the three ships kept on their way toward the west.
To the crew every day seemed a year. From sunrise to sunset nothing
was to be seen but water and sky. At last the men began to think that
they were sailing on an ocean which had no end. They whispered among
themselves that Columbus had gone mad, and that if they kept on with
him in command they should all be lost.

Twice, indeed, there was a joyful cry of Land! Land! but when they
got nearer they saw that what they had thought was land was nothing
but banks of clouds. Then some of the sailors said, Let us go to the
admiral and tell him that we must turn back. What if he will not listen
to us? asked others; Then we will throw him overboard and say when
we reach Palos that he fell into the sea and was drowned.

But when the crew went to Columbus and told him that they would go
no further, he sternly ordered them to their work, declaring that
whatever might happen, he would not now give up the voyage.

11. Signs of land.--The very next day such certain signs of land were
seen that the most faint-hearted took courage. The men had already
noticed great flocks of land-birds flying toward the west, as if to
guide them. Now some of the men on one vessel saw a branch of a
thorn-bush float by. It was plain that it had not long been broken
off from the bush, and it was full of red berries.

But one of the crew on the other vessel found something better even
than the thorn-branch; for he drew out of the water a carved
walking-stick. Every one saw that such a stick must have been cut
and carved by human hands. These two signs could not be doubted. The
men now felt sure that they were approaching the shore, and what was
more, that there were people living in that strange country.

12. Discovery of land.--That evening Columbus begged his crew to keep
a sharp lookout, and he promised a velvet coat to the one who should
first see land. All was now excitement; and no man closed his eyes
in sleep that night.

Columbus himself stood on a high part of his ship, looking steadily
toward the west. About ten o'clock he saw a moving light; it seemed
like a torch carried in a man's hand. He called to a companion and
asked him if he could see anything of the kind; yes, he, too, plainly
saw the moving light, but presently it disappeared.

Two hours after midnight a cannon was fired from the foremost vessel.
It was the glad signal that the long-looked-for land was actually
in sight. Ther