From Pole to Pole: A Book for Young People — Sec 19 North America, part 1

NORTH AMERICA

THE DISCOVERY OF THE NEW WORLD

Now we must say farewell to Africa.

We have in front of us the Straits of Gibraltar, little more than six miles broad, the blue belt that connects the Mediterranean with the Atlantic, the sharply defined boundary which separates the black continent from the white.

We have but a step to take and we are in Spain.

Here, also, a dying echo from the splendid period of Arab rule reaches our ears.

We are reminded that twelve centuries have passed away since the Prophet's chosen people conquered the Iberian Peninsula.

The sons of Islam were a thorn in the sides of the Christians.

Little by little they were forced back southwards.

Only Cordova and Granada still remained in the possession of the Arabs, or Moors as they were called, and when Ferdinand the Catholic married Queen Isabella of Castile in the year 1469, only Granada was left in the hands of the Moors.

Their last king lived in his splendid palace, the Alhambra in Granada.

In 1491 the Spanish army besieged the Moorish city.

Barely forty years earlier the Mohammedans had taken Constantinople.

Now other Mohammedans were to be turned out of western Europe.

New Year's Day 1492 came and Granada fell.

The Moorish king had to bend humbly on his knees before the victor ere he went on his way, and the Castilian flag waved from the towers and pinnacles of the Alhambra.

This remarkable incident was witnessed by a mariner from Genoa, forty-six years old.

His name was Christopher Columbus.

At the time of the fall of Granada there was no one among the learned men of Europe who had any suspicion of the existence of a continent in the western ocean, and the Portuguese sought only a sea route to India--the rich land of spices, gold, pearls, and coral.

But there was a learned mathematician, Toscanelli of Florence, who perceived that, as the world was round, a mariner must necessarily reach Japan, China, and India by sailing westwards from Europe, and as early as 1474 he produced maps and other proofs of the correctness of his theory.

It was Columbus, by his boldness and ability, who converted this theory into fact.

Christopher Columbus was the eldest of five children of a weaver in Genoa.

He and his brothers also engaged in the weaving industry, but as their father's affairs were anything but flourishing, the sons decided to seek a living in foreign countries.

Christopher became a sailor, and acquired all the qualifications necessary to handle a ship.

He gained great experience and a thorough knowledge of his new profession.

He once sailed on an English vessel to Thule or Iceland, the longest voyage which mariners of that time dared attempt.

Then he tried his fortune in Portugal, earning a living by drawing sea-charts and serving as skipper on Portuguese vessels sailing to the eastern shores of the Mediterranean and to Guinea.

In the Portuguese school he learned much which was to be of great importance in his future career.

He made his home in Lisbon, where he married a lady of rank.

It was at this time that he entered into correspondence with Toscanelli, who sent him a map of the route over the Atlantic to Japan, and gave him much information drawn from Marco Polo's descriptions.

These letters made a deep impression on Columbus.

He wrote back to Toscanelli that he thought of sailing westwards to Marco Polo's countries according to his instructions, and Toscanelli replied that he was glad to find his ideas were so well understood, and that such a voyage would bring great gain to Columbus, and an extraordinary reputation among all Christian peoples.

Columbus tried in vain to obtain the support he needed for carrying out his plan.

The King of Portugal and the learned men of the country listened to him, but treated him as a presumptuous dreamer.

There were a few, however, who thought that he might be right, and on their advice the King sent a vessel over the ocean without telling Columbus.

It soon returned without having seen land.

When Columbus heard of this underhanded proceeding, he left Lisbon in disgust and travelled alone to Spain.

His wife and children never saw him again, except his son Diego, who afterwards joined his father.

For two years he travelled from town to town in that part of southern Spain which is called Andalusia, selling charts, which he drew with his own hand.

At last he was received at Court, and was able to set forth his plan before an assembly of courtiers and ecclesiastics.

But Castile was too much occupied with the war against the Moors in Granada and Malaga to venture on such a great enterprise, and Columbus had to wait for better times.

[Illustration: TOSCANELLI'S MAP.

] Two years more passed by and Columbus was again summoned to the Court, then in Cordova on the bank of the Guadalquivir.

His eloquence and enthusiasm had little effect, however, and after two more years of useless waiting he resolved to turn his back on Spain and try his fortune in France.

Sad and depressed, he followed the great highroad from Cordova.

Being destitute he went up to a monastery beside the road, knocked at the gate, and begged for a piece of bread for his little son Diego, whom he held by the hand.

