nty-five leagues from
land!--The next day also was not without its incident; for on Saturday
evening they saw a meteor, or "marvellous branch of fire" falling from
the serene violet of the sky into the sea.

They were now well within the influence of the trade-wind, which in these
months blows steadily from the east, and maintains an exquisite and balmy
climate. Even the Admiral, never very communicative about his
sensations, deigns to mention them here, and is reported to have said
that "it was a great pleasure to enjoy the morning; that nothing was
lacking except to hear the nightingales, and that the weather was like
April in Andalusia." On this day they saw some green grasses, which the
Admiral considered must have floated off from some island; "not the
continent," says the Admiral, whose theories are not to be disturbed by a
piece of grass, "because I make the continental land farther onward."
The crew, ready to take the most depressing and pessimistic view of
everything, considered that the lumps of grass belonged to rocks or
submerged lands, and murmured disparaging things about the Admiral.
As a matter of fact these grasses were masses of seaweed detached from
the Sargasso Sea, which they were soon to enter.

On Monday, September 17th, four days after Columbus had noted it, the
other pilots noted the declination of the needle, which they had found on
taking the position of the North star. They did not like it; and
Columbus, whose knowledge of astronomy came to his aid, ordered them to
take the position of the North star at dawn again, which they did, and
found that the needles were true. He evidently thought it useless to
communicate to them his scientific speculations, so he explained to them
that it was the North star which was moving in its circle, and not the
compass. One is compelled to admit that in these little matters of
deceit the Admiral always shone. To-day, among the seaweed on the ship's
side, he picked up a little crayfish, which he kept for several days,
presumably in a bottle in his cabin; and perhaps afterwards ate.

So for several days this calm and serene progress westward was
maintained. The trade-wind blew steady and true, balmy and warm also;
the sky was cloudless, except at morning and evening dusk; and there were
for scenery those dazzling expanses of sea and sky, and those gorgeous
hues of dawn and sunset, which are only to be found in the happy
latitudes. The things that happe