the leading men in the colony +seized the ships in which Bartholomew Columbus had come to his brother's +aid, and sailing back to Spain they told the king and queen all sorts +of bad stories about Columbus. They were Spaniards. Columbus was an +Italian. They were jealous of him because he was higher placed and had +more to say than they had. They were angry to think that when he had +promised to bring them to the gorgeous cities and the glittering gold +mines of Cathay he had only landed them on islands which were the homes +of naked savages, and made them work dreadfully hard for what little +gold they could find. He had promised them power; they went home poorer +than when they came away. So they were "mad" at Columbus--just as boys +and girls are sometimes "mad" at one another; and they told the worst +stories they could think of about him, and called him all sorts of hard +names, and said the king and queen of Spain ought to look out for "their +great Admiral," or he would get the best of them and keep for himself +the most of whatever he could find in the new lands. + +At last Columbus began to grow better. And when he knew what his enemies +had done he was very much troubled for fear they should get the king and +queen to refuse him any further aid. So, just as soon as he was able, on +the tenth of March, 1496, he sailed home to Spain. + +How different was this from his splendid setting out from Cadiz +two years before. Then everything looked bright and promising; now +everything seemed dark and disappointing. The second voyage to the +Indies had been a failure. + +So, tired of his hard work in trying to keep his dissatisfied men in +order, in trying to check the Indians who were no longer his friends, in +trying to find the gold and pearls that were to be got at only by hard +work, in trying to make out just where he was and just where Cathay +might be, Columbus started for home. Sick, troubled, disappointed, +threatened by enemies in the Indies and by more bitter enemies at home, +sad, sorry and full of fear, but yet as determined and as brave as ever, +on the tenth of March, 1496, he went on board his caravels with two +hundred and fifty homesick and feversick men, and on the eleventh of +June his two vessels sailed into the harbor of Cadiz. + +The voyage had been a tedious one. Short of food, storm-tossed and full +of aches and pains the starving company "crawled ashore," glad to be +in their home land once more, and most of them full of complaints and +grumblings at their commander, the Admiral. + +And Columbus felt as downcast as any. He came ashore dressed, not in the +gleaming armor and crimson robes of a conqueror, as on his first return, +but in the garb of what was known as a penitent--the long, coarse gown, +the knotted girdle and peaked hood of a priest. For, you see, he did not +know just what terrible stories had been told by his enemies; he did not +know how the king and queen would receive him. He had promised them so +much; he had brought them so little. He had sailed away so hopefully; he +had come back humbled and hated. The greatest man in the world, he had +been in 1492; and in 1496 he was unsuccessful, almost friendless and +very unpopular. So you see, boys and girls, that success is a most +uncertain thing, and the man who is a hero to-day may be a beggar +to-morrow. + +But, as is often the case, Columbus was too full of fear. He was not +really in such disgrace as he thought he was. Though his enemies had +said all sorts of hard things against him, the king--and especially the +queen--could not forget that he was, after all, the man who, had found +the new land for Spain; they knew that even though he had not brought +home the great riches that were to have been gathered in the Indies, he +had still found for Spain a land that would surely, in time, give to it +riches, possessions and power. + +So they sent knightly messengers to Columbus telling him to come and see +them at once, and greeting him with many pleasant and friendly words. +Columbus was, as you must have seen, quick to feel glad again the moment +things seemed to turn in his favor; so he laid aside his penitent's +gown, and hurried off to court. And almost the first thing he did was to +ask the king and queen to fit out another fleet for him. Six ships, he +said he should want this time; and with these he was certain he could +sail into the yet undiscovered waters that lay beyond Hayti and upon +which he knew he should find Cathay. + +I am afraid the king and queen of Spain were beginning to feel a little +doubtful as to this still undiscovered Cathay. At any rate, they had +other matters to think of and they did not seem so very anxious to +spend more money on ships and sailors. But they talked very nicely to +Columbus; they gave him a new title (this time it was duke or marquis); +they made him a present of a great tract of land in Hayti, but it was +months and months before they would help him with the ships and money he +kept asking for. + +At last, however, the queen, Isabella, who had always had more interest +in Columbus and his plans than had the king, her husband, said a good +word for him. The six ships were given him, men and supplies were put +on board and on the twentieth of May, 1498, the Admiral set out on his +third voyage to what every one now called the Indies. + +There was not nearly so much excitement among the people about this +voyage. Cathay and its riches had almost become an old story; at any +rate it was a story that was not altogether believed in. Great crowds +did not now follow the Admiral from place to place begging him to take +them with him to the Indies. The hundreds of sick, disappointed and +angry men who had come home poor when they expected to be rich, and sick +when they expected to be strong, had gone through the land, and folks +began to think that Cathay was after all only a dream, and that the +stories of great gold and of untold riches which they had heard were but +"sailors' yarns" which no one could believe. + +So it was hard to get together a crew large enough to man the six +vessels that made up the fleet. At last, however, all was ready, and +with a company of two hundred men, besides his sailors, Columbus hoisted +anchor in the little port of San Lucar just north of Cadiz, near the +mouth of the Guadalquivir river, and sailed away into the West. + +This time he was determined to find the continent of Asia. Even though, +as you remember, he made his men sign a paper saying that the coast of +Cuba was Asia, he really seems to have doubted this himself. He felt +that he had only found islands. If so, he said, Cathay must be the other +side of those islands; and Cathay is what I must find. + +So, with this plan in mind, he sent three of his ships to the little +settlement of Isabella, and with the other three he sailed more to the +southwest. On the first of August the ships came in sight of the three +mountain peaks of the large island he called Trindad, or Trinity. + +Look on your map of South America and you will see that Trinidad lies +almost in the mouth of the Orinoco, a mighty river in the northern part +of South America. + +Columbus coasted about this island, and as he did so, looking across +to the west, he saw what he supposed to be still another island. It was +not. It was the coast of South America. For the first time, but without +knowing it, Columbus saw the great continent he had so long been hunting +for, though he had been seeking it under another name. + +So you see, the story of Columbus shows how his life was full of +mistakes. In his first voyage he found an island and thought it was the +mainland of the Eastern Hemisphere; in his third voyage he discovered +the mainland of the New World and thought it only an island off the +coast of the Old World. His life was full of mistakes, but those +mistakes have turned out to be, for us, glorious successes. + + + +CHAPTER X. FROM PARADISE TO PRISON. + +If you know a boy or a girl whose mind is set on any one thing, you will +find that they are always talking about that thing. Is not this so? They +have what people call a "hobby" (which is a kind of a horse, you know), +and they are apt, as we say, to "ride their hobby to death." + +If this is true of certain boys and girls, it is even more true of men +and women. They get to be what we call people of one idea, and whatever +they see or whatever they do always turns on that one idea. + +It was so with Columbus. All his life his one idea had been the finding +of Asia--the Indies, or Cathay, as he called it--by sailing to the west. +He did sail to the west. He did find land. And, because of this, as we +have seen, all his voyaging and all his exploring were done in the firm +belief that he was discovering new parts of the eastern coast of Asia. +The idea that he had found a new world never entered his head. + +So, when he looked toward the west, as he sailed around the island of +Trinidad and saw the distant shore, he said it was a new part of Asia. +He was as certain of this as he had before been certain that Cuba was a +part of the Asiatic mainland. + +But when he sailed into the mouth of the great Orinoco River he was +puzzled. For the water was no longer salt; it grew fresher and fresher +as he sailed on. And it rushed out so furiously through the two straits +at the northern and southern ends of Trinidad (which because of the +terrible rush of their currents he called the Lion's Mouth and the +Dragon's Mouth) that he was at first unable to explain it all. + +Then he had a curious idea. Columbus was a great reader of the Bible; +some of the Bible scholars of his day said that the Garden of Eden was +in a far Eastern land where a mighty river came down through it from the +hills of Paradise; as Columbus saw the beautiful land he had reached, +and saw the great river sending down its waters to the sea, he fitted +all that he saw to the Bible stories he knew so well, and felt sure that +he had really discovered the entrance to the Garden of Eden. + +He would gladly have sailed across the broad bay and up the great river +to explore this heavenly land; but he was ill with gout, he was nearly +blind from his sore eyes, his ships were shaky and leaky, and he felt +that he ought to hurry away to the city of Isabella where his brothers, +Bartholomew and Diego, were in charge of affairs and were, he knew, +anxiously waiting for him to come back. + +So at last he turned away from the lovely land that he thought must +be Paradise and steered toward Hayti. On the nineteenth of August he +arrived off the coast of Hayti. He sent a messenger with news of his +arrival, and soon greeted his brother Bartholomew, who, when he heard of +the Admiral's arrival, sailed at once to meet him. + +Bartholomew Columbus had a sad story to tell his brother Christopher. +Things had been going badly in Hayti, and the poor Admiral grew sicker +and sicker as he listened to what Bartholomew had to tell. + +You have heard it said that there are black sheep in every flock. There +were black sheep in this colony of Columbus. There were lazy men and +discontented men and jealous men, and they made great trouble, both in +the city of Isabella and in the new town which Bartholomew bad built in +another part of the island and called Santo Domingo. + +Such men are sure to make mischief, and these men in Hayti had made a +lot of it. Columbus had staid so long in Spain that these men began to +say that they knew he was certainly in trouble or disgrace there, that +the king and queen were angry with him, and that his offices of viceroy +and admiral were to be taken away from him. If this were so, they were +going to look out for themselves, they said. They would no longer obey +the commands of the Admiral's brothers, Bartholomew and Diego, whom he +had left in charge. + +So they rose in rebellion, and made things so uncomfortable for the two +brothers that the colony was soon full of strife and quarreling. + +The leader of this revolt was one of the chief men in the colony. His +name was Roldan. When Columbus and Bartholomew sailed into the harbor +of Santo Domingo, on the thirtieth of August, they found that Roldan and +his followers had set up a camp for themselves in another part of the +island, and given out that they were determined never to have anything +more to do with the three Columbus brothers. + +This rebellion weakened the colony dreadfully. Things looked desperate; +so desperate indeed that Columbus, after thinking it all over, thought +that the only way to do was to seem to give in to Roldan and patch +up some sort of an agreement by which they could all live together in +peace. But all the same, he said, I will complain to the king and have +this rebel Roldan punished. + +So the Admiral wrote Roldan a letter in which he offered to forgive +and forget all that he had done if he would come back and help make the +colony strong and united again. Roldan agreed to do this, if he could +have the same position he held before, and if Columbus would see that +his followers had all the land they wanted. Columbus agreed to this and +also gave the rebels permission to use the poor natives as slaves on +their lands. So the trouble seemed to be over for a while, and Columbus +sent two of his ships to Spain with letters to the king and queen. But +in these letters he accused Roldan of rebellion and tried to explain why +it was that things were going so badly in Hayti. + +But when these ships arrived in Spain the tidings they brought and the +other letters sent by them only made matters worse. People in Spain had +heard so many queer things from across the sea that they were beginning +to lose faith in Columbus. The men who had lost health and money in the +unlucky second voyage of the Admiral were now lazy loafers about the +docks, or they hung about the court and told how Columbus had made +beggars of them, while they hooted after and insulted the two sons of +Columbus who were pages in the queen's train. They called the boys the +sons of "the Admiral of Mosquitoland." + +Then came the ships with news of Roldan's rebellion, but with little or +no gold. And people said this was a fine viceroy who couldn't keep order +among his own men because, no doubt, he was too busy hiding away for his +own use the gold and pearls they knew he must have found in the river of +Paradise he said he had discovered. + +Then came five shiploads of Indian slaves, sent to Spain by Columbus, +and along with them came the story that Columbus had forgiven Roldan for +his rebellion and given him lands and office in Hayti. + +King Ferdinand had never really liked Columbus and had always been sorry +that he had given him so much power and so large a share in the profits. +The queen, too, began to think that while Columbus was a good sailor, he +was a very poor governor. But when she heard of the shiploads of slaves +he had sent, and found out that among the poor creatures were the +daughters of some of the chiefs, or caciques, of the Indians, she was +very angry, and asked how "her viceroy" dared to use "her vassals" so +without letting her know about it. Things were indeed beginning to look +bad for Columbus. The king and queen had promised that only members +of the Admiral's family should be sent to govern the island; they had +promised that no one but himself should have the right to trade in the +new lands. But now they began to go back on their promises. If Columbus +cannot find us gold and spices, they said, other men can. So they gave +permission to other captains to explore and trade in the western lands. +And as the complaints against the Admiral kept coming they began to talk +of sending over some one else to govern the islands. + +More letters came from Columbus asking the king and queen to let him +keep up his slave-trade, and to send out some one to act as a judge of +his quarrel with Roldan. Then the king and queen decided that something +must be done at once. The queen ordered the return of the slaves +Columbus had sent over, and the king told one of his officers named +Bobadilla to go over to Hayti and set things straight. And he sent a +letter by him commanding Columbus to talk with him, to give up all the +forts and arms in the colony and to obey Bobadilla in all things. + +Bobadilla sailed at once. But before he got across the sea matters, as +we know, had been straightened out by the Admiral; and when Bobadilla +reached Hayti he found everything quiet there. Columbus had made friends +with Roldan (or made believe that he had), and had got things into good +running order again. + +This was not what Bobadilla had reckoned upon. He had expected to find +things in such a bad way that he would have to take matters into his own +hand at once, and become a greater man than the Admiral. If everything +was all right he would have his journey for nothing and everybody would +laugh at him. So he determined to go ahead, even though there was no +necessity for his taking charge of affairs. He had been sent to do +certain things, and he did them at once. Without asking Columbus for his +advice or his assistance, he took possession of the forts and told every +one that he was governor now. He said that he had come to set things +straight, and he listened to the complaints of all the black sheep of +the colony--and how they did crowd around him and say the worst things +they could think of against the Admiral they had once been so anxious to +follow. + +Bobadilla listened to all their stories. He proceeded to use the power +the king and queen had given him to punish and disgrace Columbus--which +was not what they meant him to do. He moved into the palace of the +Admiral; he ordered the Admiral and his brothers to come to him, and +when they came expecting to talk things over, Bobadilla ordered that +they be seized as prisoners and traitors, that they be chained hand and +foot and put in prison. + +Columbus's saddest day had come. The man who had found a new world for +his king and queen, who had worked so hard in their service and who had +meant to do right, although he had made many mistakes, was thrust into +prison as if he were a thief or a murderer. The Admiral of the Ocean +Seas, the Viceroy of the Indies, the grand man whom all Spain had +honored and all the world had envied, was held as a prisoner in the land +he had found, and all his powers were taken by a stranger. He was sick, +he was disappointed, he was defeated in all his plans. And now he was in +chains. His third voyage had ended the worst of all. He had sailed away +to find Cathay; he had, so he believed, found the Garden of Eden and +the river of Paradise. And here, as an end to it all, he was arrested +by order of the king and queen he had tried to serve, his power and +position were taken from him by an insolent and unpitying messenger from +Spain; he was thrown into prison and after a few days he was hurried +with his brothers on board a ship and sent to Spain for trial and +punishment. How would it all turn out? Was it not a sad and sorry ending +to his bright dreams of success? + + + +CHAPTER XI. HOW THE ADMIRAL CAME AND WENT AGAIN. + +I suppose you think Bobadilla was a very cruel man. He was. But in his +time people were apt to be cruel to one another whenever they had the +power in their own hands. The days in which Columbus lived were not like +these in which we are living. You can never be too thankful for that, +boys and girls. Bobadilla had been told to go over the water and set the +Columbus matters straight. He had been brought up to believe that to set +matters straight you must be harsh and cruel; and so he did as he was +used to seeing other people in power do. Even Queen Isabella did not +hesitate to do some dreadful things to certain people she did not like +when she got them in her power. Cruelty was common in those days. It was +what we call the "spirit of the age." So you must not blame Bobadilla +too much, although we will all agree that it was very hard on Columbus. + +So Columbus, as I have told you, sailed back to Spain. But when the +officer who had charge of him and whose name was Villijo, had got out to +sea and out of Bobadilla's sight, he wanted to take the chains off. For +he loved Columbus and it made him feel very sad to see the old Admiral +treated like a convict or a murderer. Let me have these cruel chains +struck off, Your Excellency, he said. No, no, Villijo, Columbus replied. +Let these fetters remain upon me. My king and queen ordered me to submit +and Bobadilla has put me in chains. I will wear these irons until my +king and queen shall order them removed, and I shall keep them always as +relics and memorials of my services. + +It always makes us sad to see any one in great trouble. To hear of +a great man who has fallen low or of a rich man who has become poor, +always makes us say: Is not that too bad? Columbus had many enemies in +Spain. The nobles of the court, the men who had lost money in voyages +to the Indies, the people whose fathers and sons and brothers had sailed +away never to return, could not say anything bad enough about "this +upstart Italian," as they called Columbus. + +But to the most of the people Columbus was still the great Admiral. He +was the man who had stuck to his one idea until he had made a friend +of the queen; who had sailed away into the West and proved the Sea of +Darkness and the Jumping-off place to be only fairy tales after all; who +had found Cathay and the Indies for Spain. He was still a great man to +the multitude. + +So when on a certain October day, in the year 1500, it was spread abroad +that a ship had just come into the harbor of Cadiz, bringing home the +great Admiral, Christopher Columbus, a prisoner and in chains, folks +began to talk at once. Why, who has done this? they cried. Is this the +way to treat the man who found Cathay for Spain, the man whom the king +and the queen delighted to honor, the man who made a procession for us +with all sorts of birds and animals and pagan Indians? It cannot be. +Why, we all remember how he sailed into Palos Harbor eight years ago and +was received like a prince with banners and proclamations and salutes. +And now to bring him home in chains! It is a shame; it is cruel; it is +wicked. And when people began to talk in this way, the very ones who had +said the worst things against him began to change their tone. + +As soon as the ship got into Cadiz, Columbus sent off a letter to a +friend of his at the court in the beautiful city of Granada. This letter +was, of course, shown to the queen. And it told all about what Columbus +had suffered, and was, so full of sorrow and humbleness and yet of pride +in what he had been able to do, even though he had been disgraced, that +Queen Isabella (who was really a friend to Columbus in spite of her +dissatisfaction with the things he sometimes did) became very angry at +the way he had been treated. + +She took the letter to King Ferdinand, and at once both the king and the +queen hastened to send a messenger to Columbus telling him how angry +and sorry they were that Bobadilla should have dared to treat their +good friend the Admiral so. They ordered his immediate release from +imprisonment; they sent him a present of five thousand dollars and asked +him to come to court at once. + +On the seventeenth of December, 1500, Columbus came to the court at +Granada in the beautiful palace of the Alhambra. He rode on a mule. At +that time, in Spain, people were not allowed to ride on mules, because +if they did the Spanish horses would not be bought and sold, as mules +were so much cheaper and were easier to ride. But Columbus was sick and +it hurt him to ride horseback, while he could be fairly comfortable on +an easy-going mule. So the king and queen gave him special permission to +come on mule-back. + +When Columbus appeared before the queen, looking so sick and troubled, +Isabella was greatly affected. She thought of all he had done and all he +had gone through and all he had suffered, and as he came to the steps of +the throne the queen burst into tears. That made Columbus cry too, for +he thought a great deal of the queen, and he fell at her feet and told +her how much he honored her, and how much he was ready to do for her, if +he could but have the chance. + +Then the king and queen told him how sorry they were that any one should +have so misunderstood their desires and have treated their brave and +loyal Admiral so shamefully. They promised to make everything all right +for him again, and to show him that they were his good friends now as +they always had been since the day he first sailed away to find the +Indies for them and for Spain. + +Of course this made Columbus feel much better. He had left Hayti in fear +and trembling. He had come home expecting something dreadful was going +to happen; he would not have been surprised at a long imprisonment; he +would not even have been surprised if he had been put to death--for the +kings and queens and high lords of his day were very apt to order people +put to death if they did not like what had been done. The harsh way in +which Bobadilla had treated him made him think the king and queen had +really ordered it. Perhaps they had; and perhaps the way in which the +people cried out in indignation when they saw the great Admiral brought +ashore in chains had its influence on Queen Isabella. King Ferdinand +really cared nothing about it. He would gladly have seen Columbus put in +prison for life; but the queen had very much to say about things in +her kingdom, and so King Ferdinand made believe he was sorry and talked +quite as pleasantly to Columbus as did the queen. + +Now Columbus, as you must have found out by this time, was as quick to +feel glad as he was to feel sad. And when he found that the king and +queen were his friends once more, he became full of hope again and began +to say where he would go and what he would do when he went back again as +Viceroy of the Indies and Admiral of the Ocean Seas. He begged the queen +to let him go back again at once, with ships and sailors and the power +to do as he pleased in the islands he had found and in the lands he +hoped to find. + +They promised him everything, for promising is easy. But Columbus had +once more to learn the truth of the old Bible warning that he had called +to mind years before on the Bridge of Pinos: Put not your trust in +princes. + +The king and queen talked very nicely and promised much, but to one +thing King Ferdinand had made up his mind--Columbus should never go back +again to the Indies as viceroy or governor. And King Ferdinand was as +stubborn as Columbus was persistent. + +Not very much gold had yet been brought back from the Indies, but the +king and queen knew from the reports of those who had been over the +seas and kept their eyes open that, in time, a great deal of gold and +treasure would come from there. So they felt that if they kept their +promises to Columbus he would take away too large a slice of their +profits, and if they let him have everything to say there it would not +be possible to let other people, who were ready to share the profits +with them, go off discovering on their own hook. + +So they talked and delayed and sent out other expeditions and kept +Columbus in Spain, unsatisfied. Another governor was sent over to take +the place of Bobadilla, for they soon learned that that ungentlemanly +knight was not even so good or so strict a governor as Columbus had +been. + +Almost two years passed in this way and still Columbus staid in Spain. +At last the king and queen said he might go if he would not go near +Hayti and would be sure to find other and better gold lands. + +Columbus did not relish being told where to go and where not to go like +this; but he promised. And on the ninth of May, 1502, with four small +caravels and one hundred and fifty men, Christopher Columbus sailed from +Cadiz on his fourth and last voyage to the western world. + +He was now fifty-six years old. That is not an age at which we would +call any one an old man. But Columbus had grown old long before his +time. Care, excitement, exposure, peril, trouble and worry had made +him white-haired and wrinkled. He was sick, he was nearly blind, he was +weak, he was feeble--but his determination was just as firm, his hope +just as high, his desire just as strong as ever. He was bound, this +time, to find Cathay. + +And he had one