wooden cross and all knelt before it and poured out their gratitude to
God.




CHAPTER X

NATIVES OF THE NEW LAND


Columbus christened his little coral island San Salvador. The natives
called it Guanahani; but should you look for it on your map you may not
find it under either its native or its Spanish name, for there was no
way, at that early date, of making an accurate map of the whole Bahama
group, and the name San Salvador somehow became shifted in time to
another island. Thus was the original landfall long lost sight of, and
no two writers could agree on the subject. Recently, however, the most
careful students have decided upon the reef now called Watling's Island,
to-day an English possession, as Columbus's first landing-place.

When you see that it is but a tiny dot in the ocean, you may think it an
insignificant spot to have been the scene of the most momentous event of
the Renaissance; you may feel inclined to scold at that well-meaning
Martin Pinzon for asking to have the rudders changed in order to find
his Cipango. But it must be remembered that to have found anything at
all was an unparalleled feat; and furthermore, that wee San Salvador was
not the end of Columbus's expedition; it was merely the beginning,
merely the lighting of that great torch of enterprise and investigation
which was not to be extinguished till the whole American continent and