Good reasoning, all this about "the strait," if only facts had been
geographically correct; and a brave determination, too, for an old man
afflicted with rheumatism and fever and bad sight to resolve to put out
once more on that boisterous ocean. We salute you, Don Cristobal! You
are a true navigator, never afraid of hardships and labor and perplexing
problems. Even had you not discovered America for us, we still would
salute you, because you were a tremendous worker!

Full of his new plan, Columbus left beautiful Granada where he had spent
two empty years and went to Sevilla. King Ferdinand readily granted him
four ships, for the Admiral Cristobal Colon, off on a voyage of
discovery, was not nearly so troublesome as the deposed governor and
viceroy, lingering around the court to obtain his lost title and
revenues.

The fitting out of the ships restored his spirits considerably. Whenever
Christopher had to do with boats and sea preparations he was in his
element. He now grew optimistic, and, with his usual fatal habit of
promising great results, he told his Sevilla acquaintances that he
expected to circumnavigate the world. Fatal habit, yes; but it meant
that he still kept that rich imagination, without which he never would
have made his first voyage.

Meanwhile, he realized that he was getting old, and that he might never
come back from this trip. His thoughts often turned to his native Genoa,
where he had played so happily as a child in the Vico Dritto di
Ponticello; so, one day he sat down and generously wrote to the
authorities of Genoa that, should his claims against the Spanish Crown
ever be settled, a part of his money was to be used in paying the