The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1892-05-18
A DESPERATE FIGHT,
. MODERN VERSION OF AN OLD
STORY ABOUT COLUMBUS.

An Account of the Days When Christie
pher Columbus Played the Role of a
Pirate-How He Came to Settle in Lis
bona Savage Battle at Sea.
1t is one of those tales that illustrate
the of this cruel age. The
pirates had long been the scourge of the
honest Venetian traders. Sometimes
they would disguise themselves as mer-
chantmen trading peacefully TO Gambia
for wine, and then throwing of their
DISCUSSES, would prey upon all around
them. No mercy was shown in these
fearful contests. Between the sea rob
bers and the merchants there was a
lasting and deadly hostility. 1t was to
the pirate class that the Columbi be-
longed, 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 feet that sailed
yearly to the north. But he had a 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 Ill
the project which his father had so long
essayed in vain. The prize was a tempt
ing one TO the bold buccaneers. The
Flanders galleys with their freight were
valued at 200, 900 ducats-perhaps $2,00O,-
O00-and would have proved an immense
fortune to the captors could they have
retained the spoil.
In 1885 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 d salary Of 800 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
| Shakespeare'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 feet; his salary
was only nine ducats q month.
Minute rules are given for the on
duct Of the expedition. The freight is
to he paid to the state. No deCklOads
of tin or pewter ware are allowed, DO
c~urrantS nor mOlaSSeS are to be stored
III 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 a ship was de
tached to trade with the Mohammedans
along the BarbaTy shore. The Nene-
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 we'll equipped-off the Spanish coast
to intercept the feet of BartolomeC
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 Column,
bus, the future ~discoverer and admira,
of the Indies. In his Life Fernando
Columbus boasts of his fathers share il
this famous observation-disclosures be
cause it led to the settlement of Column
bus at Lisbon, his marriage and his flu
ture exploits.
He was now a man of at least fifty
hardened by thirty-six years of ceaseles
adventure. What position he held II
the pirate fleet, whether as commando,
or seaman, his son does not tell. w
only know that he served under hi!
relative, Columbus Or Griego, and tina
he fought with desperate energy in th'
famous sea fight of Cape st. Vincent.
The c~orsairs. or Columbi, approached
their prey in the evening. They waited
all night on the still Atlantic, and il
the morning rushed upon the Venetians
1t was seven, perhaps eight, ships agains
four. The galleys were heavy ladel
and u~nmanageable compared to thei.
swift assailants. The Columbi had evi
IDENTIFY resolved to make sure of thei
prey. They sailed under the Frencl
flag, and may have been fitted u il
Genoa. 1t was the custom of the pirates
it seems, to assume false colors. Blu
L dreadful was the contest and fierce tn
fight that ragged all day, as COlumbu
had told his son, on the tranquil sea
the scene, nearly four centuries later, o
the battle of St. Vincent-and his nara
tive is confirmed by the Venetian al
. chives. The four great galleys unde
Bartolomeo Mimic defended themselve
with ~unfailing courage.
;. From the first to the twentieth hou
they beat off their savage a~ssailants
The ships grappled with each other an
fought hand to hand. They used, W
- are told. artificial fire, and the pirate
fastened their ships to the galleys b
hooks and iron chains. Then, no doubt
they boarded and were at last success
full. And then Fernando Colon relate
the romantic incident that led, he thinks
to the discovery of a new world. Tn
ship in which his father fought wa
dashed by chains and hooks to a grea
Venetian galley. The Venetians seer
: to have set Columbus ship on fire. TIL
e, flames consumed both vessels. The onl
,e resource left to the survivors was to lea
into the sea-.