The Fire Kindles -2

The Fire Kindles -2

 There was a state reception, with Admiral Azumbaga walking in front in scarlet and

brocade, followed by his captains, Columbus among them, dressed in gorgeous tunics

and cloaks with golden collars and, well hidden beneath their finery, good serviceable

cuirasses. The banner of Portugal was ceremoniously unfurled and dis played from the

top of a tall tree. An altar was erected and consecrated by the chaplain to the expedition,

and a mass was sung for the repose of the soul of Prince Henry. The Portugal contingent

were then met by Caramansa, the king of the country, who came, surrounded by a great

guard of blacks armed with assegais, their bodies scantily decorated with monkey fur and

palm leaves. The black monarch must have presented a handsome appearance, for his

arms and legs were decked with gold bracelets and rings, he had a kind of dog-collar

fitted with bells round his neck, and some pieces of gold were daintily twisted into his

beard. With these aids to diplomacy, and doubtless also with the help of a dram or two of

spirits or of the wine of Oporto, the treaty was soon concluded, and a very shrewd stroke

of business accomplished for the King of Portugal; for it gave him the sole right of

exchanging gaudy rubbish from Portugal for the precious gold of Ethiopia. When the

contents of the two freight-ships had been unloaded they were beached and broken up by

the orders of King John, who wished it to be thought that they had been destroyed in the

whirlpools of that dangerous sea, and that the navigation of those rough waters was only

safe for the caravels of the Navy. The fort was built in twenty days, and the expedition

returned, laden with gold and ivory; Admiral Azumbaga remained behind in command of

the garrison.

This voyage, which was a bold and adventurous one for the time, may be regarded as the

first recognition of Columbus as a man of importance, for the expedition was manned and

commanded by picked men; so it was for all reasons a very fortunate one for him,

although the possession of the dangerous secret as to the whereabouts of this valuable

territory might have proved to be not very convenient to him in the future.

Columbus went back to Porto Santo with his ambitions thoroughly kindled. He had been

given a definite command in the Portuguese Navy; he had been sailing with a fleet; he

had been down to the mysterious coast of Africa; he had been trafficking with strange

tribes; he had been engaged in a difficult piece of navigation such as he loved; and on the

long dreamy days of the voyage home, the caravels furrowing the blue Atlantic before the

steady trade-wind, he determined that he would find some way of putting his knowledge

to use, and of earning distinction for himself. Living, as he had been lately, in Atlantic

seaports overlooking the western ocean it is certain that the idea of discovering

something in that direction occupied him more and more. What it was that he was to

discover was probably very vague in his mind, and was likely not designated by any

name more exact than "lands." In after years he tried to show that it was a logical and

scientific deduction which led him to go and seek the eastern shore of the Indian

continent by sailing west; but we may be almost certain that at this time he thought of no

such thing. He had no exact scientific knowledge at this date. His map making had taught

him something, and naturally he had kept his ears open, and knew all the gossip and

hearsay about the islands of the West; and there gradually grew in his mind the intuition

or conviction—I refuse to call it an opinion—that, over that blue verge of the West, there

was land to be found. How this seed of conviction first lodged in his mind it would be

impossible to say; in any one of the steps through which we have followed him, it might

have taken its root; but there it was, beginning to occupy his mind very seriously indeed;

and he began to look out, as all men do who wish to act upon faith or conviction which

they cannot demonstrate to another person, for some proofs that his conviction was a

sound one.

And now, just at the moment when he needs it most, comes an incident that, to a man of

his religious and superstitious habit, seems like the pointing finger of Providence. The

story of the shipwrecked pilot has been discredited by nearly all the modern biographers

of Columbus, chiefly because it does not fit in with their theory of his scientific studies

and the alleged bearing of these on his great discovery; but it is given by Las Casas, who

says that it was commonly believed by Columbus's entourage at Hispaniola. Moreover,

amid all the tangles of theory and argument in which the achievement of Columbus has

been involved, this original story of shipwrecked mariners stands out with a strength and

simplicity that cannot be entirely disregarded by the historian who permits himself some

light of imagination by which to work. It is more true to life and to nature that Columbus

should have received his last impulse, the little push that was to set his accumulated

energy and determination in motion, from a thing of pure chance, than that he should

have built his achievement up in a logical superstructure resting on a basis of profound

and elaborate theory.

In the year following Columbus's return from Guinea, then, he, and probably his family,

had gone over to Madeira from Porto Santo, and were staying there. While they were

there a small ship put in to Madeira, much battered by storms and bad weather, and

manned by a crew of five sick mariners. Columbus, who was probably never far from the

shore at Funchal when a ship came into the harbour, happened to see them. Struck by

their appearance, and finding them in a quite destitute and grievously invalid condition,

he entertained them in his house until some other provision could be made for them. But

they were quite worn out. One by one they succumbed to weakness and illness, until one

only, a pilot from Huelva, was left. He also was sinking, and when it was obvious that his

end was near at hand, he beckoned his good host to his bedside, and, in gratitude for all

his kindness, imparted to him some singular knowledge which he had acquired, and with

which, if he had lived, he had hoped to win distinction for himself.