on the subject, based
entirely upon his personal investigations.

COLUMBUS' HAVEN.

An indentation of the coast of Watling's Island, in the Bahamas, is
known to this day as Columbus' Haven.

[Illustration: STATUE OF COLUMBUS IN THE CITY OF COLON, DEPARTMENT OF
PANAMA, COLOMBIA.

The gift of the ex-Empress of the French. (See page 109.)]

CUBA'S CAVES--THE MANTLE OF COLUMBUS.

In the caves of Bellamar, near Matanzas, Cuba, are sparkling columns of
crystal 150 feet high; one is called the "Mantle of Columbus."

THE PORTRAITS OF COLUMBUS.

The Hon. WILLIAM ELEROY CURTIS, an American journalist, Secretary
of the Bureau of the American Republics, Washington, D. C. Born at
Akron, Ohio. From an article, "The Columbus Portraits," in the
_Cosmopolitan Magazine_, January, 1892.

Although Columbus twice mentioned in his alleged will that he was a
native of Genoa, a dozen places still demand the honor of being
considered his birthplace, and two claim to possess his bones. Nothing
is certain about his parentage, and his age is the subject of dispute.
The stories of his boyhood adventures are mythical, and his education at
the University of Pavia is denied.

The same doubt attends the various portraits that pretend to represent
his features. The most reliable authorities--and the subject has been
under discussion for two centuries--agree that there is no tangible
evidence to prove that the face of Columbus was ever painted or sketched
or graven, during his life. His portrait has been painted, like that of
the Madonna and those of the saints, by many famous artists, each
dependent upon verbal descriptions of his appearance by contemporaneous
writers, and each conveying to the canvas his own conception of what the
great seaman's face must have been; but it may not be said that any of
the portraits are genuine, and it is believed that all of them are more
or less fanciful.

It must be considered that the art of painting portraits was in its
infancy when Columbus lived. The honor was reserved for kings and queens
and other dignitaries, and Columbus was regarded as an importunate
adventurer, who at the close of his first voyage enjoyed a brief
triumph, but from the termination of his second voyage was the victim of
envy and misrepresentation to the close of his life. He was derided and
condemned, was brought in chains like a common felon from the continent
he had discovered, and for nearly two hund