From
The Log of Christopher Columbus:
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1.
He went this night to the east-north-east a distance of sixteen
leagues and a half. During the day he ran on the same course a
distance of twenty nine leagues and a quarter. The sea was very
calm, thanks be to God.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2.
He went this night to the east-north-east forty miles, which are ten
leagues. To-day with the same wind in the stern he ran seven miles
an hour: so that in eleven hours he went seventy-seven miles which
are nineteen leagues and a quarter. The sea was very calm, thanks to
God, and the winds very soft. They saw the sea so thickly covered
with grasses that if they had not seen it, they would have feared it
was shoals. They saw petrels.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 3.
This night going with the wind astern and the sea very calm, thanks
be to God, they went about twenty-nine leagues. The North Star
appeared to him very high, the same as on the Cape San Vicente: he
could not take the latitude with the astrolabe or quadrant, because
the waves would not permit it. During the day he navigated on his
course to the east-north-east, and went about ten miles an hour, and
thus in eleven hours he went twenty-seven leagues.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4.
This night he navigated to the east quarter north-east, part of the
time twelve miles an hour and part ten miles, and thus he went one
hundred and thirty miles which are thirty-two leagues and a halt.
The sky was very tempestuous and rainy, and it was somewhat cold, on
which account {he says} he knew that he had not reached the islands
of the Azores. After the sun rose, he changed his course and went
to the east. He went during all the day seventy-seven miles, which
are nineteen leagues and a quarter.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5.
This night he navigated to the east and he went in all fifty-four
miles. which are fourteen leagues less a half. During the day he
ran ten miles an hour, and so in eleven hours he went one hundred
and ten miles, which are twenty-seven leagues and a half. They saw
petrels and some little sticks which was a sign that they were near
land.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6.
He navigated this night to the east, and went about eleven miles an
hour: in thirteen hours of the night he went about one hundred and
forty-three miles, which are thirty-five leagues and a quarter.
They saw many birds and petrels. During the day he ran fourteen
miles an hour, and so be went during that day one hundred and
fifty-four miles, which are thirty-eight leagues and a half: so that
they went between day and night seventy-four leagues, a little more
or less. Vicente Anes said that to-day in the morning the island of
Flores lay to the north, and the island of Madeira to the east.
Roldan said that the island of Fayal or of San Gregorio lay to the
north-north-east, and Puerto Santo to the east. Much grass
appeared.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7.
He navigated this night to the east: he went about ten miles an
hour, and so in thirteen hours he went one hundred and thirty miles,
which are thirty-two leagues and a half: during the day he went
eight miles an hour, in eleven hours eighty-eight miles, which are
twenty-two leagues. On this morning the Admiral was seventy-five
leagues to the south of the island of Flores: and the pilot Pedro Alonso going to the north, passed between Tercera and Santa Maria:
and in going to the east. he passed to the windward of the island of
Madeira, at a distance of twelve leagues on the north. The sailors
saw grass of a different kind than that they had passed, of which
there is a great deal in the Azores Islands. Then they saw the same
kind they had seen before.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8.
He went this night three miles an hour to the east, for a short
time, and then went to the quarter of the south-east: he went during
all the night twelve leagues. From sunrise until mid-day he ran
twenty-seven miles: then until sunset as many more, which are
thirteen leagues to the south-south-east.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9.
For a short time during this night he went about three leagues to
the south-south-east, and then to the south, quarter south-east:
then to the north-east until ten o'clock in the day a distance of
another five leagues, and then until night he went nine leagues to
the cast.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 10.
After sunset he navigated to the east during all the night a
distance of one hundred and thirty miles, which are thirty-two
leagues and a half; from sunset until night he went nine miles an
hour, and thus he went in eleven hours ninety-nine miles, which are
twenty-four leagues and a half and a quarter. On the caravel of the
Admiral, Vicente Yanes and the two pilots Sancho Ruiz and Pedro Alonso Nino and Roldan shaped the course and they all passed much
beyond the islands of the Azores to the east, according to their
charts, and navigating to the north no one of them located the
island of Santa Maria, which is the last of all the Azores islands:
rather they would be five leagues beyond it and in the vicinity of
the island of Madeira or in that of Puerto Santo. But the Admiral
reckoned himself much out of his course, finding his position a long
way behind that reckoned by the others, because this night the
island of Flores lay to the north of him and he was going to the
east toward Nafe in Africa, and he passed to the windward of the
island of Madeira on the northern side {lacuna} leagues. Thus these
pilots according to their reckoning were one hundred and fifty
leagues nearer to Castile than the Admiral. He says that the grace
of God permitting, as soon as land is seen it will be known who is
calculating the surest. He says here also that on the voyage west
be went two hundred and sixty-three leagues from the island of
Hierro before he saw the first grass.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11.