While he was talking to the porter the prior came by, listened to his words, perceived by his accent that he came from Italy, and enquired into his story and his aims.

The prior was a learned and benevolent man, and entered warmly into the plans of the Italian mariner, perceiving that such an opportunity of acquiring lands in eastern Asia should not be lost to Spain.

He accordingly wrote to Queen Isabella, and at the end of 1491 Columbus spoke again before the learned men of the realm.

Some of them treated him as an impostor, but others believed his words; and when, after the fall of Granada, the Court had a free hand, it was decided to equip Columbus for his first voyage over the Atlantic.

All the negotiations nearly fell through at the last moment, owing to the demands of Columbus.

He wished to be appointed High Admiral of the Ocean and Viceroy over all the savage countries he discovered, and he demanded for himself and his descendants an eighth part of all the revenues of the new lands.

But when he declared that he intended to devote his gains to the recovery of Jerusalem from the Turks, his wishes were granted and funds were assigned for the equipment of three ships in the harbour of Palos.

These vessels each had three masts, but they were far too small for such an adventurous enterprise.

Only the Admiral's ship, the _Santa Maria_, was completely decked over.

The other two, the _Pinta_ and _Niña_, had only decks fore and aft.

The two brothers Pinzon, of noble extraction, at once volunteered for the voyage, but it was far from easy to enlist crews.

Had it been a voyage along the coasts of Europe and Africa, there would have been no difficulty in finding men, but for a voyage straight out into the unknown ocean--with that the sailors would have nothing to do.

At last it was necessary to open the prisons in order to procure ninety men, for only that number was needed for the whole three vessels.

The lists of the crews are still extant, and show that most of the men were Castilians.

Two doctors were taken, as well as a baptized Jew, who spoke Hebrew and Arabic, and might be useful as an interpreter when the expedition came over the ocean to India.

Curiously enough, Columbus had no chaplain on board, but before he set sail his friend the prior administered the sacrament to all his men, who in the opinion of most were doomed to a watery death.

Armed with a royal despatch to the Great Khan of Mongolia, Columbus stepped on board the _Santa Maria_, the moorings were cast off, and on August 3, 1492, the three ships steered under full sail out into the open sea.

They kept on a south-westerly course, and in six days reached the Canary Islands, where the little fleet stayed a month to repair some damages and patch up the _Pinta's_ broken rudder.

On September 8 a definite start was made, and when the lovely Canary Islands and the Peak of Teneriffe sank beneath the horizon, the sailors wept, believing that wind and sails would carry them from the world for ever, and that nothing but water and waves awaited them in the west.

From the first day Columbus kept a very exact diary, which shows how thoroughly he embraced Toscanelli's theory and how implicitly he relied on his fellow-countryman's calculations.

To his crews, however, he represented the distance as short, so that their fears should not be increased by the thought of the great interval that separated them from the Old World.

They became more anxious as days came and went, and still nothing but boundless deserts of water spread in every direction.

After a week's sail their keels ploughed through whole fields of floating seaweed, and Columbus pacified his men by the suggestion that this was the first indication of their approach to land.

The _Santa Maria_ was a broad and clumsy vessel, really intended to carry cargo.

She was, therefore, a slow sailer, and the other two ships usually took the lead.

They were of more graceful build and had large square sails, but were of barely half the tonnage of the flagship.

But all three kept together and were often so close that shouts could be heard from one ship to the other.

One day Pinzon, captain of the _Pinta_, called out to Columbus that he had seen birds flying westwards and expected to sight land before night.

They therefore sailed cautiously lest they should run aground, but all their apprehension ceased when a sounding-line two hundred fathoms long, lowered through the floating sea-wrack, failed to reach the bottom.

Their progress was stopped by several days of calm, and it was September 22 before the sea-weed came to an end and the vessels rolled again out to the open bluish-green water.

Through hissing surge the _Santa Maria_ and her two consorts cut their way due west.

A more favourable breeze could not be wished.

It was the trade wind which filled their sails.

The sailors were afraid of the constant east wind, and when at length it veered round for a time, Columbus wrote in his journal: "This head-wind was very welcome, for my men were mightily afraid that winds never blew in these seas which would take them back to Spain."

Toscanelli's map was sent backwards and forwards between Columbus and Pinzon, and they wondered where they really were, and how far it was to the islands of eastern Asia.

On September 25, Pinzon ascended the poop of the _Pinta_ and called out to Columbus, "I see land."

Then he fell on his knees with all his crew, and, with voices trembling with excitement and gratitude, the Castilian mariners sang "Glory to God in the Highest."

