Produced by Tonya Allen, Charles Franks
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
TRUE STORIES OF GREAT AMERICANS
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
BY
MILDRED STAPLEY
Whatever can be known of earth we know,
Sneered Europe's wise men, in their snail shells curled;
No! said one man in Genoa, and that No
Out of the dark created the New World.
--JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I COLUMBUS BEFRIENDED BY ROYALTY
CHAPTER II THE YOUTH OF COLUMBUS
CHAPTER III "LANDS IN THE WEST"
CHAPTER IV THE SOJOURN IN MADEIRA
CHAPTER V A SEASON OF WAITING
CHAPTER VI A RAY OF HOPE
CHAPTER VII ISABELLA DECIDES
CHAPTER VIII OFF AT LAST!
CHAPTER IX "LAND! LAND!"
CHAPTER X NATIVES OF THE NEW LAND
CHAPTER XI THE RETURN IN THE _NINA_
CHAPTER XII DAYS OF TRIUMPH
CHAPTER XIII PREPARING FOR A SECOND VOYAGE
CHAPTER XIV FINDING NEW ISLANDS
CHAPTER XV ON A SEA OF TROUBLES
CHAPTER XVI THE THIRD VOYAGE
CHAPTER XVII A RETURN IN DISGRACE
CHAPTER XVIII PUBLIC SYMPATHY
CHAPTER XIX THE LAST VOYAGE
CHAPTER XX THE COURAGE OF DIEGO MENDEZ
CHAPTER XXI "INTO PORT"
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
CHAPTER I
COLUMBUS BEFRIENDED BY ROYALTY
Spain, as every one knows, was the country behind the discovery of
America. Few people know, however, what an important part the beautiful
city of Granada played in that famous event. It was in October, 1492,
that Columbus first set foot on the New World and claimed it for Spain.
In January of that same year another territory had been added to that
same crown; for the brave soldier-sovereigns, Ferdinand and Isabella,
had conquered the Moorish kingdom of Granada in the south and made it
part of their own country.
Nearly eight hundred years before, the dark-skinned Moors had come over
from Africa and invaded the European peninsula which lies closest to the
Straits of Gibraltar, and the people of that peninsula had been battling
fiercely ever since to drive them back to where they came from. True,
the Moor had brought Arabian art and learning with him, but he had
brought also the Mohammedan religion, and _that_ was intolerable
not only to the Spaniards but to all Europeans. No Christian country
could brook the thought of this Asiatic creed flourishing on her soil,
so Spain soon set to work to get rid of it.
This war between the two religions began in the north near the Bay of
Biscay whither the Christians were finally pushed by the invaders. Each
century saw the Moors driven a little farther south toward the
Mediterranean, until Granada, where the lovely Sierra Nevadas rise, was
the last stronghold left them. Small wonder, then, that when Granada was
finally taken the Spanish nation was supremely happy. Small wonder that
they held a magnificent fete in their newly-won city in the "Snowy
Mountains." The vanquished Moorish king rode down from his mountain
citadel and handed its keys to Ferdinand and Isabella. Bells pealed,
banners waved, and the people cheered wildly as their victorious
sovereigns rode by.
And yet, so we are told by a writer who was present, in the midst of all
this rejoicing one man stood aside, sad and solitary. While all the
others felt that their uttermost desire had been granted in acquiring
the Moorish kingdom, _he_ knew that he could present them with a
far greater territory than Granada if only they would give him the
chance. What were these olive and orange groves beside the tropic
fertility of the shores he longed to reach, and which he would have
reached long ere this, he told himself regretfully, if only they had
helped him! What was the Christianizing of the few Moors who remained in
Spain compared with the Christianizing of all the undiscovered heathen
across the Atlantic!
And so on that eventful January 2, 1492, when a whole city was delirious
with joy,
"There was crying in Granada
when the sun was going down,
Some calling on the Trinity--
some calling on Mahoun.
Here passed away the Koran--there
in the Cross was borne--
And here was heard the Christian bell--
and there the Moorish horn."
On that great day of jubilee one man, a stranger, but as devout a
Christian as any of the conquerors, stood apart downcast, melancholy,
saddened by years of fruitless waiting for a few ships. That man was
Christopher Columbus.
When you know that Columbus was present by special invitation, that a
friend of the queen's had secured him the promise of an interview with
full consideration of his plans just as soon as the city surrendered,
you may think he should have looked happy and hopeful with the rest; but
the fact was, that for nearly seven years the monarchs had been holding
out promises, only to put him off, until his faith in princes had
dwindled to almost nothing.
But, as it happened, they really meant it this time. Moreover, it is
only fair to Ferdinand and Isabella to believe that they had always
meant it, but they had been so preoccupied with the enormous task of
welding poor Spain, long harassed by misrule and war, into a prosperous
nation, that they had neither time nor money for outside ventures.
Certain it is that when Granada was really conquered and they had their
first respite from worry, the man who was known at court as the "mad
Genoese" was summoned to expound his plan of sailing far out into the
west where he was certain of finding new lands.