He went on his course this night twelve miles an hour, and so in all
the night he counted thirty-nine leagues, and during all the day he
ran sixteen leagues and a half. He saw many birds and on this
account he believed he was near land.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12.
He navigated to the east six miles an hour during this night, and
went until day a distance of seventy-three miles, which are eighteen
leagues and a quarter. Here he began to encounter a high sea and
tempest: and if the caravel had not been very good and well
equipped, he says he would have feared to be lost. During the day
he ran about eleven or twelve leagues with much difficulty and
danger.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13.
From sunset until day he experienced great difficulty from the wind
and from the high and stormy sea: it lightened toward the
north-north-east three times, which he said was a sign that a great
tempest was to come from that direction or from the direction
contrary to his course. He went under bare masts most of the night:
then he raised a little sail and went about fifty-two miles, which
are thirteen leagues. This day the wind abated a little; but then
it increased, and the sea became terrible and the waves crossed each
other which racked the ships. He went about fifty-five miles, which
are thirteen and a half leagues.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14.
This night the wind increased and the waves were frightful, coming
in contrary directions. They crossed and obstructed the ship which
could not go forward or get out from between them and they broke on
her: he carried the "papahigo" very low simply that it might keep
him above the waves: he went in this way during three hours, and
made about twenty miles. The wind and the sea increased greatly
and seeing the great danger he began to run before the wind, where
the wind took him, because there was no other remedy. Then the
caravel Pinta, on which was Martin Alonso, commenced to run also,
and disappeared, although all the night the Admiral showed lights
and the other ship responded; until it appeared that the latter was
not able to do so any longer on account of the force of the tempest,
and because she found herself very much out of the course of the
Admiral. The Admiral went this night to the north-east, quarter
east, a distance of fifty-four miles, which are thirteen leagues.
After sunrise the wind became stronger and the cross sea more
terrible: he carried only the "papahigo" low, that the ship might
get out of the waves which broke across her and not sink. He went
on a course to the east-north-east and then on the quarter as far as
the north-east: he went about six hours thus and during that time
made seven and a half leagues. He ordered that a pilgrimage should
be vowed to go to Santa Maria de Guadaloupe and a wax candle
weighing five pounds should be carried and that every one should vow
that whoever was elected by chance should fulfil the pilgrimage.
For this purpose he ordered as many peas brought as there were
persons on the ship and one was marked by a knife with the sign of
the cross, and they were well shaken and placed in a cap. The first
to put in his hand was the Admiral and he took out the pea marked
with the sign of the cross, and thus he was selected by chance, and
from that time he considered himself obliged to fulfil the vow and
make the pilgrimage. Lots were again drawn to make a pilgrimage to
Santa Maria de Loreto, which is in the province of Ancona, the land
of the Pope, which is the house where Our Lady has performed and
performs many great miracles, and chance selected a sailor from the
port of Santa Maria, who was called Pedro de Villa, and the Admiral
promised to give him money for the expenses of the pilgrimage. He
decided that another pilgrim should be sent to watch one night in
Santa Clara de Moguer and say a mass, and for this purpose lots were
again drawn with the peas marked with a cross, and the choice fell
to the Admiral himself. Then the Admiral and all the people made a
vow that the first land they reached they would all go in their
shirts in procession to pray in a church under the invocation of Our Lady.
Besides the general or common vows each one had made his vow in
especial, because none of them expected to escape, all considering
themselves lost through the terrible tempest they were experiencing.
The danger was increased by the fact that the ship was short of
ballast as the load had been lightened by the consumption of the
provisions, water and wine: the Admiral had not provided these in
sufficient quantity, as he hoped for the favourable weather be
experienced among the islands, and proposed to order the ship
ballasted on the islands of the Mugeres where he intended to go.
The remedy he found for this necessity was when he was able to do
it, to fill the pipes which were empty of water and wine with
sea-water, and by this means the evil was remedied.
