COLUMBUS
142
COLUMBUS
January, 1492. The prior was Father Juan Perez, the
confessor of the queen, frequently confounded with
Fray Antonio Marchena by historians of the nine-
teenth century, who also erroneously place the arrival
of Columbus at La Rabida in the early part of his so-
journ in Spain. Columbus begged the friar who acted
as door-keeper to let his tired son rest at the convent
over night. While he was pleading his cause the prior
was standing near by and listening. Something
struck him in the appearance of this man, with a for-
eign accent, who appeared to be superior to his actual
condition. After providing for his immediate wants
Father Perez took him to his cell, where Columbus
told him all his aspirations and blighted hopes. The
result was that Columbus and his son stayed at the
convent as guests and Father Perez hurried to Santa
F6 near Granada, for the purpose of inducing the
queen to take a personal interest in the proposed
undertaking of the Italian navigator.
the Nina, both caravels, i. e. undecked, with cabins
and forecastles. These three ships carried altogether
120 men. Two seamen of repute, Martin Alonso Pin-
zon and his brother Vicente Yanez Pinzon, well-to-do-
residents of Palos commanded, the former the Pinta,
the latter the Nina, and experienced pilots were
placed on both ships. Before leaving, Columbus re-
ceived the Sacraments of Penance and Holy Eucharist,
at the hands (it is stated) of Father Juan Perez, the
officers and crews of the little squadron following his
example. On .3 August, 1492, the people of Palos with
heavy hearts saw them depart on an expedition re-
garded by many as foolhardy.
Las Casas claims to have used the journal of Colum- bus's first voyage, but he admits that he made an abridged copy of it. What and how much he left out . of course, is not known. But it is well to bear in mind that the journal, as published, is not the original in its entirety. The vessels touched at the Canaries, and
( Ile.^tored from the
Circumstances had changed with the fall of Gra-
nada, and the Franciscan's appeal was favourably re-
ceived bv Isabella, who, in turn, influenced her hus-
band. Colmnbus was called to court at once, and
20,000 maravedis were assigned him out of the queen's
private resources that he might appear in proper con-
dition before the monarch. Some historians assert
that Luis de Santangel decided the queen to espouse
the cause of Columbus, but the credit seems rather to
belong to the prior of La Rdbida. The way had been
well prepared by the other steadfast friends of Colum-
bus, not improbably Cardinal Mendoza among others.
At all events negotiations progressed so rapidly that
on 17 April the first agreement with the Crown was
signed, and on .30 April the second. Both show an
unwise liberality on the part of the monarchs, who
made tlu^_ highest office in what was afterwards the
West Indies hereditary in the family of Columbus.
Preparations were immediately begim for the equip-
ment of the expedition. The squadron with which
Columbus set out on his first voyage consisted of three
vessels — the Santa Maria, completely decked, which
carried the flag of Columbus as admiral, the Pinta, and
then proceeded on the voyage. Conditions were most
favourable. Hardly a wind ruffled the waters of the
ocean. The dramatic incident of the mutiny, in which
the discouragement of the crews is said to have cul-
minated before land was discovered, is a pure inven-
tion. That there was dissatisfaction and grumbling
at the failure to reach land seems to be certain, but ho
acts of insubordination are mentioned either by Col-
umbus, his commentator Las Casas, or his son Fer-
nando. Perhaps the most important event during the
voyage was the observation, 17 September, by Colum-
bus himself, of the declination of the magnetic needle,
which Las Casas attributes to a motion of the polar
star. The same author intimates that two distinct
journals were kept by the admiral, "because he al-
ways rcjircscntril [fcii^noil] to the people that he was
makiiiy litllr hiaihvay in order that the voyage should
not seem long to them, so that he kept a record by two
routes, the shorter being the fictitious one, and the
longer the true one". He must therefore either have
kept two log-books, or he must have made two differ-
ent entries in the same book. At any rate Las Casas
seems to have had at his command both sets of data,
