The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1891-10-02

Yet Conjured. Told In the Words
OF One of the Masters OF Litcra-
ture.
CHAPTER ILL., Continued.
Columbus endeavored to dispel these
gloomy presages, sometimes by argu
ment and expostulation, sometimes by
awakening fresh hopes and pointing out
new signs Of land. On the Goth of Sep
tember the wind veered, with light
breezes from the southwest. These,
though adverse to their progress, had a
cheering effect upon the people, as they
proved that the wind did not always pre-
vail from the east. Several birds also
visited the ships; three of small kind
which keep about groves and orchards
came singing in the morning and flew
away again in the evening. Their song
cheered the hearts of the dislnayed mari
ners, who hailed it as the voice of land.
The larger fowl, they observed, were
strong of wing and might venture far to
sea, but such small birds were too feeble
to fly far, and their singing showed that
they were not exhausted by their flight.
On the following day there was either
a profound calm or light winds from
the southwest. The sea, as far as the
eye could reach, was covered with weeds;
phenomenon often observed in this
part of the ocean, which has sometimes
the appearance OF a vast inundated
meadow. This has been attributed to
immense quantities of submarine plants
which grow at the bottom of the sea
until ripe, when they are detached by
the motion of the waves and currents
and rise to the surface. These fields Of
weeds were at first regarded with great
satisfaction, but at length they became
in many places so dense and matted as
in some degree to impede the sailing OF
the ships, which must have been under
very little headway The crews now
called to mind some tale about the
frozen ocean, where ships were said to
be sometimes fixed inmovable. They
endeavored. therefore. to avoid as much
as possible these floating masses, lest
some disaster of the kind might happen
to themselves Others considered these
weeds as proof that the sea was growing
shallower. and began to talk of lurking
rocks and shoals and treacherous quick
sands and of the danger of running
aground, as it were, in the midst Of the
ocean, where their vessels might rot and
fall to pieces far out Of the track Of
human aid and without any shore where
the crews might take refuge They had
evidently some confused notion of the
oYNior1f cfO Nf s,lo -
Atlantis, and feared that they were ar
riying at that part of the ocean where
navigation was said to be obstructed by
drowned lands and the ruins of an in
quilted country
To dispel these fears the admiral had
frequent recourse to the lead. but though
he sounded with a deep sea line he still
found no bottom Yhe minds of the
crews, however, had gradually become
diseased. They were full of vague ter
rors and superstitious fancies; they con-
strued everything into cause of alarm
and harassed their commander by in
cessant murmurs
For three days there was a continu-
ance of light summer airs from the
southwark and westward, and the sea
was as smooth as a mirror. A whale
was seen heaving up it's huge form at
distance, which Columbus Immediately
pointed out as favorable Indication,
affirming that these fish We're generally
in the neighborhood of land The crews,
however, became uneasy at the calmness
Of the weather They observed that the
contrary winds which they experienced
Wars transient and unsteady and 80
light AZ not to rptfls the surface OF the
sea, which maintained q sluggish calm
like lake Of dead water. Everything
differed, they said. in these strange re-
gions from the world to which they had
been accustomed. The only winds which
prevailed with any constancy and force
were FROM the east. and they had not
power to disturb the torpid stiffness OF
the ocean There was risk. therefore,
either of perishing amid stagnant and
shoreless waters or of hSirg prevented
by contrary winds from ever returning
TO their native country.
Columbus continued with admirable
patience to reason with these fancies
observing that the calmness of the sea
must undoubtedly be caused by the
vicinity of land in the quarter whence
tho wind blew. which, therefore, had
not space sufficient ta act ppon the sur
face and heave up large waves. Terror.
however, multiplies and varies the forms
Of ideal danger thousand times faster
than the most active wisdom can dis
pei them. The more Columbus argued
the moro bQisterogs became the muir
murs of his crew, until, on Sunday, the
25th of September, there came on a
heavy swell of the sea, unaccompanied
by wind. This phenomenon often oc-
ours in the broad ocean, being either the
expiring EHdHlatiens of some past gale
or the movement given TO the sea by
some distant current of wind; it was,
nevertheless, regarded with astonishment
by the mariners and dispelled the inn
agiHary terrors occasioned by the calm.
Columbus who Us usual considered
himself under the immediate eye and
guardianship of heaven in this solemn
enterprise, intimates in his journal that
this swelling of the sea seemed provi-
dentially ordered to allay the rising
clamors Of his crew, comparing it to
that which SO miraculously aided Moses
when conducting the children Of Israel
out of the captivity of Egypt
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