The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1892-10-07
WRECK OF THE SANTA MARIE.
And How Columbus Was Treated by the
Natives of the New Country.

Il ana now columbus was treated the
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 a 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 determine 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 rest! His. discover
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
fso2n to be brought .in8 the,fld of
Fertilization and Christianity must have
filled 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
Of 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
lngs and sea-room, because preceded by
the little fleet of skiffs and canoes sent
by Columbus to the Indian king 4
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
deck With lightning rapidity he gave
orders to cut away the mast and throw
the cargo overheard. But the remedy
was futile: it was no mere stranding. it
a wreck. With the desertion of the
Pinto and the loss of the Santa Marie,
only the smallest and the frailest of the
three caravcls 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 nor
sacrifice. Disastrous indeed il was tc
face such superstitious races, who con-
hded in the prosperity and success of
the supernatural, with the slender rem
nants of such wreck, which showed
how the sea overcomes all created
things and bows us all to it's sovereign
power But the sentiment of hospital
ity was uppcrmost in that faithful tribe
and in their kindly monarch. All the
succor needed in that sad hour, and all
requisite provision for the future, were
given to the sufferers with admira BILE
orderliness. The salvage of the wreck
was piled on shore and, under the chiefs
orders, scrupulously gu rded by the ma
tives rs though it were their own. The
cargo was rapidly discharged and stored
In place of safety, without the loss of
pins point. CASTELAR,, in Cen
fury.