The Admiral here writes the causes which made him fear that our Lord
willed that he should perish in that place, and the other causes
which gave him hope that God would lead him in safety, in order that
such news as he was carrying to the Sovereigns might not perish. It
appeared to him that the great desire he had to carry this wonderful
news and to show that he had been proved truthful in what he had
said and volunteered to discover, caused him to feel the greatest
fear that he would not succeed in doing so, and he says that it
seemed to him that each gnat could disturb and impede it. He
attributed this to his little faith and lack of confidence in the
Divine Providence. He was comforted on the other hand by the
favours which God had shown him by giving him such a victory, in
discovering what he had discovered: and God had fulfilled for him
all his desires, as after he had experienced in Castile so many
adversities and contradictions, everything had been brought about as
he desired. And as before, he had directed his purpose to God and
had conducted his enterprise for Him, and he had heard him and given
him all that be had asked, it was to be believed that God would
fulfil what was commenced and deliver him in safety. Especially
since he had delivered him on his departure when be had greater
reason to fear on account of the difficulties he had with the
sailors and people who were with him, who all with one voice
determined to return and to rebel against him, making protestations,
and the eternal God gave him strength and courage against them all;
and because of many other wonderful things which God had manifested
in him and by him on that journey, besides those which their
Highnesses knew from the persons of their house. So that he says
he ought not to fear the said tempest. But his weakness and anxiety
he says would not allow his mind to become reassured. He says
moreover, that he also felt great anxiety on account of the two sons
whom he had in Cordova at school, as he had left them orphaned of
father and mother in a foreign land, and the Sovereigns did not know
of the services which he had rendered them on the voyage be had made
and the very favourable news he was taking them, on account of which
they would be moved to succour his sons. For this reason, and that
their Highnesses might know how our Lord had given him the victory
in everything which be desired about the Indies, and that they might
know there were no tempests in those regions, which be says may be
known by the fact that the grass and trees bring up and grow almost
into the sea, and that if he should be lost in that tempest the
Sovereigns might have information about his voyage, he took a
parchment and wrote upon it all that he was able in regard to
everything which he had found, earnestly beseeching whomsoever might
find it to carry it to the Sovereigns. He enveloped this parchment
in a waxed cloth, tied it very securely, and ordered a large wooden
barrel brought, and placed the parchment in the barrel without any
person knowing what it was, as they all thought it was some act of
devotion, and thus he ordered it thrown into the sea. Then with
showers and disturbances the wind changed to the west, and he sailed
thus before the wind with only the foresail for about five hours;
the sea was very rough and he went a distance of about two and a
half leagues to the north-east. He had taken down the "papahigo"
from the mainsail, for fear that some wave of the sea would carry it
all away.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15.
Yesterday after sunset the skies commenced to clear toward the west,
and indicated that the wind was about to blow from that direction.
He had the bonnet placed on the mainsail: the sea was yet very high,
although it was subsiding a little. He went to the east-north-east
at the rate of four miles an hour and in the thirteen hours of the
night they went thirteen leagues. After sunrise they saw land: it
appeared to them at the prow to the east-north-east. Some said that
it was the island of Madeira, others that it was the Rock of Cintra
in Portugal, near Lisbon. The wind changed and blew ahead from the
east-north-east and the sea came very high from the west: the
caravel must have been five leagues from land. The Admiral,
according to his navigation brought himself to be off the Azores
Islands, and believed that the land they saw was one of them: the
pilots and sailors believed that they were already off Castile.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16.
All this night he beat against the wind in order to gain the land,
which he already recognised as an island, at times going to the
north-east, at others to the north-north-east, until sunrise, when
he directed his course to the south in order to reach the island
which they no longer saw because of the very murky weather, and he
saw at the stern another island which was distant about eight
leagues. From sunrise until night he tacked about to reach land, in
spite of the strong wind and high sea which it raised. At the hour
of Salve which is at the beginning of the night, Some saw light to
the leeward, and it appeared that it must be the island which they
first saw yesterday: and all night he continued beating about and
drawing as near as he was able to see if at sunset he could
distinguish any of the islands. This night the Admiral rested a
little, because he had not slept nor had been able to sleep since
Wednesday, and his legs had become very much crippled from being
always exposed to the cold and water and from having had little
nourishment. At sunrise he navigated to the south-south-west and at
night he reached the island and on account of the very dark and
cloudy weather he could not recognise what island it was.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18.
