CHAPTER II.

THE VOYAGES OF COLUMBUS.

Maritime Enterprise in the Fifteenth Century-Theories respecting the Earth's SurfaceChristopher Columbus-His early Life-His Theory of a Western Passage to India— His Struggles to obtain the means of making a Voyage-Is aided by Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain-His first Voyage-Discovery of America-Reception in Spain-His second Voyage-Settlement of Hayti-Third Voyage of Columbus-He reaches the Mainland-Discovery of Gold in Hayti-Troubles in the Colony-Columbus sent to Spain in Irons-Indignation of the Queen-Last Voyage of Columbus-His Shipwreck -Returns to Spain-Refusal of Ferdinand to comply with his Promises-Death of Columbus--Amerigo Vespucci-Origin of the name AMERICA.

HE fifteenth century witnessed a remarkable awakening of human thought and enterprise, one of the most important features of which was the activity in maritime undertakings which led to the discovery of lands until then unknown to the civilized world. The invention, and the application to navigation, of the mariner's compass, had enabled the seamen of Europe to undertake long and distant voyages. The Portuguese took the lead in the maritime enterprises of this period, the chief object of which was to find a route by water from Europe to the Indies. The equator had been passed; Bartholomew Diaz had even doubled the Cape of Storms, and had established the course of the eastern coast of Africa; and it was hoped by some of the most daring thinkers that the distant ports of India could be reached by sailing around this cape. Others, still bolder, believed that although the earth was really a sphere, it was much smaller than it is, and that the central portion of its surface was occupied by a vast ocean which washed the shores of what they regarded as its solitary continent, on either side, and that by sailing due west from Europe, the shores of India, China, or Japan would be reached.

Among those who held this opinion was Christopher Columbus. He was a native of Genoa, in Italy, was born about the year 1435, and was the son of a weaver of cloth. His ancestors had been sailors, for which calling he at an early age evinced a preference. He received a commonschool education, and afterwards went to the University of Pavia, where he studied geometry, astronomy, geography, and navigation. He stayed

at Pavia but a short time; only long enough to gain a decided relish for the mathematical studies in which he afterwards excelled. At the age of fourteen he went to sea with a relative, and followed the calling of a sailor until he had completed his thirtieth year. During this period he had married, and by this marriage he had become possessed of the papers of the former husband of his wife, who had been a distinguished Portuguese navigator. He had learned but little at school, but he had been a close student all his life, and had stored his mind with a valuable fund of information. This habit of study he never abandoned, and his

extensive knowledge, added to his years of practical experience, made him one of the most learned navigators of his day.

In 1470, being then about thirty years old, Columbus took up his residence in Portugal, which was then the centre of maritime enterprise in Europe. He continued to make voyages to the then known parts of the world, and while on shore engaged in the work of making and selling maps and charts. The papers given him by his wife were now of the greatest service to him. He entered eagerly into the speculations of the day concerning the shortest passage to the Indies, and his studies, fortified by his experience, induced him to believe that there was land beyond the western seas, which could be reached by sailing in that direction. This land he believed to be the eastern shores of Asia. He was confirmed in his belief by his correspondence with the learned Italian Toscanelli, who sent him a map of his own projection, in which the eastern coast of Asia was laid down opposite the western coast of Europe, with only the broad Atlantic between them. Other things also confirmed him in what had now become the profoundest conviction of his life. Sailors who had been to the Canary islands told him they had seen.

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

land far to the westward of those islands. A piece of wood strangely carved had been thrown by the waves upon the Portuguese coast after a long westerly gale, and had been seen by the brother-in-law of Columbus. An old pilot related to him the finding of a carved paddle at sea, a thousand miles to the westward of Europe. Pine trees had been cast ashore at Madeira, and at the Azores he learned that the bodies of two men, whose features and dress showed that they belonged to no nation of Europe, had been thrown on the land by the waves.

