that the latter offered to furnish a ship and go with him, provided
he could secure enough help to carry out his plan. As for the prior,
he offered to go to court and persuade Queen Is-a-bel´la--whose
confessor he had once been--to supply the necessary funds.
True to his resolve, the prior rode off on his mule, and laid
the whole subject so simply and plainly before Isabella that she
promised to give all the help needful. This answer so pleased Perez
that he wrote to Columbus, "I came, I saw, God conquered," and sent
him money, bidding him come to court without further delay.
It seemed at first as if Columbus's troubles were now over; but
in spite of all Isabella's good will, some time passed by before
she and King Fer´di-nand could hear him. Then, more delays having
occurred, Columbus set out, in disgust, to try his luck elsewhere.
But Isabella, fearing that the chance of great wealth and honor
would escape her, sent a messenger after him, saying she would even
pledge her own jewels to raise the necessary sum. Hearing this,
Columbus came back, and only with great difficulty secured a royal
promise that he should have the title of admiral, that he and his
descendants should govern any lands he discovered for Spain, and
that he and they should receive one tenth of all the pearls, gold,
and spices brought to Spain from these new countries.
X. "LAND! LAND!"
In 1492, therefore, more than eighteen years after he began asking
for help to carry out his daring plan, Columbus sailed out of the
port of Palos with three little vessels--the _Santa Maria_ (sahn´tah
mah-ree´ah), the _Pinta_ (peen´tah), and the _Niña_ (neen´yah).
Columbus himself commanded the first, the Pinzon brothers were
captains of the other ships, and the crews, all told, consisted of
about one hundred men.
The vessels were small and uncomfortable, without real decks,
cabins, or holds; but Columbus started out boldly to brave unknown
dangers and venture into strange seas. His course was first
southward, because he intended to get fresh water at the Canary
Islands before sailing due west in search of Asia.
[Illustration: The Santa Maria.]
Although still in well-known waters, the seamen already seemed
doubtful and afraid, and the third day after they sailed, the
_Pinta_ signaled that there was something wrong. Columbus soon
learned that her rudder was out of order; and although Pinzon tried
to mend it, his vessel could not sail fast.
When Columbus came to the Canary Islands the rudder was properly
repaired, and while waiting for that to be done, he heard from the
inhabitants that after strong westerly winds they had often found on
the beach strangely carved bits of wood. Once two bodies were washed
ashore, and the islanders said they were those of men unlike any
race ever seen in Europe or the parts of Asia and Africa with which
they were familiar.
Setting out from the Canaries, Columbus quieted the fears of his
crew, when they came within sight of Mount Tenerife, by explaining
to them that it was only a volcano, like Mount Et´na. Then he
steered directly westward.
The men's hearts sank as they lost sight of land, and all began
to think over the terrible stories they had heard. People who
are always looking out for something to get scared at are easily
frightened; so when the three ships sailed into the warm waters of
the middle Atlantic, where seaweed grows in such quantity as to make
the sea look green, the sailors were terrified.
But Columbus was no faint-heart, and he steered right on, making the
ships cut their way through the floating masses of seaweed in the
Sar-gas´so Sea, as that part of the Atlantic is called. Perceiving
that his men grew more frightened as the distance increased between
them and their homes, Columbus did not tell them how many miles they
had really gone, but carefully kept the account for his own use. To
cheer his men, he promised a great reward to the first who caught
sight of land.
Instead of looking for mermaids, monsters, and boiling seas, the
sailors now began to watch for land, and several times they mistook
clouds for distant mountain peaks. Day after day passed on, until
the men, horror-struck at the endless stretch of sea and sky, again
and again begged Columbus to turn around; but he always refused.
Then they grew so angry that they plotted to throw him overboard
and take command of the vessels themselves. They were on the point
of doing this, when they saw a shrub covered with fresh berries
floating over the waters. A little farther on they found a carved
stick and a small board, and soon after beheld birds flying
southward. By these signs they felt sure land must be near, and
eagerly resumed their watch for it.
To please one of the Pinzon brothers, Columbus unwillingly consented
to change his course and follow the birds; but if he had gone
straight on he would have landed in what is now called Flor´i-da.
