Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/237

COLUMBUS. Hope. It is supposed that his wife had died before this time, for his son Ferdinand, by Beatriz Henriquez, was born at Cordova in August, just before his visit to Portugal. Realizing the hopelessness of securing assistance in Portugal, Columbus induced his brother Bartholomew to go to England to lay his plans before King Henry VII., while he himself determined to try his fortune in France. The famous story is well authenticated which tells how he started off afoot with his little son Diego and stopped at the convent of La Rábida to ask for food. The prior, Juan Perez de Marchena, entered into conversation with the stranger, grew interested in him, called in a neighbor who was learned in maritime affairs, and eventually became convinced that Spain ought to benefit by the idea with which Columbus had become possessed. A messenger was sent off to the Court, Queen Isabella's interest was aroused, and Spanish America was the result. As soon as the royal support was granted, preparations for the voyage were hurried forward. The Pinzon brothers, merchant sailors of Palos, furnished the money for the share in the expense which Columbus had undertaken to provide, and the royal contribution of Queen Isabella was advanced by the Treasurer, Santangel, from his private resources. The story that the Queen pawned her jewels to secure this money is rendered unlikely by the fact that she had pledged everything she possessed, several years before, to assist in the war against the Moors.

On August 3, 1492, everything was ready and Columbus, on the carack Santa Maria, accompanied by the caravels Niña and Pinta, sailed from Palos. A short stop was made at the Canaries, and then a course was steered due westward. Several days of calms followed, during which Columbus, foreseeing trouble with his crew, began to announce each day as the number of leagues sailed about three-fourths of the real distance. On September 14th he noticed that the compass, which had previously, as in European waters, pointed to the east of the pole-star, was beginning to point west of it. This discovery of the variation of the needle is the first of a series of observations which, after the accumulated information of four hundred years, still puzzles physicists. On October 8th, on the advice of Pinzon, who was captain of the Pinta, the course was changed to the southwest, and on the 12th land was reached. This was an island known to the natives as Guanahani, and named by Columbus San Salvador, probably the one now called Watling's Island, one of the Bahamas. The landfall has been a subject of long dispute, and investigators have at various times advocated the modern San Salvador, Cat, Grand Turk, Samana, and Acklin islands as the land on which Columbus first set foot in the New World. From San Salvador, Columbus sailed from island to island until October 26th, when he landed on Cuba. Having convinced himself by several trips into the interior that this was a part of the Asiatic mainland, or Cathay, he started back toward Spain. On Christmas Eve, as he was crossing to Haiti, which the Spaniards named Española, the Santa Maria was wrecked near the harbor named by Columbus &lsquo;La Navidad.&rsquo; It was therefore decided to leave at this spot, in a fort which was built there, a part of the company, to serve as a nucleus for future exploring expeditions. Forty men agreed to stay, and were left with

sufficient supplies, and on January 4, 1493, Columbus set off for Spain. On February 25th he entered the mouth of the Tagus, having been nearly wrecked in a storm which arose after the shores of Europe had been sighted. The Portuguese King welcomed him cordially and helped him to send word to Spain of his safe return. From Palos Columbus journeyed overland to the Court at Barcelona, where he arrived in April and was received with great honor by Ferdinand and Isabella.

Every assistance was promised Columbus toward equipping a second expedition. Seventeen vessels were soon ready, carrying 1500 persons, and on September 25, 1493, they set sail. The island of Dominica was reached on November 3d, and on the 27th Columbus anchored off the fort of La Navidad, which was found deserted. The garrison had been killed by the natives, whom the outrages committed by the white men had provoked beyond endurance. Abandoning this, Columbus founded a new town (Isabella) and the next two years were spent in an attempt to establish a form of government and in several exploring expeditions into the interior of Española and the neighboring islands. Many causes united to disturb the peace of the colony, and Columbus at length determined to return to Spain, where his enemies were actively trying to undermine the confidence of the sovereigns in him. Landing at Cadiz on June 11, 1496, he proceeded directly to the Court, where he was most graciously received and quickly restored to grace. He was promised whatever he desired for a new expedition, but there was a long delay, due largely to the persistent opposition of Fonseca, Bishop of Palencia, through whose hands everything had to pass before Columbus could secure his outfit. It was not until May 30, 1498, that six vessels were ready to sail. A more southerly route than before was followed and the voyage was prolonged until July 31st, when the three peaks of Trinidad were sighted. After a fortnight's rest in the Gulf of Paria, Columbus coasted the South American mainland, which he now saw for the first time, westward as far as Margarita, and then, having first decided that Paradise must be situated in the interior of the modern Venezuela, he stood across to Española. Arriving at Santo Domingo, which had become the principal town in the Indies, he learned that a number of the colonists had rebelled during his absence, and that everything was at odds. His temperament was ill-suited to dealing with the turbulent crowd who defied his authority, and he could do little toward restoring peace and order. Both sides sent agents and emissaries to Spain, with the result that, on August 23, 1500, Francisco de Bobadilla arrived at the island with royal orders authorizing him to supersede Columbus in the government. Without waiting to investigate the charges against him, Bobadilla arrested Columbus, treating him with heartless indignities for which no justification can be found in the surviving records of the colony. He was placed in irons, denied visits from his brothers and partisans, and in October sent back to Spain.

The news that the Admiral of the Ocean Seas had arrived home in chains served his cause better than any argument. He was promptly released and summoned to Court, where every favor was shown him. King Ferdinand,