"For now, from sight of land diverted clear,
They drove uncertain o'er the pathless deep;
Nor gave the adverse gale due course to steer,
Nor durst they the design'd direction keep:
The gathering tempest quickly raged so high,
The wave-encompass'd boat but faintly reach'd my eye."
Vision of Patience.
Such was the state of things on the morning of the 15th, and shortly
after the sun arose, the joyful cry of land was heard from aloft. It is
worthy of being mentioned that this land was made directly ahead, so
accurate were all the admiral's calculations, and so certain did he feel
of his position on the chart. A dozen opinions, however, prevailed among
the pilots and people concerning this welcome sight; some fancying it
the continent of Europe, while others believed it to be Madeira.
Columbus, himself, publicly announced it to be one of the Azores.
Each hour was lessening the distance between this welcome spot of earth
and the adventurers, when the gale chopped directly round, bringing the
island dead to windward. Throughout a long and weary day the little bark
kept turning up against the storm, in order to reach this much-desired
haven, but the heaviness of the swell and the foul wind made their
progress both slow and painful. The sun set in wintry gloom, again, and
the land still lay in the wrong quarter, and apparently at a distance
that was unattainable. Hour after hour passed, and still, in the
darkness, the Nina was struggling to get nearer to the spot where the
land had been seen. Columbus never left his post throughout all these
anxious scenes, for to him it seemed as if the fortunes of his
discoveries were now suspended, as it might be, by a hair. Our hero was
less watchful, but even he began to feel more anxiety in the result, as
the moment approached when the fate of the expedition was to be decided.
As the sun arose, every eye turned inquiringly around the watery view,
and, to the common disappointment, no land was visible. Some fancied all
had been illusion, but the admiral believed they had passed the island
in the darkness, and he hove about, with a view to stand further south.
This change in the course had not been made more than an hour or two,
when land was again dimly seen astern, and in a quarter where it could
not have been previously perceived. For this island the caravel tacked,
and until dark she was beating up for it, against a strong gale and a
heavy sea. Night again drew around her, and the land once more vanished
in the gloom.
At the usual hour of the previous night, the people of the Nina had
assembled to chant the _salve fac_, _regina_, or the evening hymn to the
Virgin, for it is one of the touching incidents of this extraordinary
voyage, that these rude sailors first carried with them into the unknown
wastes of the Atlantic the songs of their religion, and the Christian's
prayers. While thus employed, a light had been made to leeward, which
was supposed to be on the island first seen, thus encouraging the
admiral in his belief that he was in the centre of a group, and that by
keeping well to windward, he would certainly find himself in a situation
to reach a port in the morning. That morning, however, had produced no
other change than the one noted, and he was now preparing to pass
another night, or that of the 17th, in uncertainty, when the cry of land
ahead suddenly cheered the spirits of all in the vessel.
The Nina stood boldly in, and before midnight she was near enough to the
shore to let go an anchor; so heavy were both wind and sea, however,
that the cable parted, thus rejecting them, as it were, from the regions
to which they properly belonged. Sail was made, and the effort to get to
windward renewed, and by daylight the caravel was enabled to run in and
get an anchorage on the north side of the island. Here the wearied and
almost exhausted mariners learned that Columbus was right, as usual, and
that they had reached the island of St. Mary, one of the Azores.
It does not belong to this tale to record all the incidents that
occurred while the Nina lay at this port. They embraced an attempt to
seize the caravel, on the part of the Portuguese, who, as they had been
the last to harass the admiral on his departure from the old world, were
the first to beset him on his return. All their machinations failed,
however, and after having the best portion of his crew in their power,
and actually having once sailed from the island without the men, the
admiral finally arranged the matter, and took his departure for Spain,
with all his people on board, on the 24th of the month.
Providence seemed to favor the passage of the adventurers, for the first
few days; the wind being favorable and the sea smooth. Between the
morning of the 24th and the evening of the 26th, the caravel had made
nearly a hundred leagues directly on her course to Palos, when she was
met by a foul wind and another heavy sea. The gale now became violent
again, though sufficiently favorable to allow them to steer east, a
little northerly, occasionally hauling more ahead. The weather was
rough, but as the admiral knew he was drawing in with the continent of
Europe, he did not complain, cheering his people with the hopes of a
speedy arrival. In this manner the time passed until the turn of the
day, Saturday, March 2d, when Columbus believed himself to be within a
hundred miles of the coast of Portugal, the long continuance of the
scant southerly winds having set him thus far north.