other wish. He had enemies in Hayti; they had laughed and +hooted at him when he had been dragged off to prison and sent in chains +on board the ship. He did wish to get even with them. He could not +forgive them. He wanted to sail into the harbor of Isabella and Santo +Domingo with his four ships and to say: See, all of you! Here I am +again, as proud and powerful as ever. The king and queen have sent me +over here once more with ships and sailors at my command. I am still +the Admiral of the Ocean Seas and all you tried to do against me has +amounted to nothing. + +This is not the right sort of a spirit to have, either for men or boys; +it is not wise or well to have it gratified. Forgiveness is better than +vengeance; kindliness is better than pride. + +At any rate, it was not to be gratified with Columbus. When his ships +arrived off the coast of Hayti, although his orders from the king and +queen were not to stop at the island going over, the temptation to show +himself was too strong. He could not resist it. So he sent word to the +new governor, whose name was Ovando, that he had arrived with his fleet +for the discovery of new lands in the Indies, and that he wished to come +into Santo Domingo Harbor as one of his ships needed repairs; he would +take the opportunity, he said, of mending his vessel and visiting the +governor at the same time. + +Now it so happened that Governor Ovando was just about sending to Spain +a large fleet. And in these ships were to go some of the men who had +treated Columbus so badly. Bobadilla, the ex-governor, was one of them; +so was the rebel Roldan who had done so much mischief; and there were +others among the passengers and prisoners whom Columbus disliked or who +hated Columbus. There was also to go in the fleet a wonderful cargo of +gold--the largest amount yet sent across to Spain. There were twenty-six +ships in all, in the great gold fleet, and the little city of Santo +Domingo was filled with excitement and confusion. + +We cannot altogether make out whether Governor Ovando was a friend to +Columbus or not. At any rate, he felt that it would be unwise and unsafe +for Columbus to come into the harbor or show himself in the town when so +many of his bitter enemies were there. So he sent back word to Columbus +that he was sorry, but that really he could not let him come in. + +How bad that must have made the old Admiral feel! To be refused +admission to the place he had found and built up for Spain! It was +unkind, he said; he must and would go in. + +Just then Columbus, who was a skillful sailor and knew all the signs +of the sky, and all about the weather, happened to notice the singular +appearance of the sky, and saw that there was every sign that a big +storm was coming on. So he sent word to Governor Ovando again, telling +him of this, and asking permission to run into the harbor of Santo +Domingo with his ships to escape the coming storm. But the governor +could not see that any storm was coming on. He said: Oh! that is only +another way for the Admiral to try to get around me and get me to let +him in. I can't do it. So, he sent back word a second time that he +really could not, let Columbus come in. I know you are a very clever +sailor, he said, but, really, I think you must be mistaken about this +storm. At any rate, you will have time to go somewhere else before it +comes on, and I shall be much obliged if you will. + +Now, among the twenty-six vessels of the gold fleet was one in which +was stored some of the gold that belonged to Columbus as his share, +according to his arrangement with the king and queen. If a storm came +on, this vessel would be in danger, to say nothing of all the rest of +the fleet. So Columbus sent in to Governor Ovando a third time. He told +him he was certain a great storm was coming. And he begged the governor, +even if he was not allowed to come up to Santo Domingo, by all means +to keep the fleet in the harbor until the storm was over. If you don't, +there will surely be trouble, he said. And then he sailed with his ships +along shore looking for a safe harbor. + +But the people in Santo Domingo put no faith in the Admiral's +"probabilities." There will be no storm, the captains and the officers +said. If there should be our ships are strong enough to stand it. The +Admiral Columbus is getting to be timid as he grows older. And in spite +of the old sailor's warning, the big gold fleet sailed out of the harbor +of Santo Domingo and headed for Spain. + +But almost before they had reached the eastern end of the island of +Hayti, the storm that Columbus had prophesied burst upon them. + +It was a terrible tempest. Twenty of the ships went to the bottom. The +great gold fleet was destroyed. The enemies of Columbus--Bobadilla, +Roldan and the rest were drowned. Only a few of the ships managed to get +back into Santo Domingo Harbor, broken and shattered. And the only ship +of all the great fleet that got safely through the storm and reached +Spain all right was the one that carried on board the gold that belonged +to Columbus. Was not that singular? + +Then all the friends of Columbus cried: How wonderful! Truly the Lord is +on the side of the great Admiral! + +But his enemies said: This Genoese is a wizard. He was mad because the +governor would not let him come into the harbor, and he raised this +storm in revenge. It is a dangerous thing to interfere with the +Admiral's wishes. + +For you see in those days people believed in witches and spells and all +kinds of fairy-book things like those, when they could not explain why +things happened. And when they could not give a good reason for some +great disaster or for some stroke of bad luck, they just said: It is +witchcraft; and left it so. + + + +CHAPTER XII. HOW THE ADMIRAL PLAYED ROBINSON CRUSOE. + +While the terrible storm that wrecked the great gold fleet of the +governor was raging so furiously, Columbus with his four ships was lying +as near shore as he dared in a little bay farther down the coast of +Hayti. Here he escaped the full fury of the gale, but still his ships +suffered greatly, and came very near being shipwrecked. They became +separated in the storm, but the caravels met at last after the storm was +over and steered away for the island of Jamaica. + +For several days they sailed about among the West India Islands; then +they took a westerly course, and on the thirtieth of July, Columbus +saw before him the misty outlines of certain high mountains which he +supposed to be somewhere in Asia, but which we now know were the Coast +Range Mountains of Honduras. And Honduras, you remember, is a part of +Central America. + +Just turn to the map of Central America in your geography and find +Honduras. The mountains, you see, are marked there; and on the northern +coast, at the head of a fine bay, you will notice the seaport town of +Truxillo. And that is about the spot where, for the first time, Columbus +saw the mainland of North America. + +As he sailed toward the coast a great canoe came close to the ship. It +was almost as large as one of his own caravels, for it was over forty +feet long and fully eight feet wide. It was paddled by twenty-five +Indians, while in the middle, under an awning of palm-thatch sat the +chief Indian, or cacique, as he was called. A curious kind of sail had +been rigged to catch the breeze, and the canoe was loaded with fruits +and Indian merchandise. + +This canoe surprised Columbus very much. He had seen nothing just like +it among the other Indians he had visited. The cacique and his people, +too, were dressed in clothes and had sharp swords and spears. He thought +of the great galleys of Venice and Genoa; he remembered the stories that +had come to him of the people of Cathay; he believed that, at last, he +had come to the right place. The shores ahead of him were, he was sure, +the coasts of the Cathay he was hunting for, and these people in "the +galley of the cacique" were much nearer the kind of people he was +expecting to meet than were the poor naked Indians of Hayti and Cuba. + +In a certain way he was right. These people in the big canoe were, +probably, some of the trading Indians of Yucatan, and beyond them, in +what we know to-day as Mexico, was a race of Indians, known as Aztecs, +who were what is called half-civilized; for they had cities and temples +and stone houses and almost as much gold and treasure as Columbus hoped +to find in his fairyland of Cathay. But Columbus was not to find Mexico. +Another daring and cruel Spanish captain, named Cortez, discovered the +land, conquered it for Spain, stripped it of its gold and treasure, and +killed or enslaved its brave and intelligent people. + +After meeting this canoe, Columbus steered for the distant shore. He +coasted up and down looking for a good harbor, and on the seventeenth of +August, 1502, he landed as has been told you, near what is now the town +of Truxillo, in Honduras. There, setting up the banner of Castile, he +took possession of the country in the name of the king and queen of +Spain. + +For the first time in his life Columbus stood on the real soil of the +New World. All the islands he had before discovered and colonized were +but outlying pieces of America. Now he was really upon the American +Continent. + +But he did not know it. To him it was but a part of Asia. And as the +main purpose of this fourth voyage was to find a way to sail straight to +India--which he supposed lay somewhere to the south--he set off on his +search. The Indians told him of "a narrow place" that he could find by +sailing farther south, and of a "great water." beyond it. This "narrow +place" was the Isthmus of Panama, and the "great water" beyond it was, +of course, the Pacific Ocean. But Columbus thought that by a "narrow +place" they meant a strait instead of an isthmus. If he could but find +that strait, he could sail through it into the great Bay of Bengal +which, as you know and as he had heard, washes the eastern shore of +India. + +So he sailed along the coasts of Honduras and Nicaragua trying to find +the strait he was hunting for. Just look at your map and see how near he +was to the way across to the Pacific that men are now digging out, and +which, as the Nicaragua Canal, will connect the Atlantic and the Pacific +Oceans. And think how near he was to finding that Pacific Ocean over +which, if he could but have got across the Isthmus of Panama, he could +have sailed to the Cathay and the Indies he spent his life in trying to +find. But if he had been fortunate enough to get into the waters of the +Pacific, I do not believe it would have been so lucky for him, after +all. His little ships, poorly built and poorly provisioned, could never +have sailed that great ocean in safety, and the end might have proved +even more disastrous than did the Atlantic voyages of the Admiral. + +He soon understood that he had found a richer land than the islands he +had thus far discovered. Gold and pearls were much more plentiful +along the Honduras coast than they were in Cuba and Hayti, and Columbus +decided that, after he had found India, he would come back by this route +and collect a cargo of the glittering treasures. + +The land was called by the Indians something that sounded very much like +Veragua. This was the name Columbus gave to it; and it was this name, +Veragua, that was afterward given to the family of Columbus as its +title; so that, to-day, the living descendant of Christopher Columbus in +Spain is called the Duke of Veragua. + +But as Columbus sailed south, along what is called "the Mosquito Coast," +the weather grew stormy and the gales were severe. His ships were crazy +and worm-eaten; the food was running low; the sailors began to grumble +and complain and to say that if they kept on in this way they would +surely starve before they could reach India. + +Columbus, too, began to grow uneasy. His youngest son, Ferdinand, a +brave, bright little fellow of thirteen, had come with him on this +voyage, and Columbus really began to be afraid that something might +happen to the boy, especially if the crazy ships should be wrecked, or +if want of food should make them all go hungry. So at last he decided +to give up hunting for the strait that should lead him into the Bay of +Bengal; he felt obliged, also, to give up his plan of going back to the +Honduras coast for gold and pearls. He turned his ships about and headed +for Hayti where he hoped he could get Governor Ovando to give him better +ships so that he could try it all over again. + +Here, you see, was still another disappointing defeat for Columbus. For +after he had been on the American coast for almost a year; after he +had come so near to what he felt to be the long-looked-for path to the +Indies; after most wonderful adventures on sea and land, he turned his +back on it all, without really having accomplished what he set out to do +and, as I have told you, steered for Hayti. + +But it was not at all easy to get to Hayti in those leaky ships of his. +In fact it was not possible to get there with them at all; for on the +twenty-third of June, 1503, when he had reached the island of Jamaica +he felt that his ships would not hold out any longer. They were full +of worm-holes; they were leaking badly; they were strained and battered +from the storms. He determined, therefore, to find a good harbor +somewhere on the island of Jamaica and go in there for repairs. But he +could not find a good one; his ships grew worse and worse; every day's +delay was dangerous; and for fear the ships would sink and carry the +crews to the bottom of the sea, Columbus decided to run them ashore +anyhow. This he did; and on the twelfth of August, 1503, he deliberately +headed for the shore and ran his ships aground in a little bay on the +island of Jamaica still known as Sir Christopher's Cove. And there the +fleet was wrecked. + +The castaways lashed the four wrecks together; they built deck-houses +and protections so as to make themselves as comfortable as possible, and +for a whole year Columbus and his men lived there at Sir Christopher's +Cove on the beautiful island of Jamaica. + +It proved anything but beautiful for them, however. It makes a good deal +of difference, you know, in enjoying things whether you are well and +happy. If you are hungry and can't get anything to eat, the sky does not +look so blue or the trees so green as if you were sitting beneath them +with a jolly picnic party and with plenty of lunch in the baskets. + +It was no picnic for Columbus and his companions. That year on +the island of Jamaica was one of horror, of peril, of sickness, of +starvation. Twice, a brave comrade named Diego Mendez started in an +open boat for Hayti to bring relief. The first time he was nearly +shipwrecked, but the second time he got away all right. And then for +months nothing was heard of him, and it was supposed that he had been +drowned. But the truth was that Governor Ovando, had an idea that the +king and queen of Spain were tired of Columbus and would not feel very +bad if they never saw him again. He promised to send help, but did not +do so for fear he should get into trouble. And the relief that the poor +shipwrecked people on Jamaica longed for did not come. + +Then some of the men who were with Columbus mutinied and ran away. +In fact, more things happened during this remarkable fourth voyage of +Columbus than I can begin to tell you about. The story is more wonderful +than is that of Robinson Crusoe, and when you are older you must +certainly read it all and see just what marvelous adventures Columbus +and his men met with and how bravely the little Ferdinand Columbus went +through them all. For when Ferdinand grew up he wrote a life of his +father, the Admiral, and told the story of how they all played Robinson +Crusoe at Sir Christopher's Cove. + +At last the long-delayed help was sent by Governor Ovando, and one day +the brave Diego Mendez came sailing into Sir Christopher's Cove. And +Columbus forgave the rebels who had run away; and on the twenty-eighth +of June, 1504, they all sailed away from the place, that, for a year +past, had been almost worse than a prison to them all. + +On the fifteenth of August, the rescued crews sailed into the harbor of +Santo Domingo. The governor, Ovando, who had reluctantly agreed to send +for Columbus, was now in a hurry to get him away. Whether the governor +was afraid of him, or ashamed because of the way he had treated him, or +whether he felt that Columbus was no longer held so high in Spain, and +that, therefore, it was not wise to make much of him, I cannot say. At +any rate he hurried him off to Spain, and on the twelfth of September, +1504, Columbus turned his back forever on the new world he had +discovered, and with two ships sailed for Spain. + +He had not been at sea but a day or two before he found that the ship +in which he and the boy Ferdinand were sailing was not good for much. A +sudden storm carried away its mast and the vessel was sent back to Santo +Domingo. Columbus and Ferdinand, with a few of the men, went on board +the other ship which was commanded by Bartholomew Columbus, the +brother of the Admiral, who had been with him all through the dreadful +expedition. At last they saw the home shores again, and on the seventh +of November, 1504, Columbus sailed into the harbor of San Lucar, not far +from Cadiz. + +He had been away from Spain for fully two years and a half. He had +not accomplished a single thing he set out to do. He had met with +disappointment and disaster over and over again, and had left the four +ships that had been given him a total wreck upon the shores of Jamaica. +He came back poor, unsuccessful, unnoticed, and so ill that he could +scarcely get ashore. + +And so the fourth voyage of the great Admiral ended. It was his last. +His long sickness had almost made him crazy. He said and did many odd +things, such as make us think, nowadays, that people have, as we call +it, "lost their minds." But he was certain of one thing--the king and +queen of Spain had not kept the promises they had made him, and he was +determined, if he lived, to have justice done him, and to make them do +as they said they would. + +They had told him that only himself or one of his family should be +Admiral of the Ocean Seas and Viceroy of the New Lands; they had sent +across the water others, who were not of his family, to govern what he +had been promised for his own. They had told him that he should have a +certain share of the profits that came from trading and gold hunting in +the Indies; they had not kept this promise either, and he was poor when +he was certain he ought to be rich. + +So, when he was on land once more, he tried hard to get to court and see +the king and queen. But he was too sick. + +He had got as far as beautiful Seville, the fair Spanish city by the +Guadalquivir, and there he had to give up and go to, bed. And then came +a new disappointment. He was to lose his best friend at the court. For +when he had been scarcely two weeks in Spain, Queen Isabella died. + +She was not what would be considered in these days either a particularly +good woman, or an especially good queen. She did many cruel things; and +while she talked much about doing good, she was generally looking out +for herself most of all. But that was not so much her fault as the fault +of the times in which she lived. Her life was not a happy one; but she +had always felt kindly toward Columbus, and when he was where he could +see her and talk to her, he had always been able to get her to side with +him and grant his wishes. + +Columbus was now a very sick man. He had to keep his bed most of the +time, and this news of the queen's death made him still worse, for he +felt that now no one who had the "say" would speak a good word for the +man who had done so much for Spain, and given to the king and queen the +chance to make their nation great and rich and powerful. + + + +CHAPTER XIII. THE END OF THE STORY. + +Any one who is sick, as some of you may know, is apt to be anxious and +fretful and full of fears as to how he is going to get along, or who +will look out for his family. Very often there is no need for this +feeling; very often it is a part of the complaint from which the sick +person is suffering. + +In the case of Columbus, however, there was good cause for this +depressed and anxious feeling. King Ferdinand, after Queen Isabella's +death, did nothing to help Columbus. He would not agree to give the +Admiral what he called his rights, and though Columbus kept writing +letters from his sick room asking for justice, the king would do nothing +for him. And when the king's smile is turned to a frown, the fashion of +the court is to frown, too. + +So Columbus had no friends at the king's court. Diego, his eldest son, +was still one of the royal pages, but he could do nothing. Without +friends, without influence, without opportunity, Columbus began to +feel that he should never get his rights unless he could see the king +himself. And sick though he was he determined to try it. + +It must have been sad enough to see this sick old man drag himself +feebly to the court to ask for justice from the king whom he had +enriched. You would think that when King Ferdinand really saw Columbus +at the foot of the throne, and when he remembered all that this man had +done for him and for Spain, and how brave and persistent and full of +determination to do great things the Admiral once had been, he would at +least have given the old man what was justly due him. + +But he would not. He smiled on the old sailor, and said many pleasant +things and talked as if he were a friend, but he would not agree to +anything Columbus asked him; and the poor Admiral crawled back to his +sick bed again, and gave up the struggle. I have done all that I can do, +he said to the few friends who remained faithful to him; I must leave it +all to God. He has always helped me when things were at the worst. + +And God helped him by taking him away from all the fret, and worry, and +pain, and struggle that made up so much of the Admiral's troubled life. +On the twentieth of May, 1506, the end came. In the house now known as +Number 7 Columbus Avenue, in the city of Valladolid; in Northern Spain, +with a few faithful friends at his side, he signed his will, lay back in +bed and saying trustfully these words: Into thy hands, O Lord, I commit +my spirit! the Admiral of the Ocean Seas, the Viceroy of the Indies, +the Discoverer of a New World, ended his fight for life. Christopher +Columbus was dead. + +He was but sixty years old. With Tennyson, and Whittier, and Gladstone, +and De Lesseps living to be over eighty, and with your own good +grandfather and grandmother, though even older than Columbus, by no +means ready to be called old people, sixty years seems an early age to +be so completely broken and bent and gray as was he. But trouble, +and care, and exposure, and all the worries and perils of his life of +adventure, had, as you must know, so worn upon Columbus that when he +died he seemed to be an old, old man. He was white-haired, you remember, +even before he discovered America, and each year he seemed to grow older +and grayer and more feeble. + +And after he had died in that lonely house in Valladolid, the world +seems for a time to have almost forgotten him. A few friends followed +him to the grave; the king, for whom he had done so much, did not +trouble himself to take any notice of the death of his Admiral, whom +once he had been forced to honor, receive and reward. The city of +Valladolid, in which Columbus died, was one of those fussy little towns +in which everybody knew what was happening next door, and talked and +argued about whatever happened upon its streets and in its homes; and +yet even Valladolid hardly seemed to know of the presence within its +gates of the sick "Viceroy of the Indies." Not until four weeks after +his death did the Valladolid people seem to realize what had happened; +and then all they did was to write down this brief record: "The said +Admiral is dead." + +To-day, the bones of Columbus inclosed in a leaden casket lie in the +Cathedral of Santo Domingo. People have disputed about the place where +the Discoverer of America was born; they are disputing about the place +where he is buried. But as it seems now certain that he was born in +Genoa, so it seems also certain that his bones are really in the tomb +in the old Cathedral at Santo Domingo, that old Haytian city which he +founded, and where he had so hard a time. + +At least a dozen places in the Old World and the New have built +monuments and statues in his honor; in the United States, alone, over +sixty towns and villages bear his name, or the kindred one of Columbia. +The whole world honors him as the Discoverer of America; and yet the +very name that the Western Hemisphere bears comes not from the man who +discovered it, but from his friend and comrade Americus Vespucius. + +Like Columbus, this Americus Vespucius was an Italian; like him, he was +a daring sailor and a fearless adventurer, sailing into strange seas +to see what he could find. He saw more of the American coast than did +Columbus, and not being so full of the gold-hunting and slave-getting +fever as was the Admiral, he brought back from his four voyages so much +information about the new-found lands across the sea, that scholars, who +cared more for news than gold, became interested in what he reported. +And some of the map-makers in France, when they had to name the new +lands in the West that they drew on their maps--the lands that were not +the Indies, nor China, nor Japan--called them after the man who had told +them so much about them--Americus Vespucius. And so it is that to-day +you live in America and not in Columbia, as so many people have thought +this western world of ours should be named. + +And even the titles, and riches, and honors that the king and queen of +Spain promised to Columbus came very near being lost by his family, +as they had been by himself. It was only by the hardest work, and by +keeping right at it all the time, that the Admiral's eldest son, Diego +Columbus, almost squeezed out of King Ferdinand of Spain the things that +had been promised to his father. + +But Diego was as plucky, and as brave, and as persistent as his father +had been; then, too, he had lived at court so long--he was one of the +queen's pages, you remember that he knew just what to do and how to act +so as to get what he wanted. And at last he got it. + +He was made Viceroy over the Indies; he went across the seas to Hayti, +and in his palace in the city of Santo Domingo he ruled the lands his +father had found, and which for centuries were known as the Spanish +Main; he was called Don Diego; he married a high-born lady of Spain, the +niece of King Ferdinand; he received the large share of "the riches of +the Indies" that his father had worked for, but never received. And the +family of Christopher Columbus, the Genoese adventurer--under the title +of the Dukes of Veragua--have, ever since Don Diego's day, been of what +is called "the best blood of Spain." + +If you have read this story of Christopher Columbus aright, you must +have come to the conclusion that the life of this Italian sea captain +who discovered a new world was not a happy one. From first to last it +was full of disappointment. Only once, in all his life, did he know what +happiness and success meant, and that was on his return from his first +voyage, when he landed amid cheers of welcome at Palos, and marched into +Barcelona in procession like a conqueror to be received as an equal by +his king and queen. + +Except for that little taste of glory, how full of trouble was his life! +He set out to find Cathay and bring back its riches and its treasures. +He did not get within five thousand miles of Cathay. He returned from +his second voyage a penitent, bringing only tidings of disaster. He +returned from his third voyage in disgrace, a prisoner and in chains, +smarting under false charges of theft, cruelty and treason. He +returned from his fourth voyage sick unto death, unnoticed, unhonored, +unwelcomed. + +From first to last he was misunderstood. His ideas were made fun of, +his efforts were treated with contempt, and even what he did was not +believed, or was spoken of as of not much account. A career that began +in scorn ended in neglect. He died unregarded, and for years no one +gave him credit for what he had done, nor honor for what he had brought +about. + +Such a life would, I am sure, seem to all boys and girls, but a dreary +prospect if they felt it was to be theirs or that of any one they +loved. And yet what man to-day is more highly honored than Christopher +Columbus? People forget all the trials and hardships and sorrows of +his life, and think of him only as one of the great successes of the +world--the man who discovered America. + +And out of his life of disaster and disappointment two things stand +forth that all of us can honor and all of us should wish to copy. These +are his sublime persistence and his unfaltering faith. Even as a boy, +Columbus had an idea of what he wished to try and what he was bound to +do. He kept right at that idea, no matter what might happen to annoy him +or set him back. + +It was the faith and the persistence of Columbus that discovered America +and opened the way for the millions who now call it their home. It is +because of these qualities that we honor him to-day; it is because this +faith and persistence ended as they did in the discovery of a new world, +that to-day his fame is immortal. + +Other men were as brave, as skillful and as wise as he. Following in +his track they came sailing to the new lands; they explored its coasts, +conquered its red inhabitants, and peopled its shores with the life that +has made America today the home of millions of white men and millions of +free men. But Columbus showed the way. