The sun., 1891-03-02
TIE LAxDrALL OF coLUHsUa
o. what Part or The New Wsr4a DiA Its
Great Discoverer First Set Feets

O. what Part or the New wsrlA DiA Its
Great Discoverer First Set Fests
To THE EprToR OF The HuS-Sir. Bull
letin No. I. put forth By the Bureau OF the
American Republics at Washington. as hand
book OF those republics. has for fits frontispiece
the picture OF waste OF water, trimmed In the
distance with low shore line. and ontitled
"WatllnR'a Islard-the First Land Seen by
Columbus"
There is something attractive In this terse
decision. supported by no further comment.
OF q question which. during some generations.
has Afforded scope for much difference Of opin-
ion. What was that island ON which Colum-
bus watching about 10 o'clock OF the night be-
fore the ever-memorable Oct ~. l402. saw O
light rising aud falling? Many people will
cudRel their memories in vain to identity Wat
ling's Island with this long. sou sht shore.
They will. perhaps. think OF tho land which
Columbus piously called San Salvador. ns being
called Cat Island following their Washington
Irving and their Humboldt. Or they may have
accepted the conclusion reached hy +. A. de
varnhagen. n quarter OF century ago. that
MayaEuana was the island on which Columbus
landed. and which, as is known. the natives at
that time called GuanahanL Then Wa find
advocates of the claims OF snmana. and again
Of Turks Island for this honor.
Indeed. tue islands that have claimed to he
the iandfall Of Columbus recall BY their number
the diversity OF Wow as 10 the date OF his
birth. which covers. In the controversy. q
period Of ten or fifteen years. But after all II Is
but natural that group or chain as extensive
as the Bahamas or Lucayos stretching along
several hundred miles, and containing several
hundred larger or smaller members. having
some close resemblances In size aud general
appearance. should yield more than ono which
corresponds 10 q certain extent with the de-
scripton In the diary or log book Of the great
navigator. This 10 the more Ineligible. since
the 6paniards depopulAted the islands In Or
der to work the natives In their mines else-
where. 90 that all local tradition Of the original
landing place died ont. Nor did the spariards
psiion % dd not follow R until I ioas. W. AHN'" 0''"
tRss wsnsss 81 fsSnd Which s
Soqa sbs .rn aty %ss Of Ssf Leland
new claimant msde little hsadway against the
belle, that Cat Island va. better entitled to
iinysstixstioa the claim q Wstilnss LELAND
make Il ifresistibls. First. 4: Il. Beehsr in.
sisted upon @ this view; and Pssehel Daniel,
s9d others haSs
down 70 Cat. ss%sns. and &ssiIns's. ths last last
named has now almost eciipsed the other two.
rscent oriStns nj Iinvs"tieations sHfthnsuh .0t ~ w
that OF Gov. Blake while Governor OF the BAHIA
mas. few Year, ago. He made several cruises
among the islands OF which no had off1cial
to guide him. he followed tho explorers course
as nearly as possible: draughtsman
sketohed the outlines Of the various shores
and the Governors wife made water color
drawings Of the scenery. He also studied the
.% currents s1 agSinst which the early
elimination. ono after another OF tho Islands
was rejected as failing to fully satisfy the de-
Rcr1ption given BY Columbus, while WatlinR's
Island wholly agreed with It, 1t had the lake
in the centre. tho fertile soil. the reef encir-
cling II except at the capaciops harbor with
its narrow entrance. and the bluff hard by.
Such an indebendent study. together with
the conclusions Of the geographers who had
@ Ss 9 doo6s entities
was raised and indeed il has boon oficialiy
named San Salvador.
The present Importance Ct this matter is in
70 make oombined voyage Of vessels from
the Old World to- the New In September and
October. 1892. a leading feature Of the honors
paid to Columbus. Naturally there should 10
econ common !. asrsemsnt a., as TO the g island reeoe-
SoyersE Researches relating to the place where
importance during the next few years. A
feature Of the coming celebration might we'll
be that OF erecting upon the spot monument,
which In such an out. t.of-tho.way place need
not be pretentious and elaborate. but should
bs impressive aud enduring. PINTA.