The night commenced favorably, the caravel struggling ahead through a
tremendous sea that was sweeping down from the south, having the wind
abeam, blowing so fresh as to cause the sails to be reduced within
manageable size. The Nina was an excellent craft, as had been thoroughly
proved, and she was now steadier than when first assailed by the
tempests, her pilots having filled still more of the casks than they had
been able to do during the late storm.
"Thou hast lived at the helm, Sancho Mundo, since the late gales
commenced," said the admiral, cheerfully, as, about the last hour of the
first watch, he passed near the post of the old mariner. "It is no small
honor to hold that station in the cruel gales we have been fated to
endure."
"I so consider it, Senor Don Almirante; and I hope their illustrious and
most excellent Highnesses, the two sovereigns, will look upon it with
the same eyes, so far as the weight of the duty is concerned."
"And why not as respects the honor, friend Sancho?" put in Luis, who had
become a sworn friend of the seaman, since the rescue of the rocks.
"Honor, Senor Master Pedro, is cold food, and sits ill on a poor man's
stomach. One dobla is worth two dukedoms to such a man as I am, since
the dobla would help to gain me respect, whereas the dukedoms would only
draw down ridicule upon my head. No, no--Master Pedro, your worship,
give me a pocket full of gold, and leave honors to such as have a fancy
for them. If a man must be raised in the world, begin at the beginning,
or lay a solid foundation; after which he may be made a knight of St.
James, if the sovereigns have need of his name to make out their list."
"Thou art too garrulous for a helmsman, Sancho, though so excellent
otherwise," observed the admiral, gravely. "Look to thy course; doblas
will not be wanting, when the voyage is ended."
"Many thanks, Senor Almirante; and, as a proof that my eyes are not
shut, even though the tongue wags, I will just desire your Excellency,
and the pilots, to study that rag of a cloud that is gathering up here,
at the south-west, and ask yourselves if it means evil or good."
"By the mass! the man is right, Don Christopher!" exclaimed Bartolemeo
Roldan, who was standing near; "that is a most sinister-looking cloud,
and is not unlike those that give birth to the white squalls of Africa."
"See to it--see to it--good Bartolemeo," returned Columbus, hastily. "We
have, indeed, counted too much on our good fortune, and have culpably
overlooked the aspect of the heavens. Let Vicente Yanez and all our
people be called; we may have need of them."
Columbus now ascended to the poop, where he got a wider and a better
view of the ocean and the skies. The signs were, indeed, as portentous
as they had been sudden in their appearance. The atmosphere was filled
with a white mist, that resembled a light smoke, and the admiral had
barely time to look about him, when a roar that resembled the trampling
of a thousand horses passing a bridge at full speed, came rushing down
with the wind. The ocean was heard hissing, as is usual at such moments,
and the tempest burst upon the little bark, as if envious demons were
determined she should never reach Spain with the glorious tidings she
bore.
A report like that of a heavy discharge of musketry, was the first
signal that the squall had struck the Nina. It came from the rent
canvas, every sail having given way at the same instant. The caravel
heeled until the water reached her masts, and there was a breathless
instant, when the oldest seaman feared that she would be forced over
entirely upon her side. Had not the sails split, this calamity might
truly have occurred. Sancho, too, had borne the tiller up in season, and
when the Nina recovered from the shock, she almost flew out of the water
as she drove before the blast.
This was the commencement of a new gale, which even surpassed in
violence that from which they had so recently escaped. For the first
hour, awe and disappointment almost paralyzed the crew, as nothing was
or could be done to relieve them from the peril they were in. The vessel
was already scudding--the last resource of seamen--and even the rags of
the canvas were torn, piece by piece, from the spars, sparing the men
the efforts that would have been necessary to secure them. In this
crisis, again the penitent people resorted to their religious rites; and
again it fell to the lot of the admiral to make a visit to some favorite
shrine. In addition, the whole crew made a vow to fast on bread and
water, the first Saturday after they should arrive.