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. HOW THE STORY TURNS OUT. + +Whenever you start to read a story that you hope will be interesting, +you always wonder, do you not, how it is going to turn out? Your +favorite fairy tale or wonder story that began with "once upon a time," +ends, does it not, "so the prince married the beautiful princess, and +they lived happy ever after?" + +Now, how does this story that we have been reading together turn out? +You don't think it ended happily, do you? It was, in some respects, more +marvelous than any fairy tale or wonder story; but, dear me! you say, +why couldn't Columbus have lived happily, after he had gone through so +much, and done so much, and discovered America, and given us who came +after him so splendid a land to live in? + +Now, just here comes the real point of the story. Wise men tell us that +millions upon millions of busy little insects die to make the beautiful +coral islands of the Southern seas. Millions and millions of men and +women have lived and labored, died and been forgotten by the world they +helped to make the bright, and beautiful, and prosperous place to live +in that it is to-day. + +Columbus was one of these millions; but he was a leader among them and +has not been forgotten. As the world has got farther away from the time +in which he lived, the man Columbus, who did so much and yet died almost +unnoticed, has grown more and more famous; his name is immortal, and +to-day he is the hero Columbus--one of the world's greatest men. + +We, in America, are fond of celebrating anniversaries. I suppose the +years that you boys and girls have thus far lived have been the most +remarkable in the history of the world for celebrating anniversaries. +For fully twenty years the United States has been keeping its birthday. +The celebration commenced long before you were born, with the one +hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Lexington (in 1875). It has +not ended yet. But in 1892, We celebrated the greatest of all our +birthdays--the discovery of the continent that made it possible for us +to be here at all. + +Now this has not always been so with us. I suppose that in 1592 and +in 1692 no notice whatever was taken of the twelfth day of October, on +which--one hundred and two hundred years before--Columbus had landed +on that flat little "key" known as Watling's Island down among the West +Indies, and had begun a new chapter in the world's wonderful story. In +1592, there was hardly anybody here to celebrate the anniversary--in +fact, there was hardly anybody here at all, except a few Spanish +settlers in the West Indies, in Mexico, and in Florida. In 1692, there +were a few scattered settlements of Frenchmen in Canada, of Englishmen +in New England, Dutchmen in New York, Swedes in Delaware, and Englishmen +in Maryland, Virginia and the Carolinas. But none of these people +loved the Spaniards. They hated them, indeed; for there had been fierce +fighting going on for nearly a hundred years between Spain and England, +and you couldn't find an Englishman, a Dutchman or a Swede who was +willing to say a good word for Spain, or thank God for the man who +sailed away in Spanish ships to discover America two hundred years +before. + +In 1792, people did think a little more about this, and there were a few +who did remember that, three hundred years before, Columbus had found +the great continent upon which, in that year 1792, a new republic, +called the United States of America, had only just been started after a +long and bloody war of rebellion and revolution. + +We do not find, however, that in that year of 1792 there were many, if +any, public celebrations of the Discovery of America, in America itself. +A certain American clergyman, however, whose name was the Rev. Elhanan +Winchester, celebrated the three hundredth anniversary of the Discovery +of America by Columbus. And he celebrated it not in America, but in +England, where he was then living. On the twelfth of October, 1792, +Winchester delivered an address on "Columbus and his Discoveries," +before a great assembly of interested listeners. In that address he said +some very enthusiastic and some very remarkable things about the America +that was to be: + +"I see the United States rise in all their ripened glory before me," +he said. "I look through and beyond every yet peopled region of the +New World, and behold period still brightening upon period. Where one +contiguous depth of gloomy wilderness now shuts out even the beams of +day, I see new States and empires, new seats of wisdom and knowledge, +new religious domes spreading around. In places now untrod by any but +savage beasts, or men as savage as they, I hear the voices of happy +labor, and see beautiful cities rising to view. I behold the whole +continent highly cultivated and fertilized, full of cities, towns and +villages, beautiful and lovely beyond expression. I hear the praises +of my great Creator sung upon the banks of those rivers now unknown to +song. Behold the delightful prospect! See the silver and gold of America +employed in the service of the Lord of the whole earth! See slavery, +with all its train of attendant evils, forever abolished! See a +communication opened through the whole continent, from North to South +and from East to West, through a most fruitful country. Behold the glory +of God extending, and the gospel spreading through the whole land!" + +Of course, it was easy for a man to see and to hope and to say all this; +but it is a little curious, is it not, that he should have seen things +just as they have turned out? + +In Mr. Winchester's day, the United States of America had not quite four +millions of inhabitants. In his day Virginia was the largest State--in +the matter of population--Pennsylvania was the second and New York +the third. Philadelphia was the greatest city, then followed New York, +Boston, Baltimore and Charleston. Chicago was not even thought of. + +To-day, four hundred years after Columbus first saw American shores, one +hundred and sixteen years after the United States were started in life +by the Declaration of American Independence, these same struggling +States of one hundred years ago are joined together to make the greatest +and most prosperous nation in the world. With a population of more than +sixty-two millions of people; with the thirteen original States grown +into forty-four, with the population of its three largest cities--New +York; Philadelphia and Chicago--more than equal to the population of the +whole country one hundred years ago; with schools and colleges and happy +homes brightening the whole broad land that now stretches from ocean to +ocean, the United States leads all other countries in the vast continent +Columbus discovered. Still westward, as Columbus led, the nation +advances; and, in a great city that Columbus could never have imagined, +and that the prophet of one hundred years ago scarcely dreamed of, the +mighty Republic in 1892 invited all the rest of the world to join with +it in celebrating the four hundredth anniversary of the Discovery of +America by Columbus the Admiral. And to do this celebrating fittingly +and grandly, it built up the splendid White City by the great Fresh +Water Sea. + +Columbus was a dreamer; he saw such wonderful visions of what was to +be, that people, as we know, tapped their foreheads and called him "the +crazy Genoese." But not even the wildest fancies nor the most wonderful +dreams of Columbus came anywhere near to what he would really have seen +if--he could have visited the Exposition at Chicago, in the great White +City by the lake--a "show city" specially built for the World's Fair of +1893, given in his honor and as a monument to his memory. + +Why, he would say, the Cathay that I spent my life trying to find was +but a hovel alongside this! What would he have seen? A city stretching a +mile and a half in length, and more than half a mile in breadth; a space +covering over five hundred acres of ground, and containing seventeen +magnificent buildings, into any one of which could have been put the +palaces of all the kings and queens of Europe known to Columbus's day. +And in these buildings he would have seen gathered together, all the +marvelous and all the useful things, all the beautiful and all the +delightful things that the world can make to-day, arranged and displayed +for all the world to see. He would have stood amazed in that wonderful +city of glass and iron, that surpassingly beautiful city, all of purest +white, that had been built some eight miles from the center of big and +busy Chicago, looking out upon the blue waters of mighty Lake Michigan. +It was a city that I wish all the boys and girls of America--especially +all who read this story of the man in whose honor it was built, might +have visited. For as they saw all its wonderful sights, studied its +marvelous exhibits, and enjoyed its beautiful belongings, they would +have been ready to say how proud, and glad, and happy they were to +think that they were American girls and boys, living in this wonderful +nineteenth century that has been more crowded with marvels, and +mysteries, and triumphs than any one of the Arabian Nights ever +contained. + +But, whether you saw the Columbian Exhibition or not, you can say that. +And then stop and think what a parrot did. That is one of the most +singular things in all this wonder story you are reading. Do you not +remember how, when Columbus was slowly feeling his way westward, Captain +Alonso Pinzon saw some parrots flying southward, and believing from this +that the land they sought was off in that direction, he induced Columbus +to change his course from the west to the south? If Columbus had not +changed his course and followed the parrots, the Santa Maria, with the +Pinta and the Nina, would have sailed on until they had entered the +harbor of Savannah or Charleston, or perhaps the broad waters of +Chesapeake Bay. Then the United States of to-day would have been +discovered and settled by Spaniards, and the whole history of the land +would have been quite different from what it has been. Spanish blood +has peopled, but not uplifted, the countries of South America and the +Spanish Main. English blood, which, following after--because Columbus +had first shown the way--peopled, saved and upbuilt the whole +magnificent northern land that Spain missed and lost. They have found +in it more gold than ever Columbus dreamed of in his never-found Cathay; +they have filled it with a nobler, braver, mightier, and more numerous +people than ever Columbus imagined the whole mysterious land of the +Indies contained; they have made it the home of freedom, of peace, +of education, of intelligence and of progress, and have protected and +bettered it until the whole world respects it for its strength, honors +it for its patriotism, admires it for its energy, and marvels at it for +its prosperity. + +And this is what a flying parrot did: It turned the tide of lawless +adventure, of gold-hunting, of slave-driving, and of selfish strife for +gain to the south; it left the north yet unvisited until it was ready +for the strong, and sturdy, and determined men and women who, hunting +for liberty, came across the seas and founded the colonies that became +in time the free and independent republic of the United States of +America. + +And thus has the story of Columbus really turned out. Happier than any +fairy tale, more marvelous than any wonder book, the story of the United +States of America is one that begins, "Once upon a time," and has come +to the point where it depends upon the boys and girls who read it, to +say whether or not they shall "live happily ever after." + +The four hundred years of the New World's life closed its chapter of +happiness in the electric lights and brilliant sunshine of the marvelous +White City by Lake Michigan. It is a continued story of daring, devotion +and progress, that the boys and girls of America should never tire +of reading. And this story was made possible and turned out so well, +because of the briefer, but no less interesting story of the daring, the +devotion and the faith of the determined Genoese sailor of four hundred +years ago, whom men knew as Don Christopher Columbus, the Admiral of the +Ocean Seas. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The True Story of Christopher Columbus, by +Elbridge S. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +Scanned by Charles Keller with OmniPage Professional OCR software + + + + + +THE TRUE STORY OF +CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS +CALLED THE GREAT ADMIRAL + +BY ELBRIDGE S. {Streeter} BROOKS + + + + +[This was orginally done on the 400th Anniversary of 1492] +[As was the great Columbian Exposition in Chicago] +[Interesting how our heroes have all be de-canonizied in the +of Political Correctitude] Comments by Michael S. Hart + + + + +PREFACE. + + +This "True Story of Christopher Columbus" is offered and +inscribed to the boys and girls of America as the opening volume +in a series especially designed for their reading, and to be +called "Children's Lives of Great Men." In this series the place +of honor, or rather of position, is given to Columbus the +Admiral, because had it not been for him and for his pluck and +faith and perseverance there might have been no young Americans, +such as we know to-day, to read or care about the world's great +men. + +Columbus led the American advance; he discovered the New World; +he left a record of persistence in spite of discouragement and of +triumph over all obstacles, that has been the inspiration and +guide for Americans ever since his day, and that has led them to +work on in faith and hope until the end they strove for was won. + +"The True Story of Christopher Columbus" will be followed by the +"true story" of others who have left names for us to honor and +revere, who have made the world better because they lived, and +who have helped to make and to develop American freedom, strength +and progress. + +It will be the endeavor to have all these presented in the +simple, straightforward, earnest way that appeals to children, +and shows how the hero can be the man, and the man the hero. + E. S. B. + + + +THE TRUE STORY OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS + +CHAPTER I. BOY WITH AN IDEA. + +Men who do great things are men we all like to read about. This +is the story of Christopher Columbus, the man who discovered +America. He lived four hundred years ago. When he was a little +boy he lived in Genoa. It was a beautiful city in the +northwestern part of the country called Italy. The mountains were +behind it; the sea was in front of it, and it was so beautiful a +place that the people who lived there called it "Genoa the +Superb." Christopher Columbus was born in this beautiful city of +Genoa in the year 1446, at number 27 Ponticello Street. He was a +bright little fellow with a fresh-looking face, a clear eye and +golden hair. His father's name was Domenico Columbus; his +mother's name was Susanna. His father was a wool-comber. He +cleaned and straightened out the snarled-up wool that was cut +from the sheep so as to make it ready to be woven into cloth. + +Christopher helped his father do this when he grew strong enough, +but he went to school, too, and learned to read and write and to +draw maps and charts. These charts were maps of the sea, to show +the sailors where they could steer without running on the rocks +and sand, and how to sail safely from one country to another. + +This world was not as big then as it is now--or, should say, +people did not know it was as big. Most of the lands that +Columbus had studied about in school, and most of the people he +had heard about, were in Europe and parts of Asia and Africa. The +city of Genoa where Columbus lived was a very busy and a very +rich city. It was on the Mediterranean Sea, and many of the +people who lived there were sailors who went in their ships on +voyages to distant lands. They sailed to other places on the +Mediterranean Sea, which is a very large body of water, you know, +and to England, to France, to Norway, and even as far away as the +cold northern island of Iceland. This was thought to be a great +journey. + +The time in which Columbus lived was not as nice a time as is +this in which you live. People were alwaysquarreling and fighting +about one thing or another, and the sailors who belonged to one +country would try to catch and steal the ships or the things that +belonged to the sailors or the storekeepers of another country. +This is what we call piracy, and a pirate, you know, is thought +to be a very wicked man. + +But when Columbus lived, men did not think it was so very wicked +to be a sort of half-way pirate, although they did know that they +would be killed if they were caught. So almost every sailor was +about half pirate. Every boy who lived near the seashore and saw +the ships and the sailors, felt as though he would like to sail +away to far-off lands and see all the strange sights and do all +the brave things that the sailors told about. Many of them even +said they would like to be pirates and fight with other sailors, +and show how strong and brave and plucky they could be. + +Columbus was one of these. He was what is called an adventurous +boy. He did not like to stay quietly at home with his father and +comb out the tangled wool. He thought it would be much nicer to +sail away to sea and be a brave captain or a rich merchant. + +When he was about fourteen years old he really did go to sea. +There was a captain of a sailing vessel that sometimes came to +Genoa who had the same last name--Columbus. He was no relation, +but the little Christopher somehow got acquainted with him among +the wharves of Genoa. Perhaps he had run on errands for him, or +helped him with some of the sea-charts he knew so well how to +draw. At any rate he sailed away with this Captain Columbus as +his cabin boy, and went to the wars with him and had quite an +exciting life for a boy. + +Sailors are very fond of telling big stories about their own +adventures or about far-off lands and countries. Columbus, +listened to many of these sea-stories, and heard many wonderful +things about a very rich land away to the East that folks called +Cathay. + +If you look in your geographies you will not find any such place +on the map as Cathay, but you will find China, and that was what +men in the time of Columbus called Cathay. They told very big +stories about this far-off Eastern land. They said its kings +lived in golden houses, that they were covered with pearls and +diamonds, and that everybody there was so rich that money was as +plentiful as the stones in the street. + +This, of course, made the sailors and storekeepers, who were part +pirate, very anxious to go to Cathay and get some of the gold and +jewels and spices and splendor for themselves. But Cathay was +miles and miles away from Italy and Spain and France and England. +It was away across the deserts and mountains and seas and rivers, +and they had to give it up because they could not sail there. + +At last a man whose name was Marco Polo, and who was a very brave +and famous traveler, really did go there, in spite of all the +trouble it took. And when he got back his stories were so very +surprising that men were all the more anxious to find a way to +sail in their ships to Cathay and see it for themselves. + +But of course they could not sail over the deserts and mountains, +and they were very much troubled because they had to give up the +idea, until the son of the king of Portugal, named Prince Henry, +said he believed that ships could sail around Africa and so get +to India or "the Indies" as they called that land, and finally to +Cathay. + +Just look at your map again and see what a long, long voyage it +would be to sail from Spain and around Africa to India, China and +Japan. It is such a long sail that, as you know, the Suez Canal +was dug some twenty years ago so that ships could sail through +the Mediterranean Sea and out into the Indian Ocean, and not have +to go away around Africa. + +But when Columbus was a boy it was even worse than now, for no +one really knew how long Africa was, or whether ships really +could sail around it. But Prince Henry said he knew they could, +and he sent out ships to try. He died before his Portuguese +sailors, Bartholomew Diaz, in 1493, and Vasco de Gama, in 1497, +at last did sail around it and got as far as "the Indies." + +So while Prince Henry was trying to see whether ships could sail +around Africa and reach Cathay in that way, the boy Columbus was +listening to the stories the sailors told and was wondering +whether some other and easier way to Cathay might not be found. + +When he was at school he had studied about a certain man named +Pythagoras, who had lived in Greece thousands of years before he +was born, and who had said that the earth was round "like a ball +or an orange." + +As Columbus grew older and made maps and studied the sea, and read books +and listened to what other people said, he began to believe that this +man named Pythagoras might be right, and that the earth was round, +though everybody declared it was flat. If it is round , he said +to himself, "what is the use of trying to sail around Africa +to get to Cathay? Why not just sail west from Italy or Spain and +keep going right around the world until you strike Cathay? +I believe it could be done," said Columbus. + +By this time Columbus was a man. He was thirty years old and was +a great sailor. He had been captain of a number of vessels; he +had sailed north and south and east; he knew all about a ship and +all about the sea. But, though he was so good a sailor, when he +said that he believed the earth was round, everybody laughed at +him and said that he was crazy. "Why, how can the earth be +round?" they cried. "The water would all spill out if it were, +and the men who live on the other side would all be standing on +their heads with their feet waving in the air." And then they +laughed all the harder. + +But Columbus did not think it was anything to laugh at. He +believed it so strongly, and felt so sure that he was right, that +he set to work to find some king or prince or great lord to let +him have ships and sailors and money enough to try to find a way +to Cathay by sailing out into the West and across the Atlantic +Ocean. + +Now this Atlantic Ocean, the western waves of which break upon +our rocks and beaches, was thought in Columbus's day to be a +dreadful place. People called it the Sea of Darkness, because +they did not know what was on the other side of it, or what +dangers lay beyond that distant blue rim where the sky and water +seem to meet, and which we call the horizon. They thought the +ocean stretched to the end of a flat world, straight away to a +sort of "jumping-off place," and that in this horrible jumping- +off place were giants and goblins and dragons and monsters and +all sorts of terrible things that would catch the ships and +destroy them and the sailors. + +So when Columbus said that he wanted to sail away toward this +dreadful jumping-off place, the people said that he was worse +than crazy. They said he was a wicked man and ought to be +punished. + +But they could not frighten Columbus. He kept on trying. He went +from place to place trying to get the ships and sailors he wanted +and was bound to have. As you will see in the next chapter, he +tried to get help wherever he thought it could be had. He asked +the people of his own home, the city of Genoa, where he had lived +and played when a boy; he asked the people of the beautiful city +that is built in the sea--Venice; he tried the king of Portugal, +the king of England, the king of France the king and queen of +Spain. But for a long time nobody cared to listen to such a wild +and foolish and dangerous plan--to go to Cathay by the way of the +Sea of Darkness and the Jumping-off place. You would never get +there alive, they said. + +And so Columbus waited. And his hair grew white while he waited, +though he was not yet an old man. He had thought and worked and +hoped so much that he began to look like an old man when he was +forty years old. But still he would never say that perhaps he was +wrong, after all. He said he knew he was right, and that some day +he should find the Indies and sail to Cathay. + + + +CHAPTER II. WHAT PEOPLE THOUGHT OF THE IDEA. + +I do not wish you to think that Columbus was the first man to say +that the earth was round, or the first to sail to the West over +the Atlantic Ocean. He was not. Other men had said that they +believed the earth was round; other men had sailed out into the +Atlantic Ocean. But no sailor who believed the earth was round +had ever yet tried to prove that it was by crossing the Atlantic. +So, you see, Columbus was really the first man to say, I believe +the earth is round and I will show you that it is by sailing to +the lands that are on the other side of the earth. + +He even figured out how far it was around the world. Your +geography, you know, tells you now that what is called the +circumference of the earth--that is, a straight line drawn right +around it--is nearly twenty-five thousand miles. Columbus had +figured it up pretty carefully and he thought it was about twenty +thousand miles. If I could start from Genoa, he said, and walk +straight ahead until I got back to Genoa again, I should walk +about twenty thousand miles. Cathay, he thought, would take up so +much land on the other side of the world that, if he went west +instead of east, he would only need to sail about twenty-five +hundred or three thousand miles. + +If you have studied your geography carefully you will see what a +mistake he made. + +It is really about twelve thousand miles from Spain to China (or +Cathay as he called it). But America is just about three thousand +miles from Spain, and if you read all this story you will see how +Columbus's mistake really helped him to discover America. + +I have told you that Columbus had a longing to do something great +from the time when, as a little boy, he had hung around the +wharves in Genoa and looked at the ships sailing east and west +and talked with the sailors and wished that he could go to sea. +Perhaps what he had learned at school-- how some men said that +the earth was round--and what he had heard on the wharves about +the wonders of Cathay set him to thinking and to dreaming that it +might be possible for a ship to sail around the world without +falling off. At any rate, he kept on thinking and dreaming and +longing until, at last, he began doing. + +Some of the sailors sent out by Prince Henry of Portugal, of whom +I have told you, in their trying to sail around Africa discovered +two groups of islands out in the Atlantic that they