arge to
one of the ship-boys, and went to sleep. This was in direct violation
of an invariable order of the admiral, that the helm should never be
intrusted to the boys. The rest of the mariners who had the watch took
like advantage of the absence of Columbus, and in a little while
the whole crew was buried in sleep. In the meantime the treacherous
currents, which run swiftly along this coast, carried the vessel
quietly, but with force, upon a sand-bank. The heedless boy had not
noticed the breakers, although they made a roaring that might have been
heard a league. No sooner, however, did he feel the rudder strike,
and hear the tumult of the rushing sea, than he began to cry for
aid. Columbus, whose careful thoughts never permitted him to sleep
profoundly, was the first on deck. The master of the ship, whose duty it
was to have been on watch, next made his appearance, followed by others
of the crew, half awake. The admiral ordered them to take the boat and
carry out an anchor astern, to warp the vessel off. The master and the
sailors sprang into the boat; but, confused as men are apt to be when
suddenly awakened by an alarm, instead of obeying the commands of
Columbus, they rowed off to the other caravel, about half a league to
windward.

In the meantime the master had reached the caravel, and made known the
perilous state in which he had left the vessel. He was reproached with
his pusillanimous desertion; the commander of the caravel manned his
boat and hastened to the relief of the admiral, followed by the recreant
master, covered with shame and confusion.

It was too late to save the ship, the current having set her more upon
the bank. The admiral, seeing that his boat had deserted him, that the
ship had swung across the stream, and that the water was continually
gaining upon her, ordered the mast to be cut away, in the hope of
lightening her sufficiently to float her off. Every effort was in vain.
The keel was firmly bedded in the sand; the shock had opened several
seams; while the swell of the breakers, striking her broadside, left
her each moment more and more aground, until she fell over on one side.
Fortunately the weather continued calm, otherwise the ship must have
gone to pieces, and the whole crew might have perished amidst the
currents and breakers.

The admiral and her men took refuge on board the caravel. Diego de
Arana, chief judge of the armament, and Pedro Gutierrez, the king's
butler, were immedia