The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-10-21

ABANDON the work temporarily and to pro
ceeu to the nearest port. At the first oppor
tunity they 60 with absolute certainty tt
the buoy which is tossing about on what W.
call the trackless ocean, and proceed wit!
their work as mere matter of routine.
| After five or six days the vessel is close Il
| tn6 desired pOr>. The seacharts are re-
| placed by ii very precise charts of our own
coast survey, and the use of the deep-sea
| iead begins. The soundings alone are often
| suincient 10 enable the master to bring his
| sup into port, even in fog He linda
| ights and steam fog signals off shore, light
| snips and harbor-buoys at hand to guide
pun On his way. So far as the mere navi-
gation OF his ship is concerned his task is
| easy.
In seamanship, the judgment of winds
anu currents. etc, the same personal skill
Is required as in the days of Columbus, or
IL not the same in degree, then the same In
quality. The power of steam allows a
master to take chances which no sailing
cafaVel could risk. / remember we'll my
own astonshment after | had made very
long passage on sailing ship to see the
heimsman Of a powerful steamer steering
Dy compass divided into degrees quot
points,, with huge tarpaulin covering the
piio'-house and keeping out not only the
spray. but also the sight of the tremendous
waves In North Pacific gale. The steamer
was pointed for the Golden Gate, her
course was marked TO degree and she
was driven straight through the storm as
no salllng-ship could be.
ouch is picture Of ocean navigation as 1t
is To-day. Nearly all material difficulties
nave Deen overcome-mastered by mans
inventions. Steam and steel make the
Vessel independent of the forces Of wind
Mana wave. Improved charts, compasses.
chronometers, sextants, logs. together with
tables OF the sun and stars, which are abso-
iuteiy perfect so far as navigation is con-
cerned (thanks to the labors of genera
tlons OF astronomers make the direction Of
vessel at sea as simple matter as the
survey OF town lot.
mere Is no physical difficulty and no
moral or mental strain for the master of
any steam vessel which can take sufficient
time for its voyage.
how was all this in the time of Colum-
Dus? dis equipment was most unsatisfac-
tory. His little vessels were stanch of til cir
Kind. but only one OF them was decked.
his compasses were of the rudest descrlp-
ton, and he had not been month out before
he aud his men discovered that the CON-
passes no longer pointed to the true north.
Nothing could have been more frightful to
mariner than this. He was obliged to ex-
plain it to his men by attrbuting the change
TO the polar star and not to the instrument
Itself. Strange as it now seem to US the
seamen of those days used no log. They
estimated the distance travelled simply
according to their judgment.
1t Is difficult to believe that ali the gener-
ations OF seafarers. the Phenicians. the
Egyptians. the Venetians, them of Genoa
and OF Portugal. the v0yagers TO the tin mines
Of England, made no use of tho very simple
device of the log; that they did not cast
chip into tue sea and notice how far they
left 1t behind in minute. But so it seems
to be-"
The eross-staff and the astrolabe held the
place Of the sextant: and instead of the
modern nautical almanac they used tables
OF the declination of the sun which had
been made for seamen by Prince Henry the
Navigator at his nautical observatory (the
true precursor of Greenwich and all such
establishments They had rough tables,
also. for correcting the altitude of the pole
star, and Columbus, no doubt, had charts
tsueh as they were), since it was by con-
structing charts that he had gained a scanty
living.
We may obtain some idea of these charts
by remembering that there was no map of
England till q, generation after Columbus;
or by comparing the position OF Malta as
given on the old charts with its true situation.
Malta had been visited for 1000 years by
seamen of all nations, yet its place on the
map was erroneous by nearly 100 miles, both
In latitude and longitude!
In all his material equipment Columbus
was unfortunate. His sailors were ignorant
and fearful and insubordinate. He was
fortunate in his two lieutenants, the BROTH
ers Pinzon. 1t seems to be undoubted that
at least one Of these men was convinced, by
personal experience or otherwise, of the ex-
stence of land to the west. 1t also appears
more than likely that Columbus himself had
heard from Bristol merchants and in Ice
land OF the Vineland of the old Mortimer.
All his studies and reflections and expert
ences had convinced him that Eastern Asia
lay close TO Western Spain. The Cipango
(Japan) of Marco Polo was TO be reached by
sailing west over narrow sea, as well as
by travelling east through India.
What immense rewards awaited him also
He was to be admiral of the Spanish fleet
and a grandee OF Spain. He was to have
one tenth Of the income of the Indies. He
was to convert the Grand Khan to Chris
tianity and to obtain the means of recover
ing the holy sepulcher for Christendom. All
these rewards lay close at hand If he could
sustain the courage of his men for a few
weeks. The weeks passed by and yet no
land appeared; but with the necessity his
moral force increased, and finally, finally
his task was accomplished and the Indies
were found. He kissed the ground beneath
his feet in JOY and gratitude for relief from
his wearing. wearying anxiety. His great
task was done He was the father of the
new world. His memory and his achieve
ments are celebrated among US to-day. and
IL Is time. / do not remember that there is
a single statue Of Columbus in North Amer
lea, except the ridiculous one ON the east
front of the Capitol at Washington. There
are many in the southern continent, which
he discovered. EDWARD S. HOLDEN.
Ir this is SO, the sandgass In the hand OF Colum
bus In the Lotta Portrait used for measuring
time Oh the ship and not in connection with the
log.
Lick Observatory. Oct. 12, 1892.