called the +Azores, or Isles of Hawks, and the Canaries, or Isles of Dogs. +When Columbus was in Portugal in 1470 he became acquainted with a +young woman whose name was Philippa Perestrelo. In 1473 he +married her. + +Now Philippa's father, before his death, had been governor of +Porto Santo, one of the Azores, and Columbus and his wife went +off there to live. In the governor's house Columbus found a lot +of charts and maps that told him about parts of the ocean that he +had never before seen, and made him feel certain that he was +right in saying that if he sailed away to the West he should find +Cathay. + +At that time there was an old man who lived in Florence, a city +of Italy. His name was Toscanelli. He was a great scholar and +studied the stars and made maps, and was a very wise man. +Columbus knew what a wise old scholar Toscanelli was, for +Florence is not very far from Genoa. So while he was living in +the Azores he wrote to this old scholar asking him what he +thought about his idea that a man could sail around the world +until he reached the land called the Indies and at last found +Cathay. + +Toscanelli wrote to Columbus saying that he believed his idea was +the right one, and he said it would be a grand thing to do, if +Columbus dared to try it. Perhaps, he said, you can find all +those splendid things that I know are in Cathay--the great cities +with marble bridges, the houses of marble covered with gold, the +jewels and the spices and the precious stones, and all the other +wonderful and magnificent things. I do not wonder you wish to +try, he said, for if you find Cathay it will be a wonderful thing +for you and for Portugal. + +That settled it with Columbus. If this wise old scholar said he +was right, he must be right. So he left his home in the Azores +and went to Portugal. This was in 1475, and from that time on, +for seventeen long years he was trying to get some king or prince +to help him sail to the West to find Cathay. + +But not one of the people who could have helped him, if they had +really wished to, believed in Columbus. As I told you, they said +that he was crazy. The king of Portugal, whose name was John, did +a very unkind thing--I am sure you would call it a mean trick. +Columbus had gone to him with his story and asked for ships and +sailors. The king and his chief men refused to help him; but King +John said to himself, perhaps there is something in this worth +looking after and, if so, perhaps I can have my own people find +Cathay and save the money that Columbus will want to keep for +himself as his share of what he finds. So one day he copied off +the sailing directions that Columbus had left with him, and gave +them to one of his own captains without letting Columbus know +anything about it, The Portuguese captain sailed away to the West +in the direction Columbus had marked down, but a great storm came +up and so frightened the sailors that they turned around in a +hurry. Then they hunted up Columbus and began to abuse him for +getting them into such a scrape. You might as well expect to find +land in the sky, they said, as in those terrible waters. + +And when, in this way, Columbus found out that King John had +tried to use his ideas without letting him know anything about +it, he was very angry. His wife had died in the midst of this +mean trick of the Portuguese king, and so, taking with him his +little five-year-old son, Diego, he left Portugal secretly and +went over into Spain. + +Near the little town of Palos, in western Spain, is a green hill +looking out toward the Atlantic. Upon this hill stands an old +building that, four hundred years ago, was used as a a convent or +home for priests. It was called the Convent of Rabida, and the +priest at the head of it was named the Friar Juan Perez. One +autumn day, in the year 1484, Friar Juan Perez saw a dusty +traveler with a little boy talking with the gate-keeper of the +convent. The stranger was so tall and fine-looking, and seemed +such an interesting man, that Friar Juan went out and began to +talk with him. This man was Columbus. + +As they talked, the priest grew more and more interested in what +Columbus said. He invited him into the convent to stay for a few +days, and he asked some other people--the doctor of Palos and +some of the sea captains and sailors of the town--to come and +talk with this stranger who had such a singular idea about +sailing across the Atlantic. + +It ended in Columbus's staying some months in Palos, waiting for +a chance to go and see the king and queen. At last, in 1485, he +set out for the Spanish court with a letter to a priest who was a +friend of Friar Juan's, and who could help him to see the king +and queen. + +At that time the king and queen of Spain were fighting to drive +out of Spain the people called the Moors. These people came from +Africa, but they had lived in Spain for many years and had once +been a very rich and powerful nation. They were not Spaniards; +they were not Christians. So all Spaniards and all Christians +hated them and tried to drive them out of Europe. + +The king and queen of Spain who were fighting the Moors were +named Ferdinand and Isabella. They were pretty good people as +kings and queens went in those days, but they did a great many +very cruel and very mean things, just as the kings and queens of +those days were apt to do. I am afraid we should not think they +were very nice people nowadays. We certainly should not wish our +American boys and girls to look up to them as good and true and +noble. + +When Columbus first came to them, they were with the army in the +camp near the city of Cordova. The king and queen had no time to +listen to what they thought were crazy plans, and poor Columbus +could get no one to talk with him who could be of any help. So he +was obliged to go back to drawing maps and selling books to make +enough money to support himself and his little Diego. + +But at last, through the friend of good Friar Juan Perez of +Rabida, who was a priest at the court, and named Talavera, and to +whom he had a letter of introduction, Columbus found a chance to +talk over his plans with a number of priests and scholars in the +city of Salamanca where there was a famous college and many +learned men. + +Columbus told his story. He said what he wished to do, and asked +these learned men to say a good word for him to, Ferdinand and +Isabella so that he could have the ships and sailors to sail to +Cathay. But it was of no use. + +What! sail away around the world? those wise men cried in horror. +Why, you are crazy. The world is not round; it is flat. Your +ships would tumble off the edge of the world and all the king's +money and all the king's men would be lost. No, no; go away; you +must not trouble the queen or even mention such a ridiculous +thing again. + +So the most of them said. But one or two thought it might be +worth trying. Cathay was a very rich country, and if this foolish +fellow were willing to run the risk and did succeed, it would be +a good thing for Spain, as the king and queen would need a great +deal of money after the war with the Moors was over. At any rate, +it was a chance worth thinking about. + +And so, although Columbus was dreadfully disappointed, he thought +that if he had only a few friends at Court who were ready to say +a good word for him he must not give up, but must try, try again. +And so he staid in Spain. + + + +CHAPTER III. HOW COLUMBUS GAINED A QUEEN FOR HIS FRIEND. + +When you wish very much to do a certain thing it is dreadfully +hard to be patient; it is harder still to have to wait. Columbus +had to do both. The wars against the Moors were of much greater +interest to the king and queen of Spain than was the finding of a +new and very uncertain way to get to Cathay. If it had not been +for the patience and what we call the persistence of Columbus, +America would never have been discovered--at least not in his +time. + +He staid in Spain. He grew poorer and, poorer. He was almost +friendless. It seemed as if his great enterprise must be given +up. But he never lost hope. He never stopped trying. Even when he +failed he kept on hoping and kept on trying. He felt certain that +sometime he should succeed. + +As we have seen, he tried to interest the rulers of different +countries, but with no success. He tried to get help from his old +home-town of Genoa and failed; he tried Portugal and failed; he +tried the Republic of Venice and failed; he tried the king and +queen of Spain and failed; he tried some of the richest and most +powerful of the nobles of Spain and failed; he tried the king of +England (whom he got his brother, Bartholomew Columbus, to go and +see) and failed. There was still left the king of France. He +would make one last attempt to win the king and queen of Spain to +his side and if he failed with them he would try the last of the +rulers of Western Europe, the king of France. + +He followed the king and queen of Spain as they went from place +to place fighting the Moors. He hoped that some day, when they +wished to think of something besides fighting, they might think +of him and the gold and jewels and spices of Cathay. + +The days grew into months, the months to years, and still the war +against the Moors kept on; and still Columbus waited for the +chance that did not come. People grew to know him as "the crazy +explorer" as they met him in the streets or on the church steps +of Seville or Cordova, and even ragged little boys of the town, +sharp-eyed and shrill- voiced as all such ragged little urchins +are, would run after this big man with the streaming white hair +and the tattered cloak, calling him names or tapping their brown +little foreheads with their dirty fingers to show that even they +knew that he was "as crazy as a loon." + +At last he decided to make one more attempt before giving it up +in Spain. His money was gone; his friends were few; but he +remembered his acquaintances at Palos and so he journeyed back to +see once more his good friend Friar Juan Perez at the Convent of +Rabida on the hill that looked out upon the Atlantic he was so +anxious to cross. + +It was in the month of November, 1491, that he went back to the +Convent of Rabida. If he could not get any encouragement there, +he was determined to stay in Spain no longer but to go away and +try the king of France. + +Once more he talked over the finding of Cathay with the priests +and the sailors of Palos. They saw how patient he was; how +persistent he was; how he would never give up his ideas until he +had tried them. They were moved by his determination. They began +to believe in him more and more. They resolved to help him. One +of the principal sea captains of Palos was named Martin Alonso +Pinzon. He became so interested that he offered to lend Columbus +money enough to make one last appeal to the king and queen of +Spain, and if Columbus should succeed with them, this Captain +Pinzon said that he would go into partnership with Columbus and +help him out when it came to getting ready to sail to Cathay. + +This was a move in the right direction. At once a messenger was +sent to the splendid Spanish camp before the city of Granada, the +last unconquered city of the Moors of Spain. The king and queen +of Spain had been so long trying to capture Granada that this +camp was really a city, with gates and walls and houses. It was +called Santa Fe. Queen Isabella, who was in Santa Fe, after some +delay, agreed to hear more about the crazy scheme of this +persistent Genoese sailor, and the Friar Juan Perez was sent for. +He talked so well in behalf of his friend Columbus that the queen +became still more interested. She ordered Columbus to come and +see her, and sent him sixty-five dollars to pay for a mule, a new +suit of clothes and the journey to court. + +About Christmas time, in the year 1491, Columbus, mounted upon +his mule, rode into the Spanish camp before the city of Granada. +But even now, when he had been told to come, he had to wait. +Granada was almost captured; the Moors were almost conquered. At +last the end came. On the second of January, 1492, the Moorish +king gave up the keys of his beloved city, and the great Spanish +banner was hoisted on the highest tower of the Alhambra--the +handsomest building in Granada and one of the most beautiful in +the world. The Moors were driven out of Spain and Columbus's +chance had come. + +So he appeared before Queen Isabella and her chief men and told +them again of all his plans and desires. The queen and her +advisers sat in a great room in that splendid Alhambra I have +told you of. King Ferdinand was not there. He did not believe in +Columbus and did not wish to let him have either money, ships or +sailors to lose in such a foolish way. But as Columbus stood +before her and talked so earnestly about how he expected to find +the Indies and Cathay and what he hoped to bring away from there, +Queen Isabella listened and thought the plan worth trying. + +Then a singular thing happened. You would think if you wished for +something very much that you would be ve up a good deal for the +sake of getting it. Columbus had worked and waited for seventeen +years. He had never got what he wanted. He was always being +disappointed. And yet, as he talked to the queen and told her +what he wished to do, he said he must have so much as a reward +for doing it that the queen and her chief men were simply amazed +at his--well, what the boys to-day call "cheek"--that they would +have nothing to do with him. This man really is crazy, they said. +This poor Genoese sailor comes here without a thing except his +very odd ideas. and almost "wants the earth" as a reward. This is +not exactly what they said, but it is what they meant. + +His few friends begged him to be more modest. Do not ask so much, +they said, or you will get nothing. But Columbus was determined. +I have worked and waited all these years, he replied. I know just +what I can do and just how much I can do for the king and queen +of Spain. They must pay me what I ask and promise what I say, or +I will go somewhere else. Go, then! said the queen and her +advisers. And Columbus turned his back on what seemed almost his +last hope, mounted his mule and rode away. + +Then something else happened. As Columbus rode off to find the +French king, sick and tired of all his long and useless labor at +the Spanish court, his few firm friends there saw that, unless +they did something right away, all the glory and all the gain of +this enterprise Columbus had taught them to believe in would be +lost to Spain. So two of them, whose names were Santangel and +Quintanilla, rushed into the queen's room and begged her, if she +wished to become the greatest queen in Christendom, to call back +this wandering sailor, agree to his terms and profit by his +labors. + +What if he does ask a great deal? they said. He has spent his +life thinking his plan out; no wonder he feels that he ought to +have a good share of what he finds. What he asks is really small +compared with what Spain will gain. The war with the Moors has +cost you ever so much; your money-chests are empty; Columbus will +fill them up. The people of Cathay are heathen; Columbus will +help you make them Christian men. The Indies and Cathay are full +of gold and jewels; Columbus will bring you home shiploads of +treasures. Spain has conquered the Moors; Columbus will help you +conquer Cathay. + +In fact, they talked to Queen Isabella so strongly and so +earnestly, that she, too, became excited over this chance for +glory and riches that she had almost lost, Quick! send for +Columbus. Call him back! she said. I agree to his terms. If King +Ferdinand cannot or will not take the risk, I, the queen, will do +it all. Quick! do not let the man get into France. After him. +Bring him back! + +And without delay a royal messenger, mounted on a swift horse, +was sent at full gallop to bring Columbus back. + +All this time poor Columbus felt bad enough. Everything had gone +wrong. Now he must go away into a new land and do it all over +again. Kings and queens, he felt, were not to be depended upon, +and he remembered a place in the Bible where it said: "Put not +your trust in princes." Sad, solitary and heavy-hearted, he +jogged slowly along toward the mountains, wondering what the king +of France would say to him, and whether it was really worth +trying. + +Just as he was riding across the little bridge called the Bridge +of Pinos, some six miles from Granada, he heard the quick +hoof-beats of a horse behind him. It was a great spot for +robbers, and Columbus felt of the little money he had in his +traveling pouch, and wondered whether he must lose it all. The +hoof-beats came nearer. Then a voice hailed him. Turn back, turn +back! the messenger cried out. The queen bids you return to +Granada. She grants you all you ask. + +Columbus hesitated. Ought he to trust this promise, he wondered. +Put not your trust in princes, the verse in the Bible had said. +If I go back I may only be put off and worried as I have been +before. And yet, perhaps she means what she says. At any rate, I +will go back and try once more. + +So, on the little Bridge of Pinos, he turned his mule around and +rode back to Granada. And, sure enough, when he saw Queen +Isabella she agreed to all that he asked. If he found Cathay, +Columbus was to be made admiral for life of all the new seas and +oceans into which he might sail; he was to be chief ruler of all +the lands he might find; he was to keep one tenth part of all the +gold and jewels and treasures he should bring away, and was to +have his "say" in all questions about the new lands. For his part +(and this was because of the offer of his friend at Palos, +Captain Pinzon) he agreed to pay one eighth of all the expenses +of this expedition and of all new enterprises, and was to have +one eighth of all the profits from them. + +So Columbus had his wish at last. The queen's men figured up how +much money they could let him have; they called him "Don +Christopher Columbus," "Your Excellency" and "Admiral," and at +once he set about getting ready for his voyage. + + + +CHAPTER IV. HOW THE ADMIRAL SAILED AWAY. + +The agreement made between Columbus and the king and queen of +Spain was signed on the seventeenth of April, 1492. But it was +four months before he was quite ready to sail away. + +He selected the town of Palos as the place to sail from, because +there, as you know, Captain Pinzon lived; there, too, he had +other acquaintances, so that he supposed it would be easy to get +the sailors he needed for his ships. But in this he was greatly +mistaken. + +As soon as the papers had been signed that held the queen to her +promise, Columbus set off for Palos. He stopped at the Convent of +Rabida to tell the Friar Juan Perez how thankful he was to him +for the help the good priest had given him, and how everything +now looked promising and successful. + +The town of Palos, as you can see from your map of Spain, is +situated at the mouth of the river Tinto on a little bay in the +southwestern part of Spain, not far from the borders of Portugal. +To-day the sea has gone away from it so much that it is nearly +high and dry; but four hundred years ago it was quite a seaport, +when Spain did not have a great many sea towns on the Atlantic +coast. + +At the time of Columbus's voyage the king and queen of Spain were +angry with the port of Palos for something its people had done +that was wrong--just what this was we do not know. But to punish +the town, and because Columbus wished to sail from there, the +king and queen ordered that Palos should pay them a fine for +their wrong-doing. And this fine was to lend the king and queen +of Spain, for one year, without pay, two sailing vessels of the +kind called caravel's, armed and equipped "for the service of the +crown"-- that is, for the use of the king and queen of Spain, in +the western voyage that Columbus was to make. + +When Columbus called together the leading people of Palos to meet +him in the church of St. George and hear the royal commands, they +came; but at first they did not understand just what they must +do. But when they knew that they must send two of their ships and +some of their sailing men on this dreadful voyage far out upon +the terrible Sea of Darkness, they were terribly distressed. +Nobody was willing to go. They would obey the commands of the +king and queen and furnish the two ships, but as for sailing off +with this crazy sea captain --that they would not do. + +Then the king's officers went to work. They seized some sailors +(impressed is the word for this), and made them go; they took +some from the jails, and gave them their freedom as a reward for +going; they begged and threatened and paid in advance, and still +it was hard to get enough men for the two ships. Then Captain +Pinzon, who had promised Columbus that he would join him, tried +his hand. He added a third ship to the Admiral's "fleet." He made +big promises to the sailors, and worked for weeks, until at last +he was able to do what even the royal commands could not do, and +a crew of ninety men was got together to man the three vessels. +The names of these three vessels were the Capitana (changed +before it sailed to the Santa Maria), the Pinta and the Nina or +Baby. Captain de la Cosa commanded the Santa Maria, Captain +Martin Alonso Pinzon the Pinta and his brother, Captain Vincent +Pinzon, the Nina. The Santa Maria was the largest of the three +vessels; it was therefore selected as the leader of the +fleet--the flag-ship, as it is called--and upon it sailed the +commander of the expedition, the Admiral Don Christopher +Columbus. + +When we think of a voyage across the Atlantic nowadays, we think +of vessels as large as the big three-masted ships or the great +ocean steamers--vessels over six hundred feet long and fifty feet +wide. But these "ships" of Columbus were not really ships. They +were hardly larger than the "fishing smacks" that sail up and +down our coast to-day. Some of them were not so large. The Santa +Maria was, as I have told you, the largest of the three, and she +was only sixty-three feet long, twenty feet wide and ten and a +half feet deep. Just measure this out on the ground and see how +small, after all, the Admiral's "flag-ship" really was. The Pinta +was even smaller than this, while the little Nina was hardly +anything more than a good-sized sail boat. Do you wonder that the +poor people of Palos and the towns round about were frightened +when they thought of their fathers and brothers and sons putting +out to sea, on the great ocean they had learned to dread so much, +in such shaky little boats as these? + +But finally the vessels were ready. The crews were selected. The +time had come to go. Most of the sailors were Spanish men from +the towns near to the sea, but somehow a few who were not +Spaniards joined the crew. + +One of the first men to land in America from one of the ships of +Columbus was an Irishman named William, from the County Galway. +And another was an Englishman named either Arthur Laws or Arthur +Larkins. The Spanish names for both these men look very queer, +and only a wise scholar who digs among names and words could have +found out what they really were. But such a one did find it out, +and it increases our interest in the discovery of America to know +that some of our own northern blood--the Irishman and the +Englishman--were in the crews of Columbus. + +The Admiral Columbus was so sure he was going to find a rich and +civilized country, such as India and Cathay were said to be, that +he took along on his ships the men he would need in such places +as he expected to visit and among such splendid people as he was +sure he should meet. He took along a lawyer to make out all the +forms and proclamations and papers that would have to be sent by +the Admiral to the kings and princes he expected to visit; he had +a secretary and historian to write out the story of what he +should find and what he should do. There was a learned Jew, named +Louis, who could speak almost a dozen languages, and who could, +of course, tell him what the people of Cathay and Cipango and the +Indies were talking about. There was a jeweler and silversmith +who knew all about the gold and silver and precious stones that +Columbus was going to load the ships with; there was a doctor and +a surgeon; there were cooks and pilots, and even a little fellow, +who sailed in the Santa Maria as the Admiral's cabin boy, and +whose name was Pedro de Acevedo. + +Some scholars have said that it cost about two hundred and thirty +thousand dollars to fit out this expedition. I do not think it +cost nearly so much. We do know that Queen Isabella gave +sixty-seven thousand dollars to help pay for it. Some people, +however, reckoning the old Spanish money in a different way, say +that what Queen Isabella gave toward the expedition was not over +three or four thousand dollars of our money. Perhaps as much more +was borrowed from King Ferdinand, although he was to have no +share in the enterprise in which Queen Isabella and Columbus were +partners. + +It was just an hour before sunrise on Friday, the third of +August, 1492, that the three little ships hoisted their anchors +and sailed away from the port of Palos. I suppose it was a very +sorry and a very exciting morning in Palos. The people probably +crowded down on the docks, some of them sad and sorrowful, some +of them restless and curious. Their fathers and brothers and sons +and acquaintances were going--no one knew where, dragged off to +sea by a crazy old Italian sailor who thought there was land to +be found somewhere beyond the Jumping-off place. They all knew he +was wrong. They were certain that nothing but dreadful goblins +and horrible monsters lived off there to the West, just waiting +to devour or destroy the poor sailors when these three little +ships should tumble over the edge. + +But how different Columbus must have felt as he stepped, into the +rowboat that took him off to his "flag-ship," the Santa Maria. +His dreams had come true. He had ships and sailors under his +command, and was about to sail away to discover great and +wonderful things. He who had been so poor that he could hardly +buy his own dinner, was now called Don and Admiral. He had a +queen for his friend and helper. He was given a power that only +the richest and noblest could hope for. But more than all, he was +to have the chance he had wished and worked for so long. He was +to find the Indies; he was to see Cathay; he was to have his +share in all the wealth he should discover and bring away. The +son of the poor wool-weaver of Genoa was to be the friend of +kings and princes; the cabin boy of a pirate was now Admiral of +the Seas and Governor of the Colonies of Spain! Do you wonder +that he felt proud? + +So, as I have told you, just before sunrise on a Friday morning +in August, be boarded the Santa Maria and gave orders to his +captains "to get under way." The sailors with a "yo heave ho!" +(or whatever the Spanish for that is) tugged at the anchors, the +sails filled with the morning breeze, and while the people of +Palos watched them from the shore, while the good friar, Juan +Perez, raised his hands to Heaven calling down a blessing on the +enterprise, while the children waved a last good- by from the +water-stairs, the three vessels steered out from Palos Harbor, +and before that day's sun had set, Columbus and his fleet were +full fifty miles on their way across the Sea of Darkness. The +westward voyage to those wonderful lands, the Indies and Cathay, +had at last begun. + + + +CHAPTER V. HOW THEY FARED ON THE SEA OF DARKNESS. + +Did you ever set out, in the dark, to walk with your little +brother or sister along a road you did not know much about or had +never gone over before? It was not an easy thing to do, was it? +And how did your little brother or sister feel when it was known +that you were not just certain whether you were right or not? Do +you remember what the Bible says about the blind leading the +blind? + +It was much the same with Columbus when he set out from Palos to +sail over an unknown sea to find the uncertain land of Cathay. He +had his own idea of the way there, but no one in all his company +had ever sailed it, and he himself was not sure about it. He was +very much in the dark. And the sailors in the three