ictories, that land will very soon appear"; they saw another ringtail,
"which is not accustomed to sleep on the sea"; two pelicans came to the
ship, "which was an indication that land was near"; a large dark cloud
appeared to the north, "which is a sign that land is near"; they saw one
day a great deal of grass, "although the previous day they had not seen
any"; they took a bird with their hands which was like a jay; "it was a
river bird and not a sea bird"; they saw a whale, "which is an indication
that they are near land, because they always remain near it"; afterwards
a pelican came from the west-north-west and went to the south-east,
"which was an indication that it left land to the west-north-west,
because these birds sleep on land and in the morning they come to the sea
in search of food, and do not go twenty leagues from land." And "at dawn
two or three small land birds came singing to the ships; and afterwards
disappeared before sunrise."

Such beautiful signs, interpreted by the light of their wishes, were the
events of this part of the voyage. In the meantime, they have their
little differences. Martin Alonso Pinzon, on Tuesday, September 18th,
speaks from the Pinta to the Santa Maria, and says that he will not wait
for the others, but will go and make the land, since it is so near; but
apparently he does not get very far out of the way, the wind which wafts
him wafting also the Santa Maria and the Nina.

On September the 19th there was a comparison of dead-reckonings. The
Nina's pilot made it 440 leagues from the Canaries, the Pinta's 420
leagues, and the Admiral's pilot, doubtless instructed by the Admiral,
made it 400. On Sunday the 23rd they were getting into the seaweed and
finding crayfish again; and there being no reasonable cause for complaint
a scare was got up among the crew on an exceedingly ingenious point. The
wind having blown steadily from the east for a matter of three weeks,
they said that it would never blow in any other direction, and that they
would never be able to get back to Spain; but later in the afternoon the
sea got up from the westward, as though in answer to their fears, and as
if to prove that somewhere or other ahead of them there was a west wind
blowing; and the Admiral remarks that "the high sea was very necessary to
me, as it came to pass once before in the time when the Jews went out of
Egypt with Moses, who took them from captivity." And indeed there was
something o