mere ingenious fiction, adroitly devised by him to convey a lesson to his prince; but such an idea is inconsistent with his character. He was too deeply imbued with awe of the Deity, and with reverence for his sovereigns, to make such an artifice. The words here spoken to him by the supposed voice are truths, which dwelt upon his mind, and grieved his spirit during his waking hours. It is natural that they should recur vividly and coherently in his feverish dreams; and in recalling and relating a dream one is unconsciously apt to give it a little coherency. Besides, Columbus had a solemn belief that he was a peculiar instrument in the hands of Providence, which, together with the deep tinge of superstition common to the age, made him prone to mistake every striking dream for a revelation. He is not to be measured by the same standard with ordinary men in ordinary circumstances. It is difficult for the mind to realize his situation, and to conceive the exaltations of spirit to which he must have been subjected. The artless manner in which, in his letter to the sovereigns, he mingles up the rhapsodies and dreams of his imagination with simple facts and sound practical observations, pouring them forth with a kind of spiritual solemnity and poetry of language, is one of the most striking

illustrations of a character richly compounded of extraordinary and apparently contradictory elements.

Immediately after his supposed vision and after a duration of nine days, the boisterous weather subsided, the sea became calm, and the communication with the land was restored. It was found impossible to extricate the remaining caravel from the river; but every exertion was made to bring off the people and the property before there should be a return of the bad weather. In this the exertions of the zealous Diego Mendez were eminently efficient. He had been for some days preparing for such an emergency. Cutting up the sails of the caravel, he made great sacks to receive the biscuit. He lashed two Indian canoes together with spars, so that they could not be overturned by the waves, and made a platform on them capable of sustaining a great burden. This kind of raft was laden repeatedly with the stores, arms, and ammunition which had been left on shore, and with the furniture of the caravel, which was entirely dismantled. When well freighted it was towed by the boat to the ships. In this way, by constant and sleepless exertions, in the space of two days almost everything of value was transported on board the squadron, and little else left but the hull of the

caravel, stranded, decayed, and rotting in the river. Diego Mendez superintended the whole embarkation with unwearied watchfulness and activity. He and five companions were the last to leave shore, remaining all night at their perilous post and embarking in the morning with the last cargo of effects.

Nothing could equal the transports of the Spaniards when they found themselves once more on board of the ships, and saw a space of ocean between them and those forests which had lately seemed destined to be their graves. The joy of their comrades seemed little inferior to their own, and the perils and hardships which had surrounded them were forgotten for a time in mutual congratulations. The Admiral was so much impressed with a sense of the high services rendered by Diego Mendez throughout the late time of danger and disaster, that he gave him the command of the caravel, vacant by the death of the unfortunate Diego Tristan.*

*Hist. del Almirante, cap. 99, 100. Las Casas, lib. i., cap. 29. Relacion por Diego Mendez. Letter of Columbus from Jamaica. Journal of Porras, Navarrete, Colec., tom. i.

Chapter X.

DEPARTURE FROM THE COAST OF VERAGUA-ARRIVAL AT JAMAICA-STRANDING OF THE SHIPS.

[1503.]

HE wind at length becoming favorable,
Columbus set sail towards the end of

T

April, from the disastrous coast of Veragua. The wretched condition of the ships, the enfeebled state of the crews, and the scarcity of provisions, determined him to make the best of his way to Hispaniola, where he might refit his vessels and procure the necessary supplies for the voyage to Europe. To the surprise of his pilot and crews however, on making sail, he stood again along the coast to the eastward, instead of steering north, which they considered the direct route to Hispaniola. They fancied that he intended to proceed immediately for Spain, and murmured loudly at the madness of attempting so long

a voyage with ships destitute of stores and consumed by worms. Columbus and his brother however had studied the navigation of those seas with a more observant and experienced eye. They considered it advisable to gain a considerable distance to the east, before standing across for Hispaniola, to avoid being swept away far below their destined port by the strong currents setting constantly to the west.*

The Admiral however did not impart his reasons to the pilots, being anxious to keep the knowledge of his routes as much to himself as possible, seeing that there were so many adventurers crowding into the field and ready to follow on his track. He even took from the mariners their charts,† and boasts, in a letter to the sovereigns, that none of his pilots would be able to retrace the route to and from Veragua, nor to describe where it was situated.

Disregarding the murmurs of his men therefore, he continued along the coast eastward as far as Puerto Bello. Here he was obliged to leave one of the caravels, being so pierced by worms that it was impossible to keep her afloat. All the crews were now crowded into two caravels, and these were little better than mere wrecks. The utmost exertions were necessary *Hist. del Almirante. Letter from Jamaica. † Journal of Porras, Navarrete, Colec., tom. i.