Resource Center OLLibrary
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1485-1486] |
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His plan was this: he would start from
Europe, head his ship westward toward Japan, and follow the curve
of the globe until it brought him to what he sought. To his mind
it seemed as sure and simple as for a fly to walk round an
apple.
If successful in the expedition, he could enter
the Spice Islands and the whole region of the Indies directly by
the front door, while the Portuguese could only enter them in a
roundabout way, and by a sort of side door.
Had Columbus correctly reckoned the size of the
globe and the true length of the voyage he proposed, he probably
would not have sailed, since he would have seen at once that the
Portuguese route (§ 6) was both far shorter and cheaper than
his. Furthermore, if he had imagined that the American continent
lay right across his path, that would have been another
discouraging circumstance, because his object was not to find a
new country, but a new way to an old one.
8. Columbus seeks and obtains the Assistance
of Spain. Columbus meditated on his great voyage for many
years, during which time he sought to get the help first of his
native city, then of Portugal, and finally of Spain (1485-1486).
He met with nothing but disappointment. He was regarded as a
foolish schemer, and the street boys openly mocked him as a
lunatic.
At last, worn out with waiting, and sick at
heart, Columbus set out to leave Spain, but he was recalled. He
had a few stanch friends at court who believed, with him, that
"wherever ships could sail, man might venture." Through their aid,
and especially through the gift of a large sum of money from Queen
Isabella, he obtained the assistance he required.1
Thus, chiefly by a woman's help, the brave sailor got the power to
undertake his daring enterprise.
9. Columbus sails. Columbus had succeeded
in getting his own terms, -- he had received the rank of admiral,
he was to be governor of all lands that he might discover or
acquire, and he was to have a tenth of whatever treasure he might
find. When
1 The whole amount
raised to fit out the expedition was about $93,000, of which sum
the Queen seems to have contributed over two thirds. See
Harrisse's "Columbus."
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[1492 |
all was ready for the voyage he and his men went to church, and
implored the blessing of God on their great enterprise. The next
day, Friday, August 3, 1492, "half an hour before sunrise,"
Columbus set sail from Palos, Spain, with three small vessels and
one hundred and twenty men.1
Of these vessels, only the largest, the
Admiral's ship, had an entire deck, and even that was probably of
not over one hundred tons' burden, or about the size of an
ordinary coasting schooner.
CORRECT CHART OF WESTWARD ROUTE FROM EUROPE TO ASIA, FOR
COMPARISON WITH THE CHART OF COLUMBUS GIVEN ABOVE
1 Columbus kept a
regular journal of the voyage from the start. In the introduction
to that journal he says, respecting one object he had in view: "In
consequence of the information which I had given to your
Highnesses [the King and Queen of Spain] of the lands of
India, and of a prince who is called the Grand Khan, which is to
say ... King of Kings ... therefore your Highnesses ... determined
to send me, Christopher Columbus, to the said parts of India to
see the said prince and the people and lands ... and to discover
the means to be taken for the conversion of them to our holy
faith; and ordered that I should not go by land to the East, by
which it is the custom to go, but by a voyage to the west, by
which course, unto the present time, we do not know for certain
that any one hath passed."
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1492] |
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Columbus took his route by way of the Canary
Islands, because Japan, the nearest Asiatic land, was supposed to
lie in that latitude. (Maps, pp. 8, 9.) At the Canaries he was
detained several weeks repairing the rudder of one vessel and
altering the sails of a second.
On September 6 he hoisted anchor and resolutely
set out to cross that ocean which no civilized man had ever before
attempted to pass over. As the last dim outline of the islands
faded from their sight many of the sailors were completely
overcome. Some shed tears, as if they "had taken leave of the
world";
ROUTE OF COLUMBUS, 1492
others, unable to restrain their grief, broke out into loud and
bitter lamentations.
But Columbus himself had no such fears. He did
not feel that he was making a leap in the dark. He was an
experienced navigator, and he had carefully calculated everything
and provided for everything.
1. He had a chart of the globe, made by
himself.
2. He had the mariner's compass for his
guide.
3. He carried with him an improved astrolabe,
the instrument which was then used for determining position, at
sea, by observation of the sun.
But these things were not all. In fact, these
were but the material and mechanical means of success. He had the
conviction that he was engaged in a Providential work, and that he
was certain to accomplish it. There are occasions in life when
such a faith is worth everything to its possessor: this was
one.
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[1492 |
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10. The Voyage; Variation of the Needle; the Crew
are greatly alarmed; the Winged Guides. For a time
all went well; then a new and strange circumstance was
noticed. It was found that the compass no longer pointed
toward the |
north
star, but that it varied more and more, as they went on,
to the west of north.
(By permission of the Prang Co., New
York).
COLUMBUS APPROACHING
LAND
