COLUMBUS AND THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.
If you will look at your map you will see on the western shore of Italy
a city which has become celebrated as the birthplace of a great man. It
is called Genoa, the Superb, and in this city was born, over three
hundred years ago, the man who was to make it immortal. Genoa is a
beautiful city. It looks from the sea like a great picture. Its
churches, palaces, promenades, and gardens stretch in terraces from the
Mediterranean up to the slopes of the Apennines, and behind are seen the
ice-covered peaks of the Alps. It has a mild and healthy climate, and on
the mountains around grow grain, grapes, oranges, figs, almonds,
chestnuts, etc. The streets of the city are mostly narrow, irregular,
and sometimes so steep that carriages cannot be used in them, although
there are a few that are straight and handsome. Genoa is famed for
its palaces and for its great works of sculpture and painting. But its
narrow, crooked streets are, after all, the most interesting thing about
it, for in them Columbus, when a boy, walked and played. Of course,
having been born near the sea, he was naturally very fond of it, and
doubtless spent many hours standing on the wharves watching the ships
enter and leave the harbor, and while yet a boy he determined that he
would be a sailor and spend his life on the great sea which he loved so
well. At ten years of age he was sent by his father to the university of
Pavia to study navigation and other things, as it was considered
necessary that seamen should be well educated, although at that time
very few people, even among the nobles, knew how to write. He stayed in
Pavia nearly four years, and then returned to Genoa and entered his
father's workshop. But here he remained but a short time, for at the age
of fourteen he went to sea in a vessel under command of his granduncle,
Colombo. For twenty years he followed the sea, during which time he was
in many battles, always appearing brave, and often encouraging his
sailors by his example. During this time he visited nearly all the ports
that were then known, but still he was not satisfied.
[Illustration: YOUNG COLUMBUS.]
You must remember that at that time no one knew the real shape of the
earth; they had no idea that it was round, but supposed it to be a flat
plane, with the ocean lying around its edges. What strange things might
be found on the other side of the ocean they did not know. Some said
that this ocean, which they called the "Sea of Darkness," and which was
supposed to stretch away to the end of the world, had many large islands
lying in it, one of which had been visited by some bishops who were
flying from the Moors, and who built seven large cities there--one for
each bishop; but that, having burned their ships, they could not send
back any tidings to the world they had left. A great many people
believed this, and there were even some ships sent out to try and find
the island, but of course they never did.
Another story which they were very fond of telling was, that a giant
called Mildum had actually seen in the western sea an island of gold,
with walls of crystal, and offered to swim to it with a ship in tow; but
a storm came up, and the giant went ashore and died, and no one ever
found the golden island.
But there were some things which made it seem as though there really
might be land somewhere out in the Atlantic. For instance, Columbus'
brother-in-law had seen a piece of curiously carved wood which had been
washed ashore in a westerly gale, and an old pilot had picked up a
carved paddle very far west of Portugal. These things were very unlike
anything that the Europeans had ever seen before, and they of course
supposed that they must have been made by some unknown race of men.
Then, besides, cane-stalks of tropic growth had been washed on the
Madeiras, and great pine-trees on the Azores; and once, strangest thing
of all, two drowned men, of different dress and looks from any they had
ever known, had been found on the island of Flores. All these had come
from the West--that great, curious, unknown West! Can you not imagine
how the little children would go down to the shore and look across the
sea, and wonder and wonder what lay beyond it? They had heard such
strange stories of giants and monsters and cruel beasts, who were said
to live away off there out of the sight of land, and it all seemed so
curious to them. They could not believe that there was really land out
beyond that blue sea, on which sometimes they could not even see a sail.
It only looked to them like a great empty stretch of water, and they
felt just as you would feel if you looked up to the sky some cloudless
day. You would see nothing but the empty blue stretching away and away
and away.
Would you not laugh if some one said to you, "Come, let us take a boat
and sail away into the sky, and find a new country that some one says is
there?"
