hat
direction. On the eighth "the sea was like the river at Seville," the
weeds were very few and they took land birds on board the ships. On the
ninth they sailed southwest five leagues, and then with a change of wind
went west by north. All night they heard the birds of passage passing.

On the tenth of October the men made remonstrance, which has been
exaggerated in history into a revolt. It is said, in books of authority,
that Columbus begged them to sail west only three days more. But in the
private journal of the tenth he says simply: "The seamen complained
of the length of the voyage. They did not wish to go any farther. The
Admiral did his best to renew their courage, and reminded them of the
profits which would come to them. He added, boldly, that no complaints
would change his purpose, that he had set out to go to the Indies, and
that with the Lord's assistance he should keep on until he came there."
This is the only passage in the journal which has any resemblance to the
account of the mutiny.

If it happened, as Oviedo says, three days before the discovery, it
would have been on the eighth of October. On that day the entry is,
"Steered west southwest, and sailed day and night eleven or twelve
leagues--at times, during the night, fifteen miles an hour--if the log
can be relied upon. Found the sea like the river at Seville, thanks to
God. The air was as soft as that of Seville in April, and so fragrant
that it was delicious to breathe it. The weeds appeared very fresh. Many
land birds, one of which they took, flying towards the southwest, also
grajaos, ducks and a pelican were seen."

This is not the account of a mutiny. And the discovery of Columbus's own
journal makes that certain, which was probable before, that the romantic
account of the despair of the crews was embroidered on the narrative
after the event, and by people who wanted to improve the story. It was,
perhaps, borrowed from a story of Diaz's voyage. We have followed the
daily record to show how constantly they supposed, on the other hand,
that they were always nearing land.

With the eleventh of October, came certainty. The eleventh is sometimes
spoken of as the day of discovery, and sometimes the twelfth, when they
landed on the first island of the new world.

The whole original record of the discovery is this: "Oct. 11, course
to west and southwest. Heavier sea than they had known, pardelas and a
green branch near the caravel of the Admir