The Greatest Works of Charles Carleton Coffin. Charles Carleton Coffin
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— the city in which there is a wonderful leaning tower — Galileo, who is studying the heavens. He is twenty-seven years old; and a few years hence he will construct a tube with glasses in it which will bring the stars and planets so near to the earth that he will see that several moons are clustered around Jupiter — that they change their positions from day to day.
But Christopher Columbus knows nothing of this; he sees only that his compass is failing him. The sailors behold it with terror; but he quiets their fears by saying that the north star is not exactly north. On, day after day, they sail. Birds hover around the ships. the water is full of sea-weed. By the 1st of October they have sailed twenty-three hundred miles — though the reckoning which Columbus shows to the sailors makes it only seventeen hundred miles.
The wind blows steadily from the east; but the sailors, seeing how far they have come, fear that with the wind blowing steadily in one direction they never will be able to return. they are all but ready to mutiny; but Columbus quiets them, and offers to give twenty-five dollars to the man who first discovers land. Now all eyes are turned toward the west.
"Land!"
A sailor shouts it. All hearts beat more quickly, but the sailor .is mistaken : no land is to be seen, and the enthusiasm is followed by despondency. They murmur once more.
"We are not far from land. We shall soon discover it," says Columbus.
"See! there is a bush with berries on it."
They pick up a shrub floating in the sea. Sure enough there are berries on it. That did not grow in the sea.
"These are land birds," says Columbus, pointing to birds that hover around the vessels.
"Look there! A piece of wood. That did not grow in the sea."
They pick up the wood. "What! it is carved. These are marks of tools. It is not part of a vessel. It did not come from a ship. No ship ever sailed hero. There must be land ahead."
At sunset the crew kneel upon the deck, and chant the vesper-hymn.
It is sixty-seven days since they left Palos. Columbus has calculated that it is three thousand miles from Spain to China, and he has sailed almost that far. He knows from the birds around him, by tho change in the temperature of the atmosphere, that lie cannot be far from land. Once only has be changed his course, and that to the south-west, following the birds which fly in that direction. Ten o'clock. What is that? A light! There it is — far away. A moment he sees. it It is gone. There it is again.
Two o'clock in the morning, October 12th — hour most memorable! Roderigo de Friana is on the lookout at the mast-head of the Pinta. What is that? It cannot be a bank of cloud, for the stars are brightly shining.
"Land! Land! Land!"
There is a commotion on shipboard.
"Where?
"There — there. Don't you see it?"
"Land! Land! Land!"
The cannon are fired. No echoes like those ever before were awakened along the shores of the Bahama Isles. Day dawns.
There it is, a green and sunny isle — an earthly paradise — green trees, fragrant flowers, myriads of birds, group of men, women, and children, gazing in wonder upon the ships.
The sailors who have been so faint-hearted, so ready to mutiny, throw themselves upon the deck and beg Columbus to forgive them. The anchors are dropped and the boats lowered. The banner of Spain is unfurled, and Columbus, in a scarlet robe, wearing his sword, approaches the shore. He steps from the boat, kneels, and with clasped hands gives thanks to God, and then with imposing ceremonies takes possession of the land in the name of the king and queen, and names it San Salvador. The natives gather around, wondering at what they see. From whence came these beings? From the clouds? Or did they rise from the seal They accept with delight the trinkets which Columbus gives them. They throw themselves into the water and swim out to the ships, climb the sides, and gaze in astonishment at what they behold. When the cannon are fired, they fall on their faces. To them it is lightning and thunder. They bring fruits (bananas and yams and oranges), and birds of bright plumage (parrots and other birds), and give them to the sailors. They wear pieces of gold attached to their ears, which they give in exchange for little tinkling bells. The Spaniards are eager to obtain gold.
"Where did yon get it?" they ask, by signs, and the Indians point toward the west. The sailors can see other islands lying along the horizon, and they enter the ships and sail away, carrying seven of the Indians, who willingly go with them.
They visit island after island, gazing in wonder and delight at the ever-changing but beautiful panorama. The mountains are clothed with tropical verdure. There are myriads of bright-hued flowers, climbing vines, groves of palm and cocoa. The sea breaks on pebbled beaches, the skies are mild, the air balmy and resonant with the songs of birds such as they never before have seen. They have found paradise.
They come to an island larger than the others, where rivers of sweet waters descend from the mountains. They go up a placid stream in their boats, beholding everywhere new beauties.
"I could live here forever," says Columbus. The natives call this island Cuba. He returns to the ship and coasts for three days along the shores, believing that he has reached India.
The Indians bring them a fruit which grows in the ground, which they roast in a bed of hot ashes, and which is sweet and nutritious.
"What do you call it?" the sailors ask, by signs.
"Batatoes."
This is the first eating of potatoes by Europeans.
The Indians roll up a dry leaf of a plant which bears a beautiful pink flower, light one end and inhale the smoke at the other end, puffing it from their mouth and nostrils.
"To-bac-co," say they.
The sailors try it, and are made sick at first, but soon enjoy it. From. Cuba the vessels sail to an island which the Indians call Hayti, but which Columbus calls Hispaniola. He lauds, and beneath the giant forest trees rears a cross and plants the standard of Spain. Thousands of parrots chatter around them, humming-birds dart swiftly through the air, and flamingoes stalk along the shore.
The sailors capture an Indian girl, but Columbus treats her kindly, and she is delighted with the necklace of little bells which he gives her. One of the vessels strikes upon a rock and is wrecked, but the sailors take the goods on shore. Through the Indian girl, Columbus induces the natives to return from the forest into which they have fled. They are simple-hearted, kind, and honest; nor do they steal any of the goods. "They love their neighbors as themselves," writes Columbus in his journal.
The chief gets up a grand banquet of fish, fruits, and potatoes; and, after the feast, the natives have a dance. Columbus, in turn, orders the sailors to go through military evolutions. The Indians gaze in admiration upon the bright swords gleaming in the sunshine, but fall to the ground in terror when a cannon is fired. Columbus builds a fort, and leaves a garrison to hold it, and sails for Spain. He reaches the Azores, but, soon after leaving those islands, a great storm comes on, and the ships are separated. He fears that all will be lost: but, on the 4th of March, he drops anchor at the mouth of the river Tagus, ten miles from Lisbon; and on the 15th of March lie sails into the harbor of Palos.