Page:Don Coronado through Kansas.djvu/22

11 them, he set sail to discover if possible where gold was to be had." Also before sailing from Cuba, he lured on board six men, seven women and three children. So he arrived home with thirteen men, seven women and three children; total. twenty-three Indians.

Palos is about 550 miles as the crow flies to Barcelona, and yet "he journeyed to Court, his procession was a most imposing one as it thronged the streets, his Indians leading the line with birds of brilliant plumage, the skins of unknown animals, strange plants and ornaments from the persons of dusky natives shimmering in the air."

Upon reaching Barcelona, and being brought. before the King and Queen, Columbus was lauded to his heart's content. No man in the history of nations received more adulation, and the promise of riches was enough to turn a man's head; and in fact he then thought it certain that he would be able to equip an expedition to the Holy Land to wrest the Holy Place from the Moors. This was one of his ambitions.

The man of the fifteenth century made three other voyages, each more extensive than the one before, bringing back gold and many other rare articles as well as 500 Indians to be sold as slaves, his last return to his adopted country being in 1504. Is it possible to contemplate the excitement and fervor that prevailed during the twelve years of discovery by Columbus? The spirit of adventure took hold of the people, both rich and poor, high and low, to such a degree that Spain went mad as did the