givings in some church dedicated to the Holy Virgin. Beside these general acts of propitiation, each one made his private vow, binding himself to some pilgrimage, or vigil, or other rite of penitence and thanksgiving at his favorite shrine. The heavens, however, seemed deaf to their vows; the storm grew still more wild and frightful, and each man gave himself up for lost. The danger of the ship was augmented by the want of ballast, the consumption of the water and provisions having lightened her so much, that she rolled and tossed about at the mercy of the waves. To remedy this, and to render her more steady, the admiral ordered that all the empty casks should be filled with sea-water, which in some measure gave relief.

During this long and awful conflict of the elements, the mind of Columbus was a prey to the most distressing anxiety. He feared that the Pinta had foundered in the storm. In such case the whole history of his discovery, the secret of the New World, depended upon his own feeble bark, and one surge of the ocean might bury it forever in oblivion. The tumult of his thoughts may be judged from his own letter to the sovereigns. "I could have supported this evil fortune with less grief," said he, "had my person alone been in jeopardy, since I am debtor for my life to the supreme Creator, and have at other times been within a step of death. But it was a cause of infinite sorrow and trouble, to think that, after having been illuminated from on high with faith and certainty to undertake this enterprise, after having victoriously achieved it, and when on the point of convincing my opponents, and securing to your highnesses great glory and vast increase of dominions, it should please the divine Majesty to defeat all by my death. It would have been more supportable also, had I

not been accompanied by others who had been drawn on by my persuasions, and who, in their distress, cursed not only the hour of their coming, but the fear inspired by my words. which prevented their turning back, as they had at various times determined. Above all, my grief was doubled when I thought of my two sons, whom I had left at school in Cordova, destitute, in a strange land, without any testimony of the services rendered by their father, which, if known, might have inclined your highnesses to befriend them. And although, on the one hand, I was comforted by faith that the Deity would not permit a work of such great exaltation to his church, wrought through so many troubles and contradictions, to reinain imperfect; yet, on the other hand, I reflected on my sins, as a punishment for which he might intend that I should be deprived of the glory which would redound to me in this world."

In the midst of these gloomy apprehensions, an expedient suggested itself, by which, though he and his ships should perish, the glory of his achievement might survive to his name, and its advantages be secured to his sovereigns. He wrote on parchment a brief account of his voyage and discovery, and of his having taken possession of the newly-found lands in the name of their catholic majesties. This he sealed and directed to the king and queen; superscribing a promise of a thousand ducats to whosoever should deliver the packet unopened. He then wrapped it in a waxed cloth, which he placed in the centre of a cake of wax, and enclosing the whole in a large barrel, threw it into the sea, giving his men to suppose he was performing some religious vow. Lest this

* Hist. del Almirante, cap. 36.

memorial should never reach the land, he enclosed a copy in a similar manner, and placed it upon the poop, so that, should the caravel be swallowed up by the waves, the barrel might float off and survive.

These precautions in some measure mitigated his anxiety, and he was still more relieved when, after heavy showers, there appeared at sunset a streak of clear sky in the west, giving hopes that the wind was about to shift to that quarter. These hopes were confirmed, a favorable breeze succeeded, but the sea still ran so high and tumultuously, that little sail could be carried in the night.

On the morning of the 15th, at daybreak, the cry of land was given by Rui Garcia, a mariner in the main-top. The transports of the crew, at once more gaining sight of the Old World, were almost equal to those experienced on first beholding the New. The land bore east-northeast, directly over the prow of the caravel; and the usual diversity of opinion concerning it arose among the pilots. One thought it the island of Madeira; another the rock of Cintra near Lisbon; the most part, deceived by their ardent wishes, placed it near Spain. Columbus, however, from his private reckonings and observations, concluded it to be one of the Azores. A nearer approach proved it to be an island: it was but five leagues distant, and the voyagers were congratulating themselves upon the assurance of speedily being in port, when the wind veered again to the east-northeast, blowing directly from the land, while a heavy sea kept rolling from the west.

For two days they hovered in sight of the island, vainly striving to reach it, or to arrive at another island of which they caught glimpses occasionally through the mist and rack.

of the tempest. On the evening of the 17th they approached so near the first island as to cast anchor, but parting their cable, had to put to sea again, where they remained beating about until the following morning, when they anchored under shelter of its northern side. For several days, Columbus had been in such a state of agitation and anxiety, as scarcely to take food or repose. Although suffering greatly from a gouty affection to which he was subject, yet he had maintained his watchful post on deck, exposed to wintry cold, to the pelting of the storm, and the drenching surges of the sea. It was not until the night of the 17th, that he got a little sleep, more from the exhaustion of nature than from any tranquillity of mind. Such were the difficulties and perils which attended his return to Europe: had one-tenth part of them beset his outward voyage, his timid and factious crew would have risen in arms against the enterprise, and he never would have discovered the New World.

CHAPTER III.

TRANSACTIONS AT THE ISLAND OF ST. MARY'S.

[1493.]

ON sending the boat to land, Columbus ascertained the island

to be St. Mary's, the most southern of the Azores, and a possession of the crown of Portugal. The inhabitants, when they beheld the light caravel riding at anchor, were astonished that it had been able to live through the gale which had raged for fifteen days with unexampled fury; but when they heard from the boat's crew that this tempest-tossed vessel brought tidings of a strange country beyond the ocean, they were filled with wonder and curiosity. To the inquiries about the place where the caravel might anchor securely, they replied by pointing out a harbor in the vicinity; but prevailed on three of the mariners to remain on shore, and gratify them with further particulars of this unparalleled voyage.

In the evening, three men of the island hailed the caravel, and a boat being sent for them, they brought on board fowls, bread, and various refreshments, from Juan de Castañeda,