THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA

From the Life of Columbus, by His Son, Ferdinand Columbus ONE OF the fortunate things that befell Christopher Columbus was in having his own son, Ferdinand, an accomplished scholar and bibliographer, for his biographer.

Ferdinand was his second son and only eighteen years of age at the time of his father's death. He was born in Cordova in 1488. Columbus had gone there in 1487 immediately following the surrender of Malaga. While waiting upon the Court he formed a connection with a lady of noble family, Beatriz Euriquez de Arana, to whom his son, Ferdinand, was born on the 15th of August. Columbus seemed to be tenderly attached to Beatriz who survived him many years, but his union with her was never sanctioned by marriage.

ALL the conditions which the admiral demanded being conceded by their Catholic majesties, he set out from Granada on the 21st May 1492, for Palos, where he was to fit out the ships for his intended expedition. That town was bound to serve the crown for three months with two caravels, which were ordered to be given to Columbus; and he fitted out these and a third vessel with all care and diligence. The ship in which he personally embarked was called the St. Mary ; the second vessel named the Pinta, was commanded by Martin Alonzo Pinzon ; and the third, named the Nina, which had square sails, was under the command of Vincent Yanez Pinzon, the brother of Alonzo, both of whom were inhabitants of Palos. Being furnished with all necessaries, and having 90 men to navigate the three vessels, Columbus set sail from Palos on the 3d of August 1492, shaping his course directly for the Canaries.

During this voyage, and indeed in all the four voyages which he made from Spain to the West Indies, the admiral was very careful to keep an exact journal of every occurrence which took place; always specifying what winds blew, how far he sailed with each particular wind, what currents were found, and every thing that was seen by the way, whether birds, fishes, or any other thing. Although to note all these particulars with a minute relation of every thing that happened, showing what impressions and effects answered to the course and aspect of the stars, and the differences between the seas which he sailed and those of our countries, might all be useful; yet as I conceive that the relation of these particulars might now be tiresome to the reader, I shall only give an account of what appears to me necessary and convenient to be known.

On Saturday the 4th of August, the next day after sailing from Palos, the rudder of the Pinta broke loose. The admiral strongly suspected that this was occasioned by the contrivance of the master on purpose to avoid proceeding on the voyage, which he had endeavored to do before they left Spain, and he therefore ranged up alongside of the disabled vessel to give every assistance in his power, but the wind blew so hard that he was unable to afford any aid. Pinzon, however, being an experienced seaman, soon made a temporary repair by means of ropes, and they proceeded on their voyage. But on the following Tuesday, the weather becoming rough and boisterous, the fastenings gave way, and the squadron was obliged to lay to for some time, to renew the repairs. From this misfortune of twice breaking the rudder, a superstitious person might have foreboded the future disobedience of Pinzon to the admiral; as through his malice the Pinta twice separated from the squadron, as shall be afterwards related. Having applied the best remedy they could to the disabled state of the rudder, the squadron continued its voyage, and came in sight of the Canaries at daybreak of Thursday the 9th of August; but owing to contrary winds, they were unable to come to anchor at Grand Canaria until the 12th. The admiral left Pinzon at Grand Canaria to endeavor to procure another vessel instead of that which was disabled, and went himself with the Nina on the same errand to Gomera.

The admiral arrived at Gomera on Sunday the 12th of August, and sent a boat on shore to inquire if any vessel could be procured there for his purpose. The boat returned next morning, and brought intelligence that no vessel was then at that island, but that Dona Beatrix de Bobadilla, the propriatrix of the island, was then at Grand Canaria in a hired vessel of 40 tons belonging to one Gradeuna of Seville, which would probably suit his purpose and might perhaps be got. He therefore determined to await the arrival of that vessel at Gomera, believing that Pinzon might have secured a vessel for himself at Grand Canaria, if he had not been able to repair his own. After waiting two days, he dispatched one of his people in a bark which was bound from Gomera to Grand Canaria, to acquaint Pinzon where he lay, and to assist him in repairing and fixing the rudder. Having waited a considerable time for an answer to his letter, he sailed with the two vessels from Gomera on the 23d of August for Grand Canaria, and fell in with the bark on the following day, which had been detained all that time on its voyage by contrary winds. He now took his man from the bark, and sailing in the night past the island of Teneriffe, the people were much astonished at observing flames bursting out of the lofty mountain called El Pico, or the peak of Teneriffe. On this occasion the admiral was at great pains to explain the nature of this phenomenon to the people, by instancing the example of Etna and several other known volcanoes.