"It is remarkable, Don Christopher," said Luis, when the two were again
alone on the poop; "it is remarkable that these lots should fall so
often on you. Thrice have you been selected by Providence to be an
instrument of thankfulness and penitence. This cometh of your exceeding
faith!"
"Say, rather, Luis, that it cometh of my exceeding sins. My pride,
alone, should draw down upon me stronger rebukes than these. I fear me,
I had forgotten that I was merely an agent chosen by God, to work his
own great ends, and was falling into the snares of Satan, by fancying
that I, of my own wisdom and philosophy, had done this great exploit,
which cometh so truly of God."
"Do you believe us in danger, Senor?"
"Greater hazard besets us now, Don Luis, than hath befallen us since we
left Palos. We are driving toward the continent, which cannot be thirty
leagues distant; and, as thou seest, the ocean is becoming more troubled
every hour. Happily, the night is far advanced, and with the light we
may find the means of safety."
The day did reappear as usual; for whatever disturbances occur on its
surface, the earth continues its daily revolutions in the sublimity of
its vastness, affording, at each change, to the mites on its surface,
the indubitable proofs that an omnipotent power reigns over all its
movements. The light, however, brought no change in the aspects of the
ocean and sky. The wind blew furiously, and the Nina struggled along
amid the chaos of waters, driving nearer and nearer to the continent
that lay before her.
About the middle of the afternoon, signs of land became quite apparent,
and no one doubted the vicinity of the vessel to the shores of Europe.
Nevertheless, naught was visible but the raging ocean, the murky sky,
and the sort of supernatural light with which the atmosphere is so often
charged in a tempest. The spot where the sun set, though known by means
of the compass, could not be traced by the eye; and again night closed
on the wild, wintry scene, as if the little caravel was abandoned by
hope as well as by day. To add to the apprehensions of the people, a
high cross sea was running; and, as ever happens with vessels so small,
in such circumstances, tons' weight of water were constantly falling
inboard, threatening destruction to the gratings and their frail
coverings of tarred cloth.
"This is the most terrible night of all, son Luis," said Columbus, about
an hour after the darkness had drawn around them. "If we escape this
night, well may we deem ourselves favored of God!"
"And yet you speak calmly, Senor; as calmly as if your heart was filled
with hope."
"The seaman that cannot command his nerves and voice, even in the utmost
peril, hath mistaken his calling. But I _feel_ calm, Luis, as well as
_seem_ calm. God hath us in his keeping, and will do that which most
advanceth his own holy will. My boys--my two poor boys trouble me
sorely; but even the fatherless are not forgotten!"
"If we perish, Senor, the Portuguese will remain masters of our secret:
to them only is it now known, ourselves excepted, since, for Martin
Alonzo, I should think, there is little hope."
"This is another source of grief; yet have I taken such steps as will
probably put their Highnesses on the maintenance of their rights. The
rest must be trusted to heaven."
At that moment was heard the startling cry of "land." This word, which
so lately would have been the cause of sudden bursts of joy, was now the
source of new uneasiness. Although the night was dark, there were
moments when the gloom opened, as it might be, for a mile or two around
the vessel, and when objects as prominent as a coast could be seen with
sufficient distinctness. Both Columbus and our hero hastened to the
forward part of the caravel, at this cry, though even this common
movement was perilous, in order to obtain the best possible view of the
shore. It was, indeed, so near, that all on board heard, or fancied they
heard, the roar of the surf against the rocks. That it was Portugal,
none doubted, and to stand on in the present uncertainty of their
precise position, or without a haven to enter, would be inevitable
destruction. There remained only the alternative to ware with the
caravel's head off shore, and endeavor to keep an offing until morning.
Columbus had no sooner mentioned this necessity, than Vicente Yanez set
about its execution in the best manner circumstances would allow.