ships were +worse than little children. They did not even have the confidence +in their leader that your little brother or sister would probably +have in you as you traveled that new road on a dark night. It was +almost another case of the blind leading the blind, was it not? + +Columbus first steered his ships to the south so as to reach the +Canary Islands and commence his real westward voyage from there. +The Canary Islands, as you will see by looking in your geography, +are made up of seven islands and lie off the northern corner of +Africa, some sixty miles or so west of Morocco. They were named +Canaria by the Romans from the Latin canis, a dog, "because of +the multitude of dogs of great size" that were found there. The +canary birds that sing so sweetly in your home come from these +islands. They had been known to the Spaniards and other European +sailors of Columbus's day about a hundred years. + +At the Canaries the troubles of Columbus commenced. And he did +have a lot of trouble before his voyage was over. While near the +island called the Grand Canary the rudder of the Pinta, in which +Captain Alonso Pinzon sailed, somehow got loose, then broke and +finally came off. It was said that two of the Pinta's crew, who +were really the owners of the vessel, broke the rudder on +purpose, because they had become frightened at the thoughts of +the perilous voyage, and hoped by damaging their vessel to be +left behind. + +But Columbus had no thought of doing any such thing. He sailed to +the island of Gomera, where he knew some people, and had the +Pinta mended. And while lying here with his fleet the great +mountain on the island of Teneriffe, twelve thousand feet high, +suddenly began to spit out flame and smoke. It was, as of course +you know, a volcano; but the poor frightened sailors did not know +what set this mountain on fire, and they were scared almost out +of their wits' and begged the Admiral to go back home. But +Columbus would not. And as they sailed away from Gomera some +sailors told them that the king of Portugal was angry with +Columbus because he had got his ships from the king and queen of +Spain, and that he had sent out some of his war-ships to worry or +capture Columbus. + +But these, too, Columbus escaped, although not before his crews +had grown terribly nervous for fear of capture. At last they got +away from the Canaries, and on Sunday, the ninth of September, +1492, with a fresh breeze filling their sails, the three caravels +sailed away into the West. And as the shores of Ferro, the very +last of the Canary Islands, faded out of sight, the sailors burst +into sighs and murmurings and tears, saying that now indeed they +were sailing off --off--off--upon the awful Sea of Darkness and +would never see land any more. + +When Columbus thought that he was sailing too slowly --he had now +been away from Palos a month and was only about a hundred miles +out at sea--and when he saw what babies his sailors were, he did +something that was not just right (for it is never right to do +anything that is not true) but which he felt he really must do. +He made two records (or reckonings as they are called) of his +sailing. One of these records was a true one; this he kept for +himself. The other was a false one; this he kept to show his +sailors. So while they thought they were sailing slowly and that +the ocean was not so very wide, Columbus knew from his own true +record that they were getting miles and miles away from home. + +Soon another thing happened to worry the sailors. The pilots were +steering by the compass. You know what that is --a sort of big +magnet-needle perfectly balanced and pointing always to the +north. At the time of Columbus the compass was a new thing and +was only understood by a few. On the thirteenth of September they +had really got into the middle of the ocean, and the line of the +north changed. Of course this made the needle in the compass +change its position also. Now the sailors had been taught to +believe so fully in the compass that they thought it could never +change its position. And here it was playing a cruel trick upon +them. We are trapped! they cried. The goblins in this dreadful +sea are making our compass point wrong so as to drag us to +destruction. Go back; take us back! they demanded. + +But Columbus, though he knew that his explanation was wrong, said +the compass was all right. The North Star, toward which the +needle always pointed, had, so he said, changed its position. +This quieted the sailors for a while. + +When they had been about forty days out from Palos, the ship ran +into what is marked upon your maps as the Sargasso Sea. This is a +vast meadow of floating seaweed and seagrass in the middle of the +Atlantic; it is kept drifting about in the same place by the two +great sea currents that flow past it but not through it. + +The sailors did not know this, of course, and when the ships +began to sail slower and slower because the seaweed was so thick +and heavy and because there was no current to carry them along, +they were sure that they were somewhere near to the jumping-off +place, and that the horrible monsters they had heard of were +making ready to stop their ships, and when they had got them all +snarled up in this weed to drag them all down to the bottom of +the sea. + +For nearly a week the ships sailed over these vast sea- meadows, +and when they were out of them they struck what we call the +trade-winds--a never-failing breeze that blew them ever westward. +Then the sailors cried out that they were in an enchanted land +where there was but one wind and never a breeze to blow the poor +sailors home again. Were they not fearfully "scarey?" But no +doubt we should have been so, too, if we had been with them and +knew no more than they did. + +And when they had been over fifty days from home on the +twenty-fifth of September, some one suddenly cried Land! Land! +And all hands crowded to the side. Sure enough, they all saw it, +straight ahead of them--fair green islands and lofty hills and a +city with castles and temples and palaces that glittered +beautifully in the sun. + +Then they all cried for joy and sang hymns of praise and shouted +to each other that their troubles were over. Cathay, it is +Cathay! they cried; and they steered straight for the shining +city. But, worst of all their troubles, even as they sailed +toward the land they thought to be Cathay, behold! it all +disappeared--island and castle and palace and temple and city, +and nothing but the tossing sea lay all about them. + +For this that they had seen was what is called a mirage--a trick +of the clouds and the sun and the sea that makes people imagine +they see what they would like to, but really do not. But after +this Columbus had a harder time than ever with his men, for they +were sure he was leading them all astray. + +And so with frights and imaginings and mysteries like these, with +strange birds flying about the ships and floating things in the +water that told of land somewhere about them, with hopes again +and again disappointed, and with the sailors growing more and +more restless and discontented, and muttering threats against +this Italian adventurer who, was leading the ships and sailors of +the Spanish king to sure destruction, Columbus still sailed on, +as full of patience and of faith, as certain of success as he had +ever been. + +On the seventh of October, 1492, the true record that Columbus +was keeping showed that he had sailed twenty-seven hundred miles +from the Canaries; the false record that the sailors saw said +they had sailed twenty- two hundred miles. Had Columbus kept +straight on, he would have landed very soon upon the coast of +Florida or South Carolina, and would really have discovered the +mainland of America. But Captain Alonso Pinzon saw what looked +like a flock of parrots flying south. This made him think the +land lay that way; so he begged the Admiral to change his course +to the southward as he was sure there was no land to the west. +Against his will, Columbus at last consented, and turning to the +southwest headed for Cuba. + +But he thought he was steering for Cathay. The islands of Japan, +were, he thought, only a few leagues away to the west. They were +really, as you know, away across the United States and then +across the Pacific Ocean, thousands of miles farther west than +Columbus could sail. But according to his reckoning he hoped +within a day or two to see the cities and palaces of this +wonderful land. + +When they sailed from the Canaries a reward had been offered to +whomsoever should first see land. This reward was to be a silken +jacket and nearly five hundred dollars in money; so all the +sailors were on the watch. + +At about ten o'clock on the evening of the eleventh of October, +Columbus, standing on the high raised stern of the Santa Maria, +saw a moving light, as if some one on the shore were running with +a flaming torch. At two o'clock the next morning--Friday, the +twelfth of October, 1492 the sharp eyes of a watchful sailor on +the Pinta (his name was Rodrigo de Triana) caught sight of a long +low coastline not far away. He raised the joyful shout Land, ho! +The ships ran in as near to the shore as they dared, and just ten +weeks after the anchors had been hauled up in Palos Harbor they +were dropped overboard, and the hips of Columbus were anchored in +the waters of a new world. + +Where was it? What was it? Was it Cathay? Columbus was sure that +it was. He was certain that the morning sun would shine for him +upon the marble towers and golden roofs of the wonderful city of +the kings of Cathay. + + + +CHAPTER VI. WHAT COLUMBUS DISCOVERED. + +A little over three hundred years ago there was a Pope of Rome +whose name was Gregory XIII. He was greatly interested in +learning and science, and when the scholars and wise men of his +day showed him that a mistake in reckoning time had long before +been made he set about to make it right. At that time the Pope of +Rome had great influence with the kings and queens of Europe, and +whatever he wished them to do they generally did. + +So they all agreed to his plan of renumbering the days of the +year, and a new reckoning of time was made upon the rule that +most of you know by heart in the old rhyme: + + Thirty days hath September, + April, June and November; + All the rest have thirty-one, + Excepting February which alone + Hath twenty-eight--and this, in fine, + One year in four hath twenty-nine. + + +And the order of the days of the months and the year is what is +called, after Pope Gregory, the Gregorian Calendar. + +This change in reckoning time made, of course, all past dates +wrong. The old dates, which were called Old Style, had to be made +to correspond with the new dates which were called New Style. + +Now, according to the Old Style, Columbus discovered the islands +he thought to be the Indies (and which have ever since been +called the West Indies) on the twelfth of October, 1492. But, +according to the New Style, adopted nearly one hundred years +after his discovery, the right date would be the twenty-first of +October. And this is why, in the Columbian memorial year of 1892, +the world celebrated the four hundredth anniversary of the +discovery of America on the twenty-first of October; which, as +you see, is the same as the twelfth under the Old Style of +reckoning time. + +But did Columbus discover America? What was this land that +greeted his eyes as the daylight came on that Friday morning, and +he saw the low green shores that lay ahead of his caravels + +As far as Columbus was concerned he was sure that he had found +some one of the outermost islands of Cipango or Japan. So he +dropped his anchors, ordered out his rowboat, and prepared to +take possession of the land in the name of the queen of Spain, +who had helped him in his. enterprise. + +Just why or by what right a man from one country could sail up to +the land belonging to another country and, planting in the ground +the flag of his king, could say, "This land belongs to my king!" +is a hard question to answer. But there is an old saying that +tells us, Might makes right; and the servants of the kings and +queens--the adventurers and explorers of old--used to go sailing +about the world with this idea in their heads, and as soon as +they came to a land they, had never seen before, up would go +their flag, and they would say, This land is mine and my king's! +They would not of course do this in any of the well-known or +"Christian lands" of Europe; but they believed that all "pagan +lands" belonged by right to the first European king whose sailors +should discover and claim them. + +So Columbus lowered a boat from the Santa Maria, and with two of +his chief men and some sailors for rowers he pulled off toward +the island. + +But before he did so, he had to listen to the cheers and +congratulations of the very sailors who, only a few days before, +were ready to kill him. But, you see, this man whom they thought +crazy had really brought them to the beautiful land, just as he +had promised. It does make such a difference, you know, in what +people say whether a thing turns out right or not. + +Columbus, as I say, got into his rowboat with his chief inspector +and his lawyer. He wore a crimson cloak over his armor, and in +his hand he held the royal banner of Spain. Following him came +Captain Alonso Pinzon in a rowboat from the Pinta, and in a +rowboat from the Nina Captain Vincent Pinzon. Each of these +captains carried the "banner of the green cross" on which were to +be seen the initials of the king and queen of Spain. + +As they rowed toward the land they saw some people on the shore. +They were not dressed in the splendid clothes the Spaniards +expected to find the people of Cathay wearing. In fact, they did +not have on much of anything but grease and paint. And the land +showed no signs of the marble temples and gold-roofed palaces the +sailors expected to find. It was a little, low, flat green +island, partly covered with trees and with what looked like a +lake in the center. + +This land was, in fact, one of the three thousand keys or coral +islands that stretch from the capes of Florida to the island of +Hayti, and are known as the Bahama Islands. The one upon which +Columbus landed was called by the natives Guanahani, and was +either the little island now marked on the map as Cat Island or +else the one called Watling's Island. Just which of these it was +has been discussed over and over again, but careful scholars have +now but little doubt that it was the one known to-day as +Watling's Island. To see no sign of glittering palaces and gayly +dressed people was quite a disappointment to Columbus. But then, +he said, this, is probably the island farthest out to sea, and +the people who live here are not the real Cathay folks. We shall +see them very soon. + +So with the royal banner and the green-cross standards floating +above him, with his captains and chief officers and some of the +sailors gathered about him, while all the others watched him from +the decks of his fleet, Columbus stepped upon the shore. Then he +took off his hat, and holding the royal banner in one hand and +his sword in the other he said aloud: I take possession of this +island, which I name San Salvador,[*] and of all the islands and +lands about it in the name of my patron and sovereign lady, +Isabella, and her kingdom of Castile. This, or something like it, +he said, for the exact words are not known to us. + + +[*] The island of San Salvador means the island of the Holy +Saviour. Columbus and the Spanish explorers who followed him gave +Bible or religious names to very much of the land they +discovered. + + +And when he had done this the captains and sailors fell at his +feet in wonder and admiration, begging him to forgive them for +all the hard things they had said about him. For you have found +Cathay, they cried. You are our leader. You will make us rich and +powerful. Hurrah for the great Admiral! + +And when the naked and astonished people of the island saw all +this--the canoes with wings, as they called the ships, the +richly-dressed men with white and bearded faces, the flags and +swords, and the people kneeling about this grand-looking old man +in the crimson cloak--they said to one another: These men are +gods; they have come from Heaven to see us. And then, they, too, +fell on the ground and worshiped these men from Heaven, as they +supposed Columbus and his sailors to be. + +And when they found that the men from Heaven did not offer to +hurt them, they came nearer; and the man in the crimson cloak +gave them beads and pieces of bright cloth and other beautiful +things they had never seen before. And this made them feel all +the more certain that these men who had come to see them in the +canoes with wings must really be from Heaven. So they brought +them fruits and flowers and feathers and birds as presents; and +both parties, the men with clothes and the men without clothes, +got on very well together. + +But Columbus, as we know, had come across the water for one +especial reason. He was to find Cathay, and he was to find it so +that he could carry back to Spain the gold and jewels and spices +of Cathay. The first thing, therefore, that he tried to find out +from the people of the island--whom he called "Indians," because +he thought he had come to a part of the coast of India was where +Cathay might be. + +Of course they did not understand him. Even Louis, the +interpreter, who knew a dozen languages and who tried them all, +could not make out what these "Indians" said. But from their +signs and actions and from the sound of the words they spoke, +Columbus understood that Cathay was off somewhere to the +southwest, and that the gold he was bound to find came from +there. The "Indians" had little bits of gold hanging in their +ears and noses. So Columbus supposed that among the finer people +he hoped soon to meet in the southwest, he should find great +quantities of the yellow metal. He was delighted. Success, he +felt, was not far off. Japan was near, China was near, India was +near. Of this he was certain; and even until he died Columbus did +not have any idea that he had found a new world--such as America +really was. He was sure that he had simply landed upon the +eastern coasts of Asia and that he had found what he set out to +discover--the nearest route to the Indies. + +The next day Columbus pulled up his anchors, and having seized +and carried off to his ships some of the poor natives who had +welcomed him so gladly, he commenced a cruise among the islands +of the group he had discovered. + +Day after day he sailed among these beautiful tropic islands, and +of them and of the people who lived upon them he wrote to the +king and queen of Spain: "This country excels all others as far +as the day surpasses the night in splendor. The natives love +their neighbors as themselves; their conversation is the sweetest +imaginable; their faces smiling; and so gentle and so +affectionate are they, that I swear to Your Highness there is not +a better people in the world." + +Does it not seem a pity that so great a man should have acted so +meanly toward these innocent people who loved and trusted him so? +For it was Columbus who first stole them away from their island +homes and who first thought of making them slaves to the white +men. + + + +CHAPTER VII. HOW A BOY BROUGHT THE ADMIRAL TO GRIEF. + +Columbus kept sailing on from one island to another. Each new +island he found would, he hoped, bring him nearer to Cathay and +to the marble temples and golden palaces and splendid cities he +was looking for. But the temples and palaces and cities did not +appear. When the Admiral came to the coast of Cuba he said: This, +I know, is the mainland of Asia. So he sent off Louis, the +interpreter, with a letter to the "great Emperor of Cathay." +Louis was gone several days; but he found no emperor, no palace, +no city, no gold, no jewels, no spices, no Cathay--only frail +houses of bark and reeds, fields of corn and grain, with simple +people who could tell him nothing about Cathay or Cipango or the +Indies. + +So day after day Columbus kept on his search, sailing from island +to island, getting a little gold here and there, or some pearls +and silver and a lot of beautiful bird skins, feathers and +trinkets. + +Then Captain Alonso Pinzon, who was sailing in the Pinta, +believed he could do better than follow the Admiral's lead. I +know, he said, if I could go off on my own hook I could find +plenty of gold and pearls, and perhaps I could find Cathay. So +one day he sailed away and Columbus did not know what had become +of him. + +At last Columbus, sailing on and troubled at the way Captain +Alonso Pinzon had acted, came one day to the island of Hayti. If +Cuba was Cathay (or China), Hayti, he felt sure, must be Cipango +(or Japan). So he decided to sail into one of its harbors to +spend Christmas Day. But just before Christmas morning dawned, +the helmsman of the Santa Maria, thinking that everything was +safe, gave the tiller into the hands of a boy--perhaps it was +little Pedro the cabin boy--and went to sleep. The rest of the +crew also were asleep. And the boy who, I suppose, felt quite big +to think that he was really steering the Admiral's flagship, was +a little too smart; for, before he knew it, he had driven the +Santa Maria plump upon a hidden reef. And there she was wrecked. +They worked hard to get her off but it was no use. She keeled +over on her side, her seams opened, the water leaked in, the +waves broke over her, the masts fell out and the Santa Maria had +made her last voyage. + +Then Columbus was in distress. The Pinta had deserted him, the +Santa Maria was a wreck, the Nina was not nearly large enough to +carry all his men back to Spain. And to Spain he must return at +once. What should he do? + +Columbus was quick at getting out of a fix. So in this case he +speedily decided what to do. He set his men at work tearing the +wreck of the Santa Maria to pieces. Out of her timbers and +woodwork, helped out with trees from the woods and a few stones +from the shore, he made quite a fort. It had a ditch and a +watch-tower and a drawbridge. It proudly floated the flag of +Spain. It was the first European fort in the new world. On its +ramparts Columbus mounted the cannons he had saved from the wreck +and named the fort La Navidad--that is, Fort Nativity, because it +was made out of the ship that was wrecked on Christmas Day-the +day of Christ's nativity, his birthday. + +He selected forty of his men to stay in the fort until he should +return from Spain. The most of them were quite willing to do this +as they thought the place was a beautiful one and they would be +kept very busy filling the fort with gold. Columbus told them +they must have at least a ton of gold before he came back. He +left them provisions and powder for a year, he told them to be +careful and watchful, to be kind to the Indians and to make the +year such a good one that the king and queen of Spain would be +glad to reward them. And then he said good-by and sailed away for +Spain. + +It was on the fourth of January, 1493, that Columbus turned the +little Nina homeward. He had not sailed very far when what should +he come across but the lost Pinta. Captain Alonso Pinzon seemed +very much ashamed when he saw the Admiral, and tried to explain +his absence. Columbus knew well enough that Captain Pinzon had +gone off gold hunting and had not found any gold. But he did not +scold him, and both the vessels sailed toward Spain. + +The homeward voyage was a stormy and seasick one. Once it was so +rough that Columbus thought surely the Nina would be wrecked. So +he copied off the story of what he had seen and done, addressed +it to the king and queen of Spain, put it into a barrel and threw +the barrel overboard. + +But the Nina was not shipwrecked, and on the eighteenth of +February Columbus reached the Azores. The Portuguese governor was +so surprised when he heard this crazy Italian really had +returned, and was so angry to think it was Spain and not Portugal +that was to profit by his voyage that he tried to make Columbus a +prisoner. But the Admiral gave this inhospitable welcomer the +slip and was soon off the coast of Portugal. + +Here he was obliged to land and meet the king of Portugal --that +same King John who had once acted so meanly toward him. King John +would have done so again had he dared. But things were quite +different now. Columbus was a great man. He had made a successful +voyage, and the king and queen of Spain would have made it go +hard with the king of Portugal if he dared trouble their admiral. +So King John had to give a royal reception to Columbus, and +permit him to send a messenger to the king and queen of Spain +with the news of his return from Cathay. + +Then Columbus went on board the Nina again and sailed for Palos. +But his old friend Captain Alonso Pinzon had again acted badly. +For he had left the Admiral in one of the storms at sea and had +hurried homeward. Then he sailed into one of the northern ports +of Spain, and hoping to get all the credit for his voyage, sent a +messenger post-haste to the king and queen with the word that he +had returned from Cathay and had much to tell them. And then he, +too, sailed for Palos. + +On the fifteenth of March, 1493, just seven months after he had +sailed away to the West, Columbus in the Nina sailed into Palos +Harbor. The people knew the little vessel at once. And then what +a time they made! Columbus has come back, they cried. He has +found Cathay. Hurrah! hurrah! And the bells rang and the cannons +boomed and the streets were full of people. The sailors were +welcomed with shouts of joy, and the big stories they told were +listened to with open mouths and many exclamations of surprise. +So Columbus came back to Palos. And everybody pointed him out and +cheered him and he was no longer spoken of as "that crazy Italian +who dragged away the men of Palos to the Jumping-off place." + +And in the midst of all this rejoicing what should sail into the +harbor of Palos but the Pinta, just a few hours late! And when +Captain Alonso Pinzon heard the sounds of rejoicing, and knew +that his plans to take away from Columbus all the glory of what +had been done had all gone wrong, he did not even go to see his +old friend and ask his pardon. He went away to his own house +without seeing any one. And there he found a stern letter from +the king and queen of Spain scolding him for trying to get the +best of Columbus, and refusing to hear or see him. The way things +had turned out made Captain Alonso Pinzon feel so badly that he +fell sick; and in a few days he died. + +But Columbus, after he had seen his good friend Juan Perez, the +friar at Rabida, and told him all his adventures, went on to +Barcelona where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella were waiting +for him. They had already sent him letters telling him how +pleased they were that he had found Cathay, and ordering him to +get ready for a second expedition at once. Columbus gave his +directions for this, and then, in a grand procession that called +everybody to the street or window or housetop, he set off for +Barcelona. He reached the court on a fine April day and was at +once received with much pleasure by the king and queen of Spain. + +Columbus told them where he had been and what he had seen; he +showed them the gold and the pearls and the birds and curiosities +he had brought to Spain as specimens, of what was to be found in +Cathay; he showed them the ten painted and "fixed-up" Indians he +had stolen and brought back with him. + +And the king and queen of Spain said he had done well. They had +him sit beside them while he told his story, and treated this +poor Italian wool-weaver as they would one of their great princes +or mighty lords. They told him he could put the royal arms +alongside his own on his shield or crest, and they bade him get +together at once ships and sailors for a second expedition to +Cathay--ships and sailors enough, they said, to get away up to +the great cities of Cathay, where the marble temples and the +golden palaces must be. It was their wish, they said, to gain the +friendship of the great Emperor of Cathay, to trade with him and +get a good share of his gold and jewels and spices. For, you see, +no one as yet imagined that Columbus had discovered America. They +did not even know that there was such a continent. They thought +he had sailed to Asia and found the rich countries that Marco +Polo had told such big stories about. + +Columbus, you may be sure, was "all the rage" now. Wherever he +went the people followed him, cheering and shouting, and begging +him to take them with him on his next voyage to Cathay. + +He was as anxious as any one to get back to those beautiful +islands and hunt for gold and jewels. He set to work at once, and +on the twenty-fifth of September, 1493, with a fleet of seventeen +ships and a company of fifteen hundred men, Columbus the Admiral +set sail from Cadiz on his second voyage to Cathay and Cipango +and the Indies. And this time he was certain he should find all +these wonderful places, and bring back from the splendid cities +unbounded wealth for the king and queen of Spain. