Part 26 (2/2)
On the 14th Noveht with a NE wind, he determined to seek a port, and, if he found none, to return to those which he had left in the island of Cuba; for it will be remembered that all east of little Guajava he supposed to be Bohio He steered E by S therefore six leagues, and then stood in for the land Here he saw many ports and islands; but as it blew fresh, with a heavy sea, he dared not enter, but ran the coast down NW by W for a distance of eighteen leagues, where he saw a clear entrance and a port, in which he stood SSW and afterwards SE, the navigation being all clear and open Here Columbus beheld so many islands that it was impossible to count them They were very lofty, and covered with trees Colu sea Mar de Nuestra Senora, and to the harbor near the entrance to these islands he gave the name of Puerto del Principe This harbor he says he did not enter until the Sunday following, which was four days after This part of the text of Columbus's journal is confused, and there are also anticipations, as if it had been written subsequently, orIt appears evident, that while lying to the night previous, with the wind at NE, the shi+ps had drifted to the NW, and been carried by the powerful current of the Bahama channel far in the same direction When they bore up, therefore, to return to the ports which they had left in the island of Cuba, they fell in to leeward of theroup of islands of which Cayo Romano is the principal The current of this channel is of itself sufficient to have carried the vessels to the ard a distance of 20 leagues, which is what they had run easterly since leaving Cape Cuba, or Guajava, for it had acted upon the a period of thirty hours There can be no doubt as to the identity of these keys with those about Cayo Rohborhood of Cuba that are not of a low and swae and lofty They inclose a free, open navigation, and abundance of fine harbors, in late years the resort of pirates, who found security and concealment for themselves and their prizes in the recesses of these lofty keys From the description of Columbus, the vessels must have entered between the islands of Baril and Pacedon, and, sailing along Cayo Romano on a SE course, have reached in another day their old cruising ground in the neighborhood of lesser Guajava Not only Colue ast these keys, but his journal does not evenanchored at all, until the return from the ineffectual search after Babeque It is clear, from what has been said, that it was not in Port Principe that the vessels anchored on this occasion; but it could not have been very distant, since Columbus went from the shi+ps in his boats on the 18th November, to place a cross at its entrance He had probably seen the entrance fro east from Guajava on the 13th of November The identity of this port with the one non as Neuvitas el Principe seems certain, from the description of its entrance, Columbus, it appears, did not visit its interior
On the 19th Noveain, in quest of Babeque At sunset Port Principe bore S S W distant seven leagues, and, having sailed all night at NE by N and until ten o'clock of the next day (20th Noveues on that course The wind blowing from ESE, which was the direction in which Babeqne was supposed to lie, and the weather being foul, Columbus determined to return to Port Principe, which was then distant twenty-five leagues He did not wish to go to Isabella, distant only twelve leagues, lest the Indians whoues fro NE by N from near Port Principe, Columbus had approached within a short distance of Isabella That island was then, according to his calculations, thirty-seven leagues froues froues from the truth, the latter nine; or froa and San Salvador Again, let us now call tofrom Isabella to Cuba; it was first W S W, then west, and afterwards S S W Having consideration for the different distances run on each, these yield athen S W from Isabella, Columbus had reached Port San Salvador, on the coast of Cuba Making afterwards a course of NE by N fro in the direction of Isabella Hence we deduce that Port San Salvador, on the coast of Cuba, lay west of Port Principe, and the whole coether and established The two islands seen by Columbus at ten o'clock of the same 20th November, must have been so back towards Port Principe, Columbus made it at dark, but found that he had been carried to the ard by the currents This furnishes a sufficient proof of the strength of the current in the Bahama channel; for it will be remembered that he ran over to Cuba with a fair wind After contending for four days, until the 24th Noveainst the force of these currents, he arrived at length opposite the level island whence he had set out the week before when going to Babeque
We are thus accidentally informed that the point from which Columbus started in search of Babeque was the same bland of Guajava the lesser, which lies west of Neuvitas el Principe Farther: at first he dared not enter into the opening between the two h the sea broke upon the sent the boat ahead, the vessels followed in at S W and then W into a fine harbor The level island lay north of it, and with another island for all the navy of Spain This level island resolves itself then into our late Cape Cuba, which we have supposed to be little Guajava, and the entrance east of it becoulf above mentioned which lay between two mountains, one of which we have supposed the Alto de Juan Daune, and which gulf appeared to divide Cuba from Bohio Our course now becomes a plain one On the 26th of Noveiven by him to the port last described) at sunrise, and stood for the cape at the SE which he called Cabo de Pico
In this it is easy to recognize the high peak already spoken of as the Alto de Juan Daune Arrived off this, he saw another cape, distant fifteen leagues, and still farther another five leagues beyond it, which he called Cabo de Campana The first must be that non as Point Padre, the second Point Mulas: their distances from Alto de Juan Daune are underrated; but it requires no little experience to estimate correctly the distances of the bold headlands of Cuba, as seen through the pure at passed Point Mulas in the night, on the 27th Colu the bold projecting headland that makes out between Port Hipe and Port Banes, with those deep bays on each side of it, he supposed it to be an ar one land fro landed at Taco for a short ti of the 27th at Baracoa, to which he gave the name of Puerto Santo Froues, he had passed no fewer than nine good ports and five rivers to Cape Caht ood port; all of which may be found on the chart between Alto de Juan Daune and Baracoa By keeping near the coast he had been assisted to the SE by the eddy current of the Baha from Puerto Santo or Baracoa on the 4th of Dece day, and striking off upon a wind to the SE in search of Babeque, which lay to the NE, he caave the na leave of Cuba, Coluues Allowing twenty leagues of this distance for his having followed the undulations of the coast, the re 100 measured from Point Maysi fall exactly upon Cabrion Key, which we have supposed the western boundary of his discoveries
