expedition, obtained from Ferdinand and Isabella a stipulation of every
article contained in his first proposals. He was constituted high admiral
and viceroy of all the seas, islands and continents which he should
discover; with power to receive one tenth of the profits arising from their
productions and commerce. Which offices and emoluments were to be made
hereditary in his family.

These articles being adjusted, the preparations for the voyage were brought
forward with rapidity; but they were by no means adequate to the importance
of the expedition. Three small vessels, scarcely sufficient in size to be
employed in the coasting business, were appointed to traverse the vast
Atlantic, and to encounter the storms and currents always to be expected in
tropical climates, uncertain seasons and unknown seas. These vessels, as we
must suppose them in the infancy of navigation, were ill constructed, in a
poor condition, and manned by seamen unaccustomed to distant voyages. But
the tedious length of time which Columbus had passed in solicitation and
suspense, and the prospect of being able soon to obtain the object of his
wishes, induced him to overlook what he could not easily remedy; and led
him to disregard those circumstances which would have intimidated any other
mind. He accordingly equipped his small squadron with as much expedition as
possible, manned with ninety men and victualled for one year. With these,
on the third of August 1492, amidst a vast crowd of spectators, he set sail
on an enterprise which, if we consider the ill condition of his ships,
the inexperience of his sailors, the length and precarious nature of his
voyage, and the consequences that flowed from it, was the most daring and
important that ever was undertaken. He touched at some of the Portuguese
settlements in the Canary Isles; where, altho he had been but a few days
at sea, he found his vessels needed refitting. He soon made the necessary
repairs, and took his departure from the westermost islands that had
hitherto been discovered. Here he left the former track of navigation, and