On the 7th, when about to sail, Columbus gave to the commander of each vessel a sealed letter of instructions, in which was specified his route to the harbor of Nativity, the residence of the Cacique Guacanagari. This was only to be opened in case of being separated by accident, as he wished to make a mystery as long as possible of the exact route to the newly discovered country, lest adventurers of other nations, and particularly the Portuguese, should follow in his track, and interfere with his enterprises.*

After making sail from Gomera, they were becalmed for a few days among the Canaries, until, on the 13th of October, a fair breeze sprang up from the east, which soon carried them out of sight of the island of Ferro. Columbus held his course to the southwest, intending to keep considerably more to the southward than in his first voyage, in hopes of falling in with the islands of the Caribs, of which he had received such vague and wonderful accounts from the Indians. Being in the region of the trade-winds the breeze

the New World prior to the discovery. Caldcleugh also mentions that the Brazilians consider the small bitter wild orange of native origin.-Humboldt, Essai Politique sur l'Isle de Cuba, tom. i., p. 68.

*Las Casas, M. Sup.

Letter of Dr. Chanca.

continued fair and steady, with a quiet sea and pleasant weather, and by the 24th they had made four hundred and fifty leagues west of Gomera without seeing any of those fields of seaweeds encountered within a much less distance on their first voyage. At that time their appearence was important and almost providential, inspiring continual hope, and enticing them forward in their dubious enterprise. Now they needed no such signals, being full of confidence and lively anticipation, and on seeing a swallow circling about the ships, and being visited occasionally by sudden showers, they began to look out cheerily for land.

Towards the latter part of October they had in the night a gust of heavy rain accompanied by the severe thunder and lightning of the tropics. It lasted for four hours, and they considered themselves in much peril until they beheld several of those lambent flames playing about the tops of the masts and gliding along the rigging, which have always been objects of superstitious fancies among sailors. Fernando Columbus makes reniarks on them, strongly characteristic of the age in which he lived:

"On the same Saturday, in the night, was seen St. Elmo with seven lighted tapers, at the topmast: there

was much rain and great thunder; I mean to say, that those lights were seen, which mariners affirm to be the body of St. Elmo, on beholding which they chant litanies and orisons, holding it for certain, that in the tempest in which he appears, no one is in danger. Be that as it may, I leave the matter to them; but if we may believe Pliny, similar lights have sometimes appeared to the Roman mariners during tempests at sea, which they said were Castor and Pollux, of which likewise Seneca makes mention."

On the evening of Saturday the 2d of November, Columbus was convinced, from the color of the sea, the nature of the waves, and the variable winds and frequent showers, that they must be near to land; he gave orders, therefore, to take in sail, and to maintain a vigilant watch throughout the night. He had judged with his usual sagacity. In the morning a lofty mountain was descried to the west,

* Hist. del Almirante, cap. 45. A similar mention is made of this nautical superstition in the voyage of Magellan. During these great storms, they said that St. Elmo appeared at the topmast with a lighted candle, and sometimes with two, upon which the people shed tears of joy, receiving great consolation, and saluted him according to the custom of mariners. He remained visible for a quarter of an hour, and then disappeared, with a great flash of lightning, which blinded the people."-Herrera, decad. ii., lib. iv., cap. 10.

at the sight of which there were shouts of joy throughout the fleet. Columbus gave to the island the name of Dominica, from having discovered it on Sunday. As the ships moved gently onward, other islands rose to sight, covered with forests, while flights of parrots and other tropical birds passed from one to the other.

The crews were now assembled on the decks of the several ships, to return thanks to God for their prosperous voyage, and their happy discovery of land, chanting the Salve Regina and other anthems. Such was the solemn manner in which Columbus celebrated all his discoveries, and which, in fact, was generally observed by the Spanish and Portuguese voyagers.

TH

[1493-]

HE islands among which Columbus had arrived, were a part of that beautiful cluster called by some the Antilles,

which sweep almost in a semicircle from the eastern end of Porto Rico to the coast of Paria on the southern continent, forming a kind of barrier between the main ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

During the first day that he entered this archipelago, Columbus saw no less than six islands of different magnitude. They were clothed in tropical vegetation, and the breezes from them were sweetened by the fragrance of their forests.

After seeking in vain for good anchorage at Dominica, he stood for another of the group, to which he gave the name of his ship,