Having settled it in his own mind that there was land to the westward, Columbus was eager to go in search of it. He was not possessed of sufficient means to accomplish this at his own expense, and began his efforts to interest some European state in the enterprise. His first application was addressed to his native country, the Republic of Genoa. He met with a refusal, and then turned to Venice, with a like result. His next effort was to enlist the Portuguese king, John II., in his scheme. Here he was subjected to delays and vexations innumerable, and once the Portuguese sovereign attempted to make a dishonorable use of the information given by Columbus in support of his theory. Disgusted with the conduct of this sovereign, Columbus, after years of waiting, abandoned the hope of obtaining his assistance, and applied to Henry VII. of England, from whom he received a decided refusal.

Quitting Lisbon in 1484, Columbus went to Spain, intending to lay his plans before Ferdinand and Isabella, the sovereigns of that country. He could scarcely have chosen a more unpropitious time. The Spanish nation was engaged in the Moorish war, which had exhausted the treasury, and which absorbed the attention of the sovereigns to the exclusion of every other matter. He spent seven years in endeavoring to interest the government in his plans. "During this time Columbus appears to have remained in attendance on the court, bearing arms occasionally in the campaigns, and experiencing from the sovereigns an unusual degree of deference and personal attention." At last, wearied with the long delay to which he had been subjected, he pressed the court for an answer, and was told by the sovereigns that, "although they were too much occupied at present to embark in his undertaking, yet, at the conclusion of the war, they should find both time and inclination to treat with him." He accepted this answer as a final refusal, and prepared to go to France to ask the assistance of the king of that country, from whom he had received a friendly letter.

Travelling on foot, he stopped at the monastery of Santa Maria de Rabida, near Palos, to visit the Prior Juan Perez de Marchena, who had befriended him when he first came to Spain. The prior, learning his

intention to quit Spain, persuaded him to remain until one more effort could be made to enlist the government in his plans. Leaving Columbus at the convent, Juan Perez, who had formerly been the queen's confessor, mounted his mule and set off for the Spanish camp before Granada. He was readily granted an interview by Queen Isabella, and he urged the suit of Columbus with all the force of eloquence and reasoning of which he was master. His appeal was supported by several eminent persons whom Columbus, during his residence at the court, had interested in his project, and these represented to the queen the impolicy of allowing Columbus to secure the aid of a foreign power which would reap the benefits of his discoveries, if he were successful. The result was that the sovereigns consented to reopen the negotiation, and Columbus was invited to return to the court, and was furnished with a sum of money to enable him to do so.

Columbus promptly complied with the royal mandate, and reached the camp in time to witness the surrender of Granada. Amidst the rejoicings which attended this event, he was admitted to an audience with the king and queen, and submitted to them the arguments upon which he based his theory. Isabella was favorably disposed toward the undertaking, but Ferdinand looked coldly upon it. Columbus demanded, as the reward of his success, the title and authority of admiral and viceroy over all lands discovered by him, with one-tenth of the profits, and that this dignity should be hereditary in his family. The archbishop of Granada advised the king to reject the demands of Columbus, which he said "savored of the highest degree of arrogance, and would be unbecoming in their highnesses to grant to a needy foreign adventurer." Columbus firmly refused to abate his pretensions, and abruptly left the court, "resolved rather to forego his splendid anticipations of discovery, at the very moment when the career so long sought was thrown open to him, than surrender one of the honorable distinctions due to his services." His friends, however, remonstrated with the queen, and reminded her that if his claims were high, they were at least contingent on success. representing to her the certainty of his being employed by some other potentate, and his peculiar qualifications for success, and by reminding her of her past generous support of great and daring enterprises, they roused her to listen to the impulses of her own noble heart. "I wil! assume the undertaking," she exclaimed, "for my own crown of Castile, and am ready to pawn my jewels to defray the expenses of it, if the funds in the treasury shall be found inadequate." Louis de St. Angel, the receiver who had been chiefly instrumental in bringing about this decision of the queen, offered to advance the necessary funds from the

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