The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1891-11-13

This tissue Of errors and misconcep
tions he Immediately communicated Il
Columbus. |. put an end to the delusior
in which the admiral had hitherto In
obliged. that this was the island of u
Tango: but u substituted another no les,
agreeable. He concluded that he mus
have reached she mainland Of Asia. or
a. he termed IL. India. and II 30. he could
not BE- at any great distance from Mang
and Cathay, the ultimate destination d
his voyage. The prince in question. who
reignei over this neighboring country
mnst be some oriental potentate Of con
sequence: he resolved. therefore. TO seelI
the river beyond tho Cape OF Palms and
dispatch u present TO the monarch with
one OF the letters Of recommendation
from tho Castilian sovereigns. and after
visiting his dominions he would proceed
70 the capital OF Cathay. the residence Of
the grand khan
Every attempt to reach the river In
question. however. proved Intellectual.
Cape stretched beyond cape; there wss
no good anchorage; the wind became
contrary. and the appearance OF the
heavens threatening rough weather. he
put back to the Rio de los Mares
On the LIST Of Novem Der. at sunrise, he
sent the boats on shore to visit several
houses. but the inhabitants fed TO the
wooda He supposed they must have
mistaken his armament for one OF the
securing expeditions sent by the grand
khan to make prisoners and slaves. He
sent the boat on shore again in the after
noon with an Indian interpreter. who
was instructed to assure the people Of
the peaceable and bene6cent intentions
OF the Spaniards. and that they had no
connection with the grand khan. After
the Indian had proclaimed this from the
boat to the savages on the beach. part Of
It. no doubt. to their great perplexity, he
threw himself into the water and swan
to shore. He WAS we'll received by the
natives. and succeeded SO effectually in
calming their fears that before evening
there were more than 81 xteen canoes about
the ships. bringing cotton yarn and other
simple articles Of traffic. Columbus for
bade all trading for anything but gold,
that the natives might be tempted to
produce the real riches Of their country.
They had none TO offer; all were desti-
tute Of ornaments Of the precious metals.
excepting one, who wore In his nose
piece Of wrought silver.
Coium bus understood this man to say
that the king lived abont the distance Of
four days journey in the interior. that
k~4 n -
TO give him tidings Of the arrival Of the
strangers upon the coast, and that in
less than three days time messengers
might be expected from him in return,
and many merchants from the interior to
trade with the shiTe. Il Is curious to
observe how ingeniously the imagina-
tion Of Columbus deceived him at every
step, and how he wove everything into
. uniform web Of false conclusions.
Porting over the map of Toscanelh. re-
ferring to the reckonings Of his voyage,
and musing on the misinterpreted words
OF the Indians. he imagined that he must
be on the borders Of Cathay and about
100 leagues from the capital OF the
grand khan. Anxious to arrive there,
and to delay As little as possible in the
territories Of an inferior prince. 10 de-
tcrmined not to await the arrival Of
messengers and merchants. Init to dis
patch two ENJOYS 10 seek the neigh.
boring monarch at his residence.
For this mission he chose two Span
iards- Rodrigo de Jerez and Luis de Tor
res-the latter q converted Jew, who
knew Hebrew and Chaldaic, and even
something Of Arabic. lhe or other Of
which Columbus supposed might DO
known to this oriental prince. Two Indi-
ans were sent with them as guides-one q
native Of Guanahani and the other an in
habitant OF the hamlet on the bank Of
the river. The ambassadors were fur.
nished with strings Of beads and other
trinkets for travelling expenses. Instruc-
tions were given them to inform the king
that Columbus had been sent by the Cas-
lillian sovereigns . bearer Of letters and
present. which he was to deliver person
ally, for the purpose Of establishing N
amicable intercourse between the powerA
They were likewise to inform themselves
accurately about the situation and dis
tances Of certain provinces, ports and
rivers, which the admiral specified by
name from the descriptions which he had
Of the coast Of Asia They were more
over provided with specimens Of spices
and drugs for the purpose Of ascertaining
whether any articles Of the kind abound
ed in the country. With these provisions
and instructions the em bassadors depart
ed, six days being allowed them to 60
and return. Many 1t the present day
win smile at this embassy to naked saw
age chieftain in the interior Of Cuba IN
mistake for an Asiatic monarch, but such
was the singular nature Of this voyage
continual series Of golden dreams-and
al interpreted by the deluding volume Of
Marco Polo
no N CONTINUED
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