even proposed to cast their leader into the sea.

The menaces and persuasions that had so often enabled Columbus to
overcome the turbulence and fears of his followers now ceased to be of
any avail. He gave way to an irresistible necessity, and promised that
he would return to Spain, if unsuccessful in their search for three days
more. To this brief delay the mutineers consented. The signs of land now
brought almost certainty to the mind of the great leader. The
sounding-line brought up such soil as is only found near the shore:
birds were seen of a kind supposed never to venture on a long flight. A
piece of newly-cut cane floated past, and a branch of a tree bearing
fresh berries was taken up by the sailors. The clouds around the setting
sun wore a new aspect, and the breeze became warm and variable. On the
evening of the 11th of October every sail was furled, and strict watch
kept, lest the ships might drift ashore during the night.

On board the admiral's vessel all hands were invariably assembled for
the evening hymn; on this occasion a public prayer for success was
added, and with those holy sounds Columbus hailed the appearance of that
small, shifting light,[46] which crowned with certainty his
long-cherished hope,[47] turned his faith into realization,[48] and
stamped his name forever upon the memory of man.[49]

It was by accident only that England had been deprived of the glory of
these great discoveries. Columbus, when repulsed by the courts of
Portugal and Spain, sent his brother Bartholomew to London,[50] to lay
his projects before Henry VII., and seek assistance for their execution.
The king, although the most penurious of European princes, saw the vast
advantage of the offer, and at once invited the great Genoese to his
court. Bartholomew was, however, captured by pirates on his return
voyage, and detained till too late, for in the mean while Isabella of
Castile had adopted the project of Columbus, and supplied the means for
the expedition.

Henry VII. was not discouraged by this disappointment: two years after
the discoveries of Columbus became known in England, the king entered
into an arrangement with John Cabot, an adventurous Venetian merchant,
resident at Bristol, and, on the 5th of March, 1495, granted him letters
patent for conquest and discovery. Henry stipulated that one fifth of
the gains in this enterprise was to be retained for the crown, and that
the vessels engaged in it should return to