Yesterday after sunset he went around the island to see where he
could anchor and get tidings: he anchored with one anchor and
afterwards lost the anchor: he set sail again and heat about all the
night. After sunrise he again approached the northern part of the
island and cast anchor where it appeared best to him, and sent the
boat to land: and they had speech with the people of the island and
learned that it was the island of Santa Maria, one of the Azores;
and the inhabitants indicated to them the harbour where they could
enter with the caravel and they said they had never seen such a
tempest as that which had prevailed during the past fifteen days,
and that they wondered how they had escaped: they offered many
thanks to God {he says} and rejoiced greatly on account of the news
they heard of the Admiral's having discovered the Indies. The
Admiral says that his navigation had been very true and that he had
steered well, for which many thanks should be given to our Lord,
although he made them a little beyond their true situation; but he
had considered it sure that he was in the region of the Azores
Islands, and that this island was one of them. And he says he
pretended to have gone a longer distance to confound the pilots and
sailors who steered, and to remain Master of the course to the
Indies, as he had done, because no one of them all was certain of
his course, so that none could be sure of his course to the Indies.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19.
After sunset three men came to the shore of the island and called.
He sent them the boat in which they came to the ship and brought
fowls and fresh bread, and it was a Carnival Day: and they brought
other things which the captain of the island sent, who was called
Juan de Castaneda, saying that he knew the Admiral very well and
that he did not come to see him on account of its being night: but
that at dawn he would come and bring him more refreshment, and bring
with him three men from the caravel who remained there, and that he
did not send them back on account of the great pleasure he had with
them, hearing about their voyage. The Admiral ordered that the
messengers should be paid much honour and ordered beds to be given
them in which to sleep that night, because it was late and the
village was distant. And as on the Thursday past, when they were in
the midst of the anxiety occasioned by the tempest, they made the
vow and vows aforesaid, and the vow that on the first land where
there was a house of Our Lady they would go in shirts, etc., he
decided that half of the people should go to fulfil it at a small
house which was near the sea, like a hermitage, and he would go
afterward with the other half. Seeing that the country was safe,
and confiding in the offers of the Captain and in the peace reigning
between Portugal and Castile, he begged the three men to go to the
village and send a priest to say a mass for them. Half of the
people went in their shirts, in fulfilment of their vow, and being
at their prayers, they were attacked by all the villagers on
horseback and on foot with the Captain, who captured them all. Then
the Admiral remained unsuspectingly until eleven o'clock in the day,
expecting the boat, in order to go himself with the other people and
fulfil his vow, and seeing that the people did not come, he
suspected that they were detained or that the boat was wrecked,
because all the island is surrounded by very high rocks. The
Admiral could not see this affair, because the hermitage was behind
a point. He raised anchor and set sail directly toward the
hermitage and he saw many horsemen who alighted and entered the boat
armed, and came to the caravel to take the Admiral. The Captain
arose in the boat and asked for his personal safety from the Admiral
and he said that it was assured to him. But: why was it that he saw
none of his people in the boat? And the Admiral added that if he
would come and enter the caravel that he would do all that he
wished. And the Admiral tried with smooth words to get him to come
so that he could take him to recover his people, not believing that
he violated faith in giving him security, since he, having offered
him peace and security, had broken his promise. He says that as the
Captain had a bad purpose he did not trust himself to enter. Having
seen that the Captain did not approach the caravel, the Admiral
begged him to tell him the cause for his detaining his people, and
said that it would annoy the King of Portugal and that in the land
of the Sovereigns of Castile the Portuguese receive great honour and
they enter it and are as safe as in Lisbon: and that the Sovereigns
had given them letters of recommendation for all the Princes and
Lords and men in the world, which he would show the Captain if he
would approach and that he was their Admiral of the Ocean-sea and
Viceroy of the Indies, which now belonged to their Highnesses, the
provisions for which, signed with their signatures and sealed with
their seals, he would show him and which he did show him at a
distance: and that the Sovereigns felt much love and friendship for
the King of Portugal and had ordered him to pay all the honour he
was able to the ships of Portugal which he might encounter: and that
even if he would not give him his people, he would not give up going
to Castile, since he had sufficient people to navigate to Seville,
and the Captain and his people would be well punished for offering
them that insult. Then the Captain and the others replied that they
did not know a King and Queen of Castile here, nor their letters,
neither were they afraid, and rather they would have them know that
it was Portugal,--almost menacing them. When the Admiral heard this
he felt great resentment and he says he thought some differences had
taken place between the Kingdoms after his departure, and he could
not suffer that they should not reply to the Portuguese, which was
right.