Standing on top of the poor little cabin of his vessel, on the
evening of October 11, Columbus peered out into the darkness,
wondering whether he would see land before him when the sun rose.
Suddenly he fancied he saw a light. He called two men, and as they
saw it too, he felt sure they were near land at last.
A few hours later, at early dawn on Friday morning, October 12,
1492, the _Pinta_, which was ahead, gave the joyful signal that land
was in sight. When the sun rose, all on board beheld one of the
Ba-ha´mas, which Columbus mistook for an island off the coast of
Asia.
[Illustration:
_John Vanderlyn, Artist._
Landing of Columbus.]
Although uncultivated, the island was inhabited, and the Spaniards
soon saw naked savages run out of their low huts, to stare in wonder
at the ships. The poor creatures, who had never seen sailing vessels
before, fancied that the boats had come straight down from the sky.
Dressed in scarlet, wearing beautiful armor, and carrying a flag
which bore the crowns and initials of Ferdinand and Isabella,
Columbus went ashore in a small boat. As he set foot upon land, he
fell on his knees, and after thanking God for bringing him there in
safety, he took possession of the island in the name of the king and
queen, and called it San Salvador (sahn sahl-vah-dōr´).
His men, who had been disobedient, hateful, and ready to kill him
such a short time before, now crowded around him, kissing his
hands and feet, and begging his pardon for their past ill conduct.
The natives, who had fled into the woods at the approach of the
strangers, watched all these proceedings from behind the trees.
After a short time they timidly came forward, and, encouraged by the
Spaniards' kind glances, wonderingly touched the white men's hands
and beards, and evidently admired their gay apparel.
Columbus was so sure he was near India that he called the savages
Indians, a name which has ever since been used for the red men in
America. Then he gave them colored caps, glass beads, and little
bells, trinkets which the Indians fancied were priceless heavenly
treasures!
XI. COLUMBUS AND THE SAVAGES.
Although Columbus could not understand one word of the language the
savages spoke, and although they did not know Spanish, he tried
to talk to them. As you can readily imagine, this was not an easy
thing to do; but by making signs, Columbus soon made the Indians
understand that he would give them more of his trinkets in exchange
for fruit, a kind of bread they showed him, and the yellow ornaments
they wore.
When Columbus found out that these ornaments were of pure gold, he
felt more convinced than ever that he was near Cipango, Cathay, and
India, and he asked the natives where they had found the precious
metal. As they kept pointing southward, and said words which he
fancied sounded like Cathay and Cipango, he imagined they were
trying to tell him about those countries, and about a king in the
south, who was so rich that all his dishes were of gold.
The desire to reach this country and to visit Asia's ruler--for whom
he had brought letters from Ferdinand and Isabella--made Columbus
set out early on the morrow. He took with him seven happy natives,
whom he intended to use as interpreters; but they fancied he was
carrying them off to heaven.
Coming to some more small islands, Columbus took possession of them
also; and on the way to a larger one he overtook a savage in a light
canoe. The Spaniards drew the man on board with his skiff, and as
they found in the latter a gourd of water, some bread, red paint
such as the savages used to beautify themselves, and a string of
the beads they had brought, they concluded he was going to announce
their coming to some friends.
When they drew near the coast, therefore, they sent this man ashore
in his little canoe, and, landing themselves the next morning,
found the savages assembled and ready to exchange gold and food for
worthless European trinkets.
After visiting several of these islands, Columbus steered southward
in search of a larger island, which was Cuba, but which he at first
mistook for Japan. Here the savages fled at his approach; but
Columbus, anxious to make friends with them, went into their huts,
and left a few beads in each, forbidding his men to carry anything
away.
Still searching for the wonderful city of the fabulous ruler who ate
and drank from vessels of pure gold, Columbus coasted along Cuba.
As he saw nothing but mean huts, he fancied that the city must be
far inland, and that none but poor fishermen lived on the shore.
He therefore sent an expedition inland; but his men were sorely
disappointed to find a collection of mud huts instead of the grand
palaces they had expected to behold.
