Arizona weekly citizen., 1892-08-20
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ing delay to Columbus, who was I'm
 patient tO find himself far out of sight o
 either land or sail, which m the pure
 atmOSpheres of these latitudes may bt
 deserted at an immense distance. Or
 the following Sunday. the 9th of Sep
 tember. at daybreak, he beheld Ferro
 the last of the Canary islands. about nine
 leagues distant. This was the island
 whence the Portuguese caravels had
 been seen: he was therefore in the very
 neighbOrhOOd of danger Fortunately a
 breeze sprang mp with the sun, their
 sails were once more filled, 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 thecrew failed them.
 They seemed literally to have taken leave
 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 i peril In the perturbation of the
 moment they despaired of ever seeing
 their homes. Many of the rugged se;,-
 men shed tears and some broke into loud lamentations. The admiral tried in every way to soOthe their distress and
 to inspire them with his own glorious i 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 ima%inations. 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 CTS of the other vessels that. in the event of separation by any accident. they should cOntinue directly westward. but after sailing 100 leagues they should lay by from midnight until daylight. as at abuut that distance he conf dently expected to find land In the meantime, as he thought it possible he might not discover land within the dis tance thus assigned. and ls he foresaw that the vague terrOrS already awakened among the seaInen would increase with the space which intervenetl between them and their homes, he commenced stratagem which he continued through out the voyage He kept two reckon Ings. one correct. m wnlcn lne true way of the ship was nOte.l and which was re- tained IF secret for his own government; m the other. which was open to general inspection. a number of leagues was '!aily subtracted from the sliling of the ship. sO that the crews were kept in ig- nOrance of the real distance they had advanced
 On the lth of September, when about lj0 leagues west of Ferro, they fell in with part of a mast, which from it's size appeared tO have belonged to a vessel | of about l20 tons burden, and which had | evidently been a long time in the water l The crews. tremblinSly alive to every | thing that could excite their hopes or | fears, looked with rueful eye upon this ! wreck or some unfortunate voyager, | drifting ominOusly at the entrance of | those unknown seas.
 On the 18th of September. in the even ing. being about 200 leagues from the island of FerrO Columbus for the first time noticed the variation of the needle. a phenomenon which had never before been remarked. He perceived about that the needle, instead of pointing to the north star. varied about half 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 phenom- enOn. knowing how ready his people were to take alarm. but 1t soon attracted the attention of the pilots and filled them with consterlation. It seemed as if the very laws of nature were changing as ; they advanced. ard that they were en- -ering 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- unity for reasons with which to allay heir terror. He observed that the direc- ion of the needle was not to the polar ! tar, but to some fixed and invisible ' 'Oint. The variation. therefore. was not | aused by any faIlacy in the compass. but y the movement of the north star itself, which. like the other heavenly bodies, a
 (To be Continued in our Eext isue)