Hitherto the wind had been kept a little on the starboard quarter, the
caravel steering east, a point or two north, and it was now the aim to
lay her head so far round as to permit her to steer north, a point or
two west. By the manner in which the coast appeared to trend, it was
thought that this variation in the direction might keep them, for a few
hours, at a sufficient distance from the shore. But this manoeuvre
could not be effected without the aid of canvas, and an order was issued
to set the foresail. The first flap of the canvas, as it was loosened to
the gale, was tremendous, the jerk threatening to tear the fore-mast
from its step, and then all was still as death forward, the hull sinking
so low behind a barrier of water, as actually to becalm the sail. Sancho
and his associate seized the favorable moment to secure the clews, and,
as the little bark struggled upward again, the canvas filled with some
such shock as is felt at the sudden checking of a cable. From this
moment the Nina drew slowly off to sea again, though her path lay
through such a scene of turbulent water, as threatened, at each instant,
to overwhelm her.
"Luis!" said a soft voice, at our hero's elbow, as the latter stood
clinging to the side of the door of the cabin appropriated to the
females--"Luis--Hayti better--Mattinao better--much bad, Luis!"
It was Ozema, who had risen from her pallet to look out upon the
appalling view of the ocean. During the mild weather of the first part
of the passage, the intercourse between Luis and the natives on board
had been constant and cheerful. Though slightly incommoded by her
situation, Ozema had always received his visits with guileless delight,
and her progress in Spanish had been such as to astonish even her
teacher. Nor were the means of communication confined altogether to the
advance of Ozema, since Luis, in his endeavors to instruct her, had
acquired nearly as many words of her native tongue, as he had taught her
of his own. In this manner they conversed, resorting to both dialects
for terms, as necessity dictated. We shall give a free translation of
what was said, endeavoring, at the same time, to render the dialogue
characteristic and graphic.
"Poor Ozema!" returned our hero, drawing her gently to a position where
he could support her against the effects of the violent motion of the
caravel--"thou must regret Hayti, indeed, and the peaceful security of
thy groves!"
"Caonabo there, Luis."
"True, innocent girl; but even Caonabo is not as terrible as this anger
of the elements."
"No--no--no--Caonabo much bad. Break Ozema's heart. No Caonabo--no
Hayti."
"Thy dread of the Carib chief, dear Ozema, hath upset thy reason, in
part. Thou hast a God, as well as we Christians, and, like us, must put
thy trust in him; he alone can now protect thee."
"What protect?"
"Care for thee, Ozema. See that thou dost not come to harm. Look to thy
safety and welfare."
"Luis protect Ozema. So promise Mattinao--so promise Ozema--so promise
heart."
"Dear girl, so will I, to the extent of my means. But what can I do
against this tempest?"
"What Luis do against Caonabo?--Kill him--cut Indians--make him run
away!"
"This was easy to a Christian knight, who carried a good sword and
buckler, but it is impossible against a tempest. We have only one hope,
and that is to trust in the Spaniard's God."
"Spaniards great--have great God."
"There is but one God, Ozema, and he ruleth all, whether in Hayti or in
Spain. Thou rememberest what I have told thee of his love, and of the
manner of his death, that we might all be saved, and thou didst then
promise to worship him, and to be baptized when we should reach my
country."
"God!--Ozema do, what Ozema say. Love Luis' God already."
"Thou hast seen the holy cross, Ozema, and hast promised me to kiss it,
and bless it."
"Where cross? See no cross--up in heaven?--or where? Show Ozema cross,
now--Luis' cross--cross Luis love."
The young man wore the parting gift of Mercedes near his heart, and
raising a hand he withdrew the small jewel, pressed it to his own lips
with pious fervor, and then offered it to the Indian girl.
"See"--he said--"this is a cross; we Spaniards revere and bless it. It
is our pledge of happiness."
"That Luis' God?" enquired Ozema, in a little surprise.
"Not so, my poor benighted girl"--
"What benighted?" interrupted the quick-witted Haytian, eagerly, for no
term that the young man could or did apply to her, fell unheeded on her
vigilant and attentive ear.
"Benighted means those who have never heard of the cross, or of its
endless mercies."
"Ozema no benighted now," exclaimed the other, pressing the bauble to
her bosom. "Got cross--keep cross--no benighted again, never. Cross,
Mercedes"--for, by one of those mistakes that are not unfrequent in the
commencement of all communications between those who speak different
tongues, the young Indian had caught the notion, from many of Luis'
involuntary exclamations, that "Mercedes" meant all that was excellent.
