Evening star., 1898-12-24

the finest Of them oval de Paraiso." or
Vale of Paradise. Leaving the harbor of
Paradise Valley at midnight, he next an
chored off sandy beach, near which was a
large Indian settlement, the place since
known as Port de Paix. Hearing, however.
that the Land of Gold was ahead but two
days sail, he did rot linger here, but
pushed on to meet the great GuacanaSari,
invite him to his court. All these points
substantiated, for Columbus kept q
daily record of his adventures and progress
which was intended for King Ferdinand
and Queen Isabella, and which was accu-
rate to a fault.
He wrote in his journal of the great Bay
of Acul, in which he next anchored: Il
have now been at sea twenty-three years
with scarcely any intermission, and have
seen the east and the west, but in all those
ports I have never witnessed so much OF
perfect in harbors as this
Here a messenger from King Guacanagari
met him with. royal present consisting
of a cotton girdle, attached to which was
a mask Of a human face with ears, tongue
and nose Of beaten gold. This substantial
evidence that the golden land was near
set the Spanards all af1ame, and Columbus
felt sure, as he wrote in his journal, that
he was nearing the wonderful Cipango,
mentioned by Marco Polo in his book of
travels. The name of this gold region in
the native tongue was "Cibao," which was
certain proof to Columbus that the two
countries were Identical and that King
Guacanagari was none other than the
grand khan described by the Venetian trav-
eler.
This accounts for his haste in leaving
the Bay of Acul, and perhaps for the care
lessness of his crew, who were now certain
the end of their long and dangerous voy-
aging was nearly reached, for wherever
the elusive gold was there Columbus had
promised to stop and rest.
Obstacles to BE Met.
During more than three months now they
had been constantly on the watch and ap-
prehensive of accident. In crossing the
broad expanse of the Atlantic they feared
the trade winds. always blowing from one
direction-east-and thus presenting an OBJ
stacle to their return. If, they reasoned
we get to the bottom of this watery hill
(the earth being round, according to our
commander. Columbus) how shall we ever
climb it again on our return to Spain?
Then. again, they had feared the terrible
serpents and the mermaids, the submarine
monsters and the dragons of the shore,
for they were coasting an entirely unknown
land, and 1t was, in their imagination, filled
with evil things Of every sort. Even Co.
| lumbus himself believed in these dragons
| and mermaids, and after him the historians
| of his time used to fill their pages with
| figures of flying dragons, as we'll as Of
monsters of the deep, which they ayerred
were common in the new world.
But now that the seas were calm and
| the adjacent shores were beautiful-now
that the golden country was almost In
sight-the fears of these superstitiouS ma
riners were allayed and they gave them
selves over to a sense of security which
| the condition Of seas and currents by no
means warranted; for that very night,
after leaving Acul, as the two vessels
drifted over CLASSY sea within sight Of
| land, the combined evil spirits Of the deep
were urging them on to destruction. Near
! midnight, weary with watching and trust
| ing to the vigilance Of his crew, Columbus
retired to his cabin. after cautioning his
| men to keep a careful lookout. But the
men were also tired with constant vigils,
helm of the flagship in charge of a boy.
| The winds were but balny zephyrs, which
| came from off shore laden with all the
sweets of tropic forests, and there was
no intimatfon Of the fate in store for these
weary sailors from Spain.
| While they were wrapped in slumber the
| treacherous currents for which this coast Is
| famous now forced the Santa Maria upon
| a sand bank and there she stuck, to the
| terror o fthe hapless boy in charge of the
helm, and of the suddenly awakened crew.
Feeling the shock of the impact and hear
| ing the waves beat against the vessels
| stern, Columbus at once darted from his
| cabin and assisted his men to tighten the
| flagship by throwing overheard everything
movable, and finally cutting away the
| masts He ordered an anchor carried of
| ardly, and there was SO much delay that
| when placed 1t was too late.
| On the Reef.
| The Nina, smallest vessel Of the little fleet,
| came to the assistance Of the Santa Maria,
and lay by TIL daylight. when 1t was dis