climax. "I escaped," says the admiral, "by the greatest miracle in the
world." Fortunately, however, his seamanship was equal to the emergency,
and on the afternoon of the fourth of March he came to anchor in the
Tagus. To the King of Portugal, who happened to be at no great distance,
he sent a despatch announcing his arrival and the result of his voyage,
and, in reply, received a pressing invitation to court. With this he
thought proper to comply, "in order not to show mistrust, although he
disliked it," and was received by the king with the highest honours. This
must have been almost too much of a triumph for a generous mind,
considering that the court before which he was displaying the signs of a
new world had refused the opportunity of securing the discovery for
itself. The king, however, now took occasion to put in a claim to the
newly found countries, basing it on that papal bull which has been
mentioned in a previous chapter but, although Columbus, in the interest of
his sovereigns, took care to repudiate this claim as decidedly as
possible, his royal host continued to entertain him with the utmost
consideration.


RECEPTION AT PALOS.

Possibly mistrusting the seamanship of his subordinates, Columbus refused
the offer of safe conduct and means of transport to Spain by land; and on
the 13th of March, in the teeth of a north-westerly wind and a heavy sea,
left the Tagus for the bar of Saltes, and safely reached his starting-
point at Palos on the 15th, again a Friday. The enthusiasm and excitement
aroused by the success of the expedition were unbounded. At Palos,
especially, where few families had not a personal interest in some of the
band of explorers, the little community was filled with extraordinary
delight. Not an individual member of the expedition but was elevated into