ong bondage to the land.

Columbus now laid his great project before the King of Portugal, but
without success. Greatly disappointed, he sailed to Spain, hoping to
receive the patronage of Ferdinand and Isabella. It was many months
before he could even obtain a hearing; his means were exhausted, and he
had to contend against ridicule and scorn, but the royal audience was at
length obtained. Ferdinand assembled learned astronomers and
cosmographers to hold a conference with Columbus. They assailed him with
citations from the Bible. One objection advanced was, that should a ship
ever succeed in reaching India, she could never come back, for the
rotundity of the globe would present a mountain, up which it would be
impossible to sail. Finally, after five years, the junta condemned the
scheme as vain and impossible.

Columbus was on the point of leaving Spain, when the real grandeur of
the subject broke at last on Isabella's mind, and she resolved to
undertake the enterprise. Articles of agreement were drawn up and signed
by Ferdinand and Isabella. Columbus and his heirs were to have the
office of High Admiral in all the seas, lands, and continents he might
discover, and he was to be viceroy over the said lands and continents.
He was to have one-tenth of all profits, and contribute an eighth of the
expense of expeditions. Columbus proposed that the profits from his
discoveries should be consecrated to a crusade.

_The First Voyage_

(August, 1492--March, 1493)

Columbus set out joyfully for Palos, where the expedition was to be
fitted out. He had spent eighteen years in hopeless solicitation, amidst
poverty, neglect, and ridicule. When the nature of the expedition was
heard, the boldest seamen shrank from such a chimerical cruise, but at
last every difficulty was vanquished, and the vessels were ready for
sea. Two of them were light, half-decked caravels; the Santa Maria, on
which Columbus hoisted his flag, was completely decked. The whole number
of persons was one hundred and twenty.

Columbus set sail on August 3, 1492, steering for the Canary Islands.
From there they were wafted gently over a tranquil sea by the trade
wind, and for many days did not change a sail. The poor mariners
gradually became uneasy at the length of the voyage. The sight of small
birds, too feeble to fly far, cheered their hearts for a time, but again
their impatience rose to absolute mutiny. Then new hopes diverted them.
There was an app