Well, in those days, almost every one thought it was just as silly to
suppose there was land on the other side of the Atlantic.
But there were some people who really believed there was land lying
across the great sea, and one of those persons was Columbus.
He was a very wise man, and had learned all that was then known of
geography, and he felt sure from many things that the earth was round in
shape, and that if he sailed west across the Atlantic, he would come to
land. He did not dream of finding a new country, but he thought that the
world was much smaller than it really is, and that by sailing westward
he would come to India much sooner than by going the usual way.
At that time India was a very important country. Very rare and beautiful
things were brought from there, such as silks, gold, pearls, ivory,
diamonds, rare woods, and many other costly and useful things. Great
companies of men were all the time going and coming overland to and from
India, and it took a long time, and was a very expensive way of going.
The merchants travelled part of the way on horses and part of the way on
camels, and the long caravan would go winding across the desert, and
through mountain passes, over the plains, guided by the stars, or
resting at night around great fires; and if you could see such a sight
now you would think it was a great gypsy camp. Then, oftentimes, people
who wished to travel to India, or to the places on the way thither,
would join these caravans, as it was much the cheaper and safer way, and
so there would be found every kind of people travelling together--Jews,
Arabs, Spaniards, Dutch, and many others--all on their way to obtain
those wonderful and beautiful things from the East; if you had lived at
that time, and had started on a journey to India, it would have been as
different from such a journey now as you can imagine. Then, after
leaving Europe you would have travelled all the way on the back of a
camel; and although these caravans sometimes moved during the day,
resting at night, still, much the greater part of the travelling, owing
to the heat of the sun, was done in the night-time. About ten o'clock at
night you would have heard the sound of the trumpets. This was to tell
you that the caravan was about to move on. Then the tents were folded
up, the camels loaded with the merchandise, the travellers mounted on
their horses or camels, and about midnight, after the third blast from
the trumpets, the march would begin. Great kettles of burning pitch
would send their flames flashing over the desert, and the men and beasts
travelled onward through the night by this ruddy gleam. Sometimes, in
the earlier part of the journey, the line of march would lay along the
sea, and then the thunder of its waves would be heard mingling with the
songs of the slaves and the bells of the camels. Riding across a desert
is much like sailing across the sea. There is very little variety. You
see the same thing day after day. In sailing, you see the sea and sky,
and occasionally a ship's sail; in journeying across a desert you see
the sand and sky, sometimes an Arab or two looking wonderingly at the
caravan before darting off to their hidden retreats, and more often only
the bones of camels and elephants scattered on either side of the route,
and dazzling the sight with their white gleam. The only thing that would
break in upon the sameness would be the stops at the springs for water
and rest, when the sacks of food and wine were unpacked from the camels,
and the travellers would alight and stay until the heat of the day was
past.
Of course, you little American boys and girls have never travelled in
this way, but it was the usual way at that time, and much labor and time
and money it cost; and so it was considered that it would be a great
gain to the world if people could find a shorter way of going to India,
and this was one reason why Columbus wished to see if the world were
really round. For, of course, if it were round, India, they said, must
be right on the other side of the Atlantic. You see they had no idea
that this big America lay in the way between them and India. They
thought that, at the most, there were only some large islands there.
And so Columbus thought it all over and decided to try for himself, and
see if he could reach India by sailing across the ocean. But he was to
have many disappointments before he started off. In the first place,
very few people thought as he did about the shape of the earth, and the
different countries were unwilling to risk men and money in an
undertaking which they were sure would amount to nothing. Columbus
tried to obtain help from his own people; first, from the republic of
Genoa, then from the republic of Venice, and the court of Portugal, and
for seven years he tried to get help from Ferdinand and Isabella, the
king and queen of Spain. And at last, after ten years of waiting and
seeking, the wished-for help came. Isabella, queen of Spain, listened to
Columbus' plans, and liked them so much that she said she would send the
expedition out at the expense of her own kingdom of Castile, and, if
necessary, would pawn her jewels to get enough of money; but this last
she did not have to do.
