hing
he saw and all that he did, and to make a chart of his discoveries, and
to show the directions of his track.

Nothing occurred during those early August days to mar his run to the
Canaries, except the apprehension which he felt that an accident,
happening to the rudder of the _Pinta_,--a steering gear now for some
time in use, in place of the old lateral blades,--was a trick of two
men, her owners, Gomez Rascon and Christopher Quintero, to impede a
voyage in which they had no heart. The Admiral knew the disposition of
these men well enough not to be surprised at the mishap, but he tried to
feel secure in the prompt energy of Pinzon, who commanded the _Pinta_.

As he passed (August 24-25, 1492) the peak of Teneriffe, it was the time
of an eruption, of which he makes bare mention in his journal. It is to
the corresponding passage of the _Historie_, [written by his son,
Fernando,] that we owe the somewhat sensational stories of the terrors
of the sailors, some of whom certainly must long have been accustomed to
like displays in the volcanoes of the Mediterranean.

At the Gran Canarie the _Nina_ was left to have her lateen sails changed
to square ones; and the _Pinta_, it being found impossible to find a
better vessel to take her place, was also left to be overhauled for her
leaks, and to have her rudder again repaired, while Columbus visited
Gomera, another of the islands. The fleet was reunited at Gomera on
September 2. Here he fell in with some residents of the Ferro, the
westermost of the group, who repeated the old stories of land
occasionally seen from its heights, lying towards the setting sun.
Having taken on board wood, water, and provisions, Columbus finally
sailed from Gomera on the morning of Thursday, September 6. He seems to
have soon spoken a vessel from Ferro, and from this he learned that
three Portuguese caravels were lying in wait for him in the
neighbourhood of that island, with a purpose, as he thought, of visiting
in some way upon him, for having gone over to the interests of Spain,
the indignation of the Portuguese king. He escaped encountering them.

Up to Sunday, September 9, they had experienced so much calm weather,
that their progress had been slow. This tediousness soon raised an
apprehension in the mind of Columbus that the voyage might prove too
long for the constancy of his men. He accordingly determined to falsify
his reckoning. This deceit was a large confession of his own timidity