The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1892-04-29
A DESPERATE FIGHT.
A MODERN VERSION OF AN OLD
STORY ABOUT COLUMBUS.

An Account OF the Days When Christo-
pher Columbus Played the Role of n
Piratc-Iiow lie Came to settle In Lis
bona Savage Battle at Sea.
1t Is one of those tales that illustrate
the manners Of this cruel age. The
pirates had long been the Gcourge of the
honest Venetian traders. Sometimes
they would disguise themselves as mer-
chantmen trading peacefully to Gambia
for wine, and then throwing off their
disguises. would prey upon all around
them. No mercy was shown in these
fearful contests. Between the sea rob-
bcrs and the merchants there was
lasting and deadly hostility. 1t was to
the pirate class that the Columbi be-
longcd, and of all the corsairs Of the
day they were the most renowned. The
elder Columbus had apparently lain in
wait in vain for the rich fleet that sailed
yearly to the north. But he had son,
known as Columbus Junior, who fol-
lowed the same profession and whose
true name was Nicolo Griego, or Mich
olas the Greek. He at last succeeded III
the project which his father had so long
essaycd in vain. The prize was a tempt
ing one to the bold buccaneers. The
Flanders galleys with their freight were
valued at 2O0, 900 0ducats--perhaps &, ,OOO,-
00O-and would have proved an immense
fortune to the captors could they have
retained the spoil.
In 1895 the galleys were equipped with
unusual care. We have the decree of
the senate under which they set sail.
The Doge Giovanni Moncenigo appoints
the noble Bartolomeo Mimic captain,
with salary of 600 ducats. Four great
galleys are provided, and to each cap
tain a bounty of $500 golden ducats is
promised upon their safe return to Ven
ice. This money was to be paid out of
the tax on the Jews, and calls up anew
Shakcspeare's unreal picture; it is plain
that the merchants of Venice were the
true Shylocks of the time. A medical
man was assigned to the fleet; his salary
was only nine ducats month.
Minute rules are given for the con-
duct of the expedition. The freight is
to be paid to the state. No deckloads
of tin or pewter ware are allowed, no
currants nor molasses are to be stored
in the hold Two galleys were to go to
London or the English ports, the rest to
Sluys or Bruges. On their passage they
might touch at Malaga and other port,
in Spain; on their return ship was de.
tached to trade with the Mohammedans
along the Barbary shore. The Vene-
tians were too keen traders not to find
profitable markets even in the lands of
| the infidel.
The Columbi or the Griegos were at
last to seize their prize. They watched
with seven ships-powerful no doubt.
and well equipped-off the Spanish coast
to intercept the fleet of BartolomeO
Mimic. The commander of the pirates
was Nicolo Griego, the son, we are told.
of the elder Columbus. His father had
disappeared from sight. But with him
in the pirate ships was another Colum-
bus, the future discoverer and admiral
of the Indies. In his Life" Fernando
Columbus boasts of his fathers share in
this famous engagement-famous be-
cause it led to the settlement Of Colum-
bus at Lisbon, his marriage and his fu-
ture exploits.
He was now man of at least fifty.
hardened by thirty-six years of ceaseless
adventure. What position he held in
the pirate fleet, whether as commander
or seaman his son does not tell. We
only know that he served under his
relative, Columbus or Griego, and that
he fought with desperate energy in the
famous sea fight of Cape st. Vincent.
The corsairs, or Columbi, approached
their prey in the evening. They waited
all night ON the still Atlantic, and in
the morning rushed upon the Venetians.
1t was seven, perhaps eight, ships against
four. The galleys were heavy laden
and unmanageablc compared to their
swift assailants. The Columbi had evil
IDENTIFY resolved to make sure Of their
prey They sailed under the French
flag, and may have been fitted out in
Genoa. 1t was the custom of the pirates.
it seems, to assume false colors. But
dreadful was the contest and fierce the
fight that ragged all day, as Columbus
had told his son, on the tranquil sea-
the scene, nearly four centuries later, of
the battle of st. Vincent-and his nara
tive is confirmed by the Venetian ar
chives. The four great galleys under
Bartolomeo Mimic defended themselves
with unfailing courage.
From the first to the twentieth hour
they beat off their savage assailants.
The ships grappled with each other and
fought hand to hand. They used, we
are told. artificial fire, and the pirates
fastened their ships to the galleys by
hooks and iron chains. Then, no doubt,
they boarded and were at last success
full. And then Fernando Colon relates
the romantic incident that led, he thinks,
to the discovery of a new world. The
shin in which his father fought was
dashed by chains and hooks to great
Venetian galley. The Venetians seem
to have set Columbus ship on fire. The
flames consumed both vessels. The only
resource left to the survivors was to leap
into the sea.
| r,l,,p,buc an axcpllent swimmer,