It was hard work to find sailors willing to go on this long voyage
across the unknown seas, and many of the men had to be forced into the
service; but after three months' delay the expedition was ready, and on
August 3, 1492, the three ships, the Santa Maria, the Pinta, and the
Nina, left the port of Palos on the most wonderful voyage that has ever
been undertaken--the voyage which ended in the discovery of the great
New World.
And so Columbus sailed away toward the sun setting. In about a month he
reached and passed the Canary Islands, the farthest known land. This was
on Sunday, September 6, 1492. And then the voyage really began. The day
passed, and, as the sky and the sea grew dark, the sailors became
terrified, and when at last night fell, and they lost sight of the land
which bordered the great sea of darkness, they wept from fear, and said
they should never return to their homes. Columbus had a hard time to
quiet their fears, but finally they grew calm and listened to his
descriptions of the beautiful country toward which they were sailing.
And so they went on, sometimes hopeful and sometimes despairing, and
once they made a plot to throw Columbus overboard and then turn the
ships about and go home, but happily this was not carried out. As they
advanced, the oldest sailors were deceived by frequent signs of land. On
the 26th they entered into a region where the air was soft and balmy,
and fields of sea-weed began to appear. "This day and the day after,"
said Columbus, "the air was so mild that it wanted but the song of the
nightingales, to make it like the month of April in Andalusia."
One evening, just as the sun was going down there came a cry of
"_Land!_" from the Pinta, which was leading the other ships. Columbus
had promised a reward to him who should first see land, and Martin
Alonzo Pinzon, who was ahead in the Pinta, now claimed the reward. He
said that he saw land in the west; they all looked and saw a dark,
cloudy mass about twenty-five leagues away. Columbus and the sailors
knelt and sang _Gloria in Excelsis Deo_; but in the morning, when they
looked again for the hoped-for land, they saw nothing but the wide sea
stretching away as far as the eye could see. The land which Martin
Pinzon had seen from the stern of the Pinta had been but a cloud, which
had disappeared in the night.
But Columbus sailed on with hope and faith in his heart. Again and again
they thought they saw land, and again and again they were disappointed;
but at last they saw land-birds flying around, a piece of carved wood
was picked up by the Pinta, and the Nina secured a branch of thorn with
red berries, which was drifting by, and Columbus felt sure that they
were near their journey's end. The men were called to evening prayer,
and the vesper hymn to the Virgin floated out over the waves of the
Atlantic, the first time probably that a Christian hymn had ever been
sung upon that darkening sea. Then Columbus ordered a double watch to be
set. "We shall see land in the morning," said he. He spent the entire
night on the deck; no one slept; they were all too much excited at the
prospect of seeing land. Can you not imagine how rejoiced Columbus must
have been to think that at last his long and weary voyage was nearly
over, and that he had been right in saying that the world was round, and
that there was land across the ocean? Ah! no one can understand how he
felt, for no one before or since ever started out on such a voyage as
that. A voyage across the great, mysterious, unknown sea, which was
supposed to extend to the ends of the earth, and on whose farther
borders demons and terrible beasts were thought to live.
At ten o'clock that night Columbus, looking wistfully seaward, saw a
light; he called to two of the sailors, one of whom saw the light and
one did not. At two o'clock the next morning, being Friday, October 12,
1492, the Pinta fired a gun, the signal for land. Rodrigo Triana, a
sailor of the Pinta, was the first who saw the New World. The ships lay
to, and all waited impatiently for morning.