"I would, indeed, that she of whom thou speakest had thee in her gentle
care, that she might lead thy pure soul to a just knowledge of thy
Creator! That cross cometh of Mercedes, if it be not Mercedes herself,
and thou dost well in loving it, and in blessing it. Place the chain
around thy neck, Ozema, for the precious emblem may help in preserving
thee, should the gale throw us on the coast, ere morning. _That cross is
a sign of undying love._"
The girl understood enough of this, especially as the direction was
seconded by a little gentle aid, on the part of our hero, to comply, and
the chain was soon thrown around her neck, with the holy emblem resting
on her bosom. The change in the temperature, as well as a sense of
propriety, had induced the admiral to cause ample robes of cotton to be
furnished all the females, and Ozema's beautiful form was now closely
enveloped in one, and beneath its folds she had hidden the jewel, which
she fondly hugged to her heart, as a gift of Luis. Not so did the young
man himself view the matter. He had merely meant to lend, in a moment of
extreme peril, that which the superstitious feeling of the age seriously
induced him to fancy might prove a substantial safeguard. As Ozema was
by no means expert in managing the encumbrance of a dress to which she
was unaccustomed, even while native taste had taught her to throw it
around her person gracefully, the young man had half unconsciously
assisted in placing the cross in its new position, when a violent roll
of the vessel compelled him to sustain the girl by encircling her waist
with an arm. Partly yielding to the motion of the caravel, which was
constantly jerking even the mariners from their feet, and probably as
much seduced by the tenderness of her own heart, Ozema did not rebuke
this liberty--the first our hero had ever offered, but stood, in
confiding innocence, upheld by the arm that, of all others, it was most
grateful to her feelings to believe destined to perform that office for
life. In another moment, her head rested on his bosom, and her face was
turned upward, with the eyes fastened on the countenance of the young
noble.
"Thou art less alarmed at this terrific storm, Ozema, than I could have
hoped. Apprehension for thee has made me more miserable than I could
have thought possible, and yet thou seemest not to be disturbed."
"Ozema no unhappy--no want Hayti--no want Mattinao--no want any
thing--Ozema happy now. Got cross."
"Sweet, guileless innocent, may'st thou never know any other
feelings!--confide in thy cross."
"Cross, Mercedes--Luis, Mercedes. Luis and Ozema keep cross forever."
It was, perhaps, fortunate for this high-prized happiness of the girl,
that the Nina now took a plunge that unavoidably compelled our hero to
release his hold of her person, or to drag her with him headlong toward
the place where Columbus stood, sheltering his weather-beaten form from
a portion of the violence of the tempest. When he recovered his feet, he
perceived that the door of the cabin was closed, and that Ozema was no
longer to be seen.
"Dost thou find our female friends terrified by this appalling scene,
son Luis?" Columbus quietly demanded, for, though his own thoughts had
been much occupied by the situation of the caravel, he had noted all
that had just passed so near him. "They are stout of heart, but even an
amazon might quail at this tempest."
"They heed it not, Senor, for I think they understand it not. The
civilized man is so much their superior, that both men and women appear
to have every confidence in our means of safety. I have just given Ozema
a cross, and bade her place her greatest reliance on that."
"Thou hast done well; it is now the surest protector of us all. Keep the
head of the caravel as near to the wind as may be, Sancho, when it
lulls, every inch off shore being so much gained in the way of
security."
The usual reply was made, and then the conversation ceased; the raging
of the elements, and the fearful manner in which the Nina was compelled
to struggle literally to keep on the surface of the ocean, affording
ample matter for the reflections of all who witnessed the scene.
In this manner passed the night. When the day broke, it opened on a
scene of wintry violence. The sun was not visible that day, the dark
vapor driving so low before the tempest, as to lessen the apparent
altitude of the vault of heaven one-half, but the ocean was an
undulating sheet of foam. High land soon became visible nearly abeam of
the caravel, and all the elder mariners immediately pronounced it to be
the rock of Lisbon. As soon as this important fact was ascertained, the
admiral wore with the head of the caravel in-shore, and laid his course
for the mouth of the Tagus. The distance was not great, some twenty
miles perhaps; but the necessity of facing the tempest, and of making
sail, on a wind, in such a storm, rendered the situation of the caravel
more critical than it had been in all her previous trials. At that
moment, the policy of the Portuguese was forgotten, or held to be
entirely a secondary consideration, a port or shipwreck appearing to be
the alternative. Every inch of their weatherly position became of
importance to the navigators, and Vicente Yanez placed himself near the
helm to watch its play with the vigilance of experience and authority.
