Thus while Ferdinand and Isabella meant to punish the little town, they
instead conferred a great honor upon it. Little did Columbus dream, the
day on which he and his boy approached it so empty-handed five years
before, that he was to make it forever famous. Palos to-day is a
miserably poor, humble little place; but its people, especially the
Pinzon family who still live there, are very proud that it was the
starting-point of the momentous voyage of discovery; and hundreds of
tourists visit it who never know that the sovereigns had intended
punishing, instead of glorifying, the port.

In May, 1492, however, when Columbus returned from Granada, the Palos
inhabitants did not see any glory at all! They saw nothing but the heavy
penalty. Not only did this royal command mean that every citizen of
Palos must furnish money to buy the ships and pay the crew, it meant
that the ships and crew would never come back again from the "Sea of
Darkness"! An expedition through the well-known Mediterranean to Sicily
or Naples would have seemed like a pleasure trip compared with the
terrifying one now contemplated! They were handing over the equipment to
a madman! Poor little Palos was filled with misgiving, and we may be
sure that Columbus, as he passed through the streets, was looked upon as
the common enemy.

The royal decree ordered Palos to have its contribution ready in ten
days; meanwhile, a third caravel was to be bought; but so violently were
the people of Palos opposed to the enterprise that not a single ship-
owner would sell his vessel. Another difficulty was to get a crew of
experienced seamen. With very few exceptions, sailors were afraid to go
out on the unexplored Atlantic Ocean beyond the Azores. Spanish sailors
had not had the excellent schooling of those in Portugal, where, for