The day broke, and the New World lay before them. About six miles away
they saw an island thickly covered with trees and with crowds of natives
running up and down its shores. At sunrise the small boats were lowered,
and Columbus, bearing the royal standard of Castile, and Martin Pinzon
and his brother, each bearing a flag with a green cross, were rowed to
the shore to the sound of music. Columbus first stepped on the beach,
the others followed, and all knelt and kissed the ground with tears and
thanks to God. Then Columbus rose, shook out the gorgeous red and gold
flag of Spain, and drawing his sword, took possession of the island in
the name of the crown of Castile, calling it San Salvador.
The wondering natives looked on in silence; they thought their visitors
were gods who had come down from heaven, whereas the Spaniards thought
they had never seen a place so much like heaven as this beautiful
island. Birds of gorgeous plumage hovered above them, while others made
the place sweet with their music. The air was soft and pleasant, and
flowers and fruits were abundant. After their long sea voyage they found
it a most pleasant spot, and would gladly have remained there for a long
time.
But Columbus did not consider that his work of discovery was yet done.
Some of the natives, who wore ornaments of gold, told him of a country
in the south from which it had come; so Columbus, taking seven of the
natives with him, started off to find this land of gold, which he
supposed to be Cipango (Japan). He did not find the gold which he
sought, but he did find something else--the island of Cuba--which he
first thought was Cipango, but afterward concluded it was the mainland
of India. He then sailed on, discovering the island of Hayti, which he
thought was Ophir, that land of gold from which had been brought the
gold and jewels for Solomon's Temple. He called this island Hispaniola,
or Little Spain, and, building a fort there of the timbers of the Santa
Maria, and leaving in it thirty-nine men, he sailed for Spain, in the
Nina, taking with him several natives. Martin Pinzon had in the meantime
started off gold-hunting, on his own account, in the Pinta.
During the voyage back to Spain a fearful storm arose, and it was
thought that the ship must go down; of course, if this happened the
people in Europe would never know what had become of Columbus and his
sailors; so he wrote an account of his voyage and discoveries, and,
sealing it up in a cask, threw it overboard. But the storm at last
ceased and they reached the Azores in safety, where the crew attended
mass and gave thanks for their preservation. In March, six months from
the time of their sailing, the Nina entered the harbor of Palos.
Columbus was received with great honors by Ferdinand and Isabella. He
was allowed to sit in their presence while he told the story of his
wonderful adventures. The Spanish are a people very fond of romances and
tales of daring, but never before had they listened to such a story as
this. A story that told them that Spain would forever stand in history
as the discoverer of a new world. No fairy tale was so marvellous as
this. Aladdin's wonderful lamp and the vale of diamonds in the Arabian
Nights were not to be compared to the riches of this new country, where
the sands of every river sparkled with gold, where the stones and rocks
shone with its glittering light, where the walls of the houses were
studded with jewels, and where the poorest native wore ornaments that
kings might envy. And in addition to these dazzling splendors they spoke
of the mild and healthful climate, of the rare and delicious fruits that
grew so abundantly, of the beautiful flowers, of the birds with sweetest
songs and the most gorgeous plumage, of the rivers whose waters were
health-giving, and of a wonderful fountain which gave immortal youth to
all who might drink of it.
And so Columbus had no difficulty in fitting out a second expedition;
men were eager to go, eager for gold, and, what was perhaps better,
eager for glory; they did not have to be pressed into the service this
time. In September, 1493, Columbus sailed from Cadiz with a fleet of
seventeen ships and fifteen hundred men. But he had left his good
fortune behind him; never again would such bright skies bend above him;
never again would he sail under such benignant stars; henceforth his
life was to be saddened by disappointment, and made bitter by the envy
and hatred of those whom he had served.
Many of the men who took ship with him on this second voyage were led to
do so from the love of gold, and when they reached the New World and did
not find the gold they sought, they grew angry and mutinous and
quarrelsome, throwing the blame on Columbus, who, they said, had
deceived them. It was not pleasant to govern such a lot of unruly,
discontented men; but Columbus was a man who never flinched in the face
of danger, no matter of what kind; he kept on his way in spite of the
murmurings of his men, and was rewarded by the discovery of the Windward
Islands, Jamaica and Porto Rico--then he founded a colony in Hayti, and
leaving his brother, Bartolommeó, to govern it, sailed for Spain,
reaching Cadiz about three years after his departure from it.
