St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-10-16
MUTINY ON THE PINTA
Columbus in Sore Straits 400
Years Ago Last
Sunday.
Saved by a Crab From Open
and Violent Mu-
tiny.
We Might Not Have Been Dis
covered but for This
Crab,
Which Columbus Espied Float
ing on Some Sea-
weeds.

pHOiOlloIOu utterly lleXpllcdUl0 10
them, as it had never before been noticed
perstitious fears of the age the seamen
had jumped to the conclusion that the
treachery of the compass, hitherto their
constant guide in all known quarters of
the world, proved that they were ap-
preaching mySteriously perilous re-
gIon in which all natural laws were
reverSed-One in which, If it were
true the earth were round, men walked
on the ir heads and had their brains in
their feet. So great was their terror at
the discovery of the compass disloyalty
that most Of the men in the three crews
were almost Cd the point of rising up to
force Columbus to turn his caravels
northeastward toward the distant
SPANS h coast.
The episode of the compass merits
thoro ugh explanation. Here is such eX-
plan alton briefly given:
Five days before the expedition, which
was then on its fourth day since losing
sight of land, had met southwesterly
current which gave to it a southerly
sheer. bringing it hour by hour nearer
to the northern margin of the trade
winds of that quarter of the Atlantic.
The admiral noticing this current.
and thus being particularly watch
full for other Irregularities, dis
covered that the needles of the COM
stead of pointing toward spot on the
northern horizon just below the North
star, pointed over five degrees west of
that spot. Stunned for time by this
astounding mystery, the gravity of
which can only be understood when the
nautical ignorance and fear of medieval
times is duly appreciated, the bold
GenOan adventurer himself was inclined
to believe even Providence opposed to
him. But recovering from his amaze
ment, he applied himself to postponing
as long as possible the inevitable day
when others should learn his secret,
and also to devising some plausible eX-
PLANTATION for the variation of the needle.
By frequently examining the two public
compaSSeS of his craft and his own two
private ones he found the mean varia-
ton to amount to SIX degrees. AT that
time his vessels were 600 miles west of
the Canary group.
An Anxious Day for Columbus.
The next day, the 14th of September.
was one of supreme anxiety to Column
bus, who fully foresaw the possible
effect of the impending discovery on
the crew. However, to his relief, the
day passed without incident. save the
sighting by the Nina of some birds of a
kind thought not to fly more
than 800 miles from land. These
were thought by some to indicate
islands north of the course of the
expedition, but Columbus, expecting to
find the mainland of Asia by adher-
ing to his course due west. did not turn
to the north, as desired by many of the
sailors. The sighting of the feathered
estrays raised the admiral in the conf.
dence of his followers. fact which he
gladly recognized, as he knew how
much he should need any such feeling
in the near future.
On the evening of the 18th
A sudden brightness broke on the
night Illuminating the caravels and the
Ocean.aS if thousand lamps were she'd
ding their brilliancy upon the surround
ing portion of the sphere. A ball of fire
was glancing athwart the black heavens
and seemed to fall into the brine at the
distance OF few leagues, or at the linn
its of the visible horizon. Its disappear
ance was followed by gloom as pro-
found as the extraordinary and f1eetiug
light had been brilliant. This was only
the passage of meteor; but it was such
a meteor as men do not see more than
once in their lives, if it is seen as often.
The crOakers in the expedition con-
strued this spectacle as an omen, augur-
ing that the fires of hell were awaiting
them at The western rim of the world.
Columbus got in his return counter by
declaring that the saints sent down me-
teOric light from heaven to assist the
voyagers.
In the SargassO Sea.
AS the 10th was Sunday, Columbus,
as evening approached, signaied to the
other crafts to stand in toward the flag
ship. The sailors then united in inton-
ing the vesper chants in wide, oceanic
solitude that probably had never hith-
erto been whitened by sail. AS the
chants were closing, cry from the
lookout of the Pinta, the fastest sailer,
and consequently leading vessel of
the three. announced singular OBJ
ject ahead. This proved to be the
outskirts of the famous Sargasso sea.
region in the mid-Atlantic thickly
spread with masses of floating seaweed.
The existence of such sea was, of
course, unknown to the mariners of the
expedition, and they construed the
sight of many square miles of half
green weed floating on the surface to
Indicate the vicinity of land. An appar-
ent confirmation of their belief was the
presence of funny fish, variety which
they had often seen in civilized waters.
To this day the cause for the peculiar
collection of weeds in the Sargasso is
not positively known. Some specialists
on marine vegetation contend that the
matter is brought together by oceanic
currents which meet in that region,
while others ascribe the phenomenon to
the action of the currents on the bottom
of the sea, which in this quarter rises to
vast plateau several thousand feet
above the average depth of the sur
rounding bottom. The outlying eastern
boundaries of the SargaSSO are about
1,OS0 miles from Ferro.
Through the night of the 10th and the
early morning hours of the 18th of Sep
| TENDER the awkward little tubs forced
| their way through the floating debris.
which at times was so thick at their
bows as to threaten to seriously diminish
| their progress. At sunrise their rate of
| sailing increased to six miles an hour.
During the afternoon watch Martin
Alonzo Pinzon, the skipper of the Pinta,
| hailed Columbus and gaXe the informal
| ton that he was to take the amplitude
| of the sun as soon as that luminary
| should have slid near enough to the
| horizon in its westering journey.
| Columbus well knew the discovery
which would follow as soon as the
| measurement was taken.
The fancy likes to range back through
four dim centuries to that half-forgotten
| day. AS the sun began TO touch the
darker line, where sea met sky, "the
| West" as Columbus wrote, twas fash
ing like dying dolphin and yellow as
the helmet of Moorish emir." On the
| quarter deck of each caravel were gath
cred its principal officsrs. Above them
Haunted the yellow silken banner Of
CASTLE. with its quarterings of castles