Then that Captain again rose at a distance he says and told the
Admiral to go away with the caravel to the harbour and that all he
was doing and had done, the King his Lord had sent him orders to do.
The Admiral called on those who were in the caravel to witness this
and the Admiral again called to the Captain and to them all and gave
them his faith, and promised, by right of his authority, not to
descend from or leave the caravel until he had taken a hundred
Portuguese to Castile, and had depopulated all the island. And so
he anchored again in the harbour where he was first, as the weather
and wind were very unfavourable for anything else.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20.
He ordered the ship repaired and the pipes filled with sea-water for
ballast, because he was in a very bad harbour and he feared his
cables might be cut, and it was so. For this reason he set sail
toward the island of San Miguel, although in none of the Azores
islands is there a good harbour for the weather which prevailed
then, and he had no other safety than to put out to sea.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21.
He started yesterday from that island of Santa Maria for the island
of San Miguel to see if he could find a harbour in which to endure
such bad weather as prevailed, with a great deal of wind and a high
sea and he went until night without being able to see either one
land or the other on account of the extreme darkness and obscurity
which the wind and sea caused. The Admiral says that it was with
little pleasure because he had only three sailors who knew the sea,
as the most of those who were there knew nothing of the sea. He
beat about all this night in a very great tempest and in great
danger and difficulty; and that in which the Lord was merciful to
him was that the sea or the waves, only came from one direction,
because if there had been a cross-sea as in the past, he would have
undergone very serious injury. After sunrise, having found that he
did not see the island of San Miguel, he decided to return to Santa
Maria to see if he could recover his people and the boat and the
cables and anchors he left there.
He says he was astonished at such bad weather as there was in those
islands and regions, because in the Indies he navigated all that
winter without anchoring and it was good weather all the time, and
that, for one hour alone he did not see the sea so that he could not
navigate well, and in these islands he had experienced such a
serious tempest and the same happened to him on his departure as far
as the Canary Islands: but having passed them, he always found the
winds and the sea very temperate. In conclusion the Admiral says
that the sacred theologians and learned philosophers well said that
the earthly Paradise is at the end of the Orient, because it is a
most temperate place. So that, those lands which he had now
discovered, are {he says} the end of the Orient.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22.
Yesterday he anchored at the island of Santa Maria in the harbour or
port where he had first anchored, and then a man came and called
from some rocks which were facing them, telling them not to go away
from there. Then the boat came with five sailors and two priests
and an escribano {notary}. They asked for guarantee of security,
and the Admiral having given it, they mounted upon the caravel and
as it was night they slept there, and the Admiral paid them what
honours he was able. In the morning they required him to show them
the authority from the Sovereigns of Castile, in order to prove to
them that he had made that voyage by authority of the Sovereigns.
The Admiral felt that they did that in order to make it appear that
they had not done wrong before, but that they were right, as they
had not been able to take the person of the Admiral which they must
have intended to get into their hands when, they came armed in the
boat; but they saw that the game did not turn out favourably to them
and they feared what the Admiral had said and threatened, which he
intended to do and believed that he could carry out successfully.
Finally in order to obtain the people they had, he was obliged to
show them the general letter from the Sovereigns for all the Princes
and Lords of High Degree, and the other provisions; and he gave them
what he had and they went to land satisfied and then they let all
the people go with the boat, from whom he learned that if they had
taken the Admiral they would never have allowed him to go free,
because the Captain said that the King, his Lord, had commanded him
to do as he did.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23.
Yesterday the weather commenced to show signs of becoming better,
and he raised the anchors and went around the island in search of a
good anchorage where he could take wood and stone for ballast, and
he could not find an anchorage until the hour of "completas."
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24.
He anchored yesterday in the afternoon to take wood and stone, and
as the sea was very high the boat could not reach land and at the
passing of the first night watch the wind commenced to blow west and
south-west. He ordered the sails raised on account of the great
danger there is in those islands from remaining at anchor with a
south wind, and a south-west wind easily shifts till it blows south.
And having seen that it was good weather to go to Castile, he
abandoned his purpose of taking wood and stone and ordered the
course steered to the east, and he went until sunrise, which would
be six hours and a half, at the rate of about seven miles an hour,
which are forty-five miles and a half. From sunrise until sunset he
went six miles an hour, which in seven hours was sixty-six miles and
with the forty-five and a half travelled in the night, it made one
hundred and eleven and a half, and consequently twenty-eight
leagues.
Columbus's Log: February, 1493 - continued