The sun., 1896-07-05

One might have expected tho spot IN the New
World on which Columbus first set foot to be
marked and identified beyond chance Of dispute
within short umo after his discovery. As .
matter Of fact. however. each OF at least i've of
the smaller bahama Islands 10 to-day pointed
outes the site of the true landfall. The true
Gnanahani was not revisited for many years,
npt, indeed, until tho timo whom its inhab-
y itRnts were carried OF and made to wear
tavay their lives In tho gold mines of New
pain. Modern writer's who have tried TO
tho identity OF Guanahani have followed
80 methods: First, they have applied to
witiiferent islands tho physical description
\ by Ferdinand Columbus In his Historic"
by Las Casas In his abridgment Of the
opal OF tho great Admiral. Secondly, they
aoc traced tho course Of tho feet of Colum-
n backward from the island OF Juan,
RuCuba, by means OF tho sailing men,
6'da in the journal. Or, thirdly. they
uees followed the course sailed from
Aisland of Gomera In tho Canaries to Guam
~u'ni. and thence to Cuba by tho Same re-
.rded sailing. Juan Bautista MuhoS pub
Ifshed his "Historia del Nuovo Mundo" at
Madrid in 1893. after n labor of nineteen years.
This writer says OF Guanahani: I'm my opin-
ion, It is the same island that is now called
Waiting" His judgment Is pronounced good
by Mr.. Thacher, but Muhos did not set forth
the reason for his opinion. Washington Irving
said Of tho landfall in the 1888 London edition
OF his Life of Columbus; Tho island where
Columbus had thus, for tho nrst time. set his
foot upon the New World is ono of tho Lucayos
or Bahama Islands. and was called by tho
natives Guanahane; It still retains tho name
urAf San Salvador. which he Rnve It, and is
aAealled by tho English Cat Island. The light
- which he had seen the evening previous to his
4 Fmaking land may have been on Waiting Island,
which lies n few leagues to the east" The dis
tance from Waiting Island to Cat Island was
evidently overlooked by Irving. Alexander Won
Humboldt in 1887 accepted Cat Island as San
Salvador and summoned two classes of wit
nesses to provo Its identity: First, the modern
map of common tradition; secondly. the old
map Of Juan do la Cosa, and the journal
of Ponce de Leon. as well as some Of the early
charts. Tho map of La Cosa, discovered by
n Won Humboldt in 1892, Is now in tho Naval
~ Museum at Madrid; reduced fac-simile is
lshnEn At the end of this book. Henry Harrisse
has called attention to the fact that La Cosa
was not only . companion of Columbus on his
memorable first voyage. but that he was part
owner Of the flagship Santa Maria Il Is pointed
out by Mr.. Thacher. however. that there not
sufficient, details In La Cosa's map to warrant
any one in ascribing to Cat Island the honor of
being San Salvador. The standard of Leon and
Castillo Is seen In the map planted on an island
TO which La Cosa gives the name Yumey. ana
this IS easily identified in later maps as Ferdi-
nand Island. Guanahani Is seen TO the east
ward with the island Of Santa Maria de 10 Con-
eepcion, lying between It and Yumey. Won
Humboldt also cites as we have said, the journal
of Ponce de Leon upon his expedition in 1912
to Florida in search OF the Fountain of Youth.
Tho expedition started from Porto Rico. and
lts coufse was northwest by north: I'm the
course Of five days, they arrived at an island
called FL yiejo. in latitude goo 80 n. The next
day they arrived at one OF the Lucayos called
Cayo. On the eighth day they anchored at
another island called YaRunA, in 24'. Thence
they passed to tho island of Manuega in 24'
. 30r, and on the eleventh day they reached
,Guanahani which is In 25' 40 n. The island
of Guanahani was tho first discovered by Co
lumbus on his first voyage. and which he called
San Salvador" Won Humboldt says that El
Viejo may have been Turks Island. the GUIANA
hani of Navarrete. Mr.. Thacher deems It
/, tain that Antonio de Alaminos, the famous
hs tlot of the expedition. knew that El Viejo was
{ns { ono of the Lucayos. Capt q. v. Fox.
lifted States Navy. has identified Yaguna. tho
sApping place on the eighth day, with Little
aqua. II Ponce de Leon made 2S7 miles. the
Sdisetnce from Porto Rico to Grand Turk Island
in fiva days. he was travelling at tho rate of
b7.4 miles per day. II he was at Little InaRua
on the eighth day out this would rep
reeenb from NleJo, IL
: he travelled at the average speed be-
fore made. Of l7a.2 miles. If he reached Guiana
haRt on tho eleventh day this would represents
/ similar distance from Little Inagua. AS mat
$erof fact the distance from Little Inagua to
Vatling Island is l76 miles. while to Cat Island
h 2l3. We arc still confronted With the diff
rulty arising from the latitude 25' 40 assigned
the Gunnahani OF Ponce do Leon, but Mr..
Thacher suggests that wo may avail ourselves
% 4 Sha ioia .al No. .Ila. \
Alaminos by Won Humboldt himself, who says
that he made all his positions about IL too far
north. The author OF this book does not think
IL worth while even to consider the claim of
Nayarrete that Grand Turk is San Salvador.
Neither In Its physical characteristics nor In
the subsequent sailings does It at all answer the
requirements Of the landfall. The claim of F.
A, de Varnhagen, the Brazilian writer. for tho
island OF MariEuana is discarded as equally
worthless. 1t is impossible to find an island
10 the southwest Of this to play tho
part OF Snnta Maria, tho second ISL
and mentioned In the narrative of Columbus.
Neither has Mariguana n large lake In the CEN
tre! lacking which, no Bahama island can be
the true GuRnahani. Mr.. ThRcher does not
accept Capt. Fox's conclusion, but regards him
As having made the most valuable contribution
toward solving the problem Of the first landing
piAce OF Columbus in the New World in his
He made personal inspection OF the Bahama
group and arrived at the conclusion that Guam
shani should be Identified with Samana. or
Atwood Cay, a small island containing little
more than eight square miles. Mr.. Thacher
\contends that this island falls to answer every
Ahyscal test applied to It from the journal of
the Admiral and from the biography by Ferd-
hand Columbus. Cat Island contains 100 square
mIleN. Waiting has eighty. Mariguana has
ninety. six. We are reminded that on tho
day following his landing. after having
had time 10 examine tho island. which he
called San Salvador, and which the ma
tiyes called Guanahani, Columbus said OF IT.:
"This island is very large and very fiat. and
has very green trees and much water and .
cry large lake In the middle. but without a1y
ountains. II is also green. and it Is n pleasure
Qook Attt." 1t must have been well peoplbd.
Suse OF the crowds which came TO the shbre.
because OF their canoes. lifted. sonts OF