The astronomical observations of Columbus form no objection to what has been here advanced; for he tells us that the instrument which he made use of to measure the meridian altitudes of the heavenly bodies was out of order and not to be depended upon He places his first discovery, Guanahani, in the latitude of Ferro, which is about 27 30' north San Salvador we find in 24 30', and Turk's Island in 21 30': both are very wide of the truth, but it is certainly easier to conceive an error of three than one of six degrees
Laying aside geographical deree with the opinion here supported, that the island of San Salvador was the first point where Columbus came in contact with the New World Herrera, who is considered the most faithful and authentic of Spanish historians, wrote his History of the Indies towards the year 1600
In describing the voyage of Juan Ponce de Leon,renada in Porto Rico, they steered to the N W by N, and in five days arrived at an island called El Viejo, in latitude 22 30' north The next day they arrived at a shth day they anchored at another island called Yaguna in 24, on the eighth day out froa, in 24 30', and on the eleventh day they reached Guanahani, which is in 25 40' north This island of Guanahani was the first discovered by Colue, and which he called San Salvador” This is the substance of the remarks of Herrera, and is entirely conclusive as to the location of San Salvador The latitudes, it is true, are all placed higher thanthe such as to correspond with no other land than that non as the Berry Islands, which are seventy leagues distant from the nearest coast of Cuba: whereas Coluues froation, the instru the altitudes of the heavenly bodies, and the tables of declinations for deducing the latitude, must have been so iator of the time below the most mechanical one of the present
The second island arrived at by Ponce de Leon, in his northwestern course, was one of the Caycos; the first one, then, called El Viejo, must have been Turk's Island, which lies SE of the Caycos The third island they cauana; the fourth, Crooked Island; and the fifth, Isla Larga Lastly they came to Guanahani, the San Salvador of Columbus
If this be supposed identical with Turk's Island, where do we find the succession of islands touched at by Ponce de Leon on his way from Porto Rico to San Salvador? [334] No stress has been laid, in these remarks, on the identity of name which has been preserved to San Salvador, Concepcion, and Port Principe, with those given by Coluht in such ht, has been advanced, to enable the world to remain in its old hereditary belief that the present island of San Salvador is the spot where Columbus first set foot upon the New World
Established opinions of the kind should not be lightly ht to be kept in s, ”Do not disturb the ancient landmarks”
_Note to the Revised Edition of 1848_--The Paron de Huraphie du nouveau continent,”
published in 1837, speaks repeatedly in high terms of the ability displayed in the above exath and quite conclusively in support of the opinion contained in it Above all, he produces a docureat importance of which had been discovered by M Valeknaer and himself in 1832 This is a map made in 1500 by that able mariner Juan de la Cosa, who accoe and sailed with other of the discoverers In this , the islands as laid down agree coiven in the journal of Columbus, and establishes the identity of San Salvador, or Cat Island, and Guanahani
”I feel happy,” says M de Humboldt, ”to be enabled to destroy the incertitudes (which rested on this subject) by a document as ancient as it is unknown; a docuuiven in his work against the hypotheses of the Turk's Island” In the present revised edition the author feels at liberty to give the merit of the very masterly paper on the route of Columbus, where it is justly due It was furnished him at Madrid by the late commander Alexander Slidell Mackenzie, of the United States navy, whosehis name to an article so calculated to do hiiums of men of nautical science
No XVIII
Principles upon which the Sums Mentioned in This Work Have Been Reduced into Modern Currency
In the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the mark of silver, which was equal to 8 ounces or to 50 castellanos, was divided into 65 reals, and each real into 34 maravedis; so that there were 2210other silver coins there was the real of 8, which consisting of 8 reals, ithin a shth part of a old coins then in circulation the castellano or _dobla de la vanda_ orth 490 maravedis, and the ducado 383 maravedis
If the value of the ed in Spain down to the present day, it would be easy to reduce a sum of the time of Ferdinand and Isabella into a correspondent sum of current money; but by the successive depreciations of the coin of Vellon, or mixed metals, issued since that period, the _real_ and maravedi of Vellon, which had replaced the ancient currency, were reduced, towards the year 1700, to about a third of the old _real_ and maravedi, non as the _real_ and maravedi of silver As, however, the ancient piece of 8 reals was equal approximately to the ounce of silver, and the duro, or dollar of the present day, is likewise equal to an ounce, they may be considered identical Indeed, in Spanish A divided into 20 reals, as in Spain, is divided into only 8 parts called reals, which evidently represent the real of the time of Ferdinand and Isabella, as the dollar does the real of 8 But the ounce of silver was anciently worth 276-1/4 maravedis; the dollar, therefore, is likewise equal to 276 1/4then the sums mentioned in this work into maravedis, they have been afterwards reduced into dollars by dividing by 276 1/4
There is still, however, another calculation to be old and silver mentioned in former times It is necessary to notice the variation which has taken place in the value of the metals themselves In Europe, previous to the discovery of the New World, an ounce of gold commanded an amount of food or labor which would cost three ounces at the present day; hence an ounce of gold was then estimated at three times its present value At the same time an ounce of silver commanded an amount which at present costs 4 ounces of silver It appears froold and silver varied with respect to each other, as well as with respect to all other co been ht from the New World, with respect to the quantity previously in circulation, than there has been of gold In the 15th century one ounce of gold was equal to about 12 of silver; and now, in the year 1827, it is exchanged against 16
Hence giving an idea of the relative value of the sums mentioned in this work, it has been found necessary to old, and by four when expressed in silver [335]
It is expedient to add that the dollar is reckoned in this work at 100 cents of the United States of North Aland
No XIX
Prester John: