Evening star., 1923-07-15

|
and on the 17th Of April. 1892, an
agreement was signed and sealed be-
tween their catholic majesties and
Columbus.
| Finally the expedition, consisting
of the Santa Maria, a deck ship of
100 tons displacement, carrying a
| crew of so men. commanded by Co
lumbus; two caravels. respectively.
the Pinta, so tons and Is men. and
the Nina, 40 tons and IS men. got
under way. the time being Friday,
April 3. 1892, at am. The fleet
stood for the Canary Islands.
The first mishap to occur to the
expedition was when the Pinta lost
her rudder. After a turbulent voyage
fraught with many. stirring incidents
and several false alarms, at am.
3, Friday. October IL. Rodringo de
| Triana, one of the crew of the Nina,
/ raised the cry of Land" This was
the first view that any member of
the expedition had had of the new
| world. It was an island that the
Indians called Guanahani. Columbus
| named 1t San Salvador. In the morn
ing Columbus. wearing rich gar
| ments. landed. He carried with him
| the royal banner of Spain. Columbus
| took possession of the island for
| their Catholic majesties CASTLE and
! Leon. Those of the crew who had
| been on the point of mutiny during
the voyage and doubtful as to it's ul-
| innate success prostrated themselves
at the feet of Columbus and weeping
ly sought his pardon. Columbus, anx-
| ious to return to Europe, left a
colony and on February IS he reach
| ed the island OF Santa Maria. in the
Azores. The governor of the island,
Portuguese. refused for some time
to recognize the commission that Co.
! lumbus carried. Six days later he
was permitted to proceed and on
March he dropped anchor off Lisbon
! The King of Portugal received CO.
| lumbus with the highest honors The
| Spanish court was at Barcelona. To
their majesties Columbus sent a let
ter by courier announcing his arrival
When he entered the gates of the city
| he was accorded a tumultuous recep-
tion and was received by the king
| and queen In full court and at their
| invitation seated himself and related
the story of his voyage. He produced
/ gold. cotton. heretofore unknown
plants, parrots. arms. beasts and, last
of all. the Indians. The title of Don"
| was conferred upon Columbus. also
upon his brothers. He was given the
honor Of riding at the kings bride.
! Other honors were also conferred
! upon him.
| X 4 x x.
| A MOTHER expedition weighed an
chor on September "a, 1893. This
consisted of three carracks (gaIleons)
and fourteen caravels Digit frigates).
The complement of men was 500.
| The expedition contained eleven mis-
! sionaries. On Sunday, November g.,
| Columbus sighted an island which
! he later named Dominica. The his
tory of the explorers complete ac-
| tivities is story of too great length
| to chronicle in this article. Columbus
returned to Cadiz on June II. 1896.
His reception by hts sovereigns was a
/ most cordial one. He was presented
by royal patent with a tract of land
in Hispaniola and the title of duke
J or marquis. The latter honor he de-
| clined. He was also to receive one
eighth of the gross and one-tenth of
the net profits on each voyage. In ad-
dition to other emoluments his two
| sons were made pages in Queen Isa-
bella's service He set sail on May
80. 1923. and on the first of August he
sighted the mainland Of South
| America, the country for which he
had SO long been seeking. Historians
record the fact that Columbus gath
cred the impression that the different
points of the mainland were islands.
As usual In the case of men who
have achieved success in countries
far afield from their native heath
many whdwere jealous of Columbus
set out to poison the minds of the
king and.queen against him. Demon
strations against him were arranged
and Ferdinand. who had never been
discoverer, appointed, on May 21.14ss,
Francisco Roldan governor of His
PAMELA, thus dispiacing and humili-
ating Columbus. In the meantime Co.
lumbus had been having trouble with
those he had formerly accounted as
trusty aids, but he overcame the op-
position in the new world until the
arrival of Bobadilla; the latter put
Columbus and his brothers in irons
Columbus managed to smuggle
through a letter to Dona Juana de
Torres. a former nurse Of the Infante
| Don Juan. This letter was read to
Isabella, and through her influence
| popular favor once more turned to-
| ward Columbus. On December II.
1900, the day of his appearance at
court, his arms and ankles were no
| longer in irons. nor was he in dis
grace; on the contrary, he was dressed
! in costly garments and received the
| adulation Of many friends. Spanish
history is responsible for the state
| ment that Isabella was moved to
| tears upon hearing the story of his
| persecution from Columbus lips.
| Once again we find an intrepid ex-
pIorer sailing, this time in search of
| strait through which he might sail
| into Portuguese Asia. This was on
May 8, 1892. 1t was his last voyage.
| Christopher Columbus died May 90,
1906. The funeral ceremonies were
held at valladolid and his remains
were transferred to the Carthusian
| monastery at Santa Maria de las