Passing by Teneriffe, they arrived at Grand Canaria on Saturday the 25th August; and found that Pinzon had only got in there the day before. From him the admiral was informed that Dona Beatrix had sailed for Gomera on the 20th with the vessel which he was so anxious to obtain. His officers were much troubled at the disappointment ; but he, who always endeavored to make the best of every occurrence, observed to them that since it had not pleased God that they should get this vessel it was perhaps better for them ; as they might have encountered much opposition in pressing it into the service, and might have lost a great deal of time in shipping and unshipping the goods. Wherefore, lest he might again miss it if he returned to Gomera, he resolved to make a new rudder for the Pinta at Grand Canaria, and ordered the square sails of the Nina to be changed to round ones, like those of the other two vessels, that she might be able to accompany them with less danger and agitation.

The vessels being all refitted, the admiral weighed anchor from Grand Canaria on Saturday the first of September, and arrived next day at Gomera, where four days were employed in completing their stores of provisions and of wood and water. On the morning of Thursday the sixth of September, 1492, the admiral took his departure from Gomera, and commenced his great undertaking by standing directly westwards, but made very slow progress at first on account of calms. On Sunday the ninth of September, about daybreak, they were nine leagues west of the island of Ferro. Now losing sight of land and stretching out into utterly unknown seas, many of the people expressed their anxiety and fear that it might be long before they should see land again; but the admiral used every endeavor to comfort them with the assurance of soon finding the land he was in search of, and raised their hopes of acquiring wealth and honor by the discovery. To lessen the fear which they entertained of the length of way they had to sail, he gave out that they had only proceeded fifteen leagues that day, when the actual distance sailed was eighteen ; and to induce the people to believe that they were not so far from Spain as they really were, he resolved to keep considerably short in his reckoning the whole voyage, though he carefully recorded the true reckoning every day in private.

On Wednesday the twelfth September, having got to about 150 leagues west of Ferro, they discovered a large trunk of a tree, sufficient to have been the mast of a vessel of 120 tons, and which seemed to have been a long time in the water. At this distance from Ferro, and for somewhat farther on, the current was found to set strongly to the northeast. Next day, when they had run fifty leagues farther westwards, the needle was observed to vary half a point to the eastward of north, and next morning the variation was a whole point east. This variation of the compass had never been before observed, and therefore the admiral was much surprised at the phenomenon, and concluded that the needle did not actually point towards the polar star, but to some other fixed point. Three days afterwards, when almost 100 leagues farther west, he was still more astonished at the irregularity of the variation ; for having observed the needle to vary a whole point to the eastwards at night, it pointed directly northwards in the morning. On the night of Saturday the fifteenth of September, being then almost 300 leagues West of Ferro, they saw a prodigious flash of light, or fire ball, drop from the sky into the sea, at four or five leagues distance from the ships towards the south-west. The weather was then quite fair and serene like April, the sea perfectly calm, the wind favorable from the north-east, and the current setting to the north-east. The people in the Nina told the admiral that they had seen the day before a heron, and another bird which they called rabo-de-junco. These were the first birds which had been seen during the voyage, and were considered as indications of approaching land. But they were more agreeably surprised next day, Sunday sixteenth September, by seeing great abundance of yellowish green sea weeds, which appeared as if newly washed away from some rock or island. Next day the sea weed was seen in much greater quantity, and a small live lobster was observed among the weeds : from this circumstance many affirmed that they were certainly near the land. The sea water was afterwards noticed to be only half so salt as before; and great numbers of tunny fish were seen swimming about, some of which came so near the vessel, that one was killed by a bearded iron. Being now 360 leagues west from Ferro, another of the birds called rabo-de-junco was seen. On Tuesday the eighteenth September, Martin Alonzo Pinzon, who had gone ahead of the admiral in the Pinta, which was an excellent sailer, lay to for the admiral to come up, and told him that he had seen a great number of birds fly away westwards, for which reason he was in great hopes to see land that night; Pinzon even thought that he saw land that night about fifteen leagues distant to the northwards, which appeared very black and covered with clouds. All the people would have persuaded the admiral to try for land in that direction ; but, being certainly assured that it was not land, and having not yet reached the distance at which he expected to find the land, he would not consent to lose time in altering his course in that direction. But as the wind now freshened, he gave orders to take in the top-sails at night, having led eleven days before the wind due westwards now sailed with all their sails up.