hat Columbus
himself obviously suffered no permanent discouragement on account of the
men of his first crew, for he subsequently advocated the transportation
of criminals to the Indies, and, further, urged that any person having
committed a crime (with the exception of those of heresy, _lese
majeste_, and treason) should have the option of ordinary imprisonment,
or of going out at his own expense to Hispaniola to serve under the
orders of the Admiral.

These edicts were actually brought into force, and although Columbus
some years afterwards bitterly complained of the type of European whom
he found at Hispaniola, there is no doubt that he himself was largely
responsible for their presence. Nevertheless, speaking generally,
Columbus was not alone in being served by this species of retainer, for
the custom, borrowed from the Portuguese, was a general one, and where
volunteers failed, their places were supplied by the dregs of the
prisons. One of the principal charges brought against Columbus was that,
in addition to his alleged maltreatment of his own men, he had refrained
from baptizing Indians, and this because he had desired slaves rather
than Christians. He was accused, moreover, of having made many slaves in
order to send them to Castile. Of course, there is no doubt whatever as
to the truth of this latter charge; but Columbus was not alone in this
respect--indeed, at that time there was no single adventurer who had
penetrated to these new regions without making slaves whenever the
opportunity arose. And it may be said in common fairness to the
individual explorers that no other method was understood, and that this
procedure was considered entirely legitimate.

It is unnecessary to enter here into the troubles and tribulations of
Columbus's first voyage. The details of the men's discontent and of the
leader's courage, persistence, and strategy have been the subject of
thousands of works. The great contrition, moreover, of his mutinous
crew, when after five weeks' sailing they sighted land, and their sudden
admiration and almost worship of the great navigator, afford too
familiar a subject to be dealt with here. Suffice to say that Columbus
took possession of this first land--the island which he believed to form
part of a continent--in the name of the Crown of Castile and Leon,
christening this herald of a new world San Salvador.

For a while the shock of this triumph appears to have deadened all other
consideratio