Gloucester County Democrat., 1891-09-03

neighborhood of danger Fortunately a
breeze sprang up with the sun, their
sails were once more filed, and in the
course OF the day the heights of Ferro
gradually faded from the horizon.
On losing sight Of this last trace Of
land the hearts of thecrews failed them.
They seemed literally to have taken leave
4 of the world. Behind them was every
thing dear to the heart of man; country,
family, friends, life itself; before them
everything was chaos, mystery and
peril. In the perturbation of the
moment they despaired of ever seeing
( their homes. Many of the rugged sea-
men shed tears and some broke into loud
lamentations. The admiral tried in
every way to soothe their distress and
4 to inspire them with his own glorious
anticipations. He described to them the
magnificent countries to which he was
about to conduct them; the islands Of
the Indian seas teeming with gold and
/ precious stones; the regions of Mangi
and Cathay, with their cities of unrivaled
wealth and splendor. He promised them
land and riches, and everything that
could arouse their cupidity or inhame
their imaginations, nor were these
promises made for purposes Of mere
deception; he certainly believed that he
should realize them all.
He now issued orders to the command
ers'of the other vessels that, in the event
of separation by any accident, they
should continue directly westward, but
after sailing 200 leagues they should
lay by from midnight until daylight,
as at about that distance he conf
IDENTIFY expected to find land In the
meantime, as he thought it possible he
might not discover land within the dis
tance thus assigned, and as he foresaw
that the vague terrors already awakened
among the seanen would increase with
the space which interviewed between
them and their homes, he commenced q
stratageln which he continued through
out the voyage. He kept two reckon
ings; one correct, in which the true way
of the ship was noted and which was re-
tanned in secret for his own government;
in the other, which was open to general
inspection, a number Of leagues was
daily subtracted from the sailing Of the
ship, so that the crews were kept in ig-
norance Of the real distance they had
advanced.
On the 18th Of September, when about
100 leagues west Of Ferro, they fell in
with part of a mast, which from its
size appeared to have belonged to a vessel
Of about 100 tons burden, and which had
evidently been long time in the water.
The crews, tremblingly alive to every
thing that could excite their hopes or
fears, looked with rueful eye upon this
wreck OF some unfortunate voyager,
drifting ominously at the entrance of
those unknown seas
On the 18th Of September, III the even
ing. being about 200 leagues from the
island Of Ferro, Columbus for the first
time noticed the variation Of the needle,
phenomenon which had never before
been remarked. He perceived about
nightfall that the needle, instead of
pointing to the north star, varied about
half a point, or between five and SIX de-
grees, to the northwest, and still more
on the following morning. Struck with
this circumstance, he observed it atten-
lively for three days and found that the
variation increased as he advanced. He
at first made no mention Of this phenoln-
enon, knowing how ready his people
were to take alarm, but it soon attracted
the attention of the pilots and filed them
with CONSERVATION. 1t seemed as if the
very laws of nature were changing as
they advanced, and that they were en-
tering another world, subject to un-
known influences. They apprehended
that the compass was about to lose its
mysterious virtues, and without this
guide what was to become Of them in
vast and trackless ocean?
Columbus tasked his science and inge-
nuity for reasons with which to aIIay
their terror He observed that the direc-
ton of the needle was not to the polar
star, but to some fixed and invisible
point The variation, therefore, was not
caused by any fallacy in the compass, but
by the movement Of the north star itself,
which. like the other heavenly bodies.
had its changes and revolutions, and
every day described circle around the
pole. The high opinion which the pilots
entertained OF Columbus as a profound
astronomer gave weight to this theory,
and their alarm subsided AS yet the so
ar system of Copernicus was unknown;
the explanation of Columbus, therefore,
was highly plausible and ingenious, and
it shows the vivacity of his mind, ever
ready to meet the emergency of the mo-
ment The theory may at first have been
advanced merely to satisfy the minds
of others, but Columbus appears subse-
quently to have remained satisfied with
i. himself The phenomena has now be-
come familiar to US, but we still continue
ignorant Of its cause. 1t is one of those
mysteries Of nature, open to daily obser-
walton and experiment, and apparently
simple from their familiarity, but which
on investigation make the human mind
conscious of its limits, battling the expe-
rience of the practical and humbling the
pride of science.