The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1892-10-08
WRECK op nae sAN1A MARIE.
And How Columbus Was Treated by the
Natives Of tho Now Country.

W
Natives OF the New Country.
Guacanagari was eager to see more Of
the Spaniards, and sent numbers OF his
light-hearted people to welcome them
and bring them gifts of every sort.
Their enthusiasm was unbounded, their
generosity unstinted. The land was
gay with festivities, the sea swarmed
with canoes. On nearing the caravels,
the Indians that crowded them stood
up, rendering all kinds of offerings
with gestures of devotion, as an idola-
trous worship.
Beholding all this enthusiasm, Column
bus despatched formal embassy to
Guacanagari, and on hearing their re-
port he determined despite the prevail
ing land-breeze, to weigh anchor and
sail to the dominions of his friends,
which were some five leagues distant.
He set out at daybreak on December "a.
Little progress was made during all
that day. The night came, Christmas
Eve, and Columbus determined to cele-
brate it, as best befitted his own health
and the comfort of his own crew, by en-
joying sound sleep. He retired, worn
out by three nights of vigil following
three days of herculean labor. Sweet
must have been his restl His discovery
of that new world whose very existence
had been denied, the endless upspring-
ing of Eden-isles, the simple races bound
to nature by such mysterious ties and
soon to be brought into the fold of
| civilization and Christianity must have
| filed his mind with happy dreams on
| this first restful Christmas eve he had
passed in thirty years of titanic
contest with all the world, and
| at times even with his own self.
1t was midnight when the echoes
childhood and of times long past fill
the slumbering ear The heavens
smiled and the sea was calm. The
sailors slept soundly, sure of their bear
ings and sea-room, because preceded by
the little fleet of sllitfs and canoes sent
| by Columbus to the Indian king. A
ships boy held the helm, so assured
were they all of the fairness of the
weather and the safety of their course
when the flagship suddenly struck
upon sunken reef, Columbus instant.
| ly OWNED his peril, and hurried on
| uOSh' w Abi llGhllB gave
orders to cut away the mast and throw
the cargo overheard. But the remedy
was futile; it was no mere stranding, il
a wreck. With the desertion of the
Pinto and the loss of the Santa Marie
only the smallest and the frailest of the
three caravels that had set sail from
Palos remained. He went on board the
Nina and sent fresh embassy to Qua
canagari, giving an account of the dis
aster, while he stood off and on till day
broke. When the chief learned the mis-
fortune, he sought in every way to al
leviate it, sparing neither means mol
sacrifice. Disastrous indeed it was tC
face such superstitious races, who con
fided in the prosperity and success o.
the supernatural, with the slender rem
nants of such wreck, which showed
how the sea overcomes all created
things and bows us all to its sovereign
power But the sen timent of hospital
ity was uppermost in that faithful tribe
and in their kindly monarch. All tht
succor needed in that sad hour and al
requisite provision for the future, wer,
given to the sufferers with admira blt
orderlincss. The salvage of the wrecl
was piled on shore and, under the chief
orders, scrupulously gu rded by the ma
tives as though it were their own. Th
cargo was rapidly discharged and storet
in place of safety, without the loss O
pins point. Emilio CASTELAR,, in Cen
tury.