This was the first time a Christian hymn had sounded over the waves of the Atlantic.

The sailors of the _Santa Maria_ and _Niña_ climbed up into the rigging, and also saw the land and raised the same song of praise as their comrades.

But next day the longed-for land had vanished.

It was only a mist which lay over the sea to leeward, a mirage in the boundless desert of water.

At the beginning of October, Columbus began to suspect that he had already passed the islands laid down on Toscanelli's map, and he was glad that he had not been detained by them but could sail straight on to the mainland of India.

By India was meant at that time the whole of eastern Asia.

On October 7 the men on all the three vessels were sure that they saw land.

Every sail was set.

Each vessel thought it an honour to reach it first.

The _Niña_ took the lead.

At sunrise the flag of Castile was hoisted to the topmast and a shot thundered from its poop.

During the day the land vanished again.

But now flocks of birds were seen, all making south-westwards, and Columbus gave orders to follow in the same direction.

He wrote in his diary: "The sea, thank God, lay like the river at Seville, the temperature was as mild as in April at Seville, and the air was so balmy that it was delightful to breathe it."

But they sailed day after day and through the nights, and still there was nothing to be seen but water.

The men had several times given vent to their discontent, and now began to grumble again.

Columbus soothed them and reminded them of the reward that awaited them when they had attained their goal.

"Besides, their complaints were useless, for I have sailed out to reach India, and intend to prolong my voyage until, with God's help, I have found it."

On October 11 a log was seen floating in the sea with marks on it apparently cut by human hands; and shortly after, a branch with clusters of berries.

Then the sailors became content, and the Admiral promised a reward to the man who first sighted land.

All kept their eyes open and watched eagerly.

In the evening Columbus thought he saw a flash of light as though a man were carrying a torch along a low shore, and later in the night one of the _Pinta's_ men swore that land was visible in front.

Then all sails were taken in and they waited for the dawn.

When the sun rose on October 12, 1492, its rays illumined, before the eyes of the Spaniards, a flat grass-covered island which Columbus called San Salvador or St. Saviour, after Him who had rescued them from the perils of the sea.

This island evidently lay north of Japan--at any rate, it would appear so from Toscanelli's map.

Little did Columbus and his men suspect that a whole unknown continent and the world's greatest ocean, the Pacific, still separated them from Japan.

The small island was one of the Bahama group, and is now known as Watling Island.

If the voyages of the Northmen five hundred years earlier be left out of account, this island was the first point of the New World reached by Europeans.

The great day was begun with the _Te Deum_.

The officers congratulated the Admiral, the sailors threw themselves at his feet and begged forgiveness for their insubordination.

A boat was lowered, into which stepped Columbus with the flag of Castile in his hand, followed by the Pinzon brothers with the Banner of the Cross, and a few others.

Without knowing it, Columbus stepped on to the soil of America.

Solemnly he took possession of San Salvador on behalf of the crown of Castile.

A cross was erected on an elevation on the shore in token that the island was in Christian hands.

The natives must have been astonished when they saw the three wonderful ships arrive off their coast and white men come ashore.

At first they held aloof, but with beads and other gifts the Spaniards soon gained their confidence.

They had only wooden javelins for weapons, did not know iron, had long lanky hair, not woolly like the negroes, were naked, and painted their bodies red and white.

They knew gold, and that was well, for it was gold, and gold above everything, that Columbus needed to free the Holy Sepulchre from the Turks.

These savages had gold rings in their noses, and when the Spaniards inquired by signs where the gold came from, they pointed towards the south-west.

Columbus, of course, called them Indians.

Seven of them were taken on board.

They were to go to Spain and "learn to talk," so that they might act as interpreters on subsequent voyages.

Then the voyage of discovery was resumed.

The ships had to be sailed with great caution, for dangerous reefs lay round the islands.

According to the signs made by the savages two large islands lay to the south.

One must be Japan, and when Columbus landed on the coast of Cuba and heard of a prince named Kami, he thought that this man must be the Great Khan, and that he was really on the mainland of eastern Asia.

Accordingly he sent his Jew and two of his savages ashore to look for the Great Khan.

They were four days away and searched as well as they could among the tent-like huts of the natives, but never saw a glimpse of any Mongolian Great Khan in Cuba.

Exceedingly beautiful was this strange coast, reminding them of Sicily.

Sweet song of birds was heard, there was an odour of fruits, and green foliage and palms waved like plumes in the breeze.

