pleasing expression; the nose aquiline, the eyes blue, and
the complexion fair and inclined to ruddiness. The hair was red, though
it became gray soon after he was thirty. Only one authentic portrait of
Columbus is known to have been painted. The Italian historian, Paulus
Jovius, who was his contemporary, collected a gallery of portraits of
worthies of his time at his villa on the Lake of Como. Among them was a
portrait of the Admiral. There is an early engraving from it, and very
indifferent copies in the Uffizi at Florence, and at Madrid. But until
quite recently I do not think that the original was known to exist. It,
however, never left the family, and when the last Giovio died it was
inherited by her grandson, the Nobile de Orche, who is the present
possessor. We have the head of a venerable man, with thin gray hair, the
forehead high, the eyes pensive and rather melancholy. It was thus that
he doubtless appeared during the period that he was in Spain, after his
return in chains, or during the last year of his life.

In his latter years we see Columbus, although as full as ever of his
great mission, thinking more and more of the transmission of his rights
and his property intact to his children. He had always loved his home,
and his amiable and affectionate disposition made many and lasting
friendships in all ranks of life, from Queen Isabella and Archbishop
Deza to the humblest _grumete_. We find his shipmates serving with him
over and over again. Terreros, the Admiral's steward, and Salcedo, his
servant, were with him in his first voyage and in his last. His faithful
captains, Mendez and Fieschi, risked life and limb for him, and attended
him on his deathbed. Columbus was also blessed with two loving and
devoted brothers. In one of his letters to his son Diego, he said,
"Never have I found better friends, on my right hand and on my left,
than my brothers." Bartholomew, especially, was his trusty and gallant
defender and counselor in his darkest hours of difficulty and distress,
his nurse in sickness, and his helpful companion in health. The enduring
affection of these two brothers, from the cradle to the grave, is most
touching. Columbus was happy too in his handsome, promising young sons,
who were ever dutiful, and whose welfare was his fondest care; they
fulfilled all his hopes. One recovered the Admiral's rights, while the
other studied his father's professional work, preserved his memorials,
and wrote his lif