The sun., 1896-07-05
4 4.

| age, the so-called Historic" by Ferdinand Co
| lumbus, and the abridgment OF tho journal "
| of Columbus by Las Casas, and examining tho
| various methods of identifying Guanahani, Mr..
| Thacher proceeds to state on page 90 his own
| reasons for bclievinEthe true Guanahani TO have
! beon Waiting Isl and. He considers most salts
| factory and convincing tho me thod Of applying
| to tho different islands which have been sug-
gested tho physical descriptions given by Ferdi-
nand Columbus, or taken from tho journal of
| tho Admiral. Tho large lagoon In the middle Of
| the island is pronounced q feature sufficient of
| itself to identify Waiting Island a. San Saliva
| dor, since no other large dsand Of tho Bahama
| group possesses such distinguishing topo-
| graphical mark. Its belt of coral. whilo COM
mon to many Of the other islands, constitutes by
| its presence another witness for Its claim Tho
fertility of the island 10 such as to warrant the
| name given It to-day-tho Garden of the BAHIA
mas. Situated in latitude 23' 65'north. longitude
T4' 90 west from Greenwich. Waiting Island
| is twelve miles in length north and south and
nearly seven milesin breadth. containing about
| sixty square miles, II owes its present name
| according to tradition. TO Capt. George Wat
| ling. an old prlvateersman. who commanded .
ship in the time Of tho Buccaneers. In the map
| drawn In 1920 by Ribero the cosmographor OF
Charles ". GuanAhant 10 put down as opposite
| to tho eastern extremity OF Cuba, in the same
Goa, which is only . few leagues TO tho west
| ward of that extreme eastern point OF Cuba
named by Columbus on his first voyage Capo
| Alpha and Omega. Tho significance of tho
| name lay in tho Admirable belief that Cuba
| formed part OF the Asatio continent
and that this cape was tho alpha, or
beginning. OF tho Indies to those coming
| from the east, and tho omega or end. to those
coming from tho west On tho map printed in
|
| orsKe and tho exact site Of the landfall Of
| Columbus on tho west side OF Waiting Island.
| of Ridelng Rocks. near Cockburn Town. tho
| main settlement on tho island. From the tme
| that tho ships OF Columbus anchored In tho
| early morning of Friday. Oct. IL, 1492, until
| they set sail on the evening Of Sunday. Oct. IA.
there Is nothing to indicate that they were
| moved. Tho prevailing winds are from tho
east, and no ship would or could anchor on
| the windward side. Tho Journal recounts that
the sea on Oct IL was " much heavier than at
any previous time during the voyage" Co
lumbus sailing duo west at tho
hour Of tho discovery. presumably with an
east wind. That 1t was strong. Is mani
fest from tho statement that he was
| sailing twelve miles an hour. There Is no port
| or anchorage possible on the east side of Wat
| ling Island. The course which had been sailed
| on Wednesday was west southwest, at OCCASION
ally LWelV0 miles an nOuI. anu on lnurbuAy.
| Oct. IL. It was almost duo west at the same rate
| OF speed. Mr.. Thacher deems It possible that
| the land. which was sighted at o'clock on tho
| following morning, was the north end of Wat
| ling Island. Sailors acquainted with that To-
| cality aver that ship such as Columbus had,
| with it's sails taken in, as he states his were.
| and with the wind strong from tho east. would
drift to tho southwest, and 1t 10 pronounced
| probable that no was not far from the spot in
| dictated in the map to the south and on tho wess
side Of the island when the morning broke.
Here is tho only proper landing place on the on
| tire island. and q sailors instinct must have
| pointed it out 70 tho Admiral. 1t Is to-day tho
only safe and natural anchorage upon Waiting
| Island.
Mr.. Thacher arrives at the probable landfall
| by tho following process Of reasoning: In his
| Journal for Saturday, Oct 13, Columbus rays:
II. by signs was able TO learn that. by going
| toward the SOUTH or rounding the island TO the
south &C." This phrase eliminates tho south
side Of tho island. and tho natural con.
| ditions, We have seen, eliminate tho
| east side from tho search after the loca-
| tion OF the landfall. On tho morning of Sun
| day. Oct. II. the Admiral gets out his boats
| and leaves the ship, rowing in a north north
| easterly direction. This eliminates also tho
north end of the island from consideration.
otherwise we must assume tho Admiral to have
oeen rowing IN direction which would take
MN OUT 10 sea- no eaye' moreover that No
| won't 10 800 the other part OF IL "hich was on
| the other side of the east" He describes part
OF tho Island 30 accurately that IL Is easily iden-
tihed To-Day ~ the north part columbus says.
In speaking OF tho invitation OF tho natives Tor
MIN 10 iand as ne approached this part; But
was AFRAID because saw great reer OF rocks
| which surrounds tho island within which 10
space and depth for as many ships as there are In
all Christendom. but the entrance 10 very mar
| row. IL Is true that inside TINS reei are some
sunken rocks but the sea does not move any
more than water In well. In order TO SEQ all
this set out this morning that might be able
to give full account to your Highnesses. and
also that might know where fort could be
built saw piece OF land that Is like an
-. ,n.J. ,n., ~ ,oiond - Th.r. q. d., -
| natural harbor with its entrance at tho north
| - 90 a.. ,.,..a IT, ,h. go, L.. . .ou-..