scheme as vain and impossible.

Columbus was on the point of leaving Spain, when the real grandeur of
the subject broke at last on Isabella's mind, and she resolved to
undertake the enterprise. Articles of agreement were drawn up and signed
by Ferdinand and Isabella. Columbus and his heirs were to have the
office of High Admiral in all the seas, lands, and continents he might
discover, and he was to be viceroy over the said lands and continents.
He was to have one-tenth of all profits, and contribute an eighth of the
expense of expeditions. Columbus proposed that the profits from his
discoveries should be consecrated to a crusade.


_The First Voyage_

(August, 1492--March, 1493)


Columbus set out joyfully for Palos, where the expedition was to be
fitted out. He had spent eighteen years in hopeless solicitation, amidst
poverty, neglect, and ridicule. When the nature of the expedition was
heard, the boldest seamen shrank from such a chimerical cruise, but at
last every difficulty was vanquished, and the vessels were ready for
sea. Two of them were light, half-decked caravels; the Santa Maria, on
which Columbus hoisted his flag, was completely decked. The whole number
of persons was one hundred and twenty.

Columbus set sail on August 3, 1492, steering for the Canary Islands.
From there they were wafted gently over a tranquil sea by the trade
wind, and for many days did not change a sail. The poor mariners