The Hour Of Triumph - 1
surrounded by a fame and glory which, although they were transient, were of a splendour
such as few other men can have ever experienced. He had not merely discovered a
country, he had discovered a world. He had not merely made a profitable expedition; he
had brought the promise of untold wealth to the kingdom of Spain. He had not merely
made himself the master of savage tribes; he had conquered the supernatural, and
overcome for ever those powers of darkness that had been thought to brood over the vast
Atlantic. He had sailed away in obscurity, he had returned in fame; he had departed under
a cloud of scepticism and ridicule, he had come again in power and glory. He had sailed
from Palos as a seeker after hidden wealth, hidden knowledge; he returned as teacher,
discoverer, benefactor. The whole of Spain rang with his fame, and the echoes of it
spread to Portugal, France, England, Germany, and Italy; and it reached the ears of his
own family, who had now left the Vico Dritto di Ponticello in Genoa and were living at
Savona.
His life ashore in the first weeks following his return was a succession of triumphs and
ceremonials. His first care on landing had been to go with the whole of his crew to the
church of Saint George, where a Te Deum was sung in honour of his return; and
afterwards to perform those vows that he had made at sea in the hour of danger. There
was a certain amount of business to transact at Palos in connection with the paying of the
ships' crews, writing of reports to the Sovereigns, and so forth; and it is likely that he
stayed with his friends at the monastery of La Rabida while this was being done. The
Court was at Barcelona; and it was probably only a sense of his own great dignity and
importance that prevented Christopher from setting off on the long journey immediately.
But he who had made so many pilgrimages to Court as a suitor could revel in a position
that made it possible for him to hang back, and to be pressed and invited; and so when his
business at Palos was finished he sent a messenger with his letters and reports to
Barcelona, and himself, with his crew and his Indians and all his trophies, departed for
Seville, where he arrived on Palm Sunday.
His entrance into that city was only a foretaste of the glory in which he was to move
across the whole of Spain. He was met at the gates of the city by a squadron of cavalry
commanded by an envoy sent by Queen Isabella; and a procession was formed of
members of the crew carrying parrots, alive and stuffed, fruits, vegetables, and various
other products of the New World.
In a prominent place came the Indians, or rather four of them, for one had died on the day
they entered Palos and three were too ill to leave that town; but the ones that took part in
the procession got all the more attention and admiration. The streets of Seville were
crowded; crowded also were the windows, balconies, and roofs. The Admiral was
entertained at the house of the Count of Cifuentes, where his little museum of dead and
live curiosities was also accommodated, and where certain favoured visitors were
admitted to view it. His two sons, Diego and Ferdinand, were sent from Cordova to join
him; and perhaps he found time to visit Beatriz, although there is no record of his having
been to Cordova or of her having come to Seville.
Meanwhile his letters and messengers to the King and Queen had produced their due
effect. The almost incredible had come to pass, and they saw themselves the monarchs
not merely of Spain, but of a new Empire that might be as vast as Europe and Africa
together. On the 30th of March they despatched a special messenger with a letter to
Columbus, whose eyes must have sparkled and heart expanded when he read the
superscription: "From the King and Queen to Don Christoval Colon, their Admiral of the
Ocean Seas and Viceroy and Governor of the Islands discovered in the Indies." No lack
of titles and dignities now! Their Majesties express a profound sense of his ability and
distinction, of the greatness of his services to them, to the Church, and to God Himself.
They hope that he will lose no time, but repair to Barcelona immediately, so that they can
have the pleasure of hearing from his own lips an account of his wonderful expedition,
and of discussing with him the preparations that must immediately be set on foot to fit out
a new one. On receiving this letter Christopher immediately drew up a list of what he
thought necessary for the new expedition and, collecting all his retinue and his museum
of specimens, started by road for Barcelona.
Every one in Spain had by this time heard more or less exaggerated accounts of the
discoveries, and the excitement in the towns and villages through which he passed was
extreme. Wherever he went he was greeted and feasted like a king returning from
victorious wars; the people lined the streets of the towns and villages, and hung out
banners, and gazed their fill at the Indians and at the strange sun-burned faces of the
crew. At Barcelona, where they arrived towards the end of April, the climax of these
glittering dignities was reached. When the King and Queen heard that Columbus was
approaching the town they had their throne prepared under a magnificent pavilion, and in
the hot sunshine of that April day they sat and waited the—coming of the great man. A
glittering troop of cavalry had been sent out to meet him, and at the gates of the town a
procession was formed similar to that at Seville. He had now six natives with him, who
occupied an important place in the procession; sailors also, who carried baskets of fruit
and vegetables from Espanola, with stuffed birds and animals, and a monstrous lizard
held aloft on a stick. The Indians were duly decked out in all their paint and feathers; but
if they were a wonder and marvel to the people of Spain, what must Spain have been to
them with its great buildings and cities, its carriages and horses, its glittering dresses and
armours, its splendour and luxury! We have no record of what the Indians thought, only
of what the crowd thought who gaped upon them and upon the gaudy parrots that
screeched and fluttered also in the procession. Columbus came riding on horseback, as
befitted a great Admiral and Viceroy, surrounded by his pilots and principal officers; and
followed by men bearing golden belts, golden masks, nuggets of gold and dust of gold,
and preceded by heralds, pursuivants, and mace-bearers.
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