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. TRYING IT AGAIN. + +Do you not think Columbus must have felt very fine as he sailed +out of Cadiz Harbor on his second voyage to the West? It was just +about a year before, you know, that his feeble fleet of three +little ships sailed from Palos port. His hundred sailors hated to +go; his friends were few; everybody else said he was crazy; his +success was very doubtful. Now, as he stood on the high +quarter-deck of his big flag-ship, the Maria Galante, he was a +great man. By appointment of his king and queen he was "Admiral +of the Ocean Seas" and "Viceroy of the Indies." He had servants, +to do as he directed; he had supreme command over the seventeen +ships of his fleet, large and small; fifteen hundred men joyfully +crowded his decks, while thousands left at home wished that they +might go with him, too. He had soldiers and sailors, horsemen and +footmen; his ships were filled with all the things necessary for +trading with the Indians and the great merchants of Cathay, and +for building the homes of those who wished to live in the lands +beyond the sea. + +Everything looked so well and everybody was so full of hope and +expectation that the Admiral felt that now his fondest dreams +were coming to pass and that he was a great man indeed. + +This was to be a hunt for gold. And so sure of success was +Columbus that he promised the king and queen of Spain, out of the +money he should make on this voyage, to, himself pay for the +fitting out of a great army of fifty thousand foot soldiers and +four thousand horsemen to drive away the pagan Turks who had +captured and held possession of the city of Jerusalem and the +sepulcher of Christ. For this had been the chief desire, for +years and years, of the Christian people of Europe. To accomplish +it many brave knights and warriors had fought and failed. But now +Columbus was certain he could do it. + +So, out into the western ocean sailed the great expedition of the +Admiral. He sailed first to the Canary Isles, where he took +aboard wood and water and many cattle, sheep and swine. Then, on +the seventeenth of October, he steered straight out into the +broad Atlantic, and on Sunday, the third of November, he saw the +hill-tops of one of the West India Islands that he named +Dominica. You can find it on your map of the West Indies. + +For days he sailed on, passing island after island, landing on +some and giving them names. Some of them were inhabited, some of +them were not; some were very large, some were very small. But +none of them helped him in any way to find Cathay, so at last he +steered toward Hayti (or Hispaniola, as he called it) and the +little ship-built fortress of La Navidad, where his forty +comrades had been left. + +On the twenty-seventh of November, the fleet of the Admiral cast +anchor off the solitary fort. It was night. No light was to be +seen on the shore; through the darkness nothing could be made out +that looked like the walls of the fort. Columbus fired a cannon; +then he fired another. The echoes were the only answer. They must +be sound sleepers in our fortress there, said the Admiral. At +last, over the water he heard the sound of oars--or was it the +dip of a paddle? A voice called for the Admiral; but it was not a +Spanish voice. The interpreter--who was the only one left of +those ten stolen Indians carried by Columbus to Spain--came to +the Admiral's side; by the light of the ship's lantern they could +make out the figure of an Indian in his canoe. He brought +presents from his chief. But where are my men at the fort? asked +the Admiral. And then the whole sad story was told. + +The fort of La Navidad was destroyed; the Spaniards were all +dead; the first attempt of Spain to start a colony in the new +world was a terrible failure. And for it the Spaniards themselves +were to blame. + +After Columbus had left them, the forty men in the fort did not +do as he told them or as they had solemnly promised. They were +lazy; they were rough; they treated the Indians badly; they +quarreled among themselves; some of them ran off to live in the +woods. Then sickness came; there were two "sides," each one +jealous of the other; the Indians became enemies. A fiery +war-chief from the hills, whose name was Caonabo, led the Indians +against the white men. The fort and village were surprised, +surrounded and destroyed. And the little band of "conquerors"--as +the Spaniards loved to call themselves--was itself conquered and +killed. + +It was a terrible disappointment to Columbus. The men in whom he +had trusted had proved false. The gold he had told them to get +together they had not even found. His plans had all gone wrong. + +But Columbus was not the man to stay defeated. His fort was +destroyed, his men were killed, his settlement was a failure. It +can't be helped now, he said. I will try again. + +This time he would not only build a fort, he would build a city. +He had men and material enough to do this and to do it well. So +he set to work. + +But the place where he had built from the wreck of the unlucky +Santa Maria his unlucky fort of La Navidad did not suit him. It +was low, damp and unhealthy. He must find a better place. After +looking about for some time he finally selected a place on the +northern side of the island. You can find it if you look at the +map of Hayti in the West Indies; it is near to Cape Isabella. + +He found here a good harbor for ships, a good place on the rocks +for a fort, and good land for gardens. Here Columbus laid out his +new town, and called it after his friend the queen of Spain, the +city of Isabella. + +He marked out a central spot for his park or square; around this +ran a street, and along this street he built large stone +buildings for a storehouse, a church and a house for himself, as +governor of the colony. On the side streets were built the houses +for the people who were to live in the new town, while on a rocky +point with its queer little round tower looking out to sea stood +the stone fort to protect the little city. It was the first +settlement made by white men in all the great new world of +America. + +You must know that there are some very wise and very bright +people who do not agree to this. They say that nearly five +hundred years before Columbus landed, a Norwegian prince or +viking, whose name was Leif Ericsson, had built on the banks of +the beautiful Charles River, some twelve miles from Boston, a +city which he called Norumbega. + +But this has not really been proved. It is almost all the fancy +of a wise man who has studied it out for himself, and says he +believes there was such a city. But he does not really know it as +we know of the city of Isabella, and so we must still say that +Christopher Columbus really discovered America and built the +first fort and the first city on its shores-- although he thought +he was doing all this in Asia, on the shores of China or Japan. + +When Columbus had his people nearly settled in their new city of +Isabella, he remembered that the main thing he was sent to do was +to get together as much gold as possible. His men were already +grumbling. They had come over the sea, they said, not to dig +cellars and build huts, but to find gold --gold that should make +them rich and great and happy. + +So Columbus set to work gold-hunting. At first things seemed to +promise success. The Indians told big stories of gold to be found +in the mountains of Hayti; the men sent to the mountains +discovered signs of gold, and at once Columbus sent home joyful +tidings to the king and queen of Spain. + +Then he and his men hunted everywhere for the glittering yellow +metal. They fished for it in the streams; they dug for it in the +earth; they drove the Indians to hunt for it also until the poor +redmen learned to hate the very sound of the word gold, and +believed that this was all the white men lived for, cared for or +worked for; holding up a piece of this hated gold the Indians +would say, one to another: "Behold the Christian's god!" And so +it came about that the poor worried natives, who were not used to +such hard work, took the easiest way out of it all, and told the +Spaniards the biggest kind of lies as to where gold might be +found--always away off somewhere else--if only the white men +would go there to look for it. + +On the thirteenth of January, 1494, Columbus sent back to Spain +twelve of his seventeen ships. He did not send back in them to +the king, and queen, the gold he had promised. He sent back the +letters that promised gold; he sent back as prisoners for +punishment some of the most discontented and quarrelsome of his +colonists; and, worst of all, he sent to the king and queen a +note asking, them to permit him to send to Spain all the Indians +he could catch, to be sold as slaves. He said that by doing this +they could make "good Christians" of the Indians, while the money +that came from selling the natives would buy cattle for the +colony and leave some money for the royal money-chests. + +It is not pleasant to think this of so great a man as Columbus. +But it is true, and he is really the man who, started the +slave-trade in America. Of course things were very different in +his time from what they are to-day, and people did not think so +badly of this horrible business. But some good men did, and spoke +out boldly against it. What they said was not of much use, +however, and slavery was started in the new world. And from that +act of Columbus came much sorrow and trouble for the land he +found. Even the great war between the northern and southern +sections of our own United States, upon one side or the other of +which your fathers, or your grandfathers perhaps, fought with gun +and sword, was brought about by this act of the great Admiral +Columbus hundreds of years before. + +So the twelve ships sailed back to Spain, and Columbus, with his +five remaining ships, his soldiers and his colonists, remained in +the new city of Isabella to keep up the hunt for gold or to +become farmers in the new world. + + + +CHAPTER IX. HOW THE TROUBLES OF THE ADMIRAL BEGAN. + +Both the farmers and the gold hunters had a hard time of it in +the land they had come to so hopefully. The farmers did not like +to farm when they thought they could do so much better at gold +hunting; the gold hunters found that it was the hardest kind of +work to get from the water or pick from the rocks the yellow +metal they were so anxious to obtain. + +Columbus himself was not satisfied with the small amount of gold +he got from the streams and mines of Hayti; he was tired of the +wrangling and grumbling of his men. So, one day, he hoisted sail +on his five ships and started away on a hunt for richer gold +mines, or, perhaps, for those wonderful cities of Cathay he was +still determined to find. + +He sailed to the south and discovered the island of Jamaica. Then +he coasted along the shores of Cuba. The great island stretched +away so many miles that Columbus was certain it was the mainland +of Asia. There was some excuse for this mistake. The great number +of small islands he had sailed by all seemed to lie just as the +books about Cathay that he had read said they did; the trees and +fruits that he found in these islands seemed to be just the same +that travelers said grew in Cathay. + +To be sure the marble temples, the golden-roofed palaces, the +gorgeous cities had not yet appeared; but Columbus was so certain +that he had found Asia that he made all his men sign a paper in +which they declared that the land they had found (which was, as +you know, the island of Cuba) was really and truly the coast of +Asia. + +This did not make it so, of course; but it made the people of +Spain, and the king and queen, think it was so. And this was most +important. So, to keep the sailors from going back on their word +and the statement they had signed, Columbus ordered that if any +officer should afterward say he had been mistaken, he should be +fined one hundred dollars; and if any sailor should say so, he +should receive one hundred lashes with a whip and have his tongue +pulled out. That was a curious way to discover Cathay, was it +not? + +Then Columbus, fearing another shipwreck or another mutiny, +sailed back again to the city of Isabella. His men were +discontented, his ships were battered and leaky, his hunt for +gold and palaces had again proved a failure. He sailed around +Jamaica; he got as far as the eastern end of Hayti, and then, +just as he was about to run into the harbor of Isabella, all his +strength gave out. The strain and the disappointment were too +much for him; he fell very, very sick, and on the twenty-ninth of +September, 1494, after just about five months of sailing and +wandering and hunting, the Nina ran into Isabella Harbor with +Columbus so sick from fever that he could not raise his hand or +his head to give an order to his men. + +For five long months Columbus lay in his stone house on the plaza +or square of Isabella a very sick man. His brother Bartholomew +had come across from Spain with three supply ships, bringing +provisions for the colony. So Bartholomew took charge of affairs +for a while. + +And while Columbus lay so sick, some of the leading men in the +colony seized the ships in which Bartholomew Columbus had come to +his brother's aid, and sailing back to Spain they told the king +and queen all sorts of bad stories about Columbus. They were +Spaniards. Columbus was an Italian. They were jealous of him +because he was higher placed and had more to say than they had. +They were angry to think that when he had promised to bring them +to the gorgeous cities and the glittering gold mines of Cathay he +had only landed them on islands which were the homes of naked +savages, and made them work dreadfully hard for what little gold +they could find. He had promised them power; they went home +poorer than when they came away. So they were "mad" at +Columbus--just as boys and girls are sometimes "mad" at one +another; and they told the worst stories they could think of +about him, and called him all sorts of hard names, and said the +king and queen of Spain ought to look out for "their great +Admiral," or he would get the best of them and keep for himself +the most of whatever he could find in the new lands. + +At last Columbus began to grow better. And when he knew what his +enemies had done he was very much troubled for fear they should +get the king and queen to refuse him any further aid. So, just as +soon as he was able, on the tenth of March, 1496, he sailed home +to Spain. + +How different was this from his splendid setting out from Cadiz +two years before. Then everything looked bright and promising; +now everything seemed dark and disappointing. The second voyage +to the Indies had been a failure. + +So, tired of his hard work in trying to keep his dissatisfied men +in order, in trying to check the Indians who were no longer his +friends, in trying to find the gold and pearls that were to be +got at only by hard work, in trying to make out just where he was +and just where Cathay might be, Columbus started for home. Sick, +troubled, disappointed, threatened by enemies in the Indies and +by more bitter enemies at home, sad, sorry and full of fear, but +yet as determined and as brave as ever, on the tenth of March, +1496, he went on board his caravels with two hundred and fifty +homesick and feversick men, and on the eleventh of June his two +vessels sailed into the harbor of Cadiz. + +The voyage had been a tedious one. Short of food, storm-tossed +and full of aches and pains the starving company "crawled +ashore," glad to be in their home land once more, and most of +them full of complaints and grumblings at their commander, the +Admiral. + +And Columbus felt as downcast as any. He came ashore dressed, not +in the gleaming armor and crimson robes of a conqueror, as on his +first return, but in the garb of what was known as a +penitent--the long, coarse gown, the knotted girdle and peaked +hood of a priest. For, you see, he did not know just what +terrible stories had been told by his enemies; he did not know +how the king and queen would receive him. He had promised them so +much; he had brought them so little. He had sailed away so +hopefully; he had come back humbled and hated. The greatest man +in the world, he had been in 1492; and in 1496 he was +unsuccessful, almost friendless and very unpopular. So you see, +boys and girls, that success is a most uncertain thing, and the +man who is a hero to-day may be a beggar to-morrow. + +But, as is often the case, Columbus was too full of fear. He was +not really in such disgrace as he thought he was. Though his +enemies had said all sorts of hard things against him, the +king--and especially the queen--could not forget that he was, +after all, the man who, had found the new land for Spain; they +knew that even though he had not brought home the great riches +that were to have been gathered in the Indies, he had still found +for Spain a land that would surely, in time, give to it riches, +possessions and power. + +So they sent knightly messengers to Columbus telling him to come +and see them at once, and greeting him with many pleasant and +friendly words. Columbus was, as you must have seen, quick to +feel glad again the moment things seemed to turn in his favor; so +he laid aside his penitent's gown, and hurried off to court. And +almost the first thing he did was to ask the king and queen to +fit out another fleet for him. Six ships, he said he should want +this time; and with these he was certain he could sail into the +yet undiscovered waters that lay beyond Hayti and upon which he +knew he should find Cathay. + +I am afraid the king and queen of Spain were beginning to feel a +little doubtful as to this still undiscovered Cathay. At any +rate, they had other matters to think of and they did not seem so +very anxious to spend more money on ships and sailors. But they +talked very nicely to Columbus; they gave him a new title (this +time it was duke or marquis); they made him a present of a great +tract of land in Hayti, but it was months and months before they +would help him with the ships and money he kept asking for. + +At last, however, the queen, Isabella, who had always had more +interest in Columbus and his plans than had the king, her +husband, said a good word for him. The six ships were given him, +men and supplies were put on board and on the twentieth of May, +1498, the Admiral set out on his third voyage to what every one +now called the Indies. + +There was not nearly so much excitement among the people about +this voyage. Cathay and its riches had almost become an old +story; at any rate it was a story that was not altogether +believed in. Great crowds did not now follow the Admiral from +place to place begging him to take them with him to the Indies. +The hundreds of sick, disappointed and angry men who had come +home poor when they expected to be rich, and sick when they +expected to be strong, had gone through the land, and folks began +to think that Cathay was after all only a dream, and that the +stories of great gold and of untold riches which they had heard +were but "sailors' yarns" which no one could believe. + +So it was hard to get together a crew large enough to man the six +vessels that made up the fleet. At last, however, all was ready, +and with a company of two hundred men, besides his sailors, +Columbus hoisted anchor in the little port of San Lucar just +north of Cadiz, near the mouth of the Guadalquivir river, and +sailed away into the West. + +This time he was determined to find the continent of Asia. Even +though, as you remember, he made his men sign a paper saying that +the coast of Cuba was Asia, he really seems to have doubted this +himself. He felt that he had only found islands. If so, he said, +Cathay must be the other side of those islands; and Cathay is +what I must find. + +So, with this plan in mind, he sent three of his ships to the +little settlement of Isabella, and with the other three he sailed +more to the southwest. On the first of August the ships came in +sight of the three mountain peaks of the large island he called +Trindad, or Trinity. + +Look on your map of South America and you will see that Trinidad +lies almost in the mouth of the Orinoco, a mighty river in the +northern part of South America. + +Columbus coasted about this island, and as he did so, looking +across to the west, he saw what he supposed to be still another +island. It was not. It was the coast of South America. For the +first time, but without knowing it, Columbus saw the great +continent he had so long been hunting for, though he had been +seeking it under another name. + +So you see, the story of Columbus shows how his life was full of +mistakes. In his first voyage he found an island and thought it +was the mainland of the Eastern Hemisphere; in his third voyage +he discovered the mainland of the New World and thought it only +an island off the coast of the Old World. His life was full of +mistakes, but those mistakes have turned out to be, for us, +glorious successes. + + + +CHAPTER X. FROM PARADISE TO PRISON. + +If you know a boy or a girl whose mind is set on any one thing, +you will find that they are always talking about that thing. Is +not this so? They have what people call a "hobby" (which is a +kind of a horse, you know), and they are apt, as we say, to "ride +their hobby to death." + +If this is true of certain boys and girls, it is even more true +of men and women. They get to be what we call people of one idea, +and whatever they see or whatever they do always turns on that +one idea. + +It was so with Columbus. All his life his one idea had been the +finding of Asia--the Indies, or Cathay, as he called it--by +sailing to the west. He did sail to the west. He did find land. +And, because of this, as we have seen, all his voyaging and all +his exploring were done in the firm belief that he was +discovering new parts of the eastern coast of Asia. The idea that +he had found a new world never entered his head. + +So, when he looked toward the west, as he sailed around the +island of Trinidad and saw the distant shore, he said it was a +new part of Asia. He was as certain of this as he had before been +certain that Cuba was a part of the Asiatic mainland. + +But when he sailed into the mouth of the great Orinoco River he +was puzzled. For the water was no longer salt; it grew fresher +and fresher as he sailed on. And it rushed out so furiously +through the two straits at the northern and southern ends of +Trinidad (which because of the terrible rush of their currents he +called the Lion's Mouth and the Dragon's Mouth) that he was at +first unable to explain it all. + +Then he had a curious idea. Columbus was a great reader of the +Bible; some of the Bible scholars of his day said that the Garden +of Eden was in a far Eastern land where a mighty river came down +through it from the hills of Paradise; as Columbus saw the +beautiful land he had reached, and saw the great river sending +down its waters to the sea, he fitted all that he saw to the +Bible stories he knew so well, and felt sure that he had really +discovered the entrance to the Garden of Eden. + +He would gladly have sailed across the broad bay and up the great +river to explore this heavenly land; but he was ill with gout, he +was nearly blind from his sore eyes, his ships were shaky and +leaky, and he felt that he ought to hurry away to the city of +Isabella where his brothers, Bartholomew and Diego, were in +charge of affairs and were, he knew, anxiously waiting for him to +come back. + +So at last he turned away from the lovely land that he thought +must be Paradise and steered toward Hayti. On the nineteenth of +August he arrived off the coast of Hayti. He sent a messenger +with news of his arrival, and soon greeted his brother +Bartholomew, who, when he heard of the Admiral's arrival, sailed +at once to meet him. + +Bartholomew Columbus had a sad story to tell his brother +Christopher. Things had been going badly in Hayti, and the poor +Admiral grew sicker and sicker as he listened to what Bartholomew +had to tell. + +You have heard it said that there are black sheep in every flock. +There were black sheep in this colony of Columbus. There were +lazy men and discontented men and jealous men, and they made +great trouble, both in the city of Isabella and in the new town +which Bartholomew bad built in another part of the island and +called Santo Domingo. + +Such men are sure to make mischief, and these men in Hayti had +made a lot of it. Columbus had staid so long in Spain that these +men began to say that they knew he was certainly in trouble or +disgrace there, that the king and queen were angry with him, and +that his offices of viceroy and admiral were to be taken away +from him. If this were so, they were going to look out for +themselves, they said. They would no longer obey the commands of +the Admiral's brothers, Bartholomew and Diego, whom he had left +in charge. + +So they rose in rebellion, and made things so uncomfortable for +the two brothers that the colony was soon full of strife and +quarreling. + +The leader of this revolt was one of the chief men in the colony. +His name was Roldan. When Columbus and Bartholomew sailed into +the harbor of Santo Domingo, on the thirtieth of August, they +found that Roldan and his followers had set up a camp for +themselves in another part of the island, and given out that they +were determined never to have anything more to do with the three +Columbus brothers. + +This rebellion weakened the colony dreadfully. Things looked +desperate; so desperate indeed that Columbus, after thinking it +all over, thought that the only way to do was to seem to give in +to Roldan and patch up some sort of an agreement by which they +could all live together in peace. But all the same, he said, I +will complain to the king and have this rebel Roldan punished. + +So the Admiral wrote Roldan a letter in which he offered to +forgive and forget all that he had done if he would come back and +help make the colony strong and united again. Roldan agreed to do +this, if he could have the same position he held before, and if +Columbus would see that his followers had all the land they +wanted. Columbus agreed to this and also gave the rebels +permission to use the poor natives as slaves on their lands. So +the trouble seemed to be over for a while, and Columbus sent two +of his ships to Spain with letters to the king and queen. But in +these letters he accused Roldan of rebellion and tried to explain +why it was that things were going so badly in Hayti. + +But when these ships arrived in Spain the tidings they brought +and the other letters sent by them only made matters worse. +People in Spain had heard so many queer things from across the +sea that they were beginning to lose faith in Columbus. The men +who had lost health and money in the unlucky second voyage of the +Admiral were now lazy loafers about the docks, or they hung about +the court and told how Columbus had made beggars of them, while +they hooted after and insulted the two sons of Columbus who were +pages in the queen's train. They called the boys the sons of "the +Admiral of Mosquitoland." + +Then came the ships with news of Roldan's rebellion, but with +little or no gold. And people said this was a fine viceroy who +couldn't keep order among his own men