Here he soon cleared himself of the complaints made against him, and
silenced those who were jealous of his fame. Once, while sitting at
table, a courtier said that, after all, it was not such a great thing to
have discovered the new world, any one else could have done it. For
answer Columbus asked him to make an egg stand on its end; the courtier
tried, but could not do it. Columbus then struck the egg on the table,
breaking the shell a little, and then stood it on the table.
"Any one can do that," said the courtier.
"When I have shown you the way," replied Columbus.
The courtier was silent, he knew well what Columbus meant.
And now there was to be still another voyage made. In 1498 Columbus
left Spain with six ships, and sailed across the Atlantic, taking a
route more southerly than he had before done. This time he discovered
the mouth of the Orinoco, which he, still supposing that the country he
had discovered to be Asia, thought was the river Gihon, which rose in
the garden of Eden. He then skirted along the coast of South America,
passing the islands of Trinidad and Margarita, and then turned toward
Hispaniola, where he hoped to recruit his health. He found the colony in
a sad state, and while trying to restore peace he again became the
object of jealousy and malice. A commissioner named Francisco de
Bobadilla was sent from Spain to settle the trouble, and his first act
was to put Columbus and his brother in chains and send them to Spain.
"Are you taking me to death, Vallejo?" asked Columbus, sadly, when the
officer came to lead him from his cell.
The officers of the ships wanted to take off his chains, but Columbus
replied, "I will wear them as a memento of the gratitude of princes."
When he arrived in Spain, the people were very indignant at the
treatment which he had received; and the king, in order to quiet them,
said that he had not ordered Columbus to be put in chains. But the real
reason why he had allowed him to be thus insulted was that he was
disappointed at finding that the New World, after all, was not rich in
gold and silver, and after nine months of waiting Columbus only saw a
new governor appointed over Hispaniola, and no notice taken of his
injuries. One more voyage and then Columbus' work would be over. In 1502
he received command to sail in search of a passage leading westward from
the Gulf of Mexico, which was then supposed to be a sea. He believed he
should find a strait somewhere near where the isthmus of Panama now is,
and that by passing through this strait he would reach the continent of
Asia. On his way out he stopped at his colony at Hispaniola, where he
hoped to refit, but was refused permission; he sailed along the south
side of the Gulf of Mexico, but did not find the strait for which he was
looking, and after much suffering from famine and other hardships, he
returned home. Here he lay sick for some months; his old friend Queen
Isabella was dead, and King Ferdinand refused to give him any reward for
his long and faithful service. He was seventy years old, poor, and in
ill health. To quote his own words, he had "no place to go to except an
inn, and often with nothing to pay for his food." And so the discoverer
of the New World, suffering, neglected, deserted by those he had spent
his life in serving, died while repeating the Latin words, "Lord, into
thy hands I commend my spirit." They are the last words of a great man;
a man who lived a noble life, and who met death as bravely and
fearlessly as he met the unknown terrors which lay in his way when he
sailed for the first time across the great "sea of darkness." Seven
years after his death the people, for very shame's sake, placed a marble
tomb over his remains, with the inscription:
"A Castilla y a Leon,
Nuevo mondo dió Colon."
("To Castile and Leon, a new world gave Colon.")
Afterward his remains were taken to St. Domingo and placed in a
cathedral in that city. And nearly two hundred years later they were
removed with great pomp to the cathedral at Havana, where they rest
within sound of the waves of the sea, in that beautiful city, where the
air is indeed "like the spring in Andalusia," balmy and soft, perfumed
with flowers, and made musical with the songs of birds.