The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1892-11-09
WHERE COLUMBUS LANDED.
The Claims OF Various Islands Con
sidered.

|
is to have no part whatever in the cele-
brations. San Salvador is lett
out of the account. This is
the more singular since, when the quad
ricentennial ceremonies were first pro-
posed, among the earliest suggestions
was that of triumphal visit to that ISL
and. CASTELAR,, in 1888, proposed that n
delegation of ships from Spain, Portu-
gal, Italy, France, England, and the
| United States should follow the course
of Columbus from Palos, touching at the
Canaries and arriving at San Salvador as
he arrived; and afterward Edward,
Everett Hale suggested that our Gov
eminent should send vessel to San
Salvador, with orders to make landing
there on the 10th of October, 1892, and
then follow the course of the discoverer
from thatpoint, as set forth in his log
book. But nothing of this sort has Seen
zone.
Perhaps in one respect the failure to
include the Bahamas in the cele-
bration is fortunate, rs ut the outset
there would be doubt rs to the true
landfall of Columbus. For, among the
many points of dispute connected with
the great navigator's career, this has
been one of those most persistently con-
tested. The geographers and historians
do not yet agree in regard to it. What
we know is that the island renamed San
Salvador by Columbus was called Guiana
hani by the natives; that it was flat, was
well watered, and produced trees, herb
age, and various fruits; that 1t was
ri 1a1 nv m "A
large lake or lagoon in the interior. But
taking these points fro the description
given by Columbus as correct, the au-
thorities still differ widely in their at
tcmpts to identify it. For Il long time
Cat Island, the northernmost of the can
didates, was generally accepted rs the
true San Salvador. 1t was one of the
earliest fixed upon, and was sus-
tanned in later generation by
the powerful support of Washington
Irving and Humboldt. Tarducci, Il re-
cent biographer, is also inclined to ac-
cept this solution. But other claimants
for this honor appeared - Mariguana,
SANTANA, Watlings, Acklin, the Plana
Gays, and the Grand Turk. The claims
of Mariguana were advocated by Warm
this case is The lack of II lagoon in the
interior. And it may here be added that
this same lack strikes out Cat Island,
while further objection to the latter is
hill 400 feet high, which does not ac-
cord with the statement of Columbus
that the island was fiat. Harrisse sug-
gests that the Plana Gays and
its neighbor, Acklin, would re-
concie the discrepant terms of
small " or " rather large" which
Columbus uses as one would apply
to what he first saw and the other to the
actual landing point. The claims Of
Turks Island were first brought out by
Navarrete of Madrid in 1896, and were
advocated by Samuel Kettell of Boston
the following year and by George Gibbs
in 1916. This Grande Salina Of the Turk
Islands was also accepted afterward by
Caleb Cushing rs answering fully to a
tracing of the route of Columbus back
ward from Cuba. The Grand Turk also
has the required lagoon.
But the weight of modern opinion has
eliminated these claimants in favor of
SANTANA and Watling's. The former,
called also Atwood's Key, was first hit
upon by Capt G.. V. Fox in 1876, and
his conclusion was adopted by Mr.. Hale
in the suggestion of an expedition
already spoken of. Far greater au-
thority, however, is gradually clustering
around Watling's Island. Situated in
latitude % degrees 81 minutes north
and longitude II degrees and % minutes
west, this island is found to answer the
Il Af 70, IL \
was first selected as the true Guanahani
by Munoz in 1893, close upon century ago;
but its chief support dates from 1856,
when Capt. Becker of the British Hydro
graphic Office, an expert in photography,
published a treatise advocating it. Pes
chal soon afterward followed this lead,
and Major in 1870 deserted the claims of
Grand Turk and became an advocate of
Watling's Petcrmann, Daniel, Stein,
and Markham are others who have yielded
TO the same conclusion. To one of our
own naval officers, however, must be
awarded the credit of giving Il new and
valuable support to the claims
of Watlngs Island. 1t is worth noting
that Irving's choice of Cat Island
had rested upon the authority of Capt.
worked out the solution for him, and
that Capt Fox had as carefully brought
forward the claims of SANTANA; while
after them Lieut.. j. b. Murdoch, in
1884, plotted backward the track of
Columbus from Cuba, and found that
Watling's answered the conditions better
than any other island. An addition to
all this evidence, which includes the
striking arguments of the well-known
geographers, Major and Markham, was
made "A few years ago by Gov. Blake, who,
while Governor of the Bahamas, voyaged
from island to island with the log book of
Columbus in his hand, carefully noting
every point and eliminating one after
another of the claimants, until he had full
ly settled upon Watling's as alone
answering the description of Columbus,
which it did perfectly. About two years
ago Mr. Cronan made n similar voyage
and reached the same conclusion. There
also, Mr.. Wellman, of the Chicago Her
aid expedition, placed n monument Wat
ling's has one-third of its area occupied
by n lake: il is fertile: il has the reef