because, no doubt, he was +too busy hiding away for his own use the gold and pearls they +knew he must have found in the river of Paradise he said he had +discovered. + +Then came five shiploads of Indian slaves, sent to Spain by +Columbus, and along with them came the story that Columbus had +forgiven Roldan for his rebellion and given him lands and office +in Hayti. + +King Ferdinand had never really liked Columbus and had always +been sorry that he had given him so much power and so large a +share in the profits. The queen, too, began to think that while +Columbus was a good sailor, he was a very poor governor. But when +she heard of the shiploads of slaves he had sent, and found out +that among the poor creatures were the daughters of some of the +chiefs, or caciques, of the Indians, she was very angry, and +asked how "her viceroy" dared to use "her vassals" so without +letting her know about it. "Things were indeed beginning to look +bad for Columbus. The king and queen had promised that only +members of the Admiral's family should be sent to govern the +island; they had promised that no one but himself should have the +right to trade in the new lands. But now they began to go back on +their promises. If Columbus cannot find us gold and spices, they +said, other men can. So they gave permission to other captains to +explore and trade in the western lands. And as the complaints +against the Admiral kept coming they began to talk of sending +over some one else to govern the islands. + +More letters came from Columbus asking the king and queen to let +him keep up his slave-trade, and to send out some one to act as a +judge of his quarrel with Roldan. Then the king and queen decided +that something must be done at once. The queen ordered the return +of the slaves Columbus had sent over, and the king told one of +his officers named Bobadilla to go over to Hayti and set things +straight. And he sent a letter by him commanding Columbus to talk +with him, to give up all the forts and arms in the colony and to +obey Bobadilla in all things. + +Bobadilla sailed at once. But before he got across the sea +matters, as we know, had been straightened out by the Admiral; +and when Bobadilla reached Hayti he found everything quiet there. +Columbus had made friends with Roldan (or made believe that he +had), and had got things into good running order again. + +This was not what Bobadilla had reckoned upon. He had expected to +find things in such a bad way that he would have to take matters +into his own hand at once, and become a greater man than the +Admiral. If everything was all right he would have his journey +for nothing and everybody would laugh at him. So he determined to +go ahead, even though there was no necessity for his taking +charge of affairs. He had been sent to do certain things, and he +did them at once. Without asking Columbus for his advice or his +assistance, he took possession of the forts and told every one +that he was governor now. He said that he had come to set things +straight, and he listened to the complaints of all the black +sheep of the colony--and how they did crowd around him and say +the worst things they could think of against the Admiral they had +once been so anxious to follow. + +Bobadilla listened to all their stories. He proceeded to use the +power the king and queen had given him to punish and disgrace +Columbus--which was not what they meant him to do. He moved into +the palace of the Admiral; he ordered the Admiral and his +brothers to come to him, and when they came expecting to talk +things over, Bobadilla ordered that they be seized as prisoners +and traitors, that they be chained hand and foot and put in +prison. + +Columbus's saddest day had come. The man who had found a new +world for his king and queen, who had worked so hard in their +service and who had meant to do right, although he had made many +mistakes, was thrust into prison as if he were a thief or a +murderer. The Admiral of the Ocean Seas, the Viceroy of the +Indies, the grand man whom all Spain had honored and all the +world had envied, was held as a prisoner in the land he had +found, and all his powers were taken by a stranger. He was sick, +he was disappointed, he was defeated in all his plans. And now he +was in chains. His third voyage had ended the worst of all. He +had sailed away to find Cathay; he had, so he believed, found the +Garden of Eden and the river of Paradise. And here, as an end to +it all, he was arrested by order of the king and queen he had +tried to serve, his power and position were taken from him by an +insolent and unpitying messenger from Spain; he was thrown into +prison and after a few days he was hurried with his brothers on +board a ship and sent to Spain for trial and punishment. How +would it all turn out? Was it not a sad and sorry ending to his +bright dreams of success? + + + +CHAPTER XI. HOW THE ADMIRAL CAME AND WENT AGAIN. + +I supposE you think Bobadilla was a very cruel man. He was. But +in his time people were apt to be cruel to one another whenever +they had the power in their own hands. The days in which Columbus +lived were not like these in which we are living. You can never +be too thankful for that, boys and girls. Bobadilla had been told +to go over the water and set the Columbus matters straight. He +had been brought up to believe that to set matters straight you +must be harsh and cruel; and so he did as he was used to seeing +other people in power do. Even Queen Isabella did not hesitate to +do some dreadful things to certain people she did not like when +she got them in her power. Cruelty was common in those days. It +was what we call the "spirit of the age." So you must not blame +Bobadilla too much, although we will all agree that it was very +hard on Columbus. + +So Columbus, as I have told you, sailed back to Spain. But when +the officer who had charge of him and whose name was Villijo, had +got out to sea and out of Bobadilla's sight, he wanted to take +the chains off. For he loved Columbus and it made him feel very +sad to see the old Admiral treated like a convict or a murderer. +Let me have these cruel chains struck off, Your Excellency, he +said. No, no, Villijo, Columbus replied. Let these fetters remain +upon me. My king and queen ordered me to submit and Bobadilla has +put me in chains. I will wear these irons until my king and queen +shall order them removed, and I shall keep them always as relics +and memorials of my services. + +It always makes us sad to see any one in great trouble. To hear +of a great man who has fallen low or of a rich man who has become +poor, always makes us say: Is not that too bad? Columbus had many +enemies in Spain. The nobles of the court, the men who had lost +money in voyages to the Indies, the people whose fathers and sons +and brothers had sailed away never to return, could not say +anything bad enough about "this upstart Italian," as they called +Columbus. + +But to the most of the people Columbus was still the great +Admiral. He was the man who had stuck to his one idea until he +had made a friend of the queen; who had sailed away into the West +and proved the Sea of Darkness and the Jumping-off place to be +only fairy tales after all; who had found Cathay and the Indies +for Spain. He was still a great man to the multitude. + +So when on a certain October day, in the year 1500, it was spread +abroad that a ship had just come into the harbor of Cadiz, +bringing home the great Admiral, Christopher Columbus, a prisoner +and in chains, folks began to talk at once. Why, who has done +this? they cried. Is this the way to treat the man who found +Cathay for Spain, the man whom the king and the queen delighted +to honor, the man who made a procession for us with all sorts of +birds and animals and pagan Indians? It cannot be. Why, we all +remember how he sailed into Palos Harbor eight years ago and was +received like a prince with banners and proclamations and +salutes. And now to bring him home in chains! It is a shame; it +is cruel; it is wicked. And when people began to talk in this +way, the very ones who had said the worst things against him +began to change their tone. + +As soon as the ship got into Cadiz, Columbus sent off a letter to +a friend of his at the court in the beautiful city of Granada. +This letter was, of course, shown to the queen. And it told all +about what Columbus had suffered, and was, so full of sorrow and +humbleness and yet of pride in what he had been able to do, even +though he had been disgraced, that Queen Isabella (who was really +a friend to Columbus in spite of her dissatisfaction with the +things he sometimes did) became very angry at the way he had been +treated. + +She took the letter to King Ferdinand, and at once both the king +and the queen hastened to send a messenger to Columbus telling +him how angry and sorry they were that Bobadilla should have +dared to treat their good friend the Admiral so. They ordered his +immediate release from imprisonment; they sent him a present of +five thousand dollars and asked him to come to court at once. + +On the seventeenth of December, 1500, Columbus came to the court +at Granada in the beautiful palace of the Alhambra. He rode on a +mule. At that time, in Spain, people were not allowed to ride on +mules, because if they did the Spanish horses would not be bought +and sold, as mules were so much cheaper and were easier to ride. +But Columbus was sick and it hurt him to ride horseback, while he +could be fairly comfortable on an easy-going mule. So the king +and queen gave him special permission to come on mule-back. + +When Columbus appeared before the queen, looking so sick and +troubled, Isabella was greatly affected. She thought of all he +had done and all he had gone through and all he had suffered, and +as he came to the steps of the throne the queen burst into tears. +That made Columbus cry too, for he thought a great deal of the +queen, and he fell at her feet and told her how much he honored +her, and how much he was ready to do for her, if he could but +have the chance. + +Then the king and queen told him how sorry they were that any one +should have so misunderstood their desires and have treated their +brave and loyal Admiral so shamefully. They promised to make +everything all right for him again, and to show him that they +were his good friends now as they always had been since the day +he first sailed away to find the Indies for them and for Spain. + +Of course this made Columbus feel much better. He had left Hayti +in fear and trembling. He had come home expecting something +dreadful was going to happen; he would not have been surprised at +a long imprisonment; he would not even have been surprised if he +had been put to death--for the kings and queens and high lords of +his day were very apt to order people put to death if they did +not like what had been done. The harsh way in which Bobadilla had +treated him made him think the king and queen had really ordered +it. Perhaps they had; and perhaps the way in which the people +cried out in indignation when they saw the great Admiral brought +ashore in chains had its influence on Queen Isabella. King +Ferdinand really cared nothing about it. He would gladly have +seen Columbus put in prison for life; but the queen had very much +to say about things in her kingdom, and so King Ferdinand made +believe he was sorry and talked quite as pleasantly to Columbus +as did the queen. + +Now Columbus, as you must have found out by this time, was as +quick to feel glad as he was to feel sad. And when he found that +the king and queen were his friends once more, he became full of +hope again and began to say where he would go and what he would +do when he went back again as Viceroy of the Indies and Admiral +of the Ocean Seas. He begged the queen to let him go back again +at once, with ships and sailors and the power to do as he pleased +in the islands he had found and in the lands he hoped to find. + +They promised him everything, for promising is easy. But Columbus +had once more to learn the truth of the old Bible warning that he +had called to mind years before on the Bridge of Pinos: Put not +your trust in princes. + +The king and queen talked very nicely and promised much, but to +one thing King Ferdinand had made up his mind--Columbus should +never go back again to the Indies as viceroy or governor. And +King Ferdinand was as stubborn as Columbus was persistent. + +Not very much gold had yet been brought back from the Indies, but +the king and queen knew from the reports of those who had been +over the seas and kept their eyes open that, in time, a great +deal of gold and treasure would come from there. So they felt +that if they kept their promises to Columbus he would take away +too large a slice of their profits, and if they let him have +everything to say there it would not be possible to let other +people, who were ready to share the profits with them, go off +discovering on their own hook. + +So they talked and delayed and sent out other expeditions and +kept Columbus in Spain, unsatisfied. Another governor was sent +over to take the place of Bobadilla, for they soon learned that +that ungentlemanly knight was not even so good or so strict a +governor as Columbus had been. + +Almost two years passed in this way and still Columbus staid in +Spain. At last the king and queen said he might go if he would +not go near Hayti and would be sure to find other and better gold +lands. + +Columbus did not relish being told where to go and where not to +go like this; but he promised. And on the ninth of May, 1502, +with four small caravels and one hundred and fifty men, +Christopher Columbus sailed from Cadiz on his fourth and last +voyage to the western world. + +He was now fifty-six years old. That is not an age at which we +would call any one an old man. But Columbus had grown old long +before his time. Care, excitement, exposure, peril, trouble and +worry had made him white-haired and wrinkled. He was sick, he was +nearly blind, he was weak, he was feeble--but his determination +was just as firm, his hope just as high, his desire just as +strong as ever. He was bound, this time, to find Cathay. + +And he had one other wish. He had enemies in Hayti; they had +laughed and hooted at him when he had been dragged off to prison +and sent in chains on board the ship. He did wish to get even +with them. He could not forgive them. He wanted to sail into the +harbor of Isabella and Santo Domingo with his four ships and to +say: See, all of you! Here I am again, as proud and powerful as +ever. The king and queen have sent me over here once more with +ships and sailors at my command. I am still the Admiral of the +Ocean Seas and all you tried to do against me has amounted to +nothing, + +This is not the right sort of a spirit to have, either for men or +boys; it is not wise or well to have it gratified. Forgiveness is +better than vengeance; kindliness is better than pride. + +At any rate, it was not to be gratified with Columbus. When his +ships arrived off the coast of Hayti, although his orders from +the king and queen were not to stop at the island going over, the +temptation to show himself was too strong. He could not resist +it. So he sent word to the new governor, whose name was Ovando, +that he had arrived with his fleet for the discovery of new lands +in the Indies, and that he wished to come into Santo Domingo +Harbor as one of his ships needed repairs; he would take the +opportunity, he said, of mending his vessel and visiting the +governor at the same time. + +Now it so happened that Governor Ovando was just about sending to +Spain a large fleet. And in these ships were to go some of the +men who had treated Columbus so badly. Bobadilla, the +ex-governor, was one of them; so was the rebel Roldan who had +done so much mischief; and there were others among the passengers +and prisoners whom Columbus disliked or who hated Columbus. There +was also to go in the fleet a wonderful cargo of gold--the +largest amount yet sent across to Spain. There were twenty-six +ships in all, in the great gold fleet, and the little city of +Santo Domingo was filled with excitement and confusion. + +We cannot altogether make out whether Governor Ovando was a +friend to Columbus or not. At any rate, he felt that it would be +unwise and unsafe for Columbus to come into the harbor or show +himself in the town when so many of his bitter enemies were +there. So he sent back word to Columbus that he was sorry, but +that really he could not let him come in. + +How bad that must have made the old Admiral feel! To be refused +admission to the place he had found and built up for Spain! It +was unkind, he said; he must and would go in. + +Just then Columbus, who was a skillful sailor and knew all the +signs of the sky, and all about the weather, happened to notice +the singular appearance of the sky, and saw that there was every +sign that a big storm was coming on. So he sent word to Governor +Ovando again, telling him of this, and asking permission to run +into the harbor of Santo Domingo with his ships to escape the +coming storm. But the governor could not see that any storm was +coming on. He said: Oh! that is only another way for the Admiral +to try to get around me and get me to let him in. I can't do it. +So, he sent back word a second time that he really could not, let +Columbus come in. I know you are a very clever sailor, he said, +but, really, I think you must be mistaken about this storm. At +any rate, you will have time to go somewhere else before it comes +on, and I shall be much obliged if you will. + +Now, among the twenty-six vessels of the gold fleet was one in +which was stored some of the gold that belonged to Columbus as +his share, according to his arrangement with the king and queen. +If a storm came on, this vessel would be in danger, to say +nothing of all the rest of the fleet. So Columbus sent in to +Governor Ovando a third time. He told him he was certain a great +storm was coming. And he begged the governor, even if he was not +allowed to come up to Santo Domingo, by all means to keep the +fleet in the harbor until the storm was over. If you don't, there +will surely be trouble, he said. And then he sailed with his +ships along shore looking for a safe harbor. + +But the people in Santo Domingo put no faith in the Admiral's +"probabilities." There will be no storm, the captains and the +officers said. If there should be our ships are strong enough to +stand it. The Admiral Columbus is getting to be timid as he grows +older. And in spite of the old sailor's warning, the big gold +fleet sailed out of the harbor of Santo Domingo and headed for +Spain. + +But almost before they had reached the eastern end of the island +of Hayti, the storm that Columbus had prophesied burst upon them. + +It was a terrible tempest. Twenty of the ships went to the +bottom. The great gold fleet was destroyed. The enemies of +Columbus--Bobadilla, Roldan and the rest were drowned. Only a few +of the ships managed to get back into Santo Domingo Harbor, +broken and shattered. And the only ship of all the great fleet +that got safely through the storm and reached Spain all right was +the one that carried on board the gold that belonged to Columbus. +Was not that singular? + +Then all the friends of Columbus cried: How wonderful! Truly the +Lord is on the side of the great Admiral! + +But his enemies said: This Genoese is a wizard. He was mad +because the governor would not let him come into the harbor, and +he raised this storm in revenge. It is a dangerous thing to +interfere with the Admiral's wishes. + +For you see in those days people believed in witches and spells +and all kinds of fairy-book things like those, when. they could +not explain why things happened. And when they could not give a +good reason for some great disaster or for some stroke of bad +luck, they just said: It is witchcraft; and left it so. + + + +CHAPTER XII. HOW THE ADMIRAL PLAYED ROBINSON CRUSOE. + +While the terrible storm that wrecked the great gold fleet of the +governor was raging so furiously, Columbus with his four ships +was lying as near shore as he dared in a little bay farther down +the coast of Hayti. Here he escaped the full fury of the gale, +but still his ships suffered greatly, and came very near being +shipwrecked. They became separated in the storm, but the caravels +met at last after the storm was over and steered away for the +island of Jamaica. + +For several days they sailed about among the West India Islands; +then they took a westerly course, and on the thirtieth of July, +Columbus saw before him the misty outlines of certain high +mountains which he supposed to be somewhere in Asia, but which we +now know were the Coast Range Mountains of Honduras. And +Honduras, you remember, is a part of Central America. + +Just turn to the map of Central America in your geography and +find Honduras. The mountains, you see, are marked there; and on +the northern coast, at the head of a fine bay, you will notice +the seaport town of Truxillo. And that is about the spot where, +for the first time, Columbus saw the mainland of North America. + +As he sailed toward the coast a great canoe came close to the +ship. It was almost as large as one of his own caravels, for it +was over forty feet long and fully eight feet wide. It was +paddled by twenty-five Indians, while in the middle, under an +awning of palm-thatch sat the chief Indian, or cacique, as he was +called. A curious kind of sail had been rigged to catch the +breeze, and the canoe was loaded with fruits and Indian +merchandise. + +This canoe surprised Columbus very much. He had seen nothing just +like it among the other Indians he had visited. The cacique and +his people, too, were dressed in clothes and had sharp swords and +spears. He thought of the great galleys of Venice and Genoa; he +remembered the stories that had come to him of the people of +Cathay; he believed that, at last, he had come to the right +place. The shores ahead of him were, he was sure, the coasts of +the Cathay he was hunting for, and these people in "the galley of +the cacique" were much nearer the kind of people he was expecting +to meet than were the poor naked Indians of Hayti and Cuba. + +In a certain way he was right. These people in the big canoe +were, probably, some of the trading Indians of Yucatan, and +beyond them, in what we know to-day as Mexico, was a race of +Indians, known as Aztecs, who were what is called half-civilized; +for they had cities and temples and stone houses and almost as +much gold and treasure as Columbus hoped to find in his fairyland +of Cathay. But Columbus was not to find Mexico. Another daring +and cruel Spanish captain, named Cortez, discovered the land, +conquered it for Spain, stripped it of its gold and treasure, and +killed or enslaved its brave and intelligent people. + +After meeting this canoe, Columbus steered for the distant shore. +He coasted up and down looking for a good harbor, and on the +seventeenth of August, 1502, he landed as has been told you, near +what is now the town of Truxillo, in Honduras. There, setting up +the banner of Castile, he took possession of the country in the +name of the king and queen of Spain. + +For the first time in his life Columbus stood on the real soil of +the New World. All the islands he had before discovered and +colonized were but outlying pieces of America. Now he was really +upon the American Continent. + +But he did not know it. To him it was but a part of Asia. And as +the main purpose of this fourth voyage was to find a way to sail +straight to India--which he supposed lay somewhere to the +south--he set off on his search. The Indians told him of "a +narrow place" that he could find by sailing farther south, and of +a "great water." beyond it. This "narrow place" was the Isthmus +of Panama, and the "great water" beyond it was, of course, the +Pacific Ocean. But Columbus thought that by a "narrow place" they +meant a strait instead of an isthmus. If he could but find that +strait, he could sail through it into the great Bay of Bengal +which, as you know and as he had heard, washes the eastern shore +of India. + +So he sailed along the coasts of Honduras and Nicaragua trying to +find the strait he was hunting for. Just look at your map and see +how near he was to the way across to the Pacific that men are now +digging out, and which, as the Nicaragua Canal, will connect the +Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. And think how near he was to +finding that Pacific Ocean over which, if he could but have got +across the Isthmus of Panama, he could have sailed to the Cathay +and the Indies he spent his life in trying to find. But if he had +been fortunate enough to get into the waters of the Pacific, I do +not believe it would have been so lucky for him, after all. His +little ships, poorly built and poorly provisioned, could never +have sailed that great ocean in safety, and the end might have +proved even more disastrous than did the Atlantic voyages of the +Admiral. + +He soon understood that he had found a richer land than the +islands he had thus far discovered. Gold and pearls were much +more plentiful along the Honduras coast than they were in Cuba +and Hayti, and Columbus decided that, after he had found India, +he would come back by this route and collect a cargo of the +glittering treasures. + +The land was called by the Indians something that sounded very +much like Veragua. This was the name Columbus gave to it; and it +was this name, Veragua, that was afterward given to the family of +Columbus as its title; so that, to-day, the living descendant of +Christopher Columbus in Spain is called the Duke of Veragua. + +But as Columbus sailed south, along what is called "the Mosquito +Coast," the weather grew stormy and the gales were severe. His +ships were crazy and worm-eaten; the food was running low; the +sailors began to grumble and complain and to say that if they +kept on in this way they would surely starve before they could +reach India. + +Columbus, too, began to grow uneasy. His youngest son, Ferdinand, +a brave, bright little fellow of thirteen, had come with him on +this voyage, and Columbus really began to be afraid that +something might happen to the boy, especially if the crazy ships +should be wrecked, or if want of food should make them all go +hungry. So at last he decided to give up hunting for the strait +that should lead him into the Bay of Bengal; he felt obliged, +also, to give up his plan of going back to the Honduras coast for +gold and pearls. He turned his ships about and headed for Hayti +where he hoped he could get Governor Ovando to give him better +ships so that he could try it all over again. + +Here, you see, was still another disappointing defeat for +Columbus. For after he had been on the American coast for almost +a year; after he had come so near to what he felt to be the +long-looked-for path to the Indies; after most wonderful +adventures on sea and land, he turned his back on it all, without +really having accomplished what he set out to do and, as I have +told you, steered for Hayti. + +But it was not at all easy to get to Hayti in those leaky ships +of his. In fact it was not possible to get there with them at +all; for on the twenty-third of June, 1503, when he had reached +the island of Jamaica he felt that his ships would not hold out +any longer. They were full of worm- holes; they were leaking +badly; they were strained and battered from the storms. He +determined, therefore, to find a good harbor somewhere on the +island of Jamaica and go in there for repairs. But he could not +find a good one; his ships grew worse and worse; every day's +delay was dangerous; and for fear the ships would sink and carry +the crews to the bottom of the sea, Columbus decided to run them +ashore anyhow. This he did; and on the twelfth of August, 1503, +he deliberately headed for the shore and ran his ships aground in +a little bay on the island of Jamaica still known as Sir +Christopher's Cove. And there the fleet was wrecked. + +The castaways lashed the four wrecks together; they built +deck-houses and protections so as to make themselves as +comfortable as possible, and for a whole year Columbus and his +men lived there at Sir Christopher's Cove on the beautiful island +of Jamaica. + +It proved anything but