The savages here did something which greatly puzzled the Spaniards.
Taking a certain kind of dried leaf, they rolled it up, and,
lighting one end, stuck the other between their lips. Then they drew
into their mouths and blew out a strangely perfumed smoke! Seeing
that the savages seemed to enjoy it, the Spaniards tried it also,
and thus became acquainted with the tobacco plant and learned to
smoke.
It was now so late in the season that Columbus did not dare to wait
any longer to secure the cargo of silks, pearls, spices, and gold
which he had hoped to carry home. He therefore determined to sail
back to Spain, make known his discovery to the king and queen, and
fit out a larger expedition for trading.
On his way home he discovered and took possession of Hāi´ti, which
he called His-pan-io´la, or "Little Spain." His best ship, the
_Santa Maria_, having been wrecked, forty men were left behind in
a fort there. Columbus bade them be good to the savages, and learn
their language, so they could tell him all about the great king when
he came back.
XII. HOME AGAIN.
Columbus set out on his return journey in January, but he was
obliged to go very slowly, because the wind was often against him,
and because one of his vessels was badly crippled. In the middle of
February a terrible storm separated the two ships, and Columbus,
fearing his vessel would sink, and the news of his discovery perish
with him, wrote out two accounts of his journey. These were inclosed
in cakes of wax, which were put into empty casks. One of them was
cast into the sea, but the other was left on deck, so it could float
off if the boat sank.
The storm grew so fierce that Columbus and his men vowed to go in
procession to the first church they saw after landing, and return
thanks, if they were only spared. When the storm-tossed navigators
finally reached the Azores, therefore, they tried to keep this
promise; but the people were so unkind that they imprisoned those
who landed. Columbus managed to recover his men, but on the way from
those islands to Spain another tempest overtook him, and it was only
after much tossing that the _Niña_ at last reached Portugal.
[Illustration: The Niña.]
As soon as he landed, Columbus sent a messenger to Ferdinand
and Isabella to announce his safe return, and the success of his
undertaking. The very people who had once made fun of him now
eagerly listened to all he had to say, and their hearts were full of
envy at the thought that the newly discovered islands would belong
to Spain, and not to Portugal. It is even said that some one basely
proposed to murder Columbus and send out ships to take possession of
the land in the name of Portugal.
The king, however, would not consent, and Columbus, sailing away
again, finally entered the port of Palos, whence he had started
so many months before. As soon as the people heard that he had
succeeded, they were almost wild with joy, and rang all the bells
in the city. One of the Pinzons, who had hoped that Columbus's
vessel had gone down in the storm, came into Palos just then with
the _Pinta_. He had intended to claim all the honors of the new
discovery, and was greatly disappointed when he found that Columbus
had reached port before him.
[Illustration: The Pinta.]
As the court was at Bar-ce-lo´na, Columbus immediately went there,
with his Indians, parrots, and other curiosities, and all along the
road people came in crowds to stare at him. They gazed in wonder at
the Indians, who, in their turn, were bewildered by all the strange
sights they beheld.
The royal couple received Columbus in state, and, after he had
bent the knee before them in homage, made him sit down in their
presence--a great honor--and relate his adventures. Columbus gave
them glowing descriptions of the new islands, told them he had found
the road to India, and promised that they should soon be rich. This
news caused such rejoicing that the royal couple went to give solemn
thanks in the chapel.
Honors were now showered upon Columbus, who was welcomed and feasted
everywhere. In fact, people made such a fuss over him that some of
the courtiers became jealous. A story is told about one of these men
who sneeringly remarked at a banquet that even if Columbus had not
discovered the road across the ocean, there were plenty of brave
Spaniards who could have done so. Columbus seemed to pay no special
attention to this taunt, but quietly taking an egg from a dish
placed in front of him, he asked the guests if they could make it
stand on end. All tried, and failed. When they finally declared the
feat impossible, Columbus struck the egg on the table hard enough to
break its shell slightly. Then, leaving it standing there, he calmly
said that everything was equally easy--after you knew how to do it.