Where this meeting took place is not known positively, but probably it
was in the palace called the Alhambra, a marvelous monument of Arabian
art which may be visited to-day. Columbus stood long in the exquisite
audience chamber, pleading and arguing fervently; then he came out
dejected, mounted his mule, and rode wearily away from Spain's new city;
for Spain, after listening attentively to his proposals, had most
emphatically refused to aid him. It was surely a sorry reward, you will
say, for his six years' waiting. And yet the man's courage was not
crushed; he started off for France, to try his luck with the French
king.
This is what had happened at the Spanish court. The great navigator
talked clearly and convincingly about the earth being round instead of
flat as most people still supposed; and how, since Europe, Asia, and
Africa covered about six sevenths of the globe's surface, and the
Atlantic Ocean the remaining seventh (here he quoted the prophet
Esdras), [Footnote: "Upon the third day thou didst command that the
waters should be gathered in the seventh part of the earth. Six parts
hast thou dried up and kept them to the intent that of these some being
planted of God and tilled might serve thee.... Upon the fifth day thou
saidst unto the seventh part where the waters were gathered that it
should bring forth living creatures, fowls and fishes, and so it came to
pass." Apocrypha, 2 Esdras vi. 42, 47.] any one by sailing due west must
surely come to land. So clear was his own vision of this land that he
almost saw it as he spoke; and his eloquence made his hearers almost see
it too. One after another they nodded their approval, and approval had
never before been won when he addressed a Spanish audience. But when
Archbishop Talavera, who was spokesman for King Ferdinand, asked the
would-be discoverer what reward he expected in case his voyage was
successful, the answer was so unexpected that nearly every man in the
room was indignant.
This answer is worth looking into carefully if one is to understand why
the Spanish nobility thought that Columbus drove a hard bargain. He
demanded of their Highnesses,
_First_: That he should be made Admiral over all seas and
territories he might discover, the office to continue for life and to
descend to his heirs forever, with all its dignities and salaries.
_Second_: That he should be made Viceroy and Governor-General of
all new territories, and should name the officers under him.
_Third_: That he should have one tenth part of all merchandise,
pearls, precious stones, gold, silver, or spices acquired by trade,
discovery, or any other method.
_Fourth_: That if any controversy or lawsuit should arise over such
goods, he or his officer should be the only judge in the matter.
_Fifth_: That in fitting out all expeditions for trade or discovery
he should be allowed to furnish one eighth of the cost and receive one
eighth of the profit.
On these conditions and no others would Christopher Columbus undertake
his perilous journey into unknown seas; and the grandees of Spain walked
indignantly away from him.
"Lord High Admiral!" murmured one. "An office second only to royalty!
This foreigner demands promotion over us who have been fighting and
draining our veins and our purses for Spain this many a year!"
"Governor-General with power to select his own deputies!" murmured
another. "Why, he would be monarch absolute! What proof has he ever
given that he knows how to govern!" "One tenth of all goods acquired by
trade _or any other method_," protested still another. "What other
method has he in mind?--robbery, piracy, murder, forsooth? And then,
when complaints of his 'other method' are made, he alone is to judge the
case! A sorry state of justice, indeed!"
Now, when you see this from the Spaniards' point of view, can you not
understand their indignation? Yet Columbus, too, had cause for
indignation. True, these soldiers of Spain had risked much, but on land,
and aided by powerful troops. _He_ was offering to go with a few
men on a small ship across a vast unexplored sea; and that seemed to him
a far greater undertaking than a campaign against the Moors. His
position was much like that of the modern inventor who resents having
the greater part of the profits of his invention given to those who
promote it. Columbus's friends, the few men who had encouraged him and
believed in him ever since he came to Spain, begged him to accept less,
but he was inflexible. He was prepared to make the biggest journey man
had ever dreamed of, and not one iota less would he take for it. But no
such rewards would Talavera promise, and thus ended the interview for
which Columbus had waited nearly seven years!
And so he rode away from the lovely Moorish city, weary and dejected,
yet hoping for better treatment when he should lay his plans before the
French king. His ride took him across the fertile Vega (plain) of
Granada and into a narrow mountain pass where the bleak Elvira Range
towers three thousand feet above the road. But smiling plain and
frowning mountain were alike to the brooding traveler. He noticed
neither; nor, when he started across the ancient stone bridge of Pinos,
did he notice that horsemen were galloping after him. They were Queen
Isabella's messengers sent to bid the bold navigator return. They
overtook him in the middle of the bridge, and then and there his trip to
France ended.
The queen, they told him, would accept his terms unconditionally. And
Isabella kept her word. The next time Christopher Columbus rode forth
from Granada it was not with bowed head and heavy heart, but with his
whole soul rejoicing. We may be sure that he turned back for a last
affectionate look at the lovely mountain city; for it had given him what
historians now call "the most important paper that ever sovereign put
pen to, "--a royal order for the long-desired ships and men with which to
discover "lands in the west."