beautiful for them, however. It makes a +good deal of difference, you know, in enjoying things whether you +are well and happy. If you are hungry and can't get anything to +eat, the sky does not look so blue or the trees so green as if +you were sitting beneath them with a jolly picnic party and with +plenty of lunch in the baskets. + +It was no picnic for Columbus and his companions. That year on +the island of Jamaica was one of horror, of peril, of sickness, +of starvation. Twice, a brave comrade named Diego Mendez started +in an open boat for Hayti to bring relief. The first time he was +nearly shipwrecked, but the second time he got away all right. +And then for months nothing was heard of him, and it was supposed +that he had been drowned. But the truth was that Governor Ovando, +had an idea that the king and queen of Spain were tired of +Columbus and would not feel very bad if they never saw him again. +He promised to send help, but did not do so for fear he should +get into trouble. And the relief that the poor shipwrecked people +on Jamaica longed for did not come. + +Then some of the men who were with Columbus mutinied and ran +away. In fact, more things happened during this remarkable fourth +voyage of Columbus than I can begin to tell you about. The story +is more wonderful than is that of Robinson Crusoe, and when you +are older you must certainly read it all and see just what +marvelous adventures Columbus and his men met with and how +bravely the little Ferdinand Columbus went through them all. For +when Ferdinand grew up he wrote a life of his father, the +Admiral, and told the story of how they all played Robinson +Crusoe at Sir Christopher's Cove. + +At last the long-delayed help was sent by Governor Ovando, and +one day the brave Diego Mendez came sailing into Sir +Christopher's Cove. And Columbus forgave the rebels who had run +away; and on the twenty-eighth of June, 1504, they all sailed +away from the place, that, for a year past, had been almost worse +than a prison to them all. + +On the fifteenth of August, the rescued crews sailed into the +harbor of Santo Domingo. The governor, Ovando, who had +reluctantly agreed to send for Columbus, was now in a hurry to +get him away. Whether the governor was afraid of him, or ashamed +because of the way he had treated him, or whether he felt that +Columbus was no longer held so high in Spain, and that, +therefore, it was not wise to make much of him, I cannot say. At +any rate he hurried him off to Spain, and on the twelfth of +September, 1504, Columbus turned his back forever on the new +world he had discovered, and with two ships sailed for Spain. + +He had not been at sea but a day or two before he found that the +ship in which he and the boy Ferdinand were sailing was not good +for much. A sudden storm carried away its mast and the vessel was +sent back to Santo Domingo. Columbus and Ferdinand, with a few of +the men, went on board the other ship which was commanded by +Bartholomew Columbus, the brother of the Admiral, who had been +with him all through the dreadful expedition. At last they saw +the home shores again, and on the seventh of November, 1504, +Columbus sailed into the harbor of San Lucar, not far from Cadiz. + +He had been away from Spain for fully two years and a half. He +had not accomplished a single thing he set out to do. He had met +with disappointment and disaster over and over again, and had +left the four ships that had been given him a total wreck upon +the shores of Jamaica. He came back poor, unsuccessful, +unnoticed, and so ill that he could scarcely get ashore. + +And so the fourth voyage of the great Admiral ended. It was his +last. His long sickness had almost made him crazy. He said and +did many odd things, such as make us think, nowadays, that people +have, as we call it, "lost their minds." But he was certain of +one thing--the king and queen of Spain had not kept the promises +they had made him, and he was determined, if he lived, to have +justice done him, and to make them do as they said they would. + +They had told him that only himself or one of his family should +be Admiral of the Ocean Seas and Viceroy of the New Lands; they +had sent across the water others, who were not of his family, to +govern what he had been promised for his own. They had told him +that he should have a certain share of the profits that came from +trading and gold hunting in the Indies; they had not kept this +promise either, and he was poor when he was certain he ought to +be rich. + +So, when he was on land once more, he tried hard to get to court +and see the king and queen. But he was too sick. + +He had got as far as beautiful Seville, the fair Spanish city by +the Guadalquivir, and there he had to give up and go to, bed. And +then came a new disappointment. He was to lose his best friend at +the court. For when he had been scarcely two weeks in Spain, +Queen Isabella died. + +She was not what would be considered in these days either a +particularly good woman, or an especially good queen. She did +many cruel things; and while she talked much about doing good, +she was generally looking out for herself most of all. But that +was not so much her fault as the fault of the times in which she +lived. Her life was not a happy one; but she had always felt +kindly toward Columbus, and when he was where he could see her +and talk to her, he had always been able to get her to side with +him and grant his wishes. + +Columbus was now a very sick man. He had to keep his bed most of +the time, and this news of the queen's death made him still +worse, for he felt that now no one who had the "say" would speak +a good word for the man who had done so much for Spain, and given +to the king and queen the chance to make their nation great and +rich and powerful. + + + +CHAPTER XIII. THE END OF THE STORY. + +Any one who is sick, as some of you may know, is apt to be +anxious and fretful and full of fears as to how he is going to +get along, or who will look out for his family. Very often there +is no need for this feeling; very often it is a part of the +complaint from which the sick person is suffering. + +In the case of Columbus, however, there was good cause for this +depressed and anxious feeling. King Ferdinand, after Queen +Isabella's death, did nothing to help Columbus. He would not +agree to give the Admiral what he called his rights, and though +Columbus kept writing letters from his sick room asking for +justice, the king would do nothing for him. And when the king's +smile is turned to a frown, the fashion of the court is to frown, +too. + +So Columbus had no friends at the king's court. Diego, his eldest +son, was still one of the royal pages, but he could do nothing. +Without friends, without influence, without opportunity, Columbus +began to feel that he should never get his rights unless he could +see the king himself. And sick though he was he determined to try +it. + +It must have been sad enough to see this sick old man drag +himself feebly to the court to ask for justice from the king whom +he had enriched. You would think that when King Ferdinand really +saw Columbus at the foot of the throne, and when he remembered +all that this man had done for him and for Spain, and how brave +and persistent and full of determination to do great things the +Admiral once had been, he would at least have given the old man +what was justly due him. + +But he would not. He smiled on the old sailor, and said many +pleasant things and talked as if he were a friend, but he would +not agree to anything Columbus asked him; and the poor Admiral +crawled back to his sick bed again, and gave up the struggle. I +have done all that I can do, he said to the few friends who +remained faithful to him; I must leave it all to God. He has +always helped me when things were at the worst. + +And God helped him by taking him away from all the fret, and +worry, and pain, and struggle that made up so much of the +Admiral's troubled life. On the twentieth of May, 1506, the end +came. In the house now known as Number 7 Columbus Avenue, in the +city of Valladolid; in Northern Spain, with a few faithful +friends at his side, he signed his will, lay back in bed and +saying trustfully these words: Into thy hands, O Lord, I commit +my spirit! the Admiral of the Ocean Seas, the Viceroy of the +Indies, the Discoverer of a New World, ended his fight for life. +Christopher Columbus was dead. + +He was but sixty years old. With Tennyson, and Whittier, and +Gladstone, and De Lesseps living to be over eighty, and with your +own good grandfather and grandmother, though even older than +Columbus, by no means ready to be called old people, sixty years +seems an early age to be so completely broken and bent and gray +as was he. But trouble, and care, and exposure, and all the +worries and perils of his life of adventure, had, as you must +know, so worn upon Columbus that when he died he seemed to be an +old, old man. He was white-haired, you remember, even before he +discovered America, and each year he seemed to grow older and +grayer and more feeble. + +And after he had died in that lonely house in Valladolid, the +world seems for a time to have almost forgotten him. A few +friends followed him to the grave; the king, for whom he had done +so much, did not trouble himself to take any notice of the death +of his Admiral, whom once he had been forced to honor, receive +and reward. The city of Valladolid, in which Columbus died, was +one of those fussy little towns in which everybody knew what was +happening next door, and talked and argued about whatever +happened upon its streets and in its homes; and yet even +Valladolid hardly seemed to know of the presence within its gates +of the sick "Viceroy of the Indies." Not until four weeks after +his death did the Valladolid people seem to realize what had +happened; and then all they did was to write down this brief +record: "The said Admiral is dead." + +To-day, the bones of Columbus inclosed in a leaden casket lie in +the Cathedral of Santo Domingo. People have disputed about the +place where the Discoverer of America was born; they are +disputing about the place where he is buried. But as it seems now +certain that he was born in Genoa, so it seems also certain that +his bones are really in the tomb in the old Cathedral at Santo +Domingo, that old Haytian city which he founded, and where he had +so hard a time. + +At least a dozen places in the Old World and the New have built +monuments and statues in his honor; in the United States, alone, +over sixty towns and villages bear his name, or the kindred one +of Columbia. The whole world honors him as the Discoverer of +America; and yet the very name that the Western Hemisphere bears +comes not from the man who discovered it, but from his friend and +comrade Americus Vespucius. + +Like Columbus, this Americus Vespucius was an Italian; like him, +he was a daring sailor and a fearless adventurer, sailing into +strange seas to see what he could find. He saw more of the +American coast than did Columbus, and not being so full of the +gold-hunting and slave-getting fever as was the Admiral, he +brought back from his four voyages so much information about the +new-found lands across the sea, that scholars, who cared more for +news than gold, became interested in what he reported. And some +of the map-makers in France, when they had to name the new lands +in the West that they drew on their maps--the lands that were not +the Indies, nor China, nor Japan--called them after the man who +had told them so much about them--Americus Vespucius. And so it +is that to-day you live in America and not in Columbia, as so +many people have thought this western world of ours should he +named. + +And even the titles, and riches, and honors that the king and +queen of Spain promised to Columbus came very near being lost by +his family, as they had been by himself. It was only by the +hardest work, and by keeping right at it all the time, that the +Admiral's eldest son, Diego Columbus, almost squeezed out of King +Ferdinand of Spain the things that had been promised to his +father. + +But Diego was as plucky, and as brave, and as persistent as his +father had been; then, too, he had lived at court so long--he was +one of the queen's pages, you remember that he knew just what to +do and how to act so as to get what he wanted. And at last he got +it. + +He was made Viceroy over the Indies; he went across the seas to +Hayti, and in his palace in the city of Santo Domingo he ruled +the lands his father had found, and which for centuries were +known as the Spanish Main; he was called Don Diego; he married a +high-born lady of Spain, the niece of King Ferdinand; he received +the large share of "the riches of the Indies" that his father had +worked for, but never received. And the family of Christopher +Columbus, the Genoese adventurer--under the title of the Dukes of +Veragua--have, ever since Don Diego's day, been of what is called +"the best blood of Spain." + +If you have read this story of Christopher Columbus aright, you +must have come to the conclusion that the life of this Italian +sea captain who discovered a new world was not a happy one. From +first to last it was full of disappointment. Only once, in all +his life, did he know what happiness and success meant, and that +was on his return from his first voyage, when he landed amid +cheers of welcome at Palos, and marched into Barcelona in +procession like a conqueror to be received as an equal by his +king and queen. + +Except for that little taste of glory, how full of trouble was +his life! He set out to find Cathay and bring back its riches and +its treasures. He did not get within five thousand miles of +Cathay. He returned from his second voyage a penitent, bringing +only tidings of disaster. He returned from his third voyage in +disgrace, a prisoner and in chains, smarting under false charges +of theft, cruelty and treason. He returned from his fourth voyage +sick unto death, unnoticed, unhonored, unwelcomed. + +From first to last he was misunderstood. His ideas were made fun +of, his efforts were treated with contempt, and even what he did +was not believed, or was spoken of as of not much account. A +career that began in scorn ended in neglect. He died unregarded, +and for years no one gave him credit for what he had done, nor +honor for what he had brought about. + +Such a life would, I am sure, seem to all boys and girls, but a +dreary prospect if they felt it was to be theirs or that of any +one they loved. And yet what man to-day is more highly honored +than Christopher Columbus? People forget all the trials and +hardships and sorrows of his life, and think of him only as one +of the great successes of the world--the man who discovered +America. + +And out of his life of disaster and disappointment two things +stand forth that all of us can honor and all of us should wish to +copy. These are his sublime persistence and his unfaltering +faith. Even as a boy, Columbus had an idea of what he wished to +try and what he was bound to do. He kept right at that idea, no +matter what might happen to annoy him or set him back. + +It was the faith and the persistence of Columbus that discovered +America and opened the way for the millions who now call it their +home. It is because of these qualities that we honor him to-day; +it is because this faith and persistence ended as they did in the +discovery of a new world, that to-day his fame is immortal. + +Other men were as brave, as skillful and as wise as he. Following +in his track they came sailing to the new lands; they explored +its coasts, conquered its red inhabitants, and peopled its shores +with the life that has made America today the home of millions of +white men and millions of free men. But Columbus showed the way. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. HOW THE STORY TURNS OUT. + +Whenever you start to read a story that you hope will be +interesting, you always wonder, do you not, how it is going to +turn out? Your favorite fairy tale or wonder story that began +with "once upon a time," ends, does it not, "so the prince +married the beautiful princess, and they lived happy ever after?" + +Now, how does this story that we have been reading together turn +out? You don't think it ended happily, do you? It was, in some +respects, more marvelous than any fairy tale or wonder story; +but, dear me! you say, why couldn't Columbus have lived happily, +after he had gone through so much, and done so much, and +discovered America, and given us who came after him so splendid a +land to live in? + +Now, just here comes the real point of the story. Wise men tell +us that millions upon millions of busy little insects die to make +the beautiful coral islands of the Southern seas. Millions and +millions of men and women have lived and labored, died and been +forgotten by the world they helped to make the bright, and +beautiful, and prosperous place to live in that it is to-day. + +Columbus was one of these millions; but he was a leader among +them and has not been forgotten. As the world has got farther +away from the time in which he lived, the man Columbus, who did +so much and yet died almost unnoticed, has grown more and more +famous; his name is immortal, and to-day he is the hero +Columbus-- one of the world's greatest men. + +We, in America, are fond of celebrating anniversaries. I suppose +the years that you boys and girls have thus far lived have been +the most remarkable in the history of the world for celebrating +anniversaries. For fully twenty years the United States has been +keeping its birthday. The celebration commenced long before you +were born, with the one hundredth anniversary of the Battle of +Lexington (in 1875). It has not ended yet. But in 1892, We +celebrated the greatest of all our birthdays--the discovery of +the continent that made it possible for us to be here at all. + +Now this has not always been so with us. I suppose that in 1592 +and in 1692 no notice whatever was taken of the twelfth day of +October, on which--one hundred and two hundred years +before--Columbus had landed on that flat little "key" known as +Watling's Island down among the West Indies, and had begun a new +chapter in the world's wonderful story. In 1592, there was hardly +anybody here to celebrate the anniversary--in fact, there was +hardly anybody here at all, except a few Spanish settlers in the +West Indies, in Mexico, and in Florida. In 1692, there were a few +scattered settlements of Frenchmen in Canada, of Englishmen in +New England, Dutchmen in New York, Swedes in Delaware, and +Englishmen in Maryland, Virginia and the Carolinas. But none of +these people loved the Spaniards. They hated them, indeed; for +there had been fierce fighting going on for nearly a hundred +years between Spain and England, and you couldn't find an +Englishman, a Dutchman or a Swede who was willing to say a good +word for Spain, or thank God for the man who sailed away in +Spanish ships to discover America two hundred years before. + +In 1792, people did think a little more about this, and there +were a few who did remember that, three hundred years before, +Columbus had found the great continent upon which, in that year +1792, a new republic, called the United States of America, had +only just been started after a long and bloody war of rebellion +and revolution. + +We do not find, however, that in that year of 1792 there were +many, if any, public celebrations of the Discovery of America, in +America itself. A certain American clergyman, however, whose name +was the Rev. Elhanan Winchester, celebrated the three hundredth +anniversary of the Discovery of America by Columbus. And he +celebrated it not in America, but in England, where he was then +living. On the twelfth of October, 1792, Winchester delivered an +address on "Columbus and his Discoveries," before a great +assembly of interested listeners. In that address he said some +very enthusiastic and some very remarkable things about the +America that was to be: + +"I see the United States rise in all their ripened glory before +me," he said. "I look through and beyond every yet peopled region +of the New World, and behold period still brightening upon +period. Where one contiguous depth of gloomy wilderness now shuts +out even the beams of day, I see new States and empires, new +seats of wisdom and knowledge, new religious domes spreading +around. In places now untrod by any but savage beasts, or men as +savage as they, I hear the voices of happy labor, and see +beautiful cities rising to view. I behold the whole continent +highly cultivated and fertilized, full of cities, towns and +villages, beautiful and lovely beyond expression. I hear the +praises of my great Creator sung upon the banks of those rivers +now unknown to song. Behold the delightful prospect! See the +silver and gold of America employed in the service of the Lord of +the whole earth! See slavery, with all its train of attendant +evils, forever abolished! See a communication opened through the +whole continent, from North to South and from East to West, +through a most fruitful country. Behold the glory of God +extending, and the gospel spreading through the whole land!" + +Of course, it was easy for a man to see and to hope and to say +all this; but it is a little curious, is it not, that he should +have seen things just as they have turned out? + +In Mr. Winchester's day, the United States of America had not +quite four millions of inhabitants. In his day Virginia was the +largest State--in the matter of population --Pennsylvania was the +second and New York the third. Philadelphia was the greatest +city, then followed New York, Boston, Baltimore and Charleston. +Chicago was not even thought of. + +To-day, four hundred years after Columbus first saw American +shores, one hundred and sixteen years after the United States +were started in life by the Declaration of American Independence, +these same struggling States of one hundred years ago are joined +together to make the greatest and most prosperous nation in the +world. With a population of more than sixty-two millions of +people; with the thirteen original States grown into forty-four, +with the population of its three largest cities--New York; +Philadelphia and Chicago--more than equal to the population of +the whole country one hundred years ago; with schools and +colleges and happy homes brightening the whole broad land that +now stretches from ocean to ocean, the United States leads all +other countries in the vast continent Columbus discovered. Still +westward, as Columbus led, the nation advances; and, in a great +city that Columbus could never have imagined, and that the +prophet of one hundred years ago scarcely dreamed of, the mighty +Republic in 1892 invited all the rest of the world to join with +it in celebrating the four hundredth anniversary of the Discovery +of America by Columbus the Admiral. And to do this celebrating +fittingly and grandly, it built up the splendid White City by the +great Fresh Water Sea. + +Columbus was a dreamer; he saw such wonderful visions of what was +to be, that people, as we know, tapped their foreheads and called +him "the crazy Genoese." But not even the wildest fancies nor the +most wonderful dreams of Columbus came anywhere near to what he +would really have seen if--he could have visited the Exposition +at Chicago, in the great White City by the lake--a "show city" +specially built for the World's Fair of 1893, given in his honor +and as a monument to his memory. + +Why, he would say, the Cathay that I spent my life trying to find +was but a hovel alongside this! What would he have seen? A city +stretching a mile and a half in length, and more than half a mile +in breadth; a space covering over five hundred acres of ground, +and containing seventeen magnificent buildings, into any one of +which could have been put the palaces of all the kings and queens +of Europe known to Columbus's day. And in these buildings he +would have seen gathered together, all the marvelous and all the +useful things, all the beautiful and all the delightful things +that the world can make to-day, arranged and displayed for all +the world to see. He would have stood amazed in that wonderful +city of glass and iron, that surpassingly beautiful city, all of +purest white, that had been built some eight miles from the +center of big and busy Chicago, looking out upon the blue waters +of mighty Lake Michigan. It was a city that I wish all the boys +and girls of America--especially all who read this story of the +man in whose honor it was built, might have visited. For as they +saw all its wonderful sights, studied its marvelous exhibits, and +enjoyed its beautiful belongings, they would have been ready to +say how proud, and glad, and happy they were to think that they +were American girls and boys, living in this wonderful nineteenth +century that has been more crowded with marvels, and mysteries, +and triumphs than any one of the Arabian Nights ever contained. + +But, whether you saw the Columbian Exhibition or not, you can say +that. And then stop and think what a parrot did. That is one of +the most singular things in all this wonder story you are +reading. Do you not remember how, when Columbus was slowly +feeling his way westward, Captain Alonso Pinzon saw some parrots +flying southward, and believing from this that the land they +sought was off in that direction, he induced Columbus to change +his course from the west to the south? If Columbus had not +changed his course and followed the parrots, the Santa Maria, +with the Pinta and the Nina, would have sailed on until they had +entered the harbor of Savannah or Charleston, or perhaps the +broad waters of Chesapeake Bay. Then the United States of to-day +would have been discovered and settled by Spaniards, and the +whole history of the land would have been quite different from +what it has been. Spanish blood has peopled, but not uplifted, +the countries of South America and the Spanish Main. English +blood, which, following after--because Columbus had first shown +the way--peopled, saved and upbuilt the whole magnificent +northern land that Spain missed and lost. They have found in it +more gold than ever Columbus dreamed of in his never- found +Cathay; they have filled it with a nobler, braver, mightier, and +more numerous people than ever Columbus imagined the whole +mysterious land of the Indies contained; they have made it the +home of freedom, of peace, of education, of intelligence and of +progress, and have protected and bettered it until the whole +world respects it for its strength, honors it for its patriotism, +admires it for its energy, and marvels at it for its prosperity. + +And this is what a flying parrot did: It turned the tide of +lawless adventure, of gold-hunting, of slave-driving, and of +selfish strife for gain to the south; it left the north yet +unvisited until it was ready for the strong, and sturdy, and +determined men and women who, hunting for liberty, came across +the seas and founded the colonies that became in time the free +and independent republic of the United States of America. + +And thus has the story of Columbus really turned out. Happier +than any fairy tale, more marvelous than any wonder book, the +story of the United States of America is one that begins, "Once +upon a time," and has come to the point where it depends upon the +boys and girls who read it, to say whether or not they shall +"live happily ever after." + +The four hundred years of the New World's life closed its chapter +of happiness in the electric lights and brilliant sunshine of the +marvelous White City by Lake Michigan. It is a continued story of +daring, devotion and progress, that the boys and girls of America +should never tire of reading. And this story was made possible +and turned out so well, because of the briefer, but no less +interesting story of the daring, the devotion and the faith of +the determined Genoese sailor of four hundred years ago, whom men +knew as Don Christopher Columbus, the Admiral of the Ocean Seas. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext of The True Story of Christopher Columbus + diff --git a/old/ttscc10.zip b/old/ttscc10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..18a3666 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/ttscc10.zip |