No sail but the lowest could be carried, and these were reefed as
closely as their construction would allow.
In this manner the tempest-tossed little bark struggled forward, now
sinking so low in the troughs that land, ocean, and all but the frowning
billows, with the clouds above their heads, were lost to view; and now
rising, as it might be, from the calm of a sombre cavern, into the
roaring, hissing, and turbulence of a tempest. These latter moments were
the most critical. When the light hull reached the summit of a wave,
falling over to windward by the yielding of the element beneath her, it
seemed as if the next billow must inevitably overwhelm her; and yet, so
vigilant was the eye of Vicente Yanez, and so ready the hand of Sancho,
that she ever escaped the calamity. To keep the wash of the sea entirely
out, was, however, impossible; and it often swept athwart the deck,
forward, like the sheets of a cataract, that part of the vessel being
completely abandoned by the crew.
"All now depends on our canvas," said the admiral, with a sigh; "if that
stand, we are safer than when scudding, and I think God is with us. To
me it seemeth as if the wind was a little less violent than in the
night."
"Perhaps it is, Senor. I believe we gain on the place you pointed out to
me."
"It is yon rocky point. _That_ weathered, and we are safe. That not
weathered, and we see our common grave."
"The caravel behaveth nobly, and I will still hope."
An hour later, and the land was so near that human beings were seen
moving on it. There are moments when life and death may be said to be
equally presented to the seaman's sight. On one side is destruction; on
the other security. As the vessel drew slowly in toward the shore, not
only was the thunder of the surf upon the rocks audible, but the
frightful manner in which the water was tossed upward in spray, gave
additional horrors to the view. On such occasions, it is no uncommon
thing to see _jets d'eau_ hundreds of feet in height, and the driving
spray is often carried to a great distance inland, before the wind.
Lisbon has the whole rake of the Atlantic before it, unbroken by island
or headland; and the entire coast of Portugal is one of the most exposed
of Europe. The south-west gales, in particular, drive across twelve
hundred leagues of ocean, and the billows they send in upon its shores,
are truly appalling. Nor was the storm we are endeavoring to describe,
one of common occurrence. The season had been tempestuous, seldom
leaving the Atlantic any peace; and the surges produced by one gale had
not time to subside, ere another drove up the water in a new direction,
giving rise to that irregularity of motion which most distresses a
vessel, and which is particularly hazardous to small ones.
"She looks up better, Don Christopher!" exclaimed Luis, as they got
within musket-shot of the desired point; "another ten minutes of as
favorable a slant, and we do it!"
"Thou art right, son," answered the admiral, calmly. "Were any calamity
to throw us ashore on yonder rocks, two planks of the Nina would not
hold together five minutes. Ease her--good Vicente Yanez--ease her,
quite a point, and let her go through the water. All depends on the
canvas, and we can spare that point. She moves, Luis! Regard the land,
and thou wilt now see our motion."
"True, Senor, but the caravel is drawing frightfully near the point!"
"Fear not; a bold course is often the safest. It is a deep shore, and we
need but little water."
No one now spoke. The caravel was dashing in toward the point with
appalling speed, and every minute brought her perceptibly nearer to the
cauldron of water that was foaming around it. Without absolutely
entering within this vortex, the Nina flew along its edge, and, in five
minutes more, she had a direct course up the Tagus open before her. The
mainsail was now taken in, and the mariners stood fearlessly on, certain
of a haven and security.
Thus, virtually, ended the greatest marine exploit the world has ever
witnessed. It is true that a run round to Palos was subsequently made,
but it was insignificant in distance, and not fruitful in incidents.
Columbus had effected his vast purpose, and his success was no longer a
secret. His reception in Portugal is known, as well as all the leading
occurrences that took place at Lisbon. He anchored in the Tagus on the
4th of March, and left it again on the 13th. On the morning of the 14th,
the Nina was off Cape St. Vincent, when she hauled in to the eastward,
with a light air from the north. At sunrise on the 15th she was again
off the bar of Saltes, after an absence of only two hundred and
twenty-four days.