Columbus's proposals, it is true, were received with a certain interest
by the Portuguese; but for the jealousy of some officials it is very
probable that he would, in the first instance, have seen his cherished
plans carried into effect. As it was, a vessel was secretly fitted out,
and was sent in command of a rival navigator to test the theories of
Columbus. After a while the ship returned, battered and worn, having
discovered nothing beyond a series of exceptionally violent tempests.

This attempt was in any case destined to prove equally adverse to the
fortunes of Columbus. Had it succeeded, he would have undoubtedly been
deprived of the credit which should have been his by right; since it
failed, the venture was considered to have proved the fallacy of
Columbus's theories. When, disgusted with experiences such as these,
Columbus left Portugal and took up his residence near the Court of Spain
in company with this great idea of his, which followed him everywhere,
and was in a sense bigger than himself, he met with an equal lack of
success in the first instance. Queen Isabella was sympathetic, but her
cautious husband Ferdinand showed himself cold. Dreading the utter
destruction of his plans, Columbus determined to wash his hands of the
Iberian Peninsula and its over-cautious rulers and statesmen.

He was actually on his way to England, whither one of his brothers had
already preceded him, when a message from the Court of Spain caused him
to hasten back. It is possible that the Court had been in a haggling
mood, and had given the discoverer credit for a similar phase; at all
events, it was not until his person was almost out of reach that the now
complaisant authorities called him back.

Ferdinand himself had given his consent, although in a grudging fashion.
Isabella, however, proved herself enthusiastic, and it was she who
signed the bargain with the famous Genoese, which gave a continent to
the Royal Family of Spain. The signing of the bargain, however, did not
necessarily end the friction. The authorities were now fully prepared to
recognize Columbus as their messenger to the unknown world; but they
were reluctant in the extreme that the intrepid navigator should be
carried in too comfortable or costly a fashion. In the end Columbus,
conceding that half a fleet was better than no ships, gave way and took
what was offered him. He himself as Admiral was given charge of the
_Santa Maria_, the largest vessel, whil