The Spaniards were astonished to see the natives walking about smoking rolled-up leaves which they called tobacco, and had no notion what a source of wealth these leaves in the form of cigars would become in the future.

Pinzon on the _Pinta_ must have been bewitched by all the wonders he saw, for he ran off with his vessel to seek the land of gold on his own account.

Columbus himself sailed across to the large island of Haiti, which as usual he took possession of in the name of Castile.

The natives received him everywhere with amazement and submission, believing that he was an emissary from the abode of the gods.

On the northern coast of the island a great misfortune occurred on Christmas Eve.

An inexperienced steersman was at the _Santa Maria's_ rudder, and let the vessel run on a sandbank, where it became a wreck.

The crew had to take refuge on the _Niña_.

The natives helped to save all that was on board, and not even a pin was stolen.

But the _Niña_ could not hold them all, and how were they to get back to Spain?

Columbus found a way out of the difficulty.

He decided to found a colony on the coast.

Forty men were to be left behind to search for gold, and by the time Columbus returned from Spain they would no doubt have a tun full of the precious metal, and that would be enough for the conquest of Jerusalem.

The sailors were only too glad to remain, for they found the natives accommodating and the climate good.

It was in all respects much pleasanter than to endure hardship on the _Niña_, and perhaps founder with the wretched little ship.

Accordingly, a blockhouse was built of wreckage from the _Santa Maria_, was surrounded by a wall and moat and provisioned, and after presenting the chief of the Indians with a shirt and a pair of gloves, Columbus weighed anchor and steered for home.

He had not sailed far before he fell in with the _Pinta_, and took the independent Pinzon into favour again.

Then they sailed eastwards across the Atlantic.

On February 12 a storm arose.

All the sails were furled and the two ships lost sight of one another for good.

The _Niña_ pitched horribly and threatened to sink.

All made ready for death.

Columbus, fearing that his discoveries would perish with him, wrote a narrative on parchment, covered it with wax and placed it in a cask, which was entrusted to the angry waves.

The sailors thought that it was an offering with which Columbus sought to allay the storm.

A few days later the _Niña_ arrived safely at the southernmost island of the Azores, and thence continued her voyage to the mouth of the Tagus and Lisbon.

On March 15 the inhabitants of Palos saw the most famous of all the ships of the world come into the harbour.

The people streamed down with the wildest jubilation and all the church bells were rung.

The same evening the _Pinta_ also sailed in, but was very differently received, for it was already known that Pinzon wished to usurp the honour of the discovery, being convinced that Columbus's vessel had been lost in the storm.

No one took any notice of him, and he died a few days later, probably of chagrin and sorrow.

In Seville Columbus received a summons from the King and Queen, who were staying in Barcelona.

His journey through Spain was one great triumphal progress.

He was feted as a conqueror in every town.

He was conducted in a brilliant procession through the streets, six copper-brown "Indians" marching at the head with coloured feathers in their head-dresses.

This was Christopher Columbus, who had given new lands to Spain, who had discovered a convenient sea route to India just at the time when the Portuguese were looking for a route thither round the coast of Africa.

In Barcelona all his titles and privileges were solemnly confirmed.

Now he was actually the Admiral of the Ocean and Viceroy of India.

Now he had attained the height of worldly honour.

Then began the time of adversity.

On his second voyage, when he set out with seventeen ships, he discovered the northern Antilles as far as Porto Rico and came in contact with cannibals.

At Haiti he found that the forty men whom he had left behind on his first voyage had been killed by the natives.

He took it for granted that Cuba was the mainland of Asia, and that thence the journey to Spain might be made dryshod by following Marco Polo's footsteps.

Discontent was rife among his men, the natives rose up against the intruders, rivals sprang up around him like mushrooms, and in the home country he was abused by high and low.

He returned to Spain to put everything right; but this time he was no longer received with rejoicing, and found that he had now a formidable rival in Portugal.

In the year 1497 Vasco da Gama discovered the real sea route to the real India by sailing round the south of Africa, an event which, in the eyes of that generation, quite eclipsed the discoveries of Columbus.

In India inexhaustible riches were to be found, whereas the poor islands of Columbus had simply cost money, ships, and men.

But the strong will of Columbus overcame all obstacles, and for the third time he sailed for his fictitious India.

Now he held a more southerly course, and discovered the island Trinidad, and found that the water between it and the coast of Venezuela was fresh.

There must then be a large river near.

This river was the Orinoco.

Disturbances broke out again in Haiti, and Columbus's opponents sent home complaints against him.

