, and supported his authority, now took part with the private
men; they assembled tumultuously on the deck, expostulated with their
commander, mingled threats with their expostulations, and required him
instantly to tack about and return to Europe. Columbus perceived that it
would be of no avail to have recourse to any of his former arts, which,
having been tried so often, had lost their effect; and that it was
impossible to rekindle any zeal for the success of the expedition among
men in whose breasts fear had extinguished every generous sentiment. He
saw that it was no less vain to think of employing either gentle or
severe measures to quell a mutiny so general and so violent. It was
necessary, on all these accounts, to soothe passions which he could no
longer command, and to give way to a torrent too impetuous to be
checked. He promised solemnly to his men that he would comply with
their request, provided they would accompany him and obey his command
for three days longer, and if, during that time, land were not
discovered, he would then abandon the enterprise, and direct his course
towards Spain.

Enraged as the sailors were, and impatient to turn their faces again
towards their native country, this proposition did not appear to them
unreasonable; nor did Columbus hazard much in confining himself to a
term so short. The presages of discovering land were now so numerous and
promising that he deemed them infallible. For some days the
sounding-line reached the bottom, and the soil which it brought up
indicated land to be at no great distance. The flocks of birds
increased, and were composed not only of sea-fowl, but of such
land-birds as could not be supposed to fly far from the shore. The crew
of the Pinta observed a cane floating, which seemed to have been newly
cut, and likewise a piece of timber artificially carved. The sailors
aboard the Nigna took up the branch of a tree with red berries perfectly
fresh. The clouds around the setting sun assumed a new appearance; the
air was more mild and warm, and during night the wind became unequal
and variable. From all these symptoms, Columbus was so confident of
being near land, that on the evening of the eleventh of October, after
public prayers for success, he ordered the sails to be furled, and the
ships to lie to, keeping strict watch lest they should be driven ashore
in the night. During this interval of suspense and expectation, no man
shut his eyes, all kept upon dec