consideration.

RECEPTION AT PALOS.

Possibly mistrusting the seamanship of his subordinates, Columbus refused
the offer of safe conduct and means of transport to Spain by land; and on
the 13th of March, in the teeth of a north-westerly wind and a heavy sea,
left the Tagus for the bar of Saltes, and safely reached his starting-
point at Palos on the 15th, again a Friday. The enthusiasm and excitement
aroused by the success of the expedition were unbounded. At Palos,
especially, where few families had not a personal interest in some of the
band of explorers, the little community was filled with extraordinary
delight. Not an individual member of the expedition but was elevated into
a hero,--not a debtor or a criminal whom the charter of immunity had led,
rather than bear the ills he had, to fly to others that he knew not of,--
but had expiated his social misdeeds, and had become a person of
consideration and an object of enthusiasm. The court was at Barcelona.
Immediately on his arrival Columbus despatched a letter to the king
and queen, stating in general terms the success of his project; and
proceeded forthwith to present himself in person to their highnesses.

BAD FAITH OF PINZON.

Almost at the same time, the "Pinta," which had been separated from her
consort in the first storm which they encountered, made the port of
Bayonne, whence Pinzon had forwarded a letter to the sovereigns,
announcing "his" discoveries, and proposing to come to court and give full
intelligence as to them. Columbus, whom he probably supposed to have
perished at sea, he seems to have ignored utterly, and when he received a
reply from the king and queen, directing him not to go to court without
the admiral, chagrin and grief overcame him to such an extent that he took
to his bed; and if any man ever died from mental distress and a broken
heart, that man was Martin Alonzo Pinzon.

SOLEMN RECEPTION.

Herrera tells us that the admiral now "entered into the greatest
reputation," and the historian goes on to explain to his readers what the
meaning of "reputation" is. "It does not consist," he tells us, "in
success, but in doing something which cannot be easily comprehended, which
compels men to think over and over again about it." And certainly, this
definition makes the word particularly applicable to the achievement of
Columbus.

The court prepared a solemn reception for the admiral at Barcelona, where
the people poured out in su