Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1892-09-10
COLUMBUS LOST ANCHOR.
The Oldest Relic la Existence OF the
Great Navigator

The oldest Relic Ia Existence OF the
Great Navigator.
On the night Of the Cd Of August,
1925. the little feet Of Christopher Co
lunbus. the diseoverer Of America, he
being then upon his third voyage, lay
At anchor just of the southwest point
Of the Island OF Trinidad, off the main
land of South America, which he had
seen that day for the FIRST time.
being on board Of his ship" says
Washington Irving in his history Of
the great navigator, ''late at night
kept awake by painful illness and an
anxious and watchtul spirit he heard
ate rrible roaring from The south, aud
beheld the sea heaped up, as II were,
by great ridge or hill, the height of
the ship, covered with foam and rolling
toward him with q tremendous uproar.
AS this furious surge approached, rem.
dercd more terrible in appearance by
the obscurity Of night, he trembled for
the safety OF his vessels His own
ship was suddenly lifted up to such a
height that he dreaded lest it should
be overturned or cast upon the rocks.
while another OF the ships was torn
violently from her anchorage, leaving
her anchor behind her The ere VS.
were for time in great CONSERVATION,
fearing they should be swallowed up,
but the mountainous surge passed on,
and gradually subsidized, after violent
contest with the counter-current of the
strait This sudden rush of water, il
is supposed, was caused by the swell
ing of one of the rivers which flow into
the Gulf of Para, and which were as yet
unknown 70 Columbus"
The anchor thus lost on the night Of
August ., laos, nearly 400 years ago.
from one of the ships of Columbus, of
the southwest extremity of the Island
of Trinidad point Arenal, as Columbus
named the spot, vide Irving) has re.
Gently been recovered by Senior Argos
tino, the gentleman who now owns the
point OF land in question. II has the
rare merit of being the oldest relic ex.
tant of the great navigator and of the
discovery of America.
AS would be expected from the age
of this relic, it is an anchor in the
simplest form of expression. The shat,
is round and S feet o inches in length.
at the head of the shaft is round ring
nearly foot in diameter to which the
cable was fastened. The fukes have
a spread of about feet. The total
weight is l,lo0 pounds.
This anchor was dug up by SenoI
Argostino in his garden from depth
of six feet at the distance of Se7 feet
from the nearest beach of the sea. His
first supposit,on was that he had
stumbled upon relic of the Phoeni
clans or of some other of the ancient
nations who have been supposed by
many 10 have visited the coasts OF
America thousands of years ago,
But an examination of local facts
and authorities soon convinced hin
that portion of his garden now oecu
pies the very post at which the ship:
of Columbus lay at anchor on the night
of August ., l4es. The land is con
stantly rising from the sea along tn,
entire coast, as has been shown by
Humboldt, Findlnv ana scores Of other!
who have written upon the subject
anu Tue EaNe oA Nhis RISING Is KNOWN u
have been quite sufficient to turn II
400 years the anchorage of the grca'
fleet into the garden of private citi
zen
| There is not particle of doubt
therefore, at the end of the rigid in
quiry that has been made that the an
Choir recently found by Senior Argos
tino is really and truly the lost anchor
| of Columbus.
/
/ Il. Z