The news brought by Columbus made a sensation everywhere; but while
all the people were talking about his discoveries, he was actively
preparing to cross the Atlantic again, intending this time to reach
India. Instead of three miserable little ships, and very small
crews, he now had a fleet of seventeen vessels, carrying about
fifteen hundred men.
The second expedition set sail in September, 1493, and, after
stopping at the Canary Islands, steered across the Atlantic to the
eastern West Indies. There Columbus found a fierce race of Căr´ibs,
of whose attacks the Indians had complained to him the year before.
The Spaniards explored these islands, lost their way at times in the
forest, and once came to the homes of some cannibal Caribs. When
they saw a heap of human bones, left over from a horrible feast,
they shuddered with dread at the thought of falling into the hands
of these cruel men.
XIII. COLUMBUS ILLTREATED.
About one year after leaving the colony at Haiti, Columbus came
back, to find the place deserted. One of the Indians who had
gone to Spain with him knew enough Spanish by this time to act
as interpreter. Through him, Columbus learned that some of the
colonists had fallen ill and died. The rest, disobeying his orders,
had been cruel and unkind to the natives, and so anxious to get rich
that the Indians, in self-defense, had fallen upon and killed them.
The site of the first colony having proved so unlucky, Columbus
established the next on another spot, and called it Isabella, in
honor of the queen. Here the Spaniards began to trade with the
natives for gold, and Columbus sent this metal to Spain, asking that
provisions should be sent out in exchange, because the Spaniards did
not like the natives' food, and had not yet found time to grow crops
for their own use.
Besides the gold, Columbus sent back a whole cargo of men, women,
and children, to be sold as slaves. This was cruel and wicked; but
Columbus believed, as most men did then, that it was far better for
the Indians to be slaves among Christians than free among heathens.
The colonists had expected to grow rich very fast, and to find all
the gold they wanted. They were therefore sorely disappointed at
getting so little, and before long became discontented and hard to
manage. While they were trading with the natives, Columbus sailed
away, still seeking for India, which he felt sure must be quite near
there.
He went along the coast of Cuba, and then southward to Ja-māi´ca,
finding several other small islands. But after cruising about for
some time, he came back to Isabella, where he found the colonists
ill and unhappy. They had not only quarreled among themselves,
but had illtreated the natives, robbing them of their wives and
daughters, as well as taking their food.
The Indians, who had once been so happy and indolent, were now weary
and sad. Besides, they had learned to hate the Spaniards, and were
plotting to murder them. Learning this, Columbus had to treat them
as foes, to protect the Spaniards. The natives next refused to sell
any more food to their enemies, and if a provision ship had not
come from Spain, Columbus and his colony would surely have died
of hunger. As there was very little gold to send back this time,
Columbus shipped all his prisoners of war, and thus five hundred
natives were forwarded to the Spanish slave market.
During the next two years Columbus had much trouble with the
Indians, who, finding it almost impossible to collect the amount of
gold he exacted as tribute, often revolted. He also had a hard time
managing the colonists. Homesick and discouraged, they accused him
of deceiving them by false tales of the riches they could get, and
of ruling so badly that their lives were in danger.
These complaints were sent to Spain, and the royal couple, hearing
so much against Columbus, sent a nobleman to Haiti to find out if
their viceroy was really acting unjustly. Some people say that this
nobleman did not even try to find out the truth, and Columbus found
it necessary to go back to Spain with him and explain matters to the
king and queen, leaving Bartholomew Columbus in charge of the colony.
The second arrival of Columbus at court was very different from the
first. Instead of greeting him with cheers and festivities, people
now looked coldly upon him and avoided him as much as they could.
It was only three years since he had discovered a road across the
Atlantic; but as he had not yet brought back huge cargoes of spices
and silks from India, people openly despised him.
Although this reception cut Columbus to the heart, it made him all
the more anxious to reach India, the goal of all his hopes. He
therefore prepared a third expedition; but this time he had so much
trouble in getting funds and ships that it was not till May, 1498,
that he could again set sail, with a fleet of six vessels.
Instead of taking his usual course, Columbus steered directly
westward from the Cape Verde Islands, and reached Trin-i-dad´ in the
middle of the summer. After visiting that island, he explored the
gulf behind it, and came to the mouth of the O-ri-no´co River. From
the great volume of water, he concluded that this river must flow
through an extensive continent, and thought it must surely be one of
the four great streams from the Garden of Eden!
Although Columbus now felt certain he had finally reached the
mainland of Asia, he could find none of the rich cities he sought,
and sadly went back to Haiti. There things had been going on worse
than ever, for the Spaniards had mutinied, as well as the natives.
Columbus now forwarded the most disobedient of the colonists to
Spain. But when they got there, they complained so much about him
that the king and queen again sent out a nobleman to see what was
amiss. The Spanish officer no sooner reached Haiti than he took the
command away from Columbus, who was put in irons and sent back to
Spain to be tried there.
XIV. DEATH OF COLUMBUS.
Eight years after his first journey across the Atlantic Columbus
returned to Spain a prisoner! The captain of the vessel wanted to
remove his chains, but Columbus proudly said that as they had been
put on by the orders of his sovereigns, he would wear them until the
king and queen set him free. He also added that he would keep those
chains as long as he lived, and have them buried with him, so that
people might know how unjustly he had been treated. It is said that
the fetters hung six years over his bed, and that, at his request,
they were placed in his coffin and buried with him.
When Columbus reached Spain the sensation was great. The people,
who had been at first enthusiastic and then indifferent about him,
were now indignant that he should be treated so unjustly, and when
Isabella received a letter, telling her how he had been insulted,
her heart was filled with pity.
She immediately sent a messenger to remove Columbus's chains, and
summoned him to court, where she wept with him when she heard him
describe his sufferings. But although Isabella promised that his
honors should all be given back to him, and that she would soon fit
out a new expedition for him, she kept him waiting two long years.
In 1502 Columbus set out on his fourth and last journey, not as
ruler of the new lands, but merely as explorer. After a stormy
passage, he reached the colony at Haiti, where the governor refused
to allow him to land. Columbus told this man that a tempest was
coming up, and that it would not be safe for any one to leave the
port. But the governor would not believe him, and ordered some
Spanish vessels, which were laden with gold and ready to start, to
set out for Spain.
They no sooner got out of the harbor than the storm overtook and
sorely damaged them. But Columbus, who had warned them of the
danger, safely weathered the storm, and, sailing on, he explored the
coast of Central America, still seeking a road to India.
Columbus was now old and ill; so after coming to a part of the
coast which he took for the Spice Islands because he found spices
there, and after suffering shipwreck, he returned to Haiti and
thence to Spain. There he soon heard that Isabella, Queen of Castile
(kahs-teel´) and Le´on (parts of Spain), was dead, and his sorrow at
her loss made his health worse than ever. The Spaniards, knowing his
principal friend was gone, now treated him even more scornfully than
before, and mockingly called him "Lord of Mosquito Land," because
there were so many mosquitoes along the South American coast.
These insults, added to his disappointment at not finding India,
helped to make Columbus's illness fatal; and feeling that he was
about to die, he wrote his will, leaving his title of admiral to his
son. He passed away in the month of May, 1506, saying: "Into thy
hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit."
Buried at Valladolid (vahl-yah-dō-leed´), his body was removed
first to Se-ville´, then to San´to Do-min´go, in Haiti, then to
Ha-van´a, in Cuba, and finally, after the relinquishment of Cuba by
Spain in 1898, back to Seville again. After his death, people began
to realize what a great man Columbus was, and King Ferdinand, who
had been so unkind to him while he lived, put up a monument in his
honor, on which was later inscribed the motto: "To Castile and Leon
Columbus gave a new world."
Since then, many monuments have been erected and many pictures
painted of the man who, in spite of poverty, illness, and countless
obstacles, never gave up his aim, and manfully strove to reach it as
long as he lived. His faith, his courage, and his perseverance have
served as shining examples for more than four hundred years, and
although he died poor and neglected, he is rightly considered one of
the world's greatest men.
XV. HOW AMERICA GOT ITS NAME.