A Royal Commission was sent out to hold an enquiry, and in the end arrested the Admiral and sent him in chains to Spain.

The captain of the vessel wished to remove his fetters and leave him free as long as he was on board, but Columbus would not consent, for he wished to retain them as a "reminder of the reward he had got for his services."

But when he was led in chains through the streets of Cadiz, the scene of his former triumph, the displeasure of the people was aroused, and at the Court Columbus met with a friendly reception.

He even succeeded in fitting out a fourth expedition and crossed the Atlantic in nineteen days.

The new Governor forbade him to land, and Columbus expressed his indignation that he, the discoverer, should not be allowed to set foot on his own islands.

He then steered westwards and came to the coast of Honduras, and thence followed the coast of Nicaragua southwards.

He fully and firmly believed that this was Malacca, and that farther south would be found a passage to India proper.

He sailed back towards Cuba, but was driven by bad weather to Jamaica, where in great extremity he had to run his ship ashore.

One of his trusty men rowed for four days in a canoe over the open sea to Haiti to beg for help.

Meanwhile the shipwrecked men were in hard case.

The natives threatened them, and refused them all help.

Columbus knew that an eclipse of the moon would shortly occur, and told the natives that if they would not help them, the God of the Spaniards would for ever deprive them of the light of the moon.

And when the shadow of the earth began to move over the moon's disc, the natives were terrified, fell at the feet of Columbus, and promised him everything.

He pretended to consider the matter, but at last allowed himself to be persuaded and promised that they should keep their moon.

And then the shadow moved off quietly into space, leaving the moon as bright as a silver shield.

At last he received assistance, and in 1504 was back in Spain.

No one now paid any attention to him.

His property was confiscated, his titles were not restored to him, and even the outstanding pay of his followers was kept back.

Ill with gout and vexation, he stayed at first in Seville.

His former friends did not know him.

Lonely and crushed down by grief and disappointment, he died in 1506 at Valladolid.

No one took any notice of his decease, and not a chronicle of the time contains a word about his death.

Even in the grave he seemed to find no rest.

He was first interred quietly in Valladolid; then his remains were transferred to a monastery church in Seville; half a lifetime later his body was carried to San Domingo in Haiti, where it rested for 250 years until it was deposited in the cathedral of Havana in Cuba; and finally, when Cuba was lost to the United States, the remains of the great discoverer were again brought back to Spain.

Columbus was a tall, powerfully built man, with an aquiline nose, a pink and freckled complexion, light-blue eyes and red hair, which early became white in consequence of much thought and great sorrows.

During four centuries of admiration and detraction his life and character have been dissected and torn to bits.

Some have seen in him a saint, a prophet; others have called him a crafty adventurer, who stole Toscanelli's plan in order to gain power, honour, and wealth for himself.

But when, about twenty years ago, the fourth century since his discovery was completed, full amends were made to his memory and his achievements were celebrated throughout the world.

He opened new fields for unborn generations, he extended the bounds of the earth, and guided the world's history into new channels.

Four years before the death of Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci of Florence, who made four voyages across the ocean, suggested that the new lands had nothing to do with Asia, but were a "New World" in distinction to the Old; and a German schoolmaster, who wrote a geographical text-book, suggested in the introduction that as the fourth continent had been discovered by Amerigo Vespucci (Americus Vesputius), there was no reason why it should not be called Amerigo or America after its discoverer.

The proposal was accepted, and only too late was it realised that Columbia would have been the proper name.

One discovery followed after another, and the coasts of America gradually assumed on charts and maps the form with which we are familiar.

Let us for a moment dwell on another of the most striking voyages in the history of the world.

In the year 1519 the Portuguese Magelhaens sailed along the east coast of South America and discovered the strait which still bears his name; and what is more, he found at last, through this strait, the western passage to India.

He sailed over an immense ocean, where the weather was good and no storms threatened his ships; and accordingly he called it the Pacific Ocean.

Other dangers, however, awaited him.

The mariners sailed for four months over unbroken sea, suffering from hunger and disease.

At last three of the vessels reached the Philippines.

There Magelhaens landed with a small party, and was overpowered and slain by the natives.

Only one of the ships, the _Victoria_, came home, but this was the first vessel which sailed round the world.

During the succeeding centuries white men struck their claws ever firmer into America.

The Indians were forced back into the backwoods, and in North America they have been almost exterminated.

Under French, and later, under English rule, those parts of North America have developed an unexpected power and wealth which were despised by the Spaniards, who in their boundless greed of gain thought of nothing but gold.