e on board the shabby little Nina, with kettle-drums and
trumpets and pipes, and placed himself at the disposal of Columbus. It
is a curious moment, this, in which the two great discoverers of their
time, Diaz and Columbus, meet for an hour on the deck of a forty-ton
caravel; a curious thing to consider that they who had performed such
great feats of skill and bravery, one to discover the southernmost point
of the old world and the other to voyage across an uncharted ocean to the
discovery of an entirely new world, could find nothing better to talk
about than their respective ranks and glories; and found no more
interesting subject of discussion than the exact amount of state and
privilege which should be accorded to each.

During the day or two in which Columbus waited in the port crowds of
people came down from Lisbon to see the little Nina, which was an object
of much admiration and astonishment; to see the Indians also, at whom
they greatly marvelled. It was probably at this time that the letter
addressed to Luis de Santangel, containing the first official account of
the voyage, was despatched.

*
*****
*
*

"Sir: As I am sure you will be pleased at the great victory which
the Lord has given me in my voyage, I write this to inform you that
in twenty' days I arrived in the Indies with the squadron which
their Majesties had placed under my command. There I discovered
many islands, inhabited by a numerous population, and took
possession of them for their Highnesses, with public ceremony and
the royal flag displayed, without molestation.

"The first that I discovered I named San Salvador, in remembrance of
that Almighty Power which had so miraculously bestowed them. The
Indians call it Guanahani. To the second I assigned the name of
Santa Marie de Conception; to the third that of Fernandina; to the
fourth that of Isabella; to the fifth Juana; and so on, to every one
a new name.

"When I arrived at Juana, I followed the coast to the westward, and
found it so extensive that I considered it must be a continent and a
province of Cathay. And as I found no towns or villages by the
seaside, excepting some small settlements, with the people of which
I could not communicate because they all