f a signature would cause consternation
at a teller's window nowadays. The gist of this famous agreement was as
follows:--

1. That Columbus and his heirs forever should have the office of admiral
in all the lands he might discover.

2. That he should be viceroy and governor-general of these lands, with a
voice in the appointment of his subordinate governors.

3. That he should reserve for himself one tenth part of the gold,
silver, pearls, and all other treasures acquired.

4. That he and his lieutenant should be sole judges, concurrent with the
High Admiral of Castile, in matters of commerce in the New World.

5. That he should have the privilege of contributing one eighth to the
expenses of any other expedition to these new lands, and should then be
entitled to one eighth of the profits.

It is a pity that the conduct of Columbus in Spain was not free from a
duplicity which did him little credit. He entered the service of Spain,
Jan. 20, 1486. As early as May 5, 1487, the Spanish Crown gave him three
thousand maravedis (about $18) "for some secret service for their
Majesties;" and during the same year, eight thousand maravedis more. Yet
after this he was secretly proffering his services again to the King of
Portugal, who in 1488 wrote Columbus a letter giving him the freedom of
the kingdom in return for the explorations he was to make _for
Portugal_. But this fell through.

Of the voyage itself you are more likely to have heard,--the voyage
which lasted a few months, but to earn which the strong-hearted Genoese
had borne nearly twenty years of disheartenment and opposition. It was
the years of undaunted struggling to convert the world to his own
unfathomed wisdom that showed the character of Columbus more fully than
all he ever did after the world believed him.

The difficulties of securing official consent and permission being thus
at last overcome, there was only the obstacle left of getting an
expedition together. This was a very serious matter; there were few who
cared to join in such a foolhardy undertaking as it was felt to be.
Finally, volunteers failing, a crew had to be gathered forcibly by order
of the Crown; and with his nao the "Santa Maria," and his two caravels
the "Nina" and the "Pinta," filled with unwilling men, the world-finder
was at last ready.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Pronounced C[=o]-l[=o]n,--the Spanish form. (Transcriber's note: the
= signifies a macron over the o)

[2] Pronounced _Hoon_