Evening star., 1938-10-09

tlat OCuer explorers naQ Deen AZ or
near these shores centuries before the
Columbian expedition arrived.
The Phoenicians, for example, among
the ancients, are held almost GER
tainly to have pushed their sturdy
vessels beyond the horizon to the
New World. Much later, the Morse
men very probably did so. Left, son
of Eric, is specifically credited with
having made landing in Newfound-
land, Labrador or Nova Scotia. This
was in the year 1000.
After Left came numerous other
voyagers, and some evidence is avail
able that the barks of virtually every
seafaring people of the time touched
the shores Of this Western land.
There appears to be strong opin-
ion to the effect that Columbus was
unaware of these earlier discoveries.
Whether that is truly so cannot be
answered unequivocally; that is the
case with SO many questions which
cluster about the discovery of Amer
lea and its discoverer, or re-discoverer.
1t is not strange then, that we do
not known definitely where Columbus
lies buried. His tomb Is in San Do
mingo, and his body was brought
across the sea from Seville. But be-
fore 1t was in Seville the remains had
been in Valladolid From San Do
mingo they supposedly had been trans
ferred to Havana ceremony accom-
plished with great pomp-but later it
was discovered that the ashes trans
ported really were those of the son Of
Columbus.
Now out of all that moving back
and forth we have this: The remains
Of Columbus are in San Domingo.
But are they really? Four hundred
years have elapsed since his death.
His body was moved several times,
Of which history has definite record.
Historians know that it would be fool
hardy to say that the ashes OF Colum-
bus surely are at San Domingo It
is in keeping with the mystery of
the mans entire career that the shad-
ow OF doubt must ever remain, even
about his final resting place.
There are other questions about Co.
lumbus which probably never will be
answered definitely. Perennially inter-
esting is that of his parentage. Was
Columbus Jew? Some say yes,
others no. Scholars seem agreed
that his mother was Jewess. Yet
there apparently is no doubt that the
man known as Columbus lived and
died devout communicate of the
Catholic Church.
HOW important was the role of
the Pinzons in the voyage of dis
covery? The Pinzon family early hot
ly contested the assumption of full
credit by Columbus, and that they
put up a substantial amount of money
seems to be a documented fact. Again
that shadow of indefiniteness appears
to plague the seeker after the facts.
But there can be no question about
the fact which is of most funda-
mental Importance, namely, that q
courageous mariner known to history
as Christopher Columbus landed on
the shores of the New World and be-
gan the epochal westward movement
of man and his culture.
The real significance of the landfall
of Columbus is to be found in its
timeliness; whether or not Columbus
actually was the first white man to
discover America is really of little
practical consequence. Columbus dis
covered America at time when Eu-
rope was uniquely ready for it. The
discovery, colonization and exploita-
ton of America was as inevitable a
token of the times as the appearance
of Shakespeare and his circle in the
reign of Elizabeth.
There is little doubt that early man
knew of America, and that the first
questing voyagers touched these shores.
That Left, the Norseman, did so Is
held to be as certain as one can be
OF such things at this late date. But
in so far as the development Of Amer
lea was concerned, those voyages were
of no Importance. It remained for
Columbus to rediscover America when
European culture was budding when
man was